Android developers installing Android SDK

The Android development platform is developing rapidly and there are a lot of people using this platform. Here we will know more about how offshore Android development team initiates the setting up of the Android SDK.

The first and foremost thing that you need to do before installing the Android development SDK is to check the system requirements. Else the Android SDK will not get installed. Let us take for example JDK is a system requirement that is needed if offshore Android development have to install Android development SDK. If that is not there in the system then Android developers have to download it before installing the Android development SDK. The outsourced Android development team can easily download this from the Internet. In case you are going to develop with the help of the Eclipse then you have to see to that the correct version of the Eclipse else you can download that online. Normally the classic version of the Eclipse is recommended for those who are using it for the first time. One can also update the eclipse online in case they have an older version of the Eclipse.

After this the starter pack has to be downloaded. The starter pack will have one component and not the entire Android development environment. The other components can be got after the starter pack is installed. After this the ADT plug-in has to be installed. This will give a very powerful environment to develop an android application. Again if you do not have The ADT, the offshore Android development team can download it easily. There will be an instruction list which will give you a step by step instruction of the entire installation process.

Once all this is done you can add the other components that are needed to complete your development environment. This is because there will be only tool that will be available in the starter package but one has to have more than that to develop an android application. Not only that these components have to upgrade from time to time. It is possible to get these components online.

One should have the basic components like

·         SDK tools

·         SDK platform tools

·         SDK platform

They are basic and which is definitely needed the rest one can download as per their needs and requirements.

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 20:38 in Android Developers, Android Development, offshore android development, outsource android development

List Of Techniques That Should Be Avoided For No System Failure

Android softwaredevelopment is prone to system failure but a lot of that can be avoided if the following techniques are not used in any of the apps.

Despite very strict warning to the users against using the Internal APIs but still they are being used by many of the developers in many of the apps. The android 1.1 and the 1.5 versions of the Android contained the Bluetooth toggle APIs and internal brightness control APIs which were the most commonly used internal APIs. The Android 1.5 also had a bug that allowed the users to make use of the internal APIs without prior notice and all this was later fixed in the Android software development 1.5 version. The APIs used by the apps in the Android 1.5 crashed due to this serious problem. In case if you’re current android apps development is using the APIs then it’s necessary to update them.

Another technique which needs to be avoided is the direct manipulation of the settings. Though not on a strict basis this also has to be kept under control. The reason for being lenient in this case is that many changes were made to the behaviour of the Android software development itself. The changes were brought about by the outsource android development due to the illicit use by many of the developers. The android apps were given free access to the settings and without prior approval from the users could change their settings also. But now the settings can be changed only after sending a formal intent to open up the settings configuration window.

The Android 1.5 has revealed the problem in the viewing rendering infrastructure which resulted in many changes in the layout that led to system crashes. But this is now rectified as the layout can be made much simple with the use of Frame Layout and Table layout options.

The physical keyboards of the Android 1.5 are becoming obsolete and only soft keyboards will soon be found in every device.  Make sure that your apps go in for only soft keyboard assumption and degrade the physical keyboard assumption.

The devices on the Android 1.5 or the later versions will rotate the screen depending on theuser’s orientation. In some of the devices this is done by default while on others the user can enable this option.

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 21:29 in Android apps development, Android software development, offshore android development, outsource android development

Touch Mode in The Android UI Tool Kit

The user interaction and the hierarchical view are all based on the touch mode. The touch mode is a very easy to use option and the previous user if has been on touch mode that will remain unchanged despite the user change. By making use of the android application development device you can exit the touch mode by selecting the widget and the trackball. But the shortest and easiest method to enter this mode is by touching on the button provided on the screen. As many modes other than the touch mode are available on the screen like the navigation mode, trackball mode there is lot of confusion prevailing in this perspective also.

