This Weeks Links
UI Updates in a Multi-Window World
In this post, Kristin Marsicano provides a few things to consider when updating your UI on Nougat devices. The post focuses on Activity States and how the addition of multi-windowing renders in new Android versions will affect their use.
How to do TDD in Android? Part 4 — UI testing using Espresso
Automation tests are important as the ensure quality while developing an application.Test-driven development (TDD) enforces writing tests before writing implementation. This series will help you get started with TDD. Part 4 introduces Espresso and the API’s it provides before showing you how to write a UI test.
Isometric AnimatedVectorDrawable – Part 3
This series will show you how to produce an animated logo using pathData animation within an AnimatedVectorDrawable. Part three looks at animating between the raised and flattened states previously created.
Measure, Layout, Draw, Repeat: Custom Views and ViewGroups
In this 360AnDev talk, Huyen Tue Dao will show you how to build a simple custom View and then add layout, drawing, and interaction. The video & transcription will also cover best practices and when you should consider going custom.
Converting callback async calls to RxJava
In this post, Miguel Juárez shows you how to convert synchronous APIs to RxJava v1.x Observables and implement a backpressure strategy. He then presents you with an example Android app, so that you can trial some of the strategies implemented by the different BackpressureModes.
Step up your Android Coding by migrating from RxJava 1.0 to RxJava 2.0
RxJava 2.0 has been completely rewritten on top of the Reactive-Streams specification. In this post, Amit Shekhar, provides an overview of some of the changes you will find in RxJava 2.0, along with an example project showing you how to migrate from RxJava 1.0.
The hidden cost of code coverage
This post shows you a way to avoid code coverage slowing down your normal development builds, which can take up a significant proportion of your build time.
RecyclerView snapping with SnapHelper
The Android Support Library, revision 24.2.0 (August 2016) introduced two new classes for snapping in a RecyclerView. One of those clases, LinearSnapHelper, allows you to snap to the center. This post introduces GravitySnapHelper which support snapping in 4 directions (start, top, end or bottom).
Development approach of Open source Om Recorder library to Record Wav / Pcm Audio
In this post Kailash Dabhi shares how he made a simple open source library to record audio in Wav or Pcm Format.
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Reduce APK Size
Stephan Hagios was able to reduce one of his APK files by 67.5% – impressive right? In this post he will help you identify some of the reasons why your APK file may be large, then he will show you a way that you may be able to reduce its size.
Learning proguard by obfuscating and converting external library project to aar
To increase compilation speed and lower avoid hitting 64k limit, less commonly used parts of a project may be converted to aar or jar libraries using ProGuard. This blog post will help you get started.
AnDevCon from an Android Developer’s Perspective
Sergii Zhuk shares some impressions and highlights from the Boston AnDevCon conference which took place on August 1st-4th in the Sheraton Hotel. Some of the summaries include Multi-Window, ART/Dalvik Reverse Engineering, Java 8 and Firebase.
Gradle Android for Beginners
In this post, Roger Silva, will help you get started with Gradle. The post focuses on the 3 basic Gradle files, what they each do and how to configure them.
Getting started with Kotlin in Android development
In this post, Dmitry Chyrta, covers how Kotlin has come to be, lays out the pros and cons of using Kotlin and provides an example with an aim to help you get started using Kotlin in your current projects.
How to build an App like Romans built a city: Part I
In this series, Matt Michelson draws some interesting parallels between the development of Roman cities and the process used in app development. Part one looks at comparisons between the planning criteria used by the Romans when developing a city and what software developers should look at when planning an app.
How to build an App Like Romans built a city: Part II
In this series, Matt Michelson draws some interesting parallels between the development of Roman cities and the process used in app development. Part two looks at comparisons of the way resources are utilized, the way in which testing is conducted and the way in which feature development is prioritized.
Videos
Caster.IO Lesson 98: Working with EventBus Main, Background and Async Thread Modes
In order to make it easier for us Android Developers to deal with thread synchronization simply, EventBus provides the “threadMode” parameter which can be used with the @Subscribe annotation. Learn all about in this lesson!
In this lesson you will learn:
- What are the different types of ThreadModes
- How to subscribe with a given ThreadMode
- When to use each type of ThreadMode
Caster.IO Lesson 99: Building a Custom Espresso Idling Resource
In this lesson you will learn how to write a custom idling resource that will wait for an IntentService to be done before the test can continue.
In this lesson you will learn:
- How to figure out if your IntentService is running
- How to put that into a custom idling resource
- How to register it with Espresso
Caster.IO Lesson 100: Simple Parcelables with the Parceler Library
Parceler is a code generation library that generates the Android Parcelable boilerplate source code. It’s simple to set up and trivial to use in your application. Learn how to get started in this lesson!
In this lesson you will learn:
- How to add Parceler to your application
- How to use the @Parcel annotation
- How to use the Parcels utility class
Open Source
RainbowMVP
Lightweight Android MVP library with easy implementation.
RxAndroid
RxAndroid 2.0 has been rewritten from scratch to support RxJava 2.0.
RxJava2-Android-Samples
RxJava 2 Android Examples – Migration From RxJava 1 to RxJava 2 – How to use RxJava 2 in Android
Android-Snippets
Android snippets, demonstrating functionalities/libraries for android application development.
Events
Announcing Open Registration and Exhibitors for Google Play Indie Games Festival
– San Francisco, Sept. 24 2016
Android fans and gamers will have a unique opportunity to play new and unreleased indie games from some of the most innovative developers in the US and Canada. Take a look at the details and the games selected to exhibit and compete at the event.