Top Mobile App Development Frameworks in 2023
Jessica is a millennial who wakes up every morning with her Apple Watch vibration and quickly order breakfast from the Uber Eats before rushing to work in an Easy Taxi. This is just a gist of a few morning hours of Jessica’s app-dependent life. Everyone like Jessica is using multiple mobile applications to make life easier.
Have you ever wondered what are the things used in making all such mobile applications that make your life much easier? From waking up in the morning till reaching office on time, everything happens over some finger taps on some beautiful mobile applications. These are known as location-based services apps that are driving the app generation today.
Behind the scene of such intrigue applications, there are thousands of mobile app development frameworks, which are striving to give you the best user experience at your fingertips. The mobile app development market is growing at a rate of CARG 23.80 during the forecast period (2022-2030).
Let’s understand some of the top mobile app development frameworks, which make app development simple:
Swiftic
Swiftic is one of the best mobile app development frameworks available in the iOS platform. It is featured with an easily navigable interface. Using Swiftic is a convenient option as you get 30 days money-back guarantee option for all its plans. Besides, it has another 6-months of success guarantee scheme. If you don’t get any result from it, 6-month service is free.
Some of the significant features are:
- Interesting push notification
- Become a loyal shopper with a loyalty card
- Build your mobile store
- In-app coupons
- Use scratch cards to win prizes
- Easy Communication
- Menu Ordering
- Customer Engagement
- App Promotion
- Social Media Feeds
- App Publication Assistance
- Advanced Analytics
- Third-party integration
Native Scripts
Native Scripts is an open-source framework to create native mobile applications empowered with Angular, Typescript, JavaScript, CSS, and Vue.js.
Native Script is a preferable framework to reduce the code and time of the app loads on the system.
Many leading companies love using Native Scripts for its strong web empowerment platform.
Some of the Native Scripts features are:
- Native user interface without WebViews
- Full direct access to Android iOS APIs
- Cross-platform application
- Mission-critical business support
- Robust backend support
React Native
React Native is the best JavaScript library to build native applications for all devices and platforms. With React Native, you can develop rich applications for both iOS and Android. It also allows creating platform-specific versions of various components allowing easy using of single codebase across various multiple platforms. This community-driven JS library was introduced by in 2018.
Some of the React Native features are:
- Low-code
- Compatible third-party plugins
- Declarative API for predictive UI
- Supports iOS and Android
Xamarin
Xamarin is one of the top mobile app development frameworks and it is.Net based. This native platform is introduced by Microsoft. Being a cross-platform and open source app building platform, Xamarin offers a development ecosystem with backend, API, components, etc. It is a.Net developer platform supported by various tools, libraries, and programming languages. With Xamarin developers, you can build native applications with the support of an active community for Android, tvOS, watchOS, iOS, macOS, and Windows.
Some of the Xamarin features are:
- A strong community of 60,000 contributors
- Versatile backend infrastructure
- Diagnostic tools
- Application loader
- Android SDK manager
- Storyboard files
- Google emulator manager
Ionic
Ionic helps you to build interactive hybrid and Progressive Web Applications along with cross-platform applications. This open-source framework offers premium services for creating applications. Ionic covers building applications for the web, Android, and iOS. Besides, while working in Ionic, you can constantly create applications and ship them to the deployable locations. Ionic Studio is the lightning version of Ionic and it is quite powerful. You can install it locally to have an easy visual development environment.
With its out of box features, ionic is always seen as ideal platform over the other mobile app development frameworks.
Some of the Ionic features are:
- Intuitive UI components
- Faster development time
- Powerful stable development platform
- Evergreen community of 5 Million developers
- Complete control over app building
Sencha Ext JS
Earlier known as Sencha, it was merged with Ext JS and now the new face is Sencha Ext JS. You can use this JavaScript framework for building data-intensive applications for the web as well as mobiles. It is also a cross-platform mobile development framework. Ext JS itself has more than 115 pre-integrated and high-performing UI components. Some of the components are HTML5 calendar, pivot grid, grids, trees, D3 adapter, lists, menus, forms, toolbars, Windows,panels, etc. And Sencha has around hundreds of user extensions.
Some of the Sencha Ext JS features are:
- Can manage millions of data
- Powerful analytics
- Flexible layout system
- Visual data representation
- State-of-the-art Data-Driven Documents package (D3)
Onsen UI
Onsen UI is recognized as the most powerful tool when it comes to crafting complex mobile applications. It builds brilliant HTML apps with JavaScript, HTML, CSS. It also supports the libraries like Angular JS1, Angular 2, React, and Vue. One thing that is applaud worthy of this platform is its competency to the app’s appearance depending on the platforms. For instance, if we wish to have a native look for iOS and Android, it utilizes the automatic styling on the UI components. Its rich set of UI components includes tabs, stack navigation, lists, forms, etc.
