android eclipse: switch activity briefly shows previous activity screen - java

I am sure this is a basic question, but I'm developing an Android app using ADK and Eclipse.
When I try to transition Activities, the screen goes black and then briefly shows the previous activity screen before "flipping" to the new screen.
I don't have any custom transitions; I'm using the default.
I don't have much going on in my onCreate event (EXCEPT: I load my background image during onCreate! Could it be this?)
I really am looking at a very snappy transition, like a game like Words with Friends, where it appears to switch "instantly".

This depends on what phone you're using since different phones use different anamations. Try to call finish(); on every activity but your main one for example.. Or finish them all when the user switches activities

Related

Why does an activity playing a sound disturb the user interface?

I would like to show a notification and play a sound when the user taps onto that notification. It works somehow when I use an activity to play the sound, as I have written in my own answer to this question: How can I create a notification that plays an audio file when being tapped? (in this question and answer there is also the source code showing how I create the notification and how my PlaySoundActivity looks like.
Yet, I have realized, that while the sound is playing, the appearance of my main application changes and it will not be restored without closing the application.
I have created my application from the "Tabbed Activity" project template.
This is how it looks after being started:
And this is how it looks when I have tapped onto the sound notification (the sections are gone):
Can anyone explain why this happens? Is it a wrong approach to play sound using an activity? But it does not work here when I use a service, I hear nothing! How to solve that?
According to the Android developer reference, "almost all activities interact with the user, so the Activity class takes care of creating a window for you in which you can place your UI with setContentView(View)".
I had not done this. Therefore a new window was displayed, but there was no content.
The better solution for playing a sound is to use a PlaySoundService (service!!!) instead of an activity. It contains almost the same code as an activity would do, but the pending intent is created with PendingIntent.getService(...) instead of PendingIntent.getActivity(...). Using the wrong method does not result in an obvious error message, but the service won't work as expected.

Loading Images,Videos in background

I am trying to make an App which is going to display Some Images and Videos. So I am planning to add a splash screen of around 2seconds. After 2 seconds the user will be taken to the Main Screen of the App.
I want to start the loading of the Images, Video when then user is at the splash screen itself so that the user should wait for the least time when he is at the Main Screen.
So the loading will be started at the Splash Screen and then after two second the user will be taken to main screen irrespective of the completion of the loading.
Now since this involves two activities should I use a Async task or should I Use a service with an Async Task(For the callback of completion of code) within it?
Which one would be better. Also in Android 8.0 are there any restriction in using Services?
I think using a Async Task between two screens may cause Memory leak if not coded properly.
Any help would be really grateful.
EDIT: My app is having one more feature hence cannot make the user wait in the Splash Screen till the loading is over.
It is not very good to use AsyncTask for sharing results between 2 activities, because AsyncTack created in Splash activity will be destoyed (stopped) when switched to Main activity. Better to use service in this case and Main screen will subscribe for result.
So basically you want to start the download in the splash screen and continue the download in the activity that follows. In this way, you still have to implement a loading animation. In your case, I would recommend finishing your splash screen, as soon as everything is downloaded. In that way, you don't have to download anything anymore inside the app's lifecycle.
AsyncTasks continue to run even after switching to a new activity. You can try the following flow:
1. Splash screen
2. Trigger Async Task
3. Main Activity
4. Show Images/Videos
The only catch is, you will not be able to fix a time for #2 to complete to be able to start #4. This is the nature of AsyncTasks. You can workaround by using the OnPostExecute within AsyncTask.
Example: OnPostExecute call another method that will enable a button. Users can click on the button to view Images/Videos. But then, this might not be a good user experience to see some button suddenly getting enabled.
In that case I would rather create some Singleton with own Handler (that works in separate Thread), that will be started at Splash screen. After Main screen will start, it should ask that Singleton about respective data or should sign himself for receiving that data.

