Introducing the Motion Editor

Posted by Scott Swarthout, Product Manager

We spoke with the Android developer community and learned that animations are important for making UIs more intuitive and memorable. However, we also heard that adding complex animation to Android apps has been a difficult task.To address this problem, we created a powerful set of APIs with Motion Layout and a corresponding tool – Motion Editor, that when combined make it easier to build pixel-perfect animations. This blog is a quick tour of the new Motion Editor and how to use the latest features during your animation development. Additionally today, you can now watch a new video series specifically created to teach you about the various APIs included with MotionLayout. Watch here.

Motion Editor is a visual design editor for the MotionLayout layout type, making it easier to create and preview animations. We just released the stable version Motion Editor in Android Studio 4.0 and we already see many developers using it to build animations.

Animation running in the Motion Editor

The Motion Editor is an extension of Android Studio’s layout editor, and automatically opens when you select the Design or Split view on an XML file containing a MotionLayout. From there, you can edit your layout and Motion Scene files using the familiar interactive tools of the Layout Editor as well as preview your animations right from the Android Studio preview pane.

Motion Editor

The Motion Editor is broken up into several panels which we will describe in this article. The main panels are: Overview, Selection, Attribute, and Preview.

The Motion Editor has four main panels

Overview panel

MotionLayout helps you animate layout changes, which you specify as transitions between ConstraintSets. The Motion Editor helps you visualize these states with the Overview panel. To edit constraints in a ConstraintSet, click on the corresponding box in the Overview panel.

MotionLayout Scene with two ConstraintSets, start and end, and a Transition between them

Selection panel

The Selection panel provides detailed controls based on the state of the Overview panel. It has three modes:

1. Motion Layout selected
2. ConstraintSet selected
3. Transition selected

The selection panel has three modes depending on the state of the Overview panel

MotionLayout selected

The Motion Editor supports editing of the base Motion Layout. When Motion Layout is selected in the Overview panel, you can select components to see if they are properly constrained.

Check if components are properly constrained with the Selection panel

ConstraintSet selected

When a ConstraintSet is selected, the Selection panel displays the list of components and a checkmark to indicate if the component is constrained in this ConstraintSet.

Select components to be included in the ConstraintSet

Transition selected

When a transition is selected, you can control the playback of the animation with the animation toolbar. When an animation is selected, click Play ▶️ above the timeline to preview the animation.

Preview animations on the Motion Editor timeline

Keyframes

Sometimes you want to modify the path a view takes during an animation. To do this, MotionLayout uses keyframes. We build keyframe editing into the editor to make it easy to tweak animations. To create a new keyframe, click on the new keyframe icon in the top right of the selection panel. This action opens a dialog where you can set attributes for the keyframe. To edit a keyframe, click on the diamond ◆ icon to open the KeyFrame attribute panel.

Create keyframes with the selection panel

Attribute panel

Creating animations in MotionLayout involves editing lots of view parameters, so we brought the Attribute panel from the Layout Editor into the Motion Editor. The Attribute panel includes handy visualizations for Constraints as well as all the attributes set on each view in the Motion Scene file.

Constraint visualization in the Attribute panel

The Attribute panel is also where you can create custom attributes. You use custom attributes when you want to animate view properties that are not part of the ConstraintLayout or MotionLayout APIs, such as backgroundColor. We made it easy to create custom attributes with autocomplete and input validation for all view properties.

Preview panel

We wanted to make it easy to quickly edit and get immediate feedback when working on animations, so you can view animations right from the Preview panel. Now you don’t have to recompile and redeploy your app every time you want to make a small tweak to your animation.

We also added a number of features to the Preview panel to make it easier to understand how views are animating. You can preview animations with the Design view and Blueprint view to get a clearer idea of how your views are moving with fewer visual distractions.

We also added visualizations for the paths views take across the screen, including markers for keyframes. We hope these features make it easier to parse complex transitions and simplify the creation experience.

The Motion Editor is available in Android Studio 4.0, give it a try and let us know what you think! We are eager to see what the community builds with MotionLayout and the Motion Editor. The Android Studio team is constantly gathering feedback to improve the experience of using our tools, so if you have any ideas for new features or run into any issues using these tools, please file a bug.

The code used in this example, along with several other MotionLayout examples, are available on our GitHub sample page, found here.

