Professional Android™ 4 Application Development -- Contents -- Chapter 1: Hello, Android -- A Little Background -- The Not-So-Distant Past -- Living in the Future -- What Android Isn't -- Android: An Open Platform for Mobile Development -- Native Android Applications -- Android SDK Features -- Access to Hardware, Including Camera, GPS, and Sensors -- Data Transfers Using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC -- Maps, Geocoding, and Location-Based Services -- Background Services -- SQLite Database for Data Storage and Retrieval -- Shared Data and Inter-Application Communication -- Using Widgets and Live Wallpaper to Enhance the Home Screen -- Extensive Media Support and 2D/3D Graphics -- Cloud to Device Messaging -- Optimized Memory and Process Management -- Introducing the Open Handset Alliance -- What Does Android Run On? -- Why Develop for Mobile? -- Why Develop for Android? -- Factors Driving Android's Adoption -- What Android Has That Other Platforms Don't Have -- The Changing Mobile Development Landscape -- Introducing the Development Framework -- What Comes in the Box -- Understanding the Android Software Stack -- The Dalvik Virtual Machine -- Android Application Architecture -- Android Libraries -- Chapter 2: Getting Started -- Developing for Android -- What You Need to Begin -- Downloading and Installing the Android SDK -- Downloading and Installing Updates to the SDK -- Developing with Eclipse -- Using the Android Developer Tools Plug-In for Eclipse -- Using the Support Package -- Creating Your First Android Application -- Creating a New Android Project -- Creating an Android Virtual Device -- Creating Launch Configurations -- Running and Debugging Your Android Application -- Understanding Hello World -- Types of Android Applications -- Foreground Applications -- Background Applications -- Intermittent Applications.

Widgets and Live Wallpapers -- Developing for Mobile and Embedded Devices -- Hardware-Imposed Design Considerations -- Be Efficient -- Expect Limited Capacity -- Design for Different Screens -- Expect Low Speeds, High Latency -- At What Cost? -- Considering the User's Environment -- Developing for Android -- Being Fast and Efficient -- Being Responsive -- Ensuring Data Freshness -- Developing Secure Applications -- Ensuring a Seamless User Experience -- Providing Accessibility -- Android Development Tools -- The Android Virtual Device Manager -- Android SDK Manager -- The Android Emulator -- The Dalvik Debug Monitor Service -- The Android Debug Bridge -- The Hierarchy Viewer and Lint Tool -- Monkey and Monkey Runner -- Chapter 3: Creating Applications and Activities -- What Makes an Android Application? -- Introducing the Application Manifest File -- A Closer Look at the Application Manifest -- Using the Manifest Editor -- Externalizing Resources -- Creating Resources -- Simple Values -- Styles and Themes -- Drawables -- Layouts -- Animations -- Menus -- Using Resources -- Using Resources in Code -- Referencing Resources Within Resources -- Using System Resources -- Referring to Styles in the Current Theme -- Creating Resources for Different Languages and Hardware -- Runtime Configuration Changes -- The Android Application Lifecycle -- Understanding an Application's Priority and Its Process' States -- Introducing the Android Application Class -- Extending and Using the Application Class -- Overriding the Application Lifecycle Events -- A Closer Look at Android Activities -- Creating Activities -- The Activity Lifecycle -- Activity Stacks -- Activity States -- Monitoring State Changes -- Understanding Activity Lifetimes -- Android Activity Classes -- Chapter 4: Building User Interfaces.

Fundamental Android UI Design -- Android User Interface Fundamentals -- Assigning User Interfaces to Activities -- Introducing Layouts -- Defining Layouts -- Using Layouts to Create Device Independent User Interfaces -- Using a Linear Layout -- Using a Relative Layout -- Using a Grid Layout -- Optimizing Layouts -- Redundant Layout Containers Are Redundant -- Avoid Using Excessive Views -- Using Lint to Analyze Your Layouts -- To-Do List Example -- Introducing Fragments -- Creating New Fragments -- The Fragment Lifecycle -- Fragment-Specific Lifecycle Events -- Fragment States -- Introducing the Fragment Manager -- Adding Fragments to Activities -- Using Fragment Transactions -- Adding, Removing, and Replacing Fragments -- Using the Fragment Manager to Find Fragments -- Populating Dynamic Activity Layouts with Fragments -- Fragments and the Back Stack -- Animating Fragment Transactions -- Interfacing Between Fragments and Activities -- Fragments Without User Interfaces -- Android Fragment Classes -- Using Fragments for Your To-Do List -- The Android Widget Toolbox -- Creating New Views -- Modifying Existing Views -- Customizing Your To-Do List -- Creating Compound Controls -- Creating Simple Compound Controls Using Layouts -- Creating Custom Views -- Creating a New Visual Interface -- Handling User Interaction Events -- Supporting Accessibility in Custom Views -- Creating a Compass View Example -- Using Custom Controls -- Introducing Adapters -- Introducing Some Native Adapters -- Customizing the Array Adapter -- Using Adapters to Bind Data to a View -- Customizing the To-Do List Array Adapter -- Using the Simple Cursor Adapter -- Chapter 5: Intents and Broadcast Receivers -- Introducing Intents -- Using Intents to Launch Activities -- Explicitly Starting New Activities.

