Android Apps for Absolute Beginners: Covering Android 7 - 4th Edition

Android Apps for Absolute Beginners: Covering Android 7

Get your first Android apps up and running with the help of plain English and practical examples. If you have a great idea for an Android app, but have never programmed before, then this book is for you. Android Apps for Absolute Beginners cuts through the fog of jargon and mystery that surrounds Android app development, and gives you simple, step-by-step instructions to get you started.

This book teaches Android application development in language anyone can understand, giving you the best possible start in Android development. It provides clean, straightforward examples that make learning easy, allowing you to pick up the concepts without fuss. It offers clear code descriptions and layout so that you can get your apps running as soon as possible

Although this book covers what's new in Android 7, it is also backwards compatible to cover some of the previous Android releases.

What You'll Learn

• Download, install, and configure the latest software needed for Android app development
• Work efficiently using an integrated development environment (IDE)
• Build useful, attractive applications and get them working immediately
• Create apps with ease using XML markup and drag-and-drop graphical layout editors
• Use new media and graphics to skin your app so that it has maximum appeal
• Create advanced apps combining XML, Java and new media content

Who This Book Is For

If you have a great idea for an Android app, but have never programmed before, then this book is for you. You don’t need to have any previous computer programming skills ― as long as you have a desire to learn and you know which end of the mouse is which, the world of Android apps development awaits.

Android Design Patterns and Best Practice

Android Design Patterns and Best Practice

Key Features

• Create efficient object interaction patterns for faster and more efficient Android development
• Get into efficient and fast app development and start making money from your android apps
• Implement industry-standard design patterns and best practices to reduce your app development time drastically

Book Description
Are you an Android developer with some experience under your belt? Are you wondering how the experts create efficient and good-looking apps? Then your wait will end with this book! We will teach you about different Android development patterns that will enable you to write clean code and make your app stand out from the crowd.

The book starts by introducing the Android development environment and exploring the support libraries. You will gradually explore the different design and layout patterns and get to know the best practices of how to use them together. Then you'll then develop an application that will help you grasp activities, services, and broadcasts and their roles in Android development.

Moving on, you will add user-detecting classes and APIs such as gesture detection, touch screen listeners, and sensors to your app. You will also learn to adapt your app to run on tablets and other devices and platforms, including Android Wear, auto, and TV. Finally, you will see how to connect your app to social media and explore deployment patterns as well as the best publishing and monetizing practices.

The book will start by introducing the Android development environment and exploring the support libraries. You will gradually explore the different Design and layout patterns and learn the best practices on how to use them together. You will then develop an application that will help you grasp Activities, Services and Broadcasts and their roles in Android development. Moving on, you will add user detecting classes and APIs such as at gesture detection, touch screen listeners and sensors to our app. You will also learn to adapt your app to run on tablets and other devices and platforms, including Android Wear, Auto, and TV. Finally, you will learn to connect your app to social media and explore deployment patterns and best publishing and monetizing practices.

What you will learn

• Build a simple app and run it on real and emulated devices
• Explore the WYSIWYG and XML approaches to material design provided within Android Studio
• Detect user activities by using touch screen listeners, gesture detection, and reading sensors
• Apply transitions and shared elements to employ elegant animations and efficiently use the minimal screen space of mobile devices
• Develop apps that automatically apply the best layouts for different devices by using designated directories
• Socialize in the digital word by connecting your app to social media
• Make your apps available to the largest possible audience with the AppCompat support library

About the Author
Kyle Mew has been programming since the early eighties and has written for several technology websites. He has also written three radio plays and three other books on Android development.

Table of Contents

1. Design Patterns
2. Creational Patterns
3. Material Patterns
4. Layout Patterns
5. Structural Patterns
6. Activating Patterns
7. Combining Patterns
8. Composing Patterns
9. Observing Patterns
10. Behavioral Patterns
11. Wearable Patterns
12. Social Patterns
13. Distribution Patterns

Beginning Android Games 3rd Edition

Beginning Android Games

Learn all of the basics needed to join the ranks of successful Android game developers. You'll start with game design fundamentals and Android programming basics, and then progress toward creating your own basic game engine and playable game apps that work on Android smartphones and tablets. Beginning Android Games, Third Edition gives you everything you need to branch out and write your own Android games for a variety of hardware.

