On my last post on the subject, Write your own Android Authenticator, we embarked on a journey to the unfamiliar part of authentication on Android. I received many positive responses about it from you all, and it seems I really helped a lot of people to get to know this feature well.
Since then, I had a lot of stuff going on in my life (getting married is one of them) which delayed the release of this obvious sequel. On this post, our journey continues to another not-well-documented area, which goes hand-in-hand with our own authenticator. It’s no other than the notorious SyncAdapter. I’ll show you how to make your app more efficient and robust when it comes to data synchronization, by using sync adapters. The web doesn’t have all the information I’d hope to find about it. I felt like I need to give this feature another one of my in-depth researches, see what this feature is all about, how it works, how to write one, and finally – report back.
In the screenshot: That’s how a sync adapter looks on the account screen, under the device’s Settings screen.
First, I’ll explain the benefits of the sync adapter. Then, how it works and after that how to build and monitor it. Finally, I’ll introduce the sample app I wrote, demonstrating how the sync adapter works, and also allowing you to play with its settings to learn from experience.
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