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Best Tips to Know Before Starting Developing your First Android App

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This article refers to everything you need to do to start up in creating a new Android application. If you have a great idea for a project of this sort, we’re here for you to teach you how you should start with your app development process. Android is a very freeing operating system, that leaves you with a lot of options when you want to create an app, because they let you access features like geo location and camera. Let’s take a look at what is the recommended path for your new Android app. In the early days of apps, developers were obligated to create the app from scratch. The good thing is that Google offers now what they call the Android Studio. This program helps you create the structure of your app, a folder that holds all the info and files you need to start creating your app. Go ahead and access the Android Studio. You will be met with a welcoming screen, that allows you to do multiple actions. You can check out previous projects that you’ve started, but, if you’re in the beginning, it is of no use to you at the moment. You are interested in the right side of the screen, where the ‘Start a new Android Studio project’ feature is available. This will allow you to start on creating the basics of your app, either with pre-set controls or with their available options. After you’ve accessed this feature, the program will ask you about some basic info regarding the app: what is the app’s name, as well as where you want the folder to be created. They will also ask you about package name. If you’re not very familiar with this sort of packages, they actually need to be unique, so the package name is very important. In the sea of apps on Google Play, your app needs to be recognized exactly by the package name. Common practice in the app universe is to actually use your reverse domain (website you already have that goes hand in hand with the app), because this will keep it unique. This doesn’t mean you will have some connection between the domain and the package for the app, it’s just a way that you can easily make sure the package name you chose is not used by anyone else. Let’s give you an example, so you can better understand how this package name works. If your app’s name is Pizza for everybody, and the domain is pizzaforeverybody.com, then the package name will transform into com.pizzaforeverybody. Does that make sense? The next step after setting out these three pieces of information about the app and its package, you can go out to another very important step: deciding which is the oldest version of Android you will choose to support. We say this is very important, because the features are very different from version to version, the newest ones, having, naturally, the most advanced features that your app might need. The app can also be adaptable to older version, excluding some fancy features you had for the newest SDK. Here, you need to think about who is your targeted audience and what kind of phones they have: are they flowing with the trend, getting the newest smartphones on the market? Or are they rather economical when it comes to technology? If you want to reach as many people as you can, you can go for more OS versions, but we wouldn’t advise you to go older than Gingerbread. The API for this Android version is 9. However, most users have version of Androids from Ice Cream Sandwich forward. A good option is to start from here as well. After you’re done with choosing your API and your Android SDK, the Android Studio program will ask you what activity you want to start with. An ‘activity’ for Android is like a programming section in websites: you need to choose one to work on the user interface (UI) of your app. The activity you choose will most definitely have a pre-set layout in the format of an XML file. You can, however, override the code so you can get the behavior you want from an activity. When you’ve reached this stage, is time to play around with the program and find out what is best for your app. If you just want to finish with the set-up, you can choose ‘Empty Activity’ and go forward. You just need to set the name to ‘YourApp’sNameActiviy’ and you’re good to go. Conclusion Android is helping out android app developers with the Android Studio program that will help you build the skeleton of your app without too much work. You just need to answer a few basic questions about your app and you can start on creating the app you’ve always dreamed of. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/best-tips-to-know-before-starting-developing-your-first-android-app/

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Google May Soon Remove Apps With No Privacy Policies From The Play Store

