How To Create A Simple Web Browsing App For Android?

Did you know that you can create a basic web browsing android app for your website with just a few lines of code? Web browsing Android apps are great if you have a nice website and you want to make your brand’s application with just a minimal amount of code. At the same time, it is a great way to learn more about Android application development, and it doesn't require a background in application development. So, in this tutorial, I will teach you how to create a basic web browsing app of your own!

Before moving on with this tutorial you should know, how to set up the SDK and must have understanding of creating a basic Android app. Here's what we've covered so far on the subject. Just bear with this tutorial, and if you have difficulty understanding a concept, then you can go back to any one of these previous tutorials.

Part 1: How To Set up the Android SDK for App Development?

Part 2: Create Your First "Hello World" Android App

Alright, let’s move on with the tutorial!

Creating a web browsing App for Android

Step 1: Create a new Android Application project

Using Eclipse create a new Android application project (“WebBrowsingApp”). For this tutorial I have selected API 16 (Jelly Bean).

Step 2: Edit activity_main.xml

Open “activity_main.xml” and add the following code:

<WebView  xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@+id/webview"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
/>

Step 3: Edit AndroidManifest.xml

Open “AndroidManifest.xml” and add the following code, after manifest tag:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

Basically we’ve provided internet access to our application.

Step 4: Edit MainActivity.java

Finally edit “MainActivity.java”. Copy the following libraries:

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.annotation.SuppressLint;
import android.app.Activity;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.webkit.WebView;
import android.webkit.WebViewClient;

Now, overwrite the “public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu)” function with:

@SuppressLint("SetJavaScriptEnabled") @Override
public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
// Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if it is present.
        getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.activity_main, menu);
   
        WebView myWebView = (WebView) findViewById(R.id.webview);
        myWebView.setWebViewClient(new WebViewClient());
        myWebView.loadUrl("http://www.mybloggertricks.com");
          return true;
    }

Your MainActivity.java class should look like this;

Step 5: Execute

Now, it’s time to run our newly created web browsing app. Right click Project, and select Run as->Android application. It should look something like this.

Pretty simple, right? You can add more functionality, and deliver your content in a much more optimized fashion to make your app much more mobile user-friendly.