Do you have an awesome idea for the next break-through mobile gaming title? Beginning Android Games will help you kick-start your project. This book will guide you through the process of making several example game apps using APIs available in Android.

What You'll Learn

• Gain the fundamentals of game programming in the context of the Android platform
• Use Android's APIs for graphics, audio, and user input to reflect those fundamentals
• Develop two 2D games from scratch, based on Canvas API and OpenGL ES
• Create a full-featured 3D game
• Publish your games, get crash reports, and support your users
• Complete your own playable 2D OpenGL games

Who This Book Is For
People with a basic knowledge of Java who want to write games on the Android platform. It also offers information for experienced game developers about the pitfalls and peculiarities of the platform.

Android Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach 5th Edition

Discover more than 100 down-to-earth code recipes, covering a wide range of useful topics using complete and real-world working code examples. This book is updated to include the Android N SDK (7.0), as well as earlier releases.

Android Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach

Crammed with insightful instruction and helpful examples, this fifth edition of Android Recipes is your guide to writing apps for one of today’s hottest mobile platforms. It offers pragmatic advice that will help you get the job done quickly and well. This can save you a great deal of work over creating a project from scratch.

Instead of abstract descriptions of complex concepts, in Android Recipes you'll find live code examples. When you start a new project you can consider copying and pasting the code and configuration files from this book and then modifying them for your own customization needs.

What You'll Learn

• Code for Android smartphones and tablets
• Use external libraries to save time and effort
• Boost app performance by using the Android NDK and RenderScript
• Design apps for performance, responsiveness, and seamlessness
• Send data between devices and other external hardware
• Persist application data and share it between applications
• Capture and play back various device media items
• Communicate with web services
• Get the most out of your user interface

Who This Book Is For
All Android app developers.

Mastering Android Wear Application Development

Master the future of mobile devices in wearable technology

Mastering Android Wear Application Development

About This Book

• Mastering Android Wear Development is a complete guide to wearable technology for experienced Android developers
• Notifications, voice input, coping with round screens – all the key challenges of wearable technology are covered
• This book describes not just how to write code for wearables, but also how to think about wearable technology and design apps that work well with the physical limitations of wearable devices

Who This Book Is For
This book is for application developers (the web, mobile, and desktop) who are interested in building new wearable apps, and mobile developers who already have apps on iTunes or Google Play Store and are looking to provide Android Wear support for their existing Android or iOS apps.

What You Will Learn

• Understand the Wearable computing technology
• Set up a development environment to build Android Wear apps using Android Studio
• Master the Android Wear SDK and APIs
• Understand the UI patterns and UX principles to build Android Wear apps
• Work with the different form factors of wearable devices (round and square)
• Take advantage of the sensors available on Android Wear devices
• Develop Android Wear sample apps
• Communicate between Android mobile and Android Wear apps
• Get to know the steps involved in publishing Android Wear apps to the Play store

In Detail
Wearable technology is the future of mobile devices. It looks set to be a breakthrough technology, just like the iPad was before it. With the Apple Watch being widely regarded as a success, all eyes are now on Google to provide a similar device for its users. Keep your skills ahead of the competition and be one of the first to fully understand this powerful new trend. This book will give you a very solid understanding of the philosophy, thought process, development details, and methodologies involved in building well-designed, robust Android Wear applications.

We cover the advantages and disadvantages of the wearable computing paradigm and provide a good foundational knowledge for you to build practical, real-world wearable apps. You will learn about the various tools, platforms, libraries, SDKs, and technology needed to build Android Wear apps. By the end of the book, you will be an expert in building Android wearable apps.

Style and approach
This one-stop professional tutorial will teach you everything you need to know to begin designing and developing applications for this exciting new technology. Every step from development through testing to deployment is explained in depth.

Gradle Recipes for Android: Master the New Build System for Android

Gradle Recipes for Android: Master the New Build System for Android

Android adopted Gradle as the preferred build automation system a few years ago, but many Android developers are still unfamiliar with this open source tool. This hands-on guide provides a collection of Gradle recipes to help you quickly and easily accomplish the most common build tasks for your Android apps. You’ll learn how to customize project layouts, add dependencies, and generate many different versions of your app.