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It looks like privacy policy rules are getting tougher on Google’s Play Store platform for the Android operating system. While previously developers could just wing it in terms of displaying privacy policies, Google seems to have put its foot down this time. What happened? Google has recently informed developers operating on the tech giant’s Play Store that any apps which fail to properly provide a policy regarding that respective app’s take on privacy matters will suffer consequences which end with the termination of said app. In other words, if your app doesn’t have a privacy policy, say goodbye to Google Play Store. This is especially the case for app developers that have their apps request sensitive data from users. In this type of case, privacy policies and an agreement on disclosure are absolutely mandatory if you aim to have a top charting application on Apple’s App Store and now on Google’s Play Store as well. It appears that neglecting to provide such a policy actually goes against Google’s own User Data Policy, according to the Android developers. An email was sent out to developers with flagged apps, letting them know what’s up and how their apps will be treated by the Play Store management if they fail to comply in a timely manner. The email also let developers know that their apps were requesting sensitive information, making them appear clearer in Google’s crossfire. So what counts as sensitive data? Data such as content provided by the usage of a phone’s camera; Data that comes from the phone’s microphone; Data that is a result of scanning or analyzing a user’s accounts and contacts; Data pertaining from the user’s phone and phone plan including data traffic. Basically, personal information that specifically and particularly pertains to a user. Or in another words, personal data. Google did not just scold these developers, but also offered them information on what they need to provide in order to continue operating on Google’s platform. Android Developers have to provide proof of a privacy policy being present not only on the app’s Google Play Store page, but also within the app itself. They have to link Google to the exact locations of these privacy policy copies. The privacy policy in question must contain very specific information regarding how the app is going to access, analyze and use private and sensitive information from the user’s phone. What happens if they don’t comply? Apparently, Google is giving developers time until the 15th of March to get this little “assignment” done and turn it in. For those wondering what might happen if a developer just chooses to ignore Google’s warning, the consequences are severe. There are talks about a “limited visibility on the Play Store” type of punishment, but more likely than not, the punishment is complete removal. Developers finding themselves in a defiant mood should know that they are betting their app’s access into the Play Store. The bet is actually a pretty safe one, but not in the favor of developers. Taking example Google’s move comes after Apple has instated something similar for its App Store platform. The iPhone manufacturer has decided that all iOS apps must use HTTPS instead of HTTP. This would be a security measure that sought to bring more security to the platform through adopting a safer alternative to HTTP. Apple did not yet set a deadline or a clear explanation of what the consequences would be in case of not complying in time, but one can easily guess. A report claims that over 70 popular applications from within Apple’s marketplace currently feature vulnerabilities that can lead to data theft and other serious detriments. This might be the type of thing that pushed Apple into adopting its new security measures, and maybe Google has found a similar drive. We need better security It has been widely agreed upon that you can never have enough security. Due to the state of things as they currently are, internet and mobile security are very sensitive subjects. Attackers just love a good mobile platform vulnerability they can exploit, as well as vulnerability in general. With cyber-attacks at an all-time high, it’s no wonder that the big corporations are looking to strengthen their defenses and make sure that their platforms are not compromised. More security measure enforcements are bound to be on their way, but until we learn more about Google’s plans we might see a couple of non-compliant apps get kicked off the Play Store due to lack of a privacy policy. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/google-may-soon-remove-apps-with-no-privacy-policies-from-the-play-store/

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Powerful Strategy for Android App Development for Developing Markets

