Get started using freely available development tools
Google’s Android mobile development platform has rightly caused a stir.
Based on Linux and with built-in 3D, SMS and web browsing courtesy of WebKit, it’s an entirely self-contained and free mobile operating system.
Though there are only a few devices that currently support Android out of the box, it’s designed as an open, free platform to simplify the process of programming mobile applications on Java.
Getting started
The Android SDK is easily installed, though it’s worth noting a couple of things before starting. The latest version can be found at http://code.google.com/android/download.html.
The Windows version is archived in a zip file. We’d advise extracting the archive to the root of your main hard drive, taking care to maintain its folder hierarchy. Once extracted, you’ll have a folder named something like ‘android-sdk-windows-1.0_r1′.
We’ll be using an IDE – the open-source development environment Eclipse – to examine and develop apps, so keep the path and path name simple. Rename the main folder ‘android-sdk’.
You’ll be adding the SDK path to Eclipse when we install it, but you can protect against problems by adding the path to Windows’ system settings. Right-click on the My Computer icon, choose ‘Properties’ and click ‘Advanced’. Click the ‘Environment Variables’ button. In the ‘System Variable’ section, click ‘New’ and create a new variable named ‘android’, giving the path ‘c:\android-sdk\ tools’, where ‘c’ is your main drive.
Android’s application programming framework sits on top of Java – so you’ll need to install the Java SE Development Kit (JDK) 6 before you go any further. The specs call for Sun JRE 5 or 6 too. You’ll find the full package for Windows and other OSes at www.developers.sun.com/javase/downloads. By default, the JDK will install into the Program Files folder. Simplify folder names and move to the root of your local machine to ensure that all of your command line tools work properly.
Google recommends Eclipse as the IDE for Android, and the tools it supplies for the platform provide tight integration with the SDK. To get started with the program, grab it from www.eclipse.org/downloads. There are several versions listed, but we suggest you use the Eclipse for Java EE Developers, because it includes WST (Web Standards Tools), a set of components for working with web scripting languages in Java.
Again, install Eclipse in the root directory of your hard drive rather than your Program Files folder; this makes it easier to set up paths to the IDE and reduces the likelihood of errors caused by calls to DOS-based SDK components. The archive simply extracts – there is no installer. You can create a shortcut to the Eclipse runtime by selecting ‘eclipse.exe’ and [ALT]+dragging a copy to your desktop or Start menu.
Once Eclipse is installed, you can add the Android tools that are required to develop and work with existing apps. These integrate some Android SDK components into Eclipse. Start the program, then go to ‘Help | Software Updates‘. Select the Available Software tab.
Choose ‘Add Site’, type in the full URL (https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse) and then click ‘OK’. The ‘Software Updates and Add-ons’ window should update, showing the newly entered URL. Open the hierarchy by clicking the ‘+’ sign and then check the box next to ‘Developer Tools’. Click ‘Install’.
In the next window, check both ‘Android Developer Tools’ and ‘Android Editors’, then click ‘Finish’. Finally, restart Eclipse.
Go to ‘Window | Preferences’ and choose ‘Android’ from the list. Browse to the Android SDK folder, or enter its path.
Android anatomy
The SDK comes bundled with a series of samples, which are handy for exploring the structure of a typical Android app. Let’s have a look at one of them. Go to ‘File | New | Project’. In the dialog that appears, choose ‘Android Project’ from the Android folder.
A ‘New Android Project’ dialog allows you to select ‘Create project from existing source’. Browse to ‘c:\ android-sdk\samples\Lunar Lander’. The package name, activity, application name and project name are filled in automatically, so just click ‘Finish’.
This opens the application in the Eclipse workspace, allowing us to begin to explore the anatomy of the Android platform. There are two crucial parts that we need to look at. The first you’ll find in the Project Explorer. This should already be open. If not, go to ‘Window’ and choose ‘Close All Perspectives’.
Click the ‘Open Perspective’ button and choose ‘Java (EE)’. Open the LunarLander hierarchy and choose ‘src’. Next, open ‘com.example.android. lunarlander’ and double-click on ‘LunarLander.java’.
