 Open Project on GitHub (Source Code)

Everest brings you all the necessary features of a web browser which only one could imagine. Everest is a web browser for all Android devices which simplifies and enhances the web browsing experience.

Everest is my third android application which I have developed to build on my knowledge and thought it would be interesting to create because it would rather complement my web development projects as form of showing my other work (web content/ website).

Brief Overview of my Android Development Journey (projects)

My first Android application was a string to the binary converter which allows the user to input string do words and on submit the application will display the binary number for each word individually.

My second application was a number guessing game, in which user guesses the correct random number and they would be redirected to another activity if the guess is correct. It wouldn’t be right to call this a game without an element of gamification, so I also implemented a scoring system and hints to improve usability. For this application I learnt advantages of linear layout and how to save the UI state with ‘onSaveInstance’ and how to prevent losing information when the screen is rotated.

Features (Getting Started FAQ)

How to open Everest Web Browsing App on an Android device?

Once the user has installed the application (APK file), the user should be able to press Everest Web Browser icon in the app drawer on open the application or by tapping any hyperlink external to the link which starts with HTTP or HTTPS.

What is the default webpage?

By default, the web browser will load https://www.google.com, but that can be changed in the settings, or if an external link is pressed, the browser will load the hyperlink webpage page on load.

Can I google search in the search bar?

Yes, by inputting any text which does not start with https or http or any other active website URL (e.g.
nike.com), the text in the input search field would be converted into a google search. Some mathematical equations may not work.

Features (App Navigation)

App Bar

1. Title of app (Everest) and on load any site on ‘webView’ the title will be set to the title of the webpage (e.g. www.google.com title would be ‘Google’).
2. Search icon.
• Tap the search icon so a search field would appear.
• Input the URL to load the webpage or search the query/ text to view google search. The enter button on the keyboard must be pressed.
• If the X (cross icon) is pressed once, the edit text field input is cleared.
• The second time the X is press, this will exit the search field to show the full app bar again.
3. Go back button. Allows the user to return to the previous series of the web page for the current tab.
4. Favourite icon.
• If the icon is pressed, this will add the page to list of favourites.
• If the icon is pressed again on the same web page on the same tab, this will remove the web page from the list of favourites.
5. Tab icon (Plus with two-layer sheets). When the user presses on the tab function, a new tab is created and stored in the list.

App Menu


User Guide for the Everest Web Browser app menu.
6. Overflow menu. On press the following option will appear.
Forward (7), Current tabs (8), Favourite List (9), History list (10), settings (11), share link (12)*.
7. Forward allows user revisit to the web page for the tab after the go back button has been pressed.
8. Current tabs display the web title of all the last web pages of the active tabs. For example, when the user presses the tab icon. This will store the title and URL in a list so that the user can revisit the page.

Current Tab list (Similar to history and favourites list )
• The user can press a row to view the site or press the remove button and press to row to delete the row from records. There is also a return button to go back to last visit web page.
9. Favourite List displays the title and links of all the links which the user has favourited.
• The Favourite List has the same functionalities as the current tabs display has, such as the open view, remove and return.
10. History list displays all visited web pages regardless of the change in tabs. It records the time by the hour, minutes, seconds and the URL.
• The History List has the same functionalities as the current tabs display has, such as the open view, remove and return.
11. Settings currently have two functions. Setting the default webpage and clear all which deletes the history list and favourites.

Basic Settings for the Everest Web Browser

Share link

The user can also share the current webpage URL with anyone on most messaging applicatiosn such as Whatsapp, Message (SMS app) and email.

Device Orientation

Android application is based on the 'Activity Lifecycle' and every time the device orientation changes, the application will restart unless the state of the application has been saved. As I have programmed the app to save the state, this enables the device to change orientation without losing the information such as the current webpage and will successfully reload the webpage.

reflection

Overall, I gained a comprehensive understanding of the WebView class, Android App bar with a search bar, intents, layouts, listeners, custom list and layout versus activity. I am very pleased with this project and without a doubt this has been one of my greatest challenges from an IT perspective. Even after several months, I am using this as my main web browser on my smartphone, this because it is user friendly, has a aesthetically pleasing effect and simple UI as of the fully integrated app bar. I one day hope to be a successful mobile application developer and create application that one could only imagine and makes our life’s easier.

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 Open Project on GitHub (Source Code)