Android's Future

Developer's Corner - Backing up an Android database

2012-03-13T16:30:00.000-04:00

If you've ever looked up information on Android databases, you'll find a slew of it relating to creating them. What you won't find even in Google's documentation is how to create external databases or how to back up those that are dynamically created in the app.

For today's Developer's Corner, we're going to discuss the latter. And the code you'll see is going live in my Body Stats Women app that's on the market. Feel free to use the code and tweak it as you see fit. If you want to skip the boring discussion, go down to the end of this post.

Native or Java? That is the question.

When it comes to backing up Android databases, there are websites that give good instruction on backing up a file with Java. However, Android throws a wrench that might make using the Java method more work.

For example, in Java it's expected that one is using a desktop and will specify the target backup location. Another assumption is that you know where your database lives in the directory structure. The last part can be discovered with a little internet search. However, let's look at an example.

You could type out the physical location of your Android database. But why do that when all you need to do is this:

File data = Environment.getDataDirectory();

So even if you didn't know where your database was actually located, if you use the Android "Environment" class, it really doesn't matter. From here, you simply specify the rest of the path: /data/your package name/databases/your database name. Here's the path for Body Stats Women (don't worry about other apps accessing your database. Unless you use a content provider, they couldn't access it anyway):

"/data/com.androidsfuture.bodystats/databases/bodystats"

The other issue you're going to run into is where will you save your backup. This is the biggest problem of all. What if your user has a phone with no data storage unless he has an SD card? Now think of a user that has 16GB internal storage then bought a 16GB SD card. Where will you put the backup? If you choose the Java method, you're in for a lot of work. Fortunately, the Android team at Google has made this easy for you.

Taking advantage of the Environment class again, you simply use Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory(); . Doing it this way requires less coding and error handling on your part.

So far, doing it the Android way seems like a better move. Once we get into the actual backup, you'll see it's a much better choice then the Java way.

Where to start?

You could use a separate class to do the work of backing up. But since you should never do heavy duty lifting in the main thread, you'll need to create a separate thread. Once again the fine folks in Mountain View have made the work easier.

In our example, we're going to use AsyncTask which by default requires that you subclass it. But before we get started with that, we want to check a few things.

First, what if the user has their SD card/internal storage mounted to their computer? We certainly couldn't back anything up! So we first check to see if this is the case (this code is still in the main body of your code).

For this we need two methods. I made them public because if you decide to restore the database or use it elsewhere in the app, you can use them again without rewriting.

Here we check to see if the external storage even exists and if we can write to it. If it's there but we can't write, there's no reason to proceed with the backup.

We also want to notify the user of what's about to happen. You can do it however you'd like but I use dialog boxes. Ever since I saw Google's Chrome error messages: "He's dead, Jim!" and "Aww, snap!", I try to put engaging messages and get away from the sterile "An error has occurred". Here's the code warning that the SD card isn't inserted:

And this is the dialog telling them that if they proceed they will overwrite their existing backup:

And here's what they look like in the app:

Heavy Lifting

Let's skip down to the actual work being done.

We said that you must subclass AsyncTask. There are 3 necessary methods you'll need for this to work.

And they are:

onPreExecute();

doInBackground();

onPostExecute();

Here's the Cliff Notes explanation of what these do:

onPreExecute - display anything you want the user to see or that you need to do like close the database. In our example, we display our progress dialog box.

doInBackground - this is where the backup will actually occur.

onPostExecute - display a message that the work is finished or call some other method that does more work.

Let's look at what's being done in the doInBackground method:

The variable theBasedir is grabbing what the phone sees as the primary storage device. In a phone with no internal storage this will be the SD card. In a phone with internal storage, the internal storage will be favored over the SD card. This is why doing this the Android way is preferable to the Java way.

The variable theSubdir is the directory we will be creating on the SD card.

The variable data is the default location of Android databases in your app. The string currentDBPath is the rest of the path for where your database lives inside the phone.

You see that we call a method named copyFile. Here's the code for that and what it's doing:

Notice that we're using FileChannel instead of just FileInputStream/FileOutputStream. From what I've read, java.nio is faster than java.io. And since you'll probably use this code in other projects, might as well do the work just once.

Final steps

I created a method that checks to see if the external storage is available and that it is writable. I also close the database prior to attempting to backup:

And that's pretty much it! I must admit that it took me a bit of work to come up with this. And since others on the internet helped me figure out what to do with their code samples, I'm putting mine up for you:

Museums In NYC - Top 500 Apps of 2012

2012-01-29T15:46:00.002-05:00

Museums In NYC Listed in The Sunday Times Top 500 Apps of 2012!

Androids Future is proud to announce that Museums In NYC has been selected as one of The Sunday Times 500 Best Apps of 2012!

Put together by a team of experienced app reviewers and aided by experts in specialist fields such as fashion and culture, the list exhaustively covers the best apps from beauty, finance, literature and travel through to productivity and problem solvers.The app list consists of apps from not just the Android Market but also Apple's App Store and Windows Phone Market Place.

A crowded space to be sure which is what makes this such an honor.

The Museums In... series is growing. Museums In NYC is but one of a number of apps that follow the same format including Museums In Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Philly. And very shortly, Museums in San Diego will hit the Android Market.

Thanks again for the support! And I promise to keep making these apps better. If you would like to submit your suggestions to improve the Museums In... series, send me an email to androidsfuture@gmail.com. Find the list on Twitter using hashtag #myfaveapp .

Developer's Corner - Using Spinners (Drop-down list) Part 2

2010-12-29T19:45:00.004-05:00

In the last posting, we discussed populating a spinner (drop-down list) from a static array. However, there will be times when you will want that data to be dynamic, perhaps showing the results of a user's input. If you haven't read the previous article on spinners, do so prior to continuing this article.

If you have never used databases in Android, I suggest doing the Android Notepad tutorial first. Once you have an understanding, come back here. Because this is a continuation of Part 1, this is going to be a pretty short posting.

The steps we're going to perform are exactly the same as in Part 1. Create your spinner as you would any other object in Android. Yours should look something like this:

Spinner spinner = (Spinner)findViewById(R.id.SpinnerName);

Next, construct your query:

final Cursor cursor = db.query(DATABASE_TABLE_PILLS, FROM, null, null, null, null, DataBaseHelper.KEY_DATE);

Here's where things are going to diverge from what you're used to. Normally, when you perform a query, you'd be taking the data one record at a time and filling a View (usually a ListView). If you try like I did, to use the same methods you used in the Notepad tutorial, you will become very frustrated. That's because, unlike a ListView, you need all the items to be available when the user selects the spinner. So how do you do that?

