Android App Development For Dummies 3rd Edition

The Android world has changed a lot since I wrote the second edition of this book back in 2012, and my main focus in updating Android App Development for Dummies for the third edition was to bring it up to speed with the latest best-practices for the Android platform.  In this new edition, you'll find examples specifically written for the Android 5.x platform and target the newest style guidelines such as Material Design, which is used in Google's own apps.  

Some of the complexity of the older examples were stripped clean, mostly by rewriting the chapters to only use the official new Android Studio and by supporting only the latest Android 5.x platform.  But don't worry!  If you still want to support older versions of Android, I still teach you how to do that as well, but I've moved all of those backward-compatibility lessons into a separate standalone chapter.

But perhaps the thing I'm most excited about are the new chapters on Android Wear and Android TVs.  These chapters show you how to write apps for watches and TVs, and they also show you how to sync data back and forth with your phone.  This is the first book to include chapters on these exciting new platforms, and I'm looking forward to seeing what kinds of apps you can build that go beyond your phone.

One final note: Android App Development for Dummies is a great book if you're a programmer looking to get started on Android.  If you don't know how to program yet or if you don't know Java, I recommend taking a look at a Java-oriented Dummies book such as Beginning Programming with Java for Dummies by Barry Burd.  Start there first, then come back here.

Thank you for taking a look, I hope you enjoy the book and leave a review!

Learn to:

• Create amazing apps for the latest Android smartphones and tablets
• Download and install the SDK and start working with the Android Studio tools
• Adapt your apps for use on Android watches and TVs
• Publish your apps to the Google Play™ Store

Here's just what you need to turn your great idea into a cool Android app!

Did you know that nearly 80 percent of mobile devices use the Android platform? With this book to guide you, you can start developing apps for that huge market. You'll learn to design the ideal user interface, take advantage of all the newest Android features, understand the difference between phone and tablet apps, avoid common pitfalls, and more!

• Get what you need — discover how to acquire and install the tools and set up your development headquarters
• Set up your first project — get going right away with sample programs that explore different aspects of the Android platform
• Nuts and bolts — see how to design the Tasks application, handle user input, design a menu, work with data storage, and even port your app to wearables
• Adapt existing apps — learn to convert apps from other platforms for Android and how to accommodate older Android versions
• Get'em out there — publish your apps to the Google Play Store

Visit the companion website at http://www.dummies.com/go/androidappdevfd3e to download all the code used in this book

Open the book and find:

• How to build a great app with Android Studio
• How to create an app widget
• When to use advanced techniques, such as Fragments, Databases, and Image Downloads
• Material Design to beautify your app
• Ways to build apps on Android and Amazon tablets
• How to create apps for Android Wear and TV