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“An app is not all about technology. It is a dream towards the future”. Everyone around us who has a smartphone must be using tons of android apps in their daily life. From purchasing goods online to attending online classes, we all need one application to fulfill our demands. It would be very difficult if we don’t have an application for our work. So have you ever wondered how these apps are made?
Android App Development is the most preferred technology at the present time. It allows people to explore the world of Android and gain exposure as much as they want. It is a process of creating android applications for devices running on the Android Operating System. Android apps can be written in programming languages like Java, C++, Kotlin, and Python.
However, to cut short the chase of writing elongated codes for every application, we make use of android libraries. They are programs that implement behaviors and have a well-defined interface as well as programming languages. They help the developer in creating optimized apps without getting tired as the process can be accomplished within a few steps by using some well-defined pre-written codes instead of writing them from scratch. It’s impossible to overlook the construction of bug-free, highly responsive apps with minimal resources. Not to forget the precise, quick, effortless, and featured-rich android app development attained by them.
Let’s take a look at some awesome libraries that can help us to create better Android apps.
Image loading Libraries:-
Working with images is one of the inevitable parts of Android app development. If one is willing to display efficient images on the application, it needs to take care of the image caching. So in this article let’s discuss some image loading libraries in Android.
Video Displaying Libraries:-
Displaying videos poses another difficult task during development. The process and details to take care of can be too numerous to handle. In this category, however, the most popular and powerful one is Exoplayer.
Dependency Injection Libraries:-
Dependency injection is a concept where an object does not need to configure its dependencies. Instead, dependency is passed by another object. This principle helps us to decouple our classes from their implementation. It is worth noting that this is a good software engineering practice because it makes our code loosely coupled, which makes it easier to maintain and test. There are many dependency injection libraries but Dagger 2 seems to be the lord of them.
Networking Libraries:-
Here are the tools that you need for establishing any kind of network communication within the Android app.
View Binding Libraries:-
View binding libraries emerged when assigning views to variables and having access to them in the activity class. Libraries in this area are limited. Basically, there is one worth mentioning.
Scanning Libraries:-
These are useful for including the scanning functions in any android application.
Drawing Libraries:-
These libraries assist developers in making their apps creative by allowing for creative drawing and out-of-the-box thinking.
In order to find the ideal library to be used while creating an application, one can consider the factors of reliability of authors, the popularity of a library, authentication of a library’s license, highly recommended libraries, well-written library, open-source and key features of the library.
Being an Android Developer is a difficult job. To construct an industry-standard working application, you’ll need to be familiar with the libraries, languages, and other tools. Android app libraries make the development process easier for developers.
One of the main reasons for adopting Android libraries is to speed up and optimize the development of Android apps. Instead of executing these activities from the start, these Android libraries provide developers with basic pre-written codes or other pieces that they can use immediately.
Thus, making use of these inbuilt android features helps the developer to save loads of time and effort while bringing his imagination into the reality of an app via android development.
Startxlabs, one of India’s top digital transformation service providers. Launched in 2014, Startxlabs aims in innovating a digital future by developing technology for the web and mobile platforms. From our beginning as a technology development company, we’ve tried to stay true to our core beliefs and to deliver exceptional services to our clients. Whether it’s people we work for or people who work for us, we value honesty, passion, and the desire to explore. We have expertise in website development, android app development, iOS app development, Flutter, React Native app development, UI/UX design, and marketing strategy. With the engagement of our highly technical team, we have delivered over 110+ projects providing a positive impact on the users.
In today’s world, the phone has access to practically all of our personal and sensitive information, from conversations to healthcare records and bank account information. When data becomes a valuable resource, many people want to profit from it, but some of them are unwilling to ask your permission first. As a result, mobile app security is not a benefit or a feature, it is a bare necessity. App security should be a priority at any given time to avoid any sort of information breach.