Gradle is based on Groovy, yet very little knowledge of the JVM language is required for you to get started. Code examples use Android SDK version 23, with emulators from Marshmallow (Android 6) or Lollipop (Android 5). If you’re comfortable with Java and Android, you’re ready.

• Understand Gradle’s generated build files for Android apps
• Run Gradle from the command line or inside Android Studio
• Add more Java libraries to your Android app
• Import and export Eclipse ADT projects
• Digitally sign a Release APK for the Google Play store
• Use product flavors to build many versions of the same app
• Add custom tasks to the Gradle build process
• Test both your app’s Android and non-Android components
• Improve the performance of your Gradle build

Java Programming for Android Developers For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Java Programming for Android Developers For Dummies

Develop the next killer Android App using Java programming!
Android is everywhere! It runs more than half the smartphones in the U.S.—and Java makes it go. If you want to cash in on its popularity by learning to build Android apps with Java, all the easy-to-follow guidance you need to get started is at your fingertips. Inside, you'll learn the basics of Java and grasp how it works with Android; then, you'll go on to create your first real, working application. How cool is that?

The demand for Android apps isn't showing any signs of slowing, but if you're a mobile developer who wants to get in on the action, it's vital that you get the necessary Java background to be a success. With the help of Java Programming for Android Developers For Dummies, you'll quickly and painlessly discover the ins and outs of using Java to create groundbreaking Android apps—no prior knowledge or experience required!

• Get the know-how to create an Android program from the ground up
• Make sense of basic Java development concepts and techniques
• Develop the skills to handle programming challenges
• Find out how to debug your app

Don't sit back and watch other developers release apps that bring in the bucks! Everything you need to create that next killer Android app is just a page away!

Beginning Android Programming with Android Studio 4th Edition

A hands-on introduction to the latest release of the Android OS and the easiest Android tools for developers

Beginning Android Programming with Android Studio

As the dominant mobile platform today, the Android OS is a powerful and flexible platform for mobile device. The new Android 7 release (New York Cheesecake) boasts significant new features and enhancements for both smartphone and tablet applications. This step-by-step resource takes a hands-on approach to teaching you how to create Android applications for the latest OS and the newest devices, including both smartphones and tablets.

• Shows you how to install, get started with, and use Android Studio 2 - the simplest Android developer tool ever for beginners
• Addresses how to display notifications, create rich user interfaces, and use activities and intents
• Reviews mastering views and menus and managing data
• Discusses working with SMS 
• Looks at packaging and publishing applications to the Android market

Beginning Android Programming with Android Studio starts with the basics and goes on to provide you with everything you need to know to begin to successfully develop your own Android applications.

Android High Performance Programming

Build fast and efficient Android apps that run as reliably as clockwork in a multi-device world

Android High Performance Programming

About This Book

• Wide coverage of various topics that help in developing optimal applications
• Explore the concepts of Advanced Native Coding in depth
• A must-have for professional-standard Android developers for whom performance failures and the sloppy use of resources are simply unacceptable

Who This Book Is For
This book is aimed at developers with an advanced knowledge of Android and who want to test their skills and learn new techniques to increase the performance of their applications. We assume they are comfortable working with the entire Android SDK, and have been doing it for a few years. They need to be familiar with frameworks such as NDK to use native code, which is crucial for app performance

What You Will Learn

• Create Android applications that squeeze the most from the limited resource capacity of devices
• Swap code that isn't performing
• Efficient memory management by identifying problems such as leaks
• Reap the benefits of multithreaded and asynchronous programming
• Maximize the security and encryption mechanisms natively provided by Android
• Perform efficient network operations and techniques to retrieve data from servers
• Master the NDK to write native code that can perform faster operations

In Detail
Performant applications are one of the key drivers of success in the mobile world. Users may abandon an app if it runs slowly. Learning how to build applications that balance speed and performance with functionality and UX can be a challenge; however, it's now more important than ever to get that balance right.

Android High Performance will start you thinking about how to wring the most from any hardware your app is installed on, so you can increase your reach and engagement. The book begins by providing an introduction to state–of-the-art Android techniques and the importance of performance in an Android application. Then, we will explain the Android SDK tools regularly used to debug and profile Android applications. We will also learn about some advanced topics such as building layouts, multithreading, networking, and security. Battery life is one of the biggest bottlenecks in applications; and this book will show typical examples of code that exhausts battery life, how to prevent this, and how to measure battery consumption from an application in every kind of situation to ensure your apps don't drain more than they should.

