android app development software for windows free download Android app development software for windows free download. Less time explaining, more time doing. Free hosted VPN solution. A free and popular Nintendo emulator. Free full-fledged development environment. Free IDE for Arduino projects. An intuitive web code editor modern developers. Free gaming software to boost your skills. Keeping up with the times with cloud storage. Google's solution to online storage and file transfer. Edit and view text files. Start building your games and apps. Free and user-friendly open source code editor for users of all skill levels. Top Development Tools. Add Us To Your Social Channels. Subscribe. Upgrade your lifestyle. Digital Trends helps readers keep tabs on the fast-paced world of tech with all the latest news, fun product reviews, insightful editorials, and one- of-a-kind sneak peeks. Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Top 5 Best App Building Software to Develop Quality Apps in 2019. Are you looking to build a top of the line Apps using App Building Software? Building an app often means you and your team will be spending countless nights writing and optimizing endless lines of code. This means that you and your team need to have the right attitude. Patience and teamwork are what you need to get your app off the ground. However, you need more than that to develop a successful app. You will also need the help of the best app building software to launch a successful app. There’s a lot of debate on which mobile app development software is the best, as each of them provides different kinds of features that can help fill in the gaps that all sorts of developers need help with. Read what we have below to find out which app building platform can give you the most help this 2019. 1. Verivo. In recent times, Verivo became a part of another best App Building Software platform. With its help, it managed to cover for the things that Verivo lacked before. Now, Verivo proves to be one of the fastest app building platforms around today. This makes it a perfect platform for those already familiar with app building. A myriad of configuration tools greets the user upon opening Verivo. Among these tools are a UI configuration tool, an array of tools to help with app security, and even a reporting tool that makes it easy to report any bugs or kinks in its system. Creating an account for Verivo is also a blessing as it is a simple and quick process. You also don’t need to worry about your data remaining in one device because Verivo’s data syncing ensures you have access to it. You only need to do a couple of verification steps and you’ll have your data anywhere you go. All these features work towards making Verivo a good contender for being the best app creator software for any skilled designer. Novices would find trouble with its interface and with knowing what the tools do. So, they should consider the next item on this list instead. 2. Mobile Roadie. This App Building Software platform is one that can help anyone, even those unfamiliar with the process, to build an Android or iOS app. Mobile Roadie even goes further beyond and makes the process easy to interpret. They do so by making the builds visual. Mobile Roadie enables its users to preview their apps any time during development. They do this through an option that gives an accurate representation of their current build. This allows most users to learn what differences certain additions and extensions have on their app. This also helps novices to adjust anything about their app in real time. Other than that, Roadie also helps users submit their apps to their respective app stores. It guides users through the entire process and even checks the quality of your content. Mobile Roadie also supports all sorts of media content. This feature allows for different kinds of projects. This also ensures that creativity while building an app isn’t limited by the platform’s features. Also, Mobile Roadie supports most of the coding languages, too. This means that users will have an easy time transferring and translating data. They’ll also be able to edit their data with ease through Mobile Roadie. 3. GameSalad. If mobile games are what you intend to develop, then GameSalad has everything you’re looking for. GameSalad is another App Building Software platform that’s easier to understand than most platforms. It has an interface that allows you to drag elements over and drop them over where you need them to be. This may feel like an outdated process to experienced app developers. However, this drag-and-drop feature will help you out with the way GameSalad works. GameSalad has a simple process on how it helps you create mobile games. The way they do this is through a scene and actor editor. The way this works is that you first set up the scene where the actors will play out their roles. You place background elements, other illustrations, and elements that make up the foreground, other actors in the scene, and sounds or music to accompany it. This process makes it possible to make an entire mobile game without having to write a line of code. Should you have trouble with how things work, you have GameSalad’s community to turn to. GameSalad has a big and active community ready to help you with any question you have. This, in essence, gives you the best kind of customer support there is. They also have two different plans to offer first-time users. One is the developer’s plan and the other is the educator’s plan where you learn all about computer science. These features make GameSalad the best App Building Software for mobile game developers. 