Hi Mark

howdy, Filbert!

howdy, David!

Filbert: you got here first -- do you have a question?

I do...

I basically have multiple, similar apps that all have their own content

Hello

but they all pull from the same system, and I want to implement login such that persists across the apps

why are they multiple apps?

each one is customized to a particular content

so?

do you install separate Web browsers per Web site?

nope, but the website has its own landings and domains for each content source

but really, it's not about whether that is a good design or bad

regardless, I think that AccountAuthenticator and SyncProviders are perhaps the solution for centralized credentials, but I haven't played with them yet

okay I'll look into those

David: do you have a question?

I do

I'm researching a problem I have for work. I've been working on this issue for a few weeks. I want to be able to monitor all the events of an application. I've discovered that is next to impossible with android api, but I was wondering if it was possible though maybe having them person developing the application add my library into the build?

what do you mean by "all the events of an application" ?

Touch events

basically user input

not only would they need to add your library, they would need to add logic to all their activities (and perhaps all their widgets)

basically, everywhere there is potential for user input, they would have to call your code

Yeah, I am trying to make it as user friendly as possible. So as little overhead as I can.

this is certainly doable, but not a lot of fun, and prone to forgetting stuff

Any other ideas to have it work besides making them add logic to all of their own activities?

I've got this concept working on the iphone, but I have been hiting a brick wall on the android.

not really

Is it possible to write a version of the SDK, and have them include it in project.. The .jar file with my own modifications to the source or would they have to root it.

that's called "modding the firmware"

and it would replace the OS on the device

also doable

but I don't know much about the mechanics

and it's not exactly something an ordinary app developer would do

Yeah, would be a bit of a pain for someone to do, just to test their application.

this is for testing purposes?

Yes

ah

in that case, read the chapter in the Advanced Android book entitled "Tapjacking"

Got it working perfectly on the iphone.

tapjacking..

Maybe I missed that in the advanced book.

for creating a test recorder, tapjacking is a reasonable approach, assuming the app isn't set up to defend against it

Does that go though the usb?

page 441 in the current edition

no

Alright.

it's all on the device

I will take a look at it.,

in fact, you wouldn't even need to add anything to the app

Sweet thank you.. I did love your books.

Read the first one twice.

as a production technique, it screams "security issue", but for internal testing, it's OK

glad you like them!

Filbert: do you have another question?

OK, if anyone has a question, chime in

Mark, is TapJacking considered a security flaw that could be fixed in updates?

I consider it a security flaw

Google does not

I am not aware that they plan to change anything

that being said, anything is possible

which is another reason not to use it in production

Okay, thank you for the information.

Why am I able to write an application on 1.8 using the android_1.8.jar (whatever its called) and compile it and run it on device using 2.3.

there is no 1.8

Thats why I figured I could mod the firmware and just have them include it.

1.6

android.jar is not the firmware

android.jar is just a bunch of stubs

enough to allow you to compile

and no real logic

the real implementation lives on the device

Ah

Okay that makes sense.

as to why you can specify one Android release as the build target and run on others, it's because Android is (generally) forwards and backwards compatible

Makes sense

again, if anyone has any questions, just chime in

i know RTSP is natively supported on android, as is supposedly HLS

any idea where i can find more specifics about those implementations?

never heard of HLS

there isn't much documented about "implementations" per se

[Apple] Http live streaming

ah, ok

hmm

never saw the acronym before

yes, that's in there somewhere

that's the sum total of the formal documentation, outside of JavaDocs

actually, there's http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/… too, but it doesn't get into formats much

i've seen that stuff... it's pretty unspecific

yup

I'd almost call it anti-specific :-)

but we're having no luck making those technologies work with our CDN's Wowza media server

*sigh*

Do you ever plan on selling printed copies of your books?

David: the Advanced Android and Tutorials books are in print

in fact, recently updated

the Tuning book will see print when it hits 1.0 (1st Edition)

Really? When/Where can I buy a hard copy?

the original The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development *has* been in print as _Beginning Android_ from Apress

they're available in your favorite online bookstore, particularly ones named after large South American rivers

anyway, _Beginning Android_ and I are parting ways after this summer's _Beginning Android 3_

due to contractual limitations, I will be unable to return _The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development_ to print myself, though

A new version of it eh?

a new version of what?

You said _Beginning Android and you are parting ways.

ah

Figured you were writing a different copy or something.

yes, they will be updating it to _Beginning Android 4_

*I* won't be updating it to _Beginning Android 4_

they basically demanded that the book be done by around Thanksgiving, and we might not even have ICS hardware by then

Yeah its pretty lame.

Thats the only thing I dislike about android..

All the different versions and lack of support on phones.

I think my Evo is still running 2.2

OK, that's it for today's chat

next one 10am Eastern Tuesday

have a pleasant day, all!