Technology10/15/2019
How to create News App in android?
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1. First of all create a News API from NewsApi.org.
2. Create a new project in Android Studio in a normal way.
Open your build.gradle file and add the following lines in your dependencies.
Open your build.gradle file and add the following lines in your dependencies.
compile 'com.squareup.picasso:picasso:2.5.2'
3. Open your AndroidManifest.xml file and add internet connect permission. Your manifest file will look like this-
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
package="com.androstock.newsapp">
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<application
android:allowBackup="true"
android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
android:label="@string/app_name"
android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
android:supportsRtl="true"
android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
<activity android:name=".MainActivity">
<intent-filter>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
<category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
</intent-filter>
</activity>
<activity android:name=".DetailsActivity"/>
</application>
</manifest>
4. Open your activity_main.xml file. Use a RelativeLayout to arrange ListView and Progressbar.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<ListView
android:id="@+id/listNews"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:background="#FFFFFF"
android:divider="#F5F5F5"
android:dividerHeight="1dp"
android:visibility="visible"
/>
<ProgressBar
android:id="@+id/loader"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"/>
</RelativeLayout>
5. Now we will design the list item activity Open your list_row.xml file.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="@android:color/transparent"
android:descendantFocusability="blocksDescendants"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_weight="7"
android:padding="8dp">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:gravity="center"
android:padding="4dp">
<ImageView
android:id="@+id/galleryImage"
android:layout_width="70dp"
android:layout_height="50dp"
/>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:layout_weight="7"
>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:shadowColor="#000"
android:shadowRadius="1.0"
android:textColor="#666666"
android:textSize="17sp"
android:layout_marginBottom="5dp"
android:maxLines="2"
android:scrollHorizontally="true"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:text="This is news title"/>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/sdetails"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textColor="#777777"
android:textSize="16sp"
android:maxLines="2"
android:minLines="2"
android:scrollHorizontally="true"
android:ellipsize="end"
android:text="This is news description bla bla bla..."/>
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:weightSum="1">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="0dp"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:orientation="horizontal">
<TextView
android:id="@+id/author"
android:textSize="15sp"
android:textColor="#42A5F5"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="News Author"/>
</LinearLayout>
<TextView
android:id="@+id/time"
android:gravity="right"
android:textSize="14sp"
android:textColor="#42A5F5"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Time"/>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
6. Now we will design the details activity to show the specific news article activity_details.xml.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<WebView
android:id="@+id/webView"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent"/>
<ProgressBar
android:id="@+id/loader"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerInParent="true"/>
</RelativeLayout>
Finally we are heading towards the Java coding.
7. Now we will create a Java file called Function.java where we will put our important methods like Internet Connection Checker and URL Execute method.
package com.androidcodeblock.newsapp;
import android.content.Context;
import android.net.ConnectivityManager;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;
public class Function {
public static boolean isNetworkAvailable(Context context)
{
return ((ConnectivityManager) context.getSystemService(Context.CONNECTIVITY_SERVICE)).getActiveNetworkInfo() != null;
}
public static String excuteGet(String targetURL, String urlParameters)
{
URL url;
HttpURLConnection connection = null;
try {
//Create connection
url = new URL(targetURL);
connection = (HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();
//connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
//connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
connection.setRequestProperty("content-type", "application/json; charset=utf-8");
connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Language", "en-US");
connection.setUseCaches (false);
connection.setDoInput(true);
connection.setDoOutput(false);
InputStream is;
int status = connection.getResponseCode();
if (status != HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK)
is = connection.getErrorStream();
else
is = connection.getInputStream();
BufferedReader rd = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is));
String line;
StringBuffer response = new StringBuffer();
while((line = rd.readLine()) != null) {
response.append(line);
response.append('\r');
}
rd.close();
return response.toString();
} catch (Exception e) {
return null;
} finally {
if(connection != null) {
connection.disconnect();
}
}
}
}
8. Now lets create the MainActivity.java
package com.androidcodeblock.newsapp;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.AsyncTask;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.ListView;
import android.widget.ProgressBar;
import android.widget.Toast;
import org.json.JSONArray;
import org.json.JSONException;
import org.json.JSONObject;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
String API_KEY = "*********************"; // ### YOUE NEWS API HERE ###
String NEWS_SOURCE = "bbc-news";
ListView listNews;
ProgressBar loader;
ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>> dataList = new ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>>();
static final String KEY_AUTHOR = "author";
static final String KEY_TITLE = "title";
