Android Design: Google's Guide For Developers

In a bid to harmonise Android smartphone and tablet apps, Google has developed the Android Design guide to help point users and developers in the same direction.

Android apps and interfaces can be really quite different. Complaints about this lack of consistency from Android users and developers have made it back to Google, which has responded by publishing a guide packed full of tools, ideas and templates for developing applications.

Android Design is a free online tool that's aimed at helping developers design and make new applications for Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0).

The guide goes into great detail about Google's preferred house style and is divided into three main sections:

• Style (devices and displays, themes, typography, colour, writing style etc.).
• Patterns (navigation, selection, notifications, swipe views, compatibility etc.).
• Building Blocks (text fields, scrolling, buttons, dialogues, tabs, lists etc.).

Note that the Android Design guide is still a work in progress, but it's due to be updated regularly by Google as the Android OS evolves.

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