Mobile Apps

Android app development in the UK

Android runs on a huge range of hardware, from flagship phones to rugged warehouse scanners. Building well for it means testing for the devices your users actually carry.

Discuss Your Project

Device variety is the defining challenge of Android. Screen sizes, chipsets, memory and manufacturer customisations all differ, and battery optimisations added by some manufacturers can quietly kill background work your app depends on. An app tested on only one recent flagship can behave very differently on a three-year-old budget phone.

We write Android apps in Kotlin with Jetpack Compose, Google’s recommended modern approach, and we test on real devices chosen from your analytics or your audience. Native Android is a particularly good fit for business and industrial uses, including barcode scanning on rugged devices, Bluetooth peripherals, kiosks and dedicated hardware managed through Android Enterprise.

Google Play requirements

Google Play publishes target API level requirements, which it raises regularly, and apps that fall behind can lose visibility or be blocked from updating. New personal developer accounts also face closed-testing requirements before production access, so timing matters if you’re launching for the first time. An organisation account avoids some of this but needs a D-U-N-S number, which can take a while to arrange. We plan for all of it. If you need both platforms, consider cross-platform development first.

Android-specific problems we plan for

Fragmentation

Crashes and layout problems on devices that nobody tested, which only show up in one-star reviews.

Background restrictions

Battery optimisation killing the location tracking, syncing or notifications your app relies on.

Keeping up with Google Play

Rising target API requirements mean that an app left alone can eventually be blocked from updating.

Android services

New Android apps

Kotlin and Jetpack Compose apps built on a clean, testable architecture.

Business device apps

Rugged devices, barcode scanners, kiosks and managed fleets using Android Enterprise.

Modernising old apps

Moving Java and XML layouts to Kotlin and Compose in stages.

Google Play release

Play Console setup, testing tracks, data safety forms and staged rollouts.

Where it fits

  • Warehouse, delivery and field-service apps
  • Kiosks and dedicated devices
  • Consumer apps where most of your audience is on Android

Technology

  • Kotlin
  • Jetpack Compose
  • Android Studio
  • Room
  • Coroutines
  • Firebase
  • Android Enterprise
  • Espresso

Sectors we think about here

Android Apps questions

Why does Android need more testing than iOS?
Because there’s far more hardware. We pick a representative set of devices based on your audience, and use cloud device labs to widen coverage.
Can the app run on our rugged scanners?
Generally yes if they run a reasonably recent Android version. We’d integrate through the manufacturer’s SDK, such as those from Zebra or Honeywell.
Do we need a D-U-N-S number?
Google requires one for organisation developer accounts. It’s free to obtain, but it can take time, so it’s best to apply early.

Related services

Interested in Android App Development?

Outline what you need, and we will reply by email with questions or next steps.

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