Mastering Android Wear Application Development

Book excerpt: Master the future of mobile devices in wearable technology About This Book Mastering Android Wear Development is a complete guide to wearable technology for experienced Android developers Notifications, voice input, coping with round screens – all the key challenges of wearable technology are covered This book describes not just how to write code for wearables, but also how to think about wearable technology and design apps that work well with the physical limitations of wearable devices Who This Book Is For This book is for application developers (the web, mobile, and desktop) who are interested in building new wearable apps, and mobile developers who already have apps on iTunes or Google Play Store and are looking to provide Android Wear support for their existing Android or iOS apps. What You Will Learn Understand the Wearable computing technology Set up a development environment to build Android Wear apps using Android Studio Master the Android Wear SDK and APIs Understand the UI patterns and UX principles to build Android Wear apps Work with the different form factors of wearable devices (round and square) Take advantage of the sensors available on Android Wear devices Develop Android Wear sample apps Communicate between Android mobile and Android Wear apps Get to know the steps involved in publishing Android Wear apps to the Play store In Detail Wearable technology is the future of mobile devices. It looks set to be a breakthrough technology, just like the iPad was before it. With the Apple Watch being widely regarded as a success, all eyes are now on Google to provide a similar device for its users. Keep your skills ahead of the competition and be one of the first to fully understand this powerful new trend. This book will give you a very solid understanding of the philosophy, thought process, development details, and methodologies involved in building well-designed, robust Android Wear applications. We cover the advantages and disadvantages of the wearable computing paradigm and provide a good foundational knowledge for you to build practical, real-world wearable apps. You will learn about the various tools, platforms, libraries, SDKs, and technology needed to build Android Wear apps. By the end of the book, you will be an expert in building Android wearable apps. Style and approach This one-stop professional tutorial will teach you everything you need to know to begin designing and developing applications for this exciting new technology. Every step from development through testing to deployment is explained in depth.