How to Hire Android App Developers? – Explained

In terms of the sheer number of devices running on it, Android is the world’s most successful mobile operating system. Android is virtually omnipresent as around 72% of mobile devices run on Android. A business that wants to maximize its reach amongst users worldwide has to adopt Android for their mobile app development platform. Many entrepreneurs who have brilliant ideas for mobile app development tend to go with Android due to its popularity.

For non-technical people who do not know much about mobile app development, the first and foremost thing is to find a team of efficient Android developers. This article aims to help businesses to hire Android app developers for building a great Android app according to their needs.

Android app development concerns of business owners

The Android platform provides businesses with easy access to an ever-growing user base. However, businesses can face some challenges that might derail their app dream. Let us look at some of the critical challenges that a business can face in the development of an Android app.

High Software Fragmentation

Software fragmentation is an issue that even experienced app developers face on all major platforms. However, the challenge is bigger for the Android platform. You will need to find professional Android app developers who can take into consideration many different Android versions and devices when they develop the app. Below is a chart detailing the number of versions that the top Android app needs to support to maximize its reach.

The multiple types of devices that run the Android OS make things worse for the Android app developers. Before they deliver the app to their client, the developers of Android mobile applications need to test whether the app runs smoothly with respect to different keyboard forms, camera buttons, and screen sizes.

It is hard for Android app developers to build an app that will work smoothly on all the Android versions and devices. Many Android app developers will focus only on the latest Android versions when they build the app. The practice may prove detrimental for the client’s business as they might lose prospective customers who use older versions of Android OS.

Patent infringement issues

Patent Infringement and Litigation are rampant in the Android ecosystem, and many businesses have faced lawsuits in various countries for violations of patent designs. Unlike Apple, there is no mechanism in Android to ensure no duplication of features in Android apps. The Android app owners are at a constant risk of facing patent infringement litigations due to lax duplication prevention mechanisms in Android. If things go wrong in the courtroom, then these legal issues can prove costly for the client and the Android app developers.

Security

While Apple ensures that each app published on its platform follows strict guidelines, Android is very flexible in this regard. Many malware issues arise in Android devices due to Google’s flexible app publishing policy and due to the vast array of hardware and software components in Android devices available in the market. As a result, many Android apps face serious security issues like the stagefright MMS flaw, Android FakeID issue, and Android installer hijacking.

High cost of Marketing the app

There are more than 3.5 million Android apps in the Google play store. The sheer number of Android apps makes it very difficult for an Android app to stand out from the crowd. The marketers of the businesses who own the Android app have to work hard to ensure greater app visibility. To succeed in the highly competitive world of Android, marketers have to prepare a robust app store optimization strategy and ensure that the app has the correct name, a unique app icon, and has the right keywords in the app description along with high-quality videos and screenshots. The Android app owners often find that the Android app marketing costs are higher than their expectations.

Top reasons to choose Android for App development

A question that arises in the mind of business owners is that if there are concerns regarding Android development, why choose Android for app development? There are a few explanations why Android happens to be the most popular mobile app operating system in the world today to develop business mobile applications. We have detailed the most prominent reasons that will help you differentiate Android from other mobile operating systems and make it easier for you to hire the right Android app developers to develop your mobile app.

Android is Open-source

A major reason to choose Android for app development is that it is an open-source app development platform. Android is not only free to use, but it also allows businesses to modify the OS according to their needs. Businesses can customize the Android app experience for their users by developing their own custom ROMs.

As Android is open-source, there are no licensing costs associated with it, a fact that helps it make the most used mobile operating system in the world.

Greater market share

Do you want to target the maximum number of mobile device users? Then Android should be the platform on which you should build your app. 7 out of 10 devices in the world today run on Android. A significant reason why most devices run on Android is that Android is open source. Android does not charge license fees to manufacturers who wish to install an operating system on their devices.

A business can choose to deploy its app on multiple app stores like the Amazon app store, AppGratis and MoboMarket, in addition to the Google play store. A business can even choose to build its own distribution channel to reach out to its app users. On the other hand, Apple does not allow this flexibility, and iOS developers can deploy their apps only on the Apple app store. The ability of an Android app owner to reach its customers through multiple channels provides a boost to the reach of the app.