This book explains techniques for building optimized and efficient systems that do not drain the battery, cause memory leaks, or slow down with time.

Style and approach
The book follows a tutorial-based approach to take the reader from the basic fundamentals of debugging to advanced performance-improvement concepts.

Expert Android Studio

Take your Android programming skills to the next level by unleashing the potential of Android Studio

Expert Android Studio

Expert Android Studio bridges the gap between your Android programing skills with the provided tools including Android Studio, NDK, Gradle and Plugins for IntelliJ Idea Platform. Packed with best practices and advanced tips and techniques on Android tools, development cycle, continuos integration, release management, testing, and performance, this book offers professional guidance to experienced developers who want to push the boundaries of the Android platform with the developer tools. You'll discover how to use the tools and techniques to unleash your true potential as a developer.

• Discover the basics of working in Android Studio and Gradle, as well as the application architecture of the latest Android platform
• Understand Native Development Kit and its integration with Android Studio
• Complete your development lifecycle with automated tests, dependency management, continuos integration and release management
• Writing your own Gradle plugins to customize build cycle
• Writing your own plugins for Android Studio to help your development tasks.

Expert Android Studio is a tool for expert and experienced developers who want to learn how to make use of the tools while creating Android applications for use on mobile devices.

Asynchronous Android Programming, 2nd Edition

Asynchronous Android Programming

About This Book

• Construct scalable and performant applications to take advantage of multi-thread asynchronous techniques
• Explore the high-level Android asynchronous constructs available on the Android SDK
• Choose the most appropriate asynchronous technique to implement your next outstanding feature

Who This Book Is For
This book is for Android developers who want to learn how to build multithreaded and reliable Android applications using high-level and advanced asynchronous techniques and concepts.

What You Will Learn

• Get familiar with the Android process model and low-level concurrent and multithread constructs available on the Android SDK
• Use AsyncTask to load data in the background, delivering progress results in the meantime
• Enhance UI performance and responsiveness by sending work to a service running in the background
• Defer, schedule, and batch work on the Android system without compromising the battery life and user experience
• Use the JNI interface to execute concurrent work on native layer
• Pull and push data from your network servers using the Google GCM platform
• Create and compose tasks with RxJava to execute complex asynchronous work in a predictable way
• Get accustomed to the use of the Android Loader construct to deliver up-to-date results

In Detail
Asynchronous programming has acquired immense importance in Android programming, especially when we want to make use of the number of independent processing units (cores) available on the most recent Android devices. To start with, we will discuss the details of the Android process model and the Java low-level concurrent framework, delivered by the Android SDK. Next, we will discuss the creation of IntentServices, bound services, and external services, which can run in the background even when the user is not interacting with them. In a more advanced phase, you will create background tasks that are able to execute CPU-intensive tasks in native code–making use of the Android NDK.

You will be then guided through the process of interacting with remote services asynchronously using the HTTP protocol or Google GCM Platform. Finally, we will introduce RxJava, a popular asynchronous Java framework used to compose work in a concise and reactive way.

The Android Game Developer's Handbook

The Android Game Developer's Handbook

Key Features

• Practical tips and tricks to develop powerful Android games
• Learn to successfully implement microtransactions and monitor the performance of your game once it's out live.
• Integrate Google's DIY VR tool and Google Cardboard into your games to join in on the VR revolution

Book Description
Gaming in android is an already established market and growing each day. Previously games were made for specific platforms, but this is the time of cross platform gaming with social connectivity. It requires vision of polishing, design and must follow user behavior. This book would help developers to predict and create scopes of improvement according to user behavior.

You will begin with the guidelines and rules of game development on the Android platform followed by a brief description about the current variants of Android devices available. Next you will walk through the various tools available to develop any Android games and learn how to choose the most appropriate tools for a specific purpose.

You will then learn JAVA game coding standard and style upon the Android SDK. Later, you would focus on creation, maintenance of Game Loop using Android SDK, common mistakes in game development and the solutions to avoid them to improve performance. We will deep dive into Shaders and learn how to optimize memory and performance for an Android Game before moving on to another important topic, testing and debugging Android Games followed by an overview about Virtual Reality and how to integrate them into Android games.