Some of its significant features are,
- Zero time set up
- Simple to use and easy to learn
- Time-effective and cost-effective development
Flutter
Flutter is a UI toolkit by Google help in building native applications for the web, mobile, and desktop. This UI toolkit is featured with fully customized widgets, which support to create native applications in a short period. Besides, the Flutter’s layered architecture ensures a faster rendering of components. Some of the striking Flutter features are:
- Built-in material design
- Built-in Cupertino (iOS-flavor) widgets
- Rich motion APIs
- Supports both iOS Android
- Strong widget support
- High-performance application
Corona
Note: Corona is now also referred as Solar2D
Corona is a cross-platform open-source development framework, which is suitable for building games and applications. It is also known as the 2D game engine. With Corona, you can make application for both mobile and desktop. This platform supports iPhone, iPad, tablets, Amazon Fire, Android phones, Mac Desktop, Windows Desktop, etc. Besides, you can build compatible applications for Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV.
Some of the striking Corona features are:
- Lua-based platform, a powerful lightweight scripting language for games
- Multiple plugins for all needs
- Strong API support to integrate with any native library
- Faster development process
- Exceeding 500,000 Corona developers
JQuery Mobile
JQuery Mobile is a user interface system based on HTML5. This web is touch-optimized and used to build highly responsive applications for smartphones, tablets as well as desktops. JQuery mobile has ThemeRollar offering highly customizable themes. Besides, this top mobile app development framework enables you to create highly branded websites.
- Built on JQuery Core
- Lightweight size
- Configured with HTML5
- Automatic initialization
- Powerful theming framework
- Simple API
Mobile Angular UI
The Mobile Angular UI is the magical fusion of HTML5, Bootstrap and Angular JS. If you already know Bootstrap and Angular JS, you can learn Mobile Angular UI in no time. This mobile UI framework offers the basic mobile development components that are missing from Bootstrap 3. Some of these components are overlays, switches, sidebars, scrollable areas, etc. The fastclick.js and overthrow.js are the prime libraries of Mobile Angular UI.
Some of the Mobile Angular UI features are:
- Build HTML5 hybrid desktop mobile apps
- No jQuery dependencies
- Build fully responsive interfaces with a super-small CSS file
Key Take Away:
After considering various factors like operating system, development time and much more, we have curated this list of top mobile app development frameworks.
From a single platform application to cross-platform application, mobile application development is evolving every day. With such evolution, the mobile development trends have witnessed a major paradigm shift in terms of code, script, platforms, integration, development method, and deployment. While we are getting into a hybrid, native, and progressing web applications, technologies like IoT, AI, ML, Blockchain are adapted to give the smartest, secure, and better user experience. It will be interesting to see how hybrid our applications will become with such fast-growing technology adaption.
Best 13 Android Frameworks for App Development in 2022
- Share:-
Table of Content
Ionic Android Framework
React Native Android Framework
Flutter Android Framework
Native Android Framework
Xamarin Android Framework
NativeScript Android Framework
jQuery Mobile Android Framework
Framework7 Android Framework
Corona SDK Android Framework
Appcelerator Titanium Android Framework
Phonegap Framework
Apps Builder
Sencha Touch
Android has its FOCUS on tablets, PCs, automobiles, gadgets, home appliances, and many more. All these things become available with the Android framework that enables app development for mobile use.
Android, the world’s most popular mobile Operating System (OS) is nowadays considered to be the best operating system for developing custom applications and it captures more than 87% of the market share and is projected to grow even more in 2022.
But with this comes the confusion in figuring out the right Android framework for app development. And yes, this is the reason you will find Android app developers often in a dilemma about which Android Platform they should continue with.
Therefore, to assist you in selecting the perfect framework for your projects, we made a list of the best Android UI frameworks that you may use for app development in 2021.
Let’s check out the list of top Android UI frameworks for App Development in 2021
What is Ionic Framework?
Ionic is an MIT-certified popular and powerful Android framework. It is free and open-source. It allows developers to use new era web technologies like CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript.
Who Should Use Ionic Development Framework?
The ionic development framework is built in such a way for developers to create mixed and interactive mobile applications. If you are aware of web development, the build of an Iconic app is easy to understand. Its quality set of elements, animations, software tools, and gestures allow you to develop high-quality desktop, mobile, and Progressive Web Apps from just a mere database.
The ionic framework easily integrates with other frameworks like AngularJS and utilizes functionalities like Bluetooth, Health Kit, and fingerprint authentication making the development of applications faster, lighter, easier, and accessible. This framework utilizes Cordova plugins and helps developers access various components including, GPS, in a simple way
Which Businesses Use the Ionic Framework?
Web Development Companies, startups, web development use Ionic. Till now 4 to 5 million Android app developers have used it in approx. 4 million Ionic Mobile, web apps, and desktops for growing start-ups, restaurants, travel companies, pharma sector, etc.
Ionic is a developer-friendly Android app development platform for developing cross-platform applications with one code for any device.
