Mobile App Development Archives - Page 7 of 26

Mobile devices are commonplace these days and mobile apps are preferred by users to obtain any product or service they need. The two most popular operating systems are Android and iOS, Android being the more popular one. “Android is the choice of more than 2.8 billion active smartphone users across the globe with a market share of 75%” as reported by the online marketplace BusinessofApps.

Needless to say, android app development is a lucrative investment option that multiple business owners are eying. This post explores the most popular Android development tools and frameworks. A quick read will prove beneficial for the app creators who are planning to build an Android app.

Top Android Development Frameworks

React Native

Facebook-developed React Native is one of the most popular open-source Android development frameworks available for mobile app development. Besides Android, this framework is also used for building apps for iOS, Web, and UWP. It uses JavaScript and leverages the goodies of the React SDK.

React Native: Unique Selling Points

Unlike other mobile app development frameworks that simulate native performance, React Native employs the native building blocks available in its ecosystem. As such, developers are able to create apps that render like native applications. The “hot reloading” feature allows React Native developers to update files or apply immediate changes without having to disrupt the app’s present state or recompile the app. On account of the “Code Send” function, app users need not authorize or restart their app, when app updates are rolled out. The availability of in-built components and access to native APIs enables developers to create visually appealing Android apps that perform very well.

Another USP is React Native’s ability to effortlessly integrate third-party libraries & plugins into an app’s codebase. This saves developers’ time and effort wasted in rework. RN’s high code reusability across various platforms and operating systems reduces the development time and costs. Its declarative programming technique allows one to easily detect any error. React Native also boasts of a strong and ever-growing community that addresses developers’ queries and concerns.

React Native App Use Cases: Facebook, Uber, Walmart, Instagram, Tesla, Bloomberg, etc.

Xamarin

The Microsoft-owned open-source Xamarin framework is used for crafting applications for Android, iOS, and Windows with.NET. Xamarin gained traction after becoming a part of Visual Studio IDE.

Xamarin: Unique Selling Points

With Xamarin.Forms, one can develop native applications with a shared user interface code that is written in XAML or C#. Hence, developers use a single language to write the entire business logic and at the same time build cross-platform apps that look, feel, & perform like native apps. Moreover, due to Visual Studio integration, 75% of its codebase can be shared when you create cross-platform apps with C#.

Xamarin offers platform-specific libraries that enable developers to access APIs from platforms like Google, Apple, and Facebook. This way, they’re able to enrich the abilities of the application. A huge template library is also available which facilitates code reusability and manual customization of certain app elements.

Xamarin comes with a developer-friendly environment. There’s an abstraction layer for managing the communication taking place between the shared code & the fundamental platform code. Thanks to the testing services of Microsoft Cloud, Xamarin apps can be tested on a wide range of devices.

Xamarin Use Cases: Pinterest, Storyo, MRW, Siemens,The World Bank, etc.

Apache Cordova

The Android development framework, Apache Cordova was earlier known as PhoneGap. It is open-source and free. Using this framework, you can build hybrid applications employing various web development technologies and programming languages including HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3. Apache Cordova supports several popular platforms like iOS, Android, Blackberry10, Ubuntu, OS X, Windows, etc.

Apache Cordova: Unique Selling Points

The user interface of an app built in Cordova technically works like a WebView and runs the JavaScript/HTML code in a native container. This way, the app can access the native device features. Cordova offers several plugins that connect the JavaScript code to the native code at the back-end. While cross-platform app development, the developer writes the code and then converts the SDK files to various platform formats.

Apache Cordova Use Cases: Wikipedia, Health Tap, Paylution, TripCase, The DHS program, etc.

Flutter

This Google-created SDK, written in the Dart programming language, eases cross-platform development and is one of the best options to consider for building hybrid apps.

Flutter: Unique Selling Points

Flutter offers pre-built themes for Android app development and uses a speedy 2D rendering engine known as Skia for creating visuals like Cupertino style & material design. Besides, there’s the “hot reload” feature that enables developers to test real-time modifications without the need for restarting the app. Furthermore, Flutter facilitates app testing; developers can conduct unit, functionality, & UI tests.

Flutter: Limitations

Flutter is a newbie and does not have a stable version yet.

Flutter: Use Cases

Hamilton, GoogleAds, Postmuse, KlasterMe, etc.

Ionic

Ionic is another sound Android development framework that is open-source and free. It is licensed under MIT and is compatible with most front-end frameworks like Vue, React, etc. Ionic employs JavaScript, CSS3, and HTML5 as the fundamental building blocks and allows you to develop amazing hybrid apps.

Ionic: Unique Selling Points

Ionic comes with cross-platform compatibility, Cordova Plugins, AngularJS base, and a plethora of software tools, animations, and gestures. Ionic app developers create apps that have a sophisticated & aesthetic design and are visually appealing. You can customize the look & feel of your Ionic app by employing the different kinds of in-built themes and components.

