Essential App Development Tools for Android

How are Android Apps developed?

Every software development needs an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for ease in using app development tools. Android is no exception. We have the Android Studio, which is a full, sophisticated IDE for the Android app development. Wondering what’s in the Android Studio IDE? Read on.

Here are some command-line tools used by top Android app development companies in the UK and all over the world.

1. Android SDK tools

Android Software Development Kit (SDK) is a toolset that helps developers to create apps for Android OS. In the SDK you will find libraries, a debugger, and an emulator that help you to start developing apps.

2. Platform tools

New versions of the Android OS are frequently released, so platform tools provide support to the new features of Android and have compatibility with the older versions.

3. Android Emulator

With the help of Emulator you can test your apps without using the real devices.

Now you have an idea of ​​what’s in the Android Studio. So then, let’s move ahead to know what else is needed in app development.

1. Android Libraries

Because Android is open source and has great community support, we can easily find the small pieces of code that we can use. This can be done by adding the libraries into our application. Most of the libraries are found in the GitHub platform. Here are some of the libraries with a short description.

a. Retrofit

This library is used to get the data from the server via Web services and use it in the app. For example, let’s say we are developing an app to show the latest movies. We will create a web service that will show the list of movie names from our server. The format can be JSON. So by using the Retrofit we can get the JSON and parse it to show in the app.

b. Glide

Glide is the library to show the images from the server or local storage in a way that maintains the aspect ratio and can handle the image loading, caching, etc. It is recommended by Google.

c. MaterialDesignLibrary

This library helps you create great lightweight UI for the app. It gives the variety of custom UI components that gives extra intuitiveness in the UI of the app.

2. Gradle

a. Top-level build.gradle

b. Module-level build.gradle

3. Databases

The Android OS has a local database known as SQLite to store the data locally inside the phone. There are a few third-party database libraries also on the market that can be used in the app. For example, Realm, Room, OrmLite, greenDAO.

4. Firebase

What is Firebase? Maybe you need a mobile app but you don’t want to deal with problems like authentication, server management, file storage, databases, crash management tool, notifications, analytics, etc.

Firebase is the single solution for all the above problems. Here are some key features of Firebase:

a. Realtime Database

Most of the databases like SQLite provide you the data when you ask for it, but the Realtime Database, like Firebase, gives you the data whenever it is updated.

b. File storage

Mostly all the apps save the files such as profile picture. Firebase gives a simple way to store images on the cloud.

c. Authentication

Firebase has a variety of authentication systems that can be used in the app. For example, email / password authentication, social login, phone-based authentication, etc.

d. Crashlytics

Firebase crashlytics help you fix the issues that come in the live app by versions.

e. Analytics

Firebase also provides the analytics feature by which you can analyze the usage of the app with different custom events.

f. Notification

Almost every app has the feature of push notifications. Firebase SDK provides a simple way to integrate the push notification.

There are many other great features of the Firebase SDK and the best part is that it also can support the iOS platform.