B4A is intended to develop Android applications (APKs). Most of the IDEs require at least basic knowledge of software development, and B4A is not an exception. Luckily, there is plenty of documentation available online. Installing the product can be somewhat troublesome as it requires additional libraries and platforms, for instance Java and .NET.
The tool has a well-designed and modern-looking interface, which in many respects looks similar to those of other IDEs. In this regard, most of the space is occupied by the code editor. Moreover, the availability of tabs helps you work on various parts of your project simultaneously. It is great that it can autocomplete code while you type, which makes programming more fluid. Besides, the tool lets you fold or unfold parts of the code to help you focus on the most important parts. In addition, the program comes with a built-in debugger to help you avoid predictable errors in your applications.
Fortunately, B4A also has a visual designer, in which you can place the graphic elements to control the look-and-feel of the APK. Conveniently, the tool lets you use multiple layouts according to the size and shape of the target screen, which depends on the kind of device. What is more, you do not need to do this by hand, since there are designer scripts to make the location and size of the graphic elements adapt to different screens. Finally, there is even a WYSIWYG designer that lets you preview what the application will look like.
To conclude, there is no doubt B4A is very convenient for those who are engaged in designing Android applications, which are becoming increasingly popular. The product is available in three different licenses: Standard, Enterprise and Site. It can also be purchased in bundles with other products by the same developer. Luckily, there is a trial version that works for 30 days but with limits to your project size.
v6.8 [Mar 2, 2017]
- CharSequence as internal type. Allows showing rich text in many places such as: Labels, toast messages, dialogs, ListView and others.
- CSBuilder - Simplifies the creation of rich text CharSequences.
- Added support for MultiDex - With MultiDex enabled there is no limit to the number of methods or fields. This issue is important for large projects that reference many third party libraries.
- OkHttp updated and is now based on OkHttp v3.50.
- Many improvements to B4A-Bridge.
- Find all references (F7) finds references in layout files and CallSub methods.
- Typeface.FONTAWESOME / MATERIALICONS constants.
- Icon picker - Filter field and icons tool tips.
- CallSubUtils is included as a library.
- Menu click event implementation changed to avoid issues with modal dialogs.
- Release and Debug compilation symbols are supported in the manifest editor and designer script.
- Export as zip keeps the original dates.
- Other minor improvements and bug fixes.
