Feedews | Android Universal RSS News App Template

Introduction

Are you interested in creating an Android app that aggregates news from various sources? Do you want to build a simple yet powerful RSS reader app? Look no further! The Feedews | Android Universal RSS News App Template is a comprehensive template designed to help you create a professional-grade RSS news reader app for Android devices. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of setting up and customizing the template to create a fully functional news app.

What is Feedews?

Feedews is an open-source Android template designed specifically for building RSS news reader apps. It is a universal template, meaning it can be used to create apps for various niches, such as news, sports, entertainment, and more. The template is built on top of the Android Architecture Components and is designed to be easy to use, customize, and maintain.

Features of Feedews

The Feedews template comes with a range of features that make it an ideal choice for building a news app. Some of the key features include:

• RSS feed support: Feedews supports RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 feeds, making it easy to integrate feeds from various sources.
• Customizable layout: The template comes with a flexible layout that can be easily customized to fit your app's design and branding.
• Offline support: Feedews allows users to download articles for offline reading, making it perfect for apps that require internet connectivity.
• Customizable article format: The template provides options for customizing the article format, including font sizes, colors, and images.
• Support for multimedia content: Feedews supports multimedia content, including images, videos, and audio files.

Getting Started with Feedews

Before we dive into the tutorial, make sure you have the following requirements:

• Android Studio 3.0 or later
• Java or Kotlin programming language
• Basic knowledge of Android app development

To get started with Feedews, follow these steps:

1. Download the Feedews template from the GitHub repository.
2. Open the project in Android Studio.
3. Review the project structure and familiarize yourself with the different folders and files.
4. Start with the tutorial below to learn how to use the template and customize it to your needs.

Tutorial: Setting Up and Customizing Feedews

In this tutorial, we will cover the following topics:

1. Setting up the project
2. Configuring the RSS feed
3. Customizing the layout
4. Adding article formats
5. Supporting offline reading
6. Adding multimedia content
7. Customizing the app's branding

Let's get started!

Setting up the project

1. Open the project in Android Studio and navigate to the app folder.
2. Create a new directory called feeds and add your RSS feeds to it. For example, you can add a feed called news.xml with the following code:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   <rss version="2.0">
   <channel>
       <title>News Feed</title>
       <link>https://www.example.com</link>
       <description>News feed for example.com</description>
       <language>en-US</language>
       <copyright>Copyright 2023</copyright>
       <image>
           <title>News Feed</title>
           <url>https://www.example.com/logo.png</url>
       </image>
       <item>
           <title>News article 1</title>
           <link>https://www.example.com/article1</link>
           <description>This is a sample news article.</description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 21 Feb 2023 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
       </item>
       <item>
           <title>News article 2</title>
           <link>https://www.example.com/article2</link>
           <description>This is another sample news article.</description>
           <pubDate>Tue, 22 Feb 2023 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
       </item>
   </channel>
   </rss>

3. In the app folder, create a new file called FeedewsApplication.java and add the following code:

   
   package com.example.feedews;

import android.app.Application;

public class FeedewsApplication extends Application { @Override public void onCreate() { super.onCreate(); // Initialize the RSS feed RSSFeed feed = new RSSFeed(); feed.loadFeed("feeds/news.xml"); } }

4. In the `build.gradle` file, add the following code to the `dependencies` section:
```groovy
dependencies {
    implementation 'com.example.feedews:feedews:1.0'
}

Configuring the RSS feed

1. In the FeedewsApplication.java file, update the loadFeed() method to load the RSS feed from the feeds directory:

   feed.loadFeed(getAssets().open("feeds/news.xml"));

2. In the RSSFeed.java file, update the loadFeed() method to parse the RSS feed:

   public void loadFeed(InputStream inputStream) {
   XmlPullParser parser = Xml.newPullParser();
   parser.setInput(inputStream, null);
   parser.nextTag(); // Skip the RSS tag
   parser.nextTag(); // Skip the channel tag
   while (parser.nextTag()!= XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT) {
       if (parser.getName().equals("item")) {
           // Parse the item tag
           String title = parser.getAttributeValue(null, "title");
           String link = parser.getAttributeValue(null, "link");
           String description = parser.nextText();
           // Add the item to the list
           items.add(new FeedItem(title, link, description));
       }
   }
   }

   Customizing the layout

3. In the activity_main.xml file, update the layout to include a RecyclerView for displaying the articles:

   
   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   android:layout_width="match_parent"
   android:layout_height="match_parent"
   android:orientation="vertical">
   
   <androidx.recyclerview.widget.RecyclerView
       android:id="@+id/recycler_view"
       android:layout_width="match_parent"
       android:layout_height="match_parent" />

2. In the `FeedewsAdapter.java` file, update the adapter to display the articles in the `RecyclerView`:
```java
public class FeedewsAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<FeedewsAdapter.ViewHolder> {
    private List<FeedItem> items;

    public FeedewsAdapter(List<FeedItem> items) {
        this.items = items;
    }

    @Override
    public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
        View view = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(R.layout.item_article, parent, false);
        return new ViewHolder(view);
    }