This gives you your first view of Android’s scripting environment – a simple user interface. In Android’s jargon, this file is an ‘activity’, described as a “single focused thing that a user can do”. Android’s built-in activity class creates a window into which you can script other elements.
In this case, a second script file called ‘LunarView.java’ scripts the actual game, which is a series of ‘views’. A view is a screen-sized element responsible for drawing content and handling events. The final ‘src’ file, ‘R.java’, is automatically generated and indexes all of the resources in an Android package.
Move down the hierarchy and you’ll find a resources folder called ‘res’. This contains bitmap images called from the Android scripts and an XML file in the Layout folder named ‘lunar_lander.xml’. This defines the layout of the game in the target device using Android’s XML schema.
The Android SDK includes an emulator that enables you to run apps and test your code without having to package it. Go to the Run menu and choose ‘Run Configurations’. Double-click on ‘Android Application’, select ‘New_configuration’ and click the ‘Browse’ button. Choose ‘LunarLander’, click the ‘Launch’ button, select ‘com. example.android.lunarlander. LunarLander’ and click ‘Run’.
The Android emulator will boot up and you should see the Android default screen with the screen locked. Click ‘Menu’ to start. The game Lunar Lander should load up, ready to play.
The procedure for creating a new Android app is similar to that of importing existing source files. Go to ‘File | New’, choose ‘Project’, select ‘Android Project’ from the New Project wizard, click ‘Next’ and then give the project a unique name.
When you’ve filled in the parameters, Eclipse will automatically generate a minimum set of files with a default layout, calling the built-in Android activity class, and write them to a folder in your workspace. You can then edit both the default Java script and ‘main. xml’ in the Resources folder to create your new application.
Tags: Android app, Android mobile development platform, build your own Android app, c:android-sdk tools, command line tools, Computer icon, folder hierarchy, free platform, microsoft windows, mobile applications, Mobile development, open source development, path name, sdk tools
The free and open source software community has been waiting for the G1 cell phone since it was first announced in July. Source code for Google’s Android mobile platform has been available, but the G1 marks its commercial debut. It’s clearly a good device, but is it what Linux boosters and FOSS advocates have long been anticipating?
As a consumer-oriented mobile phone, the G1 competes on equal footing with high-end offerings from the other major players. It supports 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS connectivity. The hardware sports both a capacitive touch screen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard — not to mention a trackball — dedicated phone and volume control buttons, 256MB of built-in storage and a microSD slot, an accelerometer, and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The second revision of the device (currently shipping, although we did not receive one) sports a standard headphone jack; early models use the mini-USB jack for audio in addition to charging.
The included applications, from contact manager and dialer to browser and email, are also up to snuff. Kinetic scrolling is everywhere, as are flashy touches such as translucency, blur, and fade-in/fade-out animation.
You won’t forget for an instant that the G in “G1″ stands for Google. The phone is preloaded with a cornucopia of Google-branded applications, including Google Talk, Google Maps, and a YouTube viewer. There is a POP/IMAP mail client, which works great, and a dedicated Gmail client with additional bells and whistles. When first setting up the phone, you must “associate” it with a Google Account, which allows the device to synchronize calendar, contacts, and Gmail messages over the air.
It’s a platform
What about the Linux-based open source Android platform that runs underneath all of the consumer-level apps and features? The easiest way to get a feel for Android as a platform is to explore what developers are doing with it. The G1 includes an over-the-air application catalog and installer tied to the Android Market, through which you can browse hundreds of Android apps and read the reviews of other users.
So far, all of the apps in Android Market are free of charge, which cannot be said of the other two officially sanctioned Android app portals run by longtime mobile app vendors Handango and MobiHand. Selections include the usual bevy of single-purpose IM clients and Web app front ends from sites you’ve never heard of — but they also include some interesting utilities that actually try to add functionality to the phone.