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Nowadays, India is the most lucrative market for smartphone manufacturers as well as many other products. Smartphone manufactures concentrate more on emerging markets to launch their new devices in order to gain higher profits more than their expectations. This is one of the reasons, businesses looking for developing markets other than developed markets. Choosing developing markets such as India, South Africa, China, Brazil, Nepal, Bangladesh and many more countries provide mobile phone manufacturers a wide scope of opportunities to expand their businesses, in a profitable manner. In a country like India, population is the key benefits for such businesses. Based on one survey, by the year 2021, India will have 810 million smart phone subscribers. Moreover, the study also mentioned that in India, only 16% smart phone users by the end of 2015 in comparison with 44% globally. It expected to increase by 58% by the end of 2021 in India and 81% all across the globe. Thus, it becomes money-making business opportunities for mobile app development companies, as well. The reason is, smart phone users all across the globe, especially in developing markets looking for feature-rich app for different purposes helpful in their daily life including fun based apps, game app, lifestyle and many more. Besides, majority of smartphones are Android-based (approximately 84% users) due to its several benefits including affordability, usability and user-friendly interface, people in developing countries prefer android smartphones as their first choice. Thus, it becomes the responsibility of mobile app development companies to define a foolproof strategy in building Android apps for developing countries. One benefit for app development companies in India is the Indian government encouraging digitalization and maximizes the use of online processes in order to make the money transaction process transparent. Hence, more and more businesses have started developing mobile apps in order to streamline their organizational processes and serve their customers in an efficient way using the technology benefits. Here, we would like to talk about the powerful android app development strategy for the developing markets. It is significant to consider as there are vast difference in the mobile app development strategy for the developed markets compared to the developing markets as there are several factors affects the strategy including the social, economic and other demographic differences. Identify Your Target Audience Needs When developing any android app, the most essential thing to comprehend is to identify your target market. Once you complete the research about your target audience, list out the features your end users expecting in your app. Remember, your app can be renowned only if it comprises outstanding features and functionalities meet your end users needs. Your app success is completely depends on your user’s satisfaction. Always remember, the first impression is the last impression, therefore, ensure your app usage gives users good returns on sparing their valuable time and money in finding, downloading and installing your app. Select The Right Application Development Platform Android and iOS are the most popularly used mobile operating systems all across the globe. You should prefer Android platform as the share of Android smartphone users are higher when you talk about the developing markets. With higher numbers of Android mobile users, your android app has more options to reach higher numbers of potential customers. Furthermore, Google frequently updates its operating system with new features to give its users benefits of advance technology. Recently, Google had announced about its launch of the first developer preview of Android O. Thus, Android developers have more scope to build a powerful mobile app using the rich features of Android O. Build a Seamless and Powerful Android App It becomes very important that your app development process need proven strategy in order to make it seamless. From unmatched conceptualization to error-free testing on actual devices, a complete process needs dominant leadership to manage the app development process powerfully and strategically. Development of Paid/Free App Based on the free or paid app, android developers need efficiency to give users engaging experience of the app. It becomes very essential to choose about to make a free android app or a paid android app. If you develop a free app with locking some attractive features in your app, and enable it only when the user make payment. Thus, it helps in alluring more users compared to a paid app. You can also collaborate with other companies to promote their products through your app and give users a good discount when they earn some points. With the help of ad banners, your app has chances to get good revenue. Using strategic app marketing methods, your android app can earn good revenue with recognition. Strategic App Marketing With foolproof marketing and optimization activities, you can increase the visibility of your android app on the play store. Remember, you need to rank your app on the top listing of the Google play store in order to increase traffic on your app. Make qualitative research to identify the reasons that lead maximum downloads. It becomes significant to create brand awareness of your app using attractive graphics, icons, features, videos, descriptive screenshots and more. In order to increase the ad conversion rates and organic growth, app localization becomes a significant marketing aspect to make mobile apps successful. Conclusion Using the powerful strategy for android apps development for developing markets helps your android app development company to increase chances to create a successful and customer-centric android app. With basic guidance about the right strategy of an android application development process ensures to earn reputation and revenue in the developing markets, efficiently and profitability. In addition to technology expertise of an android app development company, know-how of app marketing and optimization as well as the right development strategy impacts on the success of your app. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/powerful-strategy-for-android-app-development-for-developing-markets/

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Current Technology Trends for Android App Development

