The mobile app market is exploding. Over 1.85 million iOS apps and almost 2.56 million Android apps are currently running in the market, and there’s no indication that it will slow down anytime soon. Due to this, many companies are coming up with various solutions and strategies to improve the app developer experience and user experience. Mobile app development services demand a lot of time and effort, and because of this, they need dedication, essential Android libraries, and mobile software development tools. Android libraries have revolutionized the application development process, making it more efficient and productive.
In this article, we have chosen some of the most popular libraries for mobile app development that will help you complete your next app. However, before we look at a list of Android libraries, let’s define what mobile libraries are.
What Are Mobile Libraries?
Android libraries are code files or resources used to incorporate features or functions into an Android app. These libraries speed up the app-building process by including pre-written algorithms, UI components, documentation, message templates, and configuration data.
The libraries allow developers to focus more on the application’s core logic instead of developing modules already present in the libraries.
Top Android Libraries for Smooth App Development
Many Android libraries are available in the market, including user interface elements, back-end technologies, and native component usage, among other things. Take a look at the most popular Android libraries on the list and discover how you can use libraries to redefine app development.
1). MyLittleCanvas:
The MyLittleCanvas library is an excellent addition to any Android developer’s toolkit. It contains features such as custom underlining within text views and applying different shapes like lines, circles, or hatched areas with easy-to-use canvas methods for beginners! In addition, it is used to apply TextShape, LineShape, etc., with canvas methods.
2). ButterKnife:
This mobile library provides a great way to get rid of the boilerplate code, and it eliminates all the ceremony associated with Android views. It also helps you write concise and robust applications through its simple view binding mechanism.
ButterKnife is the most popular library among developers. This library is a real-time-saver for developers who want to avoid writing the same code repeatedly. The ButterKnife library also aids with clicking events, binding strings, and more. Creating an Android project is a breeze with such a fantastic Android library.
3). Kotlin-math:
Kotlin-math has been designed to make it easier for developers to write graphics math in their applications. The library offers an entire set of APIs built on top of GLSL, so you can easily port codes from shaders without having any trouble using them.
There are several different kinds of math functions provided by Kotlin-math that you might be interested in. All of these types support only value types.
4). EventBus:
The EventBus library is a well-known and popular Android library that allows you to decouple the components of your application. This mobile library makes it easy for different parts of an app to communicate with one another without having any tight coupling between them, resulting in better modularity and testability.
The EventBus enables loose coupling, making applications more maintainable and easier to troubleshoot. In addition, this event bus also allows you to add, remove or update subscribers without modifying the code that is currently executing.
5). Lottie:
One of the more popular Android development libraries on GitHub, Lottie makes it easy to turn Adobe After Effects animations exported as JSON into native iOS or Android apps.
Lottie is an Android library that allows you to animate vector Drawables without the need for any OpenGL or Java code. With this mobile library, you need a single XML file that describes the animation, and Lottie will take care of the rest! The animations created with Lottie are smooth and can be easily customized. The mobile library also supports custom attributes, colour interpolation effects, etc.
6). Objectbox:
Objectbox is a mobile library for object persistence on mobile devices. It’s designed with performance in mind, and it can replace SQLite or Realm easily without any changes to the structure of your data model, which means that you won’t have to write an adapter layer anymore.
With ObjectBox, Android developers can create lightweight mobile apps that easily store and retrieve objects on mobile devices. It promises to be faster than both SQLite and Realm databases, so it’s worth checking out!
7). Dagger 2:
Dagger is a fully static, compile-time dependency injection framework for Java and Android. It’s written in Java but can be used to inject dependencies into any JVM language, including Scala, Clojure, Groovy, or Kotlin!
- The mobile library comes with several advantages over traditional inheritance trees:
- You don’t need to worry about the parent or child class.
- To use a class as a dependency, you don’t have to create an instance.
- All dependencies are automatically resolved, and there’s no runtime reflection involved.
Dagger provides an easy way for developers to write decoupled and testable code. If you’re looking for a mobile library that can inject dependencies in your mobile application, you should consider checking out Dagger 2.
