How Android App Development Is Changing The Mobile Space

Posted by Kenneth Evans
2
Nov 28, 2017
1653 Views
With the growth of mobile phone technology, the world is experiencing immeasurable contracting rate. Along with the rising population of mobile users, facilities are not relenting to expand also. From simple regular handsets designed only for the purpose of making and receiving calls, mobiles are steadily transforming the lives of people and becoming part of everything.

Aside from the purpose of communication, mobile phones have now being enhanced with countless uses and are already been employed as web browsers, mini TVs, tablet PCs, music players, cameras etc. No doubt, all these wouldn’t have been if it were not for the emergence of new operating systems and software.

Within the last decade, there has been a tremendous improvement with operating systems (OS). It all began with the use of black and white phones to the recent use of smartphones and tablets (mini PCs). No doubt, mobile OS has gone a long way. For smartphones, this has been more or less an evolution. From Palm OS in the late 90’s to the millennial Windows pocket PC and to what it is today, Android, iOS, RIM, Windows Phone etc.

Android

Android which is currently the “rave of the moment” is simply a software bunch that comprises of middleware and key applications and of course, an operating system. Founded in 2003 by Chris White, Nick Sears, Rich Miner, and Andy Rubin in Palo Alto, California, it is interesting to see how this reputable mobile OS has risen so quickly to become one of the most widely used mobile operating systems in the world today.

Most of these transformations were observed after the corporation Android Inc. was purchased by Google in 2005. Since its original release, Android has undergone some remarkable changes. A number of updates have been added to its original version while serving as an open-source.

Here is a rundown of some of Android’s most significant changes

Android 1.1 (released in February 2009)

- Changes in the API

- Marquee in layouts

- Support for saving attachments for MMS

Android 1.5 Cupcake (released in April 2009)

- Enhanced with the ability to upload pictures to Picasa and videos to YouTube

- Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP support

Android 1.6 Donut (released in September 2009)

- Google free turn by turn support

- WVGA screen resolution support

Android 2.0/1 Éclair (released in October 2009)

- Bluetooth 2.1

- Microsoft exchange server

- HTML5 file support

Android 2.2 Froyo (released in May 2010)

- Adobe Flash 10.1 support

- Wi-Fi hotspot and USB tethering functionality

Android 2.3 Gingerbread (released in December 2010)

- Support for wider screen sizes and resolution

- Multi-touch software keyboard

Android 3.0 Honeycomb (released in May 2011)

- Video chat and Gtalk support

- 3D desktop

- Optimized tablet support with newly enhanced user interface

Features and specifications

As a dynamic mobile operation system, Android supports a wide range of application for smartphones and other mobile devices. These applications have managed to make life a bit more comfortable for users and have technologically improved the way and manner people communicate. Based on the ARM architecture platform, many top app development companies in Los Angeles are already using Android to power a good number of hardware.

Some of the recent features and specifications employed today include:

- Navigation: Compass, GPS, camera etc.

- Data Transfer: Wi-Fi, 3Gm EDGE, Bluetooth

- GSM Technology

- Media support

- sQLite

- Optimized graphics

- Integrated browser

- Dalvik virtual machine

- Application framework

The OS has its own online software store – Android market - which was developed by Google. This is where users can conveniently go to and download apps developed by third-party Android app developers. As a matter of fact, users have unlimited access to millions of games, apps, and widgets available in Google Play Store.

As an open source, Android is readily available for developers to build their own apps and make them available for download on the market. Typically, Android app developers use Java programming language to write (develop) Android apps. Just so you know, Android’s core system services such as driver model, network stack, process management, memory management, and security are supported by Linux version 2.6. Android provides developers with its own software development kit (SDK) to enhance app development.

Applications

Today, any developer or Android app development company can write apps for android that people can be able to use on their Android-powered devices. But how is this possible? Here are some of the common basics of Android app development and how you can use it to develop your own application.

- Along with different strings for different languages, alternatives for different device configurations should be included with non-code application resources such as layout files, strings, images, etc.

- All app requirements, as well as every other component in the application, must be declared in the manifest file. This includes any required hardware configurations such as the minimum version of Android.

- It is important to note that in the overall application behavior, every component has a different role to play and each of them can be independently activated by even other applications.

- Android apps comprise of one or more application components like broadcast receivers, content providers, services, and activities.

Any prospective Android app developers must understand the above-state basics before delving into Android app development proper. ADC1 and ADC2 are the two competitions recently launched by Google for both app and software development. This has helped to bring about the creation of the most innovative apps for the OS. As a result of this competition, Android has experienced an overwhelming success in the mobile development space which has led to the development of a much better, interactive, advanced, and user-friendly variety of Android apps.

Today, Android has become a powerful force to reckon with flooding the mobile marketplace with an efficient range of mobile apps and devices. Android OS, as it is commonly referred to, has saturated more than 50 percent of the entire mobile space. No wonder, many app development companies – investors and developers alike – are not relenting in any way to follow this path.

One major area of the development process that is currently receiving a boost is ‘wearables.’ Quite a good number of investors are investing heavily in this area as more and more users are getting accustomed with the OS.
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