What is React Native?
React Native voted as the 8th most loved cross-platform Android framework garnering more than 60% of votes and it is also the third most wanted framework in a survey consisting of more than 90,000 developers. It is the growing platform currently boasting 68,690 stars on GitHub.
This platform was started in 2013 by as a hackathon Project. It was released as a free open source cross-platform development framework in 2015. This platform is regarded as one of the best open-source software for mobile development allowing developers to leverage React, a flexible JavaScript library to build mobile apps for both Android and iOS.
Who Should Use React Native Development Framework?
There are a lot of developers who use React Native Development Framework and have reported how this platform makes it much easier and faster to develop customized applications. This uses a native platform-specific built-in interface and APIs which gives mobile applications a unique look and feel with extraordinary performance.
React Native efficiently solves the important issues that developers come through like Codebase difference, Iteration period, Imperative Programming while making the customized code simple to reuse.
Which Businesses Use the React Native Framework?
If we look over the years, React Native gained a lot of importance and this is used in thousands of applications by a lot of companies including Instagram. Tesla, Intuit, Uber, Walmart, Bloomberg, and more.
React Native helps developers to reduce the time and costs of development. It is popular for native users’ interface access across platforms.
What is Flutter?
Flutter is a new platform amongst various others, and it has already made its place in Google Ads. This is a free open-source mobile UI SDK framework built and developed by Google for creating applications with varied approaches when compared to other Applications built on Android.
Developers around the world who want to grow successful in hybrid application development. Flutter is an Android framework that is already being used by a number of developers and companies across the globe. Developers say it is the best choice for hybrid app development. It uses one codebase and its application compiles to the native code using Skia, Google’s 2D rendering.
Flutter framework made cross-platform development easy by allowing developers to test, unit and functionality, UI without finding out errors. This framework holds a lot of benefits like quicker development, screen reader, rendering, and themes for Android, iOS, etc.
Which Businesses Use the Flutter Framework?
Flutter framework is a growing app development platform and a lot of known companies such as Alibaba, CapitalOne, Google, eBay, and Tencent use this framework for their development.
Flutter has the capability to develop amazing, fast, expressive quality native applications on iOS and Android with one codebase.
What is Native Android Framework?
Native Android development framework is a platform similar to others we’ve been discussing till now. This provides developers with API frameworks and tools to developers that are important to build, test, and debug apps on the Android platform.
Who Should Use Native Android Platform?
Developers who implement parts of the apps in native code with the use of C and C. The developers will be able to access the native libraries with their native code. The Native Android Game SDK gives game developers an unbelievable reach, more than 2.5 billion monthly active devices Android Platform.
Which Businesses Use the Native Android Framework?
Google, Slack, and Instacart are a few of the famous enterprises that use native Android SDK.
USP of Native Android Framework
The Native Android framework is a popular Android framework for application development. It provides the genius tools to develop creative applications and games for Android Devices.
What is Xamarin Framework?
Xamarin is also a framework for Android application development, and it must try the tool for developers. An Open-Source Platform for building applications for Android programming language, iOS, Windows with. NET.
In one of the surveys with React Native, Xamarin was voted as the 10th most famous framework for cross-platform app development and the 15th most loved Android framework. To my surprise, Xamarin developers do not dread too much.
It has a friendly development ambiance with an abstraction layer that manages communication between shared code with platform code. Xamarin allows you to develop apps, with shared UI code written in C# or XAML. Subsequently, it allows developers to write their business logic in a single codebase while achieving native performance.
Who Should Use Xamarin Development Framework?
Xamarin Development framework is basically for the developers who share the code and test business logic across multiple platforms.
Which Businesses Use the Xamarin Framework?
Developers like to work on Xamarin Framework, it is also trusted by the enterprise. Businesses across the globe, and industries, use Xamarin and.NET to build native mobile applications.
Xamarin is a popular and quite loved Android development framework for developers and businesses as it is free open-source, and cross-platform for building Android and iOS apps with.NET and C#.
Read our blog on 5 Android Frameworks Used for App Development in 2020
What is NativeScript SDK?
NativeScript SDK is another popular Android framework and a perfect choice if you want to improve your mobile app development. It is a great hybrid app framework. This framework is source of a Bulgarian Software company, Telerik and it is completely free. It provides developers an open-source platform for developing mobile applications with Vue.js, TypeScript, Angular, or JavaScript.
Who Should Use NativeScript?
The developers who want application development for various platforms in less time and at less cost than NativeScript is the right choice for them. This Android app framework works differently than React Native, Xamarin, Ionic, Cordova, and PhoneGap. NativeScript provides 100% direct access to all iOS and Android APIs and a chance to reuse CocoaPods and Android SDKs, find free templates, plugins, etc.
Which Businesses Use NativeScript Framework?
NativeScript is used by companies like Symantec, Xerox, Microsoft, Dell, etc. It is also the choice of thousands of developers who use it to develop cross-platform mobile applications, especially from B2B tech companies.
