Adam Stroud has long been one of RunKeeper’s most avid Phandroids, so we wanted to let him give you an inside look at what’s been happening in the development process for Android 3.0: 

We’re excited over at RunKeeper about the fast-approaching release of our 3.0 app for Android! This update includes a major visual redesign and long-requested new features, but it also reflects a refreshed thinking in how we build the Android experience at RunKeeper.

During the development process, we took the opportunity to not only rethink how our app looks, but also to rethink how we deliver it to our users. An important trait of any quality app is providing the user with an experience that they are familiar with. While refreshing each and every screen in our app, we took special care to ensure that the RunKeeper experience is in line with the overall Android user experience. Ensuring that we comply with Android design principles allows us to give our app its unique identity while presenting a feel that is still intuitive to the user.

We also continued giving the app a more modern Android look. We started this process with the previous release with the addition of the action bar. RunKeeper 3.0 adds “swipeable” tabs and Google Play in-app payment, alongside other tweaks. We also developed an internal component library that is heavily influenced by Android design best practices. This gives the user a look and feel that is more consistent with other high-quality Android apps. We feel this provides a better overall experience for our users.

While thinking about how to refresh RunKeeper, it became clear we were under utilizing the Android theme framework. With RunKeeper 3.0, we totally re-engineered our in-app theming to create a user experience that is not only consistent throughout the app, but also allows us to easily modify the look of the app in the future. These updates addressed the immediate consistency problems while also providing flexibility for future development. This was a major improvement over earlier releases, and creates a strong foundation for us to efficiently add on new features this year.

RunKeeper 3.0 was a large undertaking, but it was truly a labor of love. We are proud of what we have created and hope that the RunKeeper Android users will be as excited about the update as we are. If you’d like to test the beta build in the meantime; it is available here.  

By Adam Stroud
Lead Android Developer at RunKeeper