Low investment

As Android is an open-source platform, there is no need to purchase the Android SDK to develop an Android app. Professional Android app developers for hire are easier to find as Android coding is based on Java, a very popular programming language.

The hourly rate of Android programmers is less as compared to iOS programmers. The cost of publishing an app on Google is low compared to publishing an app on the Apple app store. While Google charges a one-time fee of $25, Apple charges $99 yearly.

Also, there are no licensing fees that make Android most cost-effective for Android app owners.

Great Security, and Stability

App owners do not want their app to crash as it would ruin the user experience. Android solves this issue as it is a Linux based platform that helps app owners build a stable app.

Apart from being stable, Android is also a very secure platform. The Android security functions run in a TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) to ensure that the OS stays safe.

Sandboxing in Android ensures that the apps are separate and data clean. The Google play protect feature detects and blocks malware threats. Google safe browsing feature protects the users from phishing attacks. The SafetyNet API adds another layer of security by checking the managed devices before allowing them access to data.

Portability

As Android uses the Java programming language, it is easy to port Android apps to other mobile operating systems like Blackberry, Symbian, and Ubuntu. Microsoft has announced that it would build an easy way to allow the developers to port Android apps to Windows 10 devices.

Support of Google

Android has the support of a tech giant like Google, which acts as a major positive factor for the operating system’s growth. Google, along with its other platform partners, has been heavily investing both money and resources to ensure that Android becomes a world-leading mobile operating system.

Google has introduced innovative technologies, allayed the security concerns of Android, updated existing Android development tools, and has formulated effective techniques for premier Android application development. Google has also extended the Android OS support to wearable devices, making Android future-ready.

Easy to find expert Android app developers

Android is an easy to learn platform that allows Android app programmers to start work on it immediately. The community of Android developers has seen unprecedented growth over the past decade.

Android is one of the easiest platforms to learn for mobile app developers as it utilizes Java, a programming language with which most developers are familiar with. Another factor that attracts developers towards Android is that it is easy to publish an app on the Google play store as opposed to the Apple app store. These factors make Android the most popular platform to work upon, creating an army of Android developers to choose from. The high availability of developers is a critical factor. Even if one or two android developers leave your project mid-way you can easily find other Android developers to finish your project.

Roles and Responsibilities of Android App Developers for Hire

The Android app project varies in size and complexity. Depending upon your project needs, you can hire remote Android app developers with different levels of experience and expertise. Mentioned below are the three types of Android developers for hire that you can choose from.

Hire Junior Android app developer

• Experience level is less than 3 years
• Can develop small and simple Android apps
• Can support more experienced Android developers

Hire Mid-level Android app developer

• 3-5 years of experience in programming
• Skilled to work on complex Android projects
• Can work independently

Hire Senior Android app developer

• More than 5 years of experience
• Has a high level of Android development skills
• Can work on highly complex projects
• Can supervise the big project

Instead of scouting for freelance Android app developers, we suggest you hire offshore Android app development company that caters to experienced and dedicated Android app developers having different skill levels.

The essential skill set of Android developers

Regardless of the experience level, what skills are necessary for an Android developer you want to hire? Well, two types of essential skill sets are required to succeed in the arena of Android app development, hard skills and Soft skills. You should try to hire Android developers that have a perfect mix of hard as well as soft skills.

Android developer Hard skills

The hard skill set of an Android programmer consists of the programmer’s technical knowledge of the programming languages and frameworks required for Android programming. When you are looking to hire Android app developers for your business, you should consider the developers with these hard-skills set and make it one of your priorities.

Java experience

Expertise in Java is a must-required skill for Android app developers as Java is the most popular programming language to develop Android apps.

Bug fixing skills

If there are any bugs found in code, a skilled Android app developer should be able to fix bugs in code no matter who wrote it.

Kotlin and View skills

The Android app developer should be able to work with Views in Kotlin. For View, the Android developer should be comfortable with ViewGroup, Android SDK, Android Jetpack, and Java Core.

Experience with API

The Android developer should be able to work easily with XML/SOAP and JSON/REST APIs.

