Huge Android library of Icons already on your PC and Phone

[BarrySumpter]

c:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk-windows\platforms\android-15\data\res\drawable-hdpi
[url]c:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk-windows\platforms\android-15\data\res\drawable-hdpi[/url]


//developer.android.com/guide/practices/ui_guidelines/icon_design_menu.html
http://developer.android.com/guide/prac ... _menu.html

[BarrySumpter]

I've just asked support if we have access to the built in Android graphic assets.

Do we have access to the Android Drawables in LiveCode?

http://androiddrawables.com/

[jacque]

I don't believe the drawables are installed as part of the OS. They are provided in the SDK materials as resources for integration into your own apps. That's what we need to do too.

If you do know for certain that they are part of the OS then that would be useful info. I was always under the impression that they were not. Part of my reasoning is that Google releases updated icons and other resources as a zip file from the developer site.

[BarrySumpter]

Hi Jacque,
Thanks for the reply.


The drawables are part of the android OS.

Android™ Drawables
Explanation

Android™ has quite a few built-in drawables available for us to use in our applications. The problem is that there are A LOT of them and they change from version to version. This site attempts to help you find the icons you're looking for and see how they've changed over time.

Included are the drawables for all of the Android™ versions that Google™ still considers to be in use: 1.6 (Donut), 2.1 (Eclair), 2.2 (Froyo), 2.3 (Gingerbread), 3.x (Honeycomb), and 4.x (Ice Cream Sandwich).
Android™ Drawable Resources by type

Buttons
Dialog
Emoticons
Menu
Other
Status
Widget

...

[jacque]

Thanks. Do you have a link to the web site you quoted? That would be useful.

The Android developer guide in the link in your first post says this though:

Warning: Because these resources can change between platform versions, you should not reference these icons using the Android platform resource IDs (i.e. menu icons under android.R.drawable). If you want to use any icons or other internal drawable resources, you should store a local copy of those icons or drawables in your application resources, then reference the local copy from your application code. In that way, you can maintain control over the appearance of your icons, even if the system's copy changes.

That makes me think we should continue to embed the resources ourselves.

[mwieder]

Jacque-

The link is in the second comment.

Barry-

That's not an official Android website. Be suspicious of anything you find on the web.

[BarrySumpter]

They are there and accessible.

Just hoping we can get to them via LiveCode.

sample AP attached.

[BarrySumpter]

Dear Barry G. Sumpter,

Thank you for your request.

There is no direct access to Android Drawables in LiveCode but you could save the images, include them in your stack and use them to create your interface.

There is a lesson on using images in your interface at

http://lessons.runrev.com/s/lessons/m/4 ... und-images

I hope that helps.

Kind regards

Elanor

[jacque]

I just decompiled a major Android app (Pulse) and it includes copies of all the drawables in its Res folder. That makes me think the OS isn't storing them, or that it's a bad idea to use them if it is.

That said, if anyone with a rooted device can find copies of those files somewhere, I don't see why the apk couldn't use that file path to reference standalone images. The danger here, of course, is that the path may not be the same on all devices and there may be permission issues. Also, depending on what OS the user is running, your app may acquire odd icons you didn't expect that will hose your layout or at least its appearance.

There seem to be a lot of reasons not to do it.

[BarrySumpter]

Not sure what Pulse is or what it needs a copy of all those Icons for.
I guess it really doesn't matter since you can install to a 32gig sdCard.

Perhaps the development language for Pulse couldn't access the drawables.

I've posted an app above to prove the icons are part of the Android OS.

There are over 1400 references to existing Android icons I think.
Some exist for a specifiy version. Some don't.

For me I wanted to use the standard icons for the phones Android version.
And these references to existing Icons would keep me from having to chase them down and manage them myself.

But since LC doesn't have access to the built in Androd drawables
I plan to grab the images from the links above n manage them myself.

Some of the icons I display in that sample app look a hundred times better on my HD2
than the pages on that link shows.

Now its got me wanting to extract all 1400+ icons from android and save them off for later usage.

I'm on 2.3.7 and I think they are working on v4.
I'd think the Android v4 icons would be heaps better than Android v2.3.7

[mwieder]

Barry-

Since the sdk explicitly warns not to reference the drawables directly, it's not clear to me why you're pursuing this. Do you know of *any* development environment that violates the sdk's warning and allows you access the icons by resource id?

I'd think the Android v4 icons would be heaps better than Android v2.3.7

Agreed, and that's a good reason to make local copies of the ones you want to use in your app instead of using the built-in icons.

[BarrySumpter]

Hi mwieder,

Thanks for the reply and info.

Not really persuing via LC anymore.

Just researching and making my own decisions with current (lack of) knowledge
on how to use available resources or not.

Eventhough I have a developers license
I don't plan on developing anything other than my own apps
targeted toward my own phone for now.
i.e. not trying to sell anything to the masses.

Hadn't seen the warning.
Nor its depth of content.
i.e. if its disrupts Andoird OS or because the icons change from version to version.
Nor what a Resource ID might be.
i.e. other than a string reference or a number.
--- either of which wouldn't/shouldn't "change" from one version to the next.
But I get it now. On jaques second reply. Fair enough.

I've posted a sample app that accesses the drawables.
And have posted my reasons for wanting to.

And have posted that since LC doesn't have access to them,
I won't be using/persuing LC to access them.

Happy to drop this and move onto more constuctive research.

Thanks all for the replys.

[mwieder]

I've posted a sample app that accesses the drawables.
And have posted my reasons for wanting to.

Yep - and it's a reasonable request, IMO.
It looks good and works, but Google says they'll pull the rug out from under us some day.

Happy to drop this and move onto more constuctive research.

Cheers.

[BarrySumpter]

List View of the Androids 400+ Icons only.
Sized to work on my HD2.