Chapter 1, Action Bar for All, introduces us to the action bar and shows us how to use and configure the action bar.

Chapter 2, A New Layout – GridLayout, introduces us to GridLayout and shows us how to use and configure GridLayout. GridLayout is a new layout introduced with Android Ice Cream Sandwich. This layout is an optimized layout and could be used instead of LinearLayout and RelativeLayout.

Chapter 3, Social APIs, covers the Social APIs that were introduced with Android Ice Cream Sandwich. This API makes it easy to integrate the social networks. Furthermore, high resolution photos can now be used as a contact's photo after Ice Cream Sandwich was released. This chapter shows Social API usage with examples.

Chapter 4, Calendar APIs, covers the Calendar APIs which were introduced with Android Ice Cream Sandwich for managing calendars. Event, attendee, alert, and reminder databases can be managed with these APIs. These APIs allow us to easily integrate calendars with our Android applications. This chapter shows how to use Calendar APIs with examples.

Chapter 5, Fragments, introduces us to the basics of fragments and how to use them.

Chapter 6, Supporting Different Screen Sizes, introduces us to the ways of designing user interfaces that support different screen sizes.

Chapter 7, Android Compatibility Package, introduces us to the Android Compatibility Package and shows us how to use it. The Android Compatibility Package is to allow the porting of the new APIs to the older versions of the Android platform.

Chapter 8, New Connectivity APIs – Android Beam and Wi-Fi Direct, introduces us to Android Beam, which uses the NFC hardware of the device and Wi-Fi Direct which allows devices to connect to each other without using wireless access points. This chapter will teach us the usage of Android Beam and Wi-Fi Direct.

Chapter 9, Multiple APK Support, introduces us to Multiple APK Support which is a new option in Google Play (Android Market) by which multiple versions of APKs could be uploaded for a single application.

This chapter is available for download at http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/Multiple_APK_Support.pdf.

Chapter 10, APIs with Android Jelly Bean, covers Android Jelly Bean and the new APIs within it.

This chapter is available for download at http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/Android_JellyBean.pdf.

To follow the examples in this book, the Android Development Tools should be set up and ready. The necessary software list is as follows:

The Operating Systems that can be used are as follows:

The specifications for use of the Eclipse IDE is as follows:

This book is for developers who are experienced with the Android platform, but who may not be familiar with the new features and APIs of Android 4.0.

Android developers who want to learn about supporting multiple screen sizes and multiple Android versions; this book is also for you.

In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text are shown as follows: "Implement onCreateOptionsMenu and onOptionsItemSelected methods."

A block of code is set as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" >
    <item android:id="@+id/settings" android:title="Settings">
    </item>
    <item android:id="@+id/about" android:title="About">
    </item>
    
</menu>

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

@Override
public void onPrepareSubMenu(SubMenu subMenu) {
  //In order to add submenus, we should override this method we dynamically created submenus
    subMenu.clear();
    subMenu.add("SubItem1").setOnMenuItemClickListener(this);
    subMenu.add("SubItem2").setOnMenuItemClickListener(this);
  }

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Click on the Insert button and then click on the List button".

Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this book—what you liked or may have disliked. Reader feedback is important for us to develop titles that you really get the most out of.

To send us general feedback, simply send an e-mail to <[email protected]>, and mention the book title via the subject of your message.

If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, see our author guide on www.packtpub.com/authors.

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