Android 2.x does not automatically sound an audible cue when ready for speech input.
Android 4.1 does.
What happens in between these versions? i.e. When was this cool feature introduced?
Android 3.0? (Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB_MR)
Android 3.1? (Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB_MR1)
Android 3.2? (Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB_MR2)
Android 4.0? (Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH)
I need this in order to perform a check against Build.VERSION.SDK_INT at runtime.
Do you know of any source that documents this?
That "ready for speech" double-beep to which you are referring is not a feature of the Android OS but rather Google App.
This is very close to Kaarel's answer but the distinction between Voice Search and Google App could be confusing.
What's more confusing is the fact that Google App used to be named Google Search but make no mistake: The identical package name turns itself in... com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox.
I don't know exactly at what point the "no beep Google Search" turned into "cool double-beep Google App", but my limited observation shows that Google Search version 1.3.3 (Android 2.2.1) had no beeps, while Google App version 4.1.24 (Android 4.1.2) has those beeps.
As of today (2015-01-22), Version 1.3.3.247963 of Google Search is latest version available on Google Play for Android 2.2.1 devices.
An Android 4.1.2 device, however, can see a higher version in Google Play and download & install it: 4.1.24.1672412.arm.
Thus, it seems that those beeps are tied to the Android version.
BTW, Google App features what's known as "OK Google". Perhaps that was the reason for introducing those (now famous) beeps.
"OK Google" was first introduced in the Google I/O conference in May 2013, but since it is available for download from Google Play to Android 4.1 devices (which was introduced in July 2012), one cannot assume direct link to the latest release version at that time. There are, in fact, instructions on how to install Google App on Android 4.0 but I doubt that is supported by Google. Thus, to be safe, I would say that if you enabled automatic updates on your smartphone, then the Android version that first introduced "the recognizer beeps" is 4.1.
This might be a feature of Google Voice Search, but Google Voice Search is a regular app and thus external to Android.
onReadyForSpeech is a callback via which an end-user app (e.g. a keyboard app) can have some code executed by the speech recognizer app (e.g. Google Voice Search). Both of these apps can sound the audible cue but neither is part of the core Android.
Maybe relevant:
void startRecording (MediaSyncEvent syncEvent)
was added in API level 16.
Related
I currently have an app which target Android 16 and which has been live for a while.
I'm worried that after the November 1 we'll have a lot of issues and we won't be able to use the play store anymore. Does anyone know if it'll still be possible to send & install the apk directly to the new devices after the changes? Even if we keep targeting 16?
I'm mostly concerned about the fact that we use the "Google Play services SDK". Will there still be a retro compatibility there?
Is it likely to have something like the dropping of the Google Play services SDK support like we had for Android Gingerbread and Honeycomb?
We also have a lot of things running in the background (GPS tracking, ...). If we install the apk directly with target 16, would we still be forced to follow the new Background Location Limits? Maybe be integrating the Google service apk directly in the app?
I want to use Google Play Services API in my application, but when I open the emulator to test my application it sends me a message that says "Google Play Services must be downloaded". I know that occurs because I coded this test in my MainActivity in the method onResume().
I want to know how I can install Google Play Services in my emulator, because soon I will need to test my maps.
Check out Setting Up Google Play Services which says:
To develop an app using the Google Play services APIs, you need to set up your project with the Google Play services SDK.
If you haven't installed the Google Play services SDK yet, go get it now by following the guide to Adding SDK Packages.
To test your app when using the Google Play services SDK, you must use either:
A compatible Android device that runs Android 2.3 or higher and includes Google Play Store.
The Android emulator with an AVD that runs the Google APIs platform based on Android 4.2.2 or higher.
For api 21+ you can use system image with Google Play as I describe below.
For api 19+ (Android 4.4 Kitkat) you can use system image x86 with Google Api (I was able to use it).
For api 17+ (Android 4.2.2) you can TRY to use system image ARM with Google Api (It didn't work for me).
