Nothing can break a good app quicker than an ugly interface. Conversely, a subpar app can be thrown into the limelight thanks to a beautiful UI. The point is: we're all slightly vain and love to look at pretty things. If you're a developer, making your app visually appealing is absolutely clutch for success; if you're just not sure where to start, however, we've got a book that should be just what the doctor ordered: Android User Interface: Turning Ideas and Sketches into Beautifully Designed Apps ($25, Amazon). And now's your chance to get one of ten copies for free.
- Rabadi
- Jagannath Patil
- Deon
- Corey
- Sidiq Tri Nuryadi
- Ashiq Ja
- Eric Garcia
- Aakash Lakhotia
- Mitch Ware
- Bobygk
As if the name alone isn't enough, here's a bit about what this book is, well, about:
In today’s crowded Android marketplace, it’s more important than ever to differentiate your apps. Great design is the best way to do that. Now, leading Android app design expert Ian G. Clifton shows you how to make your apps come alive and how to deliver apps that users will want, love, and buy!
Reflecting the Android 4.2 SDK, this book serves both as a tutorial for the entire design and implementation process and as a handy reference you’ll rely on for every Android development project.
Clifton shows how to create effective designs, organize them into Android components, and move gracefully from idea, to wireframe, to comp, to finished app. You’ll learn how to bring your own voice, personality, and style to your app designs; how to leverage advanced drawing techniques such as PorterDuff compositing; how to test designs on diverse Android devices; and much more.
Android User Interface Design details each step of the design and development process and contains extensive downloadable sample code, including complete finished apps.
- Learn how Android has evolved to support outstanding app design
- Integrate app design with development, from idea through deployment
- Understand views, the building blocks of Android user interfaces
- Make the most of wireframes and prototypes
- Build efficient layouts and integrate smooth animations
- Make apps more useful by automatically updating ListViews
- Combine views into custom components
- Use image compositing and other advanced techniques
- Work with the canvas and advanced drawing
- Leverage Google Play and Amazon Appstore assets
One step at a time, this guide helps you bridge the gap between Android developers and designers so you can work with colleagues to create world-class app designs...or do it yourself!
Entering the giveaway is simple: just leave a blog post comment (but make sure to complete the entry in the Rafflecopter widget, otherwise your vote won't count!). Users in the US, Canada, or the UK are eligible to win either a print copy or eBook; all other areas are eBook only. Ready? Go!
The giveaway begins now and will run until Wednesday, June 5th at 12:00AM PT (Midnight). Good luck!