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Smartphone dominates the mobile industry with its extravagant features and mobile apps. As per research, the number of smartphone users is forecast to grow from 1.5 billion in 2014 to around 2.5 billion in 2019, with smartphone penetration rates increasing as well. Just over 36 percent of the world’s population is projected to use a smartphone by 2018, up from about 10 percent in 2011. If we talk about which type smart phones are most in demand, then report says, Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are the two most popular smartphone operating systems in the industry. According to Statista, In the first three quarters of 2015 alone, nearly a billion smartphones with either Android or iOS operating systems were sold to end users worldwide. Android, with 80 percent of all smartphones sales, leads the market. In contrast, about 15 percent of all smartphones sold to end customers have iOS as their operating system. With this exorbitant demand of smart phones in the market, mobile apps have also hold its place. People across the world have become addicted to using mobile apps. As per TUNE’s report of “Global Mobile 2016”, they estimated approximately 180 billion app downloads done in 2015. This figure is forecasted to be equated to 493 million downloads per day. Given the growth rate of downloads, the daily run rate number of downloads exiting 2016 could be around 602 million. Mobile apps have revolutionized how digital business is done in today’s market. Users are no more going to websites to view products or services of a company, they are preferring mobile apps. Whether its ecommerce or gaming, news or education, for every sector there are mobile apps available in the market. Now since we have understood how fast mobile app industry is growing and that Google Android has been dominating 80 percent of smartphones sales, it is crucial to keep up with the latest trends and technologies in the mobile app development market. Below are some key trends of android app development in 2017 that will define how market will change and what apps will further dominate the market: Web Apps + AMP Google in year 2016 launched Progressive Web Apps + Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). Web Apps are designed to open mobile apps in browser giving immediate access to the users, without any need for download. The user interface is same as mobile app user interface, the only difference is it opens in the browser and allows users to use it instantly even with unstable or poor data connection. In Google I/O 2016, Alex Russell said, “Web apps blur the line between Web content and apps, but they keep the strengths of the Web.” A web app uses standard HTML5 components to develop a web app that gives user experience similar to that of mobile apps. Many users are opting to visit the websites of the companies and do not try to find their mobile apps. In such cases web app can serve both the purpose of website as well a mobile app. Web app has all the fundamental characteristics of a mobile app, which gives better user experiences without having complexities of maintaining a mobile app. These web apps are developed using principals of AMP project. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open source platform that allows to create faster, easy to load, and high performing web apps. Apps that has Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality In year 2016 there were many Augmented Reality(AR) and Virtual Reality(VR) apps got released and got highly popular worldwide. Augmented Reality(AR) is a technology that generates a composite view by imposing computer-generated images on a user’s view of the real world. For example, Pokemon Go, a gaming app become popular worldwide. It would show a computer-generated image of pokemon hidden on the road or area you are walking around. Such apps are expected to be hit in year 2017. Another type of app that got popular in year 2016 was Virtual Reality(VR) apps. These apps are simulation of three-dimensional image that a person can interact with real time using a special electronic gadgets. Examples of VR apps are Samsung gear, google cardboard, etc., which gain popularity worldwide and continue to be a hit in 2017. Mobile Finance Service (MFS) Apps In 2016, there was an exponential growth of apps that offer mobile finance services, for example PayTM, PayUmoney, Mobikwik, etc. Nowadays people are preferring to do cashless transactions, even credit card or debit card are old trends. People are shifting to pay using such mobile apps that offer mobile finance services. Such apps not only allow you to pay for shopping, but also has options to recharge your phone, pay phone bills, DTH bills, electricity bills, etc. Such MFS apps are basically electronic wallets, in which user can store money and can make payment at any time and from anywhere, all they need is internet and mobile network. User can also transfer money to other user or withdraw money from certified bank branches. Such MFS apps are having features similar to that of banking and much more. The transactions are faster and more secure than carrying cash or card. People around the world are shifting toward mobile finance services apps and therefore in year 2017, it can be predicted that more feature loaded and secure mobile finance services apps will be launched. Security Factor in Apps There are millions of Android apps on google store. As per Gartner, over 75 percent of mobile apps does not able to pass security tests and are threat to app users. Using such apps hackers can easily access to the confidential information of the mobile app user. In 2017, android app development companies will focus on improving the security feature of the app. Also many antivirus apps have come in market like McAfee, AVG, 360 Security, etc., and have become highly popular to protect your mobile device from harmful app download. These are some of the major trends that will rule the android

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Important Features You Should Include During Android App Development