Experience with Google Play

The Google Play experience includes uploading as well as updating applications in the play store.

Android developer Soft Skills

Only good hard skills are not enough to attain success as an Android developer; soft skills are also necessary. The soft skills show how the Android developer will work with the client and team, and how well the Android developer will manage stress. Mentioned below are a few desired soft skills for Android app developers.

Collaboration

An Android developer will need to collaborate with designers, testers, project managers, and clients to complete the project. Good communication skills are essential to collaborating efficiently with team members and clients.

Cultural compatibility

The Android developers should share the company’s values to contribute in a meaningful manner to the Android development projects they work on.

Stress management

Stress is an inevitable part of an Android development project, and Android developers should deal with stress effectively.

Continuous learning

A proficient Android developer should constantly learn new things to keep up with the evolving Android app development trends and market demands.

Time management

Project delays cause loss in terms of money, but they also create a bad reputation for the company. To avoid delays from the development team, the Android app developers should have basic time management skills.

Types of Android app developers to hire

A common dilemma that businesses face when hiring Android app developers is the kind of engagement model that they should adopt. Depending upon the project’s complexity, the project’s budget, the reach of the project, and the deadline of the project, there are 3 major engagement models to choose from to hire Android app developers.

• Freelance Android app developers
• In-house Android app developers
• Outsourced Android app developers team

Let’s look briefly at each engagement model to choose the most useful according to your business objectives.

Freelance Android app developers

Freelance Android app developers are those developers who offer their services on a per-project basis. The freelancers usually work several jobs for various clients. Companies usually hire freelance developers for small tasks and software updates.

Pros of hiring freelance Android app developers

• Wide choice
• Cost-effective

Cons of hiring freelance Android app developers

• Supervision required
• Communication issues
• Risk of low-quality product
• Data can leak
• Not available when required

In-house Android app developers

In-house developers are the developers hired by a company for its own Android development needs. These type of Android app developers are full-time employees of the company. Normally, large app development firms who plan to build more Android apps in the future prefer this engagement model.

Pros of hiring in-house Android app developers

• Always available
• No cultural boundaries

Cons of hiring in-house Android app developers

• Costly to hire full-time employees
• Involves extra expenses such as purchase of hardware and software, and rent for the office
• Hard to find replacements if hired Android app developers leave mid-way
• The lack of expertise in different areas

Outsourced Android app development team

If you are looking for the right balance between freelance developers and in-house developers, hire a top outsourced Android development team. If you have a medium to large-scale Android project, hiring an outsourced Android developer team is the most suitable option for you.

Pros of outsourced Android app development team

• No need to hire developers separately to assemble a team
• Low-cost option as compared to in-house teams
• No supervision required

Cons of outsourced Android app development team

• Time-zone difference

The choice of the engagement model depends on the project’s scope, budget, and the specific requirements of the project.

For light work and a limited budget, hiring freelance Android app developers would be the best choice.

For a medium to complex level project hiring in-house Android app developers would be a better choice.

Hiring an outsourced company for Android app development is the best option if you want to hire the best talent globally at an affordable price without the hassle of hiring full-time employees.

How to hire Android developers for your requirements?

Nobody wants to be stuck with Android app developers that do not deliver according to expectations, right? That’s why we have listed a few steps that will help you in your endeavor of selecting the best Android app developers for hire.

Decide the goal of the project

The first and foremost step towards successful Android app development is to decide the goal of the project. Before you hire Android app developers and pursue your Android app development project, you need to ensure that the list of requirements and goals is as exhaustive as possible. You must set your priorities before you start the project. The following questions will help you decide the goal of the project.

• What type of Android app do you want to build?
• What should be the desired experience and skill level of the hired Android app developers?
• What is the deadline for the Android app development project?
• What kind of infrastructure will the Android app development project require?
• What are the quality benchmarks for Android application?
• How do you plan to test the Android app?

Once the goal of the Android project is defined, the search for ideal Android app developers becomes much easier. On the contrary, if the goal is not defined, then you might end up choosing a company that proves to be the wrong fit for your organization.

