Single activity

Question

I will try to keep this, but I need advice.

I am working on a team that is simultaneously developing applications for Android, iphone and wp7. We have a development team that offers a single design for all three platforms.

The latest app design is more marketing than productivity. The original POC for this application was made on the iphone. The design is very animation oriented, and most state changes are seamless (things will be displayed on the screen and beyond during state transitions).

If I continue to develop against this project, it means that I will need everything in one action. So far it has been a serious headache. As far as I know, dividing your application into actions is almost necessary. I can try to dynamically load and unload views as states change, but that doesn't seem right.

I see where the development team goes from where they want all these state changes to be seamless, but I don't think this is correct for android.

I would like to know what makes sense. If the project changes to include several actions or it would be advisable to do this work.

Answer 1

We have a development team that offers a single design for all three platforms.

It is like coming up with a single floor plan that will apply to apartments, single-family homes and warehouses. Designers or managers should consider their heads.

The latest app design is more marketing than productivity.

Did I mention that designers or managers should consider their heads?

If I continue to develop against this project, it means that I will need everything in one action.

If I interpret your requirements correctly, this is probably accurate. While you can arrange animations between actions, it is more likely “shift old, shift new”, and I suspect that your requirements exceed this.

As far as I know, dividing your application into actions is almost necessary.

This is definitely an Android development model for regular applications. However, games, etc. They cannot follow this pattern, and you also do not need to.

I can try to dynamically load and unload views as states change, but that doesn't seem right.

Depending on how many states exist, you can just hang everything on them, recycling when you go.

Answer 2

I am surprised that no one has mentioned fragments , which can be used instead of actions in many places.

Snippets can be easily animated inside and out or as an activity.

Answer 3

You might want to take a look at the subclassification of ActivityGroup for your top-level activities. This may contain several supporting actions. TabActivity, the only subclass of the ActivityGroup subclass, may not be the one you need as it includes a tab widget, but you can use it as inspiration for what you need.

What specific headaches do you have with uniprocessor architecture? There may be ways to make this less painful.

Answer 4

In general, if you want to have your own applications with a natural look, it is not wise to have a single user interface design for all three platforms. The user interface guidelines and user expectations for the systems are different, and these differences should be reflected in the user interface design.

If you really want to have a single interface for all platforms, just create a web application.

I'm not sure what you mean by an “animation-oriented” design with smooth state changes. If you use multiple actions, Android will animate between them as Android users expect. If you explain exactly what you are trying to achieve, we can help you figure out whether it makes sense in Android, and if so, how to do it.