Why develop an Android App?

Q.
What do people choose to develop App in Android?

A.

Read more 'Why developers choose Android' here.

Read more on why innovative developers choose Android over iOS here.

Read about 10 reasons why developers choose Android over iOS here.

For any developer looking to maximize their potential users, regardless of language or country, Android is an obvious choice. It is evident that developers have been making that choice too. As its market share has steadily risen since being introduced in 2008, so have the number of available apps. While actual numbers vary widely by source, Android and iOS seem to be neck and neck in total number of apps available-just around 900,000 each.

We can also expect an impressive (however inflated) update from Google in the coming weeks with the impending announcement of a new Nexus device or devices in conjunction with Android 4.4 KitKat. Those who may want to jump ahead a little and fact check are free to reference AppBrain’s daily statistics, which have the Google Play store measured at 875,462 apps as of this writing. In early 2016, it was reported close to 1.5 million Android App had been deployed in Google Play Store.

Another reason to choose to develop applications in Android is the cost of entry to be listed in Google Play Store is much cheaper than that of Apple App Store! This is ease of access.

For the novice, the entry point for development on Android is simple and welcoming. Those who are familiar with iOS and have likely paid the $99 annual enrolment fee, might be surprised at the $25 one-time registration fee for Google Play. From there, developers have have complete control over distribution with options that allow them to target specific devices, carriers, languages and countries.

Newly published apps on Google Play are also available almost instantly, due primarily to Google’s automated approval process. There is of course still a bit of the honor system in play here in regards to publishing content that is or is not allowed, but for stability and security, Google is able scan an application and approve it within a matter of hours rather than weeks as with iOS. However, algorithms aren’t the only line of defense in protecting users from “bad” applications, as Google has been known to regularly remove apps that violate Play Store terms and conditions.

As you can see from the above Ease of Access chart, most continents uses Android in more than half of the devices.

One of the key advantage of publishing App in Android is because it is by Google! Why?

Because Google has its supports like Google Maps, which provides location specific for Apps which require integration of locality to its functions. Google’s own apps and services are another great example of where Android really shines. Google Location Services for example, can allow applications to display and find maps, navigation and other data that can be deeply integrated into your own apps.

Android also allows for a greater level of integration, both between separate applications and with the OS itself. Consider tapping a camera icon within one app to add a photo and being presented with all the camera apps on your device to take a picture, or having the ability to browse a third party file manager when adding attachments to Gmail. This is a headache in Apple devices because it is not convenient to utilize Apps which are not compatible to iOS, and causes difficulties in sharing materials between different Apps. You cannot crop a picture and paste on another picture like that in PC or Android devices.

And, to compare files transfer. There is no way your iPhone or iPad would allow you to cut and paste your movies and transfer back to iTune! There is no USB port for your transfer to the computer. Only some picture files in DCIM, that is it! This is not a problem with Android or Window based OS.

Ref:

http://www.androidauthority.com/why-developers-choose-android-285774/

Android limitations?

Q.
What are the limitations of Android OS?

A.
All that we hear is about how well Android took over the mobile OS market. How much more we expect from Android mobile computing. How good it is free!

Behind too goods is always a big ? - what is the catch, right!?

Same is for Android. There must be some limitation some where. It cannot be 100% true that it is so great and yet free!

Below is some comments researched from various technical experts on limitations of Android.

Mobile Boy, 16 Apr, 2013.
Ref: http://www.techulator.com/experts/823-What-limitations-drawbacks-Android-operating-system.aspx

Limitations of Android OS:
Below limitations are based on comparing a single mobile from each OS. I posted only the drawback I frequently read about Android and my practical experience.

Little lag
Still an Android OS with quad-core processor has a little lag. I tried opening Temple Run game in iOS (iPhone), Windows 8 (Nokia Lumia 920) and Android OS (Samsung Galaxy Grand). Once I clicked the game icon Windows 8 and iOS responded immediately and showed 'Play' button, but I found there is a little lag in Android and it showed 'Play' button nearly after 30 seconds. In Windows 8 and iOS the game opened just like a 1 KB text file. This is unsolved problem in Android OS and many tech experts commented about this. This is the only reason iPhone tops every time.

Awkward design
Android mobile design is always awkward. When I have that above mentioned mobiles in my hand, Lumia 920 was eye-catchy. It looks very professional and impressed me a lot. We still love Android mobile only for its free apps.

