Tag: Android App Development Company

The number of Android smartphone users in the United States reached 129.1 million in 2020, and this figure is forecast to reach more than 134 million in 2023. With the increasing popularity and easy access to Android smartphones, businesses have come to the understanding that mobile apps are the ultimate necessity to reach the greater pool of audiences. To get professional apps in shape, businesses need to hire multiple resources to launch a feature-rich mobile app. In contrast to hiring individual resources which may cost comparatively less money but add more communication mishaps, it’s wise to outsource app development projects to Android app development companies.

Though the scope of this blog is restricted to the selection of the best Android app development company for your project, we will give a macroscopic view of factors to consider while outsourcing your project. Before we guide you through the selection criteria for the best one among Android app development companies, be sure about the variety of mobile app development you want to opt for.

Types of Android Application Development Services 

Native App Development: 

With this approach you will get an app developed for specific OS needs like for iOS, Android, Windows, etc. When you want to create distinct and dedicated apps for your users of specific devices, native app development should be your go-to choice. To launch an Android app for your potential customers you can hire a dedicated Android app development agency. However, the upfront budget for native apps is higher in comparison to other app development approaches.

Cross-platform Development: 

When you have budget constraints and don’t want to invest in distinct apps for each platform, you can count on cross-platform development. Such apps are also called hybrid apps and they work well across multiple platforms as the code is wrapped in the native container to maintain the performance on distinct platforms. However, hybrid apps can’t provide as seamless an experience as native apps designed for each OS distinctly.

Web App Development: 

Offer an easy-to-load and better surfing experience of your website to your mobile audience with web app development. This approach uses web technologies and can be easily accessed through the browser. Also, if you have these hosted on Google’s Play Store, users can download it like any other app and use it on their respective Android devices. The challenge with web apps is the same as hybrid, they don’t offer native apps experience to the users. Even so, if you prefer improving the browsing experience of your mobile audience, web apps can be a cost-effective way to get started.

Now that you are aware of the different approaches to mobile app development, you can make the best choice for your app development requirements. Irrespective of the choices you make, you have to consider certain factors while hiring mobile app developers. Considering the vast market size of Android devices, further I will guide you about the things to remember when comparing Android app development companies.

Discover best practices in Android app development. Learn how choosing the right company and approach can significantly impact the success and efficiency of your app.

Android App Development: How To Choose The Best Android App Development Company?

IT is a versatile domain and in today’s day and age, you will find several IT service providers giving cut-throat competition. With so many good options around, it’s easy to get lost and confused while deciding on the best one. Here are some of the pointers on which you can compare Android app development companies.

• Experience & Expertise: Learn about the experience of the IT service provider, the years they’ve invested in mobile application development, and the expertise they hold in Android app development services. You can check the industry-wide and the vertical expertise of theirs. It will help you understand if they’ve any prior knowledge of your business domain or not. If you are a startup, their expertise may help you gain more understanding of the industry trends, must-have features, and additional industry knowledge. Else if you are a brand, you must check about the company’s team size and their capability to take up the size of the project you are planning to realize.
• Client Portfolio: Mostly all the companies talk about their clientele and mention the case studies on their website. If that’s not available, you can always ask the app development agency to share the previous apps they’ve designed. You may find your business competitors in their list and which can give you better clarity about the type of services and solutions you are looking for. Also, their previous experience in the same domain will reduce your role of doing more groundwork while explaining your project’s SOP.
• Client Reviews: Listen to the words of appreciation of the previous clients from the company’s portfolio. In the case of Android applications, you can check for their client’s apps on the Play Store, read reviews, download, install, and check it for yourself. Also, you can explore online directories, review sites, and learn about a company’s online reputation.
• Service Portfolio: IT service providers offer a wide array of IT services, where mobile app development or to be specific android app development is one of the several offerings. You must explore their service portfolio to know the umbrella services they provide. Now it’s a fact that every company doesn’t excel in all the services. You can consider the service portfolio as one of the major factors to compare different companies. If you get all the IT services your business needs at the moment, you have a greater scope of negotiation. Also, you save a lot of time you otherwise invest in communicating with multiple teams across companies distinctly.
• Technology Portfolio: Usually the tech stack that IT companies use is more or less the same. However, if you have sound knowledge of technology, you can explore their technology portfolio. You can learn about the frameworks they are working on and the software required for Android app development. If the Android app development software they are using has compatible versions with future technologies. Also, you can learn about the app testing tools they are using. Knowledge of the technology portfolio can be helpful for you to know if your Android applications are future-proof or not. It can save you on the budget of app redesigning which can be the case otherwise.
• Project Management Methodologies: From a list of Android app development companies when you come down to a few falling in the category of best fits, it’s time to check on their delivery timelines and project management methodologies. You can upfront ask them how they keep you posted about the regular progress, factors that likely impact timelines, and the communication process they use. You can enquire about the average timeline for app development projects like yours and the details needed from your end. The clarity about their processes can guide you better on which one of those companies you can hire for your app development project.
• Terms for Support & Maintenance: Predominantly all companies offer post-deployment support and annual maintenance services for websites and apps developed by them. However, the timeline of the support and pricing is different in everyone’s case. You can compare their quotes and services included in several such support packages to make the right call for your business.

