Most Android users learn how to use the smartphone and the apps and become better at it

with time. There is a certain consistency from app to app on how buttons work, how
selections are made, how the device is operated. The Widgets discussed in this chapter
create this consistency. Why is it good to use existing Widgets to create your apps, and
when would you consider building in Java new types of controls? Can you give examples of
apps, which require custom controls?

Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google. It is based on a modified version of

the Linux kernel and other open source software, and is designed primarily for mobile devices.
Variants of Android are also used on game consoles, digital cameras, PCs and other electronics
(Wikipedia, na).

Android is developed by Google until the latest changes and updates are ready to be released, at
which point the source code is made available to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) an
open source initiative led by Google. The source code is, in turn, customized and adapted by
original equipment manufacturers to run on their hardware. This initiative allows to all
developers to be able to create an application in android platform.

A great way to improve an application is by providing an app widget to accompany it. App
Widgets have been around since API Level 3 (Android 1.5). Over time, plenty of new features
have been added to the app widget framework. App widgets are simple controls that can be
placed on places like the Home screen, informing the user of important updates within the
application. App widgets remind the user that the app exists and help encourage them to use the
application more often, among other benefits (Conder et Al, 2011).

We would consider building java new types of controls to make easier for the complete
development of the app to drag and drop buttons to make it simpler. In this way we can select
controls like buttons or text boxes, drop them onto a screen and provide some parameters about
their functionality. A good combination to achieve proper functionality of the new customized
controls, we can use Java Packages. Packages are used in Java in order to prevent naming
conflicts etc.

Some examples of apps which require custom controls are Google playbooks, Amazon Kindle
and Oxford dictionary.

REFERENCES
- Android (operating system). Retrieved 1 January 2020, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)
- Conder et Al (2011). Android Essentials: Enhancing Your Applications with App
Widgets. Retrieved 1 January 2020, from https://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/android-
essentials-enhancing-your-applications-with-app-widgets--mobile-6245