Android

Introduction
What is Android?
• Android is a software package and Linux-based operating system for mobile
devices such as tablet computers, smartphones, smart watches, smart TVs, etc.
• It is developed by Google and later the OHA (Open Handset Alliance). Java
language is mainly used to write android code even though other languages can
be used.
• Open Handset Alliance (OHA) It's a consortium of 84 companies such as google,
Samsung, AKM, Synaptics, KDDI, Garmin, Teleca, eBay, Intel, etc. It was
established on 5th November 2007, led by Google. It is committed to advancing
open standards, providing services, and deploying handsets using the Android
Platform.
Features of Android
• It is Open Source Project, so we can customize the OS based on our requirements.
• Android supports different types of connectivity for GSM, CDMA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.
• It contains multiple APIs to support location-tracking services such as GPS.
• We can manage all data storage-related activities by using the file manager.
• It contains a wide range of media supports like AVI, MKV, FLV, MPEG4, etc. to play or record a
variety of audio/video.
• It also supports different image formats like JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, MP3, etc.
• It supports multimedia hardware control to perform playback or recording using a camera and
microphone.
• Android has an integrated open-source WebKit layout-based web browser to support User
Interfaces like HTML5 and CSS3.
• Android supports multi-tasking means we can run multiple applications at a time and can switch
between them.
• It provides support for virtual reality or 2D/3D Graphics
Android Versions
Android Versions
Code Name Version API level Release date
– Android 1.0 1 September 23, 2008
– Android 1.1 2 February 9, 2009
Cupcake Android 1.5 3 April 30, 2009
Donut Android 1.6 4 September 15, 2009
Eclair Android 2.0 – 2.1 5-7 October 26, 2009
Froyo Android 2.2 – 2.2.3 8 May 20, 2010
Gingerbread Android 2.3 – 2.3.4 9-10 December 6, 2010
Honeycomb Android 3.0.x – 3.2.x 11 – 13 February 22, 2011
Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 – 4.0.4 14 – 15 October 18, 2011
Jelly Bean Android 4.1 – 4.1.2 16 – 18 July 9, 2012
Kitkat Android 4.4 – 4.4.4 19 July 9, 2012
Lollipop Android 5.0 – 5.1 21 – 22 October 17, 2014
Marshmallow Android 6.0 – 6.0.1 23 October 5, 2015
Nougat Android 7.0 – 7.1 24 – 25 August 22, 2016
Oreo Android 8.0 26 August 21, 2017
Pie Android 9.0 27 August 6, 2018
Android Q Android 10.0 29 September 3, 2019
Android 11 Android 11.0 30 September 8, 2020
Snow Cone Android 12.0 – 12.1 31-32 October 4, 2021
Tiramisu Android 13 UPCOMING
Programming Languages used in Developing Android
Applications

1. Java
2. Kotlin
• Developing the Android Application using Kotlin is preferred by
Google, as Kotlin is made an official language for Android
Development, which is developed and maintained by JetBrains.
Previously before Java is considered the official language for
Android Development. Kotlin is made official for Android
Development in Google I/O 2017.
Advantages of Android development
 Android is largely supported by Google allowing you to use various services of Google.
 Android is an open source and runs on mobile devices, tablets etc.
 It is multitasking which means you can run many applications at the same time. For example, you can browse Facebook while
listening to songs.
 The Android operating system is available on mobile phones from various manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Sony
Ericsson etc.
 Using an Android phone, you can easily check e-mail from Gmail if your Gmail account is integrated with Google Services.
 User can easily access a variety of settings quickly and easily.
 Android is an open-source Operating system and hence possesses a vast community for support.
 The design of the Android Application has guidelines from Google, which becomes easier for developers to produce more
intuitive user applications.
 Fragmentation gives more power to Android Applications. This means the application can run two activities on a single screen.
 Releasing the Android application in the Google play store is easier when it is compared to other platforms.
Disadvantages of Android Development
 Android requires a continuous Internet connection if you are using Google services.
 Android shows error & forces to close the large apps/games, which is very annoying.
 It takes a large amount of mobile data if a large number of background processes are running.
 It increases the usage of RAM and decreases battery performance when many processes are running in the
background.
 Fragmentation provides a very intuitive approach to user experience but it has some drawbacks, where the
development team needs time to adjust to the various screen sizes of mobile smartphones that are now
available in the market and invoke the particular features in the application.
 The Android devices might vary broadly. So the testing of the application becomes more difficult.
 As the development and testing consume more time, the cost of the application may increase, depending
on the application’s complexity and features.
Android Application Components
• The following are the Android Application Components:
1. Activity
2. Services
3. Content Providers
4. Broadcast Receivers
1. Activity
 Activity represents a single screen with a user interface.
 It is an individual user interface screen in an Android Application where visual elements are called Views.
 It interacts with the user to do only one thing, such as unlock the screen, dial a phone, etc.
 If new activity starts, then the previous activity is stopped, but the data is preserved.
 An application consists of multiple activities.

For example, an email application has one activity to display a list of new emails, another activity is to compose
emails, read emails, and so on.
2. Services
 Services perform the action without user interaction in the background; but does not get initiated without
user invocation.
 It does not require a user interface.
 It is an android application component that runs in the background and has no visual UI.
 It is used to perform the processing part of your application in the background.

For example, music player application. When the music station is playing the song, the user can open another
application and the song plays in the background.
3. Content Providers
 Content providers are the android application component that provides a flexible way to
make data available across applications.
 It manages common data based on permissions.
 It manages the data which is being shared by more than one application.
For example – you can consider looking for contact details in the contact list. Or You might
want photos from the gallery which are also provided by Content Provider.
4. Broadcast Receivers
• Broadcast Receiver is a component that responds to broadcast
messages from another application or the same system. It can
also deliver broadcasts to applications that are not running.
• For example – notify the user that the battery is low. Android
developers can use broadcast messages in the application or
outside the normal flow.
Assignment
1. Describe Android architecture in detail.
2. Differentiate between JVM and DVM. Explain how each one
work.
3. Explain the activity life cycle.
4. Install Android Studio and create a simple App to display “Your
full name, Admission Number, and Program”.