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May 13, 2011
GMarks - Google Bookmarks for Android
GMarks is my first Android app. I wrote it (1) to learn Android, and
(2) because Android has no native bookmark backup solution, and Google
has never released a native app for Google Bookmarks. So it seemed like
a reasonable project. I did my best to utilize as many Android
features as possible, where appropriate, which let me cover a lot of
ground. GMarks uses:
I think I found a reasonable compromise for authentication - I actually use the Android browser to login, and then capture the user's authentication cookies. That way, my app never actually handles the user's password. It is, admittedly a little hack-ish and doesn't work all the time, but it's not a horrible solution all things considered. This scheme also allowed me to support two-factor authentication easily. GMarks watches when the two-factor verification page loads, and then launch the Google Authenticator app through a standard intent, instructing the user to copy the auth code and paste it into the browser. Again, not perfect, but better than any third-party app that decides to ask for your Google password.
The app is available on the Google Market, and the code is completely open-source, including the SVG used for the icons and other graphic assets. It's also been translated into 30+ languages thanks to the generous contributions from the XDA-Developers community. You can see sreenshots here.
- Live Folders
- Full-text search
- Global search
- Media sharing
- Background services
- A custom content provider
- asynchronous tasks
- HTTP remoting
I think I found a reasonable compromise for authentication - I actually use the Android browser to login, and then capture the user's authentication cookies. That way, my app never actually handles the user's password. It is, admittedly a little hack-ish and doesn't work all the time, but it's not a horrible solution all things considered. This scheme also allowed me to support two-factor authentication easily. GMarks watches when the two-factor verification page loads, and then launch the Google Authenticator app through a standard intent, instructing the user to copy the auth code and paste it into the browser. Again, not perfect, but better than any third-party app that decides to ask for your Google password.
The app is available on the Google Market, and the code is completely open-source, including the SVG used for the icons and other graphic assets. It's also been translated into 30+ languages thanks to the generous contributions from the XDA-Developers community. You can see sreenshots here.
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