The best way to do this is with an array. In the Notepad tutorial, you had a view with TextViews and you matched up each column retrieved from the database to one of those views. In this case, instead of matching columns to a View, we're going to match it up with an array like so:

SimpleCursorAdapter adapter = new SimpleCursorAdapter(this,

android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item, cursor,

new String [ ] {DataBaseHelper.KEY_NAME},

new int [ ] {android.R.id.text1});

Let's dissect this. The SimpleCursorAdapter looks normal up until you get to the last line. android.R.id.text1 may be new to you. This is a built-in Android TextView. Sounds good enough. But notice that although it's a TextView, it's not a string; it's an integer.

From here it works just the way it does in Part 1. Below is a screenshot of what the full text will look like when you're done:

As you can see, with the exception of the Cursor and SimpleCursorAdaptor, everything is the same as it was in Part 1. Hopefully it wasn't too confusing for you. And more importantly, I hope this saves you from the double-digit hours it took me to get this working on my project.

Developer's Corner - Using Spinners (Drop-down list) Part 1

2010-11-16T00:43:00.014-05:00

It's been some time since I posted a Developer's Corner update. My motivation to create this series was spawned by some if the problems I ran into with some of my projects and my desire to make the life of others less painful or at the very least, experience that pain for a much shorter duration.

Some might protest that Google already has documentation on populating spinners from arrays and databases. If you haven't seen that documentation, read up on it here. To see how to populate the spinner from a database, read here.

After reading those references, does it all make sense to you now? If it doesn't, don't feel bad. We're going to explain what's happening so you will understand why you will do what you will do to use spinners. In this blog, we're going to deal only with spinners populated from static arrays.

Let's get started.

Spinners - Step by Step

Step 1

The first thing you'll need to do is to open strings.xml. Select Add, then choose String Array. Notice you'll only have one field to fill in. This is because this will be the name you use to access the array.

Next, highlight your new String Array and click New. You'll be presented with a new window as shown below. Add all the items you want to be part of your array.

Now, go to your layout and add your spinner where ever you choose and name it whatever you like. Finally, open the class that will use the spinner.

Step 2

Create a global String variable. I'll use the one that matches the code below to keep things consistent:

String schdFreq = null;

Inside your onCreate method, add the text in the screen shot below (you may have to click on it see it clearly) replacing my variable names with your own:

Let's examine what we're doing.

You are creating your spinner object like you would any other in Android. Where things are different then what you're used to is on line 2. Note the line R.array.frequency, android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item . The first is the name of the array you created in strings.xml. The second (android.R.layout.simple_spinner_item) is a built-in Android object to populate the spinner from the contents of your array. So for this one, just type what you see. This will create the pull-down your users will use.

If you're following everything so far, finish typing what's in the screenshot up to and including the last public void statement.

Step 3

Now the issue is: how do you know which array item your user selected and then use it in your app?

The global string that you made at the beginning of Step 2 is what's going to capture the user's selection. This is done on the line:

schdFreq = parent.getItemAtPosition(pos).toString();

Take note that the method this line is inside of is called: onItemSelected. This method is how your app will know what was selected from the spinner (pull-down). schdFreq then captures the selected item and converts it to a string for use. Because schdFreq is a global variable, you can now use it anywhere in your class.

Conclusion

As you can see, it's pretty simple once you understand how spinners work. Next blog we'll show how to populate your spinner from a database. There are a few things that are done differently as well as a few extra steps. But it's pretty easy if you've queried a database in Android before. We'll do that next.

New App! - Wine Country

2010-10-23T22:29:00.006-04:00

"I explored with my heart by cheering my flesh even with wine." - Ecclesiastes 2:3

Click image to install

Indeed, who doesn't like wine? The problem is finding one that elicits that type of response in ourselves.

As many of you know, some museums have wine tasting events or wine is served at special unveilings of exhibits. But where do you go if you want a good wine? Wouldn't you like to go straight to the source to satisfy your palate? That's where Wine Country comes in.

Most of us have our favorite wine. We may even enjoy wines from regions not even in the U.S. But how many are aware of the wonderful choices available locally? Wine Country seeks to bring these local wineries closer to your heart.

The first thing you'll see when you open this Android app is a simple interface displaying Wine Regions, Events and Pairing. The purpose is to present you with things you most likely will use frequently.

Let take a look at them one at a time.

Select Region

Notice that you are presented with all the wine regions in the state without transferring you to a different screen like most Android apps. This is so you can easily navigate. And works the same with the Wine Pairing button (which we will discuss momentarily).

After making a selection, you're presented with a list of the wineries in that region with a subtle animation just to add some polish. The list is presented in alphabetical order. Simply select the one that appeals to you. After you do this, the fun really starts.

Each item presents the name of the winery, the address (physical and email), the website, phone number and hours of operation. Where every Wine Country app differs from most is that once you reach this screen, you have 1-touch access to all pertinent information. This means when you touch the physical address, Google Navigation (or whatever you've decided upon as your default navigation app) is automatically opened with the destination already populated. All you have to do is get in the car and drive.

The same is true when touching the phone number. Your dialer opens with the number pre-populated. Just hit Send and you're talking to your winery.

Wine Pairing

You've made the journey. You've tasted the wines. You've picked your favorites. What do you pair with your new bottle of wine? Some of you are very good at marrying wines with food. Others not so much. But don't fret. Wine Country has you covered.

On the right side of the page you're presented with the wine pairing list. From here it's simple. Just select the wine you plan to drink and a list will appear to help you easily pair.

No need to do a lot of reading. Icons depicting meats, sauces, cheeses, seafood and vegetables makes it easy to see what wine goes with what food. Two clicks and you're ready to eat.

Additional Features

The middle button is Wine Events. This is a link to the website LocalWineEvents.com. Once you select your area, you can keep track of local wine events with the touch of one button. The Menu button has a Wine Tasting link that sends you to PennsylvaniaWine.com. If you're not an expert, you'll learn what things to keep in mind while tasting. As an added bonus, the link has guide to wine terminology. What's meant when a wine is described as bold, complex, firm? What's tannin, soft, and finish mean? All your questions are answered from this link.

