path: root/docs/html/tools/studio/studio-features.jd

page.title=Features
page.metaDescription=Learn about the Android Studio features.
page.tags=studio, features
@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper">
<div id="qv">

    <h2>In this document</h2>
    <ol>
      <li><a href="#trans-editor">Translations Editor</a></li>
      <li><a href="#git-samples">Android Code Samples on GitHub</a></li>
      <li><a href="#template-support">Expanded Template and Form Factor Support</a></li>
      <li><a href="#project-settings">Android Studio and Project Settings</a></li>
      <li><a href="#finger-print">Fingerprint Support</a></li>
      <li><a href="#support-apis">Editor Support for the Latest Android APIs</a></li>
      <li><a href="#test-module">Test APK Module</a></li>
    </ol>

  <h2>See also</h2>
  <ol>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}tools/workflow/index.html">Workflow</a></li>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing/studio-build.html">Build System</a></li>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing/studio-tips.html">Android Studio Tip & Tricks</a></li>
  </ol>

</div>
</div>


<p>If you're new to Android Studio or exploring recent updates, this
page provides an introduction to some key Android Studio features.</p>

<p>For specific Android Studio how-to documentation, see the pages in the <a href=
"{@docRoot}tools/workflow/index.html">Workflow</a> section, such as
<a href="{@docRoot}sdk/installing/create-project.html">Managing Projects from Android Studio</a>
and
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/building/building-studio.html">Building and Running from Android Studio</a>. </p>



<h2 id="trans-editor">Translations Editor</h2>
<p>Multi-language support is enhanced with the Translations Editor plugin so you can easily add
a variety of locales to the app's translation file. With
<a href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/bcp47">BCP 47</a> support, the editor combines language and
region codes into a single selection for targeted localizations. Color codes indicate whether a
locale is complete or still missing string translations. </p>

<p>To access the Translations Editor, open a <code>strings.xml</code> file and click the
<strong>Open Editor</strong> link, or click the globe icon
(<img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/studio-globe-icon.png" style="vertical-align:bottom;margin:0;height:19px" />) in the Design layout view.  </p>


    <img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/studio-translationeditoropen.png" />
    <p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 1.</strong> Add locales and strings in the
    Translations Editor.</p>



<h2 id="git-samples">Android Code Samples on GitHub</h2>
<p>Clicking <strong>Import Samples</strong> from the <strong>File</strong> menu or <em>Welcome</em>
page provides seamless access to Google code samples on GitHub.</p>
    <p><img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/studio-samples-githubaccess.png" /></p>
    <p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 2.</strong> Get code samples from GitHub.</p>


    <p><img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/studio-sample-in-editor.png" /></p>
    <p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 3.</strong> Imported code sample.</p>



<h2 id="template-support">Expanded Template and Form Factor Support</h2>
<p>Android Studio supports templates for Google Services and expands the available device
types. </p>

    <h4> Android Wear and TV support</h4>
    <p>For easy cross-platform development, the Project Wizard provides templates for
    creating your apps for Android Wear and TV. </p>
    <p><img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/studio-tvwearsupport.png"  />

      <p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 4.</strong> Supported form factors.</p>
    <p>During app creation, the Project Wizard also displays an API Level dialog to help you choose
    the best <em>minSdkVersion</em> for your project.</p>


    <h4> Google App Engine integration (Google Cloud Platform/Messaging)</h4>
    <p>Quick cloud integration. Using Google App Engine to connect to the Google cloud
    and create a cloud end-point is as easy as selecting <em>File > New Module > App Engine Java
    Servlet Module</em> and specifying the module, package, and client names. </p>
    <p><img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/studio-cloudmodule.png" /></p>
    <p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 5</strong> Google App Engine integration.</p>


<h2 id="project-settings">Android Studio and Project Settings</h2>
<p>Android Studio provides setting dialogs so you can manage the most important Android Studio and
project settings from the <strong>File &gt; Project Structure</strong> and
<strong>File &gt; Settings</strong> menus. For example, you can use the
<strong>File &gt; Project Structure</strong> menu or
the <code>build.gradle</code> file to update your <code>productFlavor</code> settings.
Additional settings from the <strong>File &gt; Project Structure</strong> menus include:
<ul>
 <li>SDK and JDK location </li>
 <li>SDK version </li>
 <li>Gradle and Android Plugin for Gradle versions </li>
 <li>Build tools version </li>
 <li>Multidex setting</li>
 <li><code>buildTypes</code> </li>
 <li>Dependencies </li>
</ul>
</p>

<p>Use the <strong>File &gt; Settings</strong> menu to modify the Android Studio or project
behavior, such a UI themes, system settings, and version control. </p>