Heat
If you use Wi-Fi connectivity for about a hour you can feel the heat in fuselage (back panel). I didn't notice this either Windows and iOS.

Most of the complaints were made for app crashes and lags. But Android is the only OS that provides you unlimited free apps. In Windows or iOS you need to buy each and every app.

You see, the limitation of one is relative to the ability of another. For example, she is short (hence cannot be model) and that is her limitation. In this context, height is a requirement to be a model, and there are actually taller girls who are made models.

So, in the case of Android OS, it is much in comparison to other OS, especially iOS.

Read about the difference between Android and iOS here.

Another issue with Android limitation actually routed to 'Fragmentation'. Below is extracted from news reporting by Simon Hill, in Yahoo News, February 11, 2016 - 'Android is losing its battle with fragmentation, and you’re paying the price'.

For ordinary folks who own a phone, fragmentation means that many Android users don’t have access to the latest and greatest features in the platform, but it has also been consistently raised as a major threat to security. Tim Cook famously referenced an article on ZDNet, entitled “Android fragmentation turning devices into a toxic hellstew of vulnerabilities” on a slide at WWDC in 2014. He even added animated flames to the word “hellstew” for a greater incendiary impact, and it played into a common perception of Android as potentially insecure.

What’s cited most often is the slow pace of adoption for new Android versions. Only 1.2 percent of devices run the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow today, 34.1 percent run Lollipop (version 5.0 of the OS), 35.5 percent run KitKat, and the rest are still running older versions, according to the latest data from the official Android developer site. This is frequently compared to iOS, where Apple says 76 percent of users are on iOS 9, 17 percent on iOS 8, and just 7 percent on earlier versions.

[Hence, if you develop an App for the later version, it might not run well in the earlier versions of the same Android. And, this is an ongoing issue, older devices with older version of Android might not be able to switch to newer version of Android due to hardware compatibility. In fact, the bigger issue is manufacturers are not doing this updates because they want to sell more new machines which comes with later Android versions. Hence, these manufacturers refuse or ignore the need to periodically update the earlier devices by patches. This would render the older Android version becoming obsolete and vulnerable to security flaws.

That leaves many Android users with outdated firmware and potential security holes, despite the fact that the hardware they own is perfectly capable of running the latest Android releases.

Therefore, although you can reach the maximum number of mobile device, many of them just cannot run your App!

It is like you have the best sports car, but you do not have the racing track to run your engines!]

Ref:

http://www.diffen.com/difference/Android_vs_iOS

http://news.yahoo.com/android-losing-battle-fragmentation-paying-111542079.html;_ylt=A0SO8xzty71WCW4AsolXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

Project vs Module

Q.
What is 'Project' and what is 'Module' in Android Studio?

A.
This question can be confusing as Project in Android Studio is about the App that is to be developed. For example, a project paper for the undergraduate Computer Science 101 paper. On the other hand, a module is like the chapters inside this project paper, where chapter 1 may be introduction, chapter 2 methods and chapter 3 findings, etc.

The answer on Google search returned with the below:

A project in Android Studio represents a complete Android app. Android Studio projects consist of one or more modules.

A module is a component of your app that you can build, test, or debug independently.

Modules contain the source code and resources for your app.

Ref:

Abdellah, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17187080/android-studio-new-project-vs-new-module

Market Share of Android

Q.
Why do you choose to develop your application through Android?

A.
[Because it has the world biggest Market Share in Mobile Computing! In some places, because of use of iPAD, Android devices still ranked second (it ranks first if exclude iPAD) in the recent years. Nevertheless, it is fast catching up to be market leader!

Very naturally, you develop your App because you want people to download and use it! So, developing an application on the most used mobile platform is surely the way to publish your application, right!?

