Wednesday, 29 July 2020

How to Get Started with Android Application Development?


The smart device revolution has been one of the biggest moves in the tech industry in the past decade. It is a market that has not stopped growing and that has billions of users worldwide.
Today if we see, almost everyone has a smartphone or any kind of e-device that has dozens of applications installed, each one that actually claims to solve a real-world problem. 
But have you ever wondered how an application is made? 
What does it all include? 
What are the essentials of app development?
What do I need to know to build an app?
What is the technology stack involved?
One might also wonder upon whether creating applications is a possibility for the future or not.
Whether it is to satisfy your curiosity or because you have a simple interest in knowing how a person goes from scratch to be able to create an application, this article will guide you through from A to Z for the creation of an android application.
The most basic way to create an Android application is to check its feasibility to run on Android programming platforms (like Android Studio and more) and one can officially use languages like Java, Kotlin, or C++ to develop one. If you face certain API restrictions with the tool there are a number of languages that can be used with endless possibilities (JavaScript, C or assembly, etc.) 
First, let’s check out the computer configurations that are needed:
  • Operating System:
    • Windows 7/8/10 32/64 bit
    • Mac OS 10.10 onwards
    • Linux with Gnome or KDE desktop environment 
  • RAM memory: 4GB minimum, 8 GB as recommended
  • Hard Drive: at least 2 GB of free space, 4 GB of free space as recommended 
  • Screen with a minimum resolution of 1200 x 800
One must consider all these obligatory parameters as the development environment is heavy. So if your computer meets the minimum requirements, it may be the only program that you must have open for it to work well. 
It’s also crucial to consider that depending on the magnitude of the project you may require more advanced equipment. 

Get An Idea to Start

The most significant thing to start making an application is to have a clear idea what you want to do and must be clear in your mind about what you have to create that would add value to the end-user and something that will be a great incentive to stay strong on the road with motivation.
The next thing is how to get an idea to make an application?
The best way is to relate to a real-life problem and think whether the solution can be provided via programming.
Not necessarily the application must be that changes your life, it could be something that actually makes a difference in the life of the target audience. Simply, it should be realistic, interactive, easy to use, and must post all the basic and necessary features as required.

Where to Start From?

This is one of the biggest barriers to start programming, to program applications you need to know how to program. There is no magic shortcut for an application to be created. You have to dig deep and learn and acquire knowledge first on the fundamentals and then start from scratch.
Learning about android app development from useful and relevant sources would form a base of your knowledge on the same and would help you to get hold of the criteria before you actually start to apply your programming skills.
-The free Google course introduces us to programming
-In addition to the workshop, Google has a mobile application called Grasshopper. This application teaches visually with which one can easily overcome the first steps of the programming world.
There are many other free courses that are built to help beginners and coders to learn the essential concepts of programming in pseudocode.

What is a pseudocode?

In itself, it is not a programming language, but a kind of metalanguage common to almost any programming language. Knowing how to make pseudocode you will understand the programming logic, something that will make you learn any programming language in a matter of days.

What is a programming language?

Simply put, it is a way in which we give orders to applications. As of today, if you have to learn a programming language that puts you directly into the application market where one must need to dig deep into the pool of languages, depending upon the type of applications to be built.
Let’s talk about a few:
It’s one of the most versatile languages since with it you can write applications for mobile phones as well as apps for the web.
–Kotlin
If you want to specialize in creating exclusive applications for Android, this is the language that you should master, since it is a first-rate language for Google and one of the ones with the greatest future projection.
–Swift
If you want to develop iOS applications, Swift is the language you should learn. If you have an iPhone or iPad, download Swift Playgrounds, an official Apple application to learn how to program extremely easily.
–Dart
It’s a programming language created by Google itself, which is the engine of Flutter, Google’s development environment for making Android and iPhone applications with the same code. It is a very young and immature environment, but with a great future projection.

Java vs Kotlin which Language to prefer?

