Blog Post 3: Continuation of Project

Overview:

During this cycle of working on learning how to develop for android, I worked on what I had already done with the Google tutorial. I added certain things to my test application such as more actions, the opening of external apps, and a new color scheme. I also gave my application an icon. It is there simply to show that I can do so, and is not complicated for that reason.

Showing off:

Last time that I showed my application working was in an emulator that came with Android Studio, which was the application I have been using for this project. I had recently learned how to develop a signed apk (application install file). So, I decided to put it on my tablet and give it a go. The results were quite good.

As you may have noticed, the color scheme is very different from the last version of the application. I thought that changing the colors would definitely spice up everything. As it did. However, the colors were the hardest things to deal with. It took me roughly 2 hours plus to get it to work. The whole time, this was me:

However, I was eventually able to get the colors to work (thank god). I also worked on having my app open other apps. You may have noticed a search button and a menu button (3 dots). When you hit the menu button, it shows the word "Settings". By clicking on settings, you would be taken to system settings. I also added a search button that if you hit it, it will take you to google.com.

As I have also mentioned, I was also able to change the icon of my application. It is a very basic icon. I did not mean for it to be complicated. I just wanted to test my ability to change the icon. I was successful. This is the icon I made:

And here it is in action:

Conclusion:

These were overall small improvements to the app. However, they took a lot of time and patience to get to work. The ability to customize the app in the way I did made me feel great about myself. I am hoping to soon get into making an app from scratch instead of from tutorials (copy & paste situation). I am also hoping to crack open an android programming book in my possession to see if it can also help me in this endeavor.

APK:

I have posted a copy of the apk for anyone to install on their system. 

5.0 only: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4QAu9suqlVZZWp5UU5PNUUwd28&authuser=0

4.1 up (untested): https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4QAu9suqlVZczduZVFGbjJoeDQ&authuser=0

Sources:

So, I have a TON of sources. This is because I looked at a lot of them while I was trying to solve some problems with my application. Excuse the size:

• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18094313/android-development-unable-to-create-an-icon-drawable-ic-action-search
• http://developer.android.com/design/downloads/index.html#action-bar-icon-pack
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5071948/set-up-my-own-xml-namespace
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/21871750/android-appcompat-actionbar-menu-item-showasaction-not-working
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5427195/how-to-change-a-projects-min-sdk-version
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19997509/android-studio-why-are-minsdkversion-and-targetsdkversion-specified-both-in-and
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18727033/opensearch-in-android-beginners-app-not-defined
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25448051/in-the-build-your-first-app-tutorial-what-is-actionbar-background-and-how-do
• https://developer.android.com/samples/BasicMediaRouter/res/values/colors.html
• http://www.color-hex.com/
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18288402/how-to-set-custom-actionbar-color-style
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18288402/how-to-set-custom-actionbar-color-style
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/26992936/styling-actionmode-actionbar-in-android-5-0-lollipop-with-appcompat
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18726865/custom-style-action-bar-not-working-in-android-4
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24850780/my-android-app-crashes-after-adding-androidstyle-theme-dialog-in-the-android
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22755756/android-how-to-change-action-bar-background-color-to-dark-blue
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22755756/android-how-to-change-action-bar-background-color-to-dark-blue
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27155867/using-theme-material-light-darkactionbar-with-theme-appcompat-light-darkactionba
• https://developer.android.com/training/material/theme.html
• https://developer.android.com/training/index.html
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/26435684/change-material-design-appcompat-actionbar-color
• https://developer.appcelerator.com/question/133762/how-can-i-export-project-as-apk-file
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16709848/build-unsigned-apk-file-with-android-studio
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18124806/android-development-undefined-method
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2201917/how-can-i-open-a-url-in-androids-web-browser-from-my-application
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22269048/export-unsigned-apk-from-a-gradle-project-in-android-studio
• http://www.androiddevelopment.org/tag/apk/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhO_4zfFYME
• http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html
• http://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.1.html

Gif Source: www.giphy.com

Commented Blogs (3/2/15): Fred Sorg-Taylor, Ruby Lee, David Weiss