Several apps tweak the behavior of built-in apps, such as by adding to the default email client. Others are attempts to add useful apps such as barcode scanning and text editing that are commonplace on other mobile phone platforms. One of my personal favorites is G1 Central, which alters your outgoing Caller ID to reflect your GrandCentral phone number — functionality not provided on the G1 even though GrandCentral is a Google service.
Then are the utilities you won’t find anywhere else, such as terminal emulation, or a full-fledged IRC client. The app browser even has a category for software libraries, which includes text-to-speech and file format conversion.
Whenever you click on an Android Market app to install it, the phone prompts you with a warning about the potential hazards of installing third-party software. But unlike most other devices I have seen, the G1′s alert is thorough, listing exactly which data and services the new app will have access to. For instance:
This application has access to the following:
Network communication
Full Internet access
Phone calls
Intercept outgoing calls
System tools
Read system log files, modify global system warnings
Your personal information
Ideally, if a purported background wallpaper package provokes such a reaction from the operating system, users will think twice before installing it.
It’s almost free
But what free software fanatics really want to see is an entirely open phone, with source code from the firmware right on up to the applications, and no digital hijinks preventing the owner from tweaking the device to his heart’s content. And that the G1 is not — though it is not far from it. Shortly after the G1′s official release, enterprising hackers discovered how to jailbreak the device: install a terminal emulator, then start telnetd from the command line. The Telnet daemon runs as root, so you can connect to it via the Telnet app from Android Market or from another computer on the LAN, and free yourself from the manufacturer’s restrictions by, for instance, remounting the filesystem as read/write.
Immediately after the initial jailbreak there were not a tremendous number of hacks for the G1. Most were simple adjustments, such as moving app storage and the browser cache to the SD card to conserve space. Some did go much further, such as replacing the OS with Debian. But it did not matter much; in a matter of weeks, Google released a firmware update that closed the telnetd security hole. Firmware updates are downloaded over the air in the background, and once one becomes available you are prompted to install it once every few minutes.
I found such a firmware update available for the review phone I received from T-Mobile, and elected not to install it. Sure enough, the telnetd trick still worked, even though the device in question was sent several weeks after the hole was publicly announced. I verified that a root shell was available with ls, but did not do anything further.
Ironically, the day after T-Mobile asked for the review phone to be returned, Google announced a similar yet strikingly free-er device, the Android Dev Phone 1. The Dev Phone 1 uses the same hardware as the G1, but is SIM- and bootloader-unlocked, meaning you can use it with any service provider and you can install your own custom system images onto it. It costs $399 — the same price as a no-contract G1 — but you must also pay Google a $25 Android Developer registration fee, ostensibly to help the poor company stave off bankruptcy for yet another day. The Dev Phone 1 is a buyer-beware, use-at-your-own risk purchase.
Androids among us
Ultimately, the importance of the G1 depends on what you as a buyer bring to it. If all you want is a good phone, or even a good Linux-based phone, the G1 is a winning proposition. If you want a “free software” phone, buy the Dev Phone 1 instead.
The biggest question surrounding Android is what affect it will have on the mobile phone marketplace. I decline to prognosticate based solely on my experience with the G1, but I will say that I believe that what makes or breaks a smartphone platform is not the device or even the built-in services, but rather the community of third-party applications — and on that front, Android is doing it right. I have tremendous respect for what the Openmoko team is doing, but right now its energy is focused on building the lower-level phone OS; third-party applications are few. Critics may object to Android’s SDK, APIs, or sort-of-Java-but-sort-of-not development scheme, but it is attracting a swarm of developers, many of whom are drawn by the open source licensing. That’s a huge leg up, because if there is one thing the FOSS community knows how to do, it is code applications.
Maemo developer Henri Bergius succinctly described the difference between the Nokia N-series and iPhone experiences on his blog: Nokia’s preloaded apps encourage you to create — shoot video, share photos, blog, etc. — while the Apple platform encourages you to consume — buy music, buy games, buy apps. Thus far, the Android platform is encouraging users to develop. That could make all the difference.