Ever since Kotlin became the official language for Android development, many programmers who dreamt to become Android developers went into a dilemma regarding which language to learn and acquire expertise in.
Well, beginners should start their journey with Java while Java programmers should go for learning Kotlin!
There is a huge community of the well-established language Java, where all the technical problems faced, can be resolved by getting answers wherever you get stuck. 
For Java programmers to be more productive, it’s best to learn Kotlin which is fully interoperable in Java. as Kotlin generates Java bytecode, one can use his favorite Java Frameworks and libraries in Kotlin where many of the peers can also use the developed Kotlin framework. 

Android Development Tools

Technologies linked with Android applications have a different set of libraries and codes that need to be installed along with the SDK.
If you have confusions among the best software to download for programming apps in Android, go for choosing Android Studio. It’s unquestionably the best IDE for Android and most amazingly it’s offered by Google, the overlord.
To look for other options check out Top Essential App Development Tools for Android [2020] that details the best Android tools that are crafted for developer’s convenience in inventing extraordinary Android mobile apps.
The most difficult step in creating an application is building the first application that requires a considerable amount of time, learning, practice, testing (at your own level), and programming. Once you finish it, you’ll acquire much more experience, knowledge, and motivation to create the next one. 

Steps Involved

How to start Android app development might not be tough as long as you understand the different moving parts of development and you try your talent and skills over any Android platform.
Take a tour of mobile app development android via following the steps mentioned below:

1 Download the Necessary Tools

Create a development environment and make your desktop ready for the application development process. Download the pack of Android Studio and Android SDK in a single go.
Android Studio is an IDE that is an interface to enter Java/Kotlin codes and access the different tools necessary for development. Android Studio provides access to all the requisite libraries and APIs, thereby giving access to the native function of the OS.
Android Studio has a very simple set up where you need to simply follow the instructions as shown. For instant guidance on the setup and installation of the Android platform check out the below links:

2 Initiate a Project

Starting a project is merely taking decisions on the project that influences the development of your app. 
Select a project template by making a few clicks: File > New > New Project, this will enable code and UI elements in your app.
‘Activity’ here refers to the app screen.
‘No Activity’ is a project that’s empty
‘Basic Activity’ starts the screen of the app, adding some buttons and a menu. 
Choosing Empty Activity first would be better on the initial state that would create an activity with a few files and limited code reducing the early development risks. Then choose a name and a package name for your app where the package name is nothing more than a reference used by Android to distinguish it from others.

3 Get Familiar with the Files

There are myriad different files, codes, folders, and more. 
The file MainActivity.java is the main logic file that controls how an app behaves. This file can be found in: MyApplication > app > src > main > java > com > companyname > myapplication.
The files and folders are crucial components as they help Android Studio to build your app and cannot be renamed as they are pre-built names. The code that is being displayed on the main page is the boilerplate code that is almost similar across different projects and helps to activate the basic functions. 
[Kotlin requires less boilerplate code.]
Once you start with the coding you can view the changes made side by side and edit the code accordingly. To grab the procedure for developing an app in-depth, check out the visual that explains the development procedure bit by bit.
The end of developing an application doesn’t limit itself only to completion of coding, testing the app is a crucial element which involves the various iterative steps that validate and verify the app features and functionalities.

Android Development Useful Resources 

This is where I would love to share my knowledge with all of you out there and that would help you explore more on android app development, thus, narrowing your research on digging into the same over Google’s knowledge base.

Planning, Organization, and Patience are Your Best Weapons to Create Applications

Programming and coding aren’t difficult to program. Anyone can program and as a sample of them, applications like Grasshopper or Swift Playgrounds are capable of teaching anyone the key concepts.
If you think it’s hard to program and create applications, then I would say it simply depends more on your patience and the goals you set for yourself.
Imagine that you see a skyscraper and you intend to go up the stairs to the top floor. So at first, it seems very hard, but what if instead of proposing to upload it to the full you intend to upload half? What if you lower your purpose to upload a plant?
It is still too much. Before going up a plant, try to go up a single step and continue climbing each step each day. Little by little and with time, you will see how you go up to the skyscraper, and what seemed so huge is nothing more than a continuous succession of small challenges.
App development has the same analogy and relates well to real-life instances. Set sights on a realistic app project and get going with your learnings and skills where having a goal will continue to have your learning fun and structured.
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Wednesday, 22 July 2020