When you consider our current relationship with our smartphones containing mobile apps, you’ll realize that a large portion of our life-critical data is floating around in cyberspace, accessible to a plethora of hackers. One breach and the criminal has direct access to our name, age, home address, account details, and even our current location within a few meters.
With all this at stake, we understand that native mobile apps are a target focus for all malicious activities and thus there is a dire need to practice mobile app security right from the developing stage.
What is mobile app security?
It is the process of examining and testing mobile applications, web applications, and APIs to ensure that they are safe from potential attacks. Alternatively, it is the process of protecting high-value mobile applications and your digital identity from all types of fraud.
Some examples of application security are malware, tampering, key loggers, reverse engineering or any other form of interference or manipulation.
Common threats to mobile app security
Now, let us discuss the practices that should be followed by the developers and/or the users to keep their mobile apps safe and secure.
Always keep in mind that security isn’t something you can put up like a structure and then forget about. You must monitor and review security policies and practices in a proactive and comprehensive manner. The most important or crucial thing is to provide current solutions to the problem.
Startxlabs, one of India’s top digital transformation service providers. Launched in 2014, Startxlabs aims in innovating a digital future by developing technology for the web and mobile platforms. From our beginning as a technology development company, we’ve tried to stay true to our core beliefs and to deliver exceptional services to our clients. Whether it’s people we work for or people who work for us, we value honesty, passion, and the desire to explore. We have expertise in website development, android app development, iOS app development, Flutter, React Native app development, UI/UX design, and marketing strategy. With the engagement of our highly technical team, we have delivered over 110+ projects providing a positive impact on the users.
For years, the argument between online and mobile apps has raged on. In the internet market, desktop purchasing still has a significant value, but smartphone business sales are currently on the rise.
The world of web apps and mobile apps has grown to such an extent that the debate has shifted to specific online media vs. other online media.
Before coming to a conclusion and choosing sides, let us first weigh out both options by understanding the key differences between the two.
Web apps
In layman’s terms, a web application or mobile website is a responsive website that responds to being seen on a smartphone and offers interactivity. They function in the same way that downloadable apps do, but are accessed via one’s internet browser. Being responsive here states that these applications can adapt or shrink down to the size of the device we are using to view them.
For Example, Google drive, Netflix, Microsoft office, and pocket.
Mobile apps
Apps designed for smartphones, tablets, and other small touch devices are known as mobile apps. They are installed and downloaded from an app store, and they have access to system resources. They are installed and operated on the device itself.
For Example, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook.
Because they are both mobile-driven, it is evident that both mobile and web apps appear to be excellent options. One needs to consider the company’s business purpose and, ultimately, the end goals to evaluate whether or not a web app or mobile app is appropriate.
Firstly, let us have a look at the different criteria that help web apps to outweigh the features of mobile apps.
Now, we ponder the different criteria that help mobile apps to outweigh the features of web apps.
Most web design and development companies would advise you to build a website first and then a mobile app later because this is the most cost-effective alternative. You will benefit from having all of your material displayed on a single website interface. Furthermore, upgrading content on a mobile app is easier than updating content on a website.
However, to make a decision or choice, you need to consider the following –
As India transitions to a digital economy, all enterprises and start-ups are hard at work developing websites and mobile apps. But the question is, which one will help your company grow? The main concept is that in the future, everyone will have an Android phone rather than a laptop or other device, but people still prefer viewing the details in a larger screen display or interface in order to get a clearer insight and easier functioning.
Unless you’re launching a mobile-focused business, building a website first is the way to go. Rather than investing a major portion of your budget in the development of an app. Alternatively, you may work on making your website more user-friendly.
In conclusion, there are numerous factors to consider before deciding whether you should build applications or websites or go for the development of both. It is entirely up to you and your business plan.
