Smashing Android UI

SMASHING ANDROID UI: RESPONSIVE ANDROID UI AND DESIGN PATTERNS FOR PHONES AND TABLETS......Page 1
ABOUT THE AUTHOR......Page 7
AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 8
TABLE OF CONTENTS......Page 9
INTRODUCTION......Page 13
INTRODUCTION TO ANDROID DESIGN......Page 17
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO USABILITY AND USER INTERFACE DESIGN......Page 19
CONSIDERING TECHNOLOGY VERSUS DESIGN......Page 20
UNDERSTANDING THE MENTAL MODEL......Page 21
DESIGNING FOR USERS......Page 26
NO APP WILL DO EVERYTHING; PICK YOUR BATTLES......Page 29
KNOW YOUR USERS; DESIGN FOR REAL PEOPLE......Page 30
SUMMARY......Page 32
CHAPTER 2: DON’T START CODING JUST YET......Page 35
PROTOTYPING......Page 36
TOOLS FOR DESIGN......Page 38
USER TESTING......Page 42
SUMMARY......Page 45
CHAPTER 3: CONSIDERATIONS IN DESIGNING FOR MOBILE AND TOUCH DEVICES......Page 47
DESIGNING FOR MOBILE......Page 48
DESIGNING FOR TOUCH INTERFACES......Page 54
SUMMARY......Page 57
CHAPTER 4: EXPLORING THE ANDROID PLATFORM......Page 59
CHALLENGES OF THE ANDROID PLATFORM......Page 60
ANDROID VERSIONS......Page 68
ANDROID APP DISTRIBUTION......Page 71
WHAT DOES OPEN SOURCE MEAN?......Page 73
SUMMARY......Page 74
PART II: ANDROID PLATFORM FEATURES AND UI COMPONENTS......Page 77
CHAPTER 5: ANDROID APP STRUCTURE AND ONLINE GUIDELINES......Page 79
ANDROID APP STRUCTURE OVERVIEW......Page 80
ANDROID PROJECT STRUCTURE OVERVIEW......Page 83
OFFICIAL ANDROID GUIDELINES......Page 85
SUMMARY......Page 87
CHAPTER 6: ANDROID INTENTS......Page 89
INTENTS ALLOW APPS TO WORK TOGETHER......Page 90
WORKING WITH BROWSERS......Page 92
HOW DO ANDROID INTENTS WORK?......Page 95
INTENTS ARE EVERYWHERE......Page 101
SUMMARY......Page 102
CHAPTER 7: ANDROID APP NAVIGATION STRUCTURE......Page 103
COMPONENTS OF ANDROID NAVIGATION, ACTIVITIES, AND INTENTS......Page 104
ANDROID NAVIGATION CONTROLS......Page 105
SUMMARY......Page 118
CHAPTER 8: HOME SCREEN APP WIDGETS......Page 119
USES OF HOME SCREEN APP WIDGETS......Page 120
UPDATING APP WIDGET DATA......Page 124
APP WIDGET LAYOUT AND FUNCTIONALITY......Page 126
IMPLEMENTING AN APP WIDGET......Page 131
SUMMARY......Page 133
CHAPTER 9: NOTIFYING AND INFORMING USERS......Page 135
ANDROID NOTIFICATION METHODS......Page 136
WHEN TO NOTIFY USERS......Page 138
WHEN NOT TO NOTIFY USERS......Page 144
AVOIDING POP-UPS......Page 145
GETTING THE MOST FROM STATUS BAR NOTIFICATIONS......Page 146
SUMMARY......Page 152
CHAPTER 10: DESIGNING FOR HARDWARE BUTTONS, INPUT METHODS, AND SENSORS......Page 153
DESIGNING FOR THE TOUCH SCREEN......Page 154
DESIGNING PHONE HARDWARE BUTTONS......Page 155
DESIGNING FOR THE ON-SCREEN KEYBOARD......Page 156
DESIGNING FOR HARDWARE KEYBOARDS......Page 164
DESIGNING FOR D-PADS AND TRACKBALLS......Page 165
DESIGNING FOR VOICE CONTROL......Page 166
DESIGNING FOR EXTERNAL KEYBOARDS, MICE, AND TOUCHPADS......Page 167
DESIGNING FOR SENSORS......Page 168
DESIGNING FOR A SECOND SCREEN......Page 169
SUMMARY......Page 170
CHAPTER 11: DESIGNING PLATFORM USER INTERFACE COMPONENTS......Page 171
USING USER INTERFACE WIDGETS......Page 172