Tags: Android, app developer, application catalog, bells and whistles, capacitive touch screen, cellular telephone, control buttons, G1 Phone, headphone jack, linux boosters, mail client, mobile platform, open source software, source software community, volume control
We don’t always say this, but thank you for reading the Google mobile blog. When we launched last year , we realized that we needed to better communicate what the Google mobile team was up to. Since then, we’ve been working hard to provide you with timely and useful information. We’ve also sought to keep our posts personal and engaging by introducing you to the Googlers behind our products, incorporating video, and enabling comments. While we’re thrilled that our readership has continued to grow, we want to make the mobile blog even more useful and interesting to you in 2009. We invite you to tell us how we can improve. What else do you want to see on the mobile blog? Are our posts too long or too short? What phones do you most want to read about? Please fill out this quick survey to let us know what you think. In celebration of our 100th post, we’re going to attempt to address one of the blog’s most frequent comments: “What about MY phone?” This comment always seems to be tinged with such angst and passion. Trust us, as users we know your pain. But we also know the difficulty of developing software for disparate phones. We’ve put together a video that gives you a behind-the-scenes glimpse of our “Sky Lab” that contains over 800 phones for developing, demonstrating, and testing purposes. Although we have so many phones, we currently can’t make all of our products work on all of these phones — we face the same challenges that every developer faces in the mobile industry: we have to choose. So this video also reveals two very different approaches for choosing devices in this industry… If you have any better ideas, let us know ! Of course, if you’ve been following our blog you may have noticed some patterns. We do like phones with good browsers and flat-rate data plans. Stay tuned to the Google mobile blog for more on this in the new year. Posted by Lawrence Chang, Product Marketing Manager, Google mobile team
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Our 100th post — What about MY phone?
Tags: difficulty, face-the-same, flat-rate-data, Google, google-mobile, mobile, preferences, products, same-challenges, some-patterns-, what-the-google
Santa’s making his list, the Elves are working around the clock, the sleigh is being prepped – Christmas is almost here! As they have since 1955, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) will be tracking Santa’s journey this Christmas, and Google will again enable you to follow his trip in Google Maps, Google Earth, on YouTube, and with the NORAD Tracks Santa iGoogle Gadget. This year, we’re happy to announce that you can keep tabs on Santa with Google Maps for mobile . Now, no matter where you are, you can track Santa and his Reindeer, directly from your mobile device. Getting started is easy, just open Google Maps for mobile , and search maps for ‘norad santa’. Once the tracking begins, you will be flown to Santa’s most current location, according to NORAD radar. Try it out on your T-Mobile G1, iPhone, BlackBerry, Nokia S60, or Windows Mobile smartphone. Note that you’ll have to re-issue your query to see Santa’s updated location. For the moment, Santa is in his home at the North Pole, but after he takes off, his whereabouts will be updated every few minutes as he zips around, delivering his gifts. By the way, if you need an excuse to end a conversation with that relative that is trying to make up for not calling you in 15 years, this may come in handy – “Sorry, I’m going to have to let you go – I need to find out where Santa is!” Santa doesn’t take off until 12/24 at 3:00am PT, but there is plenty to learn about NORAD Tracks Santa between now and then at www.noradsanta.org . The video below has a few highlights from last year’s trip – enjoy and happy holidays from the mobile team! Posted by Bruno Bowden, Software Engineer
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Track Santa with Google Maps for mobile!
Tags: black, difficulty, google-gadget-, google-maps, mobile, norad, reindeer, santa, software, tracking, trip, what-the-google
We hope you have a safe and happy (and mobile!) holiday season. To wrap things up, here are some final holiday Mobile Tricks . Ted Smolsen shows how he does last-minute shopping using Google Docs and Google Maps for mobile… George shows how he keeps in touch with far-off relatives with a cameraphone, Picasa Webalbums, and a WiFi-enabled picture frame and after your holiday meal, try ChangChangYall’s Full-O-lator to understand what your relatives are saying. From the Google Mobile team, search for recipes on your phone, use mobile YouTube to keep antsy kids at the dinner table , and remember to search for local times to wish your far-off friends a happy new year. Posted by Effie Seiberg, Google Mobile Trickster
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Happy Holidays from the Google Mobile Team!
