Creating an Android App that Flies: A Step-by-Step Guide (Indonesian Title: Trik Usil Untuk Membuat Android Menjadi Lelet)

Android app development is an exciting and rewarding field, offering the potential to create innovative and engaging applications for a global audience. However, the process of creating an Android app from scratch can be daunting, especially for those new to programming. In this blog post, we'll walk you through the basics of setting up your development environment and creating a simple flying app using Kotlin.

Prerequisites

Before diving into the steps, ensure you meet the following requirements:

1. Basic understanding of Kotlin or Java programming language.
2. Familiarity with Android Studio IDE.
3. Installation of Android Studio on your system.

Setting Up Your Development Environment

First and foremost, make sure you have the latest version of Android Studio installed on your computer. You can download it from the official website. Once installed, follow these steps:

1. Launch Android Studio.
2. Choose "Start a new Android Studio project".
3. Select an empty activity and name your application (e.g., FlyingApp).
4. Configure the minimum SDK to API level 21 or higher.
5. Finish setting up the project.

Creating the Flying App

Now that you have set up your development environment, let's create a simple flying app. Open the activity_main.xml file under res/layout and replace its content with the following XML code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <ImageView
        android:id="@+id/imageView"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:src="@drawable/ic_launcher_background" />

</LinearLayout>

Next, open the MainActivity.kt file under src/main/kotlin. Replace its content with the following code:

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import android.os.Bundle
import android.animation.AnimatorSet
import android.animation.ObjectAnimator
import android.view.View
import android.view.ViewAnimationUtils

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // Create an animation
        val anim = AnimatorSet(ObjectAnimator.ofFloat(R.id.imageView, "translationY", -1000f))
        anim.duration = 2000L

        // Start the animation
        anim.start()

        // Create a view to animate
        val viewToAnimate: View = findViewById(R.id.imageView)
        // Create the animator for this view
        val animator = ViewAnimationUtils.createCircularReveal(viewToAnimate, 500f, 500f, 1000f)

        // Start the circular reveal animation
        animator.start()
    }
}

The code above sets up an ImageView and applies two different animations: a translationY animation that moves the image downward and a circularReveal animation that expands the view outwards, giving it a flying effect.

Conclusion

With these steps, you've created a simple Android app with a flying effect. This is just the beginning; there's much more to explore in the world of Android development. Happy coding!

Published July, 2015