For more information on MotionLayout, see the following links:

• Manage motion and widget animation with MotionLayout
• Using MotionLayout to Animate Android Apps (codelab)
• MotionLayout examples
• MotionLayout / ConstraintLayout Samples (GitHub)

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Android Platform Codelab Kickstarts OS Development

Posted by Clay Murphy, Technical Writer

The Android Platform Codelab has been published to take developers from bare metal to a (virtual) device under test in a single page. This document will help new Android operating system engineers quickly learn the tools and processes needed to establish a build environment, sync the repository, build a virtual device image, and load that image onto an Android virtual device (AVD), allowing quick iteration of platform changes.

The codelab walks through:

1. Environment setup
2. Downloading of code
3. Creating a Cuttlefish Android Virtual Device (AVD) image
4. Building the OS
5. Using Acloud to set up and render the Cuttlefish AVD
6. Creating and testing changes
7. Uploading, reviewing, and reverting those modifications

If you encounter errors during this codelab, please report them using the Site feedback link on the bottom of any page. Send questions to the android-building group.

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#AndroidDevChallenge: today is the last day to apply!

Today is the last day to apply for the Android Developer Challenge! And to spark your imagination, we wanted to take a look at one of the original Android Developer Challenge winners, from over 10 years ago. Meet Maurizio Leo:

Maurizio and team have been working on Android for a while now. In fact, he was one of the winners of the original Android Developer Challenge, which launched with the start of Android over ten years ago. Their app, which won 3rd place worldwide at the time, has gone on to be downloaded over 30 million times!

If you’ve got a great idea that can help users get things done, we want to hear! We’ll pick 10 concepts and provide expertise and guidance to those developers to help in their plans to bring their ideas to fruition, in part from this amazing set of experts we’ve assembled. And once the app is ready, we’ll help showcase it in front of the billions of users on Google Play, through a collection and more. You can read more about all of the prizes here.

There’s still time to submit your idea before the deadline today! Submitting your idea is as simple as creating a repository on GitHub, telling us what you’d build and how we can help (we’ve included all of the materials here), and then officially submitting your repository here. Ideas can be in a concept phase to something that’s already complete; we can’t wait to hear what you come up with, and to work with you on bringing helpful innovation powered by machine learning to more and more users!

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Indie Games Accelerator - Introducing class of 2019!

Posted by Vineet Tanwar, Business Development Manager, Google Play

In April we opened applications for the 2019 class of Indie Games Accelerator, a program to help top mobile game startups from emerging markets achieve their full potential on Google Play. We’re truly awed by the response we have received with over 1,700 applications from developers across 37 countries*. We continue to be impressed by the innovation and creativity of game developers everywhere.

Now, it's time to introduce you to the developers selected for the class of 2019. Here they are:

Congratulations to the selected participants and we look forward to meeting you in Singapore!

Find out more about the program or express your interest in joining the next class of the Indie Games Accelerator.

* The competition is open to developers from the following countries: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela

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Building a safer Google Play for kids

Posted by Kanika Sachdeva, Product Manager, Google Play

At Google Play, we’re committed to providing a positive, safe environment for children and families. Over the last few years, we’ve helped parents find family-friendly content through the Designed for Families program and empowered them to set digital ground rules for their families with Family Link parental controls.

After taking input from users and developers we are evolving our Google Play policies to provide additional protections for children and families. These policy changes build on our existing efforts to ensure that apps for children have appropriate content, show suitable ads, and handle personally identifiable information correctly; they also reduce the chance that apps not intended for children could unintentionally attract them.

Over the next few months, we will continue to roll out additional features that will help parents make informed choices before they install apps for their kids.

What’s changing for developers

We are asking every developer to thoughtfully consider whether children are part of your target audience.

• If children are part of your target audience, you must meet policy requirements in your app concerning content and handling of personally identifiable information.
• Ads in your app that are served to children need to be appropriate and served from an ads network that has certified compliance with our families policies.
• If children are not part of your target audience, you should make sure your app does not unintentionally appeal to them. We will double check your app marketing to confirm this and ask you to make adjustments where required.

Declaring a target audience

As part of the new policy, all developers must complete the new target audience and content section of the Google Play Console.

The new target audience and content section of the Google Play Console.

For most developers, the target audience does not include children and this section should be relatively quick to complete. If children are part of your target audience, we will ask you follow-up questions.

We will use the information you provide in the Google Play Console, along with our own review of your app marketing assets, to categorize your app and apply policies according to the following target audience groups: children, children and older users, older users.*

We recommend you review our new policies, developer guide, and this training before starting the target audience and content section so that you clearly understand the implications of your answers.

Rolling out these changes

These changes affect every developer on Play, so if your app is already live on the Google Play store, we want to give you time to make any necessary updates. Below are the key dates to keep in mind:

• Today: Target audience and content section available in the Google Play Console. All new apps must comply with the updated policies.
• September 1st, 2019: All existing apps must have filled out the new target audience and content section and complied with the updated policies.

