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When a user first downloads your application, he will make snap judgments on the usability and intuitiveness of the application within the first few minutes of use. This layout reduces the amount of information displayed on each screen and allows the user to easily navigate between the Inbox and the message text. In Gmail for example, a user can only read the body of an e-mail (right) once he has clicked the relevant message (left). While a screen can expose multiple tasks, it should help the user complete just one activity at a time. This practice presents the user with only the most relevant information and allows them to launch a new screen for additional information, or click the “back” button to view the previous activity. Because it can be difficult or time-consuming to scroll, zoom in, or click links on a small screen, it is recommended that an app display only one activity per screen. ActivitiesĪndroid applications are composed of “activities” which are unique, focused actions a user can take. With a solid awareness of Android’s standard controls, designers and developers can speed app development while offering users an intuitive experience that feels instantly familiar.
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Deviating from the standard Android user experience can confuse and frustrate users, making them less likely to want to use your app and incorporate it into their daily activities. Through their interactions with other Android apps, users become accustomed to Android’s standard controls.
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As a result, creating a “clean” custom control from scratch can take a significant amount of design and development time. Items on a mobile device often need to grow and shrink in size as they are pinched, or scroll if they are part of a list. Moreover, while designers will spend a great deal of time thinking about how a control should look, they may not always consider the many ways in which a custom control will behave in the user’s hands. By implementing standard controls, you can eliminate the need to test, revise and improve custom controls. Custom controls rarely function as expected in their first implementation.
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It can take up to ten times longer to develop a custom control than to implement a user interface with standard Android controls. Designers and developers should thoroughly understand all of these controls for the following reasons: Moreover, the use of these Android concepts is vital in developing an application quickly – custom Android designs can take up to 10 times longer! Android UI ControlsĪndroid provides a number of standard UI controls that enable a rich user experience. Although the Android platform is open and customizable, Android users have become accustomed to constructs developed by Google for Android devices.
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