I was able to install Google Play and Google Services as separate apks to pure system image api 16 and 17, but they don't really work after that (services crush and play not opens). So seems like it is not possible to make them work on pure AVD image because they should be installed with root access. The same for updating Google Services on AVD system image with Google API preinstalled - can't update because of incompatible certificates, can't uninstall even using adb because don't have access.
How to setup AVD system image with Google Play
Now even better solution exist: using AVD image with build-in Google Play Services. It will enable you to use Google Services including Google Play. Also you will be able update it without re-creating AVD image.
Open AVD manager and choose create new device. You should use device definition with play store icon.
Then choose system image for it. You should choose one with Google Play and NOT with Google API.
Then launch new device.
You can update Play Services as shown on screenshot, or manually in app itself, just like a real device.
Update 2022; but even with above, you cannot use the Emulator to test Google Play Billing:
You must install your application on a real device to test Google Play Billing,
Or, ask Google for "closed testing" permission.
see How to test In-app Billing on an emulator?
This is how you make Android Google Maps API v2 work on your emulator.
Create a new emulator
for device choose "5.1'' WVGA (480 x 800: mdpi)"
for target choose "Android 4.1.2 - API level 16"
for "CPU/ABI" choose "ARM"
leave rest to defaults
these are the settings that are working for me. I don't know for different ones.
Start the emulator
install com.android.vending-1.apk and com.google.android.gms-1.apk via ADB install command
The longer answer is on my blog post about this issue https://medium.com/nemanja-kovacevic/how-to-make-android-google-maps-v2-work-in-android-emulator-e384f5423723
I came across another solution to use the Google play services on an emulator. The guys at http://www.genymotion.com/ provide very fast emulators on which you can install Google play services. They just need you to sign up to begin downloading and you need Virtual box installed. At the moment they cater for Android 16 and 17 but more are on the way.
In the current version (Android Studio 0.5.2) there is now a device type for "Google APIs x86 (Google Inc.) - API Level 19".
The key is to select the target of your emulator to, for example: Google APIs (ver 18).
If you select, for example, just Jellybean 18 (without API) you will not be able to test apps that require Google services such as map.
Keep in mind that you must first download the Google API of your favorite version with the Android SDK Manager.
This is a good practice and it is far better than juggling with most workarounds.
I tried to develop google MAP API V2 application recently and tried to run it through emulator but I everytime it showed me error "Google Play Servcies is not installed in this phone".
From my perpective even I think google MAP API V2 doesn't work on emulator.
Solution
Then I tried to run the same example on my Sony Experia you and again it showed me same error.
Then I installed google play services on my mobile and amazingly it started working..:)))
I got it working by
Installing the Google Play Services through the Android SDK Manager
Using a Galaxy Nexus Device (4.65", 720 x 1280: xhdpi)
Targeting the Android 4.2.2 Google API Level 17
Go to https://university.xamarin.com/resources/working-with-android-emulators .
Scroll down to the "Installing Google Play Services" section. Step by step walk through there.
Directly plagarized from xamarin here so I don't get dinged for linking and not including solution. Posting this as I found the hit in stack before I found the solution that worked across the board on the xamarin page.
Start the Xamarin Android Player and run one of the supplied images, the following assumes you have started the KitKat Nexus 4 image.
Download the proper Google Play Services .zip file from www.teamandroid.com/gapps/ . Make sure to download the image appropriate for your version of Android.
Drag the .zip file onto the running emulator and drop it to install the component, here we show it on Mac OS X, but the same mechanism is used in Windows. You will get a prompt to install the package onto the emulator which indicates the image will be restarted
Once it restarts, you will get a notification that installation is completed, and the image will now have Google Maps, Google+ and support for the Google Play store. Note that some things do not work correctly and you may get a few errors from some of the services, but you can safely dismiss these and continue the instructions.
Next, you will need to associate a Google account so that you can update the services using the Google Play store. It should prompt you for this, but if it does not, you can go into the Google Settings and add a new account.
