10 Design Tips to Improve Android Visual Effects

1. Use appropriately sized images

When it comes to images, many Android app developers adopt a one-size-fits-all approach. While this makes resource management easier, it's the wrong approach when it comes to the visual appeal of your app. For your app to look its best, you should design different images for specific device screens. The most appropriate images create the best user experience.

2. Use Properly Formatted Images

We have all seen apps that hang when trying to load certain large images, not just because the size of the image is off; A non-ideal format is used. The Android platform supports many media formats, such as PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP and WebP (note: only supported by Android 4.0+). PNG is an ideal format for lossless images, while JPEG's rendering quality is inconsistent.

Android also supports elastic images with Nine-Patch. If feasible, consider using WebP instead of JPEG, as this format is more efficient for storage and downloading. That is, if it were used as a standalone image alongside an older format, the overall app size would become larger, which would reduce the benefits of using the new format.

3. Use subtle animation and color to present status changes

Use subtle animation and UI control color changes to present application status changes during screen transitions, which will make your application more visible A sense of professionalism. For example, fading between activities makes screen transitions more natural, and changing the color of a pressed button highlights the user action taking place, clearly showing what the user is doing.

Android 3.x and later versions can turn on hardware acceleration, which will make animations run smoother. However, testing is required as not all features of the app are compatible with hardware acceleration.

4. Use the rounded corner effect to soften the UI

Button, PageView and other user interface control buttons will have a rectangular pixel shape on the screen, but this needs to be processed. On the control interface, the rounded corner effect is used to soften the appearance of the user interface, which looks very Web-like, but is indeed very popular with users.

5. Use consistent "lighting" in 3D effects

The latest version of the Android platform uses holographic styles and 3D icons, etc. If you use drop shadows and other such styles in your app's controls, be sure to use consistent "lighting." In other words, make sure the shadow is oriented consistently across the screen. Use the same values ​​in the image editor to create the same slope and texture.

6. Use a high contrast color scheme

When a family member (note: often someone from the older generation) first discovers that you can use colored fonts and backgrounds in emails, and sends you an email with a white background and lemon yellow fonts, Such emails are quite difficult to read. Some people may design their app's screens in a way that makes it difficult for players to read or navigate the content on the screen. Using appropriate high-contrast colors will make the screen easier to see and relieve stress on the eyes. Make the color scheme part of your system resources and use it as a basis for other work.

7. Use large and easy-to-read fonts

Like the bad color scheme mentioned above, we also receive text from family members that is hard to read in some weird font. Some fonts are definitely easier to read than others.

Font size is also an important factor. Try to make the font as large as possible while maintaining balance with other screen functions. Just like when using a fax machine, using fonts smaller than 12 points is inappropriate.

The designers of Android 4.0 have introduced a new font that’s only available on the platform that’s easy to read on mobile devices, and it’s called Roboto.

8. Don’t deviate too much from platform specifications

Many successful mobile apps use user interfaces that people are familiar with. They have simple and mainstream user interfaces and use controls that are familiar to users. Don't be too unconventional in your user interface controls and screen design. Keep it as simple as possible and consistent with the performance of other applications on the platform. Use the platform as a cue to determine application performance and behavior.

If the UI you are making is different, be sure to use objective methods such as AB testing to compare the new UI with the traditional UI to determine whether the new design solution is more optimized, such as more effective, easier to use, or Looks more comfortable.

9. Follow UI Guidelines

The Android application manual has many UI guidelines that can be integrated into your application. These guidelines tend to differ depending on which version of Android your app is using. When this happens, you need to craft multiple assets to handle multiple guidelines. The guidelines cover icons, widgets, menus, and activities.

10. Testing the User Interface

Developers often are not good QA or testers. Once your app is running stably, it's valuable to test it with users who are completely unfamiliar with your app's design and intent. App designers often assume that users will find their app UI intuitive, but this may not be the case. Only by actually letting users test the application can you discover many unexpected problems before releasing the application.

Added Tip: Hire a Professional Art or Graphic Designer

Users these days expect to see apps that look great and are professionally designed. Just as you wouldn't dress casually for an interview, you should invest enough resources into polishing the look of your app before releasing it. In most cases, programmers tend not to be skilled artists, so consider hiring a professional artist to do the job, just make sure you have a clear vision of the design outcome.

When you are immersed in Android application development, it is often easy to forget about user interface design. After your app is relatively stable, go through this list and polish it. Generally speaking, these tasks are best left until later in development, when the screen content is relatively fixed.

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