4. Bizness Apps. Businesses often find it difficult to make an app that links to their website. This often leads to them missing out on a lot of customer engagement. With the help of Bizness Apps, though, they can resolve this problem with ease. Bizness Apps has a lot of features that cater to helping businesses. A shopping cart feature and push notifications are some of the features you can here. You can include all these features to your app with ease. You can do this because Bizness Apps already provides you with templates to work with if you so choose. They have built-in designs where you’ll only need to put in further extensions to customize your app. This process allows you to make an app or update the current one in minutes. You can also check how your planned updates will affect your app in real-time. You can do this through the real-time previews it shows you through their platform. Since their platform is a downloaded software, this means you can check your progress through any device, even mobile ones. You don’t need to worry about security too since Bizness has a lot of security measures to go through if you use an unfamiliar device to access your account. These help keep your account and device safe from cyber threats. Use the Best App Building Software Today. These platforms are among the best of the best App Building Software, but you only need one to make an app. Reading our list should give you some insight on which is the best app building software for you. Get the best app maker and start on your app now! When developing an app, you should also consider testing its integrity against hackers. This ensures that no one will exploit your app in any way. How can you test your security against hacks though? The best way to do this is to do it yourself. Check out this list of penetration testing software and hacking tools you can use to test your app with. Use these tools to stay ahead of your hackers today! B4A – The simple way to develop native Android apps. B4A includes all the features needed to quickly develop any type of Android app. B4A is used by tens of thousands of developers from all over the world, including companies such as NASA, HP, IBM and others. Together with B4i you can easily develop applications for both Android and iOS. B4A is 100% free . Consider supporting B4A by contributing to its development: $10 $20 $40 $100. Installation. 1. Oracle Java 8 or OpenJDK 11 (recommended) Download one of the following JDKs. Note that OpenJDK 11 requires Windows 64 bit. OpenJDK 11 + OpenJFX 11: download link . License: GPL + classpath exception. License permits usage in closed commercial projects. (package components: OpenJDK and OpenJFX) Download the zip and unpack it. C:\java is a good place for it. It is recommended to use a tool such as 7-Zip to unzip the large package. Windows Explorer might fail to extract it properly. Installation is not required. A guide to Android app development for complete beginners in 5 easy steps. Learning Android app development may seem like a daunting task, but it can open up a world of possibilities. You could create the next “hit app” that changes the way we work or interact with each other. Maybe you’ll develop a tool that you can use yourself to improve your workflow. Or perhaps you’ll just gain a new skill that lands you a great job! Whatever the case, learning Android app development might not be as tough as you think, as long as you understand what all the different moving parts are for, and have a roadmap to guide you through. This post is that road map! Step 1: Downloading the tools you need for Android app development. First, you need to create your development environment so that your desktop is ready to support your Android development goals. For that, you will need Android Studio and the Android SDK. Thankfully, these both come packaged together in a single download that you can find here. Android Studio is an IDE. That stands for “integrated development environment,” which is essentially an interface where you can enter your code (primarily Java or Kotlin) and access all the different tools necessary for development. Android Studio allows you to access libraries and APIs from the Android SDK, thereby giving you access to native functions of the operating system. You’ll also be able to build your app into an APK using Gradle, test it via a “virtual device” (emulator), and debug your code while it runs. With all that said, keep in mind that there are other options available for your Android app development. For example, Unity is a very powerful tool for cross-platform game development that also supports Android. Likewise, Visual Studio with Xamarin is an excellent combination for creating cross-platform apps in C#. Android Studio is the best place for most people to start (with Android game development being an exception), particularly as it provides all these additional tools and resources in a single place. Fortunately, set up is very simple and you only need to follow along with the instructions on the screen. If you need help getting set up, check out our Android Studio tutorial for beginners. And our guide on how to install the Android SDK. Step 2: Start a new project. Once you have Android Studio on