Best tools for simple Android app
December 8, 2015 9:23 AM   Subscribe

I'd like to create a simple android app that can track various custom activities (assuming no such app already exists - I haven't been able to find one). What is the best tool to use?

The way I envisage the app would be a very simple interface where you could add a new activity - give it a name and a measurement unit - both custom (and also whether high or low is better)

Then you could add a new log - so you would have a list of activities that you've entered, tap one and be given a list of historic values and have the ability to add a new record - which would be recorded with a date stamp.

Those are the basic features the app needs. It would be nice to be able to set up custom reminders - eg. reminder to do activity 1 3x a day and a reminder to do activity 2 every monday. Progress graphs would be nice too but not essential

I'm very experienced in PHP and jQuery (decent in plain javascript ). I have access to flash and my actionscript is OK, quite rusty but the fundamentals are there.

What would be the best tool(s) to use to create this simple app - or alternatively, do you know of an app that already exists that could do this
posted by missmagenta to Computers & Internet (7 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Tap Log is an android app that lets you log things (and add a comment, numeric value, star rating, etc). Play Store link.
posted by loop at 9:53 AM on December 8, 2015


want to write it just for yourself, or sell it on the store/give to friends etc ? What kind of infrastructure do you want to deal with ?

In general, eclipse (java IDE) and the android SDK will get you there.

But, if you're more a web programmer, and have a server running, you can just as easily make it a webpage you pull up in browser and interact with that way, rather than a native app.
posted by k5.user at 10:08 AM on December 8, 2015


Don't use eclipse, use Android Studio
posted by falsedmitri at 10:16 AM on December 8, 2015


Android Studio, which is the native way of doing it. Which means Java (though it supports C via the NDK now too).

You could also consider Xamarin's tools if you want to use C# instead of Java.

If you want to do it in html + javascript consider Appcelerator's Titanium platform.
posted by jeffamaphone at 10:40 AM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


Possibly give a look at EvenTrend.
posted by nobeagle at 10:58 AM on December 8, 2015


Xamarin does indeed let you write in C# and run on Android. It does this by installing what is essentially a Mono runtime on your Android device. This is a lot of overhead.

It works, and makes sense if you need to have a single source tree and run on at least two of Android, mobile Windows-y things and IOS.

If you need a native Android app and you're comfortable in C# and Visual Studio, then IMHO the solution is "learn Android Studio and Java" rather than "use Xamarin".

On the gripping hand, if you know JavaScript and just want something quick, then writing a web app may be the path of least resistance (assuming you don't find something already out there that does what you want).
posted by sourcequench at 3:24 PM on December 8, 2015


Best answer: I use KeepTrack for exactly this sort of logging. (Recent reviews are grousing about the switch to IAPs but I think it's good enough to overlook that.) I like that you can do two-tap data entry from the home screen with the widgets, though I'm definitely going to check out Tap Log's widgets. KeepTrack can do scheduled reminders, but I also use Randomly RemindMe, which is exactly as advertised.
posted by yeahlikethat at 4:50 PM on December 8, 2015


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