White Label Android Application Installation and
Customization Guide
Background
Background
Application built for civic
agencies to bring voting
information to the public
Code written to make
deployment easy, without
extensive Android
development experience
Background
https://developers.google.com/civic-information/
Background
This is your data that Google is serving!
Background - API
Background - API
Response includes:
Contest and Referendum
Candidate information
Polling locations
State and local election official contact info
Background White Label
App not in the Play Store, but ready
to deploy
Customizable text and images
Feature complete and ready to go
Background Open Source
BSD 3-Clause License
https://github.com/votinginfoproject/
android-white-label-app
Basic Requirements
Recent Windows, Macintosh, or Linux computer
Java SDK
GitHub (use desktop app, or command line)
Android Studio
Device drivers for your Android device
Technical proficiency
Setup before you start
First, get your API keys:
Google Civic Information API Key
Google Maps Android SDK API Key
Google Directions API Key
Google Analytics Tracking ID
Setup before you start
Google makes this really easy:
https://console.developers.google.com
Setup before you start
Google makes this really easy:
https://console.developers.google.com
(There are a lot of APIs when you first get
to this page, but theyre listed alphabetically)
Setup before you start
Google makes this really easy:
https://console.developers.google.com
Create these
two keys
Setup before you start
Setup before you start
Google makes this really easy:
https://www.google.com/analytics/web
Setup Dependencies
Java SDK
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/
downloads/jdk7-downloads-1880260.html
Details at:
https://github.com/votinginfoproject/android-white-label-app
Setup Dependencies
Android Studio required for
Android development:
https://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio.html
Details at:
https://github.com/votinginfoproject/android-white-label-app
Setup Dependencies
GitHub
https://windows.github.com/
Details at:
https://github.com/votinginfoproject/android-white-label-app
Setup get the code
Go to
https://github.com/votinginfoproject/android-white-label-app
If you have the desktop app
installed, click Clone in
Desktop
Setup get the code
Open Android Studio and import the project
To pull updates from GitHub, go
to VCS -> Git -> Repository -> Pull
Or use the GitHub app or command line
Setup install dependencies
Go to Tools -> Android -> SDK Manager
Setup install dependencies
Install dependencies listed at
https://github.com/votinginfoproject/android-white-label-app
Setup Settings
Copy
xmltemplates/api_keys.xml.template
to
app/src/main/res/values/api_keys.xml
Setup Settings
Open the api_keys.xml file
it should look like this
Setup Settings
Get your API keys together and update the api_keys.xml
file. You can also do this with a plain text editor.
Update the Android and Browser keys, and the Analytics
Tracking ID
The official only and test election options can be set here, too
Setup Settings
Copy
xmltemplates/app_tracker.xml.template
to
app/src/main/res/xml/app_tracker.xml
Update the Analytics Tracking ID
Setup Settings
Also, update the Brand Name text with what you want
the app to be called. This text will be at the top of the
home page and can be edited on line 36 of
app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
Setup Settings
The Google Maps API key requires some information
about your specific build of the project. Detailed
instructions are in the repositorys README file.
Setup Settings
There is also a way to do this in Android Studio from
Build -> Generate Signed APK
More info can be found at
http://developer.android.com/tools/publishing/app-signing.html
Setup Settings
Copy the APK fingerprint you generate and paste it in
the API key in the Google Developer Console
Setup Emulator and Devices
The Android Emulator does not support Google Play
Services, which are required for the Google Maps SDK to
function properly. We recommend using an actual
Android device for testing.
Get documentation about using devices:
http://developer.android.com/tools/device.html
And drivers for your device:
http://developer.android.com/tools/extras/oem-usb.html
Setup Build the project
Click the Run button in the Run menu
Run Build the project
And the app should load on your device
Run Additional Configurations
There are a few more things to consider
before packaging the app for submittal to
the Play Store
About, Terms, and Privacy Policy content
Customized images
Additional language support
Run Additional Configurations
About, Terms, and Privacy Policy content
are in app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
Run Additional Configurations
Edit, save, and rebuild
You can change any of the text in Android
Studio or a plain text editor that supports
UTF-16 character encoding.
Run Additional Configurations
Translations are also in app/src/main/res/
Each translation gets its own values
directory
Spanish translations are not available yet, but are in progress
Run Additional Configurations
Customize the apps images by updating files in
the app/src/main/res/drawable-{size} directories
Tips:
Use the same name
Keep the same pixel dimensions
There are different sets of images to support
different screen sizes
More detail at:
http://developer.android.com/design/style/iconography.html
Run Additional Configurations
Customize the AppIcons (app_icon.png),
an Background (bg_home.png) images for
a complete visual rebranding.
You dont need to
change these,
though.
Publish
Thats everything for setup and configuration!
The next step is to package the app and submit it to the
Play Store. Google has lots of documentation on this
process.
http://developer.android.com/distribute/googleplay/
Publish
The publishing process requires completing several steps.
http://developer.android.com/distribute/tools/launch-checklist.html
Publish
Set up a developer account to get started
Publish
The process takes some time to work through, but isnt
particularly difficult.
Many of the issues you may encounter are not new, and
resolutions can likely be found with a quick Google
search.
If additional technical support is needed, contact:
Jen Tolentino at [email protected]
Good luck!
White Label Android Application Installation and
Customization Guide
