Navigating today’s tech landscape can be challenging, in particular for anyone new to the scene. Do you find yourself at a place needing to know everything about Android developers? In this entry, we’ll detail what Android development is, what Android developers do, their market rate, and where to find them.
Today, mobile technology makes it exceptionally handy to perform day-to-day tasks. And one mobile operating system powering the way is Android. The amount of Android-run devices outnumbers iOS-run devices around the world.
According to Statista, smartphones that run on the Android OS hold an 87% share of the global mobile market in 2019. No recent data has been released as of this writing. However, their study forecasts an increase in this number in the forthcoming years. One reason for this popularity is that it is open-source, meaning Android applications can be installed on any device for free.
Google initially released Android in 2008, wherein it attained 4% of the market share the following year. It eventually rose in popularity and usage over time. All thanks to the software talent who built the apps we see on our phones today, the Android developers. Here are the key points of this topic:
About Android Developers: What do they do?
We can define an Android developer as:
“An Android developer is a software development professional who is responsible for building applications for the Android OS.”
They may specialize in building Android applications only. Or they could be app developers who are well-versed in cross-platform mobile development. Generally, it takes skills and knowledge in Android development to become one.
Android Developer Responsibilities
Depending on the company, Android developers may find themselves doing different daily activities. However, their scope of work is typically the same across different organizations. Here are the fundamental roles an Android developer plays in a software development team:
- Design and build interactive UI elements for the Android OS
- Write and maintain reusable and high-performance code in Android languages (Java, Kotlin, C#, C++, etc.)
- Test, troubleshoot, and confirm fixes on reported bugs in the Android project
- Stay up to date with the latest updates on Android development tools, products, workflows, and trends
- Ensure that the product meets the defined features and functionalities in the product requirements document
- Have knowledge of different frameworks, APIs, and libraries that are relevant in Android development
- Participate in team meetings for workflow development, daily updates, client reports, and retrospectives
- Work closely with the development team and other cross-functional teams (UI/UX designers, SEO specialists, managers, etc.)
Android Developer Skills and Qualifications
An Android developer’s job needs a good balance of technical skills and creativity. Soft skill requirements vary per company or team setup. But the technical skills often have similar demands across recruiters.
Here are the technical qualifications of great Android developers:
- Extensive knowledge and experience in using Android development software and tools like Android Studio, ADB, AVD Manager, Firebase, Play Store, etc.
- Proficiency with Android development languages and frameworks like Java, Kotlin, C#, C++, JavaScript, React Native, etc.
- Experience with SQL
- Familiarity with version control tools like Git
- A grasp of key design principles and patterns, as well as an understanding of Material Design Guidelines
Android Developer Salary
This guideline for Android developers wouldn’t be complete without listing their salary rates. Keep in mind these rates will factor in the seniority level, experience, and location. So, we will look at different Android development salaries per key territory.
Android developer salary in the US
SalaryExpert states that the average annual salary for Android developers is $103,056. This rate is for mid-level Android developers. For entry-level developers, the average annual salary is around $73,000, while senior developers earn an average of $127,487 annually.
Android Developer salary in Europe,
The average Android developer’s gross salary in the UK is around $70,000. An entry-level Android developer earns an average salary of $50,000. On the other end, a senior-level Android developer has a gross salary of around $87,000.
Android Developer Salary in Asia
In this portion, we will look at the top offshore destinations in the region—India and the Philippines.
For India, the average Android developer’s gross salary is around $18,000. An entry-level Android developer in India earns an average salary of $13,000. Meanwhile, a senior-level Android developer can earn an average salary of $22,000.
The average gross salary for Android developers in the Philippines is $12,000. A junior-level Android developer earns an average salary of $9,000. On the other hand, a senior-level Android developer in the Philippines earns an average salary of $15,000.
Where to Hire Android Developers?
The real question here, really, is how much is your budget for hiring? Because that will help to determine where you can hire Android developers. As you can see in the Android developer salary portion, the rates vary depending on the location.
Why? Each country has different salary ranges from each other. Also, there is a different market rate per country due to local legislation and regulations.
But are Android developers in countries with lower rates as talented as their more expensive counterparts? The answer is YES. The lower rate is only because of the local economy, not the skills and capabilities of the Android developers.
If you have enough budget to hire local US employees, that could work for you. On the other hand, you could opt for multiple offshore software developers for the price of one stateside.
Primarily, companies use offshoring to answer challenges in finances. Offshore software development has cost-effective benefits that budding companies or startups can enjoy.
Read more about the Benefits of Offshoring here.
Let Us Help You Hire Top-Notch Android Developers
Full Scale specializes in providing offshore software development services to our global clients. We are a Kansas City company with an offshore arm in the Philippines, where we have a large pool of different tech talent.
As an offshore software development company, we take care of the recruitment process for our clients. Over the years, we have rendered more than 2 million hours in service.
Apart from software developers, we also have QA testers, SEO experts, technical writers, and digital designers.