ADAM SMITH OCTOBER 27, 2013

Android Authority

Below is extract from Wikipedia:]

According to a Statistica's estimate, Android smartphones had an installed base of 1.6 billion units in 2014, which was 75% of the estimated total number of smartphones worldwide.[243][244][c] Android has the largest installed base of any mobile operating system and, since 2013, the highest-selling operating system overall[234][237][246][247][248] with sales in 2012, 2013 and 2014[249] close to the installed base of all PCs.[250] In the third quarter of 2013, Android's share of the global smartphone shipment market was 81.3%, the highest ever,[251] and the Android share—​led by Samsung products—​was 81.3%.[251][252][253]

By August 2015, two continents have gone mobile-majority, judged by web use ("desktop" has 51.6–56.7% use worldwide, depending on week or weekend use[254]); because of Android (see usage share of operating systems), that has majority use on smartphones in virtually all countries (all continents have gone Android-majority, including North America[255][256] except for Oceania, because of Australia),[257] with few exceptions (all of which have iOS-majority); in the US Android is close to iOS, having exchanged majority position a few times,[258] Canada and the following are also exceptions: Japan, Philippines, Australia and the only exceptions in Europe are the UK, Switzerland, and the Nordic countries Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

By 2016, virtually all countries in the world, have gone Android-majority on smartphones;[259] excluding United States and Canada (while including North America continent as a whole[260]), Australia and Japan. A few countries loose Android-majority, such as the UK, if tablets are included.

[The only concern here is developing Android App under Google Play. As China is a country which does not allow Google, so reaching to Chinese Market might be impaired when your App is published in Google Play. However, as App is an Android App, and Chinese Mobile Phone market is dominated by Android Phones, so other channels can be a way out - Baidu App Store, for example.]

[Tablet Market

Traditionally, Smartphone market is the leading market in most Android deployed countries. Most people would have a smartphone before having a tablet. This is due to cost and also market leader iPad, which is marketed as premium priced product.

Launching an App in the Apple App Store would probably be as important consideration for iPad as well as iPhone. But this is not true for Android device. Most of the time, the market of Android is medium or low cost, and hence launching an App in Android would very much be for Smartphone only.]

Despite its success on smartphones, initially Android tablet adoption was slow.[261] One of the main causes was the chicken or the egg situation where consumers were hesitant to buy an Android tablet due to a lack of high quality tablet applications, but developers were hesitant to spend time and resources developing tablet applications until there was a significant market for them.[262][263] The content and app "ecosystem" proved more important than hardware specs as the selling point for tablets. Due to the lack of Android tablet-specific applications in 2011, early Android tablets had to make do with existing smartphone applications that were ill-suited to larger screen sizes, whereas the dominance of Apple's iPad was reinforced by the large number of tablet-specific iOS applications.[263][264]

Only in recent years (2014-2015) that Android for tablet has gain its dominance.

This began to change in 2012 with the release of the affordable Nexus 7 and a push by Google for developers to write better tablet applications.[268] According to International Data Corporation, shipments of Android-powered tablets surpassed iPads in Q3 2012.[269]

As of the end of 2013, over 191.6 million Android tablets had sold in three years since 2011.[270][271] This made Android tablets the most-sold type of tablet in 2013, surpassing iPads in the second quarter of 2013.[272]

According to the StatCounter's June 2015 web use statistics, Android tablets represent the majority of tablet devices used on the South American[273] (then lost majority) and African continents (60.23%),[274] while they have equaled with the iPad's market share in major countries on all continents (with the North America as an exception, though in El Salvador Android has the majority[275]), and getting close to representing the majority on the whole Asian continent[276] having done so already in India (65.9%),[277] Indonesia (62.22%),[278] and most Middle-Eastern countries.[279] In about half of the European countries, Android tablets have a majority market share.[280] China is an exception for the major developing countries, in which Android phablets (classified as smartphones while similar in size to tablets) are more popular than Android tablets or iPads.
In short, if there is a platform to market your application, it is no other than Android! You have the biggest user base, biggest growth and an open source platform. What more do you need?

Ref:
[X] Own account.
http://www.androidauthority.com/why-developers-choose-android-285774/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

Application Programming Interface - API

Q.
What is API? How is its different from the other programming software?

A.
In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software and applications.

An API expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types, defining functionalities that are independent of their respective implementations, which allows definitions and implementations to vary without compromising the interface. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks, which are then put together by the programmer.

[Like using Android Studio - which is an Android API, to build an application, for example WhatsApp.]

An API may be for a web based system, operating system, or database system, and it provides facilities to develop applications for that system using a given programming language. As an example, a programmer who develops apps for Android may use an Android API to interact with hardware, like the front camera of an Android-based device.

