The provided text is primarily from a book titled “Android TV Apps Development: Building for Media and Games” by Paul Trebilcox-Ruiz. It serves as a guide for developers interested in creating applications specifically for the Android TV platform. The book covers essential topics such as setting up development environments, designing user interfaces optimized for television viewing, and building media playback and game applications using the Android Leanback Support library. Furthermore, it explores advanced features like integrating search functionality, incorporating preferences, utilizing the recommendations row on the home screen, and developing multiplayer experiences using local network connections. Finally, the text touches upon the process of publishing Android TV applications to app stores.

Android TV Apps Development Study Guide

Quiz

1. What are the primary development tools required for Android TV app development, and on which operating systems can they be used?
2. Explain the significance of adding 10% margins to the edge of your layout when designing Android TV apps. How does the Leanback Support library assist with this?
3. What is the purpose of the LeanbackPreferenceFragment, and what interface must a class extending it implement to handle preference changes?
4. Describe the functionality of a CardPresenter in the context of a media application built with the Leanback Support library. What are its key methods?
5. Explain the roles of VideoDetailsActivity and VideoDetailsFragment in a media application. What are the key listener interfaces that VideoDetailsFragment typically implements?
6. What is the significance of the SpeechRecognitionCallback interface in Android TV app development, and in what scenario would it be used?
7. Outline the steps involved in making your application’s content searchable via Android TV’s global search functionality. Mention the key components and files involved.
8. How does the Nearby Connections API facilitate multiplayer gaming experiences on Android TV? Describe the roles of the host and client devices in this context.
9. What are KeyEvents and MotionEvents in the context of game development on Android TV? How can a utility class like GameController be used to manage gamepad input?
10. Briefly explain the purpose of the RecommendationService and BootupReceiver components in enhancing user engagement with an Android TV application.

Quiz Answer Key

1. The primary development tool is Android Studio, which requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Java Development Kit (JDK). It can be used on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems.
2. Adding 10% margins accounts for overscan, where the edges of the television screen might be outside the visible area. The Leanback Support library often handles these layout design guidelines automatically for media playback apps.
3. LeanbackPreferenceFragment is used to create settings screens in Android TV apps. A class extending it must implement the OnSharedPreferenceChangeListener interface to receive callbacks when preferences are changed.
4. A CardPresenter is responsible for taking data items (like video objects) and binding them to ImageCardViews for display in a browse or recommendation setting. Key methods include onCreateViewHolder to create the card view and onBindViewHolder to populate it with data.
5. VideoDetailsActivity serves as a container for the VideoDetailsFragment and sets the layout for the details screen. VideoDetailsFragment displays detailed information about a selected media item and typically implements OnItemViewClickedListener for handling clicks on related items and OnActionClickedListener for handling clicks on action buttons (like “Watch” or “Rent”).
6. The SpeechRecognitionCallback interface, introduced in Android Marshmallow, allows users to perform voice searches within an application without explicitly granting the RECORD_AUDIO permission. This simplifies the search experience.
7. Making content globally searchable involves creating a SQLite database to store content information, a ContentProvider to expose this data to other processes, a searchable.xml configuration file to describe the content provider, and declaring the ContentProvider in AndroidManifest.xml. The target Activity for search results also needs an intent-filter for the android.intent.action.SEARCH action.
8. The Nearby Connections API allows devices on the same local network to communicate easily. In an Android TV game, the TV can act as the host, advertising its presence, and mobile phones or tablets can act as clients, discovering the host and exchanging data for second-screen experiences or hidden information.
9. KeyEvents represent actions related to physical button presses on a gamepad controller, while MotionEvents represent analog inputs from joysticks or triggers. A GameController utility class can track the state of buttons (pressed or not) and the position of joysticks to provide a consistent way to access gamepad input across the application.
10. RecommendationService periodically fetches and displays content recommendations on the Android TV home screen, encouraging users to engage with the app. BootupReceiver is a BroadcastReceiver that listens for the BOOT_COMPLETED system event and schedules the RecommendationService to start after the device boots up, ensuring recommendations are available.

Essay Format Questions

1. Discuss the key design considerations that differentiate Android TV app development from mobile app development for phones and tablets. Focus on user interaction from a distance, navigation with a D-pad controller, and color palette choices.
2. Explain the architecture and workflow of building a media application on Android TV using the Leanback Support library. Describe the roles of key components like BrowseFragment, CardPresenter, ArrayObjectAdapter, and DetailsFragment.
3. Describe the process of integrating global search functionality into an Android TV application. Detail the purpose and interaction of the SQLite database, ContentProvider, and the searchable.xml configuration file.
4. Discuss the challenges and opportunities of developing multiplayer games for Android TV using techniques like local area network communication with the Nearby Connections API and handling gamepad input.
5. Explain the strategies for enhancing user engagement with an Android TV application beyond basic functionality. Focus on features like content recommendations using RecommendationService and enabling voice search.

