Is a KitKat better than a Key Lime?

The next Android version will be Android 4.4 KitKat instead of the expected Key Lime.
After an agreement, perhaps controversial, with Nestlè Google announced the name of the next version, interestingly the version remains a 4. * and not the expected 5.0.

The web site www.kitkat.com and the launch video are very pretty.

Here the Nestlè Nestle announcement

API Level: 18 (Android 4.3)

API 18 for Android are been released, it is not a major update but contains some news for developers.

Main changes:

• Restricted profile. On Android tablets, users can now create restricted profiles based on the primary user. App that app uses implicit intents and/or depends on accounts have to manage the new feature.
• Wireless and Connectivity. News are support to Bluetooth Low Energy (LE), wifi scan-only mode that allows the device Wi-Fi to scan access points to help obtain the location without connecting to an access point.
• Multimedia.  New MediaDrm class
• Graphics. Support for OpenGL ES 3.0 User Interface. New ViewOverlay class and more.
• User Input. New sensor types.
• Notification Listener. New service class, NotificationListenerService.

For a complete and detailed list of important changes check officiale developer webstite.

New LabelToDo website

From yesterday LabelToDo has its own blog at the following address. You can use it for advice, feedback and stay updated.

LabelToDo 1.1.4 release

From version 1.1.4 this blog will contain a more detailed changelog than changelog yu can find on Google Play.

This week I release 2 versions of LabelToDo.

Changelogs:

Version 1.1.4
★ New widget tasks list plus (only from Android 3.0): this widget has a scrollable list of elements and more options
★ Widgets improvements:
     • new button to add tasks from list widget
     • widget config page: element order fixed in combobox
     • fixed problem with widget having no elements

Version 1.1.3
★ Bugfixes: there was broken links in left menu on Home page

LabelToDo 1.1.2 Released!!!

Changelog:

Version 1.1.2
★ New top action bar
★ New page for reminders adding
★ Now you can add reminders from tasks list
★ Various improvements

Version 1.1.1
★ New Search function
★ Tasks list widget: now you can choose the widget rows number
★ Buttons to quick add labels and tasks in home page

Version 1.1.0
★ New widget: Tasks list
★ New Logo
★ New functions in page to add and edit tasks

LabelToDo 1.0.3 released

 LabelToDo 1.0.3 on the road!!! Changelog:

Version 1.0.3
★ New widget: Task quick add
★ Larger fonts for notification page
★ Minor bugfixes

Version 1.0.2
★ New widget: Label shortcut on home screen
★ Notification sound choice
★ More options for postpone notifications
★ Bug fixed for landascape screen orientation

Version 1.0.1
★ Custom font size
★ Minor bug fix

Next version
★ New widgets are coming!!!

Android development: shortcut vs widget part 2

Second part of post "Android development: shortcut vs widget", the code.

As from previous post the necessary steps to create a shortcut that user can add to his home screen are 3:

• create the activity launched when the user adds the shortcut
• add the previous activity to manifest.xml
• write the code for previous activity

1. create the activity launched when the user adds the shortcut
This is the simplest task, you have only to create a class that exend Activity, in my case the acticity name is Widget1LabelShortcut.

2. add the previous activity to manifest.xml
You have to add the previous activity Widget1LabelShortcut to manifest.xml. It is a normal activity with an intent-filter as the following code.
Be careful, the shortcut will appear in the list of widgets (or shortcuts depending on the Android version ) with the application name as label . If you want to display a custom name you must add the field label in the manifest, as in the example below. This can be useful for the user to understand what the shortcut makes and if you create multiple shortcuts to avoid confusion.

<activity    android:name="com.crbin1.labeltodo.Widget1LabelShortcut"     android:configChanges="keyboardHidden|orientation|screenSize"   android:label="Label shortcut">   <intent-filter>     <action android:name="android.intent.action.CREATE_SHORTCUT"/>     <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>   </intent-filter>  </activity>

3. write the code for activity Widget1LabelShortcut
And now the Activity code to create the shortcut.
In the simplest case this activity is invisible to the user and it only serves to create the shortcut, all the code will be in the method onCreate.
In other cases the activity can have its own ContentView, a layout and respond to user interaction that can customize the shortcut.
The code below with comments should be self explanatory.

@Override   protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {     // You have to create 2 Intents          // Intent #1.  It is the intent that will launch your targer Activity      // when user will click the shortcut.     Intent shortcutIntent = new Intent(this, ActivityTarget.class);     // You can use this intent to pass parameters to target activity     // in my app the label id for example     long labelId; // [...] code to retrieve labelId     shortcutIntent.putExtra("tid", labelId);     // Or to set flags     shortcutIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);     shortcutIntent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TASK);          // Intent #2.  It is the intent used to create shortcut.     Intent intent = new Intent();     // This intent must have:     // --- the previous shortcut intent     intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SHORTCUT_INTENT, shortcutIntent);     // --- a name showed in home screen     String name; // [...] code to retrieve name     intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SHORTCUT_NAME, name);     // --- an icon showed in home screen     ShortcutIconResource ir =          Intent.ShortcutIconResource.fromContext(this, R.drawable.w1);         intent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_SHORTCUT_ICON_RESOURCE, ir);                  // that's all, now you need to set shortcut and finish activity         setResult(RESULT_OK, intent);         finish();     super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);   }