Step-by-step Android Wear Application Development

Step-by-step tutorials that leads you through the essential concepts and techniques for developing Android Wear applications.

Have you ever thought to yourself: “I wish I had learned to develop iPhone apps when the iPhone first came out”? Very few people had the foresight to act on the fact that computing platforms are continuously getting smaller, cheaper, faster, and more intimate. Computers have evolved from fixed room-sized machines to desktops, laptops, and handheld devices. The same disruptive transition is about to take place again. Only this time, instead of taking your smartphone out of your pocket, the computer has become wearable.

This is a great time to start learning Android Wearable development. Consumers will come to embrace smartwatches because they will be relatively unobtrusive and will allow them to do things that smartphones can’t.

What you will learn:

• Create native wearable apps using the Android SDK
• Build consistent UI layouts using Cards and CardFragments
• Learn all about the Wearable UI Library to build exciting and engaging apps
• Master the notification framework. Build notifications for handhelds apps that are automatically extended to Android Wear and learn how to build custom notifications on wearables to better support your brand
• Working with wearable sensors
• Use the Wearable Data Layer API to create native apps that can communicate securely with a paired smartphone
• Includes three exciting projects: 1) Build a car catalog app to browse through vehicles, take notes on them, and schedule test drives all within arms reach, 2) Build a fitness app to start, pause or stop a workout session and 3) Build an animated dice game using the handheld device as a remote control or the wearable’s accelerometer sensor to detect shake gestures in order to roll a die. You will learn how to animate shapes, establish a data connection between the mobile and Wear devices, and display a history of dice roll outcomes on the handheld device.

Who is this book for?

This book is for intermediate developers who know the basics of Android application development and want to quickly get up to speed and start developing apps for Android Wear. If you are a complete beginner to Android, don’t worry. The step-by-step tutorials are easy to follow and each exercise is followed by an in-depth source code explanation. This book is the best way to get a head start now developing apps for Android Wear.

“Alex has written a masterful collection of tutorials, patterns, tips & tricks, and helpful insider hints that developers at any level will appreciate. The example apps are easy yet challenging, fun yet practical, and put together using best practices. You’ll really come away with a strong sense of how to build effective experiences for Google wearables.”

– Jason Salas, Co-author, Designing & Developing for Google Glass

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Getting Started
Chapter 2: User Interface Essentials
Chapter 3: Notification Framework
Chapter 4: The Wearable Data Layer Api
Chapter 5: Projects