Glossary of Key Terms

• Android Studio: The integrated development environment (IDE) officially supported by Google for Android development.
• Android TV OS: The operating system designed by Google for smart TVs and digital media players.
• Leanback Support Library: A collection of Android support libraries specifically designed to help developers build user interfaces for TV devices.
• BrowseFragment: A key component of the Leanback Support Library used to display categorized rows of media items.
• CardPresenter: A class in the Leanback Support Library responsible for taking data and binding it to a visual card representation (e.g., ImageCardView).
• ArrayObjectAdapter: An adapter class used with Leanback UI components to provide a list of data items for display.
• DetailsFragment: A Leanback Support Library fragment used to display detailed information about a selected media item, including actions.
• Presenter: In the context of the Leanback Support Library, an abstract class that defines how data should be displayed in a ViewHolder.
• ViewHolder: A pattern used to efficiently update views in a RecyclerView or Leanback list row by holding references to the view components.
• Overscan: The area around the edges of a traditional television picture that may not be visible to the viewer. Android TV development recommends accounting for this with layout margins.
• D-pad Controller: The directional pad commonly found on TV remote controls and gamepads, used for navigation on Android TV.
• Digital Rights Management (DRM): Technologies used to protect copyrighted digital content.
• ExoPlayer: An open-source media player library for Android that provides more features than the standard MediaPlayer class.
• AndroidManifest.xml: The manifest file that describes the essential information about an Android app to the Android system.
• Intent-filter: A component in the AndroidManifest.xml that specifies the types of intents that an activity, service, or broadcast receiver can respond to.
• ContentProvider: An Android component that manages access to a structured set of data. They encapsulate the data and provide mechanisms for defining security.
• SQLite: A lightweight, disk-based, relational database management system.
• Global Search: The system-wide search functionality in Android TV that allows users to search across different installed applications.
• Searchable.xml: A configuration file that describes how an application’s data can be searched by the Android system.
• Nearby Connections API: A Google Play services API that allows devices on the same local area network to discover and communicate with each other.
• GoogleApiClient: An entry point to the Google Play services APIs.
• ConnectionCallbacks: An interface that provides callbacks when a connection to Google Play services is established or suspended.
• OnConnectionFailedListener: An interface that provides a callback when a connection to Google Play services fails.
• ConnectionRequestListener: An interface used with the Nearby Connections API to handle incoming connection requests.
• MessageListener: An interface used with the Nearby Connections API to receive messages from connected devices.
• EndpointDiscoveryListener: An interface used with the Nearby Connections API to receive notifications when nearby devices (endpoints) are discovered or disappear.
• KeyEvent: An object that represents a key press or release event.
• MotionEvent: An object that represents a motion event, such as touch screen interactions or joystick movements.
• RecommendationService: A service that runs in the background and provides content recommendations to be displayed on the Android TV home screen.
• BootupReceiver: A BroadcastReceiver that listens for the system’s boot complete event and can be used to start services like RecommendationService after the device restarts.
• IntentService: A base class for services that handle asynchronous requests (expressed as Intents) on a worker thread.

Briefing Document: Android TV Apps Development – Building for Media and Games

Source: Excerpts from “0413-Android TV Apps Development – archive done.pdf” by Paul Trebilcox-Ruiz (Copyright © 2016)

Overview: This briefing document summarizes key themes and important concepts from Paul Trebilcox-Ruiz’s book, “Android TV Apps Development: Building for Media and Games.” The book guides developers through creating applications for the Android TV platform, covering setup, UI design considerations for large screens, building media playback apps, enriching apps with search and recommendations, and developing games. It emphasizes the use of Android Studio and the Android Leanback Support Library.

Main Themes and Important Ideas:

1. Setting Up the Development Environment:

• Android TV development utilizes the same tools as standard Android development, compatible with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
• Android Studio is the recommended Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Java Development Kit (JDK).
• The Android SDK, including platform tools and APIs (at least Android 5.0 Lollipop at the time of writing), needs to be installed via Android Studio.
• Creating a new Android TV project in Android Studio involves selecting the TV form factor during project configuration.
• The base Android TV template provides a starting point, although some initial code might contain deprecated components that can be ignored initially.
• “One of the nice things about developing for Android is that the development tools can be used on most modern computer platforms, and Android TV development is no different.”

