The fact that Android has become so popular could convince those who want to get into the mobile app market to choose it as their platform. By 2021, smartphone users will have reached almost 4 billion. Android holds over 74% of the smartphone market, followed closely by iOS at around 25%.
No matter the reason, it is essential that you use the best techniques to ensure your application has the best chance of succeeding in this highly competitive market.
This blog post will discuss 10 best practices for Android app development.
Best Practices for Android App Development
Focus on app usability
App Usability was the key focus in 2004; usability was identified as an important aspect of the popular framework known as the user experience honeycomb. Even though usability is a crucial mobile app development best practice today, it needs to be more noticed or needs clarification with UX.
The ability to use a mobile app effectively and satisfactorily to achieve the goals is intended. Nobody likes “Swiss Army Knife”, over-loaded with features that don’t support core functionality. The usability of an Android application depends on several factors, including visual clarity, navigation, resource usage, and error management.
You can ensure your customers are happy using the app by focusing on usability. Happy users translate into a successful application.
Emphasize UX and UI design
The two elements that make up the mobile app development process are User Interface Design and User Experience Design. UX design covers many disciplines, including branding, usability, and functionality. It focuses on making the user’s experience simple, meaningful and engaging. UI design is responsible for providing an attractive interface with a pleasant and rewarding user experience.
A great mobile experience is a harmonious blend of UX/UI. UX helps users find the right interfaces and makes them useful. UI creates emotional connections and makes interfaces more beautiful.
Good UX/UI design must seamlessly transition across Android platforms and devices to provide a seamless multi-platform experience. It has two effects. The effect is twofold.
UX and UI design have become more specialized. Consider hiring teams that are experts in UX/UI design for mobile platforms.
Select the right tools
Given the extensive ecosystem, choosing the best tools for Android app development projects takes time and effort. Do you prefer to use old stable technologies or newer, more flexible ones with great features?
Before the project kicks off, assign essential roles.
Most professional Android development teams include multiple roles, including project managers and developers, back-end developers and testers. This will ensure that the project is a success.
Product ownership is the most important responsibility in any large-scale app development project. Product ownership is responsible for setting the requirements for the app to be superior to other offerings and exceed customers’ expectations. Product owners are responsible for the final product and bring the vision and voice of the customer to the development process.
With Agile project managing, the concept of product owners became mainstream. It defines a role coordinating all stakeholders, including Scrum Master and the development team. The Scrum Guide states that product owners are responsible for maximizing the value of the product being developed by the team.
Be agile
Agile has many advantages over the traditional waterfall approach to mobile app development. It fosters greater cohesion between customer and development teams, making it possible to form a productive partnership between all parties.
The Agile model provides transparency into the customer development process and allows for flexibility for development teams to incorporate back customer feedback in the app development process. This ensures that the client’s vision is maintained and that changes can easily be made throughout the process.
By breaking down a project into smaller modules or sprints, multiple teams can be deployed to accelerate the development process. Agile Android app development allows you to launch an MVP quicker. This will allow quick feedback from real users to aid decision-making in subsequent iterations.
Provide regular updates
Updates are an integral part of any mobile app development process. They can enhance security, add new features or extend functionality. It is not a good idea for users to be overwhelmed by large app changes. It is better to release major UI changes to a larger audience after testing them with a smaller audience.
Another methodology that is steeped in Agile is Progressive Release. It emphasizes rapid iteration and de-risks the release process span-data-style-font weight-bold =””>. This method prioritizes outputs over outcomes to ensure everyone understands the business goals behind every release. This allows developers to release specific functionality at specific times and to certain user segments, which speeds up time-to-market and reduces risk.
Integrate QA throughout the development process
End users shouldn’t be the first to use an app, even if they are the developers. Quality Assurance teams are crucial to development in today’s mobile app market.
QA is an integral part of app development. Its main purpose is to ensure the app is fully functional and bug-free. It is responsible for identifying and fixing errors before they are delivered to end-users.
Before apps are released to the market, dynamic tests are run by QA teams. These tests include UX/UI, cross-device functionality, and security and resource usage.
QA must be included in every stage of app development.
Prioritize security
Security is quickly becoming a competitive advantage among mobile application development service providers. Modern apps are scrutinized for their ability to protect data and privacy, particularly on an open platform like Android. App security is an ongoing process that begins at the initial development stage and continues to evolve alongside cyber threats, if not before.
Developers can secure their apps by using continuous testing. Penetration testing can identify security vulnerabilities and help prevent potential threats. Android app development must also include strong authentication and authorization systems, which consider key parameters such as privacy, identity management, device security, and session management.
Avoid writing generic code and avoid using public code to develop apps. Use mobile app cybersecurity best practices in your code.
Consider the business model
How can your app create value for your company? Optimizing internal processes is the key to maximizing your enterprise app. providing sales reps with a mobile app will help them do their jobs more efficiently.
You may also be looking to generate revenue from the application. You should consider other revenue streams if this is the case.
You will charge users a flat rate for the entire application. Or, you might offer a freemium version with paid upgrades or in-app purchases. Data monetization also exists. It is also possible to combine them all. It is important to determine the best strategy early in the app development process.
Advertising remains the most popular method of mobile app monetization. The shift from in-app ads monetization to mobile advertising mediation has been one of the most significant developments in this field. Developers will now be able to manage, optimize, and add in-app ads from multiple demand partners. This model offers a better choice of relevant advertising partners, higher CPM and fill rates, and less SDK bloat.
Marketing before launch
According to The Manifest, mobile app marketing accounts for a large percentage of app development budgets. Many companies spend between 31- 50% on marketing, according to The Manifest. This is understandable given the highly competitive mobile app marketplaces. Many companies only market their apps once they are finished with development.
It is possible to create a prelaunch marketing plan using the data from validation research conducted at the start of the development process.
The validated data can provide a solid foundation for developing a prelaunch marketing plan. Promote the brand and the app on a website. Incentivize visitors to share their email addresses to inform them about the launch.
Make the best Android app
Android app development means something other than creating beautiful apps. It is also about creating useful and appealing apps that users love to use that will add value to the business. Finding the right team to develop your app and focus on usability, UX, and UI is important.