What program / site for android app development

dal · 23 Sep 2022 at 15:53

Hi, so I want to create a app, nothing too flashy. Basically I want to control some leds from my phone via bluetooth ( connected to a ESP32 ). As a minimum what I will need to to is send 30 x 3 RGB values numbers overbluetooth.
I've tried MIT app inventor which is drag and drop to create functional buttons etc but it seems somewhat limited. What I'd like is somthing where you can drag and drop buttons / sliders ect onto a layout then code the buttons yourself.
I've done some C# coding before so I think I'd be ok with somthing like what I've described, even if not in C#.

Regards.

MatteRB26 · 27 Sep 2022 at 07:45

You could give Xamarin a crack as it's C#, but the layout (XAML) can require some time tinkering to get stuff right.

Or there's MAUI which is like the evolution of Xamarin. https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/apps/maui

It's not drag n drop, but if you're at least partial to JS you could try something like Electron?

chroniclard · 27 Sep 2022 at 07:52

Android studio worth a look.

dal · 27 Sep 2022 at 10:23

chroniclard said:
Android studio worth a look.

I've tried that, JEEZ that is complicated for a beginner. I'll try Xamarin

chroniclard · 27 Sep 2022 at 10:26

dal said:
I've tried that, JEEZ that is complicated for a beginner. I'll try Xamarin

It is, it's native code though. Good luck with xamarin, it was a massive ballache last time I tried it.

There are a load of other simpler app builders around but I have not tried them.

MatteRB26 · 27 Sep 2022 at 17:51

Xamarin has improved significantly since pre-Microsoft to be fair

Jamie23 · 28 Sep 2022 at 21:28

dal said:
I've tried that, JEEZ that is complicated for a beginner. I'll try Xamarin

If you're delving into bluetooth stuff I'd say go native just for the native support and libraries, that is if you don't mind using Java or Kotlin and don't mind using Jetbrains IDEs.

If you're not very familiar with Android dev, just start a new project in Android Studio and use the wizard for Empty Activity. After Android Studio has created the project you'll be left looking at MainActivity.java (or .kt if you want to use Kotlin). The other template options for new projects such as Basic Activity will setup things for you like multiple fragments (basically multiple screens), navigation etc. but it doesn't sound like you need that sort of heavy lifting.

Android Studio will have generated a basic UI for you too which you'll find in res -> layout -> activity_main.xml.

If you open that up and click the design tab then you can do the drag and drop approach for building a UI.
Check this video to see someone using it (just using this as example of how to use the drag and drop UI, no idea if the actual content is any good):

Android Studio: Drag and Drop UI at activity_main.xml

This is for Android for Beginners Course at UDC Summer Camp 2017

www.youtube.com

I'll be honest that native android dev isn't as beginner friendly as making a UI with the visual studio drag and drop editor but there is loads of docs at https://developer.android.com/ and tutorials out there so don't get too put off!

dal · 29 Sep 2022 at 00:19

Thanks, I have actually gone back to android studio and I did manage to get a basic app working by following along with a treehouse video which I found really helpful, so I'll stick with that. I tried Xamarin but just couldn't get on with it, it seemed so long winded to get it set up.