1. SE4S701 Mobile Application Development
Android introduction
Based on Material by Ross Davies and Marius Miknis

2. Mobile Applications Android What are they? Types
Any application that runs on a mobile device
Types
Web apps: run in a web browser
HTML, JavaScript, Flash, server-side components, etc.
Virtual Machine apps:
Written in Java (rarely C# e.g. using Xamarin)
Native: compiled binaries for the device
Android

3. Brief History - Android
2005
Google acquires startup Android Inc. to start Android platform
Work on Dalvik VM begins
2007
Open Handset Alliance announced
Early look at SDK
2008
Google sponsors 1st  Android Developer Challenge
T-Mobile G1 announced
SDK 1.0 released
Android released open source (Apache License)
Android Dev Phone 1 released
 Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 47 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Includes Texas Instruments, Broadcom Corporation, Google, HTC, Intel, LG, Marvell Technology Group, Motorola, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile

4. Brief History cont. 2009 2010 SDK 1.5 (Cupcake) SDK 1.6 (Donut)
New soft keyboard with “autocomplete” feature
SDK 1.6 (Donut)
Support Wide VGA
SDK 2.0/2.0.1/2.1 (Eclair)
Revamped UI, browser
2010
Nexus One released to the public
SDK 2.2 (Froyo, API 8)
Flash support, tethering
SDK 2.3 (Gingerbread, API 10)
UI update, system-wide copy-paste
Gingerbread
Android 2.3

5. Brief History cont. 2011 2012 SDK 3.x (Honeycomb)
Android
2011
SDK 3.x (Honeycomb)
Optimized for tablet support
SDK 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich, API 15)
Virtual UI buttons
2012
SDK (Jelly Bean, API 16 to 18)
Triple buffered graphics pipeline
Ice cream Sandwich
Android 4.0+
Jelly Bean
Android 4.1.1

6. Brief History cont.
2014
SDK 4.4 to (KitKat, API 19)
New UI for tablets,
support multi-core processors
2015
SDK 5.0 to 5.1.1(Lollipop, API 21 & 22)
Added ART (Android RunTime, a new environment with ahead-of-time compilation) to replace the older Dalvik VM
SDK 6.0 (Marshmallow, API, 23)
2016
SDK 7.0 to 7.01 (Nougat, API 24 & 25)
2017
SDK 8.0 and 8.1 (Oreo, API 26 & 27)
KitKat
Android 4.4
Lollipop
Android 5.0
Marshmallow
Android 6.0
Oreo
Android 8.0

7. Android Versions: API Reference
1.0
Honeycomb
Marshmallow
[API 1]
3.0 [API 11]
6.0 [API 23]
1.1
3.1 [API 12]
Nougat
[API 2]
3.2 [API 13]
7.0 [API 24]
Cupcake
Ice Cream Sandwich
7.01 [API 25]
1.5 [API 3]
Oreo
Donut
4.0 [API 14]
8.0 [API 26]
1.6 [API 4]
4.03 [API 15]
8.1 [API 27]
Éclair
Jelly Bean
2.0 [API 5]
4.1 [API 16]
2.0.1 [API 6]
4.2 [API 17]
2.1 [API 7]
4.3 [API 18]
Froyo
Kitkat
2.2 [API 8]
4.4 [API 19]
Gingerbread
4.4+ [API 20]
2.3 [API 9]
Lollipop
2.4 [API 10]
5.0 [API 21]
5.1 [API 22]
Source:

8. So, what is Google Android?
A software stack for mobile devices that includes
An operating system
Middleware
Key Applications (the stuff you can’t uninstall)
Uses Linux to provide core system services
Security
Memory management
Process management
Power management
Hardware drivers

9. Application Framework
Android Architecture
Applications
Application Framework
Libraries
Android Runtime
Android Runtime
Linux Kernel
More details at:

10. Android S/W Stack – Linux Kernel
Relying on Linux Kernel for core system services
Memory and Process Management
Network Stack
Driver Model
Security
Providing an abstraction layer between the H/W and the rest of the S/W stack
The Linux kernel is the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) between the hardware and the android software stack.
The base of Android is a Kernel that's built around Linux. It's a version of Linux that's highly optimized for mobile operating systems made as small as possible so that it works well on devices that have very seriously constrained CPU and memory capabilities. On top of the Kernel is the Android Runtime.
And a set of libraries that enable the behaviour of the operating system itself. The next level is the Application Framework which sits on top of the Android Runtime and the associated libraries. And then finally, at the top are the apps including those that are included with the operating system. And custom apps, that you might download from the Google Play store or build yourself. Let's break down each of these layers. The Linux Kernel, again, starts with Linux itself, but then also has a set of drivers.
And each driver is designed to interface with an element of the hardware. A phone, or a tablet for example. You'll have drivers for audio, camera, display, the keypad, to manage flash memory, power, wi-fi, and so on. It's up to the OEMs, that is, the manufacturers of the devices themselves, to customize these drivers, and make them work for those devices. So if you're holding an Android device in your hand, the version of Android that's on that device will be a combination of what Google delivers and what the vendor delivers.

