Deliver the Best of Android Experience; Here are 5 Design Tips

When the Linux-based operating system, Android was launched, it had to compete with some of the already popular platforms namely iOS, Symbian, and RIM. The open source mobile OS lacked consistency in early years. The mobile market was so fragmented that Android had to offer something unique to stand out amongst competitors.

Android development was considered to be a mobile platform with little appeal. But, things have considerably changed after the launch of Ice Cream Sandwich. Android had 75% worldwide market share in the third quarter of 2012, which is a great growth for an OS launched couple of years ago.

 

One of the major factors where Android lacked in was an appealing interface. ICS and Jelly Bean however have a beautiful interface.

 

Developers love to work on Android because of the immense popularity of the mobile platform. And when you are creating something for the new Android phones, here are design tips to help you.

 

Deliver User-centric Experience with Simplified Designs

 

When the navigational structure will go hand-in-hand with the presentation, users wouldn't find it difficult to move between the content.

 

How you can achieve a simple design?

• Use animations
• Rely more on images instead of text
• Simplify the UI pattern

Gestures & Transitions are Important

 

Google's "Project Butter" has resolved the issues of choppy performance in Android devices. The improved speed of 60 frames per second have resulted in smoother transitions and enhanced animations. Designers can leverage on the recent transformations to deliver more fluidic and gesture based engaging experience to users.

 

Utilizing Intents

 

Applications like Facebook or Twitter require you to hard code the communication for iOS. In case of Android, two apps can share the information if they have the ability to utilize the intents. Designers can use this positive aspect of Android to create a shared network between apps.

 

Understand the Difference Between iOS and Android

 

Designers have to keep this in mind that UI and navigation patterns for users are different in iOS and Android. Try to move the unnecessary actions to the action bar.

 

Also:

• Use gesture based navigation instead of tab-like buckets.
• Do not mix up the visual paradigms of iOS with Android such as heavily designed UI elements or button arrays.

 

Design for Flexibility

 

The best part of new Android platforms is that they are able to run on all the devices. Therefore, try to consider the layout of phone and tablet in your application designing.

 

What else to do?

• Use 9patching, the technique of Android for creating stretchable bitmap images.
• The naming conventions of Android are ideal to manage assets on the basis of screen size and density.

 

Follow the design guidelines to deliver a refined and beautiful Android experience to users.

 

This article has been posted by Copper Mobile, an eminent Android & iPhone developer providing enterprise app development solutions.