As with all Androids Future apps, you can express your thoughts or suggestions about the app directly to me. You can also let your friends know about your new app. Finally, there's a link to other Androids Future apps, some of which go perfectly with Wine Country.

Enjoy your new app and feel free to share what you think will make it better!

Download Your Copy of Wine Country!

If viewing on an Android device with the Android Market installed, just click here to download the app. If you're on a desktop, use the app "Barcode Scanner" (written by ZXing Team) or similar and scan the barcode below:

Simple Mobile - Your Answer to Carrier Independence?

2010-08-27T20:35:00.002-04:00

What do you do if you purchased a Nexus One developer phone but don't want to pay for T-Mobile Service? After all, you need internet connectivity to test apps you write that use any Google Map feature. Is it possible to get an unlocked GSM phone like the Nexus One and get not only phone service but also internet access without shackling yourself to AT&T or T-Mobile?

It looks like you might get your wish. Since I'm still warm from my experience with T-Mobile, anything that allows me to break their yoke (or any mobile carrier's yoke for that matter) jumps to my attention. And remember what I told you yesterday: Never enter into a mobile contract if you don't have to.

Enter Simple Mobile. Now I will confess up front that I have not used them. In fact, I just found out about them 20 minutes ago. However, Simple Mobile presents another option to the T-Mobile Even More Plus plan. And it's a lot cheaper.

First, let's break down the plans. For $40/month you get unlimited nationwide talk and text. Now, before we go further, we'll read the disclaimer: nationwide doesn't necessarily mean where you live nor does it mean your service will be strong even if it is offered. Although from the map if you live in Puerto Rico, it looks like the whole country is covered.

Next, for $50 you can get unlimited nationwide talk, text and 100MB of web(data). This might be a good option if you plan on using your phone only for development or even a daily driver as long as you don't use apps that constantly check the weather, social and new feeds and the like. But if you do use these things....

There's the $60 per month unlimited everything plan complete with nationwide talk, text and web. So if you do want to use your developer phone as a daily driver with all the aforementioned updating, then this might be the plan for you.

All this is fine and good assuming you have a GSM phone (English translation: your phone works on AT&T or T-Mobile). What if you don't?

If you're a developer, you can still get a Nexus One once they come off backorder. But let's say you don't want that. You want a Samsung Galaxy S without all the form factor changes and modifications the U.S. carriers have made. Where can you go?

Simple Mobile has a link to some of those "reputable" 3rd party sites we spoke about yesterday. Choose your retailer, then choose your phone.

That's it for now. Who'd a thunk T-Mobile setting me off would yield all of this? I should say in the interest of full disclosure that I have no affiliation with Simple Mobile whatsoever, either directly or indirectly. I saw their ad on a webpage and decided to check it out.

Editorial: Don't Get Played By Your Mobile Carrier (Update)

2010-08-27T19:10:00.001-04:00

We're going to stray a bit from our usual discussion and talk about something equally relevant. Your mobile carrier will rob you blind if you allow yourself to get suckered by them. Here's how to make sure that doesn't happen.

In the United States, if you want a high end or even mid-level Android phone, you have no choice but to choose from one of the Big 4 carriers - AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. In exchange for your undying loyalty (as expressed by your two year contract with early termination punishable by as much as $350), they provide you a phone at roughly half the retail value.

So far, so good except for one detail - and we'll pick on T-Mobile to make this point. With T-Mobile, you have the option of yoking yourself under a two year contract or choosing their Even More Plus plan. After attempting to glaze you over like a holiday turkey with the massive savings by choosing this plan, they point out that the $500+ phone you're gawking at won't be subsidized. That's right; the whole amount comes out of your pocket.

"That's too much money!" you protest. Not to worry. If you go under contract, that $500 phone just dropped to $200. "That's manageable," you say. Ah, but here is your first lesson on not getting played by your mobile carrier (and we'll continue to pick on T-Mobile. You'll see why later).

Gettin' Played Lesson #1: Never go under contract if you don't have to

Let's look at the numbers. You go under a 2 year contract for $20 more per month than if you were not on contract. So, in the course of 24 months you would have given them $480. But don't forget; you just paid them $200 for the phone. So that $500 phone you've been eyeballing just cost you over the life of your contract $680, almost $200 more than the phone was worth.

"That's crazy! I'll take the Even More Plus plan and pay for the phone outright!" Good choice. Even if you don't have the full amount, you can finance the balance over 20 months. The balance will probably equal the extra money you would have paid anyway in the higher price point of the 2 year contract. Everything is sounding just dandy.... So far.

Let's say for argument's sake that your wife's phone - her 3rd phone because the first one didn't work before leaving the store parking lot, as well as a later replacement for the replacement over a year later - starts acting up. You've already called T-Mobile and done the troubleshooting with the previous phone that lead to the replacement (same problem all 3 times). T-Mobile now wants "to keep you as a customer". So what do they do?

Gettin' Played Lesson #2: You can't go back under contract once you select the Even More Plus plan.

Say what?

That's right. But remember, T-Mobile wants to keep you as a customer. So that new T-Mobile Vibrant/Galaxy S device that keeps calling your name sells for $150 (after all rebates) for "new" customers. But you aren't a new customer even though you don't have a contract. But they can sell it to you for $250 if you want enslave yourself for the next two years.

"But since I'm not under contract if I want to go back under contract, shouldn't I get the 'new customer' rate?"

"NOPE! Pay up, pal! We're trying to work with you here!" Now, if you've figured out that this posting is personal, we've got a job waiting for you at NASA. But this is exactly what happened to me yesterday.

The really crazy thing about it (as I tried to explain to the T-Mobile rep) is that if I left for another carrier and came back as a new customer, I could get the phone for next to nothing. Apparently, T-Mobile thinks customers are stupid. "Why wouldn't you want this amazing offer? That bloated price is what everyone upgrading pays" (keep in mind they ignored the fact I presented to them as represented in the screenshot from Wirefly.com to the left).

