1page.title=Pure Android 2@jd:body 3 4<p>Most developers want to distribute their apps on multiple platforms. As you plan your app for 5Android, keep in mind that different platforms play by different rules and conventions. Design 6decisions that make perfect sense on one platform will look and feel misplaced in the context of a 7different platform. While a "design once, ship anywhere" approach might save you time up-front, you 8run the very real risk of creating inconsistent apps that alienate users. Consider the following 9guidelines to avoid the most common traps and pitfalls.</p> 10 11<div class="vspace size-1"> </div> 12 13<div class="layout-content-row"> 14 <div class="layout-content-col span-5"> 15 16<h4>Don't mimic UI elements from other platforms</h4> 17<p>Platforms typically provide a carefully designed set of UI elements that are themed in a very 18distinctive fashion. For example, some platforms advocate rounded corners for their buttons, others 19use gradients in their title bars. In some cases, elements may have the same purpose, but are 20designed to work a bit differently.</p> 21<p>As you build your app for Android, don't carry over themed UI elements from other platforms and 22don't mimic their specific behaviors. Review the 23<a href="{@docRoot}design/building-blocks/index.html">Building Blocks</a> 24section in this styleguide to learn about Android's most important UI elements 25and the way they look in the system default themes. Also examine Android's platform apps to get a 26sense of how elements are applied in the context of an app. If you want to customize the theme of UI 27elements, customize carefully according to your specific branding - and not according to the 28conventions of a different platform.</p> 29 30 </div> 31 <div class="layout-content-col span-8"> 32 33 <img src="{@docRoot}design/media/migrating_ui_elements.png"> 34 <div class="figure-caption"> 35 Sampling of UI elements from Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. 36 </div> 37 38 </div> 39</div> 40 41<div class="vspace size-2"> </div> 42 43<div class="layout-content-row"> 44 <div class="layout-content-col span-5"> 45 46<h4>Don't carry over platform-specific icons</h4> 47<p>Platforms typically provide sets of icons for common functionality, such as sharing, creating a new 48document or deleting.</p> 49<p>As you are migrating your app to Android, please swap out platform-specific icons with their Android 50counterparts.</p> 51<p>You can find a wide variety of icons for use in your app on the 52<a href="{@docRoot}design/downloads/index.html">Downloads</a> page.</p> 53 54 </div> 55 <div class="layout-content-col span-8"> 56 57 <img src="{@docRoot}design/media/migrating_icons.png"> 58 <div class="figure-caption"> 59 Sampling of icons from Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. 60 </div> 61 62 </div> 63</div> 64 65<div class="vspace size-2"> </div> 66 67<div class="layout-content-row"> 68 <div class="layout-content-col span-5"> 69 70<h4>Don't use bottom tab bars</h4> 71<p>Other platforms use the bottom tab bar to switch between the app's views. Per platform convention, 72Android's tabs for view control are shown in action bars at the top of the screen instead. In 73addition, Android apps may use a bottom bar to display actions on a split action bar.</p> 74<p>You should follow this guideline to create a consistent experience with other apps on the Android 75platform and to avoid confusion between actions and view switching on Android.</p> 76<p>For more information on how to properly use action bars for view control, see 77<a href="{@docRoot}design/patterns/actionbar.html">Action Bars</a>.</p> 78 79 </div> 80 <div class="layout-content-col span-8"> 81 82 <img src="{@docRoot}design/media/migrating_ios_dialers.png"> 83 <div class="figure-caption"> 84 Android dialer with tabs in an action bar vs. bottom tabs in iOS. 85 </div> 86 87 </div> 88</div> 89 90<div class="layout-content-row"> 91 <div class="layout-content-col span-5"> 92 93<h4>Don't hardcode links to other apps</h4> 94<p>In some cases you might want your app to take advantage of another app's feature set. For 95example, you may want to share the content that your app created via a social network or messaging 96app, or view the content of a weblink in a browser. Don't use hard-coded, explicit links to 97particular apps to achieve this. Instead, use Android's intent API to launch an activity chooser 98which lists all applications that are set up to handle the particular request. This lets the user 99complete the task with their preferred app. For sharing in particular, consider using the <em>Share 100Action Provider</em> in your action bar to provide faster access to the user's most recently used 101sharing target.</p> 102 103 </div> 104 <div class="layout-content-col span-8"> 105 106 <img src="{@docRoot}design/media/migrating_intents.png"> 107 <div class="figure-caption"> 108 Link to other apps with the activity chooser or use the <em>Share Action Provider</em> in the 109 action bar. 110 </div> 111 112 </div> 113</div> 114 115<div class="vspace size-2"> </div> 116 117<div class="layout-content-row"> 118 <div class="layout-content-col span-5"> 119 120<h4>Don't use labeled back buttons on action bars</h4> 121<p>Other platforms use an explicit back button with label to allow the user to navigate up the 122application's hierarchy. Instead, Android uses the main action bar's app icon for hierarchical 123navigation and the navigation bar's back button for temporal navigation. For more information, 124please review the <a href="{@docRoot}design/patterns/navigation.html">Navigation</a> pattern.</p> 125<p>Follow this guideline to provide a consistent navigation experience across the platform.</p> 126 127 </div> 128 <div class="layout-content-col span-8"> 129 130 <img src="{@docRoot}design/media/migrating_ios_galleries.png"> 131 <div class="figure-caption"> 132 Android action bar with up caret vs. iOS labeled "Back" button. 133 </div> 134 135 </div> 136</div> 137 138<div class="layout-content-row"> 139 <div class="layout-content-col span-5"> 140 141<h4>Don't use right-pointing carets on line items</h4> 142<p>A common pattern on other platforms is the display of right-pointing carets on line items that allow 143the user to drill deeper into additional content.</p> 144<p>Android does not use such indicators on drill-down line items. Avoid them to stay consistent with 145the platform and in order to not have the user guess as to what the meaning of those carets may be.</p> 146 147 </div> 148 <div class="layout-content-col span-8"> 149 150 <img src="{@docRoot}design/media/migrating_ios_settings.png"> 151 <div class="figure-caption"> 152 Android settings without right-pointing carets in line items vs. iOS settings. 153 </div> 154 155 </div> 156</div> 157 158<h2 id="device-independence">Device Independence</h2> 159 160<p>Remember that your app will run on a wide variety of different screen sizes. Create visual assets 161for different screen sizes and densities and make use of concepts such as multi-pane layouts to 162appropriately scale your UI on different device form factors.</p> 163<p>For more information, read <a href="{@docRoot}design/style/devices-displays.html">Devices and Displays</a> as 164well as <a href="{@docRoot}design/patterns/multi-pane-layouts.html">Multi-pane Layouts</a> in this design guide.</p> 165
