As a beginner Android developer there are certain things to take into account when creating your first application. After all, the applications have been immersed in our life for about 10 years, during which time they have gone through many changes, from the way of developing them to how to distribute / monetize them. But, most importantly, this also means you are facing a highly competitive market so you may need some good advices in order to succeed.

Android App Development

Application development is a process that takes time and effort to complete, and being new in this area developers are exposed to making mistakes, which is perfectly normal in any learning process. However, many experienced developers could easily agree on some mistakes everyone should definitely avoid when developing an app.

So, we want to talk about 5 mistakes you need to avoid as a beginner developer:

  1. Trying to create an app that does almost everything

You may be tempted to develop an application that solves dozens of problems at once. You should know that this is really difficult to achieve, and this may cause your product to fail.

Remember a very important and basic principle: Keep it simple. Your main focus should be trying to do only one thing and do that thing right. Besides, too many features might affect your app performance or even confuse users, and therefore, they could end up uninstalling your app. ¡Something you definitely do not want!

Check out some tips and tricks for beginner developers here.

  1. Not doing enough research

It is crucial you know the market you are going to target. We know we’ve been talking about this a lot, but you might be surprised at how often people think they have a great app idea, just to realize later that it has been in the market for a long time ago.

If you really want to stand out and succeed in an abundant place, you must strive to provide unique and distinctive solutions. For that you need to know about apps pricing, business models, apps common features (what users expect), new trends, etc. Search for everything that lets you know you count with potential users -target group. At the end of the day, that represents possible incomes you can get from your app.

  1. Not having a Marketing Strategy

The great majority of Android apps display ads to make profits. Some of them even display ads of other apps. AdMob is the official advertising platform from Google that can help you with that. It also helps you understand the traffic and performance of your application.

This is a great way to build an app business, however you definitely want to consider a marketing strategy before launching your app to the market. For more about this, check out  5 things you can do to promote your app.

  1. Not thinking about battery usage

How your app influences on battery life can determine whether users decide to uninstall or retain it. Understanding that users need to have a good experience with your application without their devices running out of power is essential for them to keep using it.

Also, verify that your app stops draining battery life when not in use. Checking on how your application affects battery life will prevent you all this kind of inconveniences.

Instructor of the Professional Android developer course, Noe Branagan, reminded us this on our article about best practices for Android App development.

Not improving your app after launch

After you have launched your app to the market, you should think about improving your application from time to time in order to fix possible bugs, as well as provide features that will keep users hooked to it (discounts, rewards, new content, etc.)

Of course building an app that works is a huge step forward, but you should consider that users always want more and better things, only this way you may compete with  new and different applications coming to market.

To know how your app can be better, you can always rely on the comments you get in Google Play store.

Your Android app development process should contemplate other facets as well: following Android UI guidelines, taking advantage of open sources libraries so you don’t unnecessary waste time or efforts on your app code, and doing beta testing with real targeted users that provide you feedback to make your app even better.