Final APIs now available!
Android 5.0 API OverviewAndroid 5.0 (Lollipop) is almost here and users will begin receiving
device updates in November. To help you prepare, the Android 5.0 SDK is now available
with final APIs.
Since the L Developer Preview began, various APIs and behaviors have changed,
so if you've been using the Preview SDK
you should update now to test your apps and take advantage of new features.
To get the latest Android 5.0 SDK:
Start the Android SDK Manager.
In the Tools section, select the latest SDK Tools,
SDK Platform-tools, and SDK Build-tools.
Select everything under the Android 5.0 section, then
click Install packages...
Accept the licensing agreement for the packages, then click
Install.
If you previously installed the Android L Preview SDK, select all those
packages in the SDK Manager and click Delete packages.
Now you're ready to develop and test on Android 5.0 with your normal workflow
and begin publishing app updates to Google Play.
Get Started on Android 5.0
Now that Android 5.0 APIs are final:
Although the APIs for Android 5.0 are now final, the system image for end-users
is not available yet. So the following preview system images are available for you to
test your apps on a Nexus 5 or Nexus 7. These are non-final
builds and their use is governed by the Android L
Preview License Agreement.
For details about how to flash the system image to your device, see the
flashing
instructions.
If you want to uninstall the preview system image and flash your device to factory
specifications, download the appropriate image from
Factory Images for Nexus
Devices and follow the instructions on that page.
Note: When the final Android 5.0 system image becomes
available, it will be posted on the
Factory Images for Nexus
Devices page. To continue development (and receive future system updates),
you should update your device with that image as soon as possible.
Design with Material
More about Material Design
Material design is a complete design philosophy for visual, motion, and interaction design
across platforms and devices. The material design specification
(preview) provides all the details for designers.
To get started with Material design in your Android app, update
your targetSdkVersion to "21" and apply the new
Material theme. For example, when creating
a custom theme
for your app, open your project's res/values/styles.xml file
and extend the Material theme:
<resources>
<style name="AppTheme" parent="android:Theme.Material[/img]
<!-- Customize the Material elements here -->
</style>
</resources>
Then apply your custom theme to your application in the manifest file:
<application android:theme="@style/AppTheme[/img]
Material design is more than just the UI theme, though. It's also about the way the app
behaves--how elements move and transform when the user interacts with them. So Android 5.0
and the v7 support library provide new
widgets and animation APIs that allow you to
build interaction patterns described in the
Material design
specification.
All the Material design elements and interaction patterns provided by the UI styles and widgets
are flexible, so you can adopt only what's appropriate for your app and retain a unique identity
and experience for your product.
And Material design on Android isn't just for Android 5.0. The
v7 support library has been significantly
updated in revision 21 to make many of the Material design elements available when
running on older versions of the platform.
For many more details about how to implement the Material look and feel,
see Creating Apps with Material
Design.
Build for Android TV
Android 5.0 provides a new platform for users to experience your app on a big screen. The
Android TV experience is centered around a simplified home screen that allows users to discover
your app's content with personalized recommendations and voice search, or select your app to launch
into your fullscreen experience.
Making your app available on Android TV does not require that you build an entirely new app.
Android TV is simply another form factor for the Android platform, so you can deliver the same APK
that you provide for phones and tablets to TVs through Google Play. However, to make your app
available on Android TV, you'll need to make some optimizations such as adding layouts
for the big screen and adding support for remote control input. For more information about design
guidelines, see TV App Quality.
Note: Google Play for Android TV will officially
open for apps on November 3.
Android TV is also great new opportunity for Android games. If you'd like to make your games
available on Android TV, be sure to optimize the user experience for the big screen by following
the recommendations in Building TV Games.
To get started on Android TV, you need:
The Android 5.0 SDK packages from the
Android SDK Manager,
including the Android TV System Image so you can create an
Android TV emulator.
An activity that's launchable from the Android TV home screen. This requires that you
add the LEANBACK_LAUNCHER category to one of your activities. For example:
<activity ... >
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LEANBACK_LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
For a set of default styles that optimize your UI for the TV's
leanback user experience,
you should also apply the Leanback theme to your activity:
<activity android:theme="@style/Theme.Leanback" ... >
You should also take advantage of the v17 leanback library, which
provides the Leanback theme shown above, plus several widgets designed to
make your UI beautiful and easy to navigate on the big screen, such as a widget that creates
a set of large horizontal card views.
For more information about setting up a project for your TV app, building
TV layouts, and handling controller input,
see Building
TV Apps.
http://developer.android.com/preview/