    @Override
    public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int position) {
        FeedItem item = items.get(position);
        holder.titleTextView.setText(item.getTitle());
        holder.descriptionTextView.setText(item.getDescription());
    }

    @Override
    public int getItemCount() {
        return items.size();
    }

    public class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
        TextView titleTextView;
        TextView descriptionTextView;

        public ViewHolder(View itemView) {
            super(itemView);
            titleTextView = itemView.findViewById(R.id.title_text_view);
            descriptionTextView = itemView.findViewById(R.id.description_text_view);
        }
    }
}

Adding article formats

1. In the item_article.xml file, update the layout to include a TextView for the title and a TextView for the description:

   
   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   android:layout_width="match_parent"
   android:layout_height="wrap_content"
   android:orientation="vertical">
   
   <TextView
       android:id="@+id/title_text_view"
       android:layout_width="match_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:textSize="18sp"
       android:textStyle="bold" />
   
   <TextView
       android:id="@+id/description_text_view"
       android:layout_width="match_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:textSize="14sp" />

2. In the `FeedewsAdapter.java` file, update the adapter to use the custom article format:
```java
@Override
public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int position) {
    FeedItem item = items.get(position);
    holder.titleTextView.setText(item.getTitle());
    holder.descriptionTextView.setText(item.getDescription());
}

Supporting offline reading

1. In the FeedewsApplication.java file, update the loadFeed() method to store the RSS feed in a database:

   public void loadFeed(InputStream inputStream) {
   // Parse the RSS feed
   //...
   // Store the feed in a database
   SQLiteOpenHelper helper = new SQLiteOpenHelper(this, "feeds.db", null, 1);
   SQLiteDatabase database = helper.getWritableDatabase();
   database.execSQL("CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS feeds (_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, title TEXT, link TEXT, description TEXT)");
   database.execSQL("INSERT INTO feeds (title, link, description) VALUES ('" + title + "', '" + link + "', '" + description + "')");
   database.close();
   }

2. In the FeedewsAdapter.java file, update the adapter to load the RSS feed from the database:

   public class FeedewsAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<FeedewsAdapter.ViewHolder> {
   private List<FeedItem> items;
   
   public FeedewsAdapter(List<FeedItem> items) {
       this.items = items;
   }
   
   @Override
   public ViewHolder onCreateViewHolder(ViewGroup parent, int viewType) {
       View view = LayoutInflater.from(parent.getContext()).inflate(R.layout.item_article, parent, false);
       return new ViewHolder(view);
   }
   
   @Override
   public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int position) {
       FeedItem item = items.get(position);
       holder.titleTextView.setText(item.getTitle());
       holder.descriptionTextView.setText(item.getDescription());
   }
   
   @Override
   public int getItemCount() {
       return items.size();
   }
   
   public class ViewHolder extends RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
       TextView titleTextView;
       TextView descriptionTextView;
   
       public ViewHolder(View itemView) {
           super(itemView);
           titleTextView = itemView.findViewById(R.id.title_text_view);
           descriptionTextView = itemView.findViewById(R.id.description_text_view);
       }
   }
   }

   Adding multimedia content

3. In the item_article.xml file, update the layout to include a ImageView for displaying images:

   
   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   android:layout_width="match_parent"
   android:layout_height="wrap_content"
   android:orientation="vertical">
   
   <TextView
       android:id="@+id/title_text_view"
       android:layout_width="match_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:textSize="18sp"
       android:textStyle="bold" />
   
   <ImageView
       android:id="@+id/image_view"
       android:layout_width="match_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:scaleType="centerCrop" />
   
   <TextView
       android:id="@+id/description_text_view"
       android:layout_width="match_parent"
       android:layout_height="wrap_content"
       android:textSize="14sp" />

2. In the `FeedewsAdapter.java` file, update the adapter to display images:
```java
@Override
public void onBindViewHolder(ViewHolder holder, int position) {
    FeedItem item = items.get(position);
    holder.titleTextView.setText(item.getTitle());
    holder.descriptionTextView.setText(item.getDescription());
    // Display the image
    if (item.getImage()!= null) {
        holder.imageView.setImageBitmap(item.getImage());
    }
}

Customizing the app's branding

1. In the styles.xml file, update the app's theme to match your desired branding:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <resources>
   <style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
       <!-- Customize your app's theme here -->
       <item name="colorPrimary">@color/colorPrimary</item>
       <item name="colorPrimaryDark">@color/colorPrimaryDark</item>
       <item name="colorAccent">@color/colorAccent</item>
   </style>
   </resources>

2. In the colors.xml file, update the app's colors to match your desired branding:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <resources>
   <color name="colorPrimary">#2196F3</color>
   <color name="colorPrimaryDark">#1976D2</color>
   <color name="colorAccent">#FF4081</color>
   </resources>

   That's it! You have now successfully set up and customized the Feedews | Android Universal RSS News App Template. You can run the app on a physical device or emulator to test its functionality.

Remember to replace the placeholder values in the template with your own values, such as the RSS feed URL, article titles, and descriptions. You can also customize the app's layout, colors, and branding to match your desired design.

We hope you found this tutorial helpful! If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to ask.