first of all, you should look at how a client / server infrastructure is handled when using android.
you will need a PHP custom API that should give you the data in your desired format ( i reccomend json), and you should create your app in a way that the retrieval of the data runs smoothly and advising the user of the process, (optional: the progress), and the sucess of the retrieval.
please take a look at this website:
http://www.techrecite.com/how-to-create-json-using-data-from-mysql-database/
basically, the "schematic" of my recomended client - server app is this:
android:
- user enters activity.
- show a progressDialog so the user doesn't die expecting something to happen.
- using any http connection library ( i reccomend Android Async http) make a petition to "yourserver.com/yourapi.php?yourametres" and expect a response.
- parse the sucess data with a parser class ( transform it into a java object. GSON is a good library for doing that).
- Using Greenrobot's eventbus library, send the activity an event with the parsed data.
- update listview adapter / textviews / whatever with the recieved data, remove the progressDialog, and let the user have fun!.
hope it helps.
https://github.com/greenrobot/EventBus
http://loopj.com/android-async-http/
https://code.google.com/p/google-gson/