Tips to Hire the Best Android App Developers
Mobile, mobile, mobile, everywhere you see around, you won’t find a place without people using mobiles. And amongst all the most popular and commonly used in the Android mobile. No wonder the Android apps are increasing at a tremendous rate, and you are sure to face competition if you are planning to develop your app and launch it on the Android platform on the market.
You may be very enthusiastic and motivated about converting your app idea into a reality and plan to hire Android app developers for the job. But how will you determine if they are real experts in the domain or not and if they will be able to give shape to our dream in the way you want? Here are a few tips that can help you hire the ideal person for Android app development.
#1: Check that the developers have a good concept of product design
You need to hire developers who have an understanding of the product behaviour in order to save both time and money. For example, while designing the sign-up page, an Android app developer who is a pro will know all the features that need to be added such as authentication methods you would like to support such as user and password, Facebook, Gmail, etc. An experienced Android app developer will recognize the need and make provision for adding features at later stages as well. This makes the app professional, simple to use, and enhance user UX. Though it may be hard to predict the product design expertise of the candidate during the hiring process, you can get a rough estimate by asking questions regarding product behaviour.
#2: Avoid hiring a developer who provides you build containing bugs frequently
You should thoroughly test the task assigned to the candidate, after submission, for potential bugs. This gives you an insight on the developer’s ability to self-test their product and fix the bugs. It is crucial to check this because Android developers need to test and identify bugs in the product correctly before releasing new versions. This is essential for releasing quality apps with good UX and Google Play reviews. The developer should be able to use the excellent testing libraries, both logic testing and UI testing provided by Android O.
#3: The developers should be experienced in UI and material design
The user interface is not only expected to look beautiful and professional through graphics but should also be simple to understand. With the addition of new features and product changes taking place during the development process, the UI needs to be adjusted. You cannot depend on the designer for making changes and adjustments each time as it may cost both time and money. So, the Android app developers you hire should be acquainted with using the tutorials, libraries, and free resources are available with Google Android UI solutions and new UI patterns. Many of the new UI patterns provided by Google are related to Material Design concepts compatible with small mobile devices. Google also provides many free icons that are enough to cover most of UI needs. The developers should be familiar with these.
#4: The developers should be familiar with the app release and publishing process on Google Play
It is important to check if the developers you are hiring have prior experience in releasing an app. This is because some important steps need to be followed by the release of the app. For example, a tool called Proguard needs to be used at this stage to make your application safe and small. However, as this tool can complicate your code and remove unused libraries and classes, prior experience in using it is needed to derive maximum benefit from it and avoid complications.
Also, while publishing you need the file that contains the hash key for making the application security and proving that you are the owner of this app. This sign up is mandatory before publishing it to Google Play and when releasing version updates. You cannot update your app if you lose this file. Thus, a professional Android app developer keeps this file safe for use and follows best practices for security and backups.
The developers you hire should also be adept at all the Google Play features as this can help in improving your application and gaining more downloads to make your app successful. They should also know how to add services for monitoring the product after its release. This includes monitoring the crashes and analytics on specific actions, and how to fix them.
#5: The developers should have released at least one successful app on Google Play
You should ask for the portfolio of the developers you want to hire. This should include not only the one’s they have done for the clients but also their own app/s. It gives you an estimate of their expertise and interest in making Android applications. You can also check out if their apps are updated. The ideal developers you should hire must be having multiple, proudly-owned apps.
#6: Hire developers after thinking through the full stack
The Android developer you hire should be able to manage databases, at least the simple ones, as most apps need to use a database nowadays. Many services, such as Firebase, are also available for the developers to use for managing the database via a simple API. Your candidate should have experience in full-stack development or use services like Firebase because that can help save time and money in hiring more developers for this work.
#7: Hire a developer who provides correct time estimations
Assigning small tasks to the candidate during the hiring process and getting the ETA for it will give you an idea of how accurate the estimates given by the developer are. Check if the candidate completes the task in the ETA mentioned, and if not, ask for proper explanations. However, this should not usually happen for small tasks unlike large tasks where ETA for is harder to predict as product adjustments, features, and unexpected bugs may arise along the way.
#8: Look out for a developer who provides frequent updates
While providing small tasks to the candidate also, it is important that they keep you updated with the important changes and developments, and preferably in an expected frequency. A developer who updates you too much or too little can make working together slower and less productive. So, be clear of the work style of the developer in the screening process itself.
To sum up
You should hire an experienced Android app developer who is productive, updated, helps save time and money, who can work as per your requirements, and with whom you will enjoy working. You should foresee that the developer will be suitable for your future projects as well. The hiring process can be challenging, but with the above tips in mind, you can find the right one quickly.