CUSTOMIZING USER INTERFACE WIDGETS......Page 184
ADJUSTING THE TYPOGRAPHY......Page 186
USING ICONS......Page 192
USING ANIMATIONS AND TRANSITIONS......Page 198
SUMMARY......Page 207
PART III: SCALABLE ANDROID DESIGN......Page 209
CHAPTER 12: MANAGING ANDROID RESOURCES......Page 211
USING ANDROID RESOURCES......Page 212
DESIGNING FOR SCREEN DENSITY......Page 213
DESIGNING FOR SCREEN SIZE AND FORM......Page 218
DESIGNING FOR DEVICE CONTROLS......Page 220
DESIGNING FOR DEVICE MODES......Page 221
SUMMARY......Page 222
CHAPTER 13: ANDROID APP LAYOUTS......Page 223
ANDROID LAYOUT STRATEGY......Page 224
LAYOUT MANAGERS......Page 226
SCROLLING......Page 236
PADDING AND MARGIN......Page 237
IMPORT AND MERGE LAYOUT FILES......Page 238
ANDROID DEVELOPMENT TOOLS USER INTERFACE BUILDER......Page 239
DEBUGGING LAYOUTS......Page 240
SUMMARY......Page 241
CHAPTER 14: SCALABLE GRAPHICS......Page 243
NINE-PATCHING......Page 244
DRAWABLE XML......Page 249
DRAWING FROM CODE......Page 256
SUMMARY......Page 260
CHAPTER 15: BEYOND SCALABLE – RESPONSIVE DESIGN......Page 261
MORE ANDROID DEVICES THAN JUST PHONES......Page 262
UNDERSTANDING RESPONSIVE DESIGN......Page 264
COMMON WAYS TO CREATE RESPONSIVE USER INTERFACES......Page 275
SUMMARY......Page 277
CHAPTER 16: IMPLEMENTING RESPONSIVE USER INTERFACES......Page 279
INTRODUCTION TO FRAGMENTS......Page 280
FRAGMENT AND ACTIVITY ARCHITECTURE......Page 282
MIGRATING EXISTING APPS......Page 284
LOOKING AT AN EXAMPLE APP......Page 285
SUMMARY......Page 298
PART IV: ANDROID UI DESIGN PATTERNS......Page 299
CHAPTER 17: INTRODUCTION TO USER INTERFACE DESIGN PATTERNS......Page 301
USER INTERFACE DESIGN PATTERNS......Page 302
BENEFITS OF USING UI DESIGN PATTERNS......Page 303
USER INTERFACE DESIGN PATTERNS FOUND IN THIS BOOK......Page 304
SUMMARY......Page 306
CHAPTER 18: USER ACTION DESIGN PATTERNS......Page 307
USING THE ACTION BAR PATTERN......Page 308
USING THE QUICK ACTIONS DESIGN PATTERN......Page 316
USING THE ACTION DRAWER DESIGN PATTERN......Page 322
USING THE PULL-TO-REFRESH DESIGN PATTERN......Page 324
USING THE SWIPE-TO-DISMISS GESTURE......Page 327
SUMMARY......Page 330
CHAPTER 19: NAVIGATION AND LAYOUT DESIGN PATTERNS......Page 331
USING STACKED GALLERIES......Page 332
USING THE DASHBOARD......Page 334
USING WORKSPACES......Page 338
USING SPLIT VIEW......Page 342
USING THE EXPAND-IN-CONTEXT PATTERN......Page 345
USING SIDE NAVIGATION......Page 348
SUMMARY......Page 351
CHAPTER 20: DATA DESIGN PATTERNS......Page 353
USING DYNAMIC LISTS......Page 354
USING THE IMAGE PLACEHOLDER PATTERN......Page 356
USING THE NON-FORCED LOGIN PATTERN......Page 358
USING THE DRAG-TO-REORDER HANDLE PATTERN......Page 361
SUMMARY......Page 363
CHAPTER 21: USER INTERFACE DESIGN ANTI-PATTERNS......Page 365
AVOID USING THE SPLASH SCREEN......Page 366
AVOID USING THE TUTORIAL SCREEN......Page 367
AVOID USING THE ON-SCREEN BACK BUTTON......Page 369
AVOID HIDING THE STATUS BAR......Page 371
AVOID USING SWIPE OVERLAY FOR QUICK ACTIONS......Page 372
AVOID USING NON-ANDROID DESIGNS......Page 373
SUMMARY......Page 375
INDEX......Page 377