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15 Android App Development Tools Essential for Every Developer's Toolbox
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15 Android App Development Tools Essential for Every Developer's Toolbox

by Silviu Serdaru on Feb 24 2018

Simplify! This is the right way to go if you're “obsessing” over your productivity as an app developer. Declutter your toolbox and keep only the truly essential Android app development tools in there!  

But which are they?

What are the tools for developing Android applications that shouldn't miss from any developer's personal “arsenal”? 

The most effective ones when it comes to helping you:

 

  1. become (even) more efficient by improving your workflow and thus speeding up your development process
  2. develop higher-quality apps

And this is where this blog post here comes to “the rescue”! It's a selection of THE fundamental Android app development tools that you should keep at hand (take it as your productivity-boosting toolkit).

Ranging from:

  • IDEs
  • to emulators
  • to design tools
  • to game engines

… and geared at streamlining your debugging, your performance-checking, they make the best Android developer tools to rely on in 2018:

1. LeakCanary

Stay vigilant and alert for detecting any memory leaks in your Android apps right on the spot! But mind this doesn't take too much of your valuable time!

Instead, rely on this powerful tool in your developer's toolbox for identifying them. It will take this time-consuming “burden” off your back and alert you any time it tracks down a memory issue threatening your app. 

Moreover, LeakCanary provides you with a full stack trace so you can have those memory leaks fixed right away, too.

2. AIDE

You'll have a crush on this tool if:

  1. you're a beginner, struggling to get started with that innovative Android app idea of yours (and, hopefully, to turn it into the next big thing in terms of Android app development)
  2. you're planning to learn Java and Android SDK: it will practically enable you to follow your favourite tutorials with highlighted code and then to get them tested... in real-time, on the very same device!

In short: the irresistible advantage of AIDE and the very reason why it's got included in this selection of essential Android app development tools is that it runs on Android!

Just imagine it:

You get to develop your Android app on your device, nice and easy, then you get to test it... on that very same device! This is the true “superpower” that this development tool provides you with! 

Note: don't expect it to be free, for it isn't, nor to “spoil” you with a full load of features. 

3. Vysor

The power that you'll unlock by including this tool in your smartphone application development process? It mirrors your real device on your PC.

And this does turn into a true power if you're one of those developers who hate building their apps on emulators, yet they crave the advantage of using one.

There's more! Vysor will even mirror your live app demos on projectors and big TV screens.

So, if you think that this functionality matches your own work style, that it streamlines your workflow and helps you create a better app with greater ease, go for it!

4. Stetho

Debugging native Android apps will never be the same again!

That if you use this open-source platform wearing Facebook's signature here when you go “bugs hunting”. 

And not only that it makes your debugging work so much easier, but it's also geared at landing you a much needed helping hand with your:

  • inspecting the SQLite database
  • checking the View hierarchy
  • monitoring network operations

A debugging tool that shouldn't miss from your toolkit!

5. B4A, One of “Speed-Injecting” Android App Development Tools 

For “rapid development” is what you'll achieve by leveraging this tool's features.

And these are:

  • the ability to develop Android apps using the much simpler BASIC programming language 
  • a visual editor for manipulating your views to your liking
  • wireless debugging

In short, B4A (Basic for Android) makes such a convenient IDE and interpreter enabling you to create your app in a simpler procedural programming language.

Plus, it comes packed with other advanced features to speed up your development process (as above-mentioned).

 

6. Android Studio

The “Holy Grail” of all Android app development tools!

Officially it's the IDE for Android. 