In addition to accessing databases or computer hardware like hard disk drives or video cards, an API can ease the work of programming GUI components. For example, an API can facilitate integration of new features into existing applications (a so-called "plug-in API"). An API can also assist otherwise distinct applications with sharing data, which can help to integrate and enhance the functionalities of the applications.

APIs often come in the form of a library that includes specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables. In other cases, notably SOAP andREST services, an API is simply a specification of remote calls exposed to the API consumers.[1]

An API specification can take many forms, including an International Standard, such as POSIX, vendor documentation, such as the Microsoft Windows API, or thelibraries of a programming language, e.g. the Standard Template Library in C++ or the Java APIs.

An API differs from an application binary interface (ABI) in that an API is source code-based while an ABI is a binary interface. For instance POSIX is an API, while the Linux Standard Base provides an ABI. [2] [3]

APIs are one of the most common ways technology companies integrate with each other. Those that provide and use APIs are considered as being members of a business ecosystem.[4]

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface

When was Android Software Developing Program started?

Q.
When was Android Developing Program like Android Studio started?

A.
Android is an operating system - like that of iOS for Apple. The programme which we use to write or develop this Android Applications (App) to run on the Android OS is something like Android Studio.

So, definitely Android App writing programs have to be after the advent of Android as an Operating System - which is dated back to 1990's.

The App writing program like Eclipse was the software to write Android App before Android Studio. Below is a brief chronology of how these App writing software came about.

Extract from Wikipedia on Android Applications:

Applications ("apps"), which extend the functionality of devices, are written using the Android software development kit (SDK) and, often, the Java programming language that has complete access to the Android APIs. Java may be combined with C/C++, together with a choice of non-default runtimes that allow better C++ support;[59][60][61] the Go programming language is also supported since its version 1.4, which can also be used exclusively although with a restricted set of Android APIs.[62] The SDK includes a comprehensive set of development tools,[63] including a debugger, software libraries, a handset emulator based on QEMU, documentation, sample code, and tutorials. Initially, Google's supported integrated development environment (IDE) was Eclipse using the Android Development Tools (ADT) plugin; in December 2014, Google released Android Studio, based on IntelliJ IDEA, as its primary IDE for Android application development. Other development tools are available, including a native development kit (NDK) for applications or extensions in C or C++, Google App Inventor, a visual environment for novice programmers, and various cross platform mobile web applications frameworks. In January 2014, Google unveiled an framework based on Apache Cordovafor porting Chrome HTML 5 web applications to Android, wrapped in a native application shell.[64]

Android has a growing selection of third-party applications, which can be acquired by users by downloading and installing the application's APK (Android application package) file, or by downloading them using an application store program that allows users to install, update, and remove applications from their devices. Google Play Store is the primary application store installed on Android devices that comply with Google's compatibility requirements and license the Google Mobile Services software.[3][65] Google Play Store allows users to browse, download and update applications published by Google and third-party developers; as of July 2013, there are more than one million applications available for Android in Play Store.[66] As of July 2013, 50 billion applications have been installed.[67][68] Some carriers offer direct carrier billing for Google Play application purchases, where the cost of the application is added to the user's monthly bill.[69]

Due to the open nature of Android, a number of third-party application marketplaces also exist for Android, either to provide a substitute for devices that are not allowed to ship with Google Play Store, provide applications that cannot be offered on Google Play Store due to policy violations, or for other reasons. Examples of these third-party stores have included the Amazon Appstore, GetJar, and SlideMe. F-Droid, another alternative marketplace, seeks to only provide applications that are distributed under free and open source licenses.[3][70][71][72]

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

History of Android

Q.
Write a brief history of Android.

A.
History of Android

Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California in October 2003 by Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger),[24] Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.),[25] Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile),[26] and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV[12]) to develop, in Rubin's words, "smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences".[12] The early intentions of the company were to develop an advanced operating system for digital cameras. Though, when it was realized that the market for the devices was not large enough, the company diverted its efforts toward producing a smartphone operating system that would rival Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile.[27] Despite the past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly, revealing only that it was working on software for mobile phones.[12] That same year, Rubin ran out of money. Steve Perlman, a close friend of Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope and refused a stake in the company.[28]

In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc. for at least $50 million, whose key employees, including Rubin, Miner and White, stayed at the company after the acquisition.[11][12] Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time, but many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market with this move.[12] At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform to handset makers andcarriers on the promise of providing a flexible, upgradable system. Google had lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation on their part.[29][30][31]

