One more thing, doing your margin, font and asset sizes in multiples of 4 really helps (you'll notice this a lot in the google design guidelines) - that way you don't get weird numbers when you convert to DP, or when creating assets for multiple densities.

I'd suggest designing at xhdpi - similar to designing for iPhone 4/5/6 as they are around the same density (my canvas is always 720x1280 for phones). When you are speccing redlines it's very similar in concept to iOS - take your measurements and half them to get DP.

In regards to creating assets I suggest doing them at 4 densities : HDPI, XHDPI, XXHDPI and XXXHDPI. Creating XXXHDPI assets will futureproof your app for all the new android devices coming out. I wouldn't bother with mdpi assets as MDPI devices are pretty rare these days and if someone is using one the system will take the HDPI assets and scale them down. I recommend using this chrome plugin for finding out the sizes you need to create assets at : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dpi-calculator/dldofgjemhkpilajnlenfijjpkabilcg

Hope this helps :)

It's a great time to start designing for Android! We finally have a comprehensive set of guidelines for designing for Android which can be found at http://www.google.com/design/

Another great starting point is the Android Design in Action youtube videos by Nick Butcher, Adam Koch and Roman Nurik, although the majority of them don't cover material design they are great at explaining Android best practices https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWz5rJ2EKKc8j2B95zGMb8muZvrIy-wcF

Finally, join the Android App Design community on Google Plus https://plus.google.com/u/1/communities/116667001535376136065

Good luck and have fun!

Shazam is hiring in our London Offices:

Senior iOS Designer, Senior Web Designer Digital Visual Designer - Marketing

http://www.shazam.com/careers

Now is the perfect time to start learning to design for Android, as of 2 weeks ago we finally have a comprehensive set of guidelines! : http://www.google.com/design/

Android Design in Action is a very informative monthly look into various aspects of Android Design, from the guys at google : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWz5rJ2EKKc8j2B95zGMb8muZvrIy-wcF

Always good for quick reference : http://developer.android.com/design/index.html

Get an Android phone, use it lots, install DevAppsDirect which provides you with demos of the open source Android Libraries out there.

We do it by hand at Beamly, any automated stuff usually comes out fuzzy like @Stammy mentioned.

Shake to flip the camera - Ridiculous idea!

Say I'm riding my bike down the street and out of nowhere comes a monkey dressed as Miley Cyrus riding an elephant. Wow, I really need to get a photo of this, open oSnap, get the photo composition perfect and...BAM! I hit a bump in the road... All I get is a selfie of my startled face and no proof that this incredible act ever happened.

Ridiculous example for a ridiculous idea.

I'm learning the basics of Android development with the help of my developer co-workers. The idea being that if the developers can do the hardcore stuff and dump a messy but functioning UI I can go in and polish the XML files.

This way they get more time concentrating on the engineering of the app and I get to polish the UI, something I find v satisfying.

Doing this also allows you to see how the app is really put together. I've learnt that it's not as straight forward as specifying definitive measurement as you do in your specs, you have to take into account lot's of other factors such as embedded text padding. I believe having this knowledge make you a better, more efficient designer, plus you'll probably get kudos from the engineering team for putting in the extra effort!