Becoming a guru in Android Apps Development

Android is an open license software available on most devices; it is an amazing platform for anyone interested to develop in. Its development tools are free, available on currently used platforms and its environment can be easily set up. Developing apps for Android devices has been quite easy and straight forward, more so with the emergence of several IDE’s and Software Development Kits (SDK) such as Eclipse and Android Studio.

Even so, newbies to this platform – and even experienced coders – often make a few mistakes while developing Android apps. Some of the most frequent mistakes made include:

1. Designing your apps like iOS apps

Developers with an iOS background are known to do this, even though this is rarely done. It is worth noting that iOS and Android systems – though similar in many ways – are distinct and have their unique features that separate them. An Android app should be designed in such a way that it works best with the Android way of doing things. Perhaps one should read any of the Android design guidelines so as to avoid doing this.

2. Loading many big images

Using high-res bitmap images could make your app appear appealing to its users. The problem however comes when considering the size of memory allocated to individual apps, which is relatively small. An application usually gets a heap space of 25 MB on average: this means that loading a couple of large images will make your heap run out fast, and ultimately, cause your app to hang. You could try recycling your bitmaps whenever you’re done with them so as to free the app’s heap space.

3. Testing your apps on your own device

App testing is necessary to detect unseen errors or bugs, and your phone might be the best test tool for use at your disposal. You should however remember that Android devices vary is screen resolution, RAM and many other aspects. This means that problems not exhibited in your device might be seen in other devices. Using an Android emulator to replicate various devices would be a good option to avoid such problems.