Android platform in ionic

hii guys :grin:
I’m using mac to develop an app for both android and iOS,
what I need to download for android platform?

also how I design for iOS and android?? to explain more, if I want to customize the interface, the tabs in the top for the android and tabs at the bottom for iOS ? how can I do that and where should I write this code??:worried:
also why some blogs said that i need phonegap ?? ionic is not enough for the development?
I really didn’t get the idea of ionic and how it works :cry:

thanks

Hi,
You can use ionic without cordova (phonegap).
Cordova is the part where you can communicate with your device such as gps, camera etc…
If you just want to process some data and show it through Ionic then you don`t need Cordova.
In the end you will likely use a device feature at some point, so generaly they appear together.
More info: http://ngcordova.com/

Ionic is a framework build on angularJS. This means you can develop using web technology.
As it is JS/HTML/CSS based it is compatible with all mayor browsers supporting webkit (chrome. safari, firefox).
I develop as well on a mac for android and as phonegap/cordova by origin started off as a IOS extension I find it easier to develop first for android and then adapt my code to IOS.
This is my humble opinion though, others may have way more experience in cross-platform dev than I do.

Surely you can make different layouts for different platforms.
You can detect in javascript the browser for example, and dynamically change your layout ( http://ngcordova.com/docs/plugins/device/ ), or simply develop 2 different layouts for each platform

I think you need to understand a few things about the basics first before you throw yourself into wonderland.

As everything runs on angularJS, I recommend to first read up about what that means and how it works.


You will likely bump into Routing very soon so I recommend to look into UI-Router

Yes I agree with you, I think I need to read more.
I decide to make one layout for both iOS and android, do I have to install android platform??

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it’s handy to have the android platform … just in case

Sorry, I forgot to get you going on android n the first place:

http://dara.azurewebsites.net/ionic-android-osx/

This tutorial is a bit older, but apart from the android sdk versions is still valid.
Following the tutorial you find them talking about API19, this should be the latest Android API available instead.
I do recommend to use android SDK manager rather than android studio.

These are the packages I have installed SDK manager:

in tools:

  • Android SDK tools (LATEST)
  • " " platform-tools
  • " " build tools (LATEST)

API23

in extras:

  • Android support repository
  • Android support library
  • Google USB driver

good luck

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