2. Planning and Designing for the Android TV Experience:

• Developing for TV requires different considerations than for handheld devices due to the “10-foot experience” where users interact from a distance.
• Overscan: It’s crucial to account for overscan by adding approximately 10% margins to the edges of layouts to ensure content isn’t clipped on all TVs. The Leanback Support Library often handles this for media apps.
• Coloration: Televisions can display colors inconsistently. Avoid bright whites over large areas and test dark or highly saturated colors on various TVs. Google recommends using colors two to three levels darker than mobile and suggests the 700-900 range from their color palette.
• Typography: Specific font families (Roboto Condensed and Roboto Regular) and sizes (specified in sp for density independence) are recommended for different UI elements (cards, browse screens, detail screens). The Leanback Support Library includes styles to manage this.
• Controller Support: Applications must be navigable using the basic Android TV D-pad controller. For proprietary media players, D-pad compatibility needs to be ensured.
• Media Player Choice: While the standard MediaPlayer class is available, Google’s open-source ExoPlayer is highlighted as an excellent alternative with more advanced features.
• “While you may be familiar with Android development for phones and tablets, there are many things you need to consider when creating content for the TV, depending on whether you are making a game, utility, or media application.”

3. Building a Media Playback Application:

• This involves creating Activities (e.g., MainActivity, VideoDetailsActivity, PlayerActivity) and Fragments (e.g., MainFragment, VideoDetailsFragment, PlayerControlsFragment).
• The Leanback Support Library is fundamental, providing classes like BrowseFragment for displaying categorized content rows.
• Data Presentation: Using ArrayObjectAdapter and ListRow to display lists of media items with headers. Presenter classes (like CardPresenter) are used to define how individual items are displayed (e.g., using ImageCardView).
• Fetching Data: Demonstrates loading data from a local JSON file (videos.json) using utility classes and libraries like Gson for JSON parsing and Picasso for image loading.
• Video Details Screen: Utilizing DetailsFragment to show detailed information about selected media, including actions (e.g., “Watch,” “Rent,” “Preview”) implemented using Action objects and SparseArrayObjectAdapter.
• Media Player Implementation: Using VideoView for video playback and creating a custom PlayerControlsFragment with playback controls (play/pause, skip, rewind, etc.) built using PlaybackControlsRow. An interface (PlayerControlsListener) is used for communication between the fragment and the PlayerActivity.
• “BrowseFragment will allow you to display rows of items representing the content of your app, preferences, and a search option.”

4. Enriching Media Apps with Search and Recommendations:

• In-App Search: Implementing a SearchFragment and a corresponding Activity (MediaSearchActivity). Using SpeechRecognitionCallback to handle voice search without explicit audio recording permissions.
• Local Search Implementation: Filtering a local data source based on a user’s query.
• Settings Screen: Using LeanbackPreferenceFragment to create a settings interface. Custom Presenter classes (PreferenceCardPresenter) can be used to display preference options as cards.
• Recommendations: Implementing a RecommendationService that uses NotificationManager and NotificationCompat.Builder to display content recommendations on the Android TV home screen. TaskStackBuilder is used to create the appropriate back stack when a recommendation is clicked. A BootupReceiver and AlarmManager are used to schedule periodic recommendation updates.
• Global Search Integration: Creating a SQLite database (VideoDatabaseHandler) to store content information and a Content Provider (VideoContentProvider) to expose this data to the Android TV system for global search. Configuring searchable.xml and the AndroidManifest.xml to declare the content provider and enable search functionality. The VideoDetailsActivity is configured to handle the android.intent.action.SEARCH intent.
• “Content providers are Android’s way of making data from one process available in another.”

5. Android TV Platform for Game Development:

• Android TV is a fully functioning Android OS, making it relatively straightforward to migrate Android games.
• Focuses on Android development tools for games, acknowledging that other game engines also work.
• Gamepad Controller Input: Demonstrates how to detect and handle gamepad button presses (KeyEvent) and analog stick movements (MotionEvent). A utility class (GameController) is created to manage the state of the controller. dispatchKeyEvent and dispatchGenericMotionEvent in the main Activity are used to intercept and process input events.
• Visual Instructions: Recommends displaying visual instructions for using the controller, referencing Google’s Android TV gamepad template.
• Local Area Network (LAN) Integration: Introduces the Nearby Connections API as a way to create second-screen experiences where mobile devices can interact with a game running on Android TV (acting as a host).
• Nearby Connections API Implementation: Requires adding the play-services dependency, requesting network permissions, and defining a service ID in the AndroidManifest.xml. Demonstrates how to use GoogleApiClient to connect to the Nearby Connections API, advertise the TV app over the LAN, discover nearby devices (mobile app), and send and receive messages between them using ConnectionRequestListener, MessageListener, and EndpointDiscoveryListener.
• “Thankfully, since Android TV is a fully functioning Android OS, it doesn’t take much to migrate your games over to the new platform.”

