With over 1 billion smartphone users all over the world, people use mobile apps for doing multiple tasks be it shopping, entertainment, booking tickets or education. Mobile technology has numerous opportunities for business enterprises to launch mobile apps to boost brand reputation, drive customers, increase revenue, and ROI.Furthermore, organizations also Hire Mobile App Developers to build an app having an intuitive user experience. Significant opportunities are offered, as businesses of all sizes can provide highly personalized experiences to their customers using mobile apps. Before investing in mobile app development, it is important to know the complete ecosystem. Knowing your audience & understanding which platform to opt is the most important activity.
Today Android is the leading OS in the mobile industry and it will remain a leader according to reports in the future as well. With over 3 million Android apps available to download in the Google Play Store, it is very important to ensure that your business app offers something unique to stand out of the crowd. At the same time, Mobile Application Development Company also have to identify and address major challenges in the app development process to get success.
Major Challenges In Mobile App Development
1) Software Fragmentation
Ever since the inception of Android, it has been struggling with the problem of software fragmentation. With a new version of the Android platform being launched on a regular basis the problem of fragmentation is getting complicated every year. Unlike iOS, people usually skip installing the latest version of the Android OS. As a result, app developers have to deal with multiple versions of the Android platform while developing mobile apps. This usually makes app development challenging job as it is tough to build an app that integrates the features offered by the latest as well as old versions of the Android platform.
2) Device Fragmentation
The best part of Android OS is its open-source nature. This allows different mobile manufacturers to modify the Android OS without any limitations. This creates troubles for app developers as the hardware configuration provided differ from device to device. Some Android phones come with fingerprint sensors, while some lack this functionality. This makes quite challenging for the developer to integrate a fingerprint sensor, instead apply numerous authentications to complement different hardware configurations of Android gadgets.
3) UI for Android
The availability of different UIs makes it tough for the mobile app developers to build an app which is responsive to each device. Developers have to consider and implement the UI design guidelines set by Google to make their mobile apps more appealing. But the developers have to put additional efforts to keep the app UI responsive and adaptive to make it compatible with different mobile devices.
4) Programming Language
For Android app development, the two official programming languages are Java and Kotlin. Java is an old programming language used to develop web and mobile apps. On the other hand, Kotlin is a modern language that has been recently launched. Kotlin has numerous features to streamline the app development process and maintenance of the app code. A number of Android app development tools are not compatible with Kotlin language which makes it difficult for app developers to select the perfect programming language for mobile app development.
5) Security Issues
Due to the open-source structure and huge market share, Android is quite vulnerable to security threats. Though, Google releases security patches on a regular basis, but still, it is prone to attacks. Developers integrate security features and the latest encryption methods to secure the app and user data. But developers often get confused to build an Android app that is secure enough to handle data breach.
Mobile App Development Tools:
Mobile App development is a complicated job to do. But, there are numerous tools that will help you in developing app without facing any sort of complication. Here is a quick glance of tools that will assist in app development straight from IDEs, libraries and plugins.
1. Android Studio
Android Studio is a great tool for developing apps on every type of Android gadget. Powered by Gradle, its build system offers high-level of customization to create different build variants for multiple devices from a single admin.
2. Eclipse
Eclipse is an IDE that is one of the most widely used Java IDE among all IDEs. It contains a base workspace and an extensible plug-in system for making changes in the environment. Written in Java, this tool’s primary use is to develop Java applications.
3. GenyMotion
GenyMotion is the biggest and most trustworthy testing tools for Android apps. It also provides Cloud-based virtual gadgets to implement test automation or run the app in different working scenarios.
4. IntelliJ
The primary working of IntelliJ plugins is to extend the core functionality as well as provide integration with application servers, and version control systems.
5. DroidEdit
It is an Android text and code editor that is quite helpful for the Android platforms. It allows coding as well as editing of files straight from the cloud. It has feature of Syntax highlighting for more than 100 programming languages.
Wrapping Up: Mobile app development is a challenging job to do and requires proper skills. Developers come across multiple challenges while developing a mobile app, however, these challenges can be addressed by using the tools mentioned above. It is important to apply a custom mobile app development strategy to find and overcome challenges in mobile app development. In order to handle problems related to app development, it is crucial to select the implement right tool and Hire Dedicated Mobile Developers. It is important to hire an experienced developer for managing all the errors and security issues within the app.