In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, learn how to build powerful apps for the world’s most popular mobile platform: Android. Using this book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach, you’ll build complete Android 5 apps from the ground up with Android Studio. As you do, you’ll master key skills for designing, developing, and publishing meaningful apps of your own. Extensively updated for Android 5’s newest capabilities, every lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a rock-solid foundation for real-world success!   Highlights of this new Fourth Edition include Extensive new coverage: Android 5 (Lollipop), Android Studio, and Material Design; plus Android M early preview A laser focus on modern Android essentials, including activities, intents, resources, and background processing New Android 5 features for Android TV and Android Wear Complete Android Studio projects in nearly every chapter Learn how to… Use the powerful new Android Studio development environment Build layouts that automatically display properly on any device Craft more dynamic, intuitive apps with Google’s new material design language Display the right information at the right time with ListViews and adapters Make apps more responsive with background processes Add sophisticated navigation with action toolbars and slide-out menus Integrate images and media into your apps Save data for your app and create public files that can be used by anyone Access the cloud to download and parse JSON data Use SQLite and content providers to create responsive, data-driven apps Create, update, and cancel notifications Start developing Android Wearable and TV apps Use Google Play Services to add location, mapping, and more Package and publish apps to Google Play and other markets  

Table of Contents:
Preface xiv Part I: Android Fundamentals 1 HOUR 1: Introducing Android 3 Defining Android 3 Understanding Android Development 5 Beginning Android Studio 10 Summary 14 Q&A 14 Workshop 14 Exercise 15 HOUR 2: Understanding Intents 17 Using Intents to Start an Activity 17 Using Implicit Intents 27 Handling an Implicit Intent 32 Summary 34 Q&A 35 Workshop 35 Exercise 36 HOUR 3: Understanding Resources 37 Resources in Your Project 37 Understanding Common Resources. 40 Providing Alternative Resources. 48 Internationalization: Using Alternative Languages Resources 49 Summary 51 Q&A 52 Workshop 52 Exercises 52 HOUR 4: Activities and Fragments 53 Working with Activities 53 Understanding the Activity Lifecycle 63 Introducing Fragments 66 Summary 71 Q&A 71 Workshop 71 Exercises 72 HOUR 5: Responsive Apps: Running in the Background 73 Working in the Background 73 Using an AsyncTask 76 Service and IntentService 79 Summary 87 Q&A 87 Workshop 88 Exercise 88 Part II: Creating the User Interface 89 HOUR 6: Using Basic UI Controls 91 Using the Android Studio Palette 91 Handling User Input 92 Using Buttons for User Actions 97 Summary 102 Q&A 103 Workshop 103 Exercise 103 HOUR 7: Using Layouts 105 Getting Started with Layouts 105 Becoming a RelativeLayout Expert 108 Common Attributes 112 More Layout Types 114 Summary 116 Q&A 117 Workshop 117 Exercises 117 HOUR 8: ListViews and Adapters 119 Getting Started with ListViews 119 Extending Base Adapters 124 Introducing the View Holder Pattern 131 Summary 136 Q&A 136 Workshop 136 Exercises 137 HOUR 9: Material Design 139 The Evolution of App Design 139 Introducing Material Design 140 Implementing Material Design 145 Summary 159 Q&A 159 Workshop 160 Exercise 160 HOUR 10: More Views and Controls 161 Controls for Collecting Information 161 Indicating Progress 166 Displaying Data 170 More Views 174 Summary 177 Q&A 177 Workshop 177 Exercise 178 HOUR 11: ImageViews and Bitmaps 179 Examining ImageView 179 Using Bitmaps and Canvas 186 Introducing Picasso 192 Summary 192 Q&A 193 Workshop 193 Exercise 193 HOUR 12: Using VideoViews and Media 195 Playing Video 195 Handling VideoView Events 199 Playing Audio with MediaPlayer 202 More Media 204 Summary 205 Q&A 205 Workshop 205 Exercise 206 HOUR 13: Adding Navigation 207 Using the ActionBar 207 Introducing the Toolbar 214 Sliding Drawer Navigation. 219 Summary 228 Q&A 228 Workshop 229 Exercise 229 Part III: Working with Data 231 HOUR 14: Using the File System 233 File System Overview 233 Saving Data Privately in Your App 236 Saving Data in Public Folders 240 Summary 242 Q&A 242 Workshop 242 Exercise 243 HOUR 15: Using SharedPreferences 245 Using SharedPreferences to Store Data 245 Setting User Preferences 249 Summary 258 Q&A 258 Workshop 258 Exercise 259 HOUR 16: Using SQLite and File Storage 261 Organizing a Database with Tables 261 Managing Data with SQLiteOpenHelper 263 Adding, Deleting, and Updating Data. 266 Querying Data and Using Cursors 267 Using a Database in the App 269 Summary 274 Q&A 274 Workshop 274 Exercise 275 HOUR 17: Accessing the Cloud: Working with a Remote API 277 Fetching Remote Data 277 Using and Parsing JSON-Formatted Data 282 Putting the Pieces Together 286 Checking Connectivity. 290 Summary 294 Q&A 295 Workshop 295 Exercise 295 HOUR 18: Introducing Content Providers 297 Introducing Content Providers 297 All About the Calendar 298 Calendar Data via the Calendar Content Provider 300 Summary 308 Q&A 308 Workshop 309 Exercise 309 HOUR 19: Creating a Content Provider. 311 Specifying a URI for Data Retrieval 311 Using PieDbAdapter 312 Building a Content Provider 312 Using MyContentProvider in the App 319 Summary 321 Q&A 321 Workshop 322 Exercise 322 HOUR 20: Loaders and CursorAdapters. 323 How Loaders Work 323 Loader Classes 324 Understanding Loader States 325 Creating Cursor Adapters 330 The Rest of the App 333 Summary 333 Q&A 333 Workshop 334 Exercise 334 Part IV: Next Steps 335 HOUR 21: Using Notifications 337 Introducing Notifications 337 Creating and Managing Notifications 338 Customizing Notifications 344 Summary 345 Q&A 346 Workshop 346 Exercise 346 HOUR 22: Android TV and Wear Apps 347 Android as a Platform 347 Developing Android Wear Apps 348 Developing Android TV Apps 355 Summary 358 Q&A 358 Workshop 359 Exercise 359 HOUR 23: More Features to Explore 361 Using Google Play Services 361 Using Google Play Services for Location 364 Using Open Source and External SDKs 368 Digging Deeper into Android 369 Summary 373 Q&A 373 Workshop 374 Exercise 374 HOUR 24: Publishing Your Apps 375 Preparing for Release 375 Sharing Your App with the World 382 Monetizing Your App 384 Summary 385 Q&A 385 Workshop 385 Exercise 386 Index 387