Speculation about Google's intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006.[32] An earlier prototype codenamed "Sooner" had a closer resemblance to a BlackBerry phone, with no touchscreen, and a physical, QWERTY keyboard, but was later re-engineered to support a touchscreen, to compete with other announced devices such as the 2006 LG Prada and 2007 Apple iPhone.[33][34] In September 2007, InformationWeek covered anEvalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.[35][36]

Eric Schmidt, Andy Rubin and Hugo Barra at a 2012 press conference
announcing Google's Nexus 7 tablet

On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of technology companies including Google, device manufacturers such as HTC, Sony and Samsung, wireless carriers such as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, and chipset makers such as Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, unveiled itself, with a goal to develop open standards for mobile devices.[13]That day, Android was unveiled as its first product, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel.[13][37] The first commercially available smartphone running Android was the HTC Dream, released on October 22, 2008.[38]

Since 2008, Android has seen numerous updates which have incrementally improved the operating system, adding new features and fixing bugs in previous releases. Each major release is named in alphabetical order after a dessert or sugary treat; for example, version 1.5 "Cupcake" was followed by 1.6 "Donut". In 2010, Google launched its Nexus series of devices – a line of smartphones and tablets running the Android operating system, and built by manufacturing partners. HTC collaborated with Google to release the first Nexus smartphone,[39] the Nexus One. Google has since updated the series with newer devices, such as the Nexus 5 phone (made by LG) and the Nexus 7 tablet (made by Asus). Google releases the Nexus phones and tablets to act as their flagship Android devices, demonstrating Android's latest software and hardware features. From 2013 until 2015, Google offered several Google Play Editiondevices over Google Play. While not carrying the Google Nexus branding, these were Google-customized Android phones and tablets that also ran the latest version of Android, free from manufacturer or carrier modifications.

From 2010 to 2013, Hugo Barra served as product spokesperson, representing Android at press conferences and Google I/O, Google’s annual developer-focused conference. Barra's product involvement included the entire Android ecosystem of software and hardware, including Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean and KitKat operating system launches, the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 smartphones, the Nexus 7[40] and Nexus 10 tablets,[41] and other related products such as Google Now[42] and Google Voice Search, Google’s speech recognition product comparable to Apple’s Siri.[42] In 2013, Barra left the Android team for Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.[43] The same year, Larry Page announced in a blog post that Andy Rubin had moved from the Android division to take on new projects at Google.[44]He was replaced by Sundar Pichai who became the new head of Android and Chrome OS,[45] and, later, by Hiroshi Lockheimer when Pichai became CEO of Google.[46]

In 2014, Google launched Android One, a line of smartphones mainly targeting customers in the developing world. In May 2015, Google announced Project Brillo as a cut-down version of Android that uses its lower levels (excluding the user interface), intended for the "Internet of Things" (IoT) embedded systems.[47]

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

What is Android?

Q.
What is Android Operating System?

A.
Android is a mobile operating system (OS) currently developed by Google, based on the Linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android's user interfaceis mainly based on direct manipulation, using touch gestures that loosely correspond to real-world actions, such as swiping, tapping and pinching, to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard (or a physical one, on older Android devices) for text input. In addition to touchscreen devices, Google has further developed Android TV for televisions, Android Auto for cars, and Android Wear for wrist watches, each with a specialized user interface. Variants of Android are also used on notebooks, game consoles, digital cameras, and other electronics. As of 2015, Android has the largest installed base of all operating systems.[11]

Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google bought in 2005,[12] Android was unveiled in 2007, along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance – a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[13] As of July 2013, the Google Play store has had over one million Android applications ("apps") published, and over 50 billion applications downloaded.[14] An April–May 2013 survey of mobile application developers found that 71% of developers create applications for Android,[15] and a 2015 survey found that 40% of full-time professional developers see Android as their priority target platform, which is comparable to Apple's iOS on 37% with both platforms far above others.[16] At Google I/O 2014, the company revealed that there were over one billion active monthly Android users, up from 538 million in June 2013.[17]

Ref:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

Andy Rubin - Creator of Android

Q.
Who started Android? It was Andy Rubin. Who is he?

A.
Andy Rubin co-founded Android in 2003, and sold it to Google in 2005 (1). He was into Android before anybody was able to provide a common platform for all the mobile phones. So, the industry he was in - mobile computing!

