I’ve been working towards updating the architecture of several Android apps that make heavy use of location services. Specifically, some of them use LocalBroadcastManager, which has been deprecated, to share locations across app components like Services and Activities. Time for something new. After reviewing numerous resources on 2021-era Android best…

If you’ve worked with raw data from the Android’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) APIs, you’re probably aware that apps like GPSTest and GnssLogger are capable of logging three types of information: NMEA data — Contains information about the locations calculated by the GNSS hardware in the industry-standard NMEA 0183…

If you’ve been developing Android apps for a while, you know how much has changed since the early days of Cupcake. If you want a real flashback, check out the first Android demo that Google published to YouTube back in 2007. It shows maps! Notifications! And a web browser!

Recently, I set out to implement a new feature in the GPSTest Android app — crowdsourcing device Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) capabilities. You can read more about why and a description of the new feature in this article. I’d suggest reading that article before this one, as it will…

As the developer of the open-source GPSTest Android app, the most common question I get from users is “can a device do X”? It’s understandable — with device costs often being $500–1000 USD (or more), users want to know what they are getting for their money. Unfortunately, this isn’t an…

The last several versions of Android have turned it into a powerhouse for processing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data from systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and Galileo. Device with Android 7.0 and higher support an official API for pseudorange measurements and navigation messages, which allows developers to…

Android devices have longer lifespans than they used to. As the cost of new flagship devices has creeped over $1000 and cellular carriers in the U.S. stopped subsidizing device costs, users are keeping their Android devices longer than before. …

As software engineers, nothing bothers us more than duplicating code within a project. For every line of duplicate code, it potentially doubles the effort required for each bug fix, refactor, and enhancement later in the life of the project. …

You’re rushing out the door, hoping you didn’t miss the 8am Route 5 to work. Should you sprint to your stop? To find out, you ask OneBusAway for help, frantically yelling: “Alexa, where’s my bus?” Alexa responds with times for bunch of routes — but not Route 5. Argh 😠…