Android Apprentice (Fourth Edition): Beginning Android Development with Kotlin

Description

Learn Android programming with Kotlin! Learning Android programming can be challenging. Sure, there is plenty of documentation, but the tools and libraries available today for Android are easily overwhelming for newcomers to Android and Kotlin. Android Apprentice takes a different approach. From building a simple first app, all the way to a fully-featured podcast player app, this book walks you step-by-step, building on basic concepts to advanced techniques so you can build amazing apps worthy of the Google Play Store! Who This Book Is For This book is for anyone interested in writing mobile apps for Android. Though no previous mobile experience is necessary, this book is also a great resource for iPhone developers transitioning from iOS. Topics Covered in Android Apprentice Getting Started Learn how to set up Android Studio and the Android Emulator. Layouts Create layouts that can be used for both Activities and Fragments Debugging No one's perfect! Learn how to dig down and troubleshoot bugs in your apps. Communication Design separate Activites and communicate and send data between them using Intents. Scrolling Layouts Learn how to use Recycler Views to make efficient, reusable views that scroll fluidly at a touch. Google Places Integrate location APIs to bring the magic of maps into your Android apps. Networking Learn how to access resouces on the internet and handle networked responses. Material Design Make sure your apps conform to modern best practices by using Google's standards of Material Design AndroidX Learn how to use the AndroidX libraries to support older versions of Android. And much, much more! One thing you can count on: after reading this book, you'll be prepared to write feature-rich apps from scratch and go all the way to submiting them to the Google Play Store! About the Tutorial Team The Tutorial Team is a group of app developers and authors who write tutorials at the popular website raywenderlich.com. We take pride in making sure each tutorial we write holds to the highest standards of quality. We want our tutorials to be well written, easy to follow, and fun. If you've enjoyed the tutorials we've written in the past, you're in for a treat. The tutorials we've written for this book are some of our best yet - and this book contains detailed technical knowledge you simply won't be able to find anywhere else. Book License What You Need Book Source Code & Forums About the Cover Introduction Chapter 1: Setting Up Android Studio Getting started Your first Android project Android Studio Creating an Android virtual device Setting up an Android device Running the app Installing new versions of Android Studio Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 2: Layouts Getting started These are not the SDKs you’re looking for The layout editor Component tree view Positioning your views Adding rules to your views Finishing the screen Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 3: Activities Getting started Exploring Activities Hooking up Views Managing strings in your app Progressing the game Starting the game Ending the game Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 4: Debugging Getting started Add some logging Orientation changes Breakpoints Restarting the game Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 5: Prettifying the App Getting started Changing the app bar color Animations Adding a Dialog Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 6: Creating a New Project Getting started Creating a new Android project Targeting Android devices Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 7: RecyclerViews Getting started Adding a RecyclerView The components of a RecyclerView Hooking up a RecyclerView using ViewBinding Setting up a RecyclerView Adapter Filling in the blanks Creating the ViewHolder Binding data to your ViewHolder The moment of truth Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 8: SharedPreferences & ViewModels Getting started Adding a Dialog Creating a list ViewModels Hooking up the UI to the ViewModel Showing Real Lists in the RecyclerView Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 9: Communicating Between Activities Getting started Creating a new Activity The app manifest Intents Intents and Parcels Bringing everything together Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 10: Completing the Detail View Getting started Coding the RecyclerView Setting up the Adapter Adding the ViewHolder Passing the Task to the RecyclerView Returning Results from Activities Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 11: Using Fragments Getting started What is a Fragment? Creating a Layout for Tablets Adding the ListSelectionFragment to MainActivity Wiring Up the FloatingActionButton Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 12: Material Design What is Material Design? Primary and secondary colors Card Views Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 13: Creating a Map-Based App Getting started About PlaceBook Making a plan Location service components Map wizard walk-through Google Maps API key Maps and the emulator Running the app The difficulty of determining locations Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 14: User Location & Permissions Getting started Adding location services Creating the location services client Querying current location Faking locations in the emulator Tracking the user’s location My location Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 15: Google Places Getting started Places API overview Selecting points of interest Load place details Custom info window Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 16: Saving Bookmarks with Room Getting started Room overview Room and Android Architecture Components PlaceBook architecture Development approach Adding the architecture components Room classes Creating the Repository The ViewModel Adding bookmarks Observing database changes Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 17: Detail Activity Getting started Fixing the info window Bookmark detail activity Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 18: Navigation & Photos Getting started Bookmark navigation Custom photos Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 19: Finishing Touches Getting started Bookmark categories Searching for places Creating ad-hoc bookmarks Deleting bookmarks Sharing bookmarks Updating the color scheme Adding a progress indicator Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 20: Networking Getting started Where are the podcasts? Android networking PodPlay architecture iTunes search service Introducing Retrofit Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 21: Finding Podcasts Android search Displaying search results Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 22: Podcast Details Getting started Defining the Layouts Basic architecture Details Fragment Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 23: Podcast Episodes Getting started Using OkHttp XML to DOM DOM parsing Updating the podcast repo Episode list adapter Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 24: Podcast Subscriptions, Part One Getting started Saving podcasts Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 25: Podcast Subscriptions, Part Two Getting started Background methods Episode update logic WorkManager Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 26: Podcast Playback Getting started Media player basics Building the MediaBrowserService Connecting the MediaBrowser Foreground service Final pieces Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 27: Episode Player Getting started Video playback Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 28: Android Fragmentation & Support Libraries Android: An open operating system How Android Fragmented The AndroidX Libraries Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 29: Keeping Your App Up to Date Following Android trends Screen size and density Vulkan Versions OpenGL versions Managing Android updates Working with older versions of Android Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 30: Preparing for Release Code cleanup Versioning Building a release version Checking your file size Release testing Other publishing methods Key Points Where to go from here? Chapter 31: Testing & Publishing Play Console overview Creating your Google Play Store listing Main store listing Releasing your app Key Points Where to go from here? Conclusion