Believe it or not, thousands of people around the world are making a full-time income creating Android apps. You might not think you are capable of joining this elite group of programmers and developers. Fortunately, you can! New technology has made creating Android apps easier than ever – even if you don’t have prior programming experience. That’s not to say you don’t need some programming knowledge, but you definitely don’t need to spend years in school to become the next great Android developer.
In this guide, you will learn how to create the development environment you need to create apps, some basic code and how to bring your creations to market. Although you will learn some code below, it’s helpful to understand some basic concepts about Java (the language of Android). Nothing crazy – but just enough to get a general idea. Check out the Introduction to Java Training Course if you really want to jumpstart your Android app creation skills.
What is Android Anyway?
Even though you are probably really excited about getting started, you should at least understand what Android is and why it is one of the best mobile operating systems available. After all, you can’t truly devote your time to a project unless you are confident in the platform.
A product of the Open Handset Alliance, Android was first introduced to the public in 2007. You may recall that this was the same year Apple unveiled the first iPhone for commercial production. Android, Inc. was a Google-backed company that was ultimately acquired by the search engine giant in 2005.
The Open Handset Alliance is a large group consisting of many mobile service providers and handset manufacturers around the world.
Unlike competitors such as iOS (Apple), Android is a completely open-source mobile operating system based on the Linux kernel and released under the Apache license. The code is freely available and can be modified by wireless handset manufacturers as necessary to create custom mobile solutions.
Some of the largest distributors of Android-powered handsets include Samsung, HTC and LG. There are many other companies also relying on the Android platform to create mobile phone and tablet solutions under a variety of brand names (many created and manufactured in China).
Although Android started as an alternative mobile OS targeting the smartphone market specifically, the lineup has expanded to include a full assortment of tablets and laptop-type devices. Android has certainly grown to show its versatility across various hardware configurations thanks to significant advancements in both the Android framework and mobile processors including the QualComm SnapDragon series and the Samsung Exynos chipset.
The great thing about developing your own Android apps is that Android is not limited to mobile phones. Tablets, laptops and even some desktops are powered by Android and you can create apps for all of them. This diversity can lead to an increased market for your app and potentially higher profits as well.
OK, so now that you are better acquainted with the OS, it’s time to start developing your own apps!
Getting Started
Before you can start creating your own Android apps, you need to set up your computer properly. Don’t worry – it’s free and doesn’t take very long! These instructions are for Windows computers, but the process is very similar for Mac and Linux. If you have any questions, the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) has a Help section that should answer most of your questions.
You can also check out Android Development for Beginners for an overview of what’s required to setup the Android SDK on your computer.
First, you need to install the Java Development Kit (JDK). Your computer probably already has the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), but the JDK is also required to compile your Android apps.
You can download the latest version of the JDK from Oracle’s Java website. Installation is straightforward and should only take you a few minutes. Further information and the download link can be found athttp://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html.
With the JDK installed, the next step is to install the Android SDK. The SDK is freely available from http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html. Just make sure to download the correct version for your OS. Once the SDK Manager has been downloaded, you can proceed with installing the various packages required to create your own Android apps.
The developer.android.com site provides countless resources including installation instructions, tutorials and sample projects you can complete as your skill level progresses.
The nice thing about the Android SDK is that it is completely modular. Once you have downloaded the initial package, you can choose which versions of Android you want to develop for. For instance, you if you want to create applications that work with Android 2.3 and up, make sure you download the Android 2.3 package.
Android applications are always forward-compatible, but not always backward compatible. Keep this in mind when you start developing because some new features in Android 4.3 are not compatible with older software versions. This limits your potential customer-base (which is extremely important if you plan to make money from your applications).
At this point, you have a couple of choices for development. To get the most flexibility out of Android development (with a steeper learning curve), you can install an Integrated Development Environment, or IDE. One of the most popular IDEs for Android development is called Eclipse. You can download Eclipse fromhttp://www.eclipse.org. Since Eclipse is written in Java, it does not need to be installed on your computer. Simply double-click on the .JAR file and Eclipse will load automatically.
This IDE is excellent as a standalone Java development tool but the developers of Eclipse have integrated Android development seamlessly using a plugin called the Android Development Tool (ADT).
To install ADT, open Eclipse and go to Help > Install New Software and then clickAvailable Software > Add Remote Site. In the dialog that appears, enter the following URL:
Although this web URL works for most users, if you do experience problems, try removing the “s” in https to complete the download process. For some reason, the SSL path does not always work, but you should definitely use the secure connection if you computer allows it.
Another popular IDE, NetBeans, also has a similar toolset known as the nbandroid plugin. For the purposes of this tutorial, you will be using Eclipse to create new Android projects. You can learn more about using Eclipse in Java Programming with Eclipse.
This next step isn’t required to start making applications, but it will come in handy during the testing phase. The Android SDK Manager makes creating an Android Virtual Device (AVD) very easy. You can create multiple AVDs and see how your applications perform on an Android device without actually having an Android device.
This is a powerful tool that really makes development easy. You can make a simple change and within seconds, see how that change affected your application. Even if you have an Android device, it’s a good idea to create a couple AVDs to test your app’s performance on a variety of Android-powered hardware.
You can set the screen size of your virtual device to practically anything you want but try to keep it reasonably so you can see how your app looks on a wide variety of devices. There are quite a few other settings you can adjust on your AVD including what version of Android is installed and whether or not the AVD has an SD card installed.
Again, this step is not required to start creating Android apps, but since you are already configuring everything anyway, you might as well get it done now because you will need it after you have written an app and want to see it in action.
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