Android App Development Tips for Beginners & Experts

Android is the leading app development platform out there, with a whopping 87 percent sharing in the market, as in 2019.

With billions of people using Android phones globally, the demand for Android mobile apps is now more than ever, which is the reason why a lot of developers are showing interest in Android app development.

But having an interest in Android development and being able to build a feature-rich app that people actually want to use are two different things. In order to make your app stand out from the competition, it’s important that you understand the user requirements and have the ability to build an app accordingly. Not sure how?

Whether you’re an app development beginner or an expert developer looking to hone your app development skills, this article is for you. Today, we will talk about the tips to develop better apps that are free of errors and really useful for the end-user.

Android App Development Tips for Beginners

If you’re just starting out in the app development industry and looking for a quick route to success, let me tell you there isn’t one. Only through hard work and dedication, you can turn yourself into a great app developer. Here are some tips to help you along.

1) Learn the language

The first step to Android app development is having a good knowledge of the programming language in which you want to build your mobile app. Java, C++, Kotlin, C#, Python, etc. are some of the most commonly used languages for Android development. Each of these programming languages has their pros and cons, so you need to choose the one that best fits your goals and your ability to learn.

Java, being the official Android development language, is the best platform to learn and develop high-end Android applications.

2) Android Development Platform & Tools

Once you have acquired a good enough understanding of the programming language, the next step is to identify and learn a good Android development platform.

Android Studio by Google is by far the most used and popular IDE (Integrated Design Environment) for Android app development. It was launched in 2015 and replaced Eclipse for building Android apps.

Since Android Studio is the official Android IDE by Google, it has the best tools for faster and feature-rich app development, testing, debugging, code development & editing, and deploying. Moreover, it is updated regularly with new & advanced features.

3) Android SDK

In addition to Android Studio, Android SDK is another important tool you’ll need in order to start developing apps for Android devices.

It has a range of developer tools, API libraries, documentation, tutorials, etc. to help speed up the development and testing process.

Now that we have discussed everything you’ll need to get started with Android app development, let’s discuss the essential components to develop in an Android app.

4) Activity & Fragment

An Android Activity is one screen consisting of user controls for an Android app’s interface. It’s like Windows for a desktop app, which is the first thing we encounter when trying to open the app. An Android app may have one or more Activities.

A Fragment is a component of Activity that may be shared between multiple activities, Same as Activity, Fragment also holds controls to let users interact with the app.

5) Database

Database is another crucial part of any mobile application. For Android apps, SQLite is the most popular database used to store offline data.

As an open-source database system, SQLite supports a range of features such as SQL syntax, transactions, and more. The database supports all standard data types including text, numbers and integer.

6. Threads

Threads are used for background tasks. It allows the app to perform prescribed tasks in the background while the user is interacting with the app interface.

Threads are responsible to handle background tasks that are crucial for smooth operating of the app but don’t need to interact with the users. Also, to handle heavy tasks in the background so that users can continue enjoying a smooth experience, threads are used.

7) Search Google for Features to Add in Your App

A large number of users take the help of search engines to find answers to their coding questions, tutorials and other help during the development process.

Google is a vast hub of knowledge, where you can find answers to almost anything, given that you enter the right search query. For example, when you’re looking to build a specific feature like payments in your app, you can search Google for “top payment APIs for Android app”, or “how to integrate payments to your Android app”.

On the other hand, if you’re a hire expert dedicated android App developer and looking to refine your skills, here are a few tips that can help.

8) Optimize Bitmaps

Bitmaps are how images are shown in an Android app. Your goal should be to use a high-definition image that is fast to load and doesn’t create a lot of weight on the app. It can be achieved by optimizing your bitmaps.

An untidy bitmap can make your app load slow and performance sluggish, as it may consume significant device memory. Here are a few things you can do to make the bitmap more efficient.

Make sure that the local images are small in size.
Use vector images as and when possible.
Use caching to make network images load faster.
Use RecyclerView to load images in reduced size, as needed.

9) Building Universal Android Apps

Even if you’re building an app only for Android OS, you must know that Android devices come in a variety of configurations and sizes. So, your app needs to be able to adapt to all types of screens.

In other words, your app must be responsive and designed to work across all Android devices, screen sizes, languages, and OS versions. To achieve this, you can consider using separate layouts for different devices and ensure consistent density across all the devices.

10) Continued Testing

To ensure your app works seamlessly and is free of bugs and errors, you must test the app multiple times throughout the development process.

Besides testing all the units separately, it is crucial to test the final product in both real and simulated environments and remove the bugs as and when found. For large scale applications, it also helps to write Testcases so that the specific part/module of the app can be tested after a change is made.

With over 10 years of best experience in Android app development for enterprises & small businesses, SAG IPL is the best-choice Android development company based in India. We build apps for Android and iOS devices as well as write and share tutorials with those looking to enhance their own app development skills.