10 Unforgivable Mobile App Development Basics Mistakes Everyone Makes

With the advancements in technologies and the advent of smartphones, wide-open opportunities have made their way in the mobile app development industry for building a novel and innovative mobile applications that can simplify human lives.
While looking at the Statista's prediction of huge revenue generation by mobile apps in 2020 ($581.9 billion) we cannot ignore the fact that app uninstalls also remain a significant pain point in the fight against churn and need to understand when, why and which users appear to take such a disappointing move.

Worldwide mobile app revenues in 2014 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)
3 out of 10 apps getting uninstalled within 30 days of a download raises our concern towards digging deep on the mobile app development basics which were ignored by those app developers that unexpectedly lead to an increase in the uninstall rate.
From features to design to bug fixes to marketing, creating a welcoming and durable mobile app is no small undertaking. Many developers, entrepreneurs, and beginners might assume that mobile app development is much simpler than it seems but they often find themselves forgetting the crucials that are involved outside the realm of coding.
The arising need today is to understand ways to banish the ignored mistakes and improve the process of overall app creation for a mobile app to stick into a user’s smartphone until it exhausts its lifetime.
So let’s get our attention towards the top mistakes that are made and ignored to be resolved unintentionally that could not let your app to land up in the Uninstalled Apps Category unless you become aware of them and actively work on them.

Top Mobile App Development Basic Mistakes to Avoid to Release your App on the Right Foot

1 Choose to Build for Multiple Platforms

Building mobile applications for multiple platforms is a big decision to make, especially, when you have limited time, resources, and budget.
Even though Android and iOS hold a majority of the market share, developing apps for both these operating systems at once is not a cakewalk if seen from the perspective of practical implementation. There are many who even try to include Microsoft Store in the mix and make the biggest mistake of ending into a playground of confusion which impacts the development spree. 
For indie developers, it’s not less than a mistake to try the luck of their app over each available platform when they are low on chances of money as well as time.
A feasible choice is to go for picking up one major platform based on the target audience’s mobile app usage, get the results after its launch and then roll out its version on the other platforms, a few months later after the first release.

2 Bad Interface & Design Features 

Your app's user interface interacts with the user and builds its first impression that decides its fate and not paying close heed to this essential element of mobile app development may cause you heavy on your overall investments dedicated to developing a mobile application.
“User Interface is the Face of your Mobile App that can either Build or Break User Interaction.”
App stores are deluged with millions of apps performing the same tasks and activities and apparently, today users are too impatient to make a call of accepting or rejecting an app on their mobile devices.
Thus, effective and differential UI/UX designs form the retention key of your mobile apps where each added feature must be useful and the app design must be justified with the app concept.

Bad UI/UX discourages and annoys users and adversely affects user engagement. Checkout some consequences that your high-end app may bestow upon users due to not achieving the benchmark over User Interface:
  • Decreases efficiency
  • Negative effects on productivity
  • Descended user retention rates
  • Reduces development costs
  • Low returns on investment

3 Creating App Similar to Desktop Apps with a Reflection of its Website Version

Whether experienced or a novice, developers must be dexterous to craft and design a mobile app that distincts itself from its desktop version and must not predict the same look and feel that one can find on its related website.
This is one of those countable mistakes which is recognized by users in one go and becomes the reason for an application’s instant non-acceptance. Creating a small version of the desktop app doesn’t do justice with the creativity of developing it and mobile app programmers must consider it vital from a serious angel.
The major motive of developing an application is to make users identify it with their website with the same functional capabilities (as that of the website) with a unique style, add-on features, design, etc. that levels up their experience of using it as a handy asset. 
Undeniably, both app and website can be accessed through e-devices, nevertheless, the functionality must differ based on the individual objectives and user-base.
Developers, 
No mobile app must be developed considering it as its desktop or website counterpart. Enhanced mobile app user experience can proportionately boost the business gains likely to be achieved by its desktop app or its website version.