Native Script is a platform that gives developers whatever they need to develop a perfect native mobile app with TypeScript, Angular, Vue.js or JavaScript.
What is jQuery Mobile?
If you want users to be attracted to your application, then jQuery Mobile is an Android framework you need. It is an HTML5-based cross-platform development framework, jQuery Mobile gives developers the simplest ways to develop mobile and web applications.
Who Should Use jQuery Mobile?
Mobile developer who wants to develop high-quality mobile applications that will work on the latest smartphones, tablets as well as desktops. The jQuery builder comes with various plugins like Content-Slider, Pop-Up Boxes, Image Slider, etc that make the web pages easier, user-friendly, and interactive. JQuery Mobile is also accordant with platforms and mobile apps like PhoneGap, Work light, etc
Which Businesses Use jQuery Mobile?
Around 1146 companies like Accenture, Qlik, Cyta, Bukalapak, Yext, etc use jQuery Mobile for app development.
jQuery Mobile allows “write once, run anywhere”
What is Framework7?
This is the very new framework in the town. Framework7 a newbie completely featured an Android development platform. It is designed for developers to build iOS, Android, and Desktop Apps. This Android framework is a free open-source HTML framework associated with CSS and JS files.
Who Should Use Framework7?
It is said that for developers who are well versed with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript then Framework7 is an easy and right platform for them. Framework7 is not in tune with all platforms but it pays attention more to iOS, Google Material Design.
Which Businesses Use Framework7?
Here is the list of a few businesses that use Framework7 include Ultracode Systems, Ristoranti. it, etc.
Framework7 is designed in such a way that is completely free to use and provides a lot of predeveloped UIs. It can be used as a prototyping tool also.
What is Corona SDK Framework?
Corona SDK framework is a 2D mobile development platform. This framework is just like others is a free open-source platform. With this, developers develop games, applications for desktop, smartphones TV devices on a single code. It leverages Lua, a powerful, easy-to-learn and use, lightweight scripting language. Corona SDK framework is designed in such a way that it enables fast development of projects and publishes it to various platforms like tablets, phones, TVs.
Corona SDK is used rigorously by game developers, but Android developers also use it as it is known as a general-purpose Android development framework too. With this Android framework, creating games or business applications everything becomes easy to build. It enables the developers to see changes quickly.
If we dive deeper into this, then Corona SDK’s Android app development framework is based on Lua, which is easy to learn and fast to use.
Which Businesses Use the Corona SDK?
Corona SDK is used by companies like FunRun2, Angry Birds, Lost City, Civilization game, Hopiko, Warcraft, etc
Corona SDK’s approach is perfect for beginners. It is a platform for developing 3D and 2D games. This type of app framework enables 10 times faster development.
What is Appcelerator Titanium?
This Android framework is easy to understand and that is why 10% of the mobile phone apps are said to be running on Titanium. This platform uses JavaScript to write native code.
Who Should Use Appcelerator Titanium?
Appcelerator Titanium is a mobile development framework that provides all that is necessary to create great, mobile applications from one code. It also gives access to native APIs for operating systems.
USP of Appcelerator Titanium
Titanium allows you to write one codebase and use it to deploy to various OS just a few changes to tailor a specific platform.
Phonegap Framework
PhoneGap’s open-source mobile development framework allows you to use HTML, CSS and JavaScript to build mobile apps for the most popular platforms including iOS, Android, and Windows phones.
This app is one of the most comprehensive resources available in the market. If you plan to develop your first Android app or want to become a professional, you need to master this framework and this app will act as your guide.
Features of Phonegap:
- Develop an app without using the command line
- Instantly see the changes that you make
- No maintenance of native SDKs is required to make the app
- Rich library of plugins
- Helpful developer community
USP of Phonegap:
This Android framework lets you reuse existing web development skills to quickly create hybrid applications that can reach your audience irrespective of the device they use.
Apps Builder
App Builder is a cross-platform app creator for Android, iPhone, iPad, and HTML Web apps without any coding knowledge or needing to hire an Android mobile app development company. App Builder is a popular Android framework that has been built specifically keeping in mind the needs of non-technical professionals.
With an in-depth content management system, App Builder’s drag-and-drop features are highly intuitive, allowing everyone to create fast and easy mobile applications.
White label apps development features are now a trend from the time when it was perceived as an out-of-date phenomenon by businesses. White label apps development is a reliable option for both small and large scale businesses to reach out to their customers on their own terms.
Sencha Touch
Sencha Touch is the best Android framework for 2022 and the reason behind this denotation is the full-bodied data package, which we will get to in some time. Sencha is a framework that can be used both for individual applications in large organizations, where you might have a wide variety of apps for corporate communication, internal education and knowledge management, employee management, and providing assistance.
Sencha Touch is one of the best frameworks for mobile apps which is an advanced and highly customizable framework for building mobile applications. It was used by many well-known companies in their production.