your machine, the next step is to start a new project. This is a straightforward process, but you’ll need to make a few decisions that will impact on your Android app development going forward. Go to File > New > New Project . You will now be asked to select a “Project Template.” This defines the code and UI elements that will be included in your new app when it loads. The word “Activity” refers to a “screen” in your app. Thus, a project with “No Activity” will be completely empty, apart from the basic file structure. A “Basic Activity” on the other hand will create a starting screen for your app and will add a button in the bottom and a hamburger menu at the top. These are common elements in many Android apps, so this can save you some time. That said, it can also risk making things more complicated when you’re first getting to grips with development. For that reason, we’re going to choose the “Empty Activity.” This will create an activity and some files for us, but it won’t add a lot of additional code. Choose a name and “package name” for your new app. The name is what your audience will see when the app is installed on their device. The package name is an internal reference used by Android to differentiate it from other apps. This should be composed using your top level domain (e.g. .com), domain name, and app name. For example: com.androidauthority.sampleapp . If you don’t have a domain or a company, just use “com” followed by something that appeals to you! You’ll also need to decide where you want the files to be saved and what language you’re going to code in: Java or Kotlin. Java vs Kotlin for Android app development. One of the biggest decisions you’ll need to make as an Android developer is whether you’re going to learn Kotlin or Java. Both languages are officially supported by Google and Android Studio, but they have some distinct differences. Java has been supported by Google the longest and is what developers have been using to craft Android apps for years. Java is also one of the most in-demand programming languages in the world, which makes it a great choice for those who want to begin a career in development. As the oldest Android programming language, there is also slightly more support for Java vs Kotlin, although it’s not by much. Kotlin, on the other hand, has become Google’s preferred choice for Android development. This is the default when starting a new app, and it is likely to become more common going forward. Kotlin is also significantly easier to get to grips with if you’re a complete beginner. For these reasons, Kotlin is probably the language of choice for Android developers that are learning for fun, or that have no aspirations to develop for other platforms. However, Java makes more sense if you’re interested in becoming a professional developer. You can learn more about the two options here by reading our guide to Kotlin vs Java for Android. Minimum SDK. Finally, you also need to consider your Minimum SDK. This is the lowest version of Android that you want your app to support. The lower you make this number, the broader your potential audience will be. Keep in mind that there is a relatively low adoption rate for the latest versions of Android, so sticking with the latest update will prevent a lot of users from trying your creation. However, you will only be able to access the latest features of Android if you target a more recent version. If you like the sound of supporting chat bubbles, then you’ll want to stick with the most recent version. Step 3: Familiarize yourself with the files. I remember the first time I tried Android app development. I loaded up Android Studio and was immediately baffled by what I saw. There are just so many different files, multiple types of code, folders, and more! This was worlds away from the single blank file I was used to working with in Python or even QBasic (anyone remember QBasic??). This can be rather daunting, but here’s what you need to know. The file that is open is MainActivity.java or MainActivity.kt. This is the main logic file for the activity that is going to define how your app behaves. Look on the left, and you’ll see that this file is found in: MyApplication > app > src > main > java > com > companyname > myapplication . The folders used are important for Android app development, as they help Android Studio and Gradle to find everything and build it correctly (more on Gradle in a moment). Suffice to say, you can’t just rename these as you please! You’ll notice that there is already some code on the main page. This is what we call “boilerplate code,” meaning that it is code that is almost identical across different app projects and that is needed to make basic functions work. Boilerplate code is what you’ll find yourself typing out over and over again! One of the benefits of Kotlin is that it requires less boilerplate, meaning that you’ll have less code on your screen if that is what you chose. Introducing layout files. The role of this code is to tell Android where the associated layout file is. A layout file is slightly different from a Kotlin/Java file. This defines the way that an activity looks, and lets you add things like buttons, text, and browser windows. You’ll find this file in: MyApplication > app > src > res > layout . It will be called activity_main.xml. Note that files stored in the resources folder can’t use capitals; they need to use the underscore symbol to distinguish