Our commitment to you

We’re committed to providing the resources you need to understand and implement these changes. You can view more information on the Android developers website and access training on our new policies on Google Play's Academy for App Success. We have also increased our staffing and improved our communications for app review and appeals processes to help you get timely decisions and understand any changes that are needed.

Thanks in advance for the work you are putting in. We will continue to listen to your feedback and use it to improve the way we roll out these updates and communicate with the developer community.

*Note: The word “children” can mean different things in different locales and in different contexts. It is important that you determine what obligations and/or age-based restrictions may apply for the countries where you target your app.

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Congratulations to the finalists of the Indie Games Showcase from Google Play

Posted by Patricia Correa, Director, Platforms & Ecosystems Developer Marketing

Back in March we opened submissions for the Indie Games Showcase, an international competition for games studios from Europe*, South Korea, and Japan who are constantly pushing the boundaries of storytelling, visual excellence, and creativity in mobile.

We were once again impressed by the diversity and creativity that the indie community is bringing to mobile, and we’re happy to announce the 20 finalists.

Check out the local websites to learn more about the finalists and the events.

Europe

AntVentor by LoopyMood (Ukraine)

CHUCHEL by Amanita Design (Czech Republic)

#DRIVE by Pixel Perfect Dude (Poland)

Fly THIS! By Northplay (Denmark)

Fobia by Tapteek (Russia)

G30 - A Memory Maze by Ivan Kovalov (Russia)

Gold Peaks by Afterburn (Poland)

Grayland by 1DER Entertainment (Slovakia)

Hexologic by MythicOwl (Poland)

Lucid Dream Adventure by Dali Games (Poland)

OCO by SPECTRUM48 (United Kingdom)

Ordia by Loju (United Kingdom)

Peep by Taw (Russia)

Photographs by EightyEight Games (United Kingdom)

Rest in Pieces by Itatake (Sweden)

Returner Zhero by Fantastic, yes (Denmark)

see/saw by Kamibox (Germany)

STAP by Overhead Game Studio (United Kingdom)

Tesla vs. Lovecraft by 10tons (Finland)

Tiny Room Stories: Town Mystery by Kiary games (Russia)

Japan

ALTER EGO by 株式会社カラメルカラム

Infection - 感染 - by CanvasSoft

Jumpion - Make a two-step jump ! by Comgate

Lunch Time Fish by SoftFunk HULABREAKS

MeltLand by 個人

ReversEstory by 個人

キグルミキノコ Q-bit -第一章- by 個人

SumoRoll - Road to the Yokozuna by Studio Kingmo

Escape Game: The Little Prince by 株式会社 Jammsworks

Kamiori - カミオリ by TeamOrigami

Bear's Restaurant by 個人

クマムシさん惑星　ミクロの地球最強伝説 by Ars Edutainment

ゴリラ！ゴリラ！ゴリラ！by Gang Gorilla Games

Girl x Sun - Terasene - Tower defence & Novel game by SleepingMuseum

タシテケス by 個人

Destination: Dragons! by GAME GABURI

Cute cat's cake shop by 個人

Persephone by Momo-pi

Hamcorollin' by illuCalab.

Food Truck Pup: Cooking Chef by 合同会社ゲームスタート

South Korea

다크타운 - 온라인 by 초콜릿소프트

Bad 2 Bad: Extinction by Dawinstone

셧더펑 : 슈팅액션 by Take Five Games

Cartoon Craft by Studio NAP

Catch Idle by HalftimeStudio

Hexagon Dungeon by Bleor Games

Hexonia by Togglegear

Mahjong - Magic Fantasy by Aquagamez

Maze Cube by IAMABOY

Road to Valor: World War II by Dreamotion Inc.

Onslot Car by Wondersquad

ROOMS: The Toymaker's Mansion by HandMade Game

Rhythm Star: Music Adventure by Anbsoft

7Days - Decide your story by Buff Studio

Seoul2033: Backer by Banjiha Games

Super Jelly Pop by STARMONSTER

UNLINK Daily Puzzle by Supershock

몬스터파크 온라인 by OVENCODE

WhamBam Warriors by DrukHigh

언노운 나이츠 by teamarex

We will welcome all finalists at events in London, Seoul, and Tokyo, where they will showcase their games to an audience of players, press and industry experts, for a chance to win the top prizes.

The events are open to the public, so if you would like to meet these games developers, try out their creations, and help choose the winners, sign up on the regional websites.

Congratulations to all finalists!

* The competition is open to developers from the following European countries and Israel: Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland).

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