Android Development: One of the Most Significant But Neglected Areas of Technology

In a rapidly changing technology ecosystem, Android development remains one of the most impactful yet necessarily neglected areas of technology. There are over 3 billion active Android devices worldwide and it is evident, that Android powers a large portion of the digital world.

From smartphones to smart TVs, wearables, and tablets, Android is everywhere. Android usage remains paramount; I see many new developers and even developers at technology companies also often somewhat backtrack or overlook the Android development opportunity in favor of what is more frequently considered to be "trending" areas of technology, such as AI, blockchain, and web development.

Why is Android development so important?

For one, Android is a directly relatable domain in terms of human interactivity and exposure. There are many mobile app domains people use every day, whether it is communication, school studies (like Google Classroom), health-related applications (like My Fitness Pal, etc.), shopping (like Amazon, etc.), or banking. Android is open-source and has a high level of customization that is unattainable elsewhere on the consumer market, giving developers unlimited potential to reach a wider range of users and ultimately a level of development creativity that is embraced.

Plus, Android development is relatively low-cost for developers because there are free tools (Android Studio, etc. and support for Kotlin). However, I think that many technology enthusiasts often underestimate its importance in the development world, since Android development is thought of as simply developing mobile apps. The reality is that it includes aspects of UI/UX design using wireframes, backend integrations (Firebase, SQL databases, etc.), APIs, and improving app performance and memory usage across a wide variety of devices. Android development is to learn and complete a developer challenge!