Once you've added the account, you can then update the Google apps by opening the Google Play store application and going into settings from the side bar menu.
Select Settings and then scroll down to the Build Version number information and double-tap on it until it tells you it is either up-to-date, or that it will download and install a new version.
Power off the device (press and hold the power button in the toolbar on the right) and restart it. Once it restarts, it should indicate that it needs to update the Google Play services, tapping the notification will open the Google Play Store and install the latest version
Now you can run applications that depend on Google Maps in the Xamarin Android Player.
To the latest setup and information if you have installed the Android Studio (i.e. 1.5) and trying to target SDK 4.0 then you may not be able to locate and setup the and AVD Emulator with SDK-vX.XX (with Google API's).
See following steps in order to download the required library and start with that.
AVD Emulator setup -setting up Emulator for SDK4.0 with GoogleAPI so Map application can work- In Android Studio
But unfortunately above method did not work well on my side. And was not able to created Emulator with API Level 17 (SDK 4.2). So I followed this post that worked on my side well. The reason seems that the Android Studio Emulator creation window has limited options/features.
Google Play Services in emulator, implementing Google Plus login button etc
I know this is an old question, but I got here because I had a similar problem as everyone above. I solved it by just reading a little closer!
I hadn't noticed there were 2 possible system Images I could choose from, one that contained Google APIs and one that didn't (on my laptop the menu was too small for me to read the (with Google APIs) text appended.
It's a stupid thing to miss, but someone else might have a small screen like I did, and miss this :D
If your emulator x86 this method works your me.
Download and install http://opengapps.org/app/opengapps-app-v16.apk. And select nano pack
More info http://opengapps.org/app/
I was testing the implementation of Google Maps from Google Play Service V2 and following carefully this suggestion and from developer.android.com. Setting virtual device Android 3.1 (API level 12) and running it, the maps weren't shown, instead this message is shown on the screen "this app won't run without Google Play services, which are missing from this tablet" and LogCat says 04-26 21:47:39.449: W/GooglePlayServicesUtil(395): Google Play Store is missing" in orange text. After that, reading somewhere at internet, apparently it must be tested in a real device, is that true?. Let me do another question, can I run that application in my Tablet w/Android 2.2.1 anyway?, if not, what modifications must I do in the project?. I'm using Eclipse indigo in Ubuntu. Thanks in advance.
After that, reading somewhere at internet, apparently it must be tested in a real device, is that true?
No emulator ships with support for the Play Store. You will find various people advocating software piracy as a workaround.
can I run that application in my Tablet w/Android 2.2.1 anyway?
If that tablet has OpenGL 2.0 and the Play Services Framework, yes.
I want to use Google Play Services API in my application, but when I open the emulator to test my application it sends me a message that says "Google Play Services must be downloaded". I know that occurs because I coded this test in my MainActivity in the method onResume().
I want to know how I can install Google Play Services in my emulator, because soon I will need to test my maps.
Check out Setting Up Google Play Services which says:
To develop an app using the Google Play services APIs, you need to set up your project with the Google Play services SDK.
If you haven't installed the Google Play services SDK yet, go get it now by following the guide to Adding SDK Packages.
To test your app when using the Google Play services SDK, you must use either:
A compatible Android device that runs Android 2.3 or higher and includes Google Play Store.
The Android emulator with an AVD that runs the Google APIs platform based on Android 4.2.2 or higher.
For api 21+ you can use system image with Google Play as I describe below.
For api 19+ (Android 4.4 Kitkat) you can use system image x86 with Google Api (I was able to use it).
For api 17+ (Android 4.2.2) you can TRY to use system image ARM with Google Api (It didn't work for me).
I was able to install Google Play and Google Services as separate apks to pure system image api 16 and 17, but they don't really work after that (services crush and play not opens). So seems like it is not possible to make them work on pure AVD image because they should be installed with root access. The same for updating Google Services on AVD system image with Google API preinstalled - can't update because of incompatible certificates, can't uninstall even using adb because don't have access.
