Category: Android

Before we begin, here is one amazing app, DroidDraw

Posted Jan.24, 2011 under Our Recommendations

DropDraw
So we didn’t develop squat and I already start recommending apps…
I know y’all are right but I’m cheating here and taking some short cuts.
On of the things I kinda dislike and don’t have much skill in is the designe portion.
Not only that’s it’s not that simple unless you want to make an ugly GUI (it’s going to be ugly with this app as well… maybe not that ugly) but heck is it going to fast quick and easy.

This great application called DroidDraw will allow you to fly create GUI for your Android apps quick and easy.
As their website title says
User Interface (UI) designer/editor for programming the Android Cell Phone Platform

DroidDraw can be used online at their website – Linky or can be downloaded as a stand alone app again from their website – Linky.

Play around with it, I think it’s much better then the one in Eclipse, but that’s just me.

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Simple and amazing Blog to android app generator

Posted Jan.17, 2011 under Android Development, Guides

So let’s start with we have an APP on the market for this site.
I must mention that I found this app through MobilityFreak.Co.Il (Great Mobil News site in Hebrew)

Link to the app (app brain)

http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=qr&chs=150x150&chl=http://www.appbrain.com/app/com.warting.blogg.wis_inrim_feed_nu?install=appwidget

So now the how? very simple very easy and the idea is to stream your RSS feed into a mobile based content.
They are planning to release an iPhone version but I don’t know when or how easy it will be.
The service is FREE but please consider donations (as it’s free and a great service!)

Feed.nu makes it possible!

  • No programming skills needed
  • Instantly available

Follow this 5 simple steps and you are good to go.

  1. Register an account
  2. Log in and enter your feed in Feed settings
  3. You may want to upload your own custom images and change colors under Appearance (optional)
  4. Generate your own android app by clicking Android and then generate, wait a minute or two and then download your APK file.
  5. Upload your APK to Android Market

As for the Android Market, you will need to register as a Developer ($25 one time fee)
And then upload your APK (I will have a different post about this)

Here is a screen shot from the app
http://s2.appbrain.com/screen?id=-6473961073831477596&i=2

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Part 2 – Android Development Environment Installation – Eclipse and Android SDK

Posted Jan.15, 2011 under Guides

Ok, so now that you downloaded and installed the Android SDK and created your first AVD we need to move on to the Development environment.
Wait… you didn’t install the SDK??? Start here – Linky
So you will need to download and install Eclipse… What is eclipse? you can review their WIKI – Linky and here is a simple description on what they are…
Eclipse is an open source community, whose projects are focused on building an open development platform comprised of extensible frameworks, tools and runtimes for building, deploying and managing software across the lifecycle. The Eclipse Foundation is a not-for-profit, member supported corporation that hosts the Eclipse projects and helps cultivate both an open source community and an ecosystem of complementary products and services.

Step 2 – Download and install Eclipse environment
Open Eclipse Website – Linky
Now download Eclipse IDE for Java Developers, based on the OS you have
eclipse

Now on the download page either download via HTTP or Torrent, more links are on the page (I wanted a smaller screen shot)
eclipsedownload

After the download is completed extract the content of the file to a folder you want to work in.
In my case it was C:\Android\Eclipse
And run the eclipse.exe main application from where you extracted it to
eclipse1

Hit Continue Reading to move on…
Read More »

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Some Books I Bought For This Android Development Project

Posted Jan.13, 2011 under Our Recommendations

So as I wrote before I have no knowlage what so ever of Java.
But I still want to develop something (Good or Bad) for the Android mobile platform.
I read online and ended up buying two books (I got them from eBay), and I must say most sites come down to what’s found on this page – Linky and I went with their recommendations as well.

First Book is Hello, Android: Introducing Google’s Mobile Development Platform (Pragmatic Programmers)

I’m not done with the book only 100 pages in but his writing is very simple and straight forward, the author streamlines everything nicely without missing a point, I promise to update when i’m done with the book.

Now for the second book… Wait why did I buy a second book?
For some reason everywhere you read about the books most people complain about the book not going in depth enough bla bla bla or they didn’t explain anything.
So I decided to pick two books one that should cover all my bases and get the book that everyone recommends to start with and the book that everyone complains that if you didn’t read before something else or you don’t know anything don’t buy.

So here is the second one – Professional Android 2 Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)

I have only read 20-30 pages from the book and my thoughts are that the author is just trying to give you everything in an academic kind of way (not sure I like that) but there are a lot of code examples and the author does seem to go in depth on everything.

Again I promise I will update some more after I go through this book as well.

If you recommend any other books or have read the books I got please comment if they are worth our time…
Next, how to find documentation online for FREE (and there is A LOT)

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Part 1 – Installing Android SDK and Setting Up An Android Emulator or AVD

Posted Jan.13, 2011 under Guides

So I started writing this for both Android SDK and Eclipse, but it got kinda long so i’ll break them up.
Let’s start with the SDK.

Well we need to start somewhere here and I hope you bare with me for a couple of days before we get down to the nitty gritty of Android Development (as I wrote before this is a process for me as well and I’m learning as we go).

So what do we need to get this environment up on our system?
* A computer (Mac, PC or some Linux based OS) Guide is based on a PC with Windows XP and up
* Internet Connection
* And some time to follow my instructions

Phase 1 – Android SDK
So how could there be so many (over 1000) applications before an Android device was released?
As part of Google’s Android Software Development Kit (Android SDK) you have the Android Emulator now we are going to download the SDK and run our first Emulator

Well before you can install the SDK you will need a Java Environment
Step 1 – Download and install Java Runtime Environment
So you will need to install Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to allow Java Code to run on your OS (PC, Apple or Linux) as well you will need the Java Development Kit (JDK) please note that the JDK contains the JRE so you don’t need to install both.

Open Java’s Web Site – Linky and download the JDK based on your platform, and install it on your system (This should be straight forward if you are here)
JavaWebSite

Step 2 – Download the SDK
Go to Android Developers website – Linky and download the latest SDK for your environment (Windows, Apple or Linux).
AndoridSDK
Click on Read More to continue on….
Read More »

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