Tags: a-happy-new, a-safe-and, difficulty, dinner, google-docs, google-maps, holiday, norad, phone, reindeer, santa, search-for, tracking, trickster
Whether you’re using Google search through the search widget on the Android home screen, the built-in search box of the iPhone’s Safari browser, or google.com on either device, you’ll now end up with search results optimized for your phone. In some situations, you’ve already been seeing the new search results pages . Now, all Google search options for Android and iPhone lead to results that load faster and are formatted to fit the screen so you don’t have to zoom or scroll side-to-side. We’ve also added touchscreen-friendly buttons and expandable maps for local business results. The optimized search results pages are currently available in U.S. English for Android and for iPhone and iPod touch devices with firmware 2.x. If you prefer, you can always view desktop search result pages by selecting the “Classic” link at the bottom of any page. Posted by Steve Kanefsky and Rob Stacey, Software Engineers, Google mobile team
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Optimized search results pages for Android and iPhone
‘Tis the season of giving… and we’ve got Mobile Tricks to help you navigate your way through it. Terrence Diggle checks out new watch styles…. momola90404 shows off a whole new twist on a mobile headset… and pizzazzery finds a friend in the mall. And from the Google Mobile team, check out tips on seeing stores before you get there , and checking store stock . Remember to send us your video tips and tricks through the Mobile Tricks YouTube channel ! We’ll continue posting our favorites to this blog. Posted by Effie Seiberg, Mobile Trickster
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The gift of Mobile Tricks
Tags: and-pizzazzery, check-out-tips, checks-out-new, effie-seiberg, from-the-google, Google, navigate-your, results-pages, steve-kanefsky, store-stock, touch-devices, tricks, tricks-through, with-firmware
Just in time for the holidays I’m proud to present to you My Maps Editor by Google, now available for download in Android Market! In just four months of my 20% time and with a little help from the 20% time of my coworkers this application has gone from an idea in my head to a full application ready for you, really demonstrating the ease and power of developing on Android. With this application you can create, edit, share, and view personalized maps on your Android powered phone synchronized with the My Maps tab on Google Maps. Create a map on your desktop computer using Google Maps and then take it with you on the go and update it on location. My Maps Editor by Google supports full editing functionality for markers, lines, and shapes on maps, plus the ability to mark your location using GPS or attach a photo directly from your phone. Your maps are automatically synchronized with your My Maps on the web. Check out this tour of Google Mountain View that I just created on my phone: There are plenty of ways to put this to good use during the holiday season: Plan out your holiday shopping. Create a map on your computer with markers for all of the stores you need to visit. Color code the markers according to importance, category, or sales. Then as you visit each store, change the icon to indicate that you’ve been there and list what items you were able to get in the description. If you find a store you didn’t think of, you can quickly add a marker for it to help future planning. Make a map of holiday decorations and displays that you see. Every time you see an interesting holiday display, use the Mark My Location feature to create a marker, then edit the details and add a photo of the display right from the phone’s camera. Share your map with your friends and family to show them the best holiday displays in your area. Just go to the maps list, tap and hold on your map, and select Share Map to share it right from your phone. Keep track of your travels. You can map out your travel plans and take them with you wherever you go. Add markers while you travel to mark interesting places, and take lots of pictures and attach them to the markers. Then when you get back, you can share the map with your friends and show everyone what your did on your vacation with a map and pictures to help them really visualize the trip. The fun doesn’t stop once the holidays are over. The possibilities are endless when your maps are in the palm of your hand (try making a map of running routes to keep yourself to your New Years resolution!). Don’t take my word for it, go download My Maps Editor by Google from Android Market (currently available on the T-Mobile G1) and see for yourself! Posted by Brian Cornell, Software Engineer
Continued here:
Your Maps in Your Hands for the Holidays
It’s amazing what a little poking around can do. After extracting and unzipping Market.APK from the T-Mobile G1, a little browsing reveals that Google has placeholder icons for Ringtones and Wallpapers. Found in res > drawable > the answer lies in two files called ringtones.png and wallpapers.png, seen below:
If you’re thinking what we’re thinking, it won’t be long before the Android Market has those little Ringtone and Wallpaper Icons for your perusal and purchasing. And speaking of purchasing, Google Checkout icons were also seen in the Market.APK. We suppose that Google Checkout will be the preferred purchase method at the good ‘ol Android market before long.