Sencha Touch is used for creating an app with good performance, responsiveness, multilingual interface and also supports offline capabilities and synchronization.
Conclusion
So these were the top Android UI frameworks for building apps. Android frameworks are important tools for developing any mobile or web application. It must be kept in mind that each project or app has its own requirement and therefore the choice of the framework should also be made carefully.
It is said that the development platform can make or break your mobile app development experience, so make sure that it takes time and exploration before you finalize the best Android development frameworks.
essential skills for Android developers
Mobile apps have changed our way of life, from the way we run our businesses, educate, recreate and find entertainment! This has made mobile app development one of the most fascinating and coolest jobs around. Android is indeed the indisputable leader of global mobile market share. This market leadership implies high job security for Android developers.
As Android apps continue to connect people across the globe and enable users to engage in more innovative and interesting ways, a career in Android development has become ever more enriching, fulfilling and in demand to the global economy. To become a successful Android developer, you need to develop several skills and apply them at the right place and time to provide the best experience to your users.
Here are the 10 essential skills you need to succeed as an Android developer.
Android foundations
The most basic building block of Android development is a programming language. The most preferred languages to create Android apps are Kotlin and Java. You can use either Kotlin or Java—or even both at the same time—to develop apps. You need to be familiar with the core concepts of one or both of these two programming languages, including basics and syntaxes, collection framework, concurrency and multithreading, generics and functional programming.
To design layouts (user interface) in Android, we use XML. Much like HTML, XML is also a markup language and stands for eXtensible Markup Language. After creation of these XML Layouts, they are linked to Kotlin/Java files where business logic is written.
To design seamless XML layouts and write business logic in an integrated environment, there exists a handy tool known as Android Studio. Android Studio uses Gradle, an advanced build toolkit, to automate and manage your build process. To integrate Gradle in Android studio there exists a plugin known as the Android plugin for Gradle. Before you get started, you need to understand what Gradle is and how to use it specifically for managing external dependencies.
Gradle and Android plugin run independently of Android Studio. This means you can build your Android apps from within Android Studio, the command line on your machine, or on machines where Android Studio is not installed (such as continuous integration servers). If you are not using Android Studio, you can learn how to build and run your app from the command line.
Android interactivity
User interaction with Android apps should be considered with utmost priority. Responding to events by using callbacks, implementing appropriate gestures such as drag and drop, providing right keyboard for user input and using pan and zoom in the right place plays a crucial role in providing the seamless user experience. These are really small but very useful in improving user interaction. Above all, these user interactivity takes place in an Android component known as Activity.
An Activity is a single, focused thing that the user can do. Almost all Activities interact with the user, so the Activity class takes care of creating a window for you in which you can place your user interface.
The Android device comes with various screen configurations. Screen orientation is one of them. It can be either portrait or landscape. Each Activity can exist in either portrait or landscape mode. When the screen is rotated the current activity is destroyed and recreated in a new orientation. The stability of an Activity should always be maintained when screen orientation changes.
Android UI
An application is incomplete if it lacks modern UI. An application may contain useful functionalities, but if it fails to adapt to modern UI guidelines, then it is ultimately doomed to fail.
Using RecyclerView to implement lists and grids, using ConstraintLayout for designing complex layouts, applying animations to enhance user experience, using appropriate menus, following Material design guidelines and using vector drawables instead of raster graphics are a few of the basic rules that every developer must follow in their apps.
While designing layouts one must not forget to consider the multiple screen type devices. The same app should look different for different devices. For example, the screen on a tablet should show dual-pane layouts to effectively utilize a widescreen. While on a smartphone it should use single pane. This behavior can be achieved by using Fragments. Additionally, in several cases, you might need to customize Views that suit your need. This can be achieved by designing custom components for your Views.
Implementing navigation
Navigation refers to the interactions that allow users to navigate across, into and back out from the different pieces of content within your app. There are various UI elements that allow you to implement effective UI navigation.
The most basic one is the app bar which is popularly known as Toolbar. On your Toolbar, you can add a popup menu, menu icons and add a navigation drawer icon. This navigation drawer icon helps you to open and close the navigation drawer which is another element to implement effective navigation. The navigation drawer allows you to add additional menu items which can help you to swap fragments in your current Activity or perform some other relevant actions.
Another navigation element is a BottomNavigationView which allows you to switch between different Fragments in the same Activity by using tabs at the bottom of the screen. If you need to use tabs attached to the Toolbar and swipe between Fragments (different pages), then ViewPager should be your choice.
User intention is the most important aspect of navigation. The user might want to launch new Activity, move back to the previous Activity or even share data to some other app. These intentions can be achieved by using Intents in Android. If you know your target Activity use Explicit Intent otherwise use Implicit Intents. You are always allowed to configure your intents.
