IC03 Native Android Application Design & Development af unit Setting up the Android Studio from Oracle

In the last unit you downloaded and installed both the SDK and Android Studio. In this unit you will learn how to do post installation tasks and how to deal with Android Virtual Device Manager, the Software Developing Kit Manager and the Android Device Monitor.

From left to right in the Android main toolbar you have the Run 'app', Debug 'app', Attach debugger to Android process, Settings, Project Structure, Sync Project with Gradle Files, AVD Manager, SDK Manager, Android Device Monitor and Help Topics icon.

Android Studio comes preconfigured out of the box. Press Control + Alt + Shift + S (cmd + Ñ in Mac) to access the project structure. Android SDK location should point to your SDK installation path and JDK location should point to your JDK installation path.

Now click on the 'app' icon, several tabs will be available: Build Types (debug and release), Dependencies (Android support library), Flavors (Min Sdk Version, Target Sdk Version, Version Code, Version Name and others), Properties (Compile Sdk Version among others) and Signing (Name, Key Alias, Key Password, Store File, Store Password).

Recall that Android Studio comes with a preconfigured AVD, namely the Nexus S. From the AVD Manager you can Start, Edit or access other actions such as Duplicate, Wipe data, Show on disk, View details and Delete related to the AVD. Besides, you can create other virtual devices of different types and sizes.

The Virtual Device Configuration dialog box allows you to create virtual phones, tablets, wearables and TVs. Just select the predefined model and click the 'Clone Device' button.

Notice that Size is expressed in inches (one inch equals 2.54 cms), typically depicted as the screen diagonal. Resolution refers to the size of the screen (width x height) and Density takes values such as mdpi (medium dots per inch), hdpi (high dots per inch), xhdpi (extra high dots per inch) and so on.

For example, the Samsung Galaxy S 5 has a 5-inch screen size, phablets usually start over 5-inch screen size and tablets normally, at 7. But this is a very general rule of thumb.

Besides, the New Hardware Profile button allows you to create a new hardware profile from scratch.

TO KNOW MORE You can broad your knowledge about AVD emulators by clicking on the following link AVD

Eventually you will have to update your SDK. For that purpose, use the Android SDK Manager, which will allow you to download the latest APIs and tools.

SDK Manager

If you are a Windows user, you may also download this guideline for further reading (Windows users).

SDK Manager for Windows

The SDK provides lots of command line tools which are not easy to use. On the other hand, the Android Device Monitor has been built with the idea of a friendly user interface.

It is widely used to take screen shots, to monitor memory heap, as an allocation tracker, to show statistics, as a file explorer (pull/push a file), to control the emulation, to monitor threads monitor and a sheer lot more.

Follow this link to learn when and how to use the Delvik Device Monitor Server.

Delvik Device Monitor Server

CHECK IT OUT Connect a hardware device into your laptop and re-run the Android Device Monitor by clicking on the Android Monitor icon.

Why switching to Android Studio

Watch this video and point out some of the reasons given to switch to Android Studio. (0-1:50)