Android is a hot topic these days. And Android app development has caught the frenzy of young developers. Apart from being one of the most popular operating systems on the mobile device, phones, and tablets, it is an open source software, which means anyone can download, use and develop with it free of cost. Most young developers go the freelance way after an Android app development training and use Google Play Store as a launching pad for their apps. This may be a good idea, given the subscription charge is minimum and payable only once. However, most people overlook certain critical aspects while launching their apps. Below, we have discussed some of the important points to keep in mind while starting off as an app developer.
Make use of Android open-source libraries
If you encounter a hurdle while developing your app, and if that has been solved by someone else before you, why not use that? You can save yourself a lot of time and focus more on the core business logic of your app. If you want to make network calls in your app, you don’t need to make a Retrofit yourself. It is always good practice to make use of Android open source libraries. Doing everything yourself will cost you a hefty chunk of your time and brain-power. Make the most of other people’s research. Android Arsenal keeps a database of almost all Android libraries.
Choose libraries wisely
In continuation of the above point, there are lots of open-source libraries available in Github for your use and they usually don’t charge much. But having said that, do not use these libraries blindly. Check up on the reviews they have received - the more the merrier. All libraries cannot be trusted. It is best to go for the tried and tested ones. Check up on the author of that library and it might lead you to some other popular libraries as well. Check the issues (both open and closed), which can give you a better idea of how robust and stable the library is in production. And if time permits, check the code too to ensure that the code you are going to use is reliable, bug-free and of high-quality. Try out any library hosted directly from the command line using Dryrun.
Write more Code
writing, and not reading, the code will get you ahead in life. This is one of the primary things to understand during your Android training. And if you are not already doing it, start immediately. I cannot stress enough the importance of this. Passive reproduction of code will not get you anywhere. You can enhance your knowledge by writing something you do not know already. Get creative and push the envelope. Android offers you the benefit of being a completely open-source platform. Tap into its potential and check how the framework has been implemented.
Maintain proper coding standards
If coding can be compared with writing, then coding standards are your handwriting. Nd unless you are a doctor or chemist, no one wants to read sloppy handwriting. Your code should be easily readable in the same way you read other people’s code. An elaborate and jumbled code is of little help because at the end of the day your work is not yours alone. This takes up an all-new importance if you are working in an organization and collaborating with other developers heavily. Write short, crisp and clean code that people can enjoy. Seasoned developers can tell stories through code.
Better secure than sorry
Play store is a commendable launching pad for most Android enthusiasts, but in a word of caution - always take security measure before launching your app on Play store. Never commit the folly of releasing your app on the Play Store without using ProGuard or DexGuard. ProGuard not only minifies but it obfuscates your code, making it harder for reverse-engineers to understand, replicate and manipulate it. As an added advantage, It is absolutely free and comes as a part and parcel of the Android SDK. it is just a matter of time before a hacker comes along and sabotages your efforts on the app you so lovingly and painstakingly built.. without a security guard.
Architecture is important
Choosing a proper architecture is important to lend more definition to your code. Popular examples include MVP (Model-View-Presenter) architecture which can decouple your code into different easy-to-manage layers thereby improving code flexibility and greatly be reducing maintenance time.
Don’t explain the user interface
If you have to explain your user interface, it is not a good sign. This is a serious point for individual developers. Design a clean and simple interface that is a beauty to behold. The objective here is to think like a designer, not just a budding coder. That will make a lasting impression on your users by designing a beautiful UI so that they keep coming back to your app more often than others. Less is more, so keep it clean and minimal.
Don't ignore analytics
If you want to create a truly amazing app, you need to rely heavily on analytics tools to analyze the performance and use of different parts of your app. With analytics, it means both crash reporting and app usage tracking. When your app is up for use by the masses on a variety of Android devices and on various Android versions some of your best-written code may fall flat on the ground. Crash reporting tools can help you to track and fix them. You need to analyze the use of various portions of your app. This will help you bridge the gap between what you create and what your users really want. Firebase crash reporting and analytics tools are good examples of analysis tool.