Key Libraries and Components Emphasized:

• Android Studio: The primary development IDE.
• Android SDK: Provides the necessary tools and APIs.
• Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Java Development Kit (JDK): Required by Android Studio.
• Android Leanback Support Library: Essential for building TV-optimized UIs, providing components like BrowseFragment, DetailsFragment, PlaybackControlsRow, ImageCardView, ArrayObjectAdapter, and ListRowPresenter.
• Gson: For parsing JSON data.
• Picasso: For loading and caching images.
• RecyclerView: For displaying efficient lists and grids (used within Leanback components).
• SQLite: For local data storage (used for global search integration).
• ContentProvider: For securely sharing data between applications (used for exposing search data).
• Nearby Connections API (part of Google Play Services): For enabling communication between devices on the same local network.

Target Audience: Android developers looking to build applications and games for the Android TV platform. The book assumes some familiarity with basic Android development concepts.

This briefing document provides a high-level overview of the key topics covered in the provided excerpts. The book delves into the code-level implementation details for each of these areas.

Android TV App Development: Key Considerations

Frequently Asked Questions: Android TV App Development

• What are the primary focuses when developing Android TV apps according to this material? This material focuses on building Android TV applications for two main categories: media consumption and games. It guides developers through the specifics of creating user interfaces suitable for television viewing, handling remote controllers, integrating media playback, and adapting game development principles for the Android TV platform.
• What are the key considerations for UI/UX design when developing for Android TV compared to mobile devices? Developing for Android TV requires considering that users will be interacting with the app from a distance using a remote control. Key considerations include: larger font sizes and text styling optimized for TV screens, using a density-independent sizing quantifier (sp) for text, accounting for overscan by adding margins to layouts, choosing color palettes that display well on various television types (avoiding pure white and checking dark/saturated colors), and designing navigation that is easily manageable with a D-pad controller. The Leanback Support library is highlighted as a tool that assists with these design considerations.
• How does the Leanback Support Library aid in Android TV app development? The Leanback Support Library is a crucial component for Android TV development. It provides pre-built UI components specifically designed for the TV experience, such as BrowseFragment for displaying categorized rows of content, DetailsFragment for displaying detailed information about media items, PlaybackControlsRow for creating media playback controls, and classes for handling card-based layouts. It also incorporates design guidelines for large screens and remote control navigation, simplifying the development process for media and other TV-centric applications.
• What are the recommended steps for building a media playback application for Android TV based on this content? The recommended steps include: setting up an Android Studio project and including the Leanback Support library dependency; building a BrowseFragment to display media content in rows with categories, often by parsing a JSON data source; creating a CardPresenter to define how media items are displayed as cards; implementing a VideoDetailsActivity and VideoDetailsFragment to show detailed information and actions (like “Watch”) for selected media; building a PlayerActivity with a VideoView for media playback and a PlayerControlsFragment using PlaybackControlsRow for user controls; and potentially integrating the ExoPlayer for advanced media playback features.
• How can Android TV apps incorporate search functionality? Android TV apps can incorporate search functionality in two primary ways: in-app search and global search. In-app search can be implemented using the SearchFragment from the Leanback Support Library, allowing users to search within the app’s content. Integrating with Android TV’s global search requires creating a SQLite database to store searchable content information, implementing a ContentProvider to expose this data to the system, and declaring the content provider and a searchable configuration in the AndroidManifest.xml. Activities that display search results need to handle the ACTION_SEARCH intent.
• What considerations are important for game development on Android TV? Migrating games to Android TV involves adapting to the platform’s input methods, primarily gamepads. Developers need to handle KeyEvents for button presses and MotionEvents for analog stick inputs. It’s crucial to provide clear visual instructions on how to use the controller within the game. While the core Android OS is the same, the interaction paradigm shifts from touchscreens to remote controls and gamepads. Popular game engines are also noted to work with Android TV.
• How can Android TV applications leverage local area networks for enhanced experiences, particularly in games? Android TV applications can use the Nearby Connections API to enable communication between devices on the same local network. This is particularly useful for creating second-screen experiences in games, where a TV acts as the host and mobile devices as clients, allowing for private information or controls on the second screen. Implementing this involves adding the Play Services dependency, requesting network permissions, defining a service ID, using GoogleApiClient to connect, advertising the service on the host device, and discovering and connecting to the service on client devices, as well as handling message sending and receiving.
• What are some advanced features that can be integrated into Android TV apps, as highlighted in this material? Advanced features discussed include: implementing in-app search and integration with global search; adding settings screens using LeanbackPreferenceFragment to allow users to customize the app; providing content recommendations using RecommendationService to surface content on the Android TV home screen as notifications; and utilizing the Nearby Connections API for local network interactions, especially for second-screen gaming experiences.

