The Android Developer's Cookbook

Book excerpt: Want to get started building applications for Android, the world’s hottest, fast-growing mobile platform? Already building Android applications and want to get better at it? This book brings together all the expert guidance—and code—you’ll need! Completely up-to-date to reflect the newest and most widely used Android SDKs, The Android Developer’s Cookbook is the essential resource for developers building apps for any Android device, from phones to tablets. Proven, modular recipes take you from the absolute basics to advanced location-based services, security techniques, and performance optimization. You’ll learn how to write apps from scratch, ensure interoperability, choose the best solutions for common problems, and avoid development pitfalls. Coverage includes: Implementing threads, services, receivers, and other background tasks Providing user alerts Organizing user interface layouts and views Managing user-initiated events such as touches and gestures Recording and playing audio and video Using hardware APIs available on Android devices Interacting with other devices via SMS, web browsing, and social networking Storing data efficiently with SQLite and its alternatives Accessing location data via GPS Using location-related services such as the Google Maps API Building faster applications with native code Providing backup and restore with the Android Backup Manager Testing and debugging apps throughout the development cycle Turn to The Android Developer’s Cookbook for proven, expert answers—and the code you need to implement them. It’s all you need to jumpstart any Android project, and create high-value, feature-rich apps that sell!