Are there any OSS libraries/collections that provide some of the look and feel of iPhone apps (i.e. bg colors, button, drop down list shape/colors, etc) for Android.
I've seen a few apps like that on the Google Market.
BTW I'm not talking about skinning the Android Home screen to make it look like iPhone.
The way to i did that is with Images, and adjust it. But i prefer a original UI, not a copy from iOS.
Related
I've been asked to develop an App for both systems, Android and iPhone, and both must look the same. So, I would like to get a set of icons that look like the iPhone buttons.
Anybody knows a link where I can download/buy a set of .png to make the Android app look like the iPhone one? (In iPhone, im gonna use de default buttons)
Thank you.
Before giving a few links to get you started, let me also include a link from Android's design guidelines followed by a quote from the same link:
Pure Android
Don't mimic UI elements from other platforms
Platforms typically provide a carefully designed set of UI elements
that are themed in a very distinctive fashion. For example, some
platforms advocate rounded corners for their buttons, others use
gradients in their title bars. In some cases, elements may have the
same purpose, but are designed to work a bit differently.
I am not sure if aping / mimicking the iPhone is the intention or the right way heading into multi-platform development (although I am inclined to think, based on the topic heading, that you intend to keep just a common icon base across platforms). But without getting into that debate and the proverbial can of worms. Anyway, here a few links as mentioned at the top:
NOTE: I do not develop for the iOS platform and am not entirely aware of what the default icons are. If the links posted are useless, give me a heads up. ;-)
http://www.glyphish.com/
http://www.designshock.com/free-iphone-icons/
http://www.iconshock.com/iphone-icons/
http://speckyboy.com/2008/07/18/35-free-icon-sets-for-your-iphone-pimp-it-up/
http://visionwidget.com/free-iphone-themes-icons-sets.html
http://ntt.cc/2010/05/10/50-free-hand-picked-iphone-icon-sets.html
http://www.tutorialchip.com/freebies/25-impressive-fantastic-icon-sets-for-your-iphone/
http://skyje.com/iphone-themes-and-icon-sets/
http://inspiredm.com/5-essential-icon-sets-for-iphone-applications/
The first link (glyphish) usually pops up all over Google when searching for mobile icons. Oh. They also support the Retina Display. :-)
What I mean to say while you're just getting started with the development and say you add a slider theres a predefined skin for that and you can place it somewhere on the screen, but in some apps there are things like a knob in a place of slider which you can rotate to do the same stuff what the slider does . How do they do that, does it require openGL or something I am not asking for a complete tutorial or something just curious on what stuff goes into building such thing
Mostly, if something is not provided out of the box, you will have to build your own control.
For example, you mention a Knob. That isn't available in the Android SDK. Such a control could prove to be useful.
Here is a tutorial to build such a custom Control: http://go-lambda.blogspot.in/2012/02/rotary-knob-widget-on-android.html
This is an image of the final result from the tutorial linked above:
Here is an example of a custom slider / seek bar: http://permadi.com/blog/2011/11/android-sdk-custom-slider-bar-seekbar/
This should give you a rough idea on how to go about creating your own custom views.
And finally, what I personally find the best possible resource for keeping track of almost all good Custom Views is here: http://www.androidviews.net/
The androidviews.net website has shut down. Android Arsenal is a new website that lists several third party Android libraries.
I am new to Android. So new that I am not even clear on the terminology. From the user perspective, one can swipe from one page (iOS term) to another on Android. I have been told that these are called "panels" - but googling that term, I find out about the notification panel - which seems to be what iOS would call the status bar. Or, perhaps, these are called "home screens"
I would like to find out if there is a way to change the background image as the user swipe from one page/panel(?) to another. For example, I might want my game apps to have a green background and my social media apps to have a blue background. If this can be done by setting a panel's background image, that would be good. If there's a hack with wallpapers, that would be okay, too.
Any pointers to Android UI guideline doc that names visual entities would be great. Likewise, any pointers to a glossary of Android UI terms would also be wonderful.
Thanks in advance.
UPDATE:
I have just come across "live wallpaper" and am wondering if this - with onOffsetsChanged() - is the way to go.
In regards to the widget questions the term has two meanings: the UI components provided by the API such as TextView, Button, and WebView and the other meaning is an icon on the launcher that does more than start an app. The latter is also referred to as App Widget and an example of this would be music player controls or weather report. Both kinds of widgets are documented at the Android Developer website.
Wallpapers are typically Live or static. Live Wallpapers are similar in idea to screensavers but do not have the same function as screensavers are for inactivity. They can also be interactive. Static wallpapers are generally bitmaps that are cropped for the situation or specially made for the dimensions. In addition a Launcher (which is the name of the "desktop application" and the Launcher Home being the "Desktop") can be replaced to provide additional features for wallpapers. For your specific question about having an image gallery style wallpaper, the vanilla Launcher does not support this.
They do not write anything about licenses at http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/ui_guidelines/icon_design.html#menuapx (Menu Icons)
I guess they want to have standard icons look the same in all apps, so users dont get confused. Right?
Now I would love to use the Menu-Icon "see map" (a folded map) from the Google Places App. Where can I get it for a commercial project? (Its not in here)
Places is a proprietary app by Google, just like Gmail, Maps, or Voice. These apps are not open-source, so you won't be able to go and find their icons in the git hub.
BAD IDEA:
You could always take a screen shot of the app using DDMS and create your own icon from that, but you might be running some legal risks (since the app isn't open-source). It'd be like using the Photoshop icon for your app.
I came across this app and I wonder how was it developed on android (Cause it looks so much like an iphone app), see this screenshot.
Anyone have any idea how to accomplish that type of look on Android?
That's just a matter of styling after all. In general, I would consider it to be discouraged to make your Android app look like an iPhone app. Every platform has its own UX standards, and Android's standards are different from iPhone's. That quite obviously also reflects in the user interface.
Anyhow, you may want to read this article about Android themes and styles. It should get you going with defining own widget styles and stateful drawables to implement custom buttons.
This app obviously uses customized ListViews, ButtonView on the bottom of the screen.
Theses are pretty much standard and common in android apps.
Here is how to create custom components:
https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/custom-components.html