4 Apps Consuming Too Much Space

A mobile app, as we know is a compact model of its desktop/website version when compared from a few aspects of storage, battery, size dimensions, and many among others. 
A mobile app occupying a desirable amount of device memory isn’t a welcoming feature in the public eyes and is a mistake that keeps weight in deserting a mobile application that possesses even everything perfectly and practically.
This could be one of the worst mistakes of all app developers to be ignorant of the app’s size which further lowers its user retention rate. To keep up with this basic need you need to optimize your web assets, break down APK, and do some code obfuscation.
Take a look at a few notable steps to follow:
  • Reuse resources
  • Support specific densities
  • Compress PNG/JPEG files
  • Reduce unnecessary codes
  • Crunch required file formats
  • Minimize resource use from libraries

5 Testing without Contexting

App work cannot be labeled as complete unless it undergoes iterations of testing its features and functionalities. 
Some organizations do not possess a dedicated team of testers and analysts who are well versed with product testing, which includes all types of testing. Unfortunately, many developers fail to execute this phase of mobile app development and are in a rush to get their app out of the door.
Testing is a crucial stage where one can discover possibilities of failures, catch unidentified bugs, and can even tighten up the overall design of a mobile app. With the availability of smart devices almost everywhere, it's paramount to test an app for all platforms and devices to check their compatibility and feasibility index.
So testing must be performed at each magnitude of app development to keep no room for any type of errors that are caught by users and are reviewed publicly, marking a note of app glitches and reporting bugs.
Quality is what the need of the hour, failing to ensure proper testing could fail to highlight the potential bugs and could result in the dropping of the app downloads and ratings.

6 Building Overcrowded Apps with Unnecessary Features

More the features, More the Users- this is where developers make an unknowable mistake.
Adding non-required features at every point of app navigation will make it cumbersome and bulky and would lead to further problems of slow speed, more loading time, etc. that will ultimately affect the scale of user experience.
Yes, businesses must strive to build ‘feature-rich’ apps but must not end up tagging them as ‘feature-excessive’ which would add no value to the end-users and won't get you any appreciation for all your hefty efforts.
Mobile app programmers must concentrate on adding limited and highly targeted features and functionalities which would add a purpose to your app, making it more preferable by actually serving its objective of being mobile and handy.

7 Ignoring the Importance of MVP

Developing an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) of your mobile application saves it from outbursting and being a disaster in the end.
MVP development allows you to build a dynamic prototype of the idea with minimalist working features that offer a chance to test the product in real-time market conditions and delivers practical results and feedback from real users based on its performance and productivity.
“MVP is an approach that allows the development of the essentials in a project, with bare feature sets. It offers plenty of benefits in the overall process of developing a business idea and helps you harness the potential by minimizing the risks.”
MVP is a worthwhile investment that outputs real-time insights of the mobile app determining its user engagement, understanding the target market and audience, and getting reviews on its further improvements and all that with a little spending.

8 App Marketing Considered Trivial & Done Lately

If you were able to successfully launch your app with verified testing, approved designing, and deployment, what do you think is the perfect time to make it visible to the audience?
Well, marketing is not the developer’s play but there are many developers who consider advertising the app after its perfect launch. This is another misconception that can lead your app to appear last in the race. 
Mobile app promotion shouldn’t be started along with the start of the development phase, but it should be started long prior to your app’s release. Early marketing of mobile applications is done with an intent to pique the interest of the users and spread its awareness among the audience.
This way, drumming up the excitement of the masses will help you build a user base that already knows your app and is ready to experiment with it by downloading it on its final launch.
Marketing of a product in this era of cut-throat competition isn’t a cakewalk and requires considerably a lot of legwork and efforts to spread its visibility and make an online presence. 
Therefore, once you have the app design nailed and requisite features up and running, run the early campaign of your app that shows its present functionalities and keep on posting valuable content and feed to demonstrate how it's evolving steadily.