Implicit Intents and Late Runtime Binding -- Determining If an Intent Will Resolve -- Returning Results from Activities -- Native Android Actions -- Introducing Linkify -- Native Linkify Link Types -- Creating Custom Link Strings -- Using the Match Filter -- Using the Transform Filter -- Using Intents to Broadcast Events -- Broadcasting Events with Intents -- Listening for Broadcasts with Broadcast Receivers -- Broadcasting Ordered Intents -- Broadcasting Sticky Intents -- Introducing the Local Broadcast Manager -- Introducing Pending Intents -- Creating Intent Filters and Broadcast Receivers -- Using Intent Filters to Service Implicit Intents -- How Android Resolves Intent Filters -- Finding and Using Intents Received Within an Activity -- Passing on Responsibility -- Selecting a Contact Example -- Using Intent Filters for Plug-Ins and Extensibility -- Supplying Anonymous Actions to Applications -- Discovering New Actions from Third-Party Intent Receivers -- Incorporating Anonymous Actions as Menu Items -- Listening for Native Broadcast Intents -- Monitoring Device State Changes Using Broadcast Intents -- Listening for Battery Changes -- Listening for Connectivity Changes -- Listening for Docking Changes -- Managing Manifest Receivers at Run Time -- Chapter 6: Using Internet Resources -- Downloading and Parsing Internet Resources -- Connecting to an Internet Resource -- Parsing XML Using the XML Pull Parser -- Creating an Earthquake Viewer -- Using the Download Manager -- Downloading Files -- Customizing Download Manager Notifications -- Specifying a Download Location -- Cancelling and Removing Downloads -- Querying the Download Manager -- Using Internet Services -- Connecting to Google App Engine -- Best Practices for Downloading Data Without Draining the Battery -- Chapter 7: Files, Saving State, and Preferences.

Saving Simple Application Data -- Creating and Saving Shared Preferences -- Retrieving Shared Preferences -- Creating a Settings Activity for the Earthquake Viewer -- Introducing the Preference Framework and the Preference Activity -- Defining a Preference Screen Layout in XML -- Native Preference Controls -- Using Intents to Import System Preferences into Preference Screens -- Introducing the Preference Fragment -- Defining the Preference Fragment Hierarchy Using Preference Headers -- Introducing the Preference Activity -- Backward Compatibility and Preference Screens -- Finding and Using the Shared Preferences Set by Preference Screens -- Introducing On Shared Preference Change Listeners -- Creating a Standard Preference Activity for the Earthquake Viewer -- Persisting the Application Instance State -- Saving Activity State Using Shared Preferences -- Saving and Restoring Activity Instance State Using the Lifecycle Handlers -- Saving and Restoring Fragment Instance State Using the Lifecycle Handlers -- Including Static Files as Resources -- Working with the File System -- File-Management Tools -- Using Application-Specific Folders to Store Files -- Creating Private Application Files -- Using the Application File Cache -- Storing Publicly Readable Files -- Chapter 8: Databases and Content Providers -- Introducing Android Databases -- SQLite Databases -- Content Providers -- Introducing SQLite -- Content Values and Cursors -- Working with SQLite Databases -- Introducing the SQLiteOpenHelper -- Opening and Creating Databases Without the SQLite Open Helper -- Android Database Design Considerations -- Querying a Database -- Extracting Values from a Cursor -- Adding, Updating, and Removing Rows -- Inserting Rows -- Updating Rows -- Deleting Rows -- Creating Content Providers -- Registering Content Providers.

Publishing Your Content Provider's URI Address.