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One of the crucial factors that instigates and accelerates the web traffic to your mobile application is the overwhelming features. And you must know that Android is still leading the competition with the hold on about 85.9% global market shares. In fact, last year, Google announced that there were over 2 billion monthly active devices on Android. If the geographical distribution is taken into consideration, Android dominates the race leading in major continents including Asia, large parts of Europe and South American region. The Android Apps are ruling most of the business industries such as social media, messaging apps, e-commerce apps, on-demand apps, and enterprise apps. Therefore, it becomes more than indispensable for Android app developers to focus comprehensively and devotedly while integrating the important features, They need to pay attention to even the minute details because after all, the competition is very stiff. Moreover, the mobile app development trends keeping renewing, offering a scope to add new and interesting features that draw the user attention instantly and is customer-friendly as well. There is always an option of customizing the features in accordance with the business requisites. Simple and User-Friendly Interface The first key feature that you need to implement in the Android app development is simplicity with a touch of sophistication in the user interface. It must be ensured that the app functionality is user-friendly, which means that anyone even without having prior experience of handling smartphone can operate it with eas You need to remember that most of the users form a good or bad impression of the mobile app within a couple of minutes after using it, So, it would be better to simplify the User Interface design and focus on it while developing the wireframes. The app will be rendered successful in the users get to the desired page with just a few taps without waiting too long. So, creating a shortcut for important functions would be an added advantage. With the changing trends, the gesture control has become an essential aspect of the app that allows app developers to build the blocks including incorporating newer functionality. It ultimately leads to the enhancement of the user experience. Implementing the Enterprise App Features The Enterprise mobile app development has gained pace in the recent few years and since it offers a number of venerable advantages, the organizations are gradually showing their intent towards it. One of the biggest benefits that it offers is streamlining the business process by improving the communication between the employees and different teams. Secondly, it also focuses on providing a robust security, which means that your data is safe. The enterprise apps also provide a messaging or chat-based feature so that the employees can interact with one another smoothly. The enterprise apps also have the additional features including CRM, ERP, and SAP integration. Registration or Login Page should be Simple Most of the mobile applications these days require the users to register through their email-ids and mobile numbers. They may be asked to create a personal profile allowing to the owner to collect the important data; specifically if it is an on-demand app. However, you must make sure that the registration page is simple and short. The users may get irritated with longer forms and unnecessary questions. You should just stick to name, mobile number, email id, and if necessary the address. The Space for User Feedback The user feedback is supposed to be one of the most crucial elements of your mobile application, which decides whether your brand is a hit or flop show. Allow and encourage more and more people to send you important feedback on your app either via writing comments or through the ratings. The more feedback you receive from the potential audience, the more scope you would get to improve your app functionalities. It is necessary part of the job to evaluate the performance of your Android app at regular intervals. In fact, this is also a nice and positive gesture from the app owner and developer showing his concerns about the users. Integrating the Social Media Tools The various platforms of the social media are no doubt, one of the best and most effective marketing tools for the Android app promotion. Therefore, it is important to integrate and get connected to the social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, where you can promote your app and also provide information about the app updates. The users can also share their experience of using the app. Fast Loading Speed One of the prime reasons why most of the mobile applications fail to create an impact in the market is because of their slow loading speed. The users prefer applications proving quick response and so then you are incorporating the features for your Android app, you need to keep this on the top of the priority. It must be ensured that the loading speed of your app does not exceed more than 10 seconds, which can go up to more than 15 seconds. It should be high responsive as well and all functions should work well when tapped upon at anytime of the day. Supporting the Multiple Languages Another striking feature that will give your Android app the upper hand in the tough race is integrating the support for multiple languages. The implementation of the language must be decided upon the target audience and the part of the world where you would be releasing your app. It should provide the support for the majorly spoken international languages such as English, French, Chinese, Spanish, German, and others etc. However, if you are launching the app in Asian continent then Hindi and Arabic also becomes important to integrate. The language integration also depends on the budget of the client. Making it Compact is the Key The users often complain about the shortage of memory space due to which they are not able to store their vital data. Now, your role is to address this common issue while developing the

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Top 12 Ways to Reduce Android App Size During App Development Lifecycle