static final String KEY_DESCRIPTION = "description";
static final String KEY_URL = "url";
static final String KEY_URLTOIMAGE = "urlToImage";
static final String KEY_PUBLISHEDAT = "publishedAt";
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
listNews = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.listNews);
loader = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.loader);
listNews.setEmptyView(loader);
if(Function.isNetworkAvailable(getApplicationContext()))
{
DownloadNews newsTask = new DownloadNews();
newsTask.execute();
}else{
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "No Internet Connection", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
}
}
class DownloadNews extends AsyncTask<String, Void, String> {
@Override
protected void onPreExecute() {
super.onPreExecute();
}
protected String doInBackground(String... args) {
String xml = "";
String urlParameters = "";
xml = Function.excuteGet("https://newsapi.org/v1/articles?source="+NEWS_SOURCE+"&sortBy=top&apiKey="+API_KEY, urlParameters);
return xml;
}
@Override
protected void onPostExecute(String xml) {
if(xml.length()>10){ // Just checking if not empty
try {
JSONObject jsonResponse = new JSONObject(xml);
JSONArray jsonArray = jsonResponse.optJSONArray("articles");
for (int i = 0; i < jsonArray.length(); i++) {
JSONObject jsonObject = jsonArray.getJSONObject(i);
HashMap<String, String> map = new HashMap<String, String>();
map.put(KEY_AUTHOR, jsonObject.optString(KEY_AUTHOR).toString());
map.put(KEY_TITLE, jsonObject.optString(KEY_TITLE).toString());
map.put(KEY_DESCRIPTION, jsonObject.optString(KEY_DESCRIPTION).toString());
map.put(KEY_URL, jsonObject.optString(KEY_URL).toString());
map.put(KEY_URLTOIMAGE, jsonObject.optString(KEY_URLTOIMAGE).toString());
map.put(KEY_PUBLISHEDAT, jsonObject.optString(KEY_PUBLISHEDAT).toString());
dataList.add(map);
}
} catch (JSONException e) {
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Unexpected error", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
ListNewsAdapter adapter = new ListNewsAdapter(MainActivity.this, dataList);
listNews.setAdapter(adapter);
listNews.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {
public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> parent, View view,
int position, long id) {
Intent i = new Intent(MainActivity.this, DetailsActivity.class);
i.putExtra("url", dataList.get(+position).get(KEY_URL));
startActivity(i);
}
});
}else{
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "No news found", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
}
}
}
9. Now lets create the adapter class ListNewsAdapter.java to populate the listview list item using list_row.xml
package com.androidcodeblock.newsapp;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.view.LayoutInflater;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.ViewGroup;
import android.widget.BaseAdapter;
import android.widget.ImageView;
import android.widget.TextView;
import com.squareup.picasso.Picasso;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
class ListNewsAdapter extends BaseAdapter {
private Activity activity;
private ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>> data;
public ListNewsAdapter(Activity a, ArrayList<HashMap<String, String>> d) {
activity = a;
data=d;
}
public int getCount() {
return data.size();
}
public Object getItem(int position) {
return position;
}
public long getItemId(int position) {
return position;
}
public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
ListNewsViewHolder holder = null;
if (convertView == null) {
holder = new ListNewsViewHolder();
convertView = LayoutInflater.from(activity).inflate(
R.layout.list_row, parent, false);
holder.galleryImage = (ImageView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.galleryImage);
holder.author = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.author);
holder.title = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.title);
holder.sdetails = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.sdetails);
holder.time = (TextView) convertView.findViewById(R.id.time);
convertView.setTag(holder);
} else {
holder = (ListNewsViewHolder) convertView.getTag();
}
holder.galleryImage.setId(position);
holder.author.setId(position);
holder.title.setId(position);
holder.sdetails.setId(position);
holder.time.setId(position);
HashMap<String, String> song = new HashMap<String, String>();
song = data.get(position);
try{
holder.author.setText(song.get(MainActivity.KEY_AUTHOR));
holder.title.setText(song.get(MainActivity.KEY_TITLE));
holder.time.setText(song.get(MainActivity.KEY_PUBLISHEDAT));
holder.sdetails.setText(song.get(MainActivity.KEY_DESCRIPTION));
if(song.get(MainActivity.KEY_URLTOIMAGE).toString().length() < 5)
{
holder.galleryImage.setVisibility(View.GONE);
}else{
Picasso.with(activity)
.load(song.get(MainActivity.KEY_URLTOIMAGE).toString())
.resize(300, 200)
.into(holder.galleryImage);
}
}catch(Exception e) {}
return convertView;
}
}
class ListNewsViewHolder {
ImageView galleryImage;
TextView author, title, sdetails, time;
}
From MainActivity.java we will open the DetailsActivity.java on news item click. There we will display the article page into WebView.
10. Now lets create the DetailsActivity.java
package com.androidcodeblock.newsapp;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.view.View;
import android.webkit.WebChromeClient;
import android.webkit.WebView;
import android.widget.ProgressBar;
public class DetailsActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
WebView webView;
ProgressBar loader;
String url = "";
@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_details);
Intent intent = getIntent();
url = intent.getStringExtra("url");
loader = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.loader);
webView = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.webView);
webView.getSettings().setBuiltInZoomControls(true);
webView.getSettings().setDisplayZoomControls(false);
webView.loadUrl(url);
webView.setWebChromeClient(new WebChromeClient() {
public void onProgressChanged(WebView view, int progress) {
if (progress == 100) {
loader.setVisibility(View.GONE);
} else {
loader.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}
}
});
}
}
You are done. Now run and test the app. You can add your custom designs and also other features now. It was really easy. Isn’t it?
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