How to setup AVD system image with Google Play
Now even better solution exist: using AVD image with build-in Google Play Services. It will enable you to use Google Services including Google Play. Also you will be able update it without re-creating AVD image.
Open AVD manager and choose create new device. You should use device definition with play store icon.
Then choose system image for it. You should choose one with Google Play and NOT with Google API.
Then launch new device.
You can update Play Services as shown on screenshot, or manually in app itself, just like a real device.
Update 2022; but even with above, you cannot use the Emulator to test Google Play Billing:
You must install your application on a real device to test Google Play Billing,
Or, ask Google for "closed testing" permission.
see How to test In-app Billing on an emulator?
This is how you make Android Google Maps API v2 work on your emulator.
Create a new emulator
for device choose "5.1'' WVGA (480 x 800: mdpi)"
for target choose "Android 4.1.2 - API level 16"
for "CPU/ABI" choose "ARM"
leave rest to defaults
these are the settings that are working for me. I don't know for different ones.
Start the emulator
install com.android.vending-1.apk and com.google.android.gms-1.apk via ADB install command
The longer answer is on my blog post about this issue https://medium.com/nemanja-kovacevic/how-to-make-android-google-maps-v2-work-in-android-emulator-e384f5423723
I came across another solution to use the Google play services on an emulator. The guys at http://www.genymotion.com/ provide very fast emulators on which you can install Google play services. They just need you to sign up to begin downloading and you need Virtual box installed. At the moment they cater for Android 16 and 17 but more are on the way.
In the current version (Android Studio 0.5.2) there is now a device type for "Google APIs x86 (Google Inc.) - API Level 19".
The key is to select the target of your emulator to, for example: Google APIs (ver 18).
If you select, for example, just Jellybean 18 (without API) you will not be able to test apps that require Google services such as map.
Keep in mind that you must first download the Google API of your favorite version with the Android SDK Manager.
This is a good practice and it is far better than juggling with most workarounds.
I tried to develop google MAP API V2 application recently and tried to run it through emulator but I everytime it showed me error "Google Play Servcies is not installed in this phone".
From my perpective even I think google MAP API V2 doesn't work on emulator.
Solution
Then I tried to run the same example on my Sony Experia you and again it showed me same error.
Then I installed google play services on my mobile and amazingly it started working..:)))
I got it working by
Installing the Google Play Services through the Android SDK Manager
Using a Galaxy Nexus Device (4.65", 720 x 1280: xhdpi)
Targeting the Android 4.2.2 Google API Level 17
Go to https://university.xamarin.com/resources/working-with-android-emulators .
Scroll down to the "Installing Google Play Services" section. Step by step walk through there.
Directly plagarized from xamarin here so I don't get dinged for linking and not including solution. Posting this as I found the hit in stack before I found the solution that worked across the board on the xamarin page.
Start the Xamarin Android Player and run one of the supplied images, the following assumes you have started the KitKat Nexus 4 image.
Download the proper Google Play Services .zip file from www.teamandroid.com/gapps/ . Make sure to download the image appropriate for your version of Android.
Drag the .zip file onto the running emulator and drop it to install the component, here we show it on Mac OS X, but the same mechanism is used in Windows. You will get a prompt to install the package onto the emulator which indicates the image will be restarted
Once it restarts, you will get a notification that installation is completed, and the image will now have Google Maps, Google+ and support for the Google Play store. Note that some things do not work correctly and you may get a few errors from some of the services, but you can safely dismiss these and continue the instructions.
Next, you will need to associate a Google account so that you can update the services using the Google Play store. It should prompt you for this, but if it does not, you can go into the Google Settings and add a new account.
Once you've added the account, you can then update the Google apps by opening the Google Play store application and going into settings from the side bar menu.
Select Settings and then scroll down to the Build Version number information and double-tap on it until it tells you it is either up-to-date, or that it will download and install a new version.