In 1992 he worked at General Magic, the fabled Apple spinoff, where he led development of the Motorola Envoy, one of the earliest wireless PDAs. In December 1999 he launched Danger, creator of the Hiptop, a proto-smartphone (2)
From search in Wikipedia, Andy Rubin is in fact, Andrew E Rubin, born in 1963.

Andrew E. "Andy" Rubin (born 1963) is an American computer programmer, engineer, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. He is the founder and CEO of tech startup incubator Playground Global and a partner at venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures.[1] He is the co-founder and former CEO of both Danger Inc. and Android Inc.
Having sold Android to Google, he remained in the running of the Android company for a while.

Rubin became the company's Senior Vice President of Mobile and Digital Content until March 2013,[3] where he oversaw development of Android, an open-source operating system for smartphones.[4][5][6] Rubin has seventeen patents for his inventions (3).

Now (as of this writing) he is with hardware startup venture capitalist. He is no more with Google (left in 2014) or Robotics - Boston Dynamics. He is now the CEO of and Founder of Playground Global and Partner at Redpoint Ventures.

And, in fact, Android Studio came about in 2013 and soon acquired by Google to emerge as the Developer Programme for Android. From Wikipedia:

Android Studio was in early access preview stage starting from version 0.1 in May 2013, then entered beta stage starting from version 0.8 which was released in June 2014.[5] The first stable build was released in December 2014, starting from version 1.0.[6] (4) Stable Version 2.0 was released in Nov 23rd, 2015.

So, it is now that Android development is stable and just about the right time to master the software developer program - Android Studio, and scale the world of mobile computing!

Ref:
1. http://www.wired.com/2016/02/android-inventor-andy-rubin-playground-artificial-intelligence/
2. as above
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Rubin
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Studio

Background - All about Android

Q.
In very simple way, what are the key things about Android?

A.
This is a simple but yet a wide question. The Android platform is probably newer than iOS and definitely much younger than Windows, but it is also not that young. This page is to compile the background and history of Android platform as I start learning about it. Here are my questions...

1. Who started Android? It was Andy Rubin.

2. What is Android Operating System?

3. History of Android.

4. When was Android API - like that of Android Studio developed?

5. What is the market share of Android Devices in the World?

6. What is 'Project' and how it is different from 'Module'?

7. What are its limitations?

8. What are the reasons people choose to develop applications in Android?


Thomas Sim
11.02.2016
Papillon
MJC Kuching

Developer Workflow for Android Application

Q.
Show me the road map to complete the tasks of developing an Android Application?

A.
It is like project management, as building a software is like building a house.

The workflow of building a software (Android App) is as below.

As of last few days (since 7th Feb, 2016), I have completed the updating of the SDK (Software Developer's Kit) and platform of Android Studio. You need a fast Internet to do that! The files are big in Gigabytes! You can open the SDK Manager within Android Studio and choose to update or download the files required. You need to have a complete SDK to start building your App.

The AVD - Android Virtual Device for the Laptop I am using to emulate the App is not able to run. This is because the CPU is not configured to enable virtualization. From various searches in the Internet, it is a common problem with emulation within a personal computer. Go here to read more about how to turn on CPU virtualization. The recommendation is to configure the CPU. Going into the CPU BIOS requires a password for this Laptop - which I do not have. My current Laptop is Compaq 6910p (built for business purpose - very lasting!!!) and it was only RM100 or RM50 as 'write off' from my company. I would need to retrieve the CPU password from my IT Department if they still have it!

Or else I would have to do it the risky way! See here how to overcome issue of no password!

Hence, I took the direct approach which is easier, ie to setup the AVD using my ASUS Zenfone 2 smartphone by USB connection! And, it was able to show the interface. I am a 'developer' in the ASUS phone, Hooray!

Having done the setup, I am set to proceed to the next phase - which is learning how to build basic App from tutorials. This part I would require lots of reading and preparing the concept of the market fit for the application I am going to create!

It will definitely take a long time, countless failures and I hope I won't give up!!!

Ref:
http://developer.android.com/tools/workflow/index.html
http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/enable-virtualization-in-the-bios/
http://earthwithsun.com/questions/1001877/how-to-enable-virtualization-without-using-bios

10.02.2016
Thomas Sim
Papillon
MJC Kuching