9 Forgetting Monetization & Underestimating the Budget

Mobile app development incurs a huge investment even though it doesn't seem to be. Thus, before stepping a foot forward make sure you understand and analyze the need for resources and the expenditures related to the overall development.
  • Evaluate development hours
  • Process overheads
  • Estimate the required space
  • Calculate marketing cost
  • Establish an operations team
Next developers must also incorporate a monetization strategy into their interface and design that will help them deliver a fluid user experience from scratch, eliminating the chances of such problems to appear in the end. 
Early on the development stage, you must build up an effective monetization strategy so that your highly designed and created mobile app doesn’t fail to live up to your expectations, keeping intact its monetary value, no matter how renowned it is.

10 Ignored App Reviews and Feedback

“Feedback of the Users id the Voice of the Audience!”
And if you are ignorant at the feedback given by the app operators and users or even delay in banishing the loopholes within the app, you may witness a downfall with its usage and its popularity, and overall growth.
Reviews and feedback (both good and bad) are there to face you up with the areas of improvement and help you to develop robust strategies to expand your user base. Any business that ignores customer reviews is unlikely to make a lasting impression on the mobile app market.


So, if you are looking for top notch mobile application development services for your business, rely upon NetSet Software Solutions for all kinds of mobile application development requirements. We provide Agile software development teams with flexible hiring models and serve clients across the globe.


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Wednesday, 15 July 2020

Top Essential App Development Tools for Android [2020]




Apps are a great opportunity to present various products and services in a dynamic and accessible way, their use became popular to the extent that it is almost mandatory for all companies or brands to have their downloadable mobile version.
Mobile devices are setting the global trend and Android is the technology that is a leader in the mobile app development industry. Even it is considered that Android owns most of the mobile applications, remembering that the majority of the apps that are downloaded are for these devices.
There are more and more companies and developers who want to work only with Android devices. But it should be considered that not all the developers know and make use of the Java tool, taking into account that it is used to create apps for this type of device.
Count of available Apps In Google Play Store (Dec 2009-June 2020)
Need not worry programmers, as there are plenty of effective tools available to create applications without working with Java. For programmers having deep knowledge and interest in Android, fortunately, there are many powerful Android Development Tools available that ease the work of developers and provide them an edge in inventing extraordinary Android mobile apps. 
It has become increasingly accessible and easy for companies to develop their technology, leveraging the power of development tools..

The Best Android App Development Tools Crafted for Developers Convenience

1 Android SDK

Android Software Development Kit (SDK) is a tool that contains all the necessary libraries for developing a vast number of Android applications which also has an IDE, possessing multiple features to write, optimize and test codebases.
The Android SDK offers different API libraries and developer tools that are the requisites to build, test, and debug the Android applications and undoubtedly is one of the popular and opted SDK for Android.
ADB Shell is one of the important Android developer tools which is a small command-line debug-bridge used to monitor a device or a virtual device while running apps. 
Android Developers intriguing to apply their skills can download the ADT (Android Developer Tools) bundle to quickly start developing which combines the essential Android SDK components and version of the Eclipse IDE to streamline the app development.
ADT Bundle includes the following crucial components:
  • Android platform-tools
  • Android SDK tools
  • Eclipse +ADT plugin
  • The current version of the Android platform
  • The current version of the Android system image for the emulator
The Android development kit provides multitudinal tools to build any type of application and guarantees smooth workflow and procedures to app developers. SK is an obligatory tool to run any Android gadget regardless of the platform you choose (C#, Java, Kotlin) to create any application. 

2 Android Studio

Developers when deciding to develop an Android-supported application can never have a miss on the option that is on the top of the table, that is, Android Studio which is an official IDE for Android development.
What makes it the preferred option is its robustness and the latest in-built tools and plug-ins it offers for developing as complex applications as possible. Since its inception, it claims to derive the attention of all developers as it enables them with significant features of code altering, troubleshooting, and testing devices simply to benefit the intuitive interface.
Once downloaded, everything is installed in an easy-going process and it doesn’t even require downloading additional files. It is supported by Google and drawn up by efficient Android programmers. 
[Detailed Information on Android Studio can be obtained from here.]