Developing Android TV Applications

Developing Android TV apps involves creating applications specifically designed for the Android TV platform, which aims to bring interactive experiences to television sets. This platform, introduced by Google in 2014, is optimized for television viewing and can be found in smart TVs or accessed via set-top boxes. Android TV is built upon the Android operating system, allowing developers to leverage their existing Android development skills and familiar components like activities, fragments, and adapters. The Leanback Support library provides additional components tailored for the TV interface.

To begin developing for Android TV, you’ll need a modern computer with Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux and the Android Studio development environment, which requires the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Java Development Kit (JDK). Creating a new Android TV project in Android Studio involves selecting the TV form factor and a minimum SDK of API 21 (Lollipop) or later, as Android TV was introduced with Lollipop. You can choose an empty project or a default Android TV activity to start. Running your app can be done using an emulator or on a physical Android TV device like the Nexus Player or NVIDIA SHIELD.

A crucial aspect of Android TV app development is considering the user experience from a distance. Google recommends adhering to three main ideas: casual consumption, providing a cinematic experience, and keeping things simple. This means designing apps that allow users to quickly achieve their goals, utilizing audio and visual cues, limiting the number of screens, and ensuring easy navigation with a D-pad controller. Layouts should be designed for landscape mode with sufficient margins to account for overscan. Color choices should be carefully considered due to variations in television displays, and text should be large and easy to read from a distance.

Android TV offers several features to enhance user engagement:

• Launcher Icon: A correctly sized (320px x 180px) and styled launcher icon that includes the app name is essential for users to find your application in the list of installed apps. Games require the isGame=”true” property in the application node of the AndroidManifest.xml to be placed in the games row.
• Recommendations Row: This row on the home screen provides an opportunity to suggest continuation, related, or new content to users using a card format. Implementing a recommendation service involves creating notification cards from a background service and pushing them to the home screen.
• Global Search: By making your application searchable, users can find your content through the Android TV global search by voice or text input. This involves creating a SQLite database and a ContentProvider to expose your app’s data.

The book focuses on building media apps using the Leanback Support library, which provides components like BrowseFragment for displaying rows of content and DetailsFragment for presenting detailed information. It walks through creating a basic media playback application, including handling video playback with VideoView and displaying controls using PlaybackOverlayFragment.

For game development, Android TV offers similar development tools to mobile but requires consideration for landscape orientation and potential multiplayer experiences using second screens. Supporting gamepad controllers involves handling digital and analog inputs. The Nearby Connections API facilitates communication between devices on the same local area network for second-screen experiences. Google Play Game Services provides APIs for achievements, leaderboards, and saved games.

Publishing Android TV apps to the Google Play Store requires meeting specific guidelines to ensure proper layout and controls for television users. This includes declaring a CATEGORY_LEANBACK_LAUNCHER intent filter, providing a 320px x 180px banner icon, and ensuring compatibility with Android TV hardware by not requiring unsupported features like a touchscreen or camera. Apps are also expected to respond correctly to D-pad or game controllers and ideally support global search and recommendations. Distribution is also possible through the Amazon App Store for Fire TVs.

Android TV Game Development

Discussing game development for Android TV involves understanding how to adapt existing Android games or create new ones specifically for the television platform. While the core Android development principles remain similar to mobile, there are specific considerations for the TV environment.

One key difference between Android TV and mobile game development is the orientation: Android TV games should primarily, if not exclusively, work in landscape mode. Unlike phones and tablets which can switch between portrait and landscape, televisions are almost always in landscape orientation, so your game’s design and layout must accommodate this.

When setting up your game project, you’ll need to make some adjustments to the AndroidManifest.xml file. To have your game appear in the games row on the Android TV home screen, you must declare your application as a game by adding the android:isGame=”true” property within the <application> node. If your game supports the gamepad controller, you should also declare the <uses-feature android:name=”android.hardware.gamepad” android:required=”false” /> to indicate this support, but setting required to false ensures your app remains installable on Android TV devices even without a gamepad.

Handling gamepad controller input is crucial for many Android TV games. Gamepad controllers provide both digital inputs (buttons with pressed/unpressed states) and analog inputs (joysticks or triggers providing values within a range). You can read these inputs through KeyEvent (for button presses) and MotionEvent (for analog inputs). The source mentions creating a GameController.java utility class to store and manage the state of these inputs and provides methods to handle KeyEvent and MotionEvent events. In your game’s Activity or View, you would override methods like dispatchKeyEvent and dispatchGenericMotionEvent to forward these events to your GameController and then update your game logic accordingly.