The Android Application development UI toolkit is difficult to design due to the mechanism of interaction. As there are several options available for touch screen like the stylus, keyboard or the combination of both designing a neat and consistent android application development is challenging task. As the users have the freedom to choose which ever option they are comfortable in the Android development of touch mode is even more difficult. Much issue arises in such development and one such issue could be understood with the simple example of ApiDemos application.  As per this the user will use the trackball and select the items or make use of the touch screen directly. If the user select any one of the items and then scrolls down then issues like if the selected item ahs to be cleared off or not and many others will crop up. As a result of this confusion the focus and selection option has been completely removed in the touch mode.

Though there is no focus mode in the touch mode however there is an advanced option called the focusable mode. In order to receive the text by the widgets and for filtering the list view the focusable option is available for easy navigation. Such mode is activated through the XML codes.

While making use of the touch modes do not use the focus and selection option at all. Be careful to sue the core applications and also consistent enough in applying the same.

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 21:28 in Android application development, Android apps development, offshore android development

Android Mobile Applications Can Experience Memory Leaks Issues

Android is the most happening platform that is available now and is used extensively by the offshore android development. There are a number of Android mobile applications that are built on this platform. But despite its immense popularity Android development is not devoid of issues. One of the main issues that are faced by the offshore Android development teams is memory-leaks. This is because the maximum heap for mobile applications is 16GB. If you come to think of it for a phone the memory space is really high. But then for offshore Android development team who wants to achieve more, this much space is not sufficient. The main advantage of android is multi taking and hence it can take a lot of applications in the memory space. The memory leaks happen mainly because the term context is used for a lot of operations within Android development.  But then the main use of this is to access or load resources for the Android applications.  The widgets are constructed with the help of this context parameter. Application and activity are the two types of contexts that are available. Normally the activity is passed.

@Override
protected void onCreate (Bundle state) {
  super.onCreate(state);
 
  TextView label = new TextView(this);
  label.setText("Leaks are bad");
 
  setContentView(label);
}

When there is a small leak also it is dangerous, as it will slowly lead to a complete leak within the Android mobile applications. So one has to be very careful while writing an application so that there is no memory leak.

In short one has to keep in mind the following things to avoid memory leaks issues.

• For a context activity does not have reference that is long lived that is the reference of the activity should not have a life cycle that is more than the activity. In short it should have the same life cycle.
• One can also use context activity instead of the context application to minimize the memory leaks.
• It is better in an activity that one does not use the non static inner classes in case you are not in a position to control the lifecycle. Use the static inner class which will make a weak reference to the activity. Hence the best way is to use the static inner class that has a weak reference to outer class.
• One has to keep on mind that the garbage collector that is there is not like insurance for the memory leaks.

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 21:41 in Android Development, android mobile applications, offshore android development

Push Notifications For Android Development

If you want to become one of the well known Android developers, you will learn that implementing push notifications for Android is quite simple. Once you download the SDK, Android application development will be very easy to understand and use. You will set up your first application very fast. There are basically three different ways you could use for implementing push notifications: the poll, SMS and persistent TCP/IP. All of these ways have their disadvantages so you might want to know them before you think about offshore Android development.


Poll

The main idea of the poll is to periodically push the server and get to a real time push. You might opt for this Android development alternative for implementing push notifications. However, besides the advantage that it is free and it is very easy to implement, you need to be aware of the disadvantages too. The biggest disadvantage of them all is that you will actually never be in real time. Thanks to the recent Android development, you will be able to poll once in a while without killing your battery. For example if you will poll at 30 minutes intervals, you might receive a message half an hour later.

SMS

Intercepting text messages is one of the key features of the latest offshore Android development. This method will allow you to push notifications too. Moreover, you will enjoy that unlike polling this method will allow you to be in real time and it is easy to implement as well. However, you need to be aware of the cost disadvantage which may be extremely important. Both you and your user might have to pay serious money when using this Android development.

Persistent TCP/IP

This is the last of the options you have for implementing push notifications on your Android phone. While this Android development will help you stay in real time, you should know that you will surely have problems implementing it. It is known that Android phones are extremely protective and they kill services when they run low on battery. Therefore, you might lose some notifications just because you will not have enough battery on your phone.

