Android has been the biggest operating system for smartphones since its first release in 2007 due to its features. A large number of devices available in the market today come with an Android operating system ranging from the budget lineup to flagships phones. The recent leap for the Android operating system was Android watches and Android TV.
Given all the hype around the Android operating system and some entrepreneurs want to develop Android apps which can meet all the expectations of users and do things like never before. But the big question revolves around choosing android frameworks and libraries. Below are some of the best Android app development frameworks and libraries available today.
Frameworks for Android App Development
Here are the 6 best android development framework with their advantages so you can choose the best framework according to your needs.
- Kotlin and Android SDK
- Flutter
- React Native
- Corona SDK
- Sencha Touch
- TheAppsBuilder
Kotlin and Android SDK
Kotlin is an Android app development language that comes up with some of the best features, including null safety and coroutines. It is easy to write as compared to various other app development languages.
If you want to develop android apps for various devices, including Android TV, smartwatch, and smartphone, etc., you don’t have an option with this framework. Native android app development kits are the best alternative to Kotlin and Android SDK.
Flutter
Flutter is a cross-platform android app development kit that uses Dart as the primary programming language. Dart features a large number of modern features, including null safety, extension methods, and high order functions to get rid of all the modern Android app development problems that developers face today.
If you give the best user interface experience to users, Flutter has everything that you need to accomplish it. Flutter offers an add-to-app feature through which you can enjoy its functionalities on other android app development platforms without downloading it.
To achieve high accuracy and performance on all the supported platforms, Flutter renders its widgets. Developers with a functional programming mindset will have a hard time getting used to developing android apps on Flutter as it is complex.
React Native
React native is the leading android app development platform for cross-platform development. It uses JSX making it the ultimate choice of the majority of JavaScript app developers. To provide developers with native appearance and performance, it uses components that are only specific to real native platforms.
The community of android app developers has tested the React native software development kit to test its limit. It supports both android and iOS operating systems. You need to write the code only once without compromising on the performance. Android App Development Services may cost you a bit more, so you can save some extra bucks by developing your app.
Corona SDK
It is a top android framework that is generally used in 2D mobile development for Android, Windows, Mac OS, and iOS operating systems. It features a simple syntax, meaning that you will be able to experience 10x times the development speed as compared to other frameworks.
Today more than a thousand feature-rich APIs, plugins, advanced advertising platforms, developers can develop, test, and launch their Android apps using Corona SDK. It uses a single code-based instead of multiple codebases, which is beneficial for general-purpose frameworks and Android App Development.
Sencha Touch
If you are looking for a framework to develop native mobile applications only, Sencha Touch is the best option for you as it can build dynamic apps using both JavaScript and HTML5 programming languages. The framework makes use of hardware acceleration techniques, so apps developed using Sencha Touch will be able to deliver high performance.
Various native themes and user interface components create an eye-catching and visually beautiful android app, and the only limit is your imagination.
TheAppsBuilder
TheAppsBuilder is an HTML-based framework with a UI that doesn’t require any coding, meaning that you can Build Your Own Android App all the way from scratch with some level of development skills only. Improve your social media presence by integrating the TheAppsBuilder with official Google Play in a few simple steps.
Libraries for Android App Development
Although frameworks are important in the development process, libraries play a major role as they are the key ingredient in developing any framework. A library features codes that we often use in the development of an android app, so we don’t have to write the same line of code again and again. In short, you are supposed to use ready-made codes for specific feature that you can include to your app within a few clicks.
Due to the hard work of a dedicated android development community and app developers from all around the globe, a large number of android libraries are available today to help you done your work within no time.
Android Jetpack
In 2018 Google finally listened to the pleas of android app developers and announced the release of a collection of native android app development libraries. These libraries will help developers in reducing boilerplate code and write codes for a large number of android devices and versions of the Android operating system all in one place.
Dependency Injection Frameworks
Dependency injection is a method used by android app developers to create the architecture of libraries for android apps. It is one of the most widely used methods in android app development.
Dagger2/Hilt
Dragger 2 is a dependency injection library that relies on java annotation processors to analyze and estimate dependencies at the same time. The hilt is the latest version of the Dragger2 dependency injection library that helps developers in accessing shared instances effortlessly.
Koin
Koin is a Kotlin based dependency injection library for android app development that requires a little to no configuration as compared to the Dragger2 library, which requires some serious configuration before you can finally use it. From supporting lazy injection and view models to generating less boilerplate code, Koin is a one-stop solution to your quest for a dependency injection library.
Network
If you want to connect various components of an android app or establish a network communication, below are some libraries to do so.
Retrofit
Retrofit is a library for android and Java that uses annotations to map an API into a client interface. Add endpoints and headers to a code and manipulate them according to your needs. You can implement retrofit in a few simple steps, and it comes up with a large number of serialization libraries to meet all our needs.
Volley
Volley is an android library by Google through which we can schedule requests to access networks. Everything from loading an image on the screen to launching network operations can be done with a volley as it acts as a network client.
Activity recognition API
Activity recognition API helps users in recognizing their present activity like driving, jogging, standing still or strolling, etc. Developers can get all the latest updates about the activity of users by tapping on the ‘Request Updates buttons.
There is no way to automatically turn off those updates, so you need to turn off those updates by pressing the ‘Eliminate updates’ button.
EventBus
When an Android App Development Company develops an Android app that features various dynamic components, utilizing the EventBus library can take care of the communication issue between these components.
Image loading
If you are facing too many ‘out memory errors’ in the code, image loading libraries can save you in such situations because they can load a large number of images at the same time. Here are some of the best image loading libraries available today.
Glide
Glide can help you in fetching images from the given directory, decode them, and show images, animated GIFs, and video stills. With a flexible API, you can plug the Glide image loading library into the desired network stack with a few clicks.
Picasso
Picasso is an android image library that can load an image in an android application with a single line of code. Automatic memory, caching, downloading cancelation in an adapter, and handling image view recycling are possible with Picasso. Specify as many custom transformations of images as you want to add advanced effects to your images.
Fresco
Fresco is an image loading library by Facebook which takes less time to load an image in an android app as compared to the Picasso library. Reduce the chances of getting out of memory error and make your application fast by using Fresco.
Coil
The coil is a Kotlin based image loading library for android app development that is fast and features various modern features to reduce the time that your app takes to load an image.
Analytics and Crash Reporting
Nowadays, dozens of tools are available that help you get report whenever you app gets crached. Get in-depth analytics report using the given tools and do modifications to meet the requirements of your user.
Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics
Firebase is used to report any crashes in the app and prepare a detailed analytical report to share with the developer. Keep track of as many crash reports as you want at the same time, as well as create events to track specific reports.
Scanning
Scanning is a method that developers use to integrate scanning features into their custom android apps to take the functionality to a whole new level, and below are some common scanning libraries.
Zxing
Zxing is an image processing library for android app development with Java, but it features ports to other programming languages as well. The fact that Google itself uses Zxing to index barcodes available on the web shows its functionality.
CAMView
CAMView provides access to the camera of a smartphone running on the Android operating system to scan barcodes with a built-in QR scanner. It automatically puts a set of components to the layout files to enable you to watch a live video feed from the camera and use the advanced Zxing decoding engine for barcode scanning.
Do you have an Idea?
Conclusion
With every passing day, hundreds of new android libraries, frameworks, and SDKs are released to reduce the time taken to develop an Android app. Choosing the best frameworks, libraries, and SDKs will also improve the quality of your app.
