Google developed the Android OS so just about anyone together with the appropriate skills can build applications to run on an Android mobile phone or tablet. Google’s solution to producing smartphones is entirely opposite to Apple, who prefer control over the software that people can put on their iPhones. The open characteristics of Android makes sure that you can develop anything you want and people will be able to download and install the app.. Countless developers have jumped ship from iPhone apps to building apps for the Android because of the freedom it provides.
If you ever create an application for the Apple iPhone it’s at the disposal of a reviewer who ascertains if your app is good enough to be made available on iTunes or if it is suitable for the app store. Many apps never get published due to Apple’s censorship procedures. Moreover, research firm, NDP Group claimed that half of all smartphone purchases are for Android smartphones. By the end of 2010 Thirty two million handsets were running the Android operating system. Not suprisingly everyone is looking at the way to develop Android apps.
Android applications are programmed with Java. An individual will need to know this language or employ a developer who does. The next thing is to download and install the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) from Google. The SDK is made up of classes, libraries, examples plus an interface to test out your new Android software. You can even download the Google APIs Add-On extension, this includes libraries specific to Google’s wide variety of web services.
You’ll generally layout the gui in Adobe Illustrator and save the output in vector format. On the other hand, it’s advisable to use a talented designer to build the GUI. The libraries in the SDK also have some standard vector graphics which you can use when building an Android application. If the app creates data that needs to be stored and referenced later like a weight tracker where you enter your weight and plot trends using a graph or chart over time you need to save the data in an SQLite database. You will furthermore need to compose the necessary code to create, write, delete and read data from the database.
Getting the completed application from your computer to your Android smartphone is a little tad complex because it must be converted, compiled then deployed. Android utilizes a system called Dalvik Virtual Machine. Your Java Class files must be converted to .dex files using a tool named DX. As soon as this is done it needs to be packaged in to an .apk (Android Package) file using something known as the Android Asset Packing Tool. Not until this is successfully done can the application be installed on an Android phone.
The good thing is you will find vast libraries of openly available code on the Android developers website and on 3rd party websites which provide training on how to get cracking building your first Android app.
To learn more about Android systems examine any of the Android tablets reviews on the internet. After gaining expertise in Android development you may wish to check out development for Windows 8 tablets.