Android Studio is a powerful IDE for developing Android apps. You can use it to develop your app in Java, Kotlin, or C++, and it comes with a lot of built-in tools and features that make the coding process easier. However, if you’re like me and have used many different IDEs over the years, there are some tips and tricks that will help you get even more out of this toolset. In this article we’ll look at some tips that can make using Android Studio easier:
Find a shortcut key for every menu item
If you want to find a shortcut key for every menu item, right-click on the menu item and select ‘Show Shortcut’. Then press the shortcut key. For example, if you want to open/close a project window:
- Right click on ‘Project Window’
- Select ‘Show Shortcut’ (or press Ctrl+1)
Use the keyboard to navigate your code faster.
The keyboard is your friend. If you’re like me and use the keyboard to navigate your code, then here are a few tips for speeding up your workflow:
- Pressing Ctrl+O will open the file chooser in the editor window, allowing you to select any file from within your project. This shortcut works both when working on new files as well as selecting existing ones.
- Pressing Ctrl+S will save all unsaved changes in all open files. It’s also worth mentioning that this shortcut works even if there have been no recent changes made; it just saves everything anyway! This can be useful if you want to make sure everything is saved before closing or switching between projects (or simply because it’s faster than typing out “Save All”).
- To quickly jump back up one level in hierarchy while navigating through nested folders, use Alt-UpArrow or Alt-DownArrow keys instead of Backspace key which moves only one item at time instead of multiple levels deep into directories structure at once like those other two shortcuts do!
Run tests from the IDE.
You can run tests from the IDE, or you can use the command line and Gradle build.
Android Studio Windows has built-in support for running unit tests, so all you have to do is select an instrumented test class from the dropdown list on the left side of your editor window. You’ll see a new tab in your test runner that displays detailed information about each test case that ran successfully or failed during execution (see Figure 1).
Show the fast view panel in Android Studio.
- Select the fast view panel icon. The icon looks like a square with an arrow pointing down and to the right.
- Click the icon to show or hide the fast view panel, which displays a list of recent files you’ve worked on and lets you switch between them quickly without opening multiple windows or tabs in your IDE.
Configure your editor settings.
You can configure your editor settings to customize the code editor, project view and code completion. You can also use these settings to configure auto formatting of your source code files.
Use Colors and Fonts settings to personalize
You can also change the colors and fonts of your IDE. To do so, follow these steps:
- Click Edit in the main menu bar at the top of your screen to open the Settings window.
- Click General Settings on the left side of this window.
- In this section, use sliders or check boxes to choose what color scheme you want for various parts of Android Studio (for example, background color and font).
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve covered some of the most useful tips and tricks to help you get the most out of Android Studio Windows. We hope that these will make your development process easier and more efficient.