Android App To Browse A Website

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Introduction

This is a tutorial for developing a simple Web Browser App for a particular website in Android OS. To understand this tutorial, you will need to have some basic knowledge about programming in Java. The goal of this tutorial is to teach you how to make Loader Dialog Boxes and create Instances to load URL in your Android app.

Background

To start developing your own Android apps, you need a SDK. I used Eclipse SDK.

Using the Code

Let's see what is in the code! I have pasted the full JAVA source code of MainActivity here.

package com.androidexample.webview;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.app.ProgressDialog;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.webkit.WebView;
import android.webkit.WebViewClient;

public class ShowWebView extends Activity {

    //private Button button;
    private WebView webView;
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.show_web_view);
        
        //Get webview 
        webView = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.webView1);
        
        startWebView("http://www.hearthackertips.weebly.com");        
    }
    
    private void startWebView(String url) {
        
        //Create new webview Client to show progress dialog
        //When opening a url or click on link
        
        webView.setWebViewClient(new WebViewClient() {      
            ProgressDialog progressDialog;
         
            //If you will not use this method URL links are open in new browser not in webview
            public boolean shouldOverrideUrlLoading(WebView view, String url) {              
                view.loadUrl(url);
                return true;
            }
       
            //Show loader on URL load
            public void onLoadResource (WebView view, String url) {
                if (progressDialog == null) {
                    // in standard case YourActivity.this
                    progressDialog = new ProgressDialog(ShowWebView.this);
                    progressDialog.setMessage("Loading..Have Patience Buddy!!");
                    progressDialog.show();
                }
            }
            public void onPageFinished(WebView view, String url) {
                try{
                if (progressDialog.isShowing()) {
                    progressDialog.dismiss();
                    progressDialog = null;
                }
                }catch(Exception exception){
                    exception.printStackTrace();
                }
            }            
        }); 
         
         // Javascript enabled on webview  
        webView.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(true); 
                   
        //Load url in webview
        webView.loadUrl(url);       
    }
    
    // Open previous opened link from history on webview when back button pressed    
    
    // Detect when the back button is pressed
    public void onBackPressed(WebView view, String url) 
    {
        ProgressDialog progressDialog1;
        
        if(webView.canGoBack()) 
        {
            webView.goBack();
        }
        else 
        {
            // Let the system handle the back button
            super.onBackPressed();
        }
    }
}

I hope my code is self explanatory. I have written the purpose of most functions in the comments.

You can see that Android app developing isn't too hard. With some practice, you can develop your Android dream apps.

At the end of the tutorial, I would like to thank you for your attention. This is my first article and I would be really glad if you give me any feedback.

Points of Interest

• Previously some sites were unable to load. It was rectified by enabling JavaScript on webView.
• I didn't include any Exit Button. Instead I made a function to Respond to Back Button for step wise Exit from App.
• You can make mobile app for any site by replacing the URL in:
  Java

  "startWebView("http://www.hearthackertips.weebly.com");"

History

• 15^th April, 2014 - Article initiated