Android TV Apps Development: Building for Media and Games

Book description

This one-of-a-kind short book walks you through creating fantastic entertainment apps for one of the newest Android platforms. Android TV Apps Development: Building Media and Games will demystify some of the newest APIs and present the tools necessary for building applications that run on Android TV.

Walking through example applications, you will learn the vocabulary necessary to solve real-world problems and how to present your content on the television through Android. In addition to practical code examples, you will learn about various design considerations that will make using your apps an enjoyable experience for users.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents at a Glance
  5. Contents
  6. About the Author
  7. About the Technical Reviewer
  8. Chapter 1: Getting Started
    1. What Exactly Is Android TV?
    2. What to Expect from this Book
    3. Getting Set Up
    4. Creating a New Android TV Project
    5. Running Your Android TV App
    6. Summary
  9. Chapter 2: Planning Your App
    1. Android TV Home Screen
      1. Launcher Icon
      2. The Recommendations Row
      3. Global Search
    2. User Experience Guidelines
      1. Casual Consumption
      2. Cinematic Experience
      3. Keep It Simple
    3. Designing Your Layout
      1. Coloration
      2. Using Text
    4. Other Considerations
    5. Summary
  10. Chapter 3: Building a Media App
    1. Project Setup
      1. Creating the Android Studio Project
      2. Updating Dependencies
      3. Building the Project Skeleton
    2. Building the BrowseFragment Class
      1. Creating the Data
      2. Creating the Data Model
      3. Loading the Data
      4. Customizing the BrowseFragment UI
      5. Creating a Presenter
    3. Creating a Video Details Screen
      1. Setting Up Video Details
      2. Wiring Up Video Details
      3. Displaying Content Details
    4. Playing and Controlling Content
      1. Creating the Media Player
      2. Building the Playback Control Fragment
      3. Creating Actions
    5. Summary
  11. Chapter 4: Enriching Your Media Apps
    1. In-App Searching
      1. Adding a SearchOrbView
      2. Creating the Local Search Activity and Fragment
      3. Implementing Local Search from a Keyboard
      4. Using Voice Input for Local Search
    2. Implementing a Preference Screen
      1. Displaying a Preference Item Entry Point
      2. Creating the Preference Screen
    3. Using Recommendations
      1. Building Recommendation Cards
      2. Starting the Recommendation Service
    4. Android TV Global Search
      1. Building the Search Database
      2. Creating a Global Search Content Provider
      3. Exposing the Content Provider
      4. Reacting to the Search Action
    5. More Media App Features
      1. Now Playing Card
      2. GuidedStepFragment
      3. Live Channels
    6. Summary
  12. Chapter 5: The Android TV Platform for Game Development
    1. Android TV Games vs. Mobile
    2. Manifest Setup
    3. Gamepad Controller Input
      1. Setting Up the Controller Demo Project
      2. Storing Controller Inputs
      3. Controller Best Practices
    4. Using the Local Area Network
      1. Setting Up a Second Screen Project
      2. Advertising over the LAN
      3. Discovering Over the LAN
    5. Google Play Game Services
      1. Achievements
      2. Leaderboards
      3. Saved Games
      4. Multiplayer
      5. Quests and Events
    6. Summary
  13. Chapter 6: Android TV App Publishing
    1. Android TV App Checklist
      1. Support the Android TV OS
      2. UI Design
      3. Searching and Discovery
      4. Games
    2. Distributing Your Application
      1. Google Play Store Distribution
      2. Amazon Fire TV Distribution
    3. Summary
  14. Index

Product information

  • Title: Android TV Apps Development: Building for Media and Games
  • Author(s): Paul Trebilcox-Ruiz
  • Release date: January 2016
  • Publisher(s): Apress
  • ISBN: 9781484217849