As a team member, we work on creating an Android app with Github. We use PR's and code reviews. We also use Android Studio for development,
It's hard to do code reviews to the layouts without actually seeing them. I was wondering if there is some tool or method to share an instance of application in order to see changes?
Each member could simply clone the PR branch and perform the QA locally, I suppose.
Related
I have some concern regarding the creation of existing android project written in Java language to kotlin language:
Can I create it from scratch.
Can I use same package name with same keystore and play console account.
Can I use same firebase config file for using firebase services.
I am asking all this because when I was recreating the project in debug mode it say uninstall the previous version to continue.
Thanks.
1)Yes, but you don't need to. Kotlin code can call java code, and java code can call Kotlin code. So you can convert 1 file or 1 part of your app at a time.
2)Yes. In fact I'd suggest it, unless you want to lose all your old users. The play store doesn't care if the language changes.
3)Yes, none of those services care about the language the app is written in.
A brief answer to all of your questions is "yes, you can. Absolutely!".
And for the configurations and stuff, Android Studio itself can handle it for you. Also, if you have already had a project, so you just don't need to re-create it from scratch in order to use Kotlin. You can just use a feature that Kotlin already has, which is interoperability (in this case, with JVM libraries or frameworks). So you can call Kotlin code from Java (in your current project) without an issue.
Does anyone have experience with NativeScript and can compare it to developing native apps, especially for Android?
I have read all these articles:
FIRST THOUGHTS ON NATIVESCRIPT
SECOND THOUGHTS ON NATIVESCRIPT
Introduction to Native Script – Is It Worth Your Time?
My Experience Developing with Telerik NativeScript
I know especially three of them may be outdated. But I want to ask all of you developers:
How is your experience with NativeScript?
Are there any Android-Components you cannot use? Which are these ones?
Is styling really so limited?
Do apps really look so different at runtime as in the mockup as in the pictures of the first article referenced above?
Does loading of native Android objects into JavaScript Code always work correctly?
Does NativeScript generate Java-Code for Android-Platform out of the NativeScript code I write?
Is it possible to modifiy this code if I want to use some native-only features? What if I want to make UI changes then? Do I have to regenerate the code and do I miss my native extensions then?
Very glad to see that you are evaluating NativeScript to eventually use it in present and future projects.
I'll try to condense answers to a few of the questions into one, as they really are mostly related.
Skipped.*
That depends on what has already been exposed through a custom view/plugin or module. The core-modules that every NativeScript app comes with contains the most basic of wrappers for both Android and iOS under a common API. There are plugins (nativescript npm modules) that provide additional wrappers on native android views (nativescript-telerik-ui for one, nativescript-carousel), most of which are created by the NS community.
As RexSplode mentioned before me - it's mostly the platform that imposes certain limitations. NS uses CSS to declare style, but you can also access the native components and manage their style and appearance programatically if what you need isn't readily available out of the box.
First I'd like to note that the first 3 articles you've linked are over a year old now, and trust me, NativeScript has evolved a lot since then. With all the available components (remember the npm modules I mentioned earlier?) there's a good chance that you will get a close to 1:1 similarity to a well-styled native Android mockup.
At build time metadata is generated for the Android/Java public API used in the project. When the JavaScript Engine (V8) fires up, that metadata is loaded into memory, prototype chains are constructed, and callbacks are attached, so that when you call new android.widget.Button(); in your JavaScript code, the proper virtual machine instructions will be called, and a native button will be created. Static methods are accessed similarly, check out the official docs to get a better understanding of how it all works.https://docs.nativescript.org/runtimes/android/advanced-topics/execution-flow
and 7., and a cont. of 2. Java code, or rather compiled Java code is generated whenever you wish to extend a native Android class that isn't available already in a module or in the native Framework. Extending classes is very similar to how you would do it in Java - you extend a class, and create new implementations of interfaces. That means that you won't have to open Android Studio to create a new class, build it into a native plugin and then add it to your project, since you can do it all in your NativeScript code using JavaScript/TypeScript. https://docs.nativescript.org/runtimes/android/generator/extend-class-interface
Disclaimer: I am on the NativeScript Engineering team
I investigated the Native Script a little and my colleague at work writes an app with it, so I can offer you a bit of information that I have.
1. skipped
There are limited amount of components you can use with native script out of the box. However, if you have a native-java developer who can write a wrapper for you - you can use everything.
It is limited to the platform you are using. Android itself has a lot of style limitations which cannot be easily overwhelmed.
don't know
It works a little different. Your JS object, or rather widgets are translated to java code. So with the items from the box - yes, they are okey. If you write a wrapper for your custom component, then all is up to you.
Yes it does.
No, the code is generated, how are you going to modify it? Changes will be undone on the next build. However, you can write a native module for your application and use any features you want. It is like defining an interface, which you can use in JS code afterwards.
It's quite often that we see two versions of an android app: a paid version and a free version. I'm also developing an app that would like to release two versions. What is the best way to do this? Creating two projects and copying files in between does not seem to be the best way in my mind.
Use Library Project, as the official dev guide suggested:
If you have source code and resources that are common to multiple Android projects, you can move them to a library project so that it is easier to maintain across applications and versions. Here are some common scenarios in which you could make use of library projects:
If you are developing multiple related applications that use some of the same components, you move the redundant components out of their respective application projects and create a single, reuseable set of the same components in a library project.
