Any guidelines to create a polling app on android?

Question

I intend to develop an app on android that can help people selecting the best pizza/ice cream/hot dog in a certain town based on their ratings through a poll.

Now what resources do I need to achieve the desired solution? Do I need a web service or website/device connectivity for the desired poll? I would like to start off with a simple application that just shows polls or ratings for a certain item.

Can somebody shed some light on this idea?

Answer 1

Check this article: Rapid cloud development using App Engine for the Cycle Hire Widget Android application

I've been using GAE a lot lately. It's pretty simple for your application.

• Create the the model of your poll
• Create a servlet in GAE.
• Use Gson to convert your info to json.
• Parse it in android with Gson as well.

Answer 2

This is just some thoughts out of the blue... but I think the following:

1. Set up a web application (register, sign in, add new stuff, rate present stuff, comments) in some sort of a community. Get it working!
2. Use a local database (sqlite) on your Android app
3. Synchronize the web-based database with the local android database upon request. Don't download the entire database to every application (but you can have that as an option in the settings menu).
4. If you are up for it, use Facebook Connect to allow users to sign in with their facebook account, instead of using the username/password analogy. Smooth and simple for users. Ref: facebook-android-sdk
5. Use Google API to access google maps and do a location based service like Gowalla and Foursquare.

Personally, I think you have a great idéa. Looking forward to download the application from Android Market in the near future :-)