Chapter  8

Graphics

Quite often you'll have to spend a lot of time defining what your application should look like. Whether it is an e-mail application using standard Android widgets or a game using OpenGL ES, what your applications looks like is one of the first things people will notice when browsing application stores like Android Market or Amazon Appstore.

An application that looks great but has graphics that are slow to appear on the screen or slow to get updated is not likely to become a huge hit. Similarly, a game with high-quality rendering but low frame rate could easily be ignored by users. Reviews will ultimately drive the success of your application and it is therefore important your application is more than just a little eye candy.

In this chapter, you learn the basic methods to optimize your layouts with various techniques and tools as well as some techniques to optimize OpenGL ES rendering to achieve a better frame rate or lower power consumption.