In XCode, conversely, I drag and drop with abandon and glee. I have it on good authority that I am not alone in this. I’m sure it’s theoretically possible but every time I’ve tried, I’ve gotten so frustrated that I’ve just given up and written raw XML layout files instead. And even when it fails to be helpful, it rarely actually gets in my way - something which, as far as I can tell, is Android Studio’s fundamental core competency.įor instance: I have never actually succeeded at using its visual tools to lay out elements on a screen.

All my phones since have also been Android: Galaxy S2, Nexus 4, Moto X and my shiny new Pixel.īut, I also write iOS and tvOS apps and despite my abstract disapproval of Apple’s hegemonic attitude toward software, whenever I launch its IDE XCode, I breathe a little easier.

I’ve been writing Android apps, both professionally and for fun, since 2009, when I first bought an HTC Magic. All my own smartphones have been Androids. Let me hasten to stress that I’m not an OS partisan, or, to the extent that I am, I’m inclined toward Google. About twice a year, I get involved in a project that requires me to do some Android development so, about twice a year, I re-launch Google’s so-called integrated development environment, Android Studio, with fingers crossed… and twice a year I find myself wincing with bitter disappointment, as I rediscover that it still has all the elegant, intuitive simplicity of a Rube Goldberg machine.

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