But in reality, it's your own “Swiss knife” to use as an Android developer! Since it plays multiple roles crucial for your mobile app development workflow:

  1. it's a compiler that you get to leverage to create a file system for arranging your app project, to create multiple APK files
  2. it's an editor for the programming language that you'll decide to use in your app's development process (whether it's Java, Kotlin, C++...)
  3. it's an XML editor (providing you with a “design view”, as well, that will guide you in displaying your app's elements on the screen; crucial for keeping up with Google's Material design guidelines)
  4. it also includes the Android SDK itself (yet, the Java SDK needs to be downloaded separately)

In terms of pros and cons, do expect a steep learning curve for developing with Android SDK and Java. But once you've got through it, do expect to gain access to unlimited support, to a whole bundle of advanced features and to unmatched integration functionality.

From this standpoint, Android Studio is the “can't live without” tool-set for any developer! 

7. Codota

Does this scenario sound familiar to you?

You hit a dead end down your app development roadmap and you need to go over to Github or StackOverflow and have a quick look at some code examples!

Well, Codota enables you to do precisely that, but without having to leave your IDE.

Talking about speeding up your development process, right?

 

8. GenyMotion

Far gone are the days when GenyMotion used to be “just” the developers' top choice whenever they wanted to create their apps using an Android emulator.

It has now grown into a complete platform whose powers you get to harness for:

  1. developing your app
  2. testing it
  3. deploying it

Do consider it as a “candidate” to be included in your own toolbox of Android app development tools essential in your work this year.

9. Visual Studio with Xamarin

These days you get Xamarin right out of the box with Visual Studio, Microsoft's IDE.

One supporting a whole wide set of languages: JavaScript, C#, VB.net, and others, too, via extensions.

And what's the “deal” with Xamarin? What makes it “essential” for your toolbox? 

  1. it enables you to develop cross-platform apps using C# (have you been “toying” with the thought of developing an app both for Android and iOS using the very same code?)
  2. … to test them on different devices that are connected to the cloud

A word of caution: accessing and working with Java libraries isn't really “a child's play”, do be prepared for that; also, you need to accept that you'll be losing some of Google's cool integrated features and support.

10. Source Tree

It makes any smartphone app developer's trump card making his work on Git as efficient as it can get!

Basically, this tool's aimed at making Git cleanly organized so you can visualize all your work there — commits, changes, branches — in the form of an easy-to-navigate-through structure. And all this without the need to use the command-line!

One that can only boost your productivity, as it helps you sweep through Git with great ease!

11. Fabric, One Those Powerful Android App Development Tools You Should Be Using

And its power lies in all the capabilities that it's been invested with. It provides you with a whole set of features designed to help you:

  1. develop
  2. deploy
  3. extend

… your Android apps' functionality fast and easily.

 

12. Eclipse

Once developers' very first choice when they started selecting the Android app development tools to build their toolboxes with.

This until it got “dethroned” by Android Studio!

And yet, Eclipse should still be part of your toolkit. It's an IDE that supports a wide range of programming languages after all (Java with the Android SDK here included).

 

Note: still, do not expect it to get you “spoiled” with out-of-the-box support, like Android Studio does, so be ready for some setting up work!

13. InstaBug

A tool that takes “bug hunting” to a new level!

Practically it empowers users to share video, audio recordings, screenshots, detailed logs whenever they detect anything suspicious in your app.

And these user-generated “signals” become priceless in your constant attempt to keep your app bugs-free!

14. Unreal Engine

If it's a cross-platform, feature-packed game app that you're planning to build, this game engine might turn out to be your best “ally”!

Here's why:

  1. it provides easy support for Android
  2. it's open source
  3. when it comes to graphics, it does have an advantage over its “rival”, Unity

     

15. Takt

Team up with Takt in your major lags and bugs detecting “adventure”! 

This library will help you check your app's FPS thoroughly and spot down bugs right in its development phase. 

For you don't want them to linger on in there once your app's being used in its production phase, now do you?

The END!

I know what you might think right now:

Each developer's toolbox depends solely on his/her preferences, goals and personal work style.

It's perfectly true and I've anticipated this “objection” myself. Therefore, I've grouped here only those truly essential Android app development tools that one should “carry” in his/her toolbox.

... irrespective of his work style and goals set for his/her app.

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