Above all, Android Jetpack’s Navigation component helps you implement navigation, from simple button clicks to more complex patterns, such as app bars and the navigation drawer. You might want to take a look at this component before you start implementing navigation in Android.
Android testing
Users interact with your app on a variety of levels, from pressing a Submit button to downloading information onto their device. Accordingly, you should test a variety of use cases and interactions as you iteratively develop your app. The most commonly used testing libraries are Expresso, Junit, Mockito, Robolectric and UI Automator.
Working with data
Data is an important part of your application and must not be ignored. You may need to fetch data from the server, query data from the local database, save user preferences and do file handling.
To use local database, use Room database, which is the part of Android Jetpack’s architecture component. You might want to share your database outside your app securely using ContentProvider.
To save a small amount of data such as key-value pairs or typed objects you can use Jetpack’s DataStore, which uses Kotlin coroutines and Flow to store data.
If you want to bind your UI components in your layouts to a datsource in your app using a declarative format, use Data Binding Library.
To handle files in your app, you can take advantage of massive file system APIs provided to you.
Above all, to access the data over network (i.e. while consuming REST APIs), use Retrofit 2 library, which is a blessing from Jake Wharton to all Android developers.
Notifications
Notifications are one of the best ways to increase user engagement. It appears outside of your app’s UI to provide the user with reminders, communication from other people or other timely information from your app. Users can tap the notification to open your app or take an action directly from the notification. You can create a notification, customize its layout, add action to it and even group multiple Notifications using Notification channels.
Firebase on Android
If you hate being a backend developer, Firebase on Android is the way for you. Firebase is a mobile platform that helps you quickly develop high-quality apps, grow your user base and earn more money. Firebase provides several utility features to make the life of an Android developer easy.
To make your app visible in Google search you can use Firebase App Indexing API. You can use Cloud storage and Cloud firestore to store data in your server. If you need to automatically run backend code in response to events triggered by Firebase features and HTTPS requests, use Cloud Functions. Next is the Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) that lets you push notifications to your clients. Using FCM, you can notify a client app that new email or other data is available to sync. Use Firebase Crashlytics, which is a lightweight, real-time crash reporter that helps you prioritize and fix stability issues. If you have ever used deep links in your app, try Dynamic links. With Dynamic Links, your users get the best available experience for the platform they open your link on.
You might want to take a look at other Firebase features, such as Firebase Invites, Firebase Performance Monitoring, Firebase Remote Config, Remote Config and A/B Testing.
Android security
Android has built-in security features that significantly reduce the frequency and impact of application security issues. You can protect the user’s privacy by using permissions. Share data securely by using signature-based permissions. Handle data security by using internal storage, external storage and ContentProviders very cautiously. By default, never export your Android component, such as ContentProvider, Service or BroadcastReceiver, unless you need to.
Android has limited the capability of WebView to minimum functionality to avoid web security issues such as cross-site scripting (JavaScript injection). But still you need to be cautious and minimize the frequency of asking your user’s credential. Instead, use an authorization token and refresh it at regular intervals.
Git: Version control system
Git is free and open-source software used for version control. Git lets you experiment with new application features and coding techniques with confidence. You can work on new crazy ideas for your project while your previous working copy stays safe and secure. The moment you may realize you are evolving your project in the wrong direction, you can restore your previous version, hassle-free and course correct.
As the world moves ever more into the mobile landscape, Android app developers can be sure to find an audience for their creations, or bring great value to companies in need of mobile app development skills.
See how your Android developer skills stack up—and where you need to FOCUS. Get your Role IQ.
About the author
Sriyank Siddhartha is a passionate software developer and loves to share his knowledge through his blogs and video courses. He follows share and gain principle which led him to publish many courses online. Though he has a deep love for Android he also specializes in other mobile app platforms such as iOS and also web development frameworks such as Laravel. He started his journey of sharing knowledge by holding hands-on workshops in various top level Indian Institutes such as NITs and IITs which eventually made him the speaker of one of the Google Developers Groups India which further supported his workshops in many more institutions. Currently Sriyank is working as freelance software developer and a proud online trainer. Apart from this, he loves to travel and explore new places.
Creating a new Android app? Top 5 Android framework to ensure mega-success
The usage and popularity of the Android operating system are right now unstoppable: There are more than 6.6 billion smartphones in use as of 2022, and a record 1.4 billion new smartphones are being shipped every year.
For these smartphone users, there are 2.56 million Android apps in usage, and this is just the start.
Content-hungry consumers are demanding better, more realistic, and more powerful Android apps, and there is a huge demand for them, globally.
Around 400 billion app downloads are happening every year, and on average, a smartphone user spends 2.3 hours daily on mobile apps.
The numbers speak for themselves: If you have a good, creative, useful Android app that solves smartphone users’ problems, the sky’s the limit. People need information, data, entertainment, ideas, friendship, and more via apps, and this is the best time to launch a new Android app and grab a pie of this ever-burgeoning market.
