Posts by Faiz Malkani- XDA Developers

A Closer Look at Google’s Material Design Components Library and How to Get Started with it

Faiz Malkani January 2, 2017

Just over a fortnight ago, Google announced the launch of the "Material Components library", a centralized repository of Material Design components that a significant amount of people interpreted as a "copy-pasting of the Design Support Library." However, the move is a significant effort as not only a powerful push to spread Material Design's influence across platforms, but also...

Lenovo’s Motorola Moto M XT1662 Spotted at TENAA

Faiz Malkani August 30, 2016

Motorola has unveiled the Moto Z, the Moto G4 and the Moto E3 so far this year, with the entire range undergoing a refresh and compounding to cover almost every section of the pricing spectrum. But it seems that they're not done quite yet. Numerous leaks point towards a new lineup which will reportedly sit between the...

Nexus Hardware and Software Through Time: The Semblance Between Inner and Outer Design

Faiz Malkani August 15, 2016

The Nexus lineup has undergone a number of changes over time, both in terms of hardware as well as successive Android firmware releases. How has the series progressed? How have the inner and outer design languages worked in perfect harmony? Join us as we dive into Android's most iconic device lineup. Galaxy Nexus Despite growing at an...

Theming 101 – Kickstart Your RRO Layers Development Streak

Faiz Malkani July 21, 2016

What is RRO Layers? Runtime Resource Overlay was a solution developed internally at Sony for the functioning of Xperia Themes and for quick prototyping, in the wake of Android Lollipop’s limited theming abilities. Given its excessive potential, a few developers from the community built upon Sony's base, bringing forth the RRO Layers Framework that worked effortlessly with...

Sony Confirms Termination of the Xperia Beta Program

Faiz Malkani July 15, 2016

Earlier this year, Sony launched the Xperia Beta program intended to test Android Marshmallow, stating that it would run until 'at least the middle of 2016.' In accordance with that announcement, Sony has confirmed that the Beta program has ended, with 23.5.A.1.238 being the last build released. Do note that the Concept ROM program is not the one...

Why and How to Use Google’s Firebase Suite: What Its Tools Can Do for You

Faiz Malkani July 12, 2016

The fundamental building blocks of Android app development can be whittled down to an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and a device or emulator to run it on, and while these are enough to build an app, a host of other tools augment the developer experience, aiding the team behind the product to scale the product, improve...

A Song of Glass and Paper: How OEMs’ Obsession with Blur and Glass Breaks the Transition Between Apps and System

Faiz Malkani June 6, 2016

As the adoption and spread of Material Design increases at a tremendous rate among users as well as developers, the adoption and spread of a contrasting visual language around glass increases at a similar rate among OEMs. The uncomfortably sharp contrast between the reflective glass aesthetics and the flat paper ones causes a broken user experience,...

Material Improvements (I/O): What Devs Need to Know to Delight Users

Faiz Malkani May 27, 2016

Material Design has gained tremendous traction since its launch at I/O 14, and while most developers these days pack a toolbar and a FAB in their apps, thanks to the automatic AppCompat setup in newer versions of Android Studio, a large number of these Material Design manifestations fall short of what is expected. Material Design is...

Physical Versus Virtual Buttons — it’s More than Just Placement

Faiz Malkani April 30, 2016

The beginning of the trend Up until late 2011, hardware buttons were the widely-accepted norm for buttons on a handheld device, with Android’s hardware partners taking advantage of the free rein given to them, going on to flirt with a variety of functions, icons and positions in a somewhat-wayward manner. In November that year, Google took...

Why Material Design Didn’t Achieve the Grand Unification it Originally Aimed For

Faiz Malkani April 9, 2016

The Ideology Behind Material Design Material Design's ideology centers around the user, synthesizing a visual language by combining the classic principles of good design with the innovation and possibility of technology and science. The Google Design team aimed high, with a vision that most designers would deem impossible, but Google's very philosophy is centered around moonshots...

Tasker Week: Theming and Design using Scripts and Scenes!

Faiz Malkani March 11, 2016

We've entered an age where aesthetics, layout and a delightful user experience is almost as important as functionality itself, with user expectations setting a high bar for design standards. How does that apply to tasker? Well, there's two tangents to design in Tasker - theming apps and designing scenes. Let's have a look at both! Theming apps Preferences...

On Plagiarism, Piracy in Design, and the HTC Themes Outrage

Faiz Malkani February 29, 2016

Android has matured by leaps and bounds as a mobile platform, winning the hearts of consumers worldwide and quickly establishing its dominance in the sphere, while simultaneously spreading to other ones. While Andy Rubin's brainchild does offer a host of options and variety that its competitors lack, the winning feature of Android is undoubtedly its customization options...