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 05:58 in Android application development, Android Developers, Android Development, offshore android development

SMS Management With Android Development

Managing your text messages is much easier today with the recent Android development. You can use your phone for managing your messages with SMS communication manager. If you prefer texting instead of voice calls, this Android application development will surely be of great help once you understand exactly what it is and its key applications. In this article you will find out everything about this recent Android development and how to use it in your favor.

What is it?

If you are not familiar with the SMS communications manager put on the market by Android developers, you need to understand exactly what it is in order to use it properly. First of all, it is a web based application which will allow you access to interactive SMS and customer relationship management at the same time. It is great for both personal and businesses so this is what makes it so popular across the globe.

The key applications

With this Android development, you will be able to run, analyze or track your SMS marketing campaigns. Nowadays, this is a very important marketing tool used by a lot of online businesses. Therefore, generating all types of track reports will be extremely helpful for your business. Web SMS and inbound SMS are both applications you can use through this outsource Android development. Therefore, you can increase the productivity of your marketing campaigns by a lot if you will choose to use these new developments.

Integration with your Android phone

Integrating this recent Android development on your phone is much easier than you might have thought. All you need to do is use the application as you SMS gateway. You can even set up a cheap SMS plan which will allow you to save some serious money in the long run. You do not need to install any equipment as Android developers have made possible to coordinate your marketing campaigns by using your phone without any specialized equipment. Besides, the costs of using this Android development are minimal which will allow you to get the best marketing results from your SMS marketing campaign developed especially to attract new customers.

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 05:48 in Android application development, Android Developers, Android Development, offshore android development, outsource android development, sms communications manager

Integration with Third Party Library Like ZXing for QRCode

Today we can clearly see that the world as a whole has come in the hands of a whole new force as most of our phones today are android based. With the development and spread of Android based phones there arises a need for both software/application based firms to make their earlier products and create new products so as to integrate with the android phones in general and Android in particular. With this rise outsource android development – android development in various countries especially India; and also offshore android development are seen huge opportunities.

Today’s smartphones have the latest and best features and functions.  The Android platform is changing fast and is moving forward rapidly; and to meet the demand there are widows open for both Third party libraries like ZXing and its QR code as well as android developers. With the help of Android various developers are now creating state of the art mobile applications easily.  Android uses Java support and therefore there is the link between Android and Java thereby opportunities for Third Parties arise.

A QR code (Quick response code) is a special kind of matrix barcode or a two dimensional code which is made specifically to be read by smartphones and Android applications.  This code is nothing but black modules on a white background in the form of squares. The information within the code can be of different kinds – text, image, URL, or any other information.

ZXing i.e “zebra crossing” is an open source 1D and also 2D barcode or quick response code processing library that works on Java. Their main aim is to help in android applications by using the camera on phones to decode pictures on other phones without needing the help of an internet server.  Their library is broadly divided into various components:

1.    The core which has an image decoding library and test code

2.    Javase which is a J2SE specific client code

3.    Android client which is a barcode scanner

4.    The android test application i.e. androidetest

5.    Android integration as it supports integration with ZXing  Barcode Scanner through their servers

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 22:56 in Android Applications, Android Developers, Android Development, offshore android development, outsource android development

OCR Applications For Android Development

One of the oldest and best OCR engines was the Tesseract OCR engine. It was the most accurate and was used for Accuracy tests.  The source code reads binary grey and colour images as well as text.  A reader is inbuilt so as to read TIFF images that are uncompressed and libtiff can be added if you need to read compressed images.

Another application specially made for the Android development platform is the Mezzofanti and it allows augmentation of various forms of text and in various viewing options. All the augmentation of the text can be used in plenty of ways:

    You can translate it in any of the forty languages available
    You can search it on Wiki as well as Google
    You can even look it up in a dictionary.

The name is Mezzofanti in honour of the Italian Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti who was an excellent linguist as well as a hyperpolygot. He didn't speak just a few languages but a whole bunch of them - thirty eight to be precise and a total of forty dialects. What better name could be found for this application which can translate into forty languages as well?

