Pro Android 5 shows you how to build real-world and fun mobile apps using the Android 5 SDK. This book updates the best-selling Pro Android and covers everything from the fundamentals of building apps for smartphones, tablets, and embedded devices to advanced concepts such as custom components, multi-tasking, sensors/augmented reality, better accessories support and much more.

Using the tutorials and expert advice, you'll quickly be able to build cool mobile apps and run them on dozens of Android-based smartphones.

You'll explore and use the Android APIs, including those for media and sensors.

And you'll check out what's new in Android, including the improved user interface across all Android platforms, integration with services, and more.

By reading this definitive tutorial and reference, you'll gain the knowledge and experience to create stunning, cutting-edge Android apps that can make you money, while keeping you agile enough to respond to changes in the future.

What you’ll learn

How to use Android to build Java-based mobile apps for Android smartphones and tablets

How to build irresistible user interfaces (UIs) and user experiences (UXs) across Android devices

How to populate your application with data from data sources, using Content Providers

How to build multimedia and game apps using Android's media APIs

How to use Android's location-based services, network-based services, and security

How to use key Android features, such as Fragments and the ActionBar

Who this book is for

This book is for professional software engineers and programmers looking to move their ideas and applications into the mobile space with Android. It assumes a passable understanding of Java, including how to write classes and handle basic inheritance structures.

Dave MacLean is a software engineer and architect living and working in Jacksonville, Florida. Since 1980, he has programmed in many languages, developing solutions ranging from robot automation systems to data warehousing, from web self-service applications to electronic data interchange transaction processors. Dave has worked for Sun Microsystems, IBM, Trimble Navigation, General Motors, and several small companies. He graduated from the University of Waterloo in Canada with a degree in systems design engineering. Visit his blog at http://davemac327.blogspot.com or contact him at davemac327@gmail.com.

Satya Komatineni has been programming for more than 20 years in the IT and Web space. He has had the opportunity to work with Assembly, C, C++, Rexx, Java, C#, Lisp, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, SVG, relational databases, object databases and related technologies. He has published more than 30 articles touching many of these areas, both in print and online. He has been a frequent speaker at O'Reilly Open Source Conference, speaking on innovations around Java and Web. Satya has done a considerable amount of original work in creating Aspire, a comprehensive open-source Java-based web framework, and has explored personal web productivity and collaboration tools through his open-source work for KnowledgeFolders.com. Satya holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Andhra University, India. You can find his website at SatyaKomatineni.com.

Grant Allen has worked in the IT field for over 20 years, as a CTO, enterprise architect, and database administrator. Grant's roles have covered private enterprise, academia and the government sector around the world, specialising in global-scale systems design, development, and performance. He is a frequent speaker at industry and academic conferences, on topics ranging from data mining to compliance, and technologies such as databases (DB2, Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL), content management, collaboration, disruptive innovation, and mobile ecosystems like Android. His first Android application was a task list to remind him to finish all his other unfinished Android projects. Grant works for Google, and in his spare time is completing a Ph.D on building innovative high-technology environments. Grant is the author of Beginning DB2, and lead author of Oracle SQL Recipes and The Definitive Guide to SQLite.