Android provides a rich application framework that allows you to build innovative apps and games for mobile devices in a Java language environment. The documents listed in the left navigation provide details about how to build apps using Android’s various APIs.

Android apps are built as a combination of distinct components that can be invoked individually. For instance, an individual activity provides a single screen for a user interface, and a service independently performs work in the background.

From one component you can start another component using an intent. You can even start a component in a different app, such as an activity in a maps app to show an address. This model provides multiple entry points for a single app and allows any app to behave as a user’s “default” for an action that other apps may invoke.