How to Become an Android App Developer?

What to Choose: iOS or Android?

Both platforms have their pros and cons in popularity and development. The developers of both platforms are good friends who are constantly exchanging experiences. What attracts Android:

• The platform has a wider audience - 86.2% of smartphone users in the world have Android.
• A wide geography of use around the world.
• Java is an easy to learn and intuitive language.
• Despite the fact that iOS is better recouped (paid applications and purchases in them, more solvent audience), the individual android developer has its niche in the market. Serious companies focus mainly on iOS, so there is room for developers.

Where to Start?

If specializing as an android app developer appeals to you, we will give some tips on where to start.

1. You have to be really passionate about Android development and want to develop in this direction. The situation is complicated by the fact that a lot of smartphones from different companies use Android, and updates come slowly, which affects making an app that fits different screen sizes and system versions. Be prepared for this.
2. You need to understand the overall methodology of mobile app development, as well as develop the necessary thinking - you need to remember that the resources of cell phones are not limitless. Android app developers have to take care of processor performance, memory capacity, and battery life. If you make an application poorly, it will soon be deleted.
3. The best place to start is with an Android programming course, where you'll have a mentor who can give you feedback on the code and architecture.
4. In parallel, read literature, blogs, and watch video tutorials. Important: look for content in English, as the most progressive materials on Android development are in the English-language Internet.

Companies Requirements for Entry-Level Android Developers

In order to get a job with a professional android developer company, you need the following skills:

• Good knowledge of Java for Android development & Android SDK/Gradle build system
• Good knowledge XML/JSON/SQL/GIT
• Good understanding OOP/OOD/SOLID principles
• Good understanding UI/UX principles and experience with customizing UI
• Experience with back end integration using REST API
• Problem-solving skills
• English level - Intermediate

As you can see, most companies publish requirements in English, which indicates its importance to the developer.

How to get a Job as a Junior Android App Developer

If creating android apps is what you want to do professionally, in a good team, you need to get into an IT company 😌.

In order to do that, train on your own for a few months - master the basic skills, write a few test applications.

The online resource Upwork, where you can see real Android tasks and try to do them, can help you. At first, don't even take an order, but just work on the task without deadlines and commitments.

Then try your hand at small local companies, where you'll get teamwork experience and understand how apps are generally developed.

And, of course, attend thematic events, listen to talks from professionals and meet other developers, exchange experiences.

Tips from ARTJOKER's Android Developers

Some tips for learning to develop on Android from the ARTJOKER team.

1. Understand how the code and functionality of Android frameworks are arranged. You will learn a lot and put together a system of fragments of development knowledge.
2. Don't try to grasp the immensity - learn the things you need right now to develop a specific application. In your spare time, study the things that interest you. Android is like an iceberg - if you have studied something and think that it is enough, come to your senses, you only know 30%.
3. Prospective android app developers learn best practices from peers. You can review open source libraries and programs, draw conclusions and implement new techniques on your projects, thereby improving them.
4. Study Java design patterns - they will make your development much easier and help you to be on topic when other developers are discussing them.
5. Communicate with mobile designers - whether an app will be intuitive depends on more than just the UI/UX designer.
6. Make it a rule to use hotkeys when working on an application - optimize your time ⏱️.
7. Follow the trends - Kotlin programming language is gaining momentum. Specialists who know how to work with it will soon be very much in demand.

It Will be Helpful to You:

• developer.android.com - a site with useful documentation for developers.
• Android Wear is a version of Google's Android operating system with which you can program applications for smart watches and other wearable devices.
• ARCore is a platform for mobile augmented reality applications. Given the rapidly evolving pace of augmented reality, it's useful to explore the topic.
• Android Auto, Android Things and Android TV - all these services and programs also show that the field is not limited to smartphone development, so you have great potential!

Good luck in realizing yourself as an Android developer, work hard every day, set a goal and go for it 😀