Want to program a different way? Inside you'll also learn Android game Development using C++ and OpenGL. Finally you would walk through the required tools to polish and finalize the game and possible integration of any third party tools or SDKs in order to monetize your game when it's one the market!

What you will learn

• Learn the prospects of Android in Game Development
• Understand the Android architecture and explore platform limitation and variations
• Explore the various approaches for Game Development using Android
• Learn about the common mistakes and possible solutions on Android Game Development
• Discover the top Cross Platform Game Engines and port games on different android platform
• Optimize memory and performance of your game.
• Familiarize yourself with different ways to earn money from Android Games

About the Author
Avisekhar Roy is a B.Tech engineer in computer science. He has had a passion for coding since his school days. However, he had no plans to become a game programmer. His fate landed him in the gaming industry in 2010. Since then, he fell in love with game development.

Avisekhar has worked in many formats of game development environment, ranging from small companies and individual studios to corporate companies and full-scale game development studios. He recently started his own gaming start-up in 2016 and is currently working on games for the mobile platform.

Avisekhar has also worked with some big companies, such as Reliance Games in India, as well as a small-scale studio called Nautilus Mobile. He is now trying to acquire a position in the gaming industry for his own venture, Funboat Games.

Table of Contents

1. Android Game Development
2. Introduction to Different Android Platforms
3. Different Android Development Tools
4. Android Development Style and Standards in the Industry
5. Understanding the Game Loop and Frame Rate
6. Improving Performance of 2D/3D Games
7. Working with Shaders
8. Performance and Memory Optimization
9. Testing Code and Debugging
10. Scope for Android in VR Games
11. Android Game Development Using C++ and OpenGL
12. Polishing Android Games
13. Third-Party Integration, Monetization, and Services

Hacking Android

Explore every nook and cranny of the Android OS to modify your device and guard it against security threats

Hacking Android
About This Book

• Understand and counteract against offensive security threats to your applications
• Maximize your device's power and potential to suit your needs and curiosity
• See exactly how your smartphone's OS is put together (and where the seams are)

Who This Book Is For
This book is for anyone who wants to learn about Android security. Software developers, QA professionals, and beginner- to intermediate-level security professionals will find this book helpful. Basic knowledge of Android programming would be a plus.

What You Will Learn

• Acquaint yourself with the fundamental building blocks of Android Apps in the right way
• Pentest Android apps and perform various attacks in the real world using real case studies
• Take a look at how your personal data can be stolen by malicious attackers
• Understand the offensive maneuvers that hackers use
• Discover how to defend against threats
• Get to know the basic concepts of Android rooting
• See how developers make mistakes that allow attackers to steal data from phones
• Grasp ways to secure your Android apps and devices
• Find out how remote attacks are possible on Android devices

In Detail
With the mass explosion of Android mobile phones in the world, mobile devices have become an integral part of our everyday lives. Security of Android devices is a broad subject that should be part of our everyday lives to defend against ever-growing smartphone attacks. Everyone, starting with end users all the way up to developers and security professionals should care about android security.

Hacking Android is a step-by-step guide that will get you started with Android security. You'll begin your journey at the absolute basics, and then will slowly gear up to the concepts of Android rooting, application security assessments, malware, infecting APK files, and fuzzing. On this journey you'll get to grips with various tools and techniques that can be used in your everyday pentests. You'll gain the skills necessary to perform Android application vulnerability assessment and penetration testing and will create an Android pentesting lab.

Style and approach
This comprehensive guide takes a step-by-step approach and is explained in a conversational and easy-to-follow style. Each topic is explained sequentially in the process of performing a successful penetration test. We also include detailed explanations as well as screenshots of the basic and advanced concepts.

Android for the BeagleBone Black

Design and implement Android apps that interface with your own custom hardware circuits and the BeagleBone Black

Android for the BeagleBone Black
About This Book

• Design custom apps that interact with the outside world via BeagleBone Black
• Modify Android to recognize, configure, and communicate with sensors, LEDs, memory, and more
• A step-by-step guide full of practical Android app examples that will help the users to create Android controlled devices that will use BeagleBone as hardware

Who This Book Is For
If you are an Android app developer who wants to experiment with the hardware capabilities of the BeagleBone Black platform, then this book is ideal for you. You are expected to have basic knowledge of developing Android apps but no prior hardware experience is required.