Needless to say, they weren't budging. Even though we were on our 3rd phone (2nd replacement), attempted to stay with T-Mobile by offering to pay more by going under contract, and proving that we could easily get around the system, they still didn't want to budge. Oh, they sounded sincere (ok, the second guy did; the first one was a prize jerk) but really, they didn't care. Which is odd since the Vibrant is a Samsung Galaxy S phone (read: not exclusive) that I can get on other carriers. Which bring us to our next lesson:

Gettin' Played Lesson #3: NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER go through the carrier to get your phone!

That's right boys and girls. NEVER purchase your phone through the carrier (there is an exception we'll talk about later). They'll rob you without the decency of wearing a mask. Let me illustrate. Today is Thursday, August 26, 2010. The Sprint version of the Samsung Galaxy S is the Epic 4G set for official release Tuesday, August 31.

Take a look at what's in the circle to the left. $249.99 for a pre-order. Not so fast. Double-click the screenshot and read the fine print. $249.99 is AFTER a $100 mail-in rebate that will get to you sometime between now and the next 3rd blue moon.

So Sprint is going to hold their hands out waiting for you to drop, not $250 but $350 into their pockets. You see, that price they show is after all transactions are final. That doesn't occur until after they send you $100.

But all is not lost. Our final lesson is:

Gettin' Played Lesson #4: ALWAYS buy thru reputable 3rd parties

Let me show you why with a visual example. Open the two screenshots below:

Notice that these are pre-order prices for the very same Sprint Epic 4G that Sprint will demand $350 (remember, Sprint's rebate doesn't come off at the register). Why let them reach into your pocket when you could to go Wirefly.com on the left and pay $10 less than Sprint's rebated price? Better still, go to Amazon.com and pay only $199? And remember, both of these options are on-the-spot-pricing. No rebates, mail-in or otherwise here folks. What you see is what you pay.

Gettin' Played: Moral of the Story

In this highly competitive market of smartphones/superphones, don't let the carriers trick you into believing that you must take whatever garbage they give, especially when it comes to phone pricing. Don't EVER purchase your phone directly from the carrier. The only exception to this rule is if the offer is really good. Rarely do they do this. But it's not unheard of, such as Verizon's buy-one-get-one free offers. Make your purchases through reputable online retailers for the best prices like Amazon.com, LetsTalk.com and Wirefly.com. And don't be impatient. Unless you absolutely must be the first kid on the block with the new toy, wait a week or so after the phone's release. Amazon.com at different times was selling the AT&T Captivate and T-Mobile Vibrant (same phone, different carriers) for $0.01 on a new 2 year contract. Even right this moment, Amazon is selling the Captivate for $69.99 - far less than you'll pay on AT&T's site.

As a developer, you'll likely want a high-end phone because anything less will just irritate you. But even if you don't, the fact that you want to develop means you'll likely use an Android phone as your daily driver. So at some point you will purchase another device. Keep these points in mind when you do. This way, even if you pony up for a newer phone before your contract is over, you won't feel like you got played.

Update 08-27-2010
Remember yesterday when I said you could get the AT&T Captivate for $69.99? Well, if you go to Wirefly.com right now, you can get it for only $9.99!

This is why you NEVER purchase a phone through the carrier.

Update 09-01-2010

See what 6 days and some patience can do?

Developer's Corner - App Inventor for Android

2010-07-12T23:29:00.001-04:00

Last week I said we would talk about using TableLayouts. And we will....next week. But don't fret; we're still going to talk about layouts. But just this morning, Google introduced a new development tool that we just had to investigate. And if you're reading this, you definitely want to know about it. It's called App Inventor. Is it as good as using Eclipse? Is it easier? Can you do the same things?

Let's find out!

Before doing saying anything about it, check out the video. Then we can pontificate about the virtues or lack thereof:

Now that you've seen what it can do, let's see if it has the chops to do what you need.

Layouts

Believe it or not, the way Google handles layouts is pretty interesting. It's like playing with a gig-saw puzzle (don't think kids know what that is anymore. Maybe a trip to the museum is a prerequisite :-)

Having used Visual Basic, this looks like a step up. If it doesn't fit, you can use it. Simple to the point.

Advanced Functions

It appears that you will have full access to all the hardware functionality of an Android phone including: GPS-location sensor, Accelerometer Sensor, Orientation Sensor and Location Sensor. Documentation is nearly non-existent so I can't say how one would go about implementing it using App Inventor.

One of the features Google highlights is the ability to use text-to-speech along with other features. So it appears that one could make full blown apps with this. They provide a list of apps developed by students but you can't view screen shots or download them.

So apparently, you CAN drag-n-drop to create Android applications. The best you can do right now is sign up and download the extras. I'm waiting for my portal to be activated. When it is, I'll give you a more in-depth review.

In the meantime, head on over and take a look for yourself and see whether it is something you would want to use.

Developer's Corner - The User Experience: Layouts

2010-07-06T20:42:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posting with yesterday being the "official" work holiday for me and all :-)

Today we're going to talk about user experience. The user experience is what connects your users to your app. The better it is, the more likely they will be to use it.

One of the first things you need to consider is layout. Below are two examples of the exact same app. The one on the left is what I originally envisioned when I first started writing for Android. The one on the right is the product you ~~will see released in the Market in a few days~~ can get from the Android Market right now:

Notice that the content derived from each is the same. But which one would you be inclined to use? Your layout is (dare I say) more important than your content. If users aren't drawn to your layout, they won't care about your content no matter how useful it may be. Your users won't be able to discern all the work you put into designing your layout. In fact, you probably can't tell the difference between the two above. But believe you me, there is a HUGE difference between the layouts. The main difference being:

RelativeLayout vs. LinearLayout

Android has supported LinearLayout since 1.0. As it's name suggests, everything is linear. But lets say you want to use a picture, then put some text next to that picture then something on the side, like this:

How would you do it? What you see above is done with a RelativeLayout. And it also is what the name implies. If you've used Visual Basic, you know you can drag an object to your layout, stretch and move it however you like with your mouse. Not so with Android.

All your layout takes place in XML. You can see the output of what you layout quite easily; you just can't drag and drop (ok, you "can" drag-n-drop. You just can't adjust it where you want via GUI). You must be explicit in where you want your object to appear. You'll be using properties such as android:layout_toRightOf, android:layout_centerHorizontal, android:layout_below, etc. In so doing, you'll be able to layout your app any way your mind can imagine. For more information on RelativeLayout, read up on it on the Android Developer's site.