different words. Double click on this file and it will open in the main window where you edit your code. Notice that you can switch between the open files using tabs along the top. You can view this file via the “Code” view, the “Design” view, or a split view that shows these windows side-by-side. There are buttons to switch mode in the top right. In the design view, you can actually drag and drop different widgets onto the screen. The code view shows you a load of XML script. When you add new widgets via the Design view, this script will update. Likewise, you can tweak properties of the widgets (called “views”) in here and see them reflected in real-time via the Code view. In the vast majority of apps, you’ll need to create a new Java/Kotlin file and a corresponding XML file, each time you want a new activity. And for those that were wondering: yes, that means you have to learn either Kotlin or Java and XML. This is a bit of a headache, but it actually simplifies the process in the long run. The other files and folders. There are lots more files and folders here though, so what do they all do? In truth, you don’t need to know what everything here is. But some things that are useful to know about: The Android Manifest: This is an XML file in the res folder that defines important features of your app. That includes the orientation of the app, the activities that you want to be included in it, the version, etc. Drawable: This folder is found in res. This is where you will put things like images that you want to reference later. Values: This resource folder is a useful place to store values that will be used globally across your app. For example, this can include color codes (making it easy for you to change the look of your entire app) or strings (words). You’ll define these values in individual XML files, such as colors.xml. Gradle: Gradle is the tool that takes all your files and bundles them into a workable APK for testing. It is also useful for generating previews etc. You won’t need to worry about the files in here often, but if you want to add a “dependency,” this is where you will do it. Dependencies are external libraries that let you access additional functionality from within your own code. Of course, we also have a detailed introduction to Gradle for new Android developers. Step 4: Test your app. The first thing that you are supposed to do when familiarizing yourself with any new programming language, is to create an app that says “Hello World.” Thankfully, this is very easy in this case seeing as that’s what the code that’s already here does! If you look at the XML, it includes a small label that just says: Hello World! If you look at the controls along the top, you’ll see there’s a little green play arrow. On the left of this is a drop-down menu, with a phone name in it. When you installed Android Studio, this should also have installed an Android system image along with the Virtual Device Manager. In other words, you should already have an Android emulator set up and ready to go! By clicking on this green arrow, you’ll be able to launch that and test your app! Notice that this will also let you use the emulated phone as though it were a real device. You can change the settings for your virtual device – such as screen size, Android version, space etc. – by going to Tools > AVD Manager . You can also download new system images here. Make sure that your virtual device meets or exceeds the minimum SDK you set at the start. Alternatively, you can try plugging a physical device into your computer and using this to test your new app. You’ll need to turn on Developer Options though, and enable USB Debugging. Step 5: Make a thing! The best way to learn Android app development is by doing! That means you should have a stab at editing the code in front of you, to see if you can make it do something new. Changing the message that displays is as simple as going into your XML and changing the line that says “Hello World!” into “Howdy World!” But what if you want to add some kind of interactive element to your creation? In that case, you might decide to let the user click the button to change the text. The Best Tools for Android Software Development. Android development is in its heyday. According to Statista, there are 2.9 billion apps available in Google Play. As the use of Android devices goes up, the need for high-quality Android apps continues to grow. These days, Android developers need to stay productive to create better quality apps at record speed. To that end, they have a wealth of useful tools and applications at hand. In this article, we are going to have a look at what's inside a developer's toolbox and Android development kit. So here's the list of the best Android development tools. Android Studio: Key Android Build Tool. Android Studio is, without a doubt, the first one among Android developers' tools. It's an official integrated environment for Android app development that lets easily edit code, debug, and test. Created in 2013, it made a splash and unseated Eclipse Android Development Tools as the one and only IDE for native Android apps. It's free and actively supported by a vibrant Android development community. It's an Android IDE that allows making an Android app on your Android device. AIDE provides a way not only to write the code on your phone or tablet but also to run, test, and debug. This environment is a good option for novice developers as