What You Will Learn

• Install Android on your BeagleBone Black
• Explore the three primary hardware interfaces of the BeagleBone Black—GPIO, SPI, and I2C
• Construct circuits that interface the BeagleBone Black with high-speed sensors, external memory chips, and more
• Discover the advantages and disadvantages of using GPIO, I2C, and SPI components in your interfacing projects
• Modify Android to recognize and interface with your own custom and prototype hardware
• Develop multithreaded apps that communicate directly with custom circuitry

In Detail
This book explores using the Android OS on the BeagleBone Black hardware platform and provides an introduction to Android's unique approach to hardware interfacing. You'll be walked through the process of installing and configuring Android on your BeagleBone Black, as well as preparing your PC development environment to create Android applications that directly interface with hardware devices. Several example projects within this book introduce you to using the GPIO, SPI, and I2C hardware interfaces of the BeagleBone Black.

You'll create Android apps that communicate directly with actual hardware components such as sensors, memory chips, switches, and LEDs. Step-by-step guidance through both the software and hardware portions of these projects is provided. Combining all of the previous projects into a single project that uses GPIO, SPI, and I2C together, you will explore the details of creating an advanced hardware interfacing app. Finally, you'll be provided with information on transitioning prototype code into code suitable for deployment on an Android-based device. With a variety of example apps that demonstrate key hardware communication concepts, this book will help you become an Android hardware interfacing pro in no time.

Creating Dynamic UIs with Android Fragments - Second Edition

Create engaging apps with fragments to provide a rich user interface that dynamically adapts to the individual characteristics of your customers' tablets and smartphones

Creating Dynamic UIs with Android Fragments - Second Edition
About This Book

• From an eminent author comes a book that will help you create engaging apps that dynamically adapt to individual device characteristics
• The only book that includes the latest fragment-oriented features and their role in Material design
• This book provides code-intensive discussions and detailed examples that help you understand better and learn faster.

Who This Book Is For
This book is for developers with a basic understanding of Android programming who would like to improve the appearance and usability of their applications by creating a more interactive user experience and dynamically adaptive UIs; providing better support for tablets and smartphones in a single app; and reducing the complexity of managing app UIs.

What You Will Learn

• Learn the role and capabilities of fragments
• Use Android Studio's fragment-oriented features
• Create an app UI that works effectively on smartphones and tablets
• Manage the creation and life cycle of fragments
• Dynamically manage fragments using the FragmentTransaction class
• Learn the application design for communicating between fragments
• Leverage fragments when implementing applications that take advantage of the latest features of Material Design

In Detail
Today's users expect mobile apps to be dynamic and highly interactive, with rich navigation features. These same apps must look fantastic whether running on a medium-resolution smartphone or high-resolution tablet. Fragments provide the toolset we need to meet these user expectations by enabling us to build our applications out of adaptable components that take advantage of the rich capabilities of each individual device and automatically adapt to their differences.

This book looks at the impact fragments have on Android UI design and their role in both simplifying many common UI challenges and in providing best practices for incorporating rich UI behaviors. We look closely at the roll of fragment transactions and how to work with the Android back stack. Leveraging this understanding, we explore several specialized fragment-related classes such as ListFragment and DialogFragment. We then go on to discuss how to implement rich navigation features such as swipe-based screen browsing, and the role of fragments when developing applications that take advantage of the latest aspects of Material Design.

You will learn everything you need to provide dynamic, multi-screen UIs within a single activity, and the rich UI features demanded by today's mobile users.

Style and approach
A fast-paced learning guide that gives a hands-on, code-intensive approach with a focus on real-world applications.

Android UI Design

Android UI DesignKey Features

• Take an initial idea for an Android app and develop it into a detailed plan, supported by sketches and wireframes
• Provide a better experience for your users by following best practices and the new material design principles
• Work more efficiently and save time by testing your ideas at an early stage by building a prototype

Book Description
Great design is one of the key drivers in the adoption of new applications, yet unfortunately design considerations are often neglected in the face of "will it work," "can we make it quicker," or "can we get more people using it"?

This book seeks to redress this balance by showing you how to get your PM to start treating the design phase of your project seriously. This book is focused entirely on the development of UI features, and you'll be able to practically implementing the design practices that we extol throughout the book.