Marketing is crucial
If you are a one-man-army, don that marketing hat and start thinking like a marketing guru. Because you have to think beyond being “just a developer. Some really amazing apps can fail because of proper marketing, and some mediocre apps rise to fame with the right marketing strategy. Marketing can make or mar your app. If you want it to reach out to a large audience you need to invest in this area. But as a precautionary step, before beginning your marketing campaigns, ensure that your app is absolutely stable.
Optimize your app
There is a difference between writing code and writing “optimized” code. Write code that runs quickly, takes less memory and consumes less device storage. An unoptimized app works well under normal circumstances, but when exposed to heavy-duty situations it can easily break down. Look for memory leaks and fix them. Understand how the Garbage Collector works in Java, create heap dumps and analyze your live objects.
Gradle builds for speed
It may be highly likely that you are using Android Studio to develop Android apps and using Gradle as your build system. While Gradle may be great, it is slow, and it becomes slower as your project grows in size. But here’s the good news - there are ways to speed it up. Research on the methods to speed up Gradle and you can reduce your build time by more than one-fourth.
Do not underestimate testing
There is nothing more important than testing. It should be at the top of your list. Test your app as thoroughly as possible. Spend time for writing automated test cases. Create mock stressful situations and see if it fails. Do not be in a hurry. You might save a day, or two, or a week by cutting down time from testing, but will probably have to spend more than twice later.
Fragmentation
Fragmentation is one of the biggest problems in Android and Google seems reluctant to fix it. There are a huge variety of Android devices with different screen sizes and hardware specifications from a plethora of different device manufacturers who customize the OS to their heart’s content. Added to that are the various Android versions where Google adds/removes API functionality out of nowhere to increase your workload even further. Spend time creating different layouts for different screen sizes. Test on different devices, having different versions, different specifications and from different OEMs. Never assume something would work, just because it seems so.
Use Git
If you are still not using Git, go ahead and start using it right away. Git can improve your workflow tremendously. You can try BitBucket if you are on a tight budget and cannot afford Github, especially if you are just starting off with Android.
Beware of hackers
The open-source nature of Android is what makes it vulnerable to attacks. Every Android app can be decompiled, reverse-engineered, ripped open, analyzed and manipulated without much difficulty. You should know how to securely store API keys locally in your app. If you are dealing with sensitive data of the users you must know how to encrypt them, what algorithm to choose (secure yet fast). You should also store the encryption keys securely either in the server or locally (if needed). You should prevent your app data from being backed up using the ADB (Android Debug Bridge). If you are storing sensitive data in the database, consider obfuscating it using a solid tool. If your app has a premium version which gets cracked and gets released for free. You would incur a serious loss in business, right? There are several things you can do to prevent your app from getting tampered.
Use a low-end device
Everyone loves to use a high-end Android smartphone. But it is advisable to keep it for your personal use only and not for development purposes. A high-end device will hide a lot of flaws while developing your app. An old, low-end device, dumped with lots of apps makes it ideal for a development device.
Design patterns are a good investment
This is an investment that will pay you forever. While developing big and complex apps, you will face some common problems which have probably been solved before by someone more competent than you, that’s when design patterns come into play. Start spending some time to learn the Java Design Patterns. To start off, learn the most important ones like Singleton, Adapter, Factory Method, Iterator, Dependency Injection, Event Driven Architecture, Builder, Callback, Strategy, Facade, and Producer-Consumer. It may seem like a lot but it actually isn’t. You will start loving them once you dive in.
Give back to the community
This may seem more like a life tip. Whenever you have a problem, the first thing you would do is Google that and find the first link from StackOverflow. Sometimes you are in a hurry and you end up copying and pasting the solution from the answer having the highest votes. Ever thought the number of libraries you are using from Github for free and how they have greatly reduced your development time and efforts.
Its because someone somewhere has taken the time to build it and contribute to making the community better. Remember when you were stuck in understanding a difficult concept or something which is entirely new to you, and you end up finding an awesome blog post which made it super easy for you. It is your chance to give back. The more you give, the more you get back in return. We all are busy in our own work and we find it too difficult to manage time and do something for others. But try to find some time every week to contribute and make this Android community richer. Because, who knows, somebody skipped a movie date and wrote that article.
Developing apps on Android can take some dexterity, but it is super exciting and fun. But be sure to keep learning and keep pushing your borders with stronger and better apps. All the best. Learn Android Training in Chennai at SLA and become the best Android developer.