<h2 id="finger-print">Fingerprint Support</h2>
<p>Android Studio provides the {@code finger} command, allowing you to simulate, and thus validate,
fingerprint authentication for your app. After you set up your app to accept
<a href="https://developer.android.com/preview/api-overview.html#authentication">fingerprint
authentication</a>, your emulator or device should display the fingerprint authentication screen,
as shown below. </p>

    <p><img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/studio-fingerprint.png" /></p>
    <p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 6</strong> Fingerprint authentication.</p>

<p>Open a terminal session, and telnet to the emulator. For example:</p>
<pre>
{@code telnet localhost 5554}
</pre>

<p>Enter the <code>finger</code> command to simulate finger touch and removal: </p>

<ul>
   <li><code>finger touch &lt;fingerprint-id&gt;</code> to simulate a finger touching the sensor</li>
   <li><code>finger remove</code> to simulate finger removal </li>
</ul>

<p>Your app should respond as if a user touched, and then removed their finger from, the
fingerprint sensor. </p>


<h2 id="support-apis">Editor Support for the Latest Android APIs</h2>
<p>Android Studio supports the
<a href="{@docRoot}design/material/index.html">Material Design</a></li> themes, widgets, and
graphics, such as shadow layers and API version rendering (showing the layout across different
UI versions). Also, the drawable XML tags and attributes, such as <code>&lt;ripple&gt;</code>
and <code>&lt;animated-selector&gt;</code>, are supported.</p>



<h2 id="test-module">Test APK Module</h2>
<p>Android Studio supports adding a separate <code>test</code> module to your app so you can
generate a test APK. This <code>test</code> module resides at the same level as your app and
contains: the tests and instrumentation used to run the test APK on an Android device; an
<code>Android Manifest.xml</code> file for test APK configuration settings; and, a
<code>build.gradle</code> file for build settings.</p>

<p>The <code>test</code> module cannot contain a <code>src/androidTest/</code> folder and does
not support build variants. If you have different product flavors in your main application APK,
create a different test module for each build variant.</p>


<p>To create a test APK module:

<ul>
  <li>Use the <strong>File &gt; New &gt; Module</strong> menu option to create a
    <code>test</code> module consisting of the following directories and files:
    <ul>
      <li><code>./test/</code> </li>
      <li><code>./test/build.gradle</code> </li>
      <li><code>./test/src/main/java/com/android/tests/basic/MainTest.java</code> </li>
      <li><code>./test/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml</code> </li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>In the <code>build.gradle</code> file, add the required properties to the
    <code>android</code> block.
    <ul>
      <li><code>targetProjectPath ':&lt;app name&gt;'</code> specifies the main application APK
        to test. </li>
      <li><code>targetVariant ':&lt;buildType&gt;'</code> specifies the target build type.</li>
    </ul>
    <p>Here is an example of <code>build.gradle</code> file property settings: </p>

<pre>
android {
    compileSdkVersion 19
    buildToolsVersion = ‘21.1.3’

    targetProjectPath ':app'
    targetVariant 'debug'
}
</pre>
  </li>
  <li>Define the instrumentation entries in the manifest file.
    <p>Here is an example of <code>&lt;instrumentation&gt;</code> settings in the manifest file: </p>

<pre>
&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?&gt;
&lt;manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      package="com.android.tests.basic.test"&gt;

      &lt;uses-sdk android:minSdkVersion="16" android:targetSdkVersion="16" /&gt;

      &lt;application>
            &gt;uses-library android:name="android.test.runner" /&gt;
      &lt;/application>

      &lt;instrumentation android:name="android.test.InstrumentationTestRunner"
                       android:targetPackage="com.android.tests.basic"
                       android:handleProfiling="false"
                       android:functionalTest="false"
                       android:label="Tests for com.android.tests.basic"/&gt;
&lt;/manifest&lt;
</pre>

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> The <code>targetPackage</code> in the instrumentation
settings specifies the package of the test variant. </p>

   </li>
   <li>In the <code>build.gradle</code> file for the tested app, include additional artifacts
     that the test APK requires, such as the <code> classes.jar</code> file, by adding the
     {@code publishNonDefault} property to the {@code Android} block, and assigning that property
     a value of {@code true}.
     <p>Here is an example of the <code>build.gradle</code> file that includes additional
     artifacts: </p></li>
<pre>
android {
    compileSdkVersion 19
    buildToolsVersion = ‘21.1.3’

    publishNonDefault true
}
</pre>
 </li>
</ul>


<p>In the {@code test} module in this example, the {@code build.gradle} file specifies the
properties for the project path and target build type variant. </p>

    <p><img src="{@docRoot}images/tools/studio-test-module.png" /></p>
    <p class="img-caption"><strong>Figure 3.</strong> Test module for APK testing.</p>


<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> By default, the test module's build variant uses the
<code>debug</code> build type. You can configure additional build types using the
<code>testBuildType</code> property in the <code>defaultConfig</code> block in the main
app's <code>build.gradle</code> file. </p>