There are several controller best practices to follow for a good user experience:

• Inform users in the Google Play Store description if a controller is necessary.
• Adhere to user expectations for button functions (e.g., A for Accept, B for Cancel).
• Verify controller hardware requirements and have a backup plan if certain hardware like a gyroscope or triggers are missing on a user’s controller.
• For multiplayer games, ensure your app handles multiple controllers by detecting device IDs.
• When a controller disconnects, pause the game and inform the user.
• If possible, display visual instructions for using the controller, and Google provides an Android TV gamepad template for this purpose.

For local multiplayer games requiring secrecy between players, you can implement second screen experiences using the Local Area Network (LAN). Google’s Nearby Connections API facilitates communication between devices on the same network. In this model, the Android TV often acts as the central host, and players can use their mobile phones or tablets as private second screens to perform actions. Setting this up involves creating separate modules for the TV and mobile apps, including the Play Services library, requesting necessary network permissions, and defining a service ID for the apps to identify each other on the network. The TV module would advertise its availability over the LAN and respond to connection requests, while the mobile modules would discover the host and connect. Once connected, devices can send and receive messages to facilitate gameplay.

Google Play Game Services offers a suite of APIs and tools specifically for game developers to enhance their Android TV games. Some key features include:

• Achievements: Reward players for enjoying your game, fostering competition. At least five achievements are required for publishing.
• Leaderboards: Allow players to compare their scores with others.
• Saved Games: Enable players to save their progress online and resume on different devices.
• Multiplayer: Support online multiplayer for real-time and turn-based games.
• Quests and Events: Engage players with time-bound challenges and analyze player actions through in-game events.

When publishing your Android TV game, remember to declare it as a game in the manifest. If your game supports a controller, ensure it has contingencies for buttons like Start, Select, and Menu, and provide a generic gamepad controller graphic for instructions. It’s also important to ensure your application provides a clear way for users to exit the game and return to the home screen. For networking aspects, verify that your code handles both Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections, as Android TV devices can support both. Like other Android TV apps, games undergo an approval process to ensure proper layout and control functionality on the TV platform.

Android TV Media App Development

Let’s delve into the discussion of Media Applications for Android TV, drawing on the information from the provided source, “Android TV Apps Development: Building for Media and Games,” and our previous conversation.

Media applications are identified as a very common type of application developed for televisions. Recognizing this, Google created the Leanback Support library, which offers a collection of pre-built components specifically designed to facilitate the creation of media apps that adhere to Android TV’s design guidelines. This library is crucial for developers looking to build effective and user-friendly media experiences on the platform.

The source highlights several key components from the Leanback Support library that are fundamental to building media applications:

• BrowseFragment: This class is presented as a core part of an Android TV media app. While appearing as a single fragment to the user, it’s actually composed of two underlying fragments:
• RowsFragment: Responsible for displaying vertical lists of customized cards that represent your media content. Each row is typically associated with a category.
• HeadersFragment: This forms the teal “fast lane” panel often seen on the left side of the screen, populated with headers corresponding to the categories displayed in the RowsFragment. The BrowseFragment uses an ObjectAdapter to manage the list of content (rows), and each item within a row is associated with a Presenter object. The Presenter dictates how each media item will visually appear in the UI, often as a card with an image and title. The CardPresenter is a concrete implementation used for this purpose.
• DetailsFragment: While the BrowseFragment offers a quick overview of available media, the DetailsFragment is designed to focus on a single item. This screen serves to provide more in-depth information about the content, present various actions that can be taken (e.g., “Watch,” “Add to Favorites”), and potentially display related media. The DetailsFragment often utilizes a DetailsOverviewRowPresenter (though the source recommends the FullWidthDetailsOverviewRowPresenter as the former is deprecated) to display a logo, a row of actions, and a customizable detail description. It also works with ListRowPresenter to display related media.
• PlaybackOverlayFragment: For applications that involve playing media, the PlaybackOverlayFragment is essential for displaying media controls to the user. This fragment provides a user interface for actions like play/pause, fast forward, rewind, and potentially more advanced controls. It works in conjunction with PlaybackControlsRow to present these actions.

The source emphasizes that when designing media applications for Android TV, developers must keep in mind the unique context of television viewing. The design guidelines discussed in our previous turn are particularly relevant:

• Casual Consumption: Media apps should be designed to get users to the content they want to enjoy as quickly as possible, with minimal interaction required.
• Cinematic Experience: Utilizing audio and visual cues, along with animations and transitions (while avoiding overwhelming the user), can enhance the immersive quality of the media experience.
• Keep It Simple: Navigation should be straightforward using the D-pad controller, minimizing the number of screens and avoiding text entry where possible. The list of rows pattern seen on the home screen is a recommended UI approach.

