Android Hardware Coding and Testing Here is a compact yet deep technical step-by-step guide to how to code and test hardware sensors on Android mobile smartphones and tablets, all in one page with clickable flowcharts, wise tips, but without the sales hype and confusing generalities. The page aims to succinctly integrate material from books, websites, videos, etc. as a one-stop resource for programmers. Code and keyboard shortcuts are noted in context. Related topics elsewhere on this same website (WilsonMar.com):   1. Android Index - Gurus, Websites, Books, Classes, Videos, Chats, etc.   2. Android Versions   3. Android Mobile Devices   4. Mobile Carrier Selection   5. Android Watches   6. Android Device Usage Basics   7. Android App Side-loading   8. Android App Markets and Reviewers   9. Android Utility Apps 10. Android User Apps 11. Android USB Connections 12. Android OS Rooting and Rooted Apps 13. Android App Frameworks 14. Android Java Eclipse Development Setup 15. Android Emulators 16. Android Java Programming and Testing 17. Android App Localization and Testing 18. Android Lifecycle and Testing 19. Android Data Management and Testing 20. Android User Preferences and Experience Features 21. Android UI Programming and Testing 22. HTML5 Features 23. HTML5 Coding and Testing 24. Android User Controls Coding and Testing 25. Android Hardware Control and Testing 26. Android Services Coding and Testing 27. Android App Monetization 28. Android App Marketing 29. Mobile VuGen Scripting for Load Testing 30. Lua Programming

Topics this page: Hardware Services Services Sensors on Device Accelerometer Camera Capture a/v/i Compass Connection Contacts Device Events File Geolocation Media (Audio) Notification Storage Telnet Telephony Animations Avoid Blocking Your comments???

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System Service Components

At the top of the diagram, manager services are started at boot time, always running, and available for access by apps inside the blue box: Location, Sensor, WiFi, Alarm, Telephony, Bluetooth, etc..

Apps inside the blue box are arranged by related functionality (file system and storage).

??? All service implementations inherit from class IntentService.

To get a system service, a getSystemService() is called to return a Manager object which is then used to access the service. These are pictured in white at the top of the figure.

Most system services work on some sort of publish/subscribe mechanism. In other words, you generally register your app for notifications from that service and provide your own callbacks methods that the service will invoke when an event happens. To do this in Java, create a Listener that implements an interface so that the service can call the callback methods.

Feature	Phone Gap?	Permission
Accelerometer	Y	-
Camera	Y	CAMERA
Capture a/v/i	Y	-
Compass	Y	ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION ACCESS_LOCATION_EXTRA_COMMANDS
Connection	Y	INTERNET
Contacts	Y	GET_ACCOUNTS READ_CONTACTS WRITE_CONTACTS
Device	Y	READ_PHONE_STATE
Events	Y	ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
File	Y	-
Geolocation	Y	-
Media (Audio)	Y	RECORD_AUDIO MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS
Notification (Sound)	Y	RECEIVE_SMS BROADCAST_STICKY
Notification (Vibration)	Y	VIBRATE
Storage	Y	WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Bluetooth	N	-
Wi-Fi	?	-

Service Components

A service runs in the background, without a UI.

to play music or update a weather icon.

Telnet

To issue commands to an Android device, one first has to connect from a Windows client machine to the phone, using a terminal app. There are several options.
Windows machines come with a telnet client built in. At the Run command window, type:
telnet
open localhost 5554
(with 5554 being a sample port shown at the upper left corner of the emulator window)

Structural Testing

Structural Testing is based on an analysis of the internal structure of the component or system.

Phone Gap

Structural Testing is based on an analysis of the internal structure of the component or system.

Phone Telephony Service Programming

To call phone number 8005551212:

      Intent callNumber = new Intent();
      callNumber.setAction(android.content.Intent.ACTION_CALL);
      callNumber.setData(Uri.parse("tel:8005551212"));
      startActivity(callNumber);

Microphone

The microphone is used for making phone calls.

Wi-Fi services

To open the Wi-Fi Settings dialog:

	final Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MAIN, null);
	intent.addCategory(Intent.CATEGORY_LAUNCHER);
	final ComponentName cn = new ComponentName(
		 "com.android.settings"
		,"com.android.settings.wifi.WifiSettings");
	intent.setComponent(cn);
	intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
	startActivity(intent);

To switch device Wi-Fi on and off programmatically:

        WifiManager wifiManager = (WifiManager) this.getSystemService(Context.WIFI_SERVICE);
        if(wifiManager.isWifiEnabled()){
            if(wifiManager.setWifiEnabled(false))
            	return true;
          }else{
            if(wifiManager.setWifiEnabled(true))
            	return true;
        }
        return false;

This requires the Manifest to request permission ...