Here is something I suggest from personal experience. This is NOT a rule nor does Google say, imply or otherwise suggest you do this. "I" recommend that you layout all your layouts with RelativeLayout. Here's why: let's say you want to revamp your layout. You want to move things around; not wholesale changes. Just freshen it up a bit. If you use LinearLayout, you're going to be in for a world of hurt because you now have to change it to RelativeLayout. NOTHING will look right after you do this. Now you'll be performing major surgery. If you started with RelativeLayout, you simply move things around as you see fit. In the case of Museums In Philly, I had to start the layout on the right from scratch because I originally laid it out using LinearLayout.

Are there times when you want to use a LinearLayout? Yes. Particularly with ListViews and ScrollViews. Outside of that, I haven't seen a good reason to use LinearLayout in your parent.

AbsoluteLayout

This can be summed up in 3 words: DON'T USE IT! It has been depreciated meaning it's only there for backward compatibility. Use RelativeLayout or LinearLayout instead.

I initially said the layout differences between the two Museums In Philly screenshots were major. Next week we'll talk about TableLayout. Used in conjunction with RelativeLayout, you can make a very compelling user experience.

Developer's Corner - Getting Started with AVD

2010-06-28T23:09:00.000-04:00

It's Monday! After giving it some thought, I decided to make Mondays officially Developer's Corner Day where I talk about different things you will/may run into as you get started with your Android development. So in this week's Developer's Corner, we're going to look at AVDs or Android Virtual Devices.

What are Android Virtual Devices or AVDs? The name pretty much explains it. But what may not be obvious is that you can replicate ANY android device on the market. For example, in the screen shot above, the AVD has the same screen resolution as the Nexus One (which is why I called it "Nexus One"). However, there are devices out there that are much, much lower in resolution - such as the HTC Tattoo and the Sony Ericsson x10Mini shown below:

Ideally you'll want to create at least one AVD for each of the most popular screen resolutions. This way you'll be able to see how your app will look on devices with high resolution and low. You'll be surprised how some of your layout will look on different devices. After seeing the differences it may facilitate redesigning your layout. Notice how close the lock icon is to the clock on the HTC Tattoo above compared to the Nexus One at the top of the page. This will be what you have to address as you layout your project.

So let's get into creating AVDs.

Getting Started

There are two places you can go to to manage your AVDs. The first is from the icon in the icon bar:

The second is from the menu bar:

Both bring you to the same location. Next, in the AVD Manager click New. Here's where you create your virtual Android device.

After giving it a name (no spaces allowed. Use an underscore if you want a space), come down to Target and select the version of Android you want this to use. For example, if you want this to simulate a Nexus One with Froyo, select Android 2.2.

Most Android devices support microSD cards. If you want your AVD to believe there is an SD card, come down to the SD Card section and specify the size SD card you want. NOTE: You MUST have the same amount of hard disk space on your computer that you want your SD card to have. If you want a 32GB SD card, you will need 32GB of hard disk space on your computer.

Now come down to Skin. Here is where you will select your screen resolution. If you use the canned resolutions next to the Built-in radio button, you will have an AVD that looks like our examples above. If you want a custom resolution, select the Resolution radio button and put your values in. NOTE: You will not get the controls in the skin like you see in the AVDs above if you choose your own resolution. You will have to use keyboard controls. For a list of all of the keyboard commands, check out the official Android Developer's site.

That's it! Click the Create AVD button and you're done. There are a couple of ways to launch your AVD. For now, open up your AVD Manager using the steps outlined under the Getting Started section. Highlight the one you want and select Start. Now you can play with an Android device even if you don't own one!

For a detailed explanation of AVDs, go to the official Android Developer's site.

Developer's Corner - Dealing With Screen Rotation

2010-06-21T02:25:00.001-04:00

Have you ever used an app that reloaded the page when you changed orientation (e.g. portrait to landscape) or worse yet forced closed after the screen orientation changes? If so, you know the frustration that brings. But in today's Developer's Corner we're going to show you how to address that. And you'll be shocked at how easy it is to prevent this issue.

The first thing you'll need to understand to address this problem is how Android handles views. If Android detects a change in the phone's configuration, it destroys the current view and reloads it. So, let's say you have a device with a physical keyboard and you're holding the phone in portrait mode. You then decide to open the keyboard. Android detects this change, destroys the current portrait view and recreates a landscape view.

One of two things will happen: the view will reload in the new configuration or it will force close. So how do you fix it?

First, open the AndroidManifest.xml file in your project and select the Application tab. Select the activity where the configuration change is expected (in most instances you'll want to follow the next steps on all your activities unless you lock the screen orientation. You'll see where you can do that in a moment.).

Still on the Application tab, go to the right side of the page. You'll see "Attributes for 'your activity's name' ". Scroll down until you see "Screen orientation". Here you can choose to lock your activity in portrait or landscape. In Body Stats, I have this set to Portrait. That means no matter if you switch to landscape or open the keyboard, the view will always stay portrait. In our example we're assuming you're allowing either orientation. So in the "Screen orientation" field leave it as "unspecified".

Come down to the next option, "Config changes" and click "select". Check all the boxes you expect your app to come across so it can deal with the config changes. In most instances, you'll need keyboard|keyboardHidden|orientation .

This next part is so stupid easy you're going to think something is missing. Open your activity (class) and paste the following statement:

@Override
    public void onConfigurationChanged(Configuration newConfig) {
      super.onConfigurationChanged(newConfig);


    }

I know what you're thinking: What goes inside that method? Don't we have to tell it to do something when it detects a configuration change?

ABSOLUTELY NOT! :-) The only reason we even include this method is so that the OS knows we're expecting something. The omission of this method is the reason why some apps force close when the keyboard opens or the screen orientation changes. Of course, if you wanted some action to take place when the orientation changed, this is where you would put it. But for our example, nothing is needed. Also, because we've told the OS that we expect a change (and to do nothing when that change occurs), the view never gets destroyed.

So, if you have a webview and you use this method, you're app won't go back to the internet to get the content again after opening the keyboard or rotating the screen.

And that's it! Seems so simple that something else must be needed. But try it. It's most obvious with a webview because the content takes time to load. Now when your users experience a change, they won't get a force close or be frustrated when the view reloads. This means more satisfied users and fewer bad star ratings and more downloads for you.

