Question

Hey there,
So I’ve been heavily focused on design/development using web technology for the last few years (php/mysql, javascript, etc), and I’m a bit hesitant to start learning C++.. At the same time, I see it as a potentially enjoyable learning experience.
To keep things brief, right now I’m developing an online app that plots out certain locations on a map, and you can sort through these locations and do a bunch of other nifty things..sorry to be vague. The point is: I don’t see any real advantages of making this an actual “app” when the entire functionality of the app itself can do quite fine through the modern mobile browser..

Not to mention that, by living in a browser, it’s much less proprietary
So, my question is: Is there any way to make a simple app that’s basically porting the user to my site? I guess it’d be convenient that as an app, the user has a nice little icon to click on when they do need to access it..

Answer 1

Android development relies heavily on Java. So you are all ready on the right track.

However if you just want to make an app that brings people to your website, running javascript I am guessing, this is easy to do with android.

Android supports the webkit browser and has a view group called WebView. Your app can be nothing more than a shortcut on a desktop that opens a webview directly pointed to your website. It could add other options to point to other parts of your website like bookmarks.

WebView webview = new WebView(this);
setContentView(webview);
weview.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(true);
webview.loadUrl("yoursiteurlgoeshere);

A lot of apps on the market are actually based around a WebView. There are other classes that allow you more control over the view, like whether links are opened in the webview or in a new browser, or whether the user is allowed to use the resize options, etc.

Welcome to Android.