It’s no big secret that sometimes developers can create apps that aren’t as consistent with the intended Google design look and feel as we’d like.  And so in moving forward, Matias Duarte, Director of Android User Experience, announced way back at CES that there were official Android design guidelines coming.  The effort is to assist developers in creating applications that are more consistent with the look and feel of the flourishing OS. It was already a pretty comprehensive guide however, Google has incorporated a little more detail today, primarily on how devs should and should not use the settings menu.  They’re making attempts to lure devs away from the temptation of wanting to make everything a setting.  To combat the effort, Google has provided a helpful and intuitive flowchart to assist with questions like “is it actually a user preference?”.  Should the answer be no, then they’re persuaded not to make it a setting.  In addition, the search giant has added new guidelines for navigating around the OS, mainly in how one enters an app through a widget or via the notification menu.  There’s a ton of detail here altogether and it’s a great read.  If you’re interested in learning more, head on over to Roman Nurik’s Google + page, an Android dev advocate working at Google.

source: Roman Nurik G+