Ionic: Use Cases

Google Play, Instagram, etc.

Corona SDK

Corona SDK is one of the speediest Android development frameworks available. This SDK is free, cross-platform, and available for other platforms like desktop, TV, and mobile OSs.

Corona SDK: Unique Selling Points

Corona SDK comes with an in-built library containing over 1000 plugins and APIs. These API suites contain numerous features including widgets, graphics, particle effects, etc. The framework supports real-time testing that saves developers time & effort. There isn’t any IDE available for Corona SDK and so, developers access the platform-specific features using different plugins. It can call any library like Objective-C, C, C++, etc. Corona integrates a lightweight multi-programming language named Lua to achieve high development speed, flexibility, and usability.

Corona SDK: Use Cases

Angry Birds, Warcraft, The Lost City, etc.

jQuery Mobile Framework

This Android development framework is created on HTML5, one of the fundamental tools for deploying mobile apps. It supports multiple browsers including the latest Android browsers and Internet Explorer6.

jQuery Mobile Framework: Unique Selling Points

The framework is easy to comprehend and use. Therefore, very less coding is required for writing its setup interface. jQuery facilitates various event handling tasks and offers CSS animations & Ajax. Developers can change the app’s look and feel as per the project’s needs using its in-built theme system. jQuery developers can handle user input functions like mouse, touch, and pointer with the help of simple APIs.

jQuery also provides numerous form components that can be customized by developers to optimize them for touchscreens. This framework has the ability to make web pages more accessible to users with disabilities who employ assistive technology like screen readers. This function is achieved by using ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) that is built into the framework.

jQuery Mobile Framework: Use Cases

Cyta, Yext, Qlik, etc.

Appcelerator Titanium

With this open-source SDK, developers can build native Android apps using a single codebase written in JavaScript. Cross-platform apps can also be created by reusing approximately 60%-90% of the existing code. Appcelerator Titanium offers native API access for iOS, Android, Blackberry, HTML5, & Universal Windows.

Appcelerator Titanium: Unique Selling Points

This framework is open-source and offers an API builder with Hyperloop to all its free users. Appcelerator Titanium follows a mobile-first approach and leads to the creation of clean and visually attractive native-like applications that perform well. Android apps developed in Appcelerator Titanium can leverage the hardware-centric functionalities like menu buttons, platform-based notifications, OS-specific controls, etc.

Appcelerator Titanium Use Cases: Legoland, GameStop, Mitsubishi electric, etc.

Noteworthy Android Development Tools

Android Studio

This Android development tool is simple to use with a drag-and-drop interface. Android Studio offers components that assist developers in debugging apps, editing codes, and testing. This tool enjoys the support of Google and a huge Android developer community.

ADB (Android Debug Bridge)

With Android Debug Bridge, Android devices can communicate with other computers that are employed during QA testing. Android developers establish a connection between an Android device and a computer for making modifications to both devices.

AVD (Android Virtual Device) Manager

AVD Manager is an emulator that runs an Android app on the computer to provide a vision of how the code looks like actually. This helps developers to identify the glitches and find out whether the code requires any adjustments.

Vysor

This tool comes at an affordable price. It is basically an emulator solution using which one can “mirror” an Android device to a computer such that it can be controlled from the keyboard. You can also use Vysor to screencast from your device during demos & meetings.

Conclusion

I hope you are now well versed in the unique offerings of the aforementioned Android development tools and frameworks. These frameworks and tools undoubtedly boost the effectiveness and productivity of Android app development.

However, to reap the full benefits of these tools & technologies, app development teams must follow the best practices and adopt the right strategies. So, if you are a beginner or a non-technical app creator, I would recommend you seek assistance from an experienced android app development company that offers end-to-end development services.

React Native is undoubtedly one of the most widely used cross-platform frameworks for creating native-like apps. This framework can be easily used for developing brand-new apps from scratch and even in existing iOS or Android projects. So, it is immensely popular and loved by beginners as well as experienced developers. Consequently, the demand for the development of React Native mobile apps is on the rise. Here are the top benefits it offers to one and all.

Foremost Advantages Of Using React Native For App Creation

Use of JavaScript and easy learning curve, especially for new developers
Code re-usability for a speedy development process
Pre-built components and third-party plugins to create feature-packed good-quality apps from scratch
Creation of performance-based apps with higher reliability and stability
Technical goodies like modular architecture, declarative coding style, and ‘hot-reload’ feature to enhance the productivity of React Native app developers
Rich and friendly UI/UX design
Powerful and knowledgeable community to support
An easy and direct installation method
Faster time-to-market
Creates solutions that allow adaptation to Android and iOS along with smart TVs, VR devices, etc., since it is a cross-platform framework

With so many outstanding advantages to offer, this framework has a bright future. But like any other framework, there are several challenges or limitations that are inherently associated with developing apps using React Native. Here we have outlined a few of them.

