Android technology

Before learning all topics of android, it is required to know what is android.

Android is a software package and linux based operating system for mobile devices such as tablet computers and smartphones.

It is developed by Google and later the OHA (Open Handset Alliance). Java language is mainly used to write the android code even though other languages can be used.

The goal of android project is to create a successful real-world product that improves the mobile experience for end users.

There are many code names of android such as Lollipop, Kitkat, Jelly Bean, Ice cream Sandwich, Froyo, Ecliar, Donut etc which is covered in next page.

Developing of Android technology

Ever since mobiles apps featured in the first PDAs, their numbers have only increased by leaps and bounds. Apps have almost become a part of our lives, and according to the latest estimates, there are approximately 3 million apps that are available in Google Play Store, and daily, there are more than 250 million app downloads.

It would be an understatement to say that app development has taken so much prominence in today’s digital world, that it has created a niche market for itself. But before you start to enroll in an app development course, or planning to take a career in app development, there are some things you have to keep in mind. The following 8 steps are, let’s say, stages or phases in app development, that you will come across when developing an app.

The mobile development lifecycle

Stage 1: Plan
The first step to building a mobile app is understanding why you are building a mobile app. Start by asking these questions:

Who is the target audience for the mobile app?
What purpose is the app fulfilling?
Why is building the app beneficial for you or your business?
How do you plan on building the app?
By no means is this list exhaustive, but these questions can help guide the planning process for your app. Don’t build the app just for the sake of having an app, because it’s far better to have not built at all than to build something subpar that your target audience won’t enjoy. Build with intent. Build an app that your audience will want to use. To make that happen, planning is absolutely necessary.

Your business’ marketing team should also build a campaign around the new app prior to deployment to improve visibility and hype before and during launch. Campaign building should start in the planning phase, but it needs to be flexible to app capability fluctuations until the product’s core functions are confirmed.

Stage 2: Design
Once you’ve got the app planned, you can get into design. During the design phase, you and your business should be focusing on two aspects: functionality and the user interface (UI). While the UI covers what users see in the app and what they interact with, the functionality aspect focuses on how the app actually works and what users can do with it.

For developing the user experience, a common practice is wireframing. In simplest terms, wireframing is a rough draft of what users see. It’s a quick-and-dirty approach to arranging the app in a way that makes sense for the end user. What’s nice about using wireframing tools in particular during the design stage is that wireframe tools are incredibly flexible. Think of wireframing almost like a wall full of sticky notes: You’ve got the freedom to add, move, and remove ideas according to what might work best for the end user.

The development side of design tends to be more consulting-oriented, but one or more members of the dev team should always be involved in the design stage. They need to give input about what your business should realistically expect from the app’s functions.

Stage 3: Develop
The development stage is composed of two distinct parts: the first, prototyping, is meant to be quick, whereas the second, building, is the actual production of the end product.

Part A: Prototype
While this might feel like overkill, or perhaps like it would slow down the development process, app prototyping can be an invaluable part of the development process. Prototypes are quick builds — in this case, of the mobile application — that are used to test design ideas before moving forward with the actual build process. Prototypes are the translation of the initial idea into a practical model of how that idea operates.

The limitation of wireframing and preliminary UI design is that you can’t see how the app draft behaves in practice. Prototyping the design allows the app developer or development team the opportunity to test their initial ideas and see what might be missing or problematic before formally moving into the building stage. Foresight like this can help prevent extended delays and numerous mid-build changes that would drastically slow the build process and prevent expedient application release.

Part B: Build
Now that you’ve knocked out the initial kinks with the app prototype, you can start the build process. The actual app build is where your developer(s) should be pouring in the most time. In this stage, the initial plans, designs, and lessons learned from prototyping all come together as a guidebook for creating the end product.

Build tools can directly target the level of experience your developer(s) have. For individuals or small businesses that might not have extensive development experience, no-code development platforms or low-code development platforms may be the perfect option for building the app. For enterprises, mobile development platforms give experienced developers the most extensive array of features and options to build with, potentially sacrificing a certain level of expediency for thoroughness and greater app capability.

You should also expect the greatest fluidity of the entire mobile app development lifecycle during the build stage. Getting deep into the app build can expose hidden issues with the expected functions for the app, and also result in new ideas that might not have come up during planning and prototyping. Keep in mind that you don’t want to get stuck in an idea development loop here though. If the idea is too broad, or maybe just not entirely cohesive with the current build, the idea may be better to hold onto as a feature update sometime after launch.

Finally the above lines indicated about development and information about Android technology of present now a days