Decoding Android App Anatomy: Structure for 20% Efficiency Boost

The high-level ideas that underpin Android applications' architecture and the structure of an android application will be explained in this article.

We will take a close look at the two distinct parts that can be utilised to build an application as well as the mechanisms that combine to form a single, cohesive application.

The Structure Of An Android Application

Activities In Android

The idea of encapsulating an application's functional components and using them as objects to create and manipulate the application is understandable to people who are familiar with object-oriented programming languages.

Java and Kotlin were used to develop Android applications. Thus, the higher level concept of reusable components is also present in Android architecture.

• An Android application is created by one or more cooperating components, known as activities.

  Activity is a single, stand-alone module that is connected to the single screen and features of the application.

• An activity in a job finder application, for instance, will show the list of jobs that are available for the current day.

  There may be an additional activity on the application that gathers candidates' professional details.

• An application's Activity is a fully interchangeable and reusable part that can be intended for other applications.

  A developer can call or intend the email activity of an already-existing application, such as Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo, instead of creating a new Activity for sending emails in the new application.

• Every time an activity is displayed, a subclass of the Android-derived Activity class is created.

  As a result, each Activity is called independently, is fully independent, and can be intended directly.

  It is not dependent on any particular kind of application flow.

• An activity cannot use its instance, nor can it use another activity's instance data or directly call any method.

  Thus, you ought to use intent and content providers in place of this.

• An activity cannot transfer its results to another activity that it intended or called upon.

  You must invoke the invoked Activity as a sub-activity of the originating Activity if you want results from it.

Fragment In Android

The Activity I've described above consists of a single user interface, a Java class for dynamic functionality, and a layout design file.

Using the activities as required screens is one method for creating Android apps. However, it is a good idea to add a new section to the activity layout. In order to make the user interface simple to classify, decrease coupling, and improve the separation of concerns in the app coding.

The fragment denotes a discrete section of any layout, be it an activity layout, user interface, or another layout. Thus, fragments can be used in an activity layout as a distinct section. An activity may take the form of a container for various fragments with various layouts.

Ideally, each fragment should be switched between as a separate app screen within a single activity.

Intent In Android

With the help of the built-in intent class from the Android SDK, we can create a sequence of actions that together form a full application.

Intent is used to launch an activity from another activity. Data about the operation to be carried out and data that is transferred from one Activity to another can both be found in intent.

There are two types of intent:

• Explicit Intent
• Implicit Intent

Explicit Intent

It will indicate which package or application name best fits the purpose. For instance, if you wish to launch a different application or a particular one.

Implicit Intent

The name of any component will not be specified; instead, a general action will be used in its place. For instance, you would like to display the precise location on the map so that you can use Implicit Intent in conjunction with a particular action, and you can choose which app is eligible for that action.

Also Read: Android Jetpack Compose: A Game-Changer In UI Design Evolution

Related Services - You May be Intrested!

• Phonegap app development
• Xamarin app development
• Salesforce app development
• Mobile app developer
• web application design
• App marketing Experts
• Java application development
• Vue.js app development
• laravel application development
• Node.js application development

Application Framework

Using a Java API, the Android OS makes the underlying libraries and features of the Android device accessible. The Android framework is what is referred to as this.

The framework makes available a consistent and secure way to use the resources on an Android device. Below are some components of android app:

Activity Manager

Applications display their entry point through the Android activity component. Activities are the sections of an Android application that house the user interface that users interact with.

Users launch, pause, and switch between numerous apps while interacting with an Android device. Numerous actions in the corresponding applications are activated and deactivated in response to each navigation event.

During application transitions, the Android ActivityManager is in charge of ensuring consistent and predictable behaviour.

The ActivityManager gives developers a place to have their applications respond to actions taken globally by the Android OS. Apps are able to monitor events like device rotation, memory-depleting app destruction, app shifting out of focus, and so forth.

Applications can respond to these transitions in a variety of ways, for as, by pausing gameplay or halting music while on the phone.

Window Manager

During application transitions, the Android ActivityManager is in charge of ensuring consistent and predictable behaviour.

The ActivityManager gives developers a place to have their applications respond to actions taken globally by the Android OS. Apps are able to monitor events like device rotation, memory-depleting app destruction, app shifting out of focus, and so forth.

Applications can respond to these transitions in a variety of ways, for as, by pausing gameplay or halting music while on the phone.

Location Manager

The majority of Android devices come with GPS modules that can pinpoint a user's location up to several metres in advance using data from satellites.

Programmers are able to present location-aware experiences and ask users for permission to use their location.

Additionally, Android can make use of wireless technologies to improve coverage in enclosed spaces and enhance location details even more.

Under the Location-Manager umbrella, Android offers these features.

Telephony Manager

The majority of Android devices are primarily used for phone calls. Android combines hardware and software components to provide telephony features through TelephoneManager.

The SIM card and other external parts, as well as device parts like the microphone, camera, and speakers, are examples of hardware components. Native software elements include ringtone profiles, a phone book, and a dial pad. The default calling functionality can be enhanced or adjusted by a developer with the help of the Telephone Manager.

Resource Manager

Most Android applications include more than just code.

They also have other resources like text files, animations, audio and video files, icons, and the like. Android contributes to ensuring that these resources are accessible in an effective and timely manner. Additionally, it guarantees that the end users receive the appropriate resources.

For instance, when fields in the apps are filled in, the appropriate language text files are used.

View System

Additionally, Android offers a way to create common visual elements required for app interaction quickly. Widgets like buttons, picture holders like ImageView, components to show a list of items like ListView, and many more are examples of these components.

Although premade, the components can also be customised to match the branding and requirements of app developers.

Notification Manager

Notifying Android users of application events falls under the purview of the Notification Manager. It accomplishes this by alerting users to events through vibration, sound, or a mix of these.

Both internal and external triggers can cause these events. Internal triggers include things like low battery status events that cause a notification to appear. Events that the user specifies, like an alarm, are another example.

New messages or newly discovered wifi networks are a couple of instances of external triggers.

Android gives users and programmers the ability to customise the notifications system. By doing this, you can ensure that they can send and receive notification events in a way that works best for them and their existing settings.

Package Manager

Additionally, Android gives users access to information about installed apps. Android monitors the information application requests, including permissions, installation and uninstallation history, and resource usage, including memory usage.

With the use of this data, developers can design their applications to either activate or deactivate functionality in response to new features that companion apps present.

Content Provider

Android uses the content provider to provide a standardised method for data sharing across applications on the device.

The content provider allows developers to expose data to other apps. They could, for instance, enable external search applications to search the app's data. Using the same system, Android itself makes data like calendars and contact information available.

Get a Free Estimation or Talk to Our Business Manager!

Conclusion

No matter what kind of programming you have done in the past-Windows, macOS, Linux, or even iOS-there's a good chance that Android development is very different from anything you have ever done.

Thus, the goal of this chapter is to give an understanding of the high-level ideas underlying Android application architecture.

We have gone into great detail in this blog about the different parts that can be used to build an application and the ways in which they interact to form a coherent whole.