BUILD A SIMPLE ANDROID APP HOW TO
BUILD A SIMPLE ANDROID APP FREE

Its TextView control might possibly scroll.Įach activity class should have its own corresponding layout file stored in the application resources. HelpActivity - This activity is almost identical to ScoresActivity, except that instead of displaying scores, it displays help text.It does little more than load a bunch of scoring information into a TextView control within its layout. ScoresActivity - This activity is about as simple as SplashActivity.This activity needs to draw stuff onscreen, handle various types of user input, keep score and generally follow whatever game dynamics the developer wants to support. PlayActivity - The real application guts are implemented here.The onClick() handlers for each button trigger cause the associated activity to launch. Its layout has several buttons, each corresponding to a feature of the application. MenuActivity - This activity is pretty straightforward.It simply displays a layout (maybe just a big graphic), plays music for several seconds and then launches MenuActivity. SplashActivity - This activity serves as the default activity to launch.

You need to implement five activity classes, one for each feature of the game:

Determining application activity requirements It's best to improve upon those features, when necessary, rather than reinvent them, so you don't force the user to exert time and effort to learn your application in order to use it properly. That said, the best and most popular applications leverage the users' existing experience with user interfaces. There are no real user interface requirements on the Android platform, other than that the application must be stable, responsive and play nice with the rest of the Android system.

BUILD A SIMPLE ANDROID APP FREE

Starting to sound familiar? This is the prototypical design of just about any mobile application, game or otherwise, on any platform.Ĭertainly, you are free to implement any kind of user interface you desire.

BUILD A SIMPLE ANDROID APP HOW TO

Help - This screen displays instructions for how to play the game, including controls, goals, scoring methods, tips, and tricks.

Scores - This screen displays the highest scores for the game (including high scores from other players), providing players with a challenge to do better.

Play - This screen is where game play actually takes place.

Menu - On this screen, a user can choose from among several options, including playing the game, viewing the scores, and reading the help text.

Splash - This screen acts as a startup screen, with the game logo and version.

The design of the Chippy's Revenge game is simple. To understand this more fully, imagine a theoretical game application called Chippy's Revenge.

Each activity within an application has a unique purpose and user interface. Īn Android application is a collection of tasks, each of which is called an activity. We also take a look at some handy utility classes that can help developers debug applications. In this article, we focus on understanding how Android applications are put together. While there are other, more advanced, components developers can implement, these three components form the building blocks for each and every Android application. The three most important classes on the Android platform are Context, Activity and Intent. Coyright Lauren Darcey and Shane Conder, all rights reserved.Įvery platform technology uses different terminology to describe its application components. This article is excerpted from Sams Teach Yourself Android Application Development in 24 Hours (Amazon price at press time: $32.39), reprinted with permission of Sams Publishing.

Build a simple android app