At this point in our journey through the Android API, it is worth taking stock of what we know. We can lay out our own UI designs and choose from a fairly wide and diverse range of widgets to allow the user to interact. We can create multiple screens, as well as pop-up dialogs, and we can capture comprehensive user data. Furthermore, we can now make this data persist.

Certainly, there is still a lot more to the Android API to learn, even beyond what this book will teach you, but the point is we know enough now to plan and implement a working app. You could just skip to Chapter 29, Publishing Apps, and publish.

If you have the urge to start your own project right away, then my advice is to go ahead and do it. Don't wait until you consider yourself an "expert" or "more ready." Reading this book and, more importantly, implementing the apps will make you a better Android programmer, but nothing will teach you faster than designing and implementing your own app! It is perfectly possible to complete this book and work on your own project simultaneously.

We will spend two more chapters learning about sound and animation, then we will turn to more advanced topics to really make your apps professional.

Next up is how to play sounds in our apps with the Android SoundPool class.