Power off the device (press and hold the power button in the toolbar on the right) and restart it. Once it restarts, it should indicate that it needs to update the Google Play services, tapping the notification will open the Google Play Store and install the latest version
Now you can run applications that depend on Google Maps in the Xamarin Android Player.
To the latest setup and information if you have installed the Android Studio (i.e. 1.5) and trying to target SDK 4.0 then you may not be able to locate and setup the and AVD Emulator with SDK-vX.XX (with Google API's).
See following steps in order to download the required library and start with that.
AVD Emulator setup -setting up Emulator for SDK4.0 with GoogleAPI so Map application can work- In Android Studio
But unfortunately above method did not work well on my side. And was not able to created Emulator with API Level 17 (SDK 4.2). So I followed this post that worked on my side well. The reason seems that the Android Studio Emulator creation window has limited options/features.
Google Play Services in emulator, implementing Google Plus login button etc
I know this is an old question, but I got here because I had a similar problem as everyone above. I solved it by just reading a little closer!
I hadn't noticed there were 2 possible system Images I could choose from, one that contained Google APIs and one that didn't (on my laptop the menu was too small for me to read the (with Google APIs) text appended.
It's a stupid thing to miss, but someone else might have a small screen like I did, and miss this :D
If your emulator x86 this method works your me.
Download and install http://opengapps.org/app/opengapps-app-v16.apk. And select nano pack
More info http://opengapps.org/app/
We added voice prompts to our app using the Text to Speech API a couple years ago and it has been working well. Recently, we started receiving email from users that upgraded to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean saying that voice prompts are not working and that they are getting a message that the voice data is missing and they need to download it. When they click to download they are given the option of downloading languages other than English.
We implemented text to speech following this post on the Android Developer's Blog. We are invoking the TextToSpeech.Engine.ACTION_CHECK_TTS_DATA intent and if anything other than TextToSpeech.Engine.CHECK_VOICE_DATA_PASS is returned we invoke the TextToSpeech.Engine.ACTION_INSTALL_TTS_DATA intent.
We don't have access to a device running 4.2. I went into a local store today and downloaded the app on a Nexus 7 tablet with 4.2 installed and was able to reproduce the problem. However, when we create an AVD based on the Nexus 7 and run the emulator the voice prompts work fine and we are not able to reproduce the issue.
TTS checking with Android OS4.1 and OS 4.2 is, being polite, different.
OS 4.1 does not correctly handle the intent to install data*
TextToSpeech.Engine.ACTION_INSTALL_TTS_DATA
OS 4.2 does not correctly handle the intent to check for voice data*
TextToSpeech.Engine.ACTION_CHECK_TTS_DATA
* By this I mean that it doesn't return the correct status codes as per the old versions. For example, CHECK_TTS_DATA returns CHECK_VOICE_DATA_MISSING_DATA when it clearly does have voice data installed. It's possible that there is some other intent data that now needs to be passed, but I'm not sure where this is documented.
In my apps I have had to disable these checks for newer OS versions. I suspect Google may have done this because their terms to use Android now mandate TTS (but I can't verify this - I'm sure there's a site out there that describes exactly what must be implemented to be called 'Android')
Update
As I suspected, Android OS 4.1 now mandates Text-to-Speech be included in every Android device, thus the checks are now somewhat redundant. From this link: Android 4.1 Compatibility Definition
3.11 Text-to-Speech
Android 4.1 includes APIs that allow applications to make use of text-to-speech (TTS) services, and allows service providers to provide implementations of TTS services [Resources, 32]. Device implementations MUST meet these requirements related to the Android TTS framework:
Device implementations MUST support the Android TTS framework APIs and SHOULD include a TTS engine supporting the languages available on the device. Note that the upstream Android open source software includes a full-featured TTS engine implementation.
Device implementations MUST support installation of third-party TTS engines.
Device implementations MUST provide a user-accessible interface that allows users to select a TTS engine for use at the system level.