When developing mobile applications, companies are targeting Android because of its huge share of the global mobile operating system market. Alphabet has made Android available as an open source mobile platform. In addition, it updates the mobile operating system at regular intervals with new features and improvements. But the penetration rate of individual versions of the mobile operating system differs.
Alphabet does not regulate Android smartphones, tablets and phablets made by various companies. Therefore, devices made by different companies come with different hardware features despite running on the same version of Android. That is why; it becomes essential for developers to build mobile apps targeting a wide range of devices running different versions of Android.
While planning, developing, and testing the mobile app, they should broadly focus on their mobile app accessibility, functionality, performance, usability, and security to keep users engaged, regardless of their choice of Android device. In addition, they should explore ways to make the app provide a personalized user experience across different devices and OS versions. Additionally, they need to address a number of common challenges in developing a strong Android app.
Understand the 7 Common Challenges Android App Developers Face
1) software fragmentation
As mentioned above, the market share of individual Android versions differs. According to the latest data released by Google, the latest version of its mobile operating system, Nougat, has a lower market share than its predecessors, Marshmallow, Lollipop and KitKat. Every new version of Android comes with several new features and improvements. Developers must include specific features in the app so that it provides an optimal user experience when taking advantage of these new features. At the same time, they also need to ensure that the app provides a rich and personalized user experience on devices running older versions of Android. Developers have to target multiple Android versions to make the app popular and profitable in the short term.
2) Various hardware features
Unlike other mobile operating systems, Android is open source. Alphabet allows device manufacturers to customize their operating system according to their specific needs. Also, it does not regulate Android devices released by various manufacturers. Therefore, the devices come with different hardware features despite running on the same version of Android. For example, two Android Nougat devices may differ from each other in the category of screen size, resolution, camera, and other hardware features. When developing an Android app, developers need to ensure that it provides a personalized experience for each user when accessing all of the hardware features of their device.
3) No consistent UI design rules or processes
Google has not published any common user interface (UI) design processes or rules for mobile app developers. Therefore, most of the developers build Android apps without following any standard UI development process or rules. When developers create custom UIs in their own way, apps don’t look or work consistently across devices. The incompatibility and diversity of the user interface directly affects the user experience provided by the Android application. Smart developers opt for a responsive design to keep the user interface consistent across many devices. Also, developers have to extensively test their mobile app’s user interface by combining real devices and emulators. But developers often find it daunting to design a user interface that makes the app look consistent across multiple Android devices.
4) API incompatibility
Most of the developers use third-party APIs to improve the functionality and interoperability of the mobile app. But the quality of third-party APIs available to Android app developers is different. Some APIs are designed for a particular version of Android. Therefore, these APIs do not work on devices with different versions of the mobile operating system. Developers have to explore ways to make a single API work on different versions of Android. But they often find it difficult to make the app work smoothly on different Android devices with the same set of APIs.
5) security flaws
Its open source nature makes it easy for device manufacturers to customize Android according to their specific needs. But the openness and its huge market share made Android vulnerable to frequent security attacks. There are many cases where the security of millions of Android devices has been affected by security flaws or bugs like Stagefright, ‘Certifi-gate’ mRST, FakeID, Installer Hijacking and TowelRoot. Developers must include strong security features in the app and use the latest encryption mechanism to keep user information safe despite targeted security attacks and security flaws in Android.
6) Android search engine visibility
The latest data published on various websites shows that the Google Play Store has a much larger number of mobile apps than the Apple App Store. Also, a large percentage of Android device users prefer free apps over paid apps. Therefore, developers have to promote their mobile apps aggressively to achieve higher number of downloads and implement app monetization options. They must also implement a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to promote the app by targeting the most relevant users. Many developers have to enlist the services of digital marketing professionals to aggressively promote their apps.
7) patent issues
Users have the option to choose from several Android apps that offer identical features and functionality. But developers often find it daunting to build apps with unique features and functionality. They often include features and functionality in the app that makes it similar to various apps available in the same category on the Play Store. Unlike Apple, Google doesn’t implement strict guidelines for evaluating the quality of new apps submitted to its app store. The lack of standardized quality assessment guidelines often leads developers to address patent related issues. Some developers have to design and modify their apps in the future to avoid patent issues.
Most Android app developers today work in an agile development environment to build Android apps quickly. They must constantly coordinate with QA professionals and actively participate in the mobile app testing process. Therefore, developers must also address a number of common issues in Android app testing.