3 Eclipse 

Before Android Studio made its advent, Eclipse was the officially preferred IDE for Android app development for a long time. The open-source software is free to use and holds a large community having plenty of configurations and plugins.
Eclipse is known to blend with many types of languages as it works very well with different programming languages and this is what makes it a favorite of many developers to create Android and other cross-platform apps.
Eclipse IDE, released under Eclipse Public License, is highly customizable and offers a separate codebase environment for app development projects. Earlier it was known for writing applications majorly in Java (using library plug-ins) but now has been upgraded and leveraged to write codes in Python, C#, Ruby, Scala, C++, and many others.
Eclipse is open-source and free to use and in the view of its present worth, it has extended-term significance for the Eclipse projects with far-reaching use for various types of designers.
[Eclipse IDE 2020-06 is now made available and can be seamlessly downloaded from here.]

4 AVD Manager

AVD (Android Virtual Device) is the next in line that simulates mobile devices on your computer for making it easy for you to test your application on different devices. 
AVD Manager is an emulator that runs Android apps and provides almost all the capabilities of a real Android device and allows programmers to work with all types of Android devices to test and verify resolution, screen sizes, responsiveness, performance, etc.
One can get improved executions using AVD as it leverages the running of the emulator on your development machines and tools. Furthermore, the AVD manager provides trouble-free quick boot that allows its operator to continue the Android emulator meeting in less than 6 seconds.

Some Alternative Android Development Tools 

“Android App Development Tools allow you to implement new things in an unusual way.”

#Titanium Appcelerator

With it you can develop enormous applications with JavaScript programming, this service has a large number of applications developed globally. This tool is easy to use and is considered a multi-platform tool since it’s available for Android and other systems.

#App Inventor

This is considered as one of the easiest tools to create applications for Android devices. For this reason, if you are new to this field of technology, this tool will be useful to you where you only need to have the Internet and the Android device. App Inventor is a free, cloud-based service that can be accessed using a web browser.
At the time of coding, it works in conjunction with the Cloud, thus, each of the steps you develop will be automatically saved.

#Ionic

If a person has sound knowledge of how to handle web development he/she can work with this tool. It occupies a large number of components such as plugins and works well with TypeScript language. All the changes can be directly made from the web browser.

#Xamarin + Visual Studio

Xamarin does nearly everything Android Studio does and builds intuitive and authentic native apps and all that is done with the help of Microsoft’s Visual Studio. Nor does it extend itself to develop Android apps but is also well formulated to create cross-platform apps for iOS and even Windows software.

#Unity 3D

To build high definition games in Android, Unity 3D is the best pick to develop 2D and 3D game apps and expands its potential even in developing robust non-game apps. Unity has a heavy usage on Google Play Store by the game developers.
Some other game-maker tools are Unreal, Game-Salad, GameMaker: Studio, etc.
There are more tools available for you to create Android applications, among which we mention: NativeScript , Basic 4 Android (B4A), React Native, iBuild App, PhoneGap, LiveCode, among others. 
These tools also allow you to build customized applications for unique platforms and maintain transparency in employee-customer interaction. In case of being a company you can communicate with each other with employees and customers. All this is possible, since devices have become a fundamental and integral part of people’s lives today. 
At the same time you must understand that there are various programming languages which are readily available in order to develop mobile applications, like Java, JavaScript, Kotlin, XML among others. 
Hire Dedicated Developers from leading enterprises to build extensive and scalable software and applications, customized to your business needs, that are bolstered by cutting-edge technologies and power-packed programming languages to fulfill your business motive.
[Peep In: “Why Python is a Leading Choice in Mobile App Development?”]

Afterwords

Applications are created to innovate, these new technologies and latest development tools have come to position themselves globally and are changing the way things can be done, mainly for companies. So it is important that you understand the vitality of each of these tools.
In short, they allow us to improve the communication that exists in business, since these applications are designed to innovate business ideas and transform the lives of each person who wishes to develop these applications.
Finally, we hope that this article has helped you. However, we would like to know your opinion. Do you know other tools to develop mobile applications for Android? Let us know your answer in the comments.
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