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You’re reading this because… You’re an Android app developer who hates to see phones running out of space. You’re a patron of the 150 MP threshold Google Play Store puts on app download. You’re tired of developing mammoth sized APK files that hardly get installed. Let’s admit it: large size apps are storage-hoggers and downright nuisance. Users cannot do without them, nor can they get rid of them. They live in a constant love-hate relation with these apps – praising their rich graphics and smooth navigability, but cursing their sheer size at the end of the day. And, because human needs are insatiable, they cannot help dreaming about ways to have more apps in their devices without compromising on quality or overtaxing the phone storage. Beyond doubt, mobile devices have come of age with larger storage spaces. It has increased from a mere 16 GB 5 years ago to massive 256 GB. But, along with them, app sizes have grown, too. Android users worldwide would unanimously agree to the fact that the largest chunk of their phone storage belongs to apps, which mercilessly gorge on data, RAM and most importantly, battery life. Although there is cloud support for photos, videos, music, and other files, there is only so much a phone can take before it begins slogging and hanging. Size is a Major Problem in the Realm of App Development Don’t take our word for it. If we go by Google’s statistics, nearly 90% of mobile devices on this planet run on Android. The global user base is capped at 2.7 billion and the total number of apps available on Play Store is 2.8 million. Adding to this, Google says if the size of an app is more than 150 MB (earlier 100 MB), chances are its installation is going to be lowered by 30%. For every 6 MB expansion in size, the install conversion rate could drop by 1%. Android App developers should get all worked up about this matter because 70% users now consider the size of the app before installing it. And it’s no secret that an app that exists without considerable downloads is as good as non-existent. The Question is Why Large Size Apps Exist in the First Place? Modern-day apps have been puffed up because of three primary reasons: Highly growing feature sets Increasing UX expectations Support for a wide range of screen sizes and densities Hardly ever do these apps function efficiently. Beyond affecting the storage capacity and memory of mobile devices, they also increase data consumption. We can only imagine the woeful situation where a user relies on primitive Internet connectivity. Thankfully, Google has a Way Out! Even the tech giant is emphasizing on creating smaller apps and giving out tools for developers to make it happen. Its publishing platform, the Android App Bundle, enables users to install apps without re-downloading vital elements which are already present in other apps on Play Store, thus minimizing size. This is much like not having to buy utensils every time because you want to cook a certain recipe; the ingredients are just enough. Google believes the platform can reduce app size by as much as 35%. This is pretty huge. Shrunken sizes will also mean quicker development time and TTM. Long story short, users will have more apps to look forward to without overwhelming their phone storage. All a developer needs to do is upload the app as an Android App Bundle with all compiled codes and resources, and watch the platform defer APK generation as well as signing to Google Play. This is followed by the app serving model, Dynamic Delivery using the codes and resources to generate APKs optimized in harmony with the varying device configurations and then, serving it to users for download. The need to create multiple APKs and structure them to support different devices is dismissed. In return, users receive device-specific smaller versions of the app that can be downloaded without killing space. But, There’s More to Downsizing Android Apps The Android App Bundle cannot be the only key, can it? There has to be some collective effort from the developer fraternity as well to make sure Android apps do not eat up too much space on mobile devices. But, before we proceed, here’s what you need to know about the APK file structure: An APK is a ZIP archive that contains everything your app looks and works like. It comprises Resources like Images and fonts with compiled code as Dex files. An APK contains directories, which include the following: META-INF/ with CERT.SF and CERT.RSA signature files, and a MANIFEST.MF manifest file. assets/ with all assets retrievable using AssetManager objects. res/ with all resources that are not a part of resources.arsc. lib/ with a complied code for the software layer. Subdirectories: armeabi-v7a, arm64-v8a, x86, x86_64, and mips. It contains files, which include the following: AndroidManifest.xml which is always present, no matter what. resources.arsc with all compiled resources and configurations of res/values/ folder. classes.dex with all classes compiled in DEX file format. Top 12 Ways to Reduce Apps Size During the Development Life Cycle Image Optimization Image size can be conveniently reduced without diluting the resolution. For instance, .jpg and .png images can be converted to .webp web image format to downsize apps without compromising the quality. The .webp format offers lossy compression like .jpg and transparency like .png. In short, it has the best of both the worlds. There are a number of tools available for such conversion. Tools such as guetzli and packjpg suit .jpg file compression best while pngcrush, and zopflipng befit .png files. This apart, designers can implement vector graphics to create simple resolution-independent images that don’t crib for space.These are available in Android as VectorDrawable objects and enable a 100-byte file to generate images sharp and screen-sized. It is known that some images can do without static resources. The framework is more than enough to draw such images dynamically at runtime. Yes, using Vector Drawables objects

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