Startxlabs, one of India’s top digital transformation service providers. Launched in 2014, Startxlabs aims in innovating a digital future by developing technology for the web and mobile platforms. From our beginning as a technology development company, we’ve tried to stay true to our core beliefs and to deliver exceptional services to our clients. Whether it’s people we work for or people who work for us, we value honesty, passion, and the desire to explore. We have expertise in website development, android app development, iOS app development, Flutter, React Native app development, UI/UX design, and marketing strategy. With the engagement of our highly technical team, we have delivered over 110+ projects providing a positive impact on the users.
CSS stands for Cascading style sheet that is used to style and layout web pages. For example, you can use CSS to change your font size, color, family, etc. To use CSS like a pro, you must follow some tricks to keep your code clean and optimized. Whether you are an expert or a beginner you must follow these steps that are best for your website design.
1. Organized code
You don’t need to put all of your CSS in one file unless you’re going to use it. If a user arrives at the home page, only the styles for that page should be included. Essential styles are the ones that the user sees after the page loads, while non-essential styles are those that have been concealed, such as dialogue, snack bars, and notifications. Elements or components that must be activated by the user.
Maintain a sense of order. Instead of throwing in ids and classes in whatever sequence that comes to mind, use a logical framework. It will assist you in remembering the cascading aspect of CSS, which allows you to use style inheritance in your stylesheets.
2. Top-Down approach
It’s always a good idea to organize your CSS so that you can find parts of your code easily. A top-down approach that addresses styles as they arise in the source code is what I recommend.
The readability of your CSS is crucial, despite the fact that most users don’t realize why. Because you’ll be able to identify elements faster if your CSS is well-read, it will be a lot easier to maintain in the future. Furthermore, you never know who might need to look at your code in the future.
3. Lazy Loading
There are various ways to lazy load CSS, but using bundlers like WebPack and experimenting with dynamic import makes it a lot easier. You can make your own Javascript CSS loader or use the <link> tag to delay non-critical CSS when including stylesheets in your website.
Images and iframes can both benefit from lazy loading. This image or iframe should not be loaded until it is visible in the viewport.”
4. Shorthand CSS
You may wish to specify padding-top or border-right at times, but I’ve found that I frequently return to these to add more, so I’ve adopted the habit of always using the shorthand to make it easy to update without providing many attributes. It’s simpler to alter and has fewer lines of code.
When writing CSS, you can significantly reduce the size of your code by using shorthand. You can mix styles in one line for elements like padding, margin, font, and others. A div, for example, may contain the following styles:
#box {
margin-left: 5px;
margin-right: 7px;
margin-top: 8px;
}
It can be written as
#box{
margin: 8px 7px 0px 5px;
}
5. Utility Classes
If you frequently utilize the same tricks or styles, make them into class utils that can be applied directly to the HTML element. These are things like a center with display flex or grid for me, so I make a class called .center-flex and a class called .center-grid. To automate these repetitious style combinations, use class utilities.
6. Consistent code
The importance of consistency cannot be overstated. Even if you’re doing everything wrong, stick with it because it’ll be easier to correct afterward. Adopt a CSS approach, organize styles in the same way, establish how many levels you nest selectors, and so on. Define your personal style and stick to it, refining it through time.
Making sure your CSS is consistent goes hand in hand with keeping your code readable. You should start creating your own CSS “sub-language” that allows you to label things easily. There are certain classes that are created nearly in every theme, and you can call them by the same name every time. For example, use .caption-left to float images with a caption to the left.
7. Preprocessors
A preprocessor goes through your raw files and turns them into a stylesheet. CSS preprocessors enable you to write less CSS in a more efficient and effective manner. They’re jam-packed with tools and features that will help you manage your CSS, avoid duplication, and modularize it. Using a preprocessor such as LESS or SASS aids in the creation of clean code.
