What are the top skills for a mobile device developer?

My suggestion to those starting off in android development would be to having a strong understanding of Java and underlying fundamentals like OOPs. This way when you move to Kotlin you would be able to relate to all the missing boilerplate codes and debug all the compile level blockers.

For native android development : Languages: 1. Kotlin (preferred) 2. Java (still works ??) IDE: Android studio For hybrid app (android & ios) Languages: 1. Flutter (large open source community) 2. React (still a web model though) IDE: Vs code (more powerful)

Android: Kotlin is the main language now. Java for legacy projects. As I understand it Swift is now the language for iOS development.

For Android and juniors: Kotlin in Android Studio, the most beautiful language out there. For development speed and after mastering Android: React Native in Visual Studio Code I mention only Android cause for me developing Android apps is harder than IOS. Once you learn the principles of android it will be very simple te enter IOS

#Native app development: Android: * Programming languages - Kotlin (Preferable) - Java * UI toolkits - Jetpack Compose * IDE - Android Studio - VS code iOS: * Programming Languages - Swift (Preferable) - Objective-C * UI toolkits - SwiftUI (Preferable) - AppKit - UIKit * IDE - Xcode - VS Code #Hybrid app development: - Flutter Framework (Preferable) * Programming Language - Dart - React Native Framework * Programming Language - Javascript - IDE - Android Studio - Xcode - VS Code (Preferable)

The Material Design guide for Android by google will give you an idea on why and how certain UI components were build and placed a certain way. However if you are searching for some sort of inspiration, I would recommend Pinterest. Pinterest has an enormous collection of designs of various styles. It’s my go to for UI mocks.

User Interface Design for Mobile Developers: In my mobile development journey, Understanding the principles of layout, color, typography, icons, animations, and interactions is fundamental. Each element plays a role in shaping the user experience, making it visually appealing and easy to navigate. Adhering to platform-specific guidelines is vital. For Android, embracing Material Design principles ensures consistency and familiarity. On iOS, aligning with the Human Interface Guidelines maintains the seamless Apple experience. Adaptability is key in UI design. Knowing how to tailor designs to different screen sizes, orientations, and resolutions ensures a consistent and engaging experience across various devices.

- Navigation: Apply best navigation practices for the platforms involved. - Have fundamental knowledge of design principles and platform-specific design guidelines for adapting the app user interface to each platform for cohesion and familiarity amongst users - necessary for building apps that are intuitive to use. - Understand animation, micro-animation, and micro- interactions - providing feedback to users as they interact with your app. - Apply empathy tools: Design for advanced users and beginners. Should be intuitive enough for advanced users and easy to correct mistakes and errors for beginners. - Accessibility - Consider individuals with different disabilities - Conduct usability tests

For iOS platform User Interface Design has evolved so much over the years. 1. UIKit is the framework to understand all the components of iOS app design. 2. Earlier the designs were implemented programmatically but later Apple introduced the Storyboards, which uses XML as the base for UI design, but knowing XML is not necessary. Storyboards helped with designing UI interactively which also spawned programming syntax dependent on Storyboards. 3. Latest offering from Apple for designing UI is SwiftUI framework. It made the app development process a lost faster. Then there is “Human Interface Guidelines” by Apple that one should be familiar with.

Top skills for a mobile device developer in User Interface (UI) design include a deep understanding of visual design principles such as layout, color theory, and typography to create intuitive, visually appealing interfaces. Mastery of responsive design ensures apps function seamlessly across various screen sizes and resolutions. Familiarity with design tools like Figma or Adobe XD is essential for creating wireframes and prototypes. Knowledge of platform-specific guidelines (such as Material Design for Android and Human Interface Guidelines for iOS) is crucial for maintaining consistency. Strong user experience (UX) collaboration skills help developers work closely with designers to refine interaction flows and improve user satisfaction.