Developer's Corner - Android Development Books

2010-06-03T23:02:00.007-04:00

It's been some time since we talked about Android development. With tomorrow's release of Sprint's EVO 4G to add to the "superphone" list that includes the Samsung Galaxy S, Motorola Droid 2 and of course, the Nexus-One, there will be a huge user base for any app you develop.

In this segment, we're going to look at some recommended books and the strengths of each. Note that you should evaluate each book based on your learning style and skill level. As stated when Developer's Corner was created, we will focus on development for "newbies".

Let's get started!

Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform by Ed Burnette

We list this first because even if you have zero programming experience, you'll be up on your feet quickly with the basics of Android development: strings, the AndroidManifest.xml, use of TableLayout and TableRow, how to use SQLite databases, use of OpenGL and more.

Despite all the things you'll learn (Mr. Burnette's teaching style is VERY easy and logical to follow) don't expect to use this book to guide you to develop the next great app. After getting the basics it's more of a reference. Nonetheless, it's an excellent book to start getting familiar with Android.

Beginning Android by Mark Murphy

Contrary to the title, Beginning Android is more than just a beginner's book. If you've thought out what app you plan to write and are ready to start pounding out code, this is the book you should probably start reading.

Some of the things you'll see in this book that some other's don't cover include ViewFlipper (very useful if you want the flexibility of TabView but you have more tabs than would be visually responsible), Preferences, file access, parsing HTML, XML and JSON, maps and more.

Mr. Murphy's teaching style is also a VERY easy read, dare I say entertaining. Neither publication reads like traditional programming books. They're technical enough to satisfy your technical needs yet won't make you feel like you just downed a bottle of sleeping pills.

Professional Android 2 Application Development (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) by Reto Meier

Once you've figured out what you want to develop, you'll want to add little touches that make your app feel polished. One of the arguments of Apple fanbois is that the apps on the Android Market don't have the quality of the apps in the iTunes library. The truth is, Android has the ability to let you write apps that look just as good as iPhone apps.

To aid you in that quest, Professional Android 2 will assist you. Unlike the first two books, this doesn't take you step-by-step (ok, that's not *entirely* true. You do write a few apps at the beginning and extend them later). You will see a lot of code snippets. If you aren't familiar enough with Android or Java, you could easily get lost.

Assuming you can follow the snippets, you'll learn how to do cool things like make elaborate custom toasts, add gradient colors to your layouts, have text slide in from the left, right, etc as well as a host of more advanced Android functionality. This is definitely a book you'll want to keep around for future reference.

Sams Teach Yourself Java 6 in 21 Days (5th Edition) by Rogers Cadenhead and Laura Lemay

Some of those less inclined toward Android will tell you that because you have to use Java you will be subject to historically dismal attempts to use Java on mobile devices (Java ME (JME) - Java Micro Edition). And while it was true that JME had its limitations, Android doesn't use JME. It uses Java.

Nonetheless, you will need to know Java and have a basic understanding of how it works. You'll need to know what classes, methods and primitive data types are. You'll also want to know how to cast, work with threads and use switch statements. I'll save you the trouble and tell you now that you can skip the chapters on Swing. You aren't making desktop apps so you won't be using any of that (although you may want to review it if you intend on transferring your skills to the desktop).

This book should be in your library because you'll use it as a reference until you get the hang of writing Java code. Of all the books profiled, this is one you should ABSOLUTELY purchase.

Final Thoughts

The recommendations above come from personal experience with each, not just a skimming of the table of contents. While Amazon.com will likely be your merchant of choice, I HIGHLY suggest going into a brick-n-mortar store and look through each book. Then, if you like what you see, come back here and click the links on this page or use the Amazon search on the right side of this page.

In truth, after reading through these books, you'll be able to write your own Android apps. Will your first app be killer? That depends on how much development experience you have in other languages. But with determination and patience you'll add your mark on "the ever expanding Android Market".

It's Official! - Body Stats Now In Chinese!

2010-05-28T22:41:00.003-04:00

Thanks to our partners at GoAPK.com, we were able to get Chinese support much sooner than expected. It's available for download in the Android Market right now. You'll also be able to find it on http://goapk.com. If you don't see it there, don't worry. Check back again a little later.

If you're a developer and want more information on my experience with GoAPK.com and getting your app translated into Chinese, send me an email at androidboy7@gmail.com

Body Stats - Women Available In Chinese Soon!

2010-05-26T21:19:00.008-04:00

Shortly Body Stats - Women will be available in Chinese. That includes all the features you're used to just with Chinese text. The only exception will be the Gym List. That will remain in English as the gyms in the list are in the United Stats and the United Kingdom.

This is just the beginning. As other apps are developed, they will be simultaneously available for our Chinese Android brethren.

I couldn't do it without the fine folks at GoAPK.com. In fact, if you read Chinese or are reading this from China, take a look at the site and see what other apps you might be missing out on!

Body Stats - Men Available on the Android Market!

2010-04-19T22:46:00.004-04:00

Body Stats - Men Now Available!

One of the comments I received was that the original Body Stats didn't specify that it was geared toward women. I thought about that and realized that, while recording measurements are basically the same, other things like the Motivation page would have a different leaning for men than for women.

In view of that, I've made Body Stats - Men. It does basically the same things as Body Stats - Women but there are differences. Men don't need to know what their hip measurement is. However, they do want to know their neck size.

The Motivation page also is geared toward what interest men. Everyone is impressed by those who've lost massive amounts of weight (and rightly so). But men need to see what other men do to loose weight and stay in shape. So ALL the motivation links have changed including links from Mens Health, Bodybuilding.com as well as video links from:

LL Cool J
The Rock
Lou Ferrigno

The Journal remains to be used as one see fit: workout journal, food journal, pain journal, diary -- anything you need it to be. Also included is the ability to edit journal entries.

Body Stats - Men is available right now on the Android Market. Just do a search for "Body Stats" or scan the barcode to be sent straight to the download page.

Body Stats Now Free!!!

2010-04-09T03:43:00.001-04:00

Beginning Saturday, April 10, 2010 Body Stats will be available from the Android Market for FREE!

Additionally 10 new motivational links will be included. Watch the video "What I Ate to Loose 100 Pounds", "The Amazing Story of a Woman Who Lost 500 Pounds" and the special video "Shay Sorrells - Biggest Loser Season 8 Interview"!

