Google preps developers for Ice Cream Sandwich with Activities

Activities and Fragments. Get used to that vocabulary, Android developers. The Android Developers Blog has released a post suggesting that Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), the next version of the Android OS, is coming soon.

Sure, we already knew that ICS was on the way, more than likely showing its face sometime in the next month.  But, there is nothing like an official post from Google to show that the release is imminent.

The blog post didn't reveal any juicy information or leak any release dates, but it did outline just how Google plans on ensuring Android works just as well on larger tablet devices as it does on phones; and it really comes down to Activities and Fragments.

Activities are basically screens.  So, one screen on a phone is one Activity.  One screen on a tablet is still just one Activity.  Fragments however are how Android begins to incorporate differentiation between screen sizes.  A phone may show you a Fragment (ie. in Gmail, your list of emails) on one screen/Activity.  A tablet would be able to show you that same Fragment in a side panel, while simultaneously showing you the contents of the message in a second Fragment.  So, on a tablet you could see multiple Fragments in one Activity, while on the phone it's usually one Fragment per Activity.  Confused?  Look at this graphic which may clarify things a bit.

Google has also shown how their ActionBar can adapt itself depending on the screen size as long as developers are diligent in their coding.  Google has integrated flexibility so that a tablet can show menu items and tabs along the top bar, while phones can continue to use the menu button and tabs as it does currently; all without having to re-code an app.

There's probably a lot more to come when the SDK is finally released, but at least Google is having some fun in their naming policies.  They can't be oblivious to the fact that they are trying to solve their fragmentation issues with these new Fragments…can they?

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