Bluetooth

Profiles supported on iOS

Hands-Free Profile (HFP 1.5)

Phone Book Access Profile (PBAP)

A2DP for Advanced Audio Distribution Profile

AVRCP for Audio/Video Remote Control Profile

Personal Area Network Profile (PAN)

Human Interface Device Profile (HID)

Resource and Activity Manager: Avoid Blocking for Performance

TIP: To avoid blocking (system waiting) until a new line is received, use in.ready() to check if a new line is available before calling in.readline().

Audio and Video Management

LIB: Eyes-free for Text-To-Speech in your app.

APP: Music player by Davanum Srinivas, with source.

Files (such as video, audio, text) in both the res/raw folder and assets folder for an activity are obtained as a string, read one byte at a time using this utility method:

String convertStreamToString(InputStream is) {
	ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
	int i = is.read();
	while (i != -1){
		baos.write(i);
		i = baos.read();
	}
	return baos.toString();
} 

Raw resource files in the res/raw folder for an activity are read from a R. reference:

String getStringFromRawFile(Activity activity) 
	Resources r = activity.getResources();
	InputStream is = r.openRawResource(R.raw.test);
	String myText = convertStreamToString(is); 
	is.close();
	return myText;
} 

Assets (such as a database file) in the assets folder for an activity are read from a named file path.

String getStringFromAsset( Activity activity){
	AssetManager am = activity.getAssets();
	InputStream is = am.open(“test.txt”);
	String s = convertStreamToString(is); 
	Is.close(); 
	return s;
}

Camera

Cameras use the PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) subset of the MTP (Media Transfer Protocol).

APP: Camera360 edits photos on that little screen, like Apple's HDR.

How to Get an Image via an Intent

LIB: CommonsWare quick-and-dirty sample app showing how to use the ZXing (Zebra Crossing) IntentIntegrator class for multi-format 1D/2D barcode image processing library with clients for Android, Java

LIB: Sample of sending mock ACTION_MEDIA_BUTTON broadcasts

Flashlight apps activate the camera's flash repeatedly during a short period of time. The phone may need to be rooted to enable such programmatic access.

Accelerometer and Other Sensors

CODE LIB: Ketai is designed for motion-aware 4th generation Android devices. It allows to capture device sensors, analyze movement, and interact with the device camera.

To find which sensor is available, use

SensorManager.getSensorList(Sensor.TYPE_ALL);

Sensor.TYPE_...	-	Motorola Droid	HTC EVO 4G	Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
ROTATION_VECTOR	(3D rotation)	-	-	-
ACCELEROMETER	m/s2	LIS331DLH 3-axis Accelerometer (ST Micro, 12-bit)	BMA150 3-axis Accelerometer (Bosch Sensortec, 10-bit)	MPL accelerometer (??), MPL linear accel
MAGNETIC_FIELD	Magnenometer	AK8973 3-axis Magnetic field sensor (AKM)	AK8973 3-axis Magnetic field sensor AK8973 Orientation sensor	MPL Calibrated Magnetic Field (AKM?)
GYROSCOPE	-	-	-	MPL gyro (Invensense), MPL gravity, MPL Orientation, MPL rotation vector
GRAVITY	-	-	-	-
Temperature	-	AK8973 Temperature sensor (AKM)	-	MPL Temperature
PROXIMITY	-	SFH7743 Proximity sensor (Opto Semiconductor's short-range proximity detector)	CM3602 Proximity sensor (Capella Microsystems short distance proximity sensor)	-
LIGHT	-	LM3530 Light sensor (National Semiconductor, ambient light detector)	CM3602 Light sensor	BH1721FVC Light sensor
PRESSURE	-	-	-	-

NOTE: AKM refers to Asahi Kasei Microdevices, Japanese creator of mixed-signal integrate circuits, such as magnetic sensors.

APP: 4D Compass uses Gyro
APP: Tilt 3D Labyrinth game makes use of 3-axis sensing signals from Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetic Field (Magnetometer)

NativeActivity using NDK r5 or later) uses Native Access does not go thru JVM overhead (using 50% CPU at 50Hz), so takes 10% CPU usage in separate thread can provide more control over 100Hz sensor sampling rate from a separate thread.

Sensors are not supported by the emulator, so to really test your application, you’ll need a physical device with support for orientation sensor. Devices report sensor data erratically, at uneven intervals, apart from configured rates.

mylifewithandroid blogs about sensor battery drain. jsteele@sensorplatforms.com

Write a loop to:

• obtain sensor updates: SensorManager.registerListener().
• schedule updates, use AlarmManager with inexact repeating to minimize power drain.
• Regularly sync content from the web.

GPS Location Manager

LIB: CWAC Location Poller: Finding Your Location Periodically

http://www.w3schools.com/html5/html5_geolocation.asp
<script>
var x=document.getElementById("demo");
function getLocation()
  {
  if (navigator.geolocation)
    {
    navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(showPosition);
    }
  else{x.innerHTML="Geolocation is not supported by this browser.";}
  }
function showPosition(position)
  {
  x.innerHTML="Latitude: " + position.coords.latitude + 
  "<br />Longitude: " + position.coords.longitude; 
  }
</script>

Notification Manager