Tools for rapid layout/interface creations?

Question

Does anyone know of any tools (besides DroidDraw) that can help me create the basics of my projects a bit quicker? I'm looking for something that will allow me to very quickly generate the XML for my layouts so I don't have to sit there typing like a robot for so long.

Thanks!

Answer 1

However the drag and drop layout design method is not recommended for Android Applications UI designers but there is an Open Source project on Google Code: android-ui-utils , in which you might find something intersiting.

It uses a Firefox addon Pencil to draw and design android layouts and also uses an online "Android Assets Studio" where you can design your custom Icons like:

• Launcher icons
• List item icons
• Menu Icons
• Notification icons

You can give up a try here:

http://code.google.com/p/android-ui-utils/

Answer 2

DroidDraw is OK, but the reality is that if you are going to write for Android you are going to want to learn how to write XML layouts from scratch. I remember that XML layouts seemed bizarre when I first started working with the Android SDK, but eventually it starts to make sense.

I read a blog post from a member of the Android team at Google explaining why XML layouts are better than GUI-based layout systems (such as the one included with the iPhone SDK). I can't find the link right now, but basically XML allows for layouts that gracefully scale across devices of radically different sizes and purposes where a GUI-based layout designer often has to be tweaked at best and redone at worst for devices of different sizes.