If you are planning to launch a new Android app, then you must select a good framework for creating the app and ensure consistent performance.
Before we share the top 5 Android platforms for apps, let’s first understand what exactly is a framework?
What is a Framework?
While developing any mobile application, be it on Android or iOS, or hybrid, we need a platform, which provides templates, components, and a structure for the application. This is the framework we are talking about, that helps the developers to get a layout, a canvas for the app development.
Applying codes across various modules, testing them, and enhancing them form the core objectives and purpose of application frameworks.
Depending on the usage of the app, there are three types of frameworks: Native, Hybrid, and Web. While native frameworks are dedicated to one particular environment, say Android or iOS; hybrid framework supports both Android and iOS apps. Web frameworks are only for creating web-based applications.
Top 5 Android Frameworks
Here are the top 5 Android frameworks, which are popular due to their functionalities and features.
React Native
Developed by. React Native is right now one of the most popular frameworks that support both Android and iOS operating systems. Based on Javascript, React Native is a hybrid or cross-platform framework, and this is one of the primary reasons for its popularity.
first developed React, which is a library for the web interface, while React Native is a full-fledged framework for mobile apps. Some of the biggest tech companies such as Uber, Instagram, Oculus, Coinbase, etc are right now using React Native for their mobile apps.
- One single code base can be used for creating mobile apps for different operating systems
- It has Live Reload, to view the changes made in real-time, as soon as they are implemented Modular programming, that makes it easy to integrate updates
- Being Open-Source, help, and assistance can be easily received and given
Flutter
Hosted by Google, Flutter is one of the most popular mobile app frameworks, which is based on Dart, an open-source software development platform.
Flutter was launched in 2017, but within 5 years, around 42% of mobile developers are using Flutter for creating their mobile apps.
Within Flutter, there is a widget group called Material Design, which uses Google design for Android apps, and there is Cupertino, that’s mainly used for iOS designs.
- Its extremely fast and swift, and will take half of the time needed for creating mobile apps
- It’s a cross-platform mobile app development framework, which supports both Android and iOS environments
- Hot-reload feature, that enables you to see the changes, without even restarting the application
- Complex widgets and functionalities can be easily incorporated
Ionic
Ionic is a popular, and widely used framework for mobile apps, that incubates HTML, CSS, Angular, and JavaScript functions, combined into one common platform. Launched in 2013, Ionic supports applications that can be run on Android, iOS, and Windows devices.
There are more than 5 million developers, who are using Ionic and they have launched more than 5 million mobile apps across all mobile operating systems.
- Ionic can be seamlessly integrated with Angular, React, Vue or can be used without any framework as well
- There are tons of easy to use UI components such as cards, buttons, pop-ups, lists, segments, input fields
- With LiveReload, the developer can view the modifications instantly
- Tons of different plugins are available for supporting different functionalities
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology has certified this framework
Xamarin
Xamarin is a popular and extremely flexible framework, that can be used by those who are experts in C# language, and it can be deployed to leverage the power of Objective-C, Java, C, and C libraries to maximum usage.
With Xamarin, we can use one code-base for business logic, that can be used across different mobile apps, with different user interfaces.
- Supports cross-platform application development, thus, one code for Android, iOS operating systems
- Visual Studio can be used for both Mac and Windows environments
- For Android, Java and Android SDKs need to be installed
- High-quality UI and UX, which gives a Native look and feel
- Has over 40 cross-platform layouts, for different devices
- One single API can be used for different mobile platforms
NativeScript
NativeScript is one of the most popular frameworks for native app development, which provides the user with a hardcore native experience, despite being a cross-platform framework.
Since it supports technologies such as JavaScript, Angular, and TypeScript, this framework brings the advantage of object-oriented programming capabilities, and this changes everything.
- With NativeScript Playground, developers can create simple apps without installing any SDK
- Provides numerous plugins and templates to make the development process faster, seamless
- It provides access to all Android and iOS APIs
- It can be adapted to different use cases, without any hassles
- Employes popular technologies, which makes the task of developer super easy, and fast
If you are keen to know more about Android and cross-platform mobile frameworks and wish to launch a new mobile app by using them, then we at TechAhead can help you right away. Get in touch with our Android app development company and ensure the mega-success of your new application.
What Is an Android App Developer? Your 2023 Career Guide
With a career as an Android app developer, you can create mobile apps that are used on Android smartphones, tablets, and more. Discover the possibilities in this guide.
Whether for fun, work, or productivity, we depend upon our phones to help us with our daily activities. We use applications on our smartphones for everything from ordering dinner, creating documents, and even watching movies—and more apps get developed every day.
As an Android app developer, you can create apps used on Android devices. Apps have turned mobile devices into handheld computers and transformed the way people interact. As an Android app developer, you could be part of this mobile revolution by creating apps that are relied upon by smartphone users everywhere.