8). Glide:
Here is one of the most popular Android picture libraries! When developers ensure quick and reliable image loading in their applications, they turn to Glide. It supports remote image display, retrieval, and sizing and emphasizes smooth scrolling in Android applications.
The ‘Glide’ API’s simple design will allow developers to access any network stack and speed up the decoding of images. This tool ensures that images are retrieved quickly to provide a positive user experience while using an app by minimizing storage waste and extensive garbage collection (while parsing the pictures). Glide also supports animated GIFs and still photos in apps.
9). Zxing:
The term Zxing means “zebra crossing.” If you’re looking for a mobile library that can scan barcodes and QR codes, Zxing is the perfect option.
The ZXing library is compatible with 1D products, 1D industrial, and 2D barcodes. Google employs ZXing by web search to obtain millions of barcodes from the internet indexable. It’s also used to create Android’s Barcode Scanner app and is incorporated into Google Product & Book Search as a component.
Questions to Ask Yourself while choosing among the best Android Libraries
When selecting among the most refined Android libraries, there are a few questions you should ask yourself.
Is it simple to figure out what the library does?
It won’t be easy to understand a library with an intricate user interface. Read more about the best Android libraries by reading documentation and watching YouTube videos illustrating how they operate. It doesn’t require expert knowledge, but you need enough expertise to figure out what everything does while utilising it.
Is there any room for changes in the future?
Is there a chance you may expand on your concept at a later stage? Is it possible to make future arrangements? Even if they’re limited, having alternatives is essential. If you can’t envision updating it, the mobile library may not be worth investing in.
What Documentation is Available?
If there isn’t enough documentation on deploying your code into production, you may waste time troubleshooting issues that would have been avoidable with better documentation.
By looking through the GitHub issues, Stack Overflow posts, and blogs/videos by its creator(s), you may discover how much documentation is available for the particular Android libraries. If outstanding inquiries haven’t been addressed in weeks or months, it’s time to explore different choices. When developers share their experience in tutorials, videos, etc. It’s a great way to understand what mobile libraries can do.
Who is in charge of maintaining this Library?
It’s simple enough to create a library, but not all libraries are equal. While selecting your next Android library, do some research on who makes it and how active they are. Don’t use it if you’re not sure they’ll help you if things go south. Try to avoid over-engineering by limiting your library choices.
How widespread is the Library?
It is also essential to have a large and active community around a library to get support and new feature development. Check out their Github activity and how often they release updates if you aren’t sure how busy or popular a library is. Even though some Android libraries have a little action, you must decide if it’s worth employing, even if they are beneficial.
Is it well-tested?
A mobile library with a lot of documentation and tests is much more likely to grow. Without worrying about compatibility issues, crashes, or bugs, you can expect updates later.
How to Choose the Right Android Library
Even if you’re looking for an image library, a unit testing framework, or anything else in between, you should look at the information so that it’s easier for you to choose.
When picking the perfect android library, keep the following points in mind:-
- Author’s Reliability
To minimize the danger of obtaining a low-quality library, check the author. Check whether they’re active on GitHub and if they’ve published many libraries; verify your findings.
- Well-structured code
Examine the code to ensure that it is well-structured and that the README files within it are complete and up-to-date for future integration.
- Correct and Valid Licence
Another consideration is the type of license. Because the usage of libraries can be restricted, it’s essential to verify that any relevant permits have been acquired. Ensure you understand all the conditions for using a specific library before integrating it into your app.
- Open Source Quality
Review the library’s source code to check its quality or performance – if you detect a lack of transparency, it might indicate a security issue.
- Library Recommendations
Several existing libraries are available on various platforms, and the most excellent part is that they are well-maintained and documented. Such libraries minimize risk while allowing you to conduct your research to discover their capabilities, restrictions, and advantages.
Wrapping up
So, here are some of the finest Android libraries available for use by software developers making a variety of Android apps. These Android libraries will assist developers in saving time and effort while developing Android applications.
This exhaustive list will assist you in selecting the best option and proceeding with it based on your specific needs. Furthermore, you may seek vital features, including the author’s trustworthiness and license to ensure that you make the best decision.