Data management plays a major role in mobile app development with android. 1. Always store local data using a shared preference or data store by encrypting it. 2. Have a base structure for the Api response and maintain it overall the app, so that data can be managed easily from the api. 3. There are a lot of techniques to load data. For ex. Use lazy loading with pagination, manage error with proper and standardized error codes. If we need continuous data transfer from the server then use the socket, instead of hitting the api continuously. 4. Try to segregate the data layer from the business layer to manage it once the project grows

Data management is critical in Android, iOS, and cross-platform development. Android relies on SQLite and Room + Datastore, iOS on Core Data. Cross-platform tools like Flutter and React Native use SQLite, while Xamarin integrates it with native APIs. Modern tech includes GraphQL for efficient querying, Firebase for real-time sync, and Redux for React Native state management. Flutter incorporates Riverpod, and Xamarin utilizes Xamarin.Essentials. Realm and Couchbase Mobile offer alternatives. These tools empower developers to handle data efficiently and consistently across various mobile platforms.

For a mobile device developer, data management is a crucial skill that encompasses the efficient handling, storage, and retrieval of data across mobile apps. Key skills include working with databases like SQLite, Firebase, or Room for local data storage, and integrating cloud services for seamless data syncing. Developers must also ensure data security through encryption, proper access control, and secure data transmission protocols. Managing offline data access, handling large datasets efficiently, and optimizing app performance related to data operations are essential for delivering a smooth user experience.

Data Management for Mobile Developers: Selecting the right data structures and formats, including arrays, lists, dictionaries, JSON, XML, or binary, is fundamental. This decision impacts efficiency and performance, influencing how data is processed and presented to users. Equally important is choosing appropriate data storage options, whether local, cloud-based, or a hybrid approach. This decision affects accessibility, scalability, and the overall responsiveness of the application. Proficiency in databases is crucial. Understanding and utilizing databases such as SQLite, Firebase, or MongoDB allows for effective data storage and retrieval.

Every mobile developer should have data management skills using different type of technologies, every technology has it's pros and cons and its usecases...it's a must for scalable and maintainable products

Acquiring the expertise to craft a reusable and easily extendable network layer is crucial for mobile developers at any skill level. The best way to understand the ins and outs of a network layer is to build one using the lower-level functions that the Native SDKs offer, such as URLSession for iOS. For smaller teams or projects, opting for a third-party solution may seem more convenient. In these scenarios, it is essential to implement the layer in an adaptable manner, ensuring that any future changes to the library won't disrupt the project. Although delving into the codebase of a popular open-source networking library may initially appear daunting, it stands as an excellent method to enhance one's knowledge.

In most apps, there will be a need to connect to a remote server to fetch or post data. - The developer must have a good understanding of how to setup the application to access external apis. Popular libraries such as retrofit or axios have been designed to make the developers work easier. - Besides, learning how to setup and use the library for http requests. The developer must be conversant with Asynchronous Programming or doing the network requests in the background to avoid blocking the UI thread. In Android, we use Kotlin Coroutines or RxJava. - Additionally, the developer must be able to carry out exception handling incase the api call fails.

For mobile device developers, proficiency in networking and APIs is essential. Key skills include understanding RESTful APIs and how to integrate them for data exchange between mobile apps and servers. Developers should be familiar with network protocols like HTTP/HTTPS, TCP/IP, and the ability to handle API authentication methods such as OAuth. Knowledge of tools like Retrofit, OkHttp, or Volley for Android, and Alamofire for iOS is crucial for managing network requests efficiently. Additionally, managing data security, handling real-time updates via WebSockets, and optimizing app performance during network interactions are vital to ensure smooth and secure mobile applications.

Most applications today are built on a client-server approach. This allows you not to store and process a large amount of data on the device. Every developer at least should understand REST and be able to implement Curl requests for testing. In the case of Android, Retrofit is well suited for REST, and Curl requests are handled well by Postman.

There is no harm in migrating from a Singleton Network Class to a reusable Network Layer(Framework). I find N-tier architectural approach useful to understand the API-Layer and its Integration with Business Access Layer.

As an iOS Engineer , it’s better always to: 1. Have unit tests for the app with high test coverage. 2. Use the breakpoints with its max to get the full usage from it. Also there are some tools to be used which can support you in debugging like: 1. Netfox for tracking APIs responses. 2. Lookin to test the UI. 3. Also UI debugger to test the UI from Xcode without any other tools. 4. You can use proxyman as an interceptor as well & to mock the data. 5. Of course xcode instruments is being used to test & debug memory leaks.

