So i currently have a low-end Samsung Galaxy Pocket smartphone which uses the factory version of Android 2.3. When i test my apps in this device, it uses the gingerbread theme which is ugly. Android 4.2 UI is very nice and cool. So I want to know how to use the theme of Android 4.2 when im using lower versions of android. Here are some comparisons:
If you want to use the holo theme, you can use this library: HoloEverywhere. Alternatively, you can also create you're own theme.
Related
as I saw that some new APIs were came in ICS which is not available in gingerbread ,but I want to use this in my app and I want my min sdk version also 2.3, how can I do this ?
Can I develop two different user interface for the two different version of android in the same app.
like we can develop UI for different screen sizes by using layout-sw600dp or whatever we want ?
Use the -vNN resource set qualifier. res/layout/ would be used by default; res/layout-v11/ would be used by API Level 11+ devices; res/layout-v14/ would be used by API Level 14+ devices; etc.
I created an Android application. I tried this on differnet device and I have different layout in any Activity of my app. My Project Build Target is 2.3.3.
The two devices I used are:
Samsung Galaxy S2 - Android 2.3.6
HTC Desire - Android 2.3.5
For example the main Activity produces this layout in my Samsung:
and this in my HTC:
Why the two layout are so different?
This is because before Google introduced holo in Ice Cream Sandwich, manufacturers had a free hand in deciding how their devices' version of Android would look. Because of this, they could theme it to whatever they want.
I'm pretty sure that your app hasn't defined its own theme, and this is why you're getting such radically different looks on different devices.
To fix it, simply create your own theme and apply it to your activities.
This document can help you with styling your app.
You can use ActionBarSherlock with the Holo theme and Action Bar on older android versions (under 3.0).
I am building new Android app and i have question on the differences between how UI widgets looks in the emulator and how they look in my device (Samsung S2, OS 4.0.3).
When i run the app in the emulator buttons (BTW, and other UI widget) looks much more "elegant".. buttons (in number picker) are small arrow in blue/gray but in the device buttons (in number picker) are more "regular" (gray rectangle)
(sorry but I can not load pictures..)
my question is, how can i make the UI widget on my device looks like in the emulator?
Thanks,
Dudy.
I think it is the other way around - the emulator shows the default skin from Google, while your device shows what the manufacturer has customized (and burned into the operating system of your device).
So you may look into getting "Samsung skins" (if they exist) to make the emulator more close to the real device.
The nice UI you are talking about is probably the Holo Theme, which was introduced in Android HC, but some OEMs use customized Android Frameworks like Samsung(TouchWiz) or HTC(HTC Sense). If you want to use the same Theme throughout the big range of Android devices you can use third party libraries . A popular Theme, which brings pure Holo to older devices (2.3=<) is HoloEverywhere. If you use this Theme in your App you'll have the Holo Theme in most Android versions and on most devices.
I'm using android:Theme.Holo in my activity and I'm wondering if there's any way this can be not recommended. I mean if it's possible that Holo theme is not present in the device (obviously in >=Honeycomb).
In case it's not present, I guess the app would just crash, wouldn't it?
Holo theme is mandatory on all Android 4.0 devices that are running Android Market.
Yes Android 4.0 showcases the Holo theme family, further refined since its debut in Android 3.0. Indeed, Google continues its approach to unify the user experience on various Android devices by imposing native Holo theme (and its variations: Holo Holo Light and Light DarkActionBar) to access the Marketplace. So to ask your question all devices that run Android 4.0 uses the Holo theme.
As the other answers say, Holo is mandatory in 4.0, but if you want to support Holo on pre-4.0 phones then check out HoloEverywhere, https://github.com/ChristopheVersieux/HoloEverywhere.
I am new in android development. And I have confusion about android layout compatibility.
I am creating one app in android 4.0.3 but it's UI look like android 2.2 related UI.
I used all default controls in app but it not look like 4.0.3 related UI.
So any one can help me in below problems.
If I am creating app in android 4.0.3 then how it's look in android 2.2 and vice versa?
How can I create app which is run in all android version with standard UI?
Please help me.
Thanks in advance.
Your app will use the system theme that you specify, or the custom styles that you specify. If you do not create custom themes or styles your app will use the default styles on each platform. So on 4.0.3 it will use the ICS theme, and on 2.2 it will use the older theme.
To create an app that will run on all versions, you should probably set your target API to 1.5, but there are few devices with 1.5 left, so you'll probably set your API target to 2.2, and this will make your application run on all the devices with Android 2.2+.