An Android app developer is an entry-level position, but certain skills are required to obtain this kind of job. For starters, you’ll need an understanding of programming languages to create the code behind an app. We’ll explore these, along with other skills needed to pursue this career.
Android programming languages
One of the most notable skills of an Android app developer is their knowledge of different programming languages used to develop apps. Here’s a look at some of the programming languages that mobile app developers use:
Java
For a long time, Java was the official programming language of Android apps. While the preferred language has changed to Kotlin, Java is still a popular language choice of many developers. However, the language is complex and has a high learning curve for beginners.
Due to the popularity of this language, there’s a good support community to help developers troubleshoot problems, and it is widely supported by Google’s Play Store.
Kotlin
Google declared Kotlin the preferred language of Android apps in 2019. Kotlin is an easier language to learn than Java, as it doesn’t have as much complexity or as many nuances, making it easier for developers to pick up.
Dart
Dart is an up-and-coming language created by Google. The purpose of Dart is to create apps in less time with more built-in features and easy-to-design graphics. This language tends to FOCUS on the user experience too. With the end-user considered during the development, apps tend to be more user-friendly.
C
C is still used, but not as an app’s main programming language. Some developers like to use it to build certain pieces of an app, but combining it with other languages can create bugs. While budding developers should be aware of this language, other languages will likely take priority.
A day in the life of an Android app developer
As an Android developer, you’ll likely spend time collaborating with colleagues, writing code, troubleshooting tech problems, and working to improve applications. specifically, daily duties might include:
What skills are needed to become an Android app developer?
If becoming an Android app developer sounds like a good career fit for you, here’s a look at the skills you should work to acquire:
Programming languages
It’s advantageous to be proficient in two programming languages, like Java and Kotlin, as you’ll use these languages to write code that makes an app function. You’ll likely need to take classes to obtain this technical skill.
Additional software knowledge
It’s a good idea to be familiar with the Android Development Kit, which is Google’s app developer toolkit. Also, knowing SDL, a program designed to manage and store data is helpful. Developers should also review the Material Design Guidelines set by Google. These guidelines must be met for an app to appear in the Google Play Store.
Strong communication skills
Developing an app is a team effort. Depending upon where you work, you might work with other colleagues or clients to build an app. The ability to listen and respond to a person’s needs might seem simple, but it’s a vital part of building an app efficiently.
Attention to detail
As a developer, you’ll write hundreds of lines of code. It’s a skill that requires attention to detail. If a character or letter is off, the code won’t work. Attention to detail will ensure your code is well-written and ready to test.
Ability to adapt
The world of mobile apps is constantly changing. New programming languages can emerge, standards might change, and software will evolve. An app developer must be able to adapt.
Android apps that are popular right now
If you’re considering a job in this field, you might be curious about the apps created by today’s developers. There are a staggering 2.65 million Android apps to choose from in the Google Play Store [1].
As you research this career field, you might consider downloading a few of these apps to explore their navigation, aesthetics, and user experience. Here’s a snapshot of some of the most popular Android apps:
LastPass
This Android app is a password manager that offers cross-platform support so people can use it with their smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
Podcast Addict
This handy app provides a searchable database for podcasts. Aside from searching for shows, users can also create playlists, download episodes, and receive reminders when a new show drops.
1Weather
1Weather is a weather app with a simple, clean design that provides everything from the forecast to fun weather facts.
Microsoft SwiftKey
This app creates a more user-friendly keyboard on a smartphone or tablet and gives users the ability to customize it. Users can add a number row or a space for emojis, for example.
Google Drive
File sharing and collaboration have become an everyday necessity, which is probably why the Google Drive app is so popular. It makes reading documents easy on a small screen.
What is a typical salary for an Android app developer?
The average salary for an Android app developer will vary based on the company, location, and job duties. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), software developers earn an average annual salary of 109,020 [2].
According to Glassdoor, an Android app developer in the US earns an average base salary of 76,922 [3].
What is the job outlook for Android app developers?
With a growing reliance on mobile devices, it’s not surprising to see a promising job outlook for app developers. Jobs growth in software development is expected to grow 25 percent by 2031. According to the BLS, an estimated 411,400 jobs will be added to the economy in this field [2].
How to start learning Android app development
If you’re ready to dive into the world of Android app development, you need to build the skills necessary to apply for a job. As with most jobs, there isn’t one specific path to take.
You might consider getting a bachelor’s degree in software development, mobile application development, mobile computing, or a similar program. As you look through job advertisements, you’ll notice that many of them do ask for a four-year degree.
However, you can also consider taking courses in Android app development at your own pace. Coursera partners with many schools and universities to offer online classes and specializations that can help build skills for this career choice.
Get started in Android app development
If you want to pursue a career as an Android App developer, consider learning the basics of developing an app, programming fundamentals in Kotlin, and principles of UI/UI design with Meta’s Android Developer Professional Certificate
To hone these skills, there are many different paths but there are online courses, like those offered on Coursera, that can help you get started.