All who purchased Body Stats have been issued a FULL refund.

EuroDroid Reviews Body Stats. Verdict? GOOD APP!

2010-04-01T23:00:00.000-04:00

Today Body Stats was reviewed by EuroDroid (follow them from the link to the right) and came to the conclusion that it's a Good App (ok, I did ask them to review it :-). But they didn't add it to the Rubbish App list, so I'm happy about that :-)

But seriously, check out their review and follow them even afterward. They review Android from a "not-American" perspective. And as a developer, you'll want to know what's going on everywhere so you can know what features your potential users will want or need.

Imitation iPad Anyone?

2010-03-31T20:49:00.001-04:00

The fine folks at AndroidCommunity are reporting that a 10" imitation iPad tablet running Android has appeared. Pricing is set to start around $150. The specs include:

600MHz ARM processor
256 MB RAM
1 to 64GB of storage
10 inch screen

A 7 inch version is expected with goodies like this:

800X480 resolution
3500mAH 7.2V Lithium battery
WiFi

What I'm finding interesting about this and the iPad is that pricing is low compared to comparably equipped cell phones. Perhaps this trend will trickle down.

That being said, the hardware is a total rip-off of the iPad. Check out the pics over at AndroidCommunity and see for yourself.

[source:AndroidCommunity]

New Android Developer Phone On the Horizon?

2010-03-31T20:42:00.002-04:00

4 days ago just for kicks I decided to see what was new on the Android developer phone front. It had the expected ADP1 and ADP2 phones, the G1 and myTouch respectively. 2 days ago I checked again and all it had was the ADP2/myTouch. No ADP1/G1 anymore.

I'm looking at the Android developer phone page right now and surprise, surprise - the ADP1 phone is now showing as the myTouch. There's a column for an Android Developer Phone 2 but it's empty.

Based on the foregoing it would seem there is a new Android Developer Phone on the horizon. Just what it is is debatable. My personal guess is a root access Nexus-One. It would make sense. But right now it's all speculation.

Exhibit A (and not B.... hahahha) is below:

Does AT&T Really Want Android?

2010-03-30T22:49:00.001-04:00

First it was the BackFlip, now it's the Dell Aero.

Once again AT&T has come out of surgery with a successful neuter of yet another Android phone. So, just like the BackFlip, you'll get all the AT&T bloat-ware you can handle and you won't be able to install any apps from the SD card. Which means if you back up your apps using something like Astro File Manager, you won't be able to reinstall them.

According to Engadget, the user interface has been reworked -- in a bad way. One would think that AT&T would want positive press over its latest offering. Removing everything that makes Android Android doesn't sound like a very good thing to do. Could it be that the home of the iPhone is deliberately sabotaging Android so they can justify their exclusivity with Apple (cue the black helicopters and conspiracy theory music).

But hey, that's coming from us nerds in the industry. Check out the video for yourself and you decide:

Developer's Corner - Why Android Development? Part 2

2010-03-29T01:18:00.001-04:00

In the last posting we discussed 4 subjects potential developers need to consider before choosing iPhone or Android development from an iPhone standpoint:

cost
programming language
dominance
app approval

Now we'll revisit those items again, this time from an Android perspective. Are the reasons compelling enough to choose Android? Perhaps you might want to develop for both.

Let's get started!

Cost - Android

Unlike iPhone you can choose whatever platform you desire to develop on. Got a Mac? No prob. Windows XP, Vista, 7? What about a flavor of Linux? You're all set to go.

In view of this, as long as you have a personal computer (which you most likely are reading this on), then you can get started in Android development. That means your upfront costs to begin Android development is likely zero

Programming Language - Android

In the previous post I pointed out that iPhone development required learning Objectiv C, a very capable language but one that's only useful on Apple products.

The Android framework uses Java. That means you can write for Android, Windows, websites - in other words, you have a wide variety of choices should Android fizzle and die. Or you could write for multiple platforms concurrently. The choice is yours. But you do have a choice.

Dominance - Android

Since the last posting CTIA ended with massive shockwaves rippling through the cell phone world. HTC announced the Supersonic, a 4G WiMax device housed in a 4.3 inch display, 1Ghz Snapdragon processor and more. Samsung saw HTC's Supersonic and raised them the Galaxy S - a 4 inch Super AMOLED display (in simple terms it's SUPER bright), 1Ghz processor that's faster than anything on the market. So fast it's 1/3 the speed of a Playstation 3.

Apple hasn't released anything truly new between iPhone 1.0 to 3.0. Android is being developed by numerous hardware manufacturers from HTC to Samsung, Dell to little companies you've never heard of before. With each vying to sway your decision to puchase their device, innovative Android devices will proliferate. And this doesn't count all the other devices running Android that you probably didn't even know had Android under the hood.

App Ideas and Approval - Android

When we discussed the app approval process I mentioned the developer of Podcaster, whose app was rejected by Apple because "it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes". Will that happen to you if you choose to develop on Android? Let's see.

On my phone right now I have 4 different apps that allow me to play music. That's right 4. And that doesn't include the built-in music player. I have one SMS client that I'm thinking of ditching for another one. Depending on my mood, I will use Dolphin Browser over the built-in browser (I tried Opera mini but it wasn't for me). I used to use an app called PhoneBook because it was prettier than the standard dialer/contacts app. And you know what? Google not only allows it, they encourage it using something you won't get into for a while called Content Providers. But the point is: if you want to, you can do it.

How long does the Android approval process take? That all depends on your bandwidth and how big your app is. Because the only thing that will delay the approval is your not deciding to upload your app. That's because there is no approval process with Android. Once you upload your app, it's in the Market ready for everyone to enjoy.

"So Google doesn't have an approval process?"

Nope. Google does have a kill-switch where they will remove any offending apps. Apple's reason for approval stems primarily from keeping out content they view offensive and quality control after that. So how do apps in the Android Market go thru quality control?

Simple. Users decide. If an app is pretty much worthless, users will rate it poorly and not install it. Now you might not like this process. Then again you might (it's been doing well do far). Google does provide a utility in the SDK to stess test your app called Monkey (no fooling, that's the name of it) so you can detect potential force closes before you release the app. But you won't need to be concerned about using Monkey for a little while.