11. Android S/W Stack - Libraries
Includes a set of C/C++ libraries used by components of the Android system
Exposed to developers through the Android application framework

12. Android S/W Stack - Runtime
ART (from 2015 onwards)
Core Libraries
Providing most of the functionality available in the core libraries of the Java language
APIs
Data Structures
Utilities
File Access
Network Access
Graphics
etc ……
Dalvik Virtual Machine
Providing environment on which every Android application runs
Each Android application runs in its own process, with its own instance of the Dalvik VM.
Dalvik has been written such that a device can run multiple VMs efficiently.
Register-based virtual machine
The next layer is the Android Runtime. And this includes a setup of core libraries and critically, the Dalvik virtual machine. . The Dalvik virtual machine or JVM, replaces the JVM that's used in conventional Java-based applications. Dalvik, again, is highly optimized for very small devices. And the byte code that it reads is different in many ways from the byte code that's generated by conventional Java compilers.
So, to get Dalvik byte code, you have to use the Dalvik compatible compiler that's included with the Android developer tools. The associated libraries include libraries to manage all sorts of features of Android, including graphics, databases, encryption, typefaces, and so on. These libraries work at the same level of the software stack as the core Runtime, but they're expandable. And so, device makers can add their own libraries to this layer.
Android Runtime (ART)
More on next slide

13. Android Apps Built using Java and Google’s SDK libraries
No support for some Java libraries like Swing & AWT
Java code compiled into
Dalvik byte code (runs on VM)
or ART byte code (converted to native machine code at install)
Both optimised for mobile devices (better memory management, battery utilisation, etc.)

14. Take Your Pick Optional through development menu in 4.4
ART is used by default in version 5 of Android and above
Gains upwards of:
50% in speed
30% in battery life

15. Android S/W Stack – App Framework
Feature
Role
View
System
Used to build an application, including lists, grids, text, boxes, buttons, and embedded web browser
Content
Provider
Enabling applications to access data from other applications or to share their own data
Resource
Manager
Providing access to non-code resources (localized strings, graphics, and layout files)
Notification Manager
Enabling all applications to display customer alerts in the status bar
Activity
Managing the lifecycle of applications and providing a common navigation backstack

16. Android S/W Stack - Application
Android provides a set of core applications:
Client
SMS Program
Calendar
Maps
Browser
Contacts
etc ...
All applications are written using the Java language.

17. Workflow Development process for an Android App
All included in Android Studio
The basic steps for developing applications (with or without Eclipse) are shown in figure 1. The development steps encompass four development phases, which include:
Setup
During this phase you install and set up your development environment.
You also create Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) and connect hardware devices on which you can install your applications.
See Managing Virtual Devices and Using Hardware Devices for more information.
Development
During this phase you set up and develop your Android project, which contains all of the source code and resource files for your application. For more information, see Create an Android project.
Debugging and Testing
During this phase you build your project into a debuggable .apk package that you can install and run on the emulator or an Android-powered device. If you are using Eclipse, builds are generated each time you project is saved. If you're using another IDE, you can build your project using Ant and install it on a device using adb. For more information, see Build and run your application.
Next, you debug your application using a JDWP-compliant debugger along with the debugging and logging tools that are provided with the Android SDK. Eclipse already comes packaged with a compatible debugger. For more information see, Debug your application with the SDK debugging and logging tools.
Last, you test your application using various Android SDK testing tools. For more information, see Test your application with the Testing and Instrumentation framework.
Publishing
During this phase you configure and build your application for release and distribute your application to users. For more information, see Publishing Overview.

18. Publishing to Google Play
Requires Google Developer Account
$25 fee once (Apple: $99 yearly)
Link to a Merchant Account
Google Checkout
Link to your account
Google takes 30% of App purchase price

19. Google Play SERVICES Not to be confused with Google Play Why?
‘Play’ = app store
‘Play Services’ = a background application (always running)
Why?
Reduce dependence on Android updates (Google got frustrated with slow phone vendors), all Google apps get now updated by Google (Maps, Drive, Wallet, …).
Strange, however ….
It can’t be stopped or disabled (see screen shot above)
Is closed source (Android is open source)

20. Google Play SERVICES Minor Problems Major Problem
Increases battery consumption and is very large
Mandatory for increasing number of apps (e.g. YouTube)  difficult to uninstall
Major Problem
It has 80 (!) permissions – that’s pretty much all. (including reading your s, text messages, recording your conversations, transmitting your contact list, you location, etc.)
In other words: spyware (opinion).
Why?
“Don’t be Evil” – that was yesterday (dropped 2015)

21. That’s it for today Let’s start coding.....
Based on Material by Ross Davies and Marius Miknis