Android
What is Android, exactly?
Android is Google’s mobile operating system, running on over 70% of the world’s smartphones in 2026. It’s open-source at its base (the Android Open Source Project, AOSP), with proprietary Google services — Play Store, Google Play Services, Maps, ML Kit — layered on top by Google and by OEMs like Samsung, Xiaomi, Pixel, Motorola.
For app developers, Android means building with Kotlin (the modern default since 2017, when Google declared it a first-class language), Jetpack Compose (the modern declarative UI toolkit, stable since 2021), and supporting a wide spectrum of screen sizes, OEM customisations, and OS versions — typically back to API level 26 (Android 8.0) for broad market reach.
When does DevMind ship native Android?
We ship native (Kotlin + Compose) Android when:
- The app integrates deeply with platform APIs — background services, foreground services, Bluetooth, NFC, Android Auto, accessibility services, MDM/EMM agents.
- Performance and battery life matter (games, mapping, vehicle companion apps, always-on tools).
- The team needs full access to Material 3 components and Android-conventional UX (predictive back, edge-to-edge layouts, dynamic theming).
We use Kotlin Multiplatform for the shared business-logic layer when the same app also ships on iOS, and Flutter when brand-consistent UI across platforms is the higher priority than platform-native feel.
How does DevMind handle Android fragmentation?
The “Android fragmentation” reputation is overstated in 2026 — the upper API floor for most production apps is API 26+, modern OEM ROMs converge on stock Android conventions, and AndroidX libraries paper over most version differences. We test on at least one Pixel, one Samsung, and one budget device per project; we instrument crashes through Firebase Crashlytics or Sentry; and we set minSdk conservatively to maximise reach without writing per-version workarounds.
Android versus iOS — from a vendor’s perspective
Android wins on global reach and customisation depth. iOS wins on per-user revenue (App Store users spend more on average in most markets) and on platform-API integration consistency. We often launch iOS first for consumer apps targeting paying audiences in EU/US, then Android second; we launch both simultaneously when global reach is core (enterprise, automotive, emerging markets).
DevMind’s perspective
Native Android (Kotlin + Jetpack Compose) is our default when Android is the primary platform or when deep system integration matters. For cross-platform projects, we lean toward Kotlin Multiplatform — sharing business logic while keeping Compose for the native Android UI — rather than fully unified frameworks.