For supporting different screen size why should i use fragment in android instead of activity

I am beginner to android..I am started new android project..for supporting
different screen size..in fragment documentation they given to use fragment..but
why cant i use activity in android..if i use activity or fragment..which i should i use in this both..please dont give link of activity or fragment..please anyone answer me..i dont know which to use?...i want about all documentation they given about activity and fragment but i dint understand which to use..below is the link i read about fragment..if i use activity i should do more codings?
https://developer.android.com/guide/components/fragments.html
In fact you can't use a Fragment alone, Fragments are inside the Activity.
One point of using the Fragments for supporting different screen sizes is the ability to implement some views like a "Master/Detail" view.
A Fragment, as its name says, is a part of a bigger controller "the Activity", its reference can be removed and it's cleaner than having a big massive Activity to handle all the states of a view.
So the use case is completely depends on your project and its User Interface. I'd be glad to help you if you give me more information about your project and its design.
I think you will need at least one activity. And then for better handling different device rotations and screen sizes you can use one or more fragments inside this activity.
I try to explain this with an example:
You want to create a nice music player app which should look nice in portrait and landscape mode.
You split your app up into three fragments:
Here you can see how the app looks in portrait mode. The activity shows two fragments: The first fragment only consists of a listview. There the song titles are listed. On the bottom you can see the second fragment, which displays the song title of the current playing song and got a button for pausing the music.
When your user uses the music player app on a tablet in landscape mode you have more space for displaying stuff. Then the activity shows the list fragment (which also gets displayed in portrait mode) and it shows a third fragment which shows detailed information about the current playing song (e.g. the album image) and a progress bar.
By using fragments you only need to write the code for the list once.
Sweet and Simple thing, What i recommend is always use Fragments,
But for Fragment you will require Activity.
Take it in this way , Activity is a Canvas on which you can put any number of Fragments.
Whatever your UI is always use Fragment present on a activity if you want to show one screen even then also, So that you will always have Flexibilty to use all those cool things which fragments provides,maybe in future or in current.
If you use activity it has limits,FOR EXAMPLE, LIKE in INSTAGRAM AT BOTTOM, It has FIVE OPTIONS, Suppose THOSE OPTIONS ARE ON A ACTIVITY AND BY CLICKING ON THEM YOU CAN SWITCH TO DIFFERENT FRAGMENTS.
For more info:
Here is the most accepted answer for this topic.

Changing views/activity in Android

I am a newbie in Android and currently I am designing an application where I have faced a big problem with changing views. I have 3 classes, each one for a different screen. I use a button to change pages but it does not seem to work. Every time I move to the next screen, the variables methods etc of the 2nd screen are located in a different class. Can you please show me the simplest way to do this? Thank you.
Place each screen in different Activity. Start respective activities according to button presses. To pass data between activities use Intent.
Activity Reference
Intent Reference
Simple Example for Activities and Intents

is multiple activities and surface views the correct way to go?

I'm currently in the process of making one of my first android games and have come into some difficulty understanding how to make the transitions between screens.. for example:
My game starts its main activity, which then loads TitleScreen surface view which initializes its own thread
on tap I start a new intent which loads a new activity which loads GameView surface view which initializes its own thread
This all works fine when testing on my device (Evo 3d) but crashes on tap on my test bed, I'm using android x86 in virtual box for quick testing. Is this likely to be a problem in my code or a problem with the simulator?
Also I'm wanting to add a level select screen in between the title screen and the game screen and figured i could do this by creating another activity/surface view/thread combo, Is this acceptable coding practice or is this a wasteful/process heavy method?
You could create a variety of methods that you call from your onDraw method. Each method would draw one screen (game, level, score). To start simple a switch case in the onDraw checks the screen and then calls the right thing to draw.
If you want to have different layers, you should use different acitvities so that the background (game) is being paused while the scoreboard is active. This only makes sense if you want the background to be still visible or need the acitivites for other reasons.
But you should never have more than one surface view active at the same time, android doesnt like that.
I think its not good to use more activities for single application. Try to use ViewFlipper with number of xml layout files. Here you can apply transition effects very easily.
I am suggesting you it for transition effects, but you also check it once. I am also thinking which one is good.

Categories

Resources