Starting by briefly outlining some of the factors you need to keep in mind when building a UI, you'll learn the concepts of Android User Interface from scratch. We then move on to formulate a plan on how to implement these concepts in various applications. We will deep dive into how UI features are implemented in real-world applications where UIs are complex and dynamic.

This book offers near complete coverage of UI-specific content including, views, fragments, the wireframing process, and how to add in splash screens-everything you need to make professional standard UIs for modern applications. It will then cover material design and show you how to implement Google's design aesthetic in a practical manner. Finally, it ensures the best possible user experience by analyzing the UI using various tools, and then addressing any problems they uncover.

By the end of the book, you'll be able to leverage the concepts of Android User Interface in your applications in order to attract new customers.

What you will learn

• Develop a user interface that adheres to all the core material design principles
• Transform your initial app idea into a concrete and detailed plan
• Add Views, ViewGroups, layouts, and common UI components to your own Android projects
• Use fragments and various strategies to gather user input
• Create a new Android Studio project and develop it into a prototype
• Identify and solve problems with your app's UI to deliver a better user experience

About the Author
Jessica Thornsby studied poetry, prose, and script writing at Bolton University before discovering the world of open source and technical writing, and has never looked back since. Today, she is a technical writer and full-time Android enthusiast residing in sunny Sheffield, England.

She enjoys writing about rooting and flashing mobile devices, Java, Eclipse, and all things Android and Google. When not wordsmithing about technology and obsessing about the latest Android developments, she keeps a blog about her local food scene, and writes about looking after exotic pets. On the rare occasions that she's dragged away from her computer, she enjoys beer gardens, curry houses, the Great British seaside, scary movies, and spending lots of time with her house rabbits and chinchillas.

App Inventor 2 Essentials

A step-by-step introductory guide to mobile app development with App Inventor 2

App Inventor 2 Essentials
About This Book

• Get an introduction to the functionalities of App Inventor 2 and use it to unleash your creativity
• Learn to navigate the App Inventor platform, develop basic coding skills and become familiar with a blocks based programming language
• Build your very first mobile app and feel proud of your accomplishment
• Follow tutorials to expand your app development skills

Who This Book Is For
App Inventor 2 Essentials is for anyone who wants to learn to make mobile apps for Android devices – no prior coding experience is necessary.

What You Will Learn

• Perform technical setup and navigate the App Inventor platform
• Utilize the interactive development environment by pairing a mobile device with a computer using Wi-Fi or USB
• Build three apps: a game, an event app and a raffle app
• Create the user interface of the app in the Designer and program the code in the Blocks Editor
• Integrate basic computer science principles along with more complex elements such fusion tables and lists
• Test and troubleshoot your applications
• Publish your apps on Google Play Store to reach a wide audience
• Unleash your creativity for further app development

In Detail
App Inventor 2 will take you on a journey of mobile app development. We begin by introducing you to the functionalities of App Inventor and giving you an idea about the types of apps you can develop using it. We walk you through the technical set up so you can take advantage of the interactive development environment (live testing). You will get hands-on, practical experience building three different apps using tutorials. Along the way, you will learn computer science principles as well as tips to help you prepare for the creative process of building an app from scratch. By the end of the journey, you will learn how to package an app and deploy it to app markets. App Inventor 2 Essentials prepares you to amass a resource of skills, knowledge and experience to become a mobile app developer

Style and approach
Every topic in this book is explained in step-by-step and easy-to-follow fashion, accompanied with screenshots of the interface that will make it easier for you to understand the processes.

App Inventor 2 Graphics, Animation and Charts

App Inventor 2 Graphics, Animation and Charts

Learn to create apps using simplified interactive image sprites and to control movement using a finger on the screen or by tilting the phone or tablet. Learn how to use the "Canvas" features for drawing, including a unique way to implement traditional animation features.

Volume 4 introduces the use of graphics drawing features, including general graphics features, image sprites, animation and charting. Charting refers to the creation of line, column, scatter plot, and strip recorder charts commonly used in business and finance.

This is volume 4 of a 4 volume set. Volume 1 introduces App Inventor programming, Volume 2 introduces advanced features and Volume 3 covers databases and files.

