How to Recruit Top-Notch Android Developers

Anyone who has even picked up an Android phone has experienced the work of an Android developer. They focus their time and efforts on building great apps for devices running on Google’s mobile operating system. Since Android claims around 65% of the market share the competition for hiring top-quality Android app development talent is fierce like never before. In order to help your company stand out of the crowd, here are some tips that you can use if you need to hire an android developer.

Know the Hangout Spots of Android Developers

There are certain Android-specific forums that Android developers go to whenever they are looking to find or share new information. These forums include AndroidForums.com, AndDev.org, AndroidPit and many others that help take their skills to the next level. Many Android developers turn to StackOverflow when integrating with third-party libraries, especially if a certain process is not well documented.

Mobile app development is not a popular access point for anyone who would like to learn how to write code. Due to this reason, companies such as General Assembly, Skillshare and Code School began popping up in order to show people with all sorts of backgrounds how to build their first app. These programs are a good place to source potential employees and graduates of these programs could be great candidates. However, you should keep in mind that, due to their nature, these courses are so accelerated that it is very important that you involve your tech team in the selection process, especially when hiring Android developers.

Be Aware of the Daily Challenges of Android Developers

Most people can learn enough JavaScript or HTML to write a basic Android app, but experienced developers know that there are a lot of challenges in developing an app that is both secure and user-friendly. Here are some things that most mobile app developers are responsible for, regardless of the operating system:

• User interface testing — Android apps are usually tested on the devices on which they will be running, but, additionally, developers use some emulators to ensure that the code is bug-free before they send it out to app stores.
• Security — Mobile apps are just as likely, maybe even more, to attempted security breaches. Mobile app developers are responsible for ensuring the security of all data that the users submit while using the app, not just app design and usability.
• Monetization — If you are planning on making money on your app, the developer needs to know how to build and identify features that will bring in profits. Even if your app will be available as a free download, the developer will need to know how to integrate things such as banner ads, subscription features and in-app purchases without taking away anything from the overall user experience.

Even though, as we already stated, all app developers regardless of the platform have the responsibilities mentioned above, android app development has its own unique challenges. Here are some of the things Android developers are constantly looking to learn more about in order to further improve their apps:

1. Why is the Android emulator so slow? Many developers notice that even after they followed all of the instructions in the Android SDK the android emulator is sluggish. In order to fix this, Android Development Tools 9.0 has a feature that allows you to retain the state of your emulator, allowing it to boot up quickly.
2. What Context Android? Developers working with Android have long been unsure of what the context class is used for. You should know that, as the name implies, it describes the current state of the app to inform newer objects about what is going on.
3. Can you run Python on Android? Certain development platforms allow Python, which many programmers enjoy using, but no official information has been announced by either side regarding Python’s capabilities with Android. Many programmers solve this problem by using Kivy, an open source Python library that allows them to write code for multi-touch applications.

Figure Out What Gets Android Developers Excited About Coming to Work

Android developers get excited about positions where they can get their hands dirty with new technologies. This includes building apps for a growing product line, which extensive like never before and includes Android Wear, Android TV and Android Auto. For example, all Android developers became excited when Google announced Android One line of products which was aimed at bringing smartphones to people in underserved markets. This meant that they could work on apps for millions of users without having to make them work on outdated phones.

Also, keep in mind new technologies within the Android stack. There are a lot of new and exciting technologies in the Android world right now, especially RxJava. This brings the Reactive Extensions framework over to Java and allows developers to create complex code.

In this article, we attempted to shed some light into the daily work of Android developers in order to help you understand what to look for during the recruiting process. Even though we have scratched the surface, these basics regarding the projects they like working on and the challenges they like to tackle will help your company stand out when you need to hire an Android developer. Determining how many Android developers you will need and knowing where to find them will help you estimate your project cost and keep everything on time and on budget. Get Android developers excited with new projects and technologies and you are sure to distance yourself from the competition when recruiting candidates.

Best regards,

Skywell Software team