To further engage users with media applications, Android TV offers several key features that developers should consider integrating:

• Launcher Icon: A distinct and correctly sized (320px x 180px) launcher icon that includes the app’s name is crucial for users to easily find and launch the application from the home screen.
• Recommendations Row: This prime location on the Android TV home screen allows media apps to suggest content to users. This can include continuation of previously watched media, related content based on viewing history, or highlighting new and featured items. Implementing a RecommendationService is key to populating this row with engaging content presented in a card format.
• Global Search: By making the application’s media library searchable through Android TV’s global search functionality, users can easily find specific movies, shows, or other content using voice or text input, regardless of which app it resides in. This requires creating a SQLite database to store content information and a ContentProvider to expose this data to the system. A searchable.xml configuration file and an intent filter in the media details activity are also necessary.
• Now Playing Card: For media that can continue playback in the background (like audio), providing a “Now Playing” card in the recommendations row allows users to quickly return to the app and control playback.
• Live Channels: For apps offering linear or streaming content, integration with the Android TV Live Channels application via the TV Input Framework allows users to browse your content alongside traditional broadcast channels.

The source provides a practical guide to building a basic media application step-by-step, covering project setup, manifest configuration, implementing a BrowseFragment to display media items, creating a VideoDetailsActivity with a DetailsFragment to show more information and actions, and finally, implementing basic video playback using a PlayerActivity and the PlaybackOverlayFragment for controls.

Furthermore, the book delves into enriching media applications with features like in-app searching using a SearchOrbView and SearchFragment, implementing a settings or preference screen using LeanbackPreferenceFragment, leveraging the recommendations row, and integrating with Android TV’s global search functionality.

Finally, when it comes to publishing media applications, it’s essential to adhere to the Android TV app checklist, ensuring that the UI is designed for landscape orientation and large screens, navigation is seamless with a D-pad, and that features like search and recommendations are properly implemented to enhance content discovery.

In summary, developing media applications for Android TV leverages the Android framework and the specialized Leanback Support library to create engaging entertainment experiences optimized for the television screen. Careful consideration of the user experience from a distance and integration with Android TV’s unique features are key to building successful media apps on this platform.

Android TV Leanback Support Library: Development Overview

The Leanback Support library is a crucial set of tools provided by Google to facilitate the development of applications specifically for the Android TV platform. This library is designed to help developers create user interfaces and experiences that are optimized for the television screen and remote-based navigation.

Here are the key aspects of the Leanback Support library, drawing from the sources and our conversation:

• Purpose and Benefits: The primary goal of the Leanback Support library is to simplify the development of engaging entertainment applications for Android TV. It does this by:
• Demystifying new Android TV APIs.
• Providing pre-built and optimized UI components that adhere to Android TV’s design guidelines. This helps ensure a consistent and familiar user experience across different Android TV apps.
• Offering the necessary tools for building applications that run smoothly on the Android TV platform.
• Helping developers understand the specific vocabulary and concepts relevant to Android TV development.
• Providing practical code examples to guide developers in implementing various features.
• Offering insights into design considerations that are unique to the television environment, leading to more enjoyable user experiences.
• Taking layout design guidelines into account, such as overscan, particularly for media playback applications.
• Key UI Components: The Leanback Support library includes several essential UI building blocks for Android TV applications, especially media apps:
• BrowseFragment: This is a core component for displaying categorized rows of media content. It essentially comprises a RowsFragment for the content cards and a HeadersFragment for the navigation sidebar (the “fast lane”). It utilizes ObjectAdapter and Presenter classes (like CardPresenter) to manage and display media items.
• DetailsFragment: Used to present detailed information about a specific media item, along with available actions such as watching or adding to favorites. It often employs DetailsOverviewRowPresenter (though FullWidthDetailsOverviewRowPresenter is recommended) and ListRowPresenter to display details and related content.
• PlaybackOverlayFragment: Essential for media playback applications, this fragment provides a user interface for controlling the playback of media content. It works with classes like PlaybackControlsRow and various Action classes (e.g., PlayPauseAction, FastForwardAction).
• SearchFragment and SearchOrbView: These components enable the implementation of in-app search functionality, allowing users to find specific content within the application.
• LeanbackPreferenceFragment: A specialized fragment for creating settings or preference screens that adhere to the visual style and navigation patterns of Android TV.
• GuidedStepFragment: Provides a way to guide users through a series of decisions using a structured interface with a guidance view and a list of selectable items.
• Support for Android TV Features: The Leanback Support library also provides mechanisms to integrate with key Android TV platform features:
• Recommendations: The library helps in building services (RecommendationService) that can push content suggestions to the Android TV home screen’s recommendations row, enhancing user engagement.
• Global Search: While the library doesn’t directly implement global search, the UI components it provides can be used to display search results effectively. Integrating with global search requires using Android’s SearchManager and ContentProvider as discussed in the sources.
• Design Considerations: Apps built with the Leanback Support library inherently encourage adherence to Android TV’s design principles, such as casual consumption, cinematic experience, and simplicity in navigation. The library’s components are designed to be easily navigable using a D-pad controller, which is the primary input method for most Android TV devices.

