10 major changes to Android 4.0 design specifications

After reading and translating the Android design guidance, we compared Android 4.0, Android 4.0, Android, Android, and earlier versions of app design guidance, and summarized the 10 major changes in Android design:

1. navigation bar(For details, see PATTERNS> Navigation)

From the previous physical key navigation (Return, menu, search, home page) to the virtual key embedded in the screen (Return, home page, recent task ).

 

There are four physical buttons on the left and three virtual buttons on the right.

Remove menu items and search items from the navigation bar, and display the most recent tasks that appeared by pressing the homepage key.

Last task page

When the menu is collapsed, action overflow is added to the operation bar of the software interface, as shown in the yellow dot.

The yellow circle is the position of "more operations" (action overflow) and the display method of the clicked content.

2. Operation bar(For details, see PATTERNS> Action bar)

The operation bar changes from the previous app icon + operation to as shown in:

1 up + 2 Spinner + 3 important operations + 4 more operations.

Click the up button to go to the previous level of the current interface. The up button is not displayed on the first level interface, but on the first level interface, there is no up button. The Spinner is the drop-down menu used to display the content, the content includes the quick switch of the view and the complete information of the relevant content. More actions are not commonly used and important operations in the set operation column.

The operation column can be split into one main operation column, two top columns, and three bottom columns. If needed, the top bar can carry the tab tabs, and the bottom bar can carry the main operations and more collapsed operations (action overflow ).

When there is enough space for the horizontal screen display interface, the split operation bar can be flexibly merged. As shown in the Operation bar on the mobile phone side.

3. Multi-panel layout(For details, see PATTERNS> Multi-panel layouts)

The multi-panel layout is more targeted at the tablet, and displays the directory view and Details View on the mobile phone end at two levels, or even more pages, in the same interface, it effectively utilizes the screen space of the tablet, flat the hierarchical structure, and simplifies navigation. This has been used quite well on iPad.

 

4. Select(For details, see PATTERNS> select Selection)

In Android4.0, the long press is significantly different from Android2.3 and earlier versions. After the long-pressed operations in earlier versions, the context menu appears. In Android4.0, after a long press, a temporary context action bar will be overwritten in the Action column, and the context menu will not pop up. In the temporary situation action column, the content items on the current interface can be processed by a single user or batch.

 

When you press the content items of Android2.3 and earlier versions, the context menu appears.

When you press the content item of the Android system version, the context menu bar is covered in the Operation bar.

In the context menu environment, batch operations are supported.

5. Return and up(For details, see PATTERNS> return and Up Navigation with Back and Up)

The return buttons are used in the global virtual Navigation Bar of the mobile phone. Based on the user's recent interface history, the interface is connected in reverse chronological order. The up button is used on the left side of the Operation bar. Based on the level structure, click the button to go to the previous level of the current interface. If the current interface is already the highest level, no up button is displayed.

The yellow part is the page path after clicking the up button, and the red part is the page path after clicking the back button.

6. Theme Style(For details, see STYLE> Themes)

Three sets of default themes are introduced: Holo light-colored themes, Holo dark themes, Holo light-colored background + dark operation bar themes. The main push app is designed based on the three default themes to accelerate app R & D efficiency. However, it is only recommended that it is not strictly enforced. Visual designers can focus on the two chapters: STYLE and building blocks.

 

7. Widgets(For details, see get started> UI Overview)

In the original apps page, the widgets content is added using the tab tabs. You can add widgets in a concealed way and deploy widgets on the desktop. In app design, we should pay more attention to widget design.

 

8. Compatibility(For details, see PATTERNS> Compatibility)

Backward compatibility. Considering how physical navigation buttons are compatible with Android 4.0 and virtual Navigation phones, how are Android and earlier versions of apps compatible.

Install the Android system on the mobile phone by pressing the physical navigation button. Click the physical button and the action overflow content appears at the bottom of the screen.

The action overflow button (such as the yellow part) appears on the right side of the virtual navigation bar at the bottom of the screen when an app designed for Android or earlier is installed on the new virtual Navigation phone ).

Install android4.0 on the new virtual Navigation phone. Click action overflow to display the status.

9. Emphasize pure Android Application Design(For details, see PATTERNS> pure Android)

In the Android4.0 app design guidelines, special emphasis is placed on designing a pure Android app for Android. Do not pay attention to other platform-specific elements. There are the following five considerations:

(1) Emphasize that the style of visual elements must conform to the android system;

(2) do not use icons specific to other platforms;

(3) do not use the tab tabs below the interface;

(4) differentiate between up and back, and do not use the return style button on the Operation bar;

(5) do not use the right arrow in the content list.

 

In the Android system, tabs (tabs) are fixed at the top of the screen and not at the bottom. This is different from the ios system.

10. other details

Many new specifications such as interaction details, information presentation, and visual styles are added. For details, see the translation. Here are some points to emphasize:

(1) added interactive gestures for removing content from the slide. In some modules, you can slide left or right to remove content, such as the latest Task and notification drawer.

(2) The visual flat, raster wind is being staged in 4.0.

(3) the writing style explicitly specifies that the second person "you" should be used directly when writing wording ".

See http://developer.android.com/design/index.html for more information