CategoriesMobile Apps

10 Useful Tools & Resources For High-Quality Android App Development
Millions of Android apps are downloaded through the Google Play store which reflects the number of Android users worldwide. As compared to other operating systems, the Android mobile devices are always in demand. It is likely that Google’s Android development will remain in the market maintaining its unbeatable position in the future.

As the demand for Android applications is growing continuously, the tools and platform to improve your development productivity and build more interactive applications continue to grow as well. Here is a list of some android development solutions that show up on developers favorite lists.

Android Studio

Being an official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for Android development, you can utilize this tool to build Android apps on Linux, Window and macOS operating system. This tool supports all programming languages that you use for android development such as Kotlin, Java, and C/C++. Android Studio comes in a bundle and enables you with code editing, debugging and testing tools to be used with drag and drop interface. This tool is free to download and supported by Google and actively engaged Android developers.

AVD Manager

AVD Manager stands for Android Virtual Device, is another significant feature of Android Studio. It enables users to work with all different screen size devices. A good thing of AVD manager is, it is an emulator utilized to run your Android applications on desktops. Using AVD manager, you can create as many AVDs as you need.

Android JetPack

Android JetPack has many components and tools offered by Google that you can use to manage common Android development tasks. The components are categorized into four groups:

  • Foundation

    Backward compatibility, kotlin support, testing, etc.

  • Architecture

    Lifecycles, data binding, navigation, etc.

  • Behavior

    Preferences, notifications, sharing, etc.

  • UI

    Animation, emojis, layout, etc.

Access the AndroidX Package Index to find all JetPack components.

AIDE

AIDE is an abbreviation of Android IDE. Using this, you can develop the Android applications on your Android device. It seems to be a convenient way to write the code on your device as well as run, test and debug the application in the same platform. Just visit the Google Play store to download the AIDE. Remember, AIDE does not consist too many features as compared to other tools mentioned above.

B4A

Basic for Android (B4A) is an Android IDE that helps the developers to develop Android apps implementing the basic programming language. However, B4A is easier to get started your app development process, but it is not the wide choice of developers. As the name shows, Basic is the best resource for the beginners in the android app development process, so it is close to the English language. The common features of B4A are a step-by-step debugger, visual editor and a UI cloud services that you can use to test your Android application on a cloud of different devices. Remember, B4U is offering a 30-day free trial, and further you will need to buy premium.

Unity 3D

You can use the Unity 3D to create graphics-intensive mobile games. Although developers mostly use the Android Studio to build Android games, Unity 3D has been specially designed for the same task. It has multiple game-specific features such as all-in-one editor, real-time rendering engine, advanced performance profiling tools and a lot more. The tool enables you to develop both two and three-dimensional games. Additionally, you can build virtual reality applications.

Stetho

Stetho is an open-source debugging tool developed by Facebook. Using this, you can connect your app to Google Chrome as well as a debug it using Chrome developer tools. Stetho allows you to use all the features of Chrome DevTools, Network panel to monitor your Android application, database and app’s hierarchy.

LeakCanary

LeakCanary is an open source Java library that allows you to inspect and fix the memory leaks in your app. Whenever there is any leak takes place, LeakCanary alerts you immediately. To set the issues, use the built-in stack trace.

Android Architecture Blueprints

Android Architecture Blueprints consists of architectural patterns and tools that are utilized in Android app development. This tool also helps you to avoid common architectural mistakes and inconsistencies that may create difficulties in the long run.

Android Developers

Android Developers is an official source that facilitates you with several Android resources in free of cost. Google introduced this tool, so you need not to worry about the quality. Here is a list of some useful resources:

  • Android Developers Guide that instructs you how to build Android apps with the help of Android APIs and required libraries.
  • Android Training Courses help you with guided training to learn Android development from basic to advanced level.
  • Android Design Guidelines learn you to design apps that look and behave with Android platform consistently.
  • Google Play Launch Checklist provides you with a summary of the requirements of your Android app before sending it to the Google Play store.

No matter, you are experienced or beginner in Android app development, you will always find something new to learn and improve your skills. If you want to know more, reach us at WireTree. We offer android mobile app development services in Toronto.