Question

I have many applications which has great GUI like Any.do, alarm clock from doubletwist etc. I was wondering are ll these applications developed using standard eclipse way using java and xml. I was not able to figure out how can i develop such type of GUI using eclipse xml?

Answer 1

All Android apps with a good UI use java & xml.
The only difference is that good apps need a LOT of work and sometimes a custom implementation of some Android Elements.

xml files catering to the different formfactors is the best way to implement a rich app (in fact I don’t think there is any other valid way) :
-They allow you to separate the layouts from the code as much as possible.
-They allow you to treat specific form factors independently.

Additionally, Great apps often re-implements some of the basic UI elements. For exemple the implementation of the actionbar in Flipboard allow them to apply their flipping effect to it, something that you cannot do with the basic ActionBar.

Any.do has just been updated and I have not checked this last version yet, but the last time I tried the app, their implementation was not really good. Buttons were far too cramped in the ActionBar and their custom ActionBar was very slow (more than 1 second to acknowledge a tap).

Additional thoughts : sometimes these beautifully designed apps tend to ignore at least some of the Android conventions. It is a really bad idea : you can create a very beautiful app but if its UI elements are totally different from what users encounters in other Android apps it will just make the overall use of the app confusing. imho the best way to create a great app (both visually & functionally) is to use Holo as a design base that needs to be enriched and do not :
-make something totally opposite to the design conventions of the platform just because you think it is good.
-Use a basic android design block in a totally different way that what it is intended for, it will utterly confuse your users.
-Apply another platform conventions.
-Invent your own rules because “you are strenghtening your brand by having the same design on ios, android and your website”. You are just being lazy.

a good starting point is obviously the official design site. android niceties is a good source of inspiration. Holo Everywhere & Android UI UX are very interesting sites in order to get more thoughts on how to improve existing apps.