I’ve mostly covered all the factors you can count on to decide the best one among the Android app development companies.

How Can WeDoWebApps Help You?

If you are looking for an Android app development company in the USA, WeDoWebApps can be your go-to choice. We are a top Android app development company with more than a decade of experience. Our client portfolio is expanded across the globe, yet we have strong roots in the markets of the USA, UK, India, Canada, and Australia. You can check our website to learn more about the tech stack and client portfolio. You can quickly get a free quote for your project by clicking ‘Get a quote’ on our website.

Android App Bundles: What Businesses Need to Know

Android apps are becoming the backbone of several online businesses and even offline ones. The largest population in the world is using Android. More than Apple’s iOS, people are attracted to the Android operating system because of its affordability and convenience of use.

With the increasing diversity of Android devices and user expectations, ensuring your app delivers optimal performance across all platforms is crucial. Google’s introduction of the Android App Bundle (.aab) format addresses this need by enabling more efficient app distribution and improved user experiences.

You can also connect with the company offering professional Android app development services to take the full potential of Android app bundles. There will be more certainty that your app is not compliant with the latest Google Play requirements, but also optimize the performance, size, and user engagement.

In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of adopting AAB, its impact on business growth, and provide a step-by-step guide on transitioning from APK to AAB.

What is Android App Bundle?

A publishing format launched by Android has become known as the Android App Bundle (.aab). With the advent of this, releasing and publishing apps into the Google Play Store has become efficient and seamless.

A small app can cater to your needs for a great user experience because of the Android app bundles. Thus, your app could be smaller if you used bundles android. Installation rate has increased as a result, whereas installation failures have decreased by multiple folds.

Bundles Android have been helpful in publishing, releasing, and building applications across various disparate devices. Building on its success, more than 600,000 apps and games have used Android app bundles in their generation. One of the famous examples would be Netflix.

Here are the top reasons why Businesses must use Android app bundles.

Benefits of Android App Bundles for Businesses

There are different benefits of the Android app bundles, which are discussed below:

1. Reduced App Size

While offering the necessary resources for each device, the  Android app bundle can significantly reduce app size. According to Google, this optimization can lead to an average size reduction of 15% compared to the universal APKs. Smaller size contributes to faster downloads and lower storage usage, which enhances user satisfaction.

Fun fact: Adobe used bundles android to reduce the size of their program, Adobe Acrobat Reader, by 20%. Such a popular Android application development company has taken advantage of the outstanding service provided by Android app bundles.

2. Installation rate increased

Smaller app sizes and tailored deliveries lead to higher installation success rates, particularly in regions with limited bandwidth or older devices. This accessibility broadens the potential user base and enhances the app’s reach.

Android app bundles have a widespread impact on app installation rates. Although updates become more accessible to consumers, the uninstalling rate decreases. So, if you want to increase the impact of your business app on the target audience, use bundles in Android.

3. Optimized Performance Across Devices

With the help of the Android app bundle, Google Play generates APKs optimized for each device’s configuration, ensuring better performance and compatibility. This optimization results in a consistent and reliable user experience across various devices.

