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If you know the basics of building Android apps and want to delve deeper, take a look at our new Advanced Android Development course built by the Google Developers Training team.

Do you want to learn how to use fragments, add widgets for your app, and fine tune your app's performance? Make your app available to a diverse user base through localization and accessibility features? Use sensors in your app? How about creating custom views, drawing directly to the screen and running animations?

Each lesson in our new course takes you through building an app that illustrates an advanced concept, from incorporating maps into your app to using a SurfaceView to draw outside the main UI thread.

This course is intended for experienced Java programmers who already know the fundamentals of building Android apps. It is a follow-on course to our Android Developer Fundamentals course. The course is intended to be taught as instructor-led training. However, all the materials are published online and are available to anyone who wants to learn more advanced concepts of Android development.

We have published detailed written tutorials, concept guides, slide decks, and most importantly, a treasure trove of apps in GitHub. You can find links to everything at http://ift.tt/2zNI3PQ.

Educational institutions worldwide are invited to use this course to teach your students. Individual developers are welcome (and encouraged) to work through the tutorials to learn on their own.

Each lesson presents a different, advanced topic, and you can teach or learn each topic independently of the others.

Build apps as you learn how to use sensors, add places to your app, and draw directly to a canvas. And much more!

The new course covers:

using fragments
building widgets
using sensors
measuring and improving application performance
localizing your app
making your app accessible
adding location, places and maps to your apps
creating custom views
drawing to the canvas
drawing to a SurfaceView off the main thread
running animations

Learn more at http://ift.tt/2zNI3PQ.

Android Match

Android Developers Blog 1:25 AM No comments

Honor V10 now official with 5.99-inch ‘FullView’ display, Android Oreo and more

Huawei has become a big name in mobile, but the company also has its Honor sub-brand that has continuously released handsets with worthwhile specifications and affordable prices.

The Honor V10 is now official for China. It boasts a 5.99-inch “FullView” display, which means the bezels have been drastically reduced, and it boasts an 18:9 aspect ratio. The display rocks a resolution of 1080×2160. Underneath the hood there is a Kirin 970 processor, and the Honor V10 has variants with 4GB and 6GB of RAM.

Also included is a microSD card slot that supports cards up to 256GB, Android 8.0 Oreo, and a pair of cameras on the back. One of those is a 16-megapixel shooter while the other is a 20-megapixel camera. There is a 13-megapixel camera around front, a fingerprint reader below the display, and a battery that measures in at 3750mAh. And, yes, the Honor V10 keeps the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Honor V10 will go on sale in China beginning December 5. It will retail for CNY 2,699, or about $409, and it will be available in red, gold, blue, and black. There’s no word on an international release beyond China.

What do you think of the Honor V10?

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Android and Me 1:18 AM No comments

Samsung launches Burgundy Red Galaxy S8 in Korea

Back at the beginning of November, Samsung introduced a brand new color variant of its flagship Galaxy S8 called Burgundy Red. Samsung confirmed at that time that the red GS8 would launch in South Korea, but there was no exact date to circle on the calendar. That’s changing now, as Samsung has officially launched the Burgundy Red Galaxy S8 in South Korea today, November 28.

Samsung says that the Burgundy Red Galaxy S8 will only be available in Korea right now. However, this model’s availability will expand to “select markets” at some point in the future. Where that might be, however, Samsung isn’t revealing just yet.

The Galaxy S8 is available in a variety of colors, including Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, and Maple Gold. And as is par for the course with these different color schemes, the new Burgundy Red option is similar in specs to all the other models, save for the color on the back of the phone.

What do you think of the Burgundy Red Galaxy S8? Will you try to pick one up if it becomes available in your region?

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Android and Me 1:18 AM No comments

OnePlus 5T in Lava Red announced for China

OnePlus officially unveiled the OnePlus 5T earlier this month and it went on sale soon after, quickly becoming the fastest selling handset in the company’s history. At launch, the OnePlus 5T was only available in Midnight Black, but it looks like OnePlus has at least one additional hue coming down the pipe.

The Lava Red OnePlus 5T is now official, with a debut set for China and China only (for now, at least). Unfortunately, there’s no word on whether or not it will ever see a launch outside of China.

As you can guess from the name of the phone, this model adds some red to the new OnePlus flagship. It will certainly stand out. Around front, the Lava Red OnePlus 5T has black top and bottom bezels, which should come as a welcomed decision.

When the Lava Red OnePlus 5T does go on sale, it will offer 8GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in storage along with all of the other standard features in the flagship handset.

If you can get your hands on one, would you pick up the Lava Red OnePlus 5T?

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Android and Me 12:18 AM No comments

Gboard v6.8 adds a handwriting keyboard and enlarges emoji, hints at new theme engine, Motion Stills integration, and more [APK Teardown]

As Cyber Monday was wearing down, Google was already winding up some app updates. A new version of Gboard began rolling out late in the afternoon, and with it comes the long-anticipated handwriting support, meaning we can finally uninstall the separate handwriting keyboard. There are also some tweaks to the emoji picker. As we look to the teardown, there are signs of a new theme system with a few new options for more visual control, a new autospace feature, integration with the Motion Stills app, and more.

Gboard v6.8 adds a handwriting keyboard and enlarges emoji, hints at new theme engine, Motion Stills integration, and more [APK Teardown] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , Tablets 9:09 PM No comments

Latest SwiftKey Beta update includes quick pasting and location sharing

One of the best third-party keyboards on the Play Store is SwiftKey, and its popularity can be put down to its great customization options and constant development. The beta channel is the first place to get new features, and the latest update includes a 'Quick Paste' option and built-in location sharing.

The app recently added a nifty photo themes feature that lets you set a background image of your choosing.

Latest SwiftKey Beta update includes quick pasting and location sharing was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , Tablets 7:19 PM No comments

Razer CEO explains why the Razer Phone doesn’t have a headphone jack

Apple wasn’t the first company to drop the 3.5mm headphone jack, but, ever since they did, the question has been, “Who’s next?”

With each new smartphone, one of the most important bullet points on the spec list is whether or not it has a headphone jack. Some companies are holding out and keeping the port, like LG and Samsung, but it almost feels inevitable that it will soon be excised for good.

Razer was one of the companies some thought would keep the headphone jack around if they did launch a smartphone, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. The Razer Phone was officially announced earlier this year, and the headphone jack didn’t make the cut.

Razer CEO Ming-Liang Tan has weighed in on that decision, saying that removing the headphone jack meant the company could include a bigger battery. To be specific, it meant they could increase the battery size by 500mAh, ultimately bumped the Razer Phone’s battery up to 4000mAh.

What’s more, the removal of the port also made it so that Razer could improve the thermal performance of the smartphone. What ultimately sealed the deal was the inclusion of the 24-bit THX-certified DAC adapter in every box as well. Tan said that it “basically means we give even better quality headphone audio for those who want to hold on to their existing analog headphones.”

The arguments seem sound enough, but obviously the removal of the headphone jack is going to be a sore subject for some. But if you don’t mind using USB Type-C headphones, Razer’s got you covered.

What do you think of Razer’s decision to skip the headphone jack on the Razer Phone?

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Android and Me 8:13 AM No comments