Chances are if you are an Android developer there are a bunch of really amazing features hiding in Android Studio that you have probably yet to discover. I am definitely not the exception to that and yesterday I stumbled upon (/took the time to understand) a few features that have so far made my life much easier. These features are Bookmarks and Favorites.
Conceptually these are about the most basic features that we could possibly ask for and are pretty self-explanatory. Besides the fact that it is painfully obvious what the features do, I was also frustratingly upset with myself because of where these features are located, which is in the Tool Buttons bar on the left side of Android Studio. These features weren't even hiding from me but staring me right in the face.
Favorites
So as I said before the Bookmarks and Favorites features are embarrassingly easy to understand. Favorites can be made of any file, from Java classes to XML resources and everything in between. To add the current file you are on to Favorites you can simply press (⌥⇧f) or you can right click on any tab and then click on Add to Favorites. You will probably need to create a new Favorite list or if you have any other lists already created you can easily add to them. I have found that it is helpful to name Favorite lists after tickets I have worked on or keywords so that I can easily find them.
Speaking of finding Favorites there are numerous ways you can get to the Favorites menu. The easiest way by pressing (⌘2) otherwise you can look on the Tool buttons bar (on the left hand side of the screen) and find the vertical Favorites tab. Note: If you are in Distraction Free mode you can easily show the side bars by pressing (⌘) two times. Also this view is searchable so if you start typing while you have something selected in that view it will start searching all of your Favorites and Bookmarks.
Bookmarks
Bookmarks are a bit more specific than Favorites. Bookmarks are done per line and can be created by pressing (fn F3) which will visually put a check next to the line, similarly to debug break points. You can as well have mnemonic bookmarks, by pressing (fn ⌥ F3) which in essence allows you to swap the checkmark out for number 0-9 or character A-Z. It's important to note that you can't reuse mnemonics. As well another difference from Favorites is the ability to give Bookmarks descriptions. Simply navigate to the Favorites tab on the Tool Buttons bar and right click on any Bookmark and select Edit Description.
There you have it a great way to create and organize Favorites and Bookmarks without cluttering up your IDE with tabs.
TL;DR
Favorites and Bookmarks are possible in AS and amazing!
Favorites
- Add (⌥⇧f) or right click on tab
- View/Edit/Remove Favorites (⌘2)
Bookmarks
- Add/Remove Bookmark (fnF3)
- Add/Remove mnemonic Bookmark (fn⌥F3)
- View/Edit/Remove Bookmarks (⌘2)
