Android SDK Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

Infrastructure Expert at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Jul 12, 2012

Google has excellent platform support for their developers.

What is most valuable?

As I wrote in my previous review of the iOS SDK, my major problem was lack of alternative platform support. The Android SDK does NOT have that problem at all, as it's available for most major platforms to date. The IDE is easy to use and has a ton of API's that allow you to tie into Google's large base of services offered.Plus, all of the applications are coded in Java, which is by far an easier language to learn.

What needs improvement?

Having the applications coded in Java is also a con, because Java can be annoying to code in sometimes. It requires some ridiculous work-arounds to do certain things, which are just one line code statements in C. Otherwise, I have no problem with the Android SDK.

What other advice do I have?

I give the Android SDK 1 star higher than the iOS SDK for its incredible multi-platform support. You can develop on Mac, Windows, and Linux. This is mostly because of the Java based code that the apps are coded in, but it is what it is.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user1011

Manager of Data Center at a insurance company with 51-200 employees

Jun 27, 2012

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The Future of Mobile Application development tools

Valuable Features:

1. Good for freelancers – they can publish and sell applications to end users. 2. It is free and easy to use. 3. It includes documentation that serves as a tutorial, which is good enough to get you started. 4. Android is an open mobile device platform. Many vendors are migrating to use it; hence it holds the future for mobile market.

Room for Improvement:

I am still expecting Android SDK to incorporate flash or similar video tool capabilities.Android powered smartphones are increasing on a daily basis, likewise is our dependence on mobile devices. As an IT professional, I decided to look for tools that will enable me develop some customized applications that will run on Android phones. I have some background in Java programming, so I settled for Android SDK. I had a soft landing downloading the Windows executable file, since it is free. The installation wizard was simple and I was guided on how to install the needed components/plug-ins.

Other Advice:

The development environment is user friendly with options like Eclipse, command line, and other IDE, where one can easily develop, debug, and test an application before deploying it. Android SDK gives access to everything you need in programming mobile device capabilities.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user1149Developer at a tech company with 51-200 employees

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Feb 12, 2013

" Android is an open mobile device platform. Many vendors are migrating to use it; hence it holds the future for mobile market."

I do not agree with you saying it is the future of mobile Development. Right now, what we have is an iOS SDK, Android SDK, BB SDK, Windows SDK,and a few others as well. According to me the future of mobile development is held in responsive web design and cross platform applications. We will be only coding the application once instead of going into the headache of doing the same thing in different SDK's. Also, Response Design holds a crucial key in here. No matter what the screen size is an application must resize its views to fit the viewport of the device.

I am sorry to say that i do not see Android SDK to be the future of Mobile Application Development

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reviewer1163166

RPA System Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

Dec 4, 2021

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Highly scalable, good community support, and reliable

Pros and Cons

"I have found the functions related to the services to the community for applications to be the most valuable."

"The development environment of Android SDK could improve."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Android SDK for commercial purposes to develop file applications for healthcare and eCommerce. Additionally, we develop applications related to customer support, et cetera.

What is most valuable?

I have found the functions related to the services to the community for applications to be the most valuable.

What needs improvement?

The development environment of Android SDK could improve.

There could be some work done on privacy control. The interactions between application to application, which collecting data should be known to the users that the application is collecting data, or requesting to collect the data from the patient invoice.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Android SDK for approximately seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The current releases of Android SDK are scalable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is highly scalable.

I rate Android SDK a ten out of ten for scalability.

How are customer service and support?

I am searching the internet community support for solutions to issues and I am using Stack Overflow and GitHub for resolving some issues.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy, but for production equipment, it's complex. The process could be simplified.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I am using the free version of Android SDK.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Android SDK an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user981

Manager of Development at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Jun 26, 2012

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Reliable and Flexible platform for building simple mobile apps

Valuable Features:

Development in Java programming language which has a huge developer's user base Development can be done on all major platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) The underlying operating system is open source and thus open for modifications if needed (flexibility) Applications built with Android SDK can run on a large number of devices from various vendors and are not restricted to a particular vendor Many of the standard Java libraries are available

Room for Improvement:

Applications need to be developed from scratch, so it is not suitable for huge applications, such as games. Third party SDK's, like Unity 3D, are more suitable for such purposes.