So there you go. "I think you're a little biased," some might be thinking. Well DUH!!! This site IS called Android's Future! But seriously, the contents of these two posts are what I was considering when deciding to stay with AT&T and get a practically free (my contract with AT&T was up and they wanted to keep me), hotter than fire, ba-zillion applications iPhone or jump ship to the rough-around-the-edges, funny looking G1 running a new operating system, switch to the smallest of U.S. carriers to get it, with very few apps, and the possibility that it might even fail.

I firmly believe that Android is where the future of the mobile world is going. I believed it when I first got my G1 and am even more convinced now. To understand my thinking and reasoning and possibly even affect yours, take a serious look at Android's underlying architecture in the videos below:

Androidology Part 1
Androidology Part 2
Androidology Part 3

Developer's Corner - Why Android Development? Part 1

2010-03-26T18:50:00.004-04:00

A regular feature of Android's Future will be "Developer's Corner". As the title implies, the focus will be on Android development. What's different about Developer's Corner from other developer run sites is that it will focus on Android development from a beginner's level and work its way up to more advanced concepts.

One of the first questions that comes up and may be on your mind is...

Why Develop for Android?

Depending on where you live, you almost certainly know at least one person who owns an iPhone. In their world, the universe revolves around iPhone and it's inconceivable how anyone would want to write for anything BUT the iPhone. Despite that, there are reasons why you might want to at least consider developing for Android. So we'll do a one-for-one comparison between iPhone and Android and you can decide.

Cost - iPhone

The first consideration you should have is cost. Why? Because the platform you choose to develop on will have a direct impact on how much money you will have to put out before you write your first line of code. If you use a Mac, then the cost of developing for iPhone is cut down dramatically.

What most don't realize is that to write for iPhone you MUST own a Mac. No two ways about it. No Mac, no app. The reason for this might surprise you.

Programming Language - iPhone

iPhone apps are developed on a proprietary language similar to the C programming language called Objective-C. What you may not know is that Objective C was developed by a company Steve Jobs started after he left Apple. So when the time came to introduce his brain-child, he chose Objective-C.

Now before anyone jumps to the comments section to tell me how wrong and stupid I am (which you're respectfully encouraged to do), I'm not saying it's a bad language. In fact, from what I've seen, I actually kinda like it. And it doesn't appear to be difficult to learn. The question is where do you want to position yourself?

Is Apple one of the hottest computer and cell phone companies on the planet right now? Absolutely! Will they continue to be so? Weeell, that remains to be seen. What happens if they don't retain the dominance that personified the company with the release of the first iPhone? "That's not gonna happen" some might protest. I invite you, dig back in your memory (or do a search if you're too young to remember) and see if putting all your eggs singularly into any of these (once) super hot companies was a good idea in hindsight:

Wang
Atari
Commodore International (as in Commodore-64)
Lotus Development Software (as in Lotus 1-2-3)

Some of these companies are still in existence. Others aren't or were bought by larger companies. But what's the point? They were all market leaders in their time but not so now. Where would you be now if all your resources were poured into one of those companies?

The same situation exists if you make iPhone your sole platform for development. If Apple goes under (as it almost once did), you go too. Just something to think about.

Dominance - iPhone

Without question the iPhone changed the way we look at cellular phones. They weren't the first to develop touch screens, multi-touch, or use a grid layout (although if you listen to Apple, everyone - especially HTC - stole these ideas from them). But the full screen, easy to operate, graphically rich experiences we come to expect out of cell phones *did* start with the iPhone. And there-in lies the problem.

Between iPhone 1.0 and 3.0, what really changed or what different/new technology was brought to bear? Copy and paste? That's it?

Now that's not to say there weren't new things that were added between those versions. However, a landscape keyboard, call history log, MMS, and A2DP Bluetooth could hardly be considered innovative features since other devices already had them.

Most other mobile OS developers are trying to do something different with their operating systems. Apple seems to just want to rest on their laurels of success. If one were to go all in with Apple and they do even better than they presently are doing, then the gamble will have paid off extemely well. If they don't, do you want to be left standing without a chair when the music stops?

Something to consider when choosing your platform.

App Ideas and Approval - iPhone

Another consideration is the approval process. It's well documented how frustrating and inconsistent the Apple approval process is. It could take weeks, months or even be in the indefinite future before you find out if your app - that you've spent countless hours developing and testing - gets approved. You could also be rejected for bogus - or at the very least ambiguous - reasons. Just ask the developer of the app Podcaster . Here's a quote from his site:

"Today I finally got a reply from Apple about the status of Podcaster.

Apple Rep says: Since Podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.

That's right folks, it duplicates the functionality of the desktop version of iTunes.

Therefore, it was denied from sale in the app store. Although my app does allow you to listen to podcasts (like iTunes), it also allows you to download them directly to device and that is something Apple does not offer.

I find this a bit strange considering there are numerous apps that duplicate the functionality of other apps. For example, any calculator app is duplicating the functionality of Apples calculator app. Any app that tells you the weather is duplicating the Yahoo weather app. Any app that let's you listen to music is duplicating the iPod portion of the iPhone.

There are also several apps that simply allow you to listen to a podcast (Diggnation and Mobility Today just to name a few) that are not denied from the app store."

So, if you think you can write an app that does a better job then the built-in browser, iTunes, or some other function that Apple offers, then too bad. If you develop as a hobby, that might be OK. If you want to monetize your app, that could be a problem. What type of applications will you develop? Certainly none that mimic functionality of existing iPhone apps.

There are more things you will want to consider before choosing to develop for iPhone or Android. In the next post, we'll consider these same subjects but from an Android standpoint.

Welcome to Android's Future!

2010-03-23T01:14:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the new home of Android's Future!

Android's Future develops applications for the Android operating system. The links above will provide direct access to the application pages. There you will find more detailed descriptions of the app than you'll get in the Android Market plus more screenshots.

Additionally, you'll see blog posts relating to Android and its future (no surprise there :-) This includes but isn't limited to news about upcoming phones as well as coding solutions. One of the things I found developing on such a new platform is that documentation is somewhat limited. Hopefully the things I've learned in my endeavors can make life easier for someone else.

What's On Your Mind?

Are there apps you would like to see on your Android device but don't exist? Perhaps you would like to see a regular feature on this site. If so, drop a line at androidboy7@gmail.com

It's Android's Future's desire to help push the usability and exposure of the Android OS into the future and beyond....