Just like Thor had Mjölnir and Sherlock Holmes had his wit, Android developers have their incredible libraries by which they create astonishing mobile apps. Android libraries are a complete set of behavior that is properly defined & interface and are written in programming languages.
The libraries consist of documentation, configuration data, message templates, pre-written code, subroutines, values, classes, and many other things. Android developers use these libraries to speed up the development process i.e. they don’t need to put much effort into developing apps by using libraries. They will have pre-written codes and many other essential elements with these libraries. Without using these libraries, Android developers have to create everything from scratch which would be highly time-consuming.
In this article, we would know about the best Android Libraries that an expert Android development company like us use for developing mobile apps.
Dependency Injector Library
Before knowing about the libraries that we should use in 2021, let’s take a moment to know and understand what Dependency Injector Library is.
1. Dagger 2:
The best thing about Dagger 2 is that it is dependent on Java annotation processors for estimating compile-time and checking the dependencies. On the other hand, Java dependency injection libraries are limited as they rely on XML. It incurs performance penalties during startup or facing validating dependency issues at run-time.
Another benefit of Dagger 2 is that it gives easy access to shared instances. For instance, if you declare Dagger 2 in instances such as MyTwitterApiClient or SharedPreferences, you can easily declare fields with a simple @Inject annotation.
Networking
These libraries can be used for establishing a network connection within an android app.
2. Retrofit:
Retrofit is a type-safe REST client for Android and Java. It will use annotations for mapping an API into the client interface. Earlier, for a network request, you have to execute an Async task class and then use HttpsUrlConnection for fetching data. This wasn’t ideal to deal with APIs returning huge amounts of data. It is now resolved by Retrofit.
You can easily manage headers, endpoints, add a request body, query parameters, and select request methods using annotations of Retrofit.
Image Loading:
These libraries can deal with the problem of “out memory errors” in Android apps caused by loading multiple at a single instance.
3. Picasso:
This is a very trusted and widely used Android image library. You can easily load images in the app using this library often by just one line of code. It is maintained by Square. It can handle ImageView recycling and download cancellation in an adapter. You can manage complex image transformations using minimal memory, automatic memory, and caching. Other features of the Picasso library are:
- Automatic detection of adapter re-use and the previously canceled download
- Easily transform images with better layouts and reduce memory size
- Custom transformation for more advanced effects
4. Glide:
This library is managed by Bumptech and is praised for its image loading. It has been even recommended by Google. You will not just get animated GIF support during image loading handling and caching but it is also helpful in decoding, fetching, displaying video calls, images, and GIFs.
It can make the scrolling highly smooth for any list of images as smooth as it can be. It is also effective if you want to fetch, resize, or display a remote image.
Scanning:
If you want to integrate scanning features in your app then you must use these libraries:
5. Zxing:
Zxing stands for “Zebra Crossing”. It is a barcode image processing library that is implemented in Java and can port to other programming languages. It supports 1D product, 1D industrial, and 2D barcodes. Google is also using this library for indexing millions of barcodes on the web. It also forms the basis of Android’s Barcode Scanner app and is integrated into Google Book Search and Google Product.
6. CAMView:
It is another library to use apart from ZXing. It has an embedded scanner with an easy Android camera based on ZXing.
There are many components that can be put in your layout files and the developers will get immediate access to:
- Live Preview video from device camera
- Barcode scanning using Zxing in-built decoding engine
- Data processing in the camera
View Binding
For reducing the boilerplate code View binding libraries were surfaced. Let’s know more about these View Binding libraries:
7. ButterKnife:
ButterKnife is a renowned view binding library developed by Jake Wharton. You can effortlessly assign ids with this library. It is a sort of dependency injection but the annotations in this library are employed to generate boilerplate code.
It also eliminates the needs for things like onClick and onTouch while replacing them with auto injected code.
8. Android Databinding:
You just need the least of Android Studio Version 1.3 for working on the Android Databinding Library. Unlike ButterKnife, in this, you don’t need to use annotations. You can bind UI components in the layouts to data sources in the app by using declarative formation rather than programming.
The layouts are managed with code that needs a UI framework like findViewById() to find the TextView widget while binding it to the userName property of the viewModel variable.
Debugging
This is an unavoidable step in the app development process. A developer has to debug the application before its final release. It is highly important. Let’s know about the libraries that you can use for debugging:
9. Stetho:
Stetho is considered a “sophisticated debug bridge for Android applications”. The library usage is not just limited to the Network inspection, Database inspection, JS console, etc. but many developers use it for Chrome Developers Tools access which is part of the Chrome Browser. Also, the developers can opt for an optional dump app tool that offers a powerful command-line interface to application internals.
Reactive Programming:
In this programming, data releases from a source to the subscriber for handling multiple asynchronous tasks. So in short, these libraries help the users for transferring data from source to subscribers.
10. RxJava2:
If you are searching for a library that can help you in implementing reactive programming for creative exciting react applications, then you must use the RxJava library. You can use this library for composing asynchronous and event-based programs by using observable sequences.
It is highly useful for Android app developers as it can simplify the process of chain async operations.
Drawing:
There are hundreds of libraries that are being developed every day. But not everyone can impress the developers and prove potent. But here are some libraries that developers find highly useful.
11. MPAndroidChart:
This is an impeccable Android chart or graph view library. It supports different types of charts and graphs such as line, bar, radar, pie, candlestick charts along with scaling, animations, and dragging.
If you are looking for a similar library for iOS app development then you must use the Charts library.
12. Holo Graph Library:
This is another library that is highly used by many different Android app development companies. It is best for adding flawless charts and graphs into Android applications. You can get LineGraph view, BarGraph view, PieGraph View, and MultiSeriesDonut Graph View
UI Components
There is no compromise level in designing the user interface of a mobile application. It should meet current design standards. We have seen many improvements and innovations in the design.
13. Gravity View:
The Gravity View library is highly famous and useful for image titling using sensors. It can utilize the motion sensors of Android devices so the users can perform certain actions by rotating the device.
It was firstly used in the famous e-commerce application “Fynd” and still in use to date. It works in the Android version 3.0 or higher. Also, if you want to use non-gyroscope devices, then you can do it with the help of an Accelerometer sensor.
Testing
Last but not least, testing libraries. No developer in this world can create an amazing app in the first attempt and without producing bugs or errors. Hence, there are certain libraries that are in use for testing the mobile app before launching it to the audience.
14. Espresso:
Not a coffee, but an Android testing support library, Espresso helps the developers to build user interface tests for Android applications. They can write tests and check whether the text of a TextView is similar to another text or not. It can run both on real devices as well as emulators.
For using this library, you have to add dependencies to the app module build.gradle file.
After this, you can set the instrumentation runner and sync the Gradle files, followed by creating a test file.
15. Robolectric:
This is another testing library that can handle inflation of resource loading, views, including other things. The tests in this library are efficacious and potent for performing functions that real devices with the Android framework perform. It can simulate the Android SDK for tests. There is no need for additional mocking frameworks like Mockito.
Now again, you need to add the dependency in your app’s build.gradle file, followed by creating a sample test class.
Wrapping Up:
We have discussed almost every type of library in this article. An expert Android developer can use almost every type of these libraries for building an amazing Android app. At Amplework, the prominent mobile app development company in India, we are having expertise in developing mobile apps as per your requirements. Whether you need an Android app, iOS, or React Native, we can create it for you.
