It’s been some time since I last fired up Android Studio and tinkered about with Android. It was with Android 5 and I was working on a calculator application and testing it on my Samsung Galaxy S4. This time I’m taking some pre-written example applications published by Deitel & Deitel (Android 6 for Programmers, Third Edition) and stepping them up to usability in Android Studio 3.0.1 and Android 7.1.1 running on a Moto G5S Plus Android handset I picked up earlier this year as a spare unlocked device. It was on sale at B&H Photo at the time.

I’ve getting back into Android programming as quickly as possible because the tools have advanced tremendously since the last time I put them down. It’s also in part due to my cooling feelings towards all things Apple. Compared to Apple development it’s just so easy to put an Android handset into developer mode and then hook it into a computer and side-load applications you’ve written. With a handset the test-debug loop is a lot tighter and faster than with an emulator. Even when your development platform is a MacBook Pro.

No wild promises. I’m just tinkering and thinking. And having a little nerdish fun.