Probable Challenges In The React Native App Creation Process

One of the challenges in this framework is the dependency on native app developers, especially while dealing with complex and heavy computational processes. Another challenge, rather limitation, is that this framework does not support parallel threading or multiprocessing. So, the performance of the apps slows down while executing multiple processes simultaneously.

Also, the abstraction layers in React Native have certain limitations. They have a dependency on third-party services and libraries. Finding bugs in abstraction layers is quite difficult; hence resolving them too is time-consuming. Another challenge while using this framework is faced during iOS deployment since testing the iPhone apps on any other testing service except Apple’s TestFlight is quite annoying.

Despite these challenges, React Native is a preferred choice of mobile application development agencies for writing robust and natively rendered applications. Moreover, these challenges can be handled well by experienced developers, whereas, a beginner or an unskilled developer tends to make more mistakes.

So, for the development of a flawless end-product, React Native app developers, particularly the newbies, must have prior knowledge about these probable errors. Let us have a glimpse of the commonest Development mistakes concerning React Native that could be avoided while app development..

React Native App Creation Mistakes To Avoid

Improper Image Optimization

Image optimization, despite being a crucial step in app development, is commonly ignored by developers. But optimizing the images is necessary for reducing the load time of images. It helps in resizing the images locally and then allows uploading them automatically on the cloud storage like Amazon S3 by the server. After this, the developers get a CDN link that can be returned through the API. This entire process makes the app lightweight and boosts app performance.

Presence Of Console Log Statements

Console log statements allow the developers to easily detect bugs while debugging. These make the apps glitch-free during app execution stages. These also help to detect the reasons behind the low performance of the apps. But, in case the developers fail to remove the log statements after completion of the debugging process, it can cause blunders. If the logic and the render methods are kept inside the apps, they can lead to congestion in the JavaScript thread and ultimately slow down the app performance.

Inappropriate Redux Store Planning

Redux is quite useful in React Native for managing the apps effectively, handling and storing the gathered data correctly, debugging app states, etc. But Redux must be planned well for utilizing it to the fullest, or it may lead to issues, especially in small projects. This is so because Redux demands writing long codes even for the smallest of modifications. So, it isn’t suited much for small-scale projects but is a good choice for larger apps and projects.

Inaccurate Or Wrong Project Estimation

The chances of committing mistakes while estimating for a project in React Native are higher for various reasons as given below:

The layouts and structures of app pages for iOS and Android are different. Also, several common components can be interchangeably used for development but the design of the app in most cases will not be alike. As a result, estimation for both platforms can be different.
The code to be written in React Native is usually larger as compared to the code required in the development of a Hybrid app on Cordova. In such cases, the assessment of the validation layout also must be considered.
All the endpoints offered by the backend must be checked. Other vitals like understanding the data structure, connecting the entities, handling the logic, etc. must be considered during estimating the project.

If the developers handling the React Native app development are not aware of these differences, they can estimate incorrect dates for project completion, leading to hassle in the later stages.

Utilization Of Stateless Components

A stateless component means that the components don’t extend any class. These always render the same thing and print out only what is provided to them through props. These are also known as dumb components. But, stateless components can be implemented faster, reduce the amount of boilerplate code to be written, and enable easy testing. In the app creation process, it is advisable to use pure components instead of stateless components. This is so because, for stateless components, rendering happens after the re-rendering of the parent component. But for pure components, re-rendering takes place when a change is detected in the states or props.

Not Verifying External Module Codes

The app developers working with React Native commonly use external modules as this makes the development faster and easier and thus, saves time. But these modules may not work as expected or even break at times. Hence, the developers must read and verify external module codes before using them.

Not Considering Unit Testing

One of the most common mistakes developers can commit while React Native development is not writing a unit test. The apps can still function irrespective of whether unit tests are conducted or not, but such apps may not provide a great experience to the users and could be less competent in the market. Unit testing enables assessing different parts and functionalities of the apps and ensures they work as expected. It also helps to detect bugs in advance and make sure that the app segments run independently.

Final Words:

React Native has the potential to become “The Best” framework and overshadow all the available frameworks in the market. It is already being leveraged by big players like Facebook, Delivery.com, UberEats, Bloomberg, Skype, Instagram, Tesla, and many more. It has some downsides as well, but those can be minimized to a great extent if every React Native app development firm trains its developers on diligently handling the common mistakes well in advance. Therefore, it is advisable to partner with an experienced React Native app development company for your app development project.

Mobile App Development, Page 7 Category

Significant Frameworks and Tools for Android App Development