Using this shield is a breeze, there are lots of tutorials and sample codes. The advantage of this shield over others is "possible remapping of pins connected to the Bluetooth module", so if you are using another shield that uses pins you can choose other pins than the pins usually used to prefer a soft serial use. For example 0 and 1 of your Arduino or even to put two Bluetooth shields on your Arduino so that it can communicate with two different systems, for example your phone and another Arduino! You don't need to know how to build your Android app to communicate with an Arduino over Bluetooth. Indeed there are many downloadable apps compatible with this Bluetooth shield. Technical specifications: Microprocessor: CSR BC417 PCB Size: 53.3mm X 47mm X 1.6mm Indicator LED: power supply, status Power supply: 5V communication protocol: UART/Bluetooth 2.0 RoSH: yes