This increases the work efficiency, thereby reducing the extra effort. Now you don’t have to sign, build, upload, or manage the version codes for numerous APIs. Android app development becomes more accessible with the growth bundle apps in place, with the best Android app developer. And increased efficiency implies boosted sales for your business.

4. Dynamic Feature Delivery

Android app bundles give support to the dynamic feature models. With app bundles, a new vision of dynamic delivery also originated. With this, users can download the specific features as per their needs. Rather than installing a different app for a specific function, this modular approach improves user engagement and reduces the install download sizes.

The on-demand mode allows users to choose their favorite features and uninstall the undesired ones. This increases the probability of your audience loving your application.

5. Efficient Updates

More efficient updates are facilitated by the Android app bundles. This allows developers to easily update only parts of the app that are effective and have changed. This results in smaller update files and quicker installation for all time. Keeps the user more engaged and allows simple access to the latest feature, and improves the services.

6. Enhanced Security

Bundles in Android use Play App Signing, in which Google manages and secures the app’s signing key. This procedure improves security by lowering the possibility of key compromise and ensuring the integrity of app updates.

7. Better Analytics and Insights

The modular approach of growth bundle apps allows developers to track feature usage more precisely. This data provides valuable insights into user behavior, informing future development and marketing strategies.

APK vs. Android App Bundle: A Comparative Overview

Implementing Android App Bundles Using the Android Bundle Tool

For developers seeking greater control over the Android App Bundle (AAB) generation and testing process, Google’s bundletool offers a command-line solution to build, test, and deploy optimized APKs for various device configurations.

Step 1: Download Bundletool

Begin by downloading the latest version of bundletool from its official GitHub repository:

Download Bundletool

Ensure that Java is installed on your system, as bundletool requires it to run.

Step 2: Build an Android App Bundle (.aab)

If you’re not using Android Studio, you may create the .aab file using the Gradle command-line tool:

./gradlew bundleRelease

This command compiles your project and produces an AAB file located in the app/build/outputs/bundle/release/ directory.

Step 3: Generate APK Set (.apks)

Use bundletool for converting AAB into an APK set (.apks), which contains the APKs for different device configurations:

java -jar bundletool.jar build-apks \

  –bundle=path/to/your_app.aab \

  –output=path/to/your_app.apks \   –ks=path/to/keystore.jks \   –ks-key-alias=your-key-alias \   –ks-pass=pass:your-keystore-password \   –key-pass=pass:your-key-password

Replace the placeholders with your actual file paths and credentials.

Step 4: Extract and Install APKs on a Device

To test the produced APKs on a device that is connected:

java -jar bundletool.jar install-apks –apks=path/to/your_app.apks

This command installs the appropriate APKs for the connected device’s configuration.

Additional Features

• Device Specification Extraction: You can extract a device’s specifications to generate targeted APKs:

 Java -jar bundletool.jar get-device-spec –output=device-spec.json

• Generate APKs for Specific Device: Using the extracted device spec:

 java -jar bundletool.jar build-apks \

    –bundle=path/to/your_app.aab \

    –output=path/to/your_app.apks \

    –device-spec=device-spec.json

For comprehensive details and advanced usage, refer to the official Android Developers guide on bundletool.

By leveraging bundletool, developers can ensure their Android applications are optimized for various devices, leading to improved performance and user experience.

Test your application bundle

You should look at how Google Play will use bundles in Android to create APKs and how those APKs will act on the device after they are installed. You can use the following methods to test the same thing:

Test your application bundle locally using the bundle tool. This application will generate APKs from a bundle and apply them to the connected devices.

Distribute your app with a URL. This is the fastest way to upload an app bundle and share the app with testers in the form of a link to the Google Play Store.

Set up an open, closed, or internal test. This is another way to test custom delivery options, such as downloading application features on demand.

Business Use Cases of Android App Bundles

By adopting an Android app bundle, businesses can deliver more efficient and user-friendly applications. Also, makes it simple to align app performance with the user’s needs.

Android App Bundles for Enhanced Performance

Adopting the AAB allows a specific presentation of businesses aiming to optimize their mobile application. Deliver with the benefit of ranging from a reduced-size app and dynamic feature delivery. This will further enhance the security and performance, which contributes to improved user satisfaction and operational efficiency.