In my experience, debugging and testing are the unsung heroes in a mobile developer's arsenal. These practices encompass a suite of methods like unit and integration testing, usability checks, and performance evaluations. They serve as gatekeepers, ensuring apps meet stringent quality benchmarks. Leveraging tools such as logcat, debuggers, and emulators offers a detailed view into app behavior, aiding in meticulous refinement. Ultimately, their role lies in fortifying mobile apps, ensuring they function seamlessly and flawlessly.

The ability to write unit tests is increasingly important for finding work, due to the expansion and scaling of projects. Also, almost every project has CI/CD with various pipelines and code quality checks, so it would be good to know that too.

For a mobile device developer, mastering testing and debugging is essential. Key skills include proficiency in unit testing, integration testing, and automated testing frameworks like Espresso for Android or XCTest for iOS. Developers must be adept at identifying and fixing issues across different devices, screen sizes, and OS versions. Strong debugging skills, including the use of tools like Android Studio’s Logcat or Xcode’s debug navigator, are critical for resolving crashes, performance issues, and compatibility problems. A deep understanding of memory management and network debugging is also crucial for ensuring app stability and responsiveness.

Building apps that are reliable and error-free requires taking the extra step in our app development journey to test and debug our apps. Debugging involves figuring out problem sources in the app and sorting them out. Through unit testing, we make sure that core unit functions and methods used in the app are always performing as expected. Integration and usability testing are also necessary in building error-free apps. Performance testing is also crucial in building performant apps. All these are necessary for building scalable apps. As our app grows, if we don't have good testing and debugging systems in place scalability becomes an issue. Hence, we ought to make plans for properly testing and debugging our app from the planning stage.

Recently, most mobile OS creators have greatly improved the protection of private data. This has created development difficulties for those who do not follow new trends and releases of new OS versions. Recently, without at least basic security skills, a developer cannot manage the file system of a device.

In my opinion, a proficient mobile developer should be well-versed in secure data storage, data transmission security, robust authentication and authorization, secure coding practices, user privacy considerations, regular security audits by ethical hackers companies, and adherence to privacy regulations for building secure and privacy-conscious mobile applications.

Maintaining security of data is very important there are different techniques to manage security like hashing, encryption, 2-step authentication, tokens and many more Privacy : everyone want privacy it is very important to look the app permissions what are the things that you give access to an app it may be camera, mic, photos, messages you should always track that what are permission app can take from you.

In practical terms, one of the best features for software nowadays focuses on aspects that users fundamentally care about: privacy and security. This includes the use of token-based authentication, which helps maintain the confidentiality and privacy of user data. Based on this, as developers, we must create strong and secure solutions that primarily preserve the secrecy and privacy of user information.

Patience Capability to fast, learn, unlearn, relearn Be calm in face of new changes, as changes are the only constant Learning that programming language is not as important as programming concepts that can be transferred to a totally new language Keep updated by following conferences, articles, newsletters, key known open-source developers, and different channels Test first hand every new feature possible and not stop by just reading about it Search for what is needed to upsale your career path, plan for it, and start execute for it, even if current company HR has no plan for it Have a voice, very important, speak up, share your knowledge, even if you was wrong, will benefit that someone will correct you Love to fail & learn from it

As time passes, more and more frameworks and tools will come and go. However the underlying fundamentals used, will never go away. So direct your focus to learn those fundamentals, not the latest language or framework or tool.

Embedding analytics tools, like Google Analytics or Firebase Analytics, empowers developers to track user interactions, gather insights, and assess app performance. These tools provide valuable data on user behavior, helping refine features, enhance user experience, and make informed decisions for continuous app improvement. Integration aids in strategic decision-making, ensuring developers align their efforts with user preferences and market trends, ultimately optimizing app performance and user engagement.

- Be human, - understand your clients and users - Use your empathy - understand your teammates - increase your knowledge about accessibility - understand about your business

The mobile landscape evolves rapidly, and developers need to adapt to new technologies, tools, and trends. Continuous learning is crucial to stay updated. Also, proficiency in version control systems like Git is essential for collaborative development, enabling efficient code management, tracking changes, and collaboration with other developers. In addition, effective communication skills are necessary for collaborating with designers, stakeholders, and other team members throughout the development cycle.