So if you’re not down with using Ringdroid, want a ringtone from a song you don’t yet have or perhpas want some type of sound-effect-style ringtone, you’ll probably soon be able to puchase them directly from the Android Market. As for Wallpapers… do you think they’ll all be free or do you suppose companies will have the option of selling wallpapers for trademarked images like NFL teams, movies, logos, etc…?
The Google Checkout implementation is an interesting one to ponder. Could this be one of Google’s monetization strategies? Currently, Google Checkout is shown on Google Adwords advertisement during search results and it gives web searchers confidence in purchasing from the website in question. But Google also charges merchants to use the service.
Here is the current pricing system for Google Checkout as listed on the Google Checkout Merchant Page:
Will this formula hold true for Android Market purchases for Applications, Games, Ringtones and Wallpapers as well? Apple’s competing iPhone App Store takes 30% of the developer’s revenue, making this Google Checkout model comparably attractive. Even 99 cent items would only take 22% of the total sale from developers, 8% less than the iPhone App Store. And as the pricetag goes up, that percentage would drop significantly.
But lets remember that the only REAL proof we have is that these icons DO exist in the Market APK. We no nothing about how they will be used or if they will be used at all. For that matter, there is a rather homely looking “vending” icon that looks like a leftover idea after they dubbed the Android Market the official name:
But who knows… we could be mistaken. Perhaps the vending application will allow unlimited amounts of Skittles, Snickers and Combos to come popping out of your USB port.
I’m awaiting word from some Google folks about how these finds might play into the Android picture and I’ll update everyone with anything I learn. But the Android team has been notoriously tight-lipped about future developments, so unless an official announcement is forthcoming, its snooping around like this that will reveal the most telling information.
PS: Notice our new logo, too? That wasn’t in the Market.APK, we admit, but it WILL be on the new, redesigned site coming later this month!
Tags: Android, Google, google checkout, iPhone App Store, nfl teams, Ringtones, sound effect, T-Mobile, trademarked images, Wallpaper, web searchers
(cross posted with the Google LatLong Blog ) In case you hadn’t noticed, the Google Street View team has been busy photographing France , Italy , Spain , and Australia . Given the international focus of recent Street View launches, it’s time we make Street View accessible on phones that are especially popular in those countries. We’re excited to announce the availability of Google Maps for mobile version 2.3 with Street View on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile. Street View was previously released on Google Maps for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone. Street View lets you access street level imagery to help orient yourself when looking for places, businesses, or getting directions. Say you’re going to meet with friends at an unfamiliar restaurant. Now you can search for it in Google Maps for mobile, click on “Street View”, and see what the place and surrounding area look like. Similarly, say you need to get to a shop in a part of town you don’t know. Find it using your phone, get directions to it, and see how to get there with full-screen panorama images of every step along the way. While Street View is not yet available everywhere, we’ll continue rolling out support across other geographies in the coming months. Check out this demo of Street View (albeit on a BlackBerry) to get an idea of how things work: Besides Street View, the new version of Google Maps for mobile also has a bunch of other new features: request walking directions (in addition to driving and public transit) to get anywhere on foot, receive transit alerts from participating public transportation authorities, and see what other people think of a place by reading reviews directly on your phone. We’ve also overhauled the entire user interface to make the app more responsive and easier to use. So if you have a Nokia S60 or Windows Mobile smartphone, go ahead and download the new version of Google Maps by visiting google.com/gmm on your phone. Enjoy the (street) view! Posted by Flavio Lerda, Software Engineer
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Street View on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile? Check.
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