If you are creating an application that exists in both free and paid versions. You move the part of the application that is common to both versions into a library project. The two dependent projects, with their different package names, will reference the library project and provide only the difference between the two application versions.
Update: This method is really only good for compiling with Eclipse, since Android Studio supports build flavors which can achieve exactly this.
While #yorkw's and #Nate's answers are both good, this is the method I use due to its simplicity. From the article:
com.example.myapp – Android Project Library - This is where my ENTIRE app lives. All the functionality for the FULL and LITE versions.
com.example.myapp.full - Android Application Project - This is a shell that contains graphics and resources needed for the full version only. Basically it’s a super lightweight shell.
com.example.myapp.lite - Android Application Project – This is another shell that contains nothing but graphics and resources needed for the lite version. Again, its a super lightweight shell.
I also keep a static variable IS_PRO in a library class which is set when the app launches. This should be used only for notifications, alerts, and so on (such as asking the user to upgrade to pro).
However, this method has one drawback: you must clean and rebuild any time the library or its resources are modified. Also be sure to read this post on sharing resources between a project and a library.
I would call this a FORK in development. Start a new App development, but have your common code coming from a common file location. Make your free based edits to the forked code, and try your best to keep that code completely separate.
I actually did this on an iPhone based app, I have a free version and 2 different payed versions (a single player only and a multi-player). I would do it the same way on Android.
U can use git for example.
Create branch "app_with_ads", and master will be your "paid" version.
Develop in master and merge periodically to another.
before publish u probably will have to change app package, or something else in Android\ Manifest.xml
Here's a little blog tutorial about doing this.
Basically a howto for building a Full and Lite version of the same app, using a library project to accomplish code reuse between the two versions.
I am taking care of an open source project: mixare. It's an augmented reality browser released under the GPLv3.
The source code of the project is on github and I would like to hook the localization part to some web-service a-la pootle. If necessary I can install my own instance of a translation service on our server, but also an hosted solution would be fine. So I would like to know:
Is there a preferred translation web service that syncs using github's service hooks? Any best practice to share?
Thanks a lot!
Git integration is one of major reasons why I started to write Weblate. It also supports remote trigger for git pull using URL, so it nicely integrates with Github (you just need to put the URL there).
PS: I've just noticed that Android string resources are not supported by backend I use for loading translations (translate toolkit), so it probably won't work for you...
While I appreciate your wish for git support, shouldn't you primarily be looking for a solution that will give you many and good translations?
To get many translations I'd recommend Translatewiki, unfortunately their manual setup takes some time though.
Apart from Translatewiki, transifex seems to be one of the better and not least bigger (counting translators) services. They've made their own client that take care of importing and merging translations. For gettext translations it can also pull in updated template (pot) files automatically from github, I don't know if that's also possible with Android style translations.
Both Translatewiki and Transifex are 100% free and open source software.
I've been through the same "nothing good out there" phase, so I've started writing my own, as a symfony2 bundle. Maybe it's of use to you: https://github.com/tvogt/translator-bundle
Why? Because I couldn't get weblate or pootle to work, you probably have to be familiar with all the pip and python and ve and whatever stuff. Translatewiki is only for free software. Transifix is commercial.
In 2020, with GitHub Actions (hooks executed on GitHub side), you now have GitLocalize
GitLocalize is a continuous localization tool built for communities and teams that want to simplify their workflow when translating their content.
GitLocalize automatically keeps translations up to date by syncing with your repository.
That won't apply to the OP's project github.com/mixare/mixare, which was moved to GitLab in 2018.
But it can help other projects with a similar need.
You can have a look at Amanuens - it's able to sync with any Git repository, including Github. It's totally free for open-source projects (contact support for details). Disclaimer: it is my company's service.
So... I'm trying to create a plugin for one of my apps. This plugin would require several views, images, an activity and a parser for CharSequences... Ideally, this plugin would be downloadable from the Android Market.
I understand how to create a library, but that would need to be included in the application.
I understand how to create an app as a service and just call it via intents, but I need direct access to objects and code that is neither parceable nor serializable.
What I have been looking at is eyes-free TTS. With their implementation, the developer includes a small TTS_library_stub.jar file in their app, which looks like it defines a lot of the necessary classes/objects.
So my question is, how would I go about building something like this and generating this "stub" .jar file, which would be included in my app? I've been trying to work my way through the TTS code, but it's a massive codebase, and I'm having trouble finding what I'm looking for.
Any help would be massively appreciated :)
The service and the app need to have the same sharedUserId in the manifest and be signed with the same key. Then the app and service can share eachothers assests, classloader and even run on the same thread. I have never included part of the GUI in a service, so maybe that is a limitation...not sure.
If there is a limitation, you must be able to work around it. Look at OpenIntents. It is open source, it is a service and you can download that from the Market. It provides a GUI file browser to any app that uses its intents.
Didn't full understand what you needed, but thought this might help.
If you want android library to be downloaded from market, It has to be standalone android application. (not android library project!). Then you can upload it to market, download it to phone and communicate with it via intent(which this library can handle) or service(aidl) or provider(the data from library) and perhaps receiver, but I never used it in that way.
If you would design your app for an OSGi environment like apache felix it might be possible to load libraries at runtime.
In their presentation they described how the whole concept is working.
Since only APKs can be shared in the android market you would need to write your own "update mechanism" which downloads your OSGi bundles (your plugins) and deploys them to felix.