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5 ways the new Android design guidelines will make apps better

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One of the primary complaints about Google's Android operating system has always been about the sometimes erratic and unattractive application design. Unlike Apple, which strongly prescribes the look and feel of apps on its platform, Google has been silent on the subject of interface design — until now. Last week, Google unveiled its new Android Design site. This is a resource for developers and designers to understand the minutia of Android's new look and feel under version 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).

If developers begin taking advantage of this resource, Android apps will change dramatically. Here are the five ways that Android Design is going to make your app experience better.

Holo theme

Google announced a few weeks ago that all Android 4.0 and higher devices would need to include the stock Holo theme. OEMs that want to skin Android can still do so, but to be certified and gain access to Google's apps, the visual assets from ICS need to be included. This was a move to make things easier for developers, who can call up the stock Holo theme for use in their apps.

The Android Design site reinforces this policy with a section on choosing a theme. There are three types of Holo interfaces for developers to pick. Holo Light is the white/gray interface used in Gmail. Holo Dark is the back/blue look used in the Honeycomb and ICS settings menu. There is also a version of Holo Light with a dark action bar, where the menu options live.

Google is encouraging developers to choose the interface that suits their apps best, and build around it. This is going to be worlds better from the perspective of developers that have thus far had to deal with the layout foibles of half a dozen OEM skins. Your apps will look better not only because they will use Google's sharp new themes, but because developers will be able to spend less time on troubleshooting layouts, and more on actual design work.

Better notifications and dialogs

Android Notifications Android's notification system has always been phenomenal, and developers have really embraced it. Apps can spawn dialogs in the form of modal popups, and the more common status bar notification. A point Google is trying to make in the new design docs is that maybe developers like notifications a little too much.

Apps often produce notifications for every minuscule action. Google now says that an app should only produce a notification for things that require user intervention. For example, if the relevant information is already displayed on the screen, a notification is not needed. Similarly, developers should not create notifications to let you know that everything is working correctly.

Google has also offered some notes on how notifications should be worded. With a system like Android, rife with complicated options and settings, it can be easy to get overly-technical. One of the principals of the new Android design is to present users with easy to understand notifications and popups. If an app force closes, the dialog should not list a package name and other technical information. Rather, notifications and dialogs should contain just what you need to know.

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