3 Tips For Becoming a Killer Android UI Designer

3 Tips For Becoming a Killer Android UI Designer

There’s something about the openness of Android relative to its fruitarian counterpart that can feel liberating to a designer or developer. But while Android UI designers don’t have to deal with the often frustrating Apple review process, they have plenty of their own challenges to face.  Android developer or a cross-platform designer, there are a few things you’ll need to know before becoming a mobile app hard code star. To kick up your skills up on high stage, you should keep these three tips in mind: 

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1. Become a material design expert.

 Material design is, in part, an answer to the raging battle between skeuomorphic design and flat design. While flat design was all about removing the “unnecessary” fluff from app design, skeuomorphic design employs everything from drop shadows to “realistic” looking textures to make the digital landscape resemble that of “meatspace” a bit more closely. When flat design began to edge out skeuomorphism some years ago, the thought was simple: that stuff is useless, so let’s design something that much more minimalistic.

The Metaphysics of Material Design

Material design treats individual elements as units in space. In other words, info and text boxes behave as if they have “weight.” If you slide them over, they react with physics that feel intuitive. It’s as if there’s an entire world living inside of your smartphone or tablet.

Designing Highly Usable Android Apps

Android UI designers need to pay special attention to them, as soon every Android user will be accustomed to how material design looks. That means that if you use the same principles Google is using when they are developing their core apps, then users will intuitively know how to use your app, too, making them more likely to keep using it months after that initial install.

Android UI designers have to be compelled to pay special attention to them, as presently each Android user are going to be acquainted with however material style appearance. meaning that if you utilize a similar principles Google is mistreatment after they ar developing their core apps, then users can intuitively skills to use your app, too, creating them a lot of possible to stay mistreatment it months afterward initial install.

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2. Never forget Android’s notorious “F” word: fragmentation.

If you’re associate Android UI designer, though, you’ll be running into way more snags once it involves fragmentation. For starters, there isn’t only 1 company building Android devices. Samsung, LG, HTC, Sony, ASUS, Motorola and many of alternative physics corporations all area unit planning their own smartphones, tablets and phablets, every with their manufacturer’s own explicit quirks. and every of these brands has multiple devices within the wild, several of that have multiple iterations.

Countless Variations of Specs

As associate Android UI designer, it will appear not possible to develop for all the potential phones and devices which may be running your app. however are you able to presumably accommodate each device? however are you able to potential check your app on all of them?

The easiest way to approach things is to start out by choosing a selected device which will best represent your target market. build a prototype of your UI for that specific device — comprehend wherever you would like all of your individual style components to travel, in conjunction with your palette, fonts, and the rest you'll be able to think about. Once you’ve got the fundamentals down, it’s time to work out what specific components ar most central to your style. What completely must work? If a screen is just too little, what part may shrink, or even move elsewhere?

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3. Test your app on as many devices as possible.

Making sure your testing and quality assurance method is thorough for each single project is very important for any system you’re planning or developing for, however it’s particularly vital for Android UI designers specifically. That same UI fragmentation will get you into plenty of hassle once it involves usability and accessibility.

Sure, your app could look unimaginable on a Galaxy S6, however what concerning the S4? Or however concerning associate HTC One? Yea, it’s nice on Lollipop, however however concerning Ice Cream Sandwich? (By this point, your QA team is perhaps simply hungry — and that we haven’t even gotten into testing on tablets versus smartphones).

Testing for all of those variables is an intensive method, and sadly, it’s nigh-impossible to hide off on each potential state of affairs. That’s why it’s vital to use a decent automaton device person to recreate as several devices and operative systems as potential.

But even the simplest emulators can’t replace testing on a bonafide meatspace device, particularly once it involves victimization gestures. one thing as easy as “Can my thumb well swipe from one corner of this screen to another?” becomes difficult once you suppose what number completely different screen sizes there ar within the automaton device universe, from smartphones to tablets to phablets.