Includes numerous sample apps, detailed explanations, illustrations, app source code downloads and links to video tutorials. A printed edition of this title is available from Amazon's CreateSpace subsidiary at https://www.createspace.com/5801361

Visit the web site at appinventor.pevest.com to learn more about App Inventor and find more tutorials, resources, links to App Inventor books and other App Inventor web sites.

Android Application Development Cookbook - Second Edition

Over 100 recipes to help you solve the most common problems faced by Android Developers today

Android Application Development Cookbook - Second Edition
About This Book

• Find the answers to your common Android programming problems, from set up to security, to help you deliver better applications, faster
• Uncover the latest features of Android Marshmallow to make your applications stand out
• Get up to speed with Android Studio 1.4 - the first Android Studio based on the IntelliJ IDE from JetBrains

Who This Book Is For
If you are new to Android development and want to take a hands-on approach to learning the framework, or if you are an experienced developer in need of clear working code to solve the many challenges in Android development, you can benefit from this book. Either way, this is a resource you'll want to keep at your desk for a quick reference to solve new problems as you tackle more challenging projects.

What You Will Learn

• Along with Marshmallow, get hands-on working with Google's new Android Studio IDE
• Develop applications using the latest Android framework while maintaining backward-compatibility with the support library
• Master Android programming best practices from the recipes
• Create exciting and engaging applications using knowledge gained from recipes on graphics, animations, and multimedia
• Work through succinct steps on specifics that will help you complete your project faster
• Keep your app responsive (and prevent ANRs) with examples on the AsynchTask class
• Utilize Google Speech Recognition APIs for your app.
• Make use of Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) to create Push Notifications for your users
• Get a better understanding of the Android framework through detailed explanations

In Detail
The Android OS has the largest installation base of any operating system in the world; there has never been a better time to learn Android development to write your own applications, or to make your own contributions to the open source community!

This “cookbook” will make it easy for you to jump to a topic of interest and get what you need to implement the feature in your own application. If you are new to Android and learn best by “doing,” then this book will provide many topics of interest.

Starting with the basics of Android development, we move on to more advanced concepts, and we'll guide you through common tasks developers struggle to solve. The first few chapters cover the basics including Activities, Layouts, Widgets, and the Menu. From there, we cover fragments and data storage (including SQLite), device sensors, the camera, and GPS. Then we move on more advanced topics such as graphics and animation (including OpenGL), multi-threading with AsyncTask, and Internet functionality with Volley. We'll also demonstrate Google Maps and Google Cloud Messaging (also known as Push Notifications) using the Google API Library.

Finally, we'll take a look at several online services designed especially for Android development. Take your application big-time with full Internet web services without having to become a server admin by leveraging the power of Backend as a Service (BaaS) providers.

Style and approach
This book progresses from the fundamentals of Android Development to more advanced concepts, with recipes to solve the most common problems faced by developers. This cookbook makes it easy to jump to specific topics of interest, where you'll find simple steps to implement the solution and get a clear explanation of how it works.

NFC For Dummies

NFC For Dummies
Your no-nonsense guide to Near Field Communication
Are you a newcomer to Near Field Communication and baffled by the scant documentation and online support available for this powerful new technology? You've come to the right place! Written in a friendly and easily accessible manner, NFC For Dummies takes the intimidation out of working with the features of NFC-enabled devices and tells you exactly what it is and what it does—and doesn't do.

NFC is revolutionizing the way people interact on a daily basis. It enables big data and cloud-based computing through mobile devices and can be used by anyone with a smartphone or tablet every day! Soon to be as commonplace as using Wi-Fi or the camera on your smartphone, NFC is going to forever change the way we interact with people and the things around us. It simplifies the sending and receiving of information, makes monetary transactions simple and secure—Apple Pay already uses NFC—and is a low-cost product to manufacture and use. As more developers create apps with NFC, you're going to see it used regularly—everywhere from cash registers to your social media accounts to electronic identity systems. Don't get left behind; get up to speed on NFC today!

• Provides a plain-English overview of NFC
• Covers the history and technology behind NFC
• Helps you make sense of IoT and powered chips
• Explains proximity technologies and non-payment applications

Whether you're a developer, investor, or a mobile phone user who is excited about the capabilities of this rapidly growing technology, NFC For Dummies is the reference you'll want to keep close at hand!