In the context of our previous discussions:

• For media applications, the Leanback Support library is indispensable, providing the foundational UI structures and controls needed for browsing, detail views, and media playback.
• While our game development discussion focused more on gamepad input and networking, the Leanback Support library also plays a role in the UI of Android TV games, particularly for menus, settings, and potentially displaying game-related information in a TV-friendly manner. Components like GuidedStepFragment could be useful in game tutorials or settings screens.

In summary, the Leanback Support library is the cornerstone for developing high-quality Android TV applications, especially in the realm of media and entertainment. It offers a rich set of UI components and assists developers in adhering to platform-specific design guidelines and integrating with key Android TV features, ultimately leading to better and more consistent user experiences.

Android TV App Publishing Essentials

Let’s discuss App Publishing for Android TV, drawing on the information from the sources and our conversation history [Discuss Leanback Library].

The Android TV App Publishing Process and Checklist

Before publishing your Android TV application, it’s crucial to ensure it meets Google’s guidelines for approval. This approval process isn’t for censorship but to verify that your app’s layouts and controls function correctly for Android TV users. Google provides an Android TV App Checklist that you should validate before uploading your APK to the Play Store.

Key items on this checklist, according to the sources, include:

• Support for the Android TV OS:
• You must provide an Android TV entry point by declaring a CATEGORY_LEANBACK_LAUNCHER intent filter in an activity node of your manifest. Without this, your app won’t appear in the application rows on the home screen.
• Associate a banner icon (320px by 180px) with this activity, which will be displayed in the application row. Any text on the banner needs to be localized.
• Ensure your manifest doesn’t declare any required hardware features not supported by Android TV, such as camera, touchscreen, and various hardware sensors. If these are marked as required, your app won’t be discoverable by Android TV devices.
• UI Design:
• Your app must provide layout resources that work in landscape orientation. Android TV primarily operates in landscape mode.
• Ensure all text and controls are large enough to be visible from an average viewing distance (around ten feet) and that bitmaps and icons are high resolution.
• Your layouts should handle overscan, and your application’s color scheme should work well on televisions. As we discussed with the Leanback Library, its components are designed with these considerations in mind.
• If your app uses advertisements, it’s recommended to use full-screen, dismissible video ads that last no longer than 30 seconds. Avoid ads that rely on sending intents to web pages, as Android TV doesn’t have a built-in browser, and your app might crash if a browser isn’t installed.
• Your app must respond correctly to the D-pad or game controller for navigation. The Leanback Support library provides classes that handle this. Custom classes should also be designed to respond appropriately.
• Searching and Discovery:
• It’s highly recommended that global search and recommendations are implemented and working in your application. Users should be taken directly to the content they are interested in when found through search or recommendations. We discussed implementing these features in detail earlier.
• Games:
• If your app is a game, you need to declare it as a game (android:isGame=”true”) in the application node of the manifest to have it appear in the games row on the home screen.
• Update your manifest to reflect support for the game controller if applicable.
• Ensure your game has button contingencies for Start, Select, and Menu buttons, as not all controllers have these.
• Provide a generic gamepad controller graphic to inform users about the controls.
• Your application needs controls for easily exiting the game to return to the home screen.
• For networking in games, ensure your code verifies network connectivity via both WiFi and Ethernet, as Android TV can support Ethernet connections.

Distributing Your Application

Once your app is complete and meets the guidelines, you can distribute it through major outlets:

• Google Play Store Distribution: The publishing process is similar to that of phone and tablet apps. You need to:
• Create an APK and sign it with a release certificate.
• Upload it to the Google Play Developer Console.
• In the store listing information, navigate to the Android TV section and provide specific assets as required by the Play Store. The Play Store automatically recognizes your app as an Android TV app due to the CATEGORY_LEANBACK_LAUNCHER declaration in your manifest.
• Amazon Fire TV Distribution: Since Fire OS 5, you can also distribute Android apps built with the Leanback Support library and Lollipop features through the Amazon App Store for Fire TVs. While specific compatibility details with Amazon Fire OS are beyond the scope of the sources, you can find documentation on the Amazon developer website. This allows you to reach a broader audience with potentially minimal modifications.

In summary, publishing Android TV apps involves careful consideration of platform-specific requirements for the manifest, UI design (leveraging the Leanback Library is key here), search and discovery features, and controller support (for games). Adhering to the Android TV App Checklist and utilizing the developer consoles for both Google Play Store and Amazon App Store are the main steps for distributing your application to users.

By Amjad Izhar
Contact: amjad.izhar@gmail.com
https://amjadizhar.blog

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