Best Android equivalent for iOS Tab Bar Controller

I'm about to start porting an existing iPhone app to Android. The iPhone app's navigation is based on a UITabBarController, with a separate view controller for each of the 5 functions of the app.

I've never programmed an Android before, never owned an An开发者_高级运维droid before, heck, never even used an Android before for more than a minute at a time.

So what's the most intuitive way to redesign the UI? How would the majority of Android users expect the application to work?

Is there some equivalent of a UITabBarController that's widely used on Android? If not, how intuitive would it be to present a simple list of app functions in a "master" activity, then open up a new activity for each function when the user clicks on it, and rely on them hitting the "back" button to go back to the master activity?

Thanks, -Numegil

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Use a TabHost

And buy an Android / borrow one from a friend.

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Also consider using a TabBar in iOS and using the options menu in Android. So in Android the user pushes/taps the menu button and can navigate from the pop up options menu. In iOS, I have a tab bar for the same navigation choices at the bottom of the screen.

So when the use hits the back button you return from the selected options screen to the Main screen in Android.

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TabHost is the tab equivalent. If you have some dough, buy a cheap Android tablet (I have a Cruz Velocity T301 from Radio Shack - $150) to use for dev work.

Otherwise use the built in emulator. It's slow, but you can use it to develop for multiple screen sizes.

If you dev in Eclipse, get used to setting up different Debug configs or the Run configs for the different screen sizes. Best book I've found for getting you up to speed quick is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Android-Application-Development-Dummies-Felker/dp/047077018X

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According to iOS guidelines the tab bar controller should be used for navigating between separate sections of your app (flat navigation structure). The Android equivalent for this is the navigation drawer. For an example, compare the Apple Music app on iOS with Apple Music for Android. Do not use tabs for navigation between sections of your app. Use tabs only for switching views on the same screen.