Other Advice:

I have managed development of various Android applications over the past couple of years.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user1158

Developer at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Jul 17, 2012

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Best in class open source mobile app development platform

Valuable Features:

- Open source SDK is a boon for developers, especially those who like to customize the underlying kernel/OS to suit their needs. - UI development through the XML template, is very comfortable for beginners. - Multiple platform support e.g. can be run on Windows, Linux, as well as Macintosh. - Can be very easily integrated with 3rd party open source libraries - Thriving user community helps get answers to your queries. - A large number of supported third party libraries available. - Supports one of the most popular IDE Eclipse

Room for Improvement:

- Initial loading of emulator takes a lot of time - Developing apps for tablets is comparatively difficult because the emulator is extremely slow - Since all the applications need to be developed from scratch, as there is no template available, SDK is not suitable and requires use of various 3rd party libraries that provide ready to use APIs. - Developing apps based on GPS, video camera, location, etc. cannot be very easily tested on the emulator and require an actual device.

Other Advice:

A very good mobile app development platform with support for developing on various platforms like Wiindows, Linux, Mac, etc. Very good support for integrating 3rd party libraries. Development of apps based on camera, location, maps, etc. requires an actual device to test the app and the supplied emulator cannot be relied on completely.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user4401Developer at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees

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Dec 25, 2013

Android SDK is very useful because it allows programmers to develop Android applications that they can run, test, profile and debug using the emulator and the other included tools. As a pro, the development language is Java, this is the reason why SDK has multiple platform support, as you already mentioned. I also like at this SDK that it has many external libraries available which the programmers can use to develop Android applications.
On my opinion, the main con is that the programmer cannot change easily to different screen sizes in order to adapt to different resolutions of Android devices.

it_user1149

Developer at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Jul 15, 2012

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Open source, flexible, and Java is a great combo, but the end the application is what matters and the application rendering is a bit slower in my personal experiences.

Valuable Features:

* There are number of external libraries available which are very helpful in development. * Access to all the native functions of the phone like external storage, contacts, camera, call logs, connectivity, recorder, etc. * SDK has multi platform support, as development language is Java. Development can be done on windows, mac, and linux. * Development tools are easily downloaded and we can target any API Level for our development. * It is open source.

Room for Improvement:

* Emulators are slow, especially the ones above API level 12 (Tablets and ICS). Slow emulators can really hinder the process of development. * Tough to manage layout for different screen sizes (Android devices come in a variety of resolutions). * If an application is not built with OpenGL, then the application will not use the free GPU available with the device. Rather, the application will use CPU for rendering the application, making the application rendering a bit slower when compared to applications on iOS.

Other Advice:

Google provides a comprehensive guide to ease the development of apps in Android. Due to the support from Google, and the fact that the Android app development can be undertaken anywhere, it's open source platform has contributed toward the immense success of Android. Although iPhone offers a lot of development tools, the freedom offered by Android is virtually unmatched. Almost the entire source code of Android is available to the developers, and they can manipulate it as they wish.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user4401Developer at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees

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Jun 9, 2014

Can you tell me, please, what other API I can use instead of OpenGL to build my Android application?

it_user1005

Developer at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Jun 26, 2012

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Easy and for any new developers

Valuable Features:

Simple Best Wide range of resources available(code, snippets, examples, samples, blogs...etc) Easy for any new Coders Efficient

Room for Improvement:

UI needs to improve, feel since I come from microsoft RAD developer environment

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user978

Developer at a tech company with 51-200 employees

Jun 25, 2012

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Very good SDK

Valuable Features:

Best SDK Can program in java IDE support Simulator support

Room for Improvement:

Nothing

Other Advice:

I am an android developer.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user1149Developer at a tech company with 51-200 employees

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Feb 12, 2013

"Best SDK"
You should try out other mobile SDK as well before terming the Android SDK as the best.

"Simulator support"
Every mobile SDk has simulator support what makes it a pros for Android SDK.

Can program in java
You can also use C / C++ code.

IDE support.
Again, It uses Eclipse which integrates Android SDK as an add-on.

Suggestion: Try out XCode if you get a chance and see for yourself how different and easy to use it is from the Android IDE.

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