The Technology behind this:

The OCR engine is nothing else but a whole new version of Tesseract 2.03 which has been developed by Google for Android development as it holds the licence under Apache.  It is currently available in 5 different languages namely - English, German, Spanish, Italian and French.  There are no worries as the OCR works with all other languages as well, but the only condition is that they should be written with the Latin script.



    The core of the OCR is programmed in Java
    The translation engine gives you almost perfect translations even along with grammar as it works with Google translate
    The interface amongst the OCR engine which works on C++ and Java is done within JNI

Licences:

All the code is available to android developers the world over for free under the Apache Licence version 2.0 and is posted at Google code whether they may be considered with offshore android development or outsource android development.

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 22:52 in Android Developers, Android Development, offshore android development, outsource android development

Google APIs Gives Outsource Android Development

Android is basically a collection of great software's specially enhanced and suited for mobile phones and comprises of middleware, operating system and different types of key applications.  You can now create and manage your very own android application and become an android developer yourself with the help of libraries and tools provided by Android SDK. Your applications will be able to run on every Android powered device.

Google APIs gives outsource android development as well as offshore android development a boost as it offers all possible android development help to future and present android developers. If you have it in you to create Android applications, or are just interested in learning then; Google APIs will surely be a feather in your hat.

Google APIs have introduced an Add -On system which works like a part and parcel of the Android SDK development itself.  This lets Android developers create their very own applications for various devices including Google's own applications, devices, libraries and services.  Best of all these features is that Android developers can now add excellent mapping features to Android application with the help of the add-on Maps external library.

With the help of the add-on compatible Android Emulator you can now check you're newly built application - debug it, check its profile and check whether it runs as needed before you publish it to the users.  The maps library along with the customized system components will be needed for applications like Maps library, etc and these are available with Google.  Once your feel your application is up to the mark and is ready to be published you can do so by deploying it to any of the many Android-powered devices that function with a similar version of the Android platform; and the system you choose should also possess Google services, components and libraries.

Some of the features of the Google API:

    A USB Open accessory Library
    The external library belonging to maps to help in the addition of mapping
    A fully functional Android system image
    There is also a MapsDemo which is an example of Android development application to help you out.
    Also available is a package of full maps library documentation.

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 22:13 in android application, Android Applications, android developer, Android Development, android sdk development, offshore android development, outsource android development

Webservice - KSOAP2 By The Android Development

The Webservice KSOAP2 is a project undertaken by the android development team and provides us with an efficient SOAP library that is built for the entire Android platform. It is a branch of the KSOAP2 library which has specifically been tried and tested keeping Android as the basis. It's packed with features and the android application development team often releases enhancements to help fix any bugs that may creep up.

KSOAP2 has been completely improved compared to KSOAP1 and all this is done especially for the android developers both outsource android development as well as offshore android development.   Major changes that have taken place are:

• The overall structure has been made less compact and is now easily accessed.
• Now you get the best support system for literal encoding.
• The SOAP serialization support which was always present is now not mandatory and you can obtain it from a separate package. 
• There is an addition of various classes that have been combined into this class namely - SoapSerializationEnvelope which provides you with SOAP support and lots more
• A newly introduced dotNet flag can be used so as to switch over to the namespace handling from SoapSeriaizationEnverlope.

Creating your very own Android Project

You can now quickly and easily create your own Android project using the ADT plugin's new Project Wizard.  Easy steps to get your Android project up and running:

1.    Go to Android and select android Project and once in click next to proceed to the important steps.
2.    You will now need to select content for the project:

• Enter AndoridWSAccess as this is the name of the folder where your project will be based. 
• Now you need to go to the contents option and select Create a new project in workspace, once there choose the location you wish to store it in.
• Once you've entered the target section you now have to decide and choose a particular Android target to use as the build target (To specify the android development platform you need your application built on)
• Now go to properties and complete the tasks as directed.

3.    Now that's it lick finish and you've created your very own android project and can call yourself an android developer - thanks to the help of the webservice KSOAP2.

Posted by +Sandeep Patekar on 23:25 in Android application development, android developer, Android Development, offshore android development