opposed to Android Studio or IntelliJ IDEA. The downside is that it only supports Java and C/C++. If you are building an app in Kotlin, go with another Android IDE. Stetho. Stetho is an open-source library developed by Facebook and designed for quick application debugging. Stetho gives the application a website experience by making the allows access to a Chrome Developer Tools feature native to the desktop browser. With the Chrome DevTools, you can easily view the hierarchy of an application, monitor network activity, manage an SQLite database, monitor shared SharedPreferences, and more. Gradle. Gradle is an open-source build automation system that appeared in 2013. Combining the best of Apache Maven and Apache Ant, this system is ideal for multi-project, large builds. Gradle makes it easy to add a third-party library with one line of code. Gradle is mainly used for Android software development using Java, but there are also Groovy and Scala plugins. Android Asset Studio. It's an excellent collection of easy-to-use tools for generating various types of icons that you will need when designing and developing applications. LeakCanary. Powerful memory leak detection tool developed by Square. Once installed, it will automatically launch and notify you of every memory leak in your application. To rectify the problems, there is a built-in stack trace available for use. IntelliJ IDEA. JetBrains created a Java IDE with Android support. It's a good alternative to Android Studio, mainly used for simpler apps. IntelliJIDEA is fast and comes with a variety of development tools right out of the box: smart code completion, instant code analysis, refactoring, and JetBrains plugins. Source Tree. A simple and free tool that provides an easy way to manage Git repositories using Git GUI. You can visually visualize all your changes, commits, branches without having to write even a single command in the command line. Available for Mac and Windows users. Unity 3D. Creating mobile games, you can turn to a cross-platform engine with a wealth of features for graphically intensive and VR/AR games. It's fine to stick with Android Studio or IntelliJ IDEA for developing games, but Unity is will provide more tailored-to-game-development tools, such as storytelling, next-level performance profiling, real-time rendering, and many more. GameMaker: Studio. This is one of the most popular game engines from YoYo games that allows you to develop 2D games for Android and other platforms. GameMaker: Studio is a powerful yet simple, easy-to-use tool with a convenient drag-and-drop interface. It's also a good tool to kick off your game development career. BlockCanary. Recommended by many, this powerful performance monitoring library that helps you identify when your application's user interface thread is blocked for a while and slows down the application. Installing BlockCanary is very simple, and it works much like LeakCanary. AVD Manager. A useful tool from Android Studio that stands for Android Virtual Device. It enables developers to create emulations of all Android devices on a single computer to test an app's performance and responsiveness. AVD manager eliminates the need for having each type of physical device, screen size, and resolution. Firebase. Mobile apps require a server to perform tasks such as authenticating users and synchronizing user data across multiple devices. However, building such a server requires a skill set that most ISVs lack. Fortunately, there are several back-end service platforms, often referred to as BaaS, that you can use today. Google's Firebase is one such platform. Firebase provides essential services like analytics, crash reporting, user authentication, and cloud messaging for free. Its freemium services include real-time NoSQL database, file hosting, and static website hosting. Vysor. Vysor is a tool that brings Android to the desktop so you can display and interact with the device right from your computer. It lets you type from your keyboard, show your screen during meetings, and work more efficiently. Vysor is compatible with all operating systems. Android Debug Bridge. This is a versatile command-line tool that lets you communicate with a device. ADB allows you to exchange data with a running Android emulator or a real connected (via USB, Wi-Fi network) Android device (tablet, phone). The tool belongs to Android SDK tools and is included in the Android SDK Platform Tools package. NimbleDroid. A platform where you can test your Android app for flaws before pushing it to Google Play. This tool brings a lot of value to the Quality Assurance process because it helps expedite the testing stage. NimbleDroid is appreciated by Pinterest, Tinder, Yahoo, Paypal, and many more. RAD Studio. An integrated environment where you can create apps for Android devices. RAD Studio has a visual designer and code editor that lets you write, compile, and deploy hybrid applications using a single code base. It comes with support during an entire SDLC. You can take it for a spin using a trial version. Conclusion: Android toolkits choice. Android development is rapidly evolving and there are lots of tools that make daily work easier. The choice usually boils down to personal preferences as well as product requirements. We hope that these Android development tools will help you deliver useful applications for Android. We are proud to have been working with our clients on their robust Android apps.