Latest News & Updates in Android App Development

Android

Posted on 17 Feb 2020 5 min read Share On:

The mobile app is fast becoming a getaway to success for businesses and dynamic entrepreneurs. It allows users to engage, collaborate, and learn from customers. There is a phenomenal opportunity for mobile app development services, as companies from large enterprises to small startups are seeking to provide personalized and contextual experiences for their customers.

Today, Android is ultimately conquering the global market share. The number of applications in the Google Play Store available from December 2009 to December 2019 was placed at 2.9 million apps offering Android users a range of applications and digital media, including music, magazines, books, film, and TV.

There is a vast audience to be reached out to on both iOS and Android. There is no perfect reply for selecting either of the platforms — but if you can’t launch to build for both platforms due to resource, time, or budget constraints, consider your target market before you begin custom android app development services.

If you are planning to build an Android app it is essential to consider the following aspects:

Type of app you’re developing
Monetization model
User demographics
Target Market
Features to be included
User Acquisition

Several mobile apps bite the dust and are buried among a pile of apps. There are a plethora of reasons behind the failure of the app for your brand. It is essential to understand the mobile landscape before taking a plunge into the app development process.

It is crucial to leverage the latest features in Android app development and stay updated on the news-making round in the Android world. If you are looking to maximize the reach of the app, you should make sure you develop it for the mobile community’s leading platforms.

Here are the latest trends in android app development 2020 that you should consider before you jump into building your mobile app.

AndroidX Releases

Fragment 1.2.0 introduces FragmentContainerView as the recommended container for fragments, integrates into Lifecycle ViewModel SavedState, and overcomes timing issues with onDestroyView() during the use of animations/transitions.
Lifecycle 2.2.0 New lifecycle-runtime-ktx artifact with Kotlin coroutine integration. Furthermore, greater integration into the existing lifecycle-livedata-ktx artifact for coroutines.
Navigation 2.2.0 provides navigation graph-scoped Lifecycles and SavedState with the new NavBackStackEntry, query parameter support for deep links, and improved animation support.
WorkManager 2.3.0 has new setProgress() and setForeground() APIs, which allow you to communicate progress as your Worker runs, as well as allowing a Worker to run in a foreground service when necessary.

Updates from Android Developer’s blog

Flow APIs in Kotlin: Flow API in Kotlin is a better way to handle the stream of data asynchronously that executes sequentially.
Android styling system: Powerful way to specify your app’s visual design, but it can be easy to misuse.
Flashing Builds from the Android Open Source Project – Google has launched an Android Flash Tool by significantly streamlining the process and helping developers flash devices with the build from the Android Open Source Project.
Get ready for the Game Developers Conference – For game developers, save the dates for the Conference on March 16 and 17.

News from Around the Web for Android Games

Indie Games Festival – Online home of the Indie Games Festival allowing submission of your games or just signing up for one of the events, taking place on April 25.
Unity 2019.3 is now available – The latest version of Unity is available with an impressive update of new features such as terrain updates to create holes and caves, critical support for third-party renderer materials, and add-ons to the DOTS-powered artist tooling. There are several hosts of new 2D tools such as the 2D PSD Importer and 2D Pixel Perfect feature.
Android Game SDK – One of the latest Game SDK from Google, which is considered an important tool for game devs moving ahead. Right now there is just one library with the potential of the SDK growing.
How to create non-game apps in Unity – Unity as a game engine comes across as important. However, it is a very flexible development environment for a plethora of non-gaming apps.
Enter the Indie Games Festival from Google Play – More updates for game developers based in Europe, Japan, or South Korea. Game developers have time up to March 2nd to enter the game into one of three competitions.

Features We Want to See in Android 11

Dark mode scheduling – Android 11 should allow building a custom schedule for dark mode with a method to turn on and off based on the timing of the sunset and sunrise.
Customizable back gesture – Google can take this up by allowing people to determine the part of the screen for slide-out menus, which recognizes the back gesture.
Built-in screen recorder – Google was finally going to add a built-in screen recorder to Android. This is such a small and trivial feature, and adding one should be a relatively simple task. While this feature may not be used every day, it is useful when there is a need to record something on the screen with having to dive into the Play Store to find an app.
Scrolling screenshot feature – Google should provide functionality in Android 11, allowing people to take regular screenshots as they already do, but if there’s more on the screen to capture, have a toggle for expanding the screenshot for however long the user wants.