Rating: Android Design web site to help developers with V 4.0.3
A new web site Android Design from Google aimed at Android app developers – and particularly those planning to use the very latest version of Android (Ice Cream Sandwich) – has just been announced. According to a report on Wired here the site is the result of the efforts made by Matias Duarte, the head of user experience at Android. One of this site’s most useful functions is to spell out just how the team that built Ice Cream Sandwich – which has now reached v 4.0.3 (see here) – have been thinking. It should give Android app developers a useful insight into how to create really smooth flowing apps. A key feature is the information it provides on how phones with no physical (interface) buttons can now be supported.Android Design is described as, “The place to learn about principles, building blocks, and patterns for creating world-class Android user interfaces.
Whether you’re a UI professional or a developer playing that role, these docs [on Android Design] will show you how to make good design decisions, big and small.”
The site claims that Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) marks a major milestone for Android design.
The Android team says it touched nearly every pixel of the system as it expanded the new design approaches.
These approaches were first seen in Honeycomb (3.0) tablets but have now been expanded to all types of mobile devices – i.e smartphones.
With 4.0 the Android team introduced a new font, Roboto, designed for high-resolution displays. Other big changes include framework-level action bars on phones.
However, it is support for new phones without physical buttons which dominates the thinking.
Android 4.0 removes the need for traditional hardware keys on phones by replacing them with a virtual navigation bar that houses the Back, Home and Recents buttons.
Developers should read the Compatibility section on the site to learn how the latest OS adapts to phones with no hardware buttons and how pre-Android 3.0 apps that rely on menu keys are still supported
This support is achieved by the new navigation bar which is present only on devices that don’t have the traditional hardware keys.
It houses the device navigation controls Back, Home, and Recents, and also displays a menu for apps written for Android 2.3 or earlier.
What we think
Google should be applauded for its efforts to aid mobile app developers create software that they can be really proud of.