Android App Developer’s experience

The experience of the Android app developers is directly related to their problem-solving ability. The more varied the experience of the Android developers is, the more will be the variety of problems they would have faced. The variety in experience gives the Android application development experts an edge over developers who are skilled but inexperienced. Before you hire a top mobile app development company, make sure to check the experience levels of their Android app developers.

Analyze the work portfolio

Once you find right Android app developers for hire, it is essential to have a look at their portfolio. The portfolio helps you understand the business domains that the Android app development service provider has previously worked upon and the technical expertise of the project. You should ask the Android app developers about a project that they have worked on in the past similar to your project or business niche.

Check their Technical ability

Does the developer provide good technical suggestions?

Some Android app developers accept all the suggestions of the client. You need to be alert with such developers as it shows that they lack ideas about the technicalities of Android development tools and processes.

Can the developers properly select a technology stack?

The proper selection of technology is critical for the successful implementation of an Android project. Best Android app developers with experience and expertise will have a proper approach towards technology stack selection. The Android app developers you want to hire should explain why they have selected a particular technology stack to finish the project.

Talk with previous clients

While a portfolio will give you an idea about the prior work experience of Android app developers and their expertise, it is always a good idea to talk with the clients. A chat with the previous clients will help you to understand the Android app developers’ approach towards work, their communication skills, their attention to detail, and adherence to deadlines. It is important to contact the previous clients to get an honest review of the Android app developers before hiring them.

Communication process

Effective communication is vital to ensure the success of any Android app development project. You will need to ensure that the communication lines are open and that there is an easy exchange of ideas and suggestions. The mode of communication, whether it’s email, Skype or video call, should be clear at the onset of the project to avoid miscommunication. There should be regular updates and discussions about the progress of the project. If your Android app development team is not able to communicate properly, then either they are poor communicators, or they have other priorities than your project. In both cases, the loss will be yours. A robust communication process will ensure that there are no hiccups in the Android app development process.

Developmental approach

Before starting the Android app development process, you and your hired Android app developers should be clear with the approach for app development. There are three types of mobile app development approaches.

• Web
• Hybrid
• Native

Every developmental approach has its own pros and cons, and none will meet all the needs of all mobile applications. The developmental approach for your Android app development project will affect the time it takes to finish the project and its budget. Depending upon your requirements, the top-notch Android app developers you hire should be able to select the most appropriate developmental approach.

Costing and Budget

While preparing the budget for your Android app, understand that high development fees charged by an Android app development company do not guarantee the desired results. At the same time, a very low budget won’t be feasible for the quality Android app development companies with experienced Android developers to your project. You need to strike a balance between the cost of Android app development project and the expertise of the Android app developers that you want to hire.

Questions to ask while hiring an Android developer

You need to ask the right questions to get the right answers. The same applies while selecting Android experts from a reputed Android app development company. The following questions will help fulfill your Android app developer requirements.

• How to hire Android app developers or team from your Company?
• What can your Android developers do for us?
• Can I hire Android experts for hourly or project-based tasks?
• What are the benefits of hiring Android app developer?
• How much does it cost to hire Android app developer?
• Can I review the code during the development process?
• Who will own the code?
• Are your developed apps compatible with all versions and devices of Android?
• What are good Android development frameworks?
• What are the tools that you use for Android app development?
• How can I communicate with my developer and monitor my app development project?
• What about support or maintenance after the completion of my project?
• Will you help me to upload my Android app to the Google Play Store?
• Can I speak to a client in my sector?

Hire Top Android App Developers from Prismetric

Prismetric has made a name for itself as a reputed Android app development company by delivering high-quality Android apps within tight deadlines with the help of our experts. We have a team of highly skilled and experienced Android app developers who have a knack for building top-notch Android apps for clients from diverse industry backgrounds. Prismetric’s team of extremely talented Android experts provides custom Android app development solutions to its clients. Such as:

• Android enterprise solutions
• Android mCommerce apps
• AR Android apps
• ML/AI Android apps
• VR Android apps
• Android Wearable apps
• Android IoT apps
• Blockchain Android apps

Hire our Dedicated Android App Developers to materialize your idea into a fully functional Android app. Connect with us and get started!