8. Avoid Inline CSS
Only the use of the !important flag can overwrite an inline style, and as you’ll see in the next block, the !important flag can be problematic, even though inline styles require it. A further reason to avoid them is that you included an external stylesheet for a reason, and that reason is to keep style and structure distinct (HTML). There are exceptions, but if you have a style in your external stylesheets, a style in HTML, or a style in Javascript, it becomes difficult to track what is causing the change, and it becomes difficult to manage as the codebase increases.
Content and presentation are mixed up when inline styles are used. Inline styles are just as terrible as relying on strictly appearance HTML elements like the font. It results in clumsy code, as each HTML file must be modified individually in the event of a style change, rather than a single global modification in a single external stylesheet.
9. Avoid !important
You’ll need to add the !important flag if you’re using Bootstrap and actually want to replace a style, but why are you using Bootstrap in the first place? If you find yourself needing to utilize the !important flag, it’s usually a hint that something is wrong. You might be using a difficult-to-overwrite third-party library; you might be using inline styles; you might be using selectors that are too particular; you might have a CSS hierarchy or order issue, or you should try to grasp how CSS specificity is computed.
However, you should avoid doing so because using !important with a large number of elements will eventually result in !important losing its meaning. Because every CSS rule now bypasses selector specificity.
10. Relative Units
You should make an effort to use relative units more frequently. Words like em, rem, percent, vw, vh, fr, and so on. Although there are occasions where these value units are required, setting fixed values with px and pt should be reserved for static design. Your website and units should be flexible, much like the browser.
Ems is more scalable with different browser screens and mobile devices than pixels, which are a more static means to describe font sizes. With the rise of multiple forms of online browsing (laptop, mobile, etc. ), ems and rems are gradually becoming the standard for font size measures since they provide the most versatility.
11. Comments
Comments are the most integral part of all programming, markup, and scripting language. Commenting is beneficial; use it! Add a comment if you develop difficult hacks or find scenarios when something works but you don’t understand why. Add comments for complicated items, organize your CSS, assist others to understand your reasoning and plan, and help you make sense of your mess when you return to it later.
Simply type /* behind the comment and */ to close it, as shown below:
/* This is a CSS Comment */
12. Reset CSS
Every browser has a different default style for the elements, so it’s possible that your object will look one way in one browser and another, or that it will have an extra border or shape that you weren’t anticipating. By resetting or normalizing your CSS, you can expedite these processes and ensure that your style looks consistent across all browsers. Browser inconsistencies such as heights, font sizes, margins, and headings are essentially eliminated when you reset your browser. The reset ensures that your layout is consistent across all browsers.
13. CSS Compressors
CSS compressors reduce the size of CSS files by eliminating line breaks, white spaces, and merging elements. This combination can significantly reduce file size, resulting in faster browser loading. CSS Minifier and HTML Compressor are two great online CSS compression tools. It’s worth noting that while reducing the size of your CSS can improve efficiency, it also reduces readability.
14. Browser Developer tools
Modern web browsers include a number of essential features that any web developer should have. All of the major browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, now provide these development tools. You may visually inspect, alter, and edit CSS in real-time using the Chrome and Firefox developer tools, which include features like debugging JavaScript, evaluating HTML, and viewing errors.
15. Validate your CSS
Validating your CSS gives you more than a sense of accomplishment: it also aids in the detection of flaws in your code. If anything doesn’t appear right when you’re working on a design, try running the markup and CSS validator to see what issues come up. Usually, you’ll discover that you neglected to close a div or that a semicolon in a CSS attribute was missing.
Conclusion
This concludes our CSS Best Practices Guide. Understanding, writing, and organizing CSS is an art form. No one can become a better CSS writer overnight; it takes time and effort. These have been quite beneficial to me in my CSS adventure, and I am confident that they will be beneficial to you as well.
Startxlabs, one of India’s top digital transformation service providers. Launched in 2014, Startxlabs aims in innovating a digital future by developing technology for the web and mobile platforms. From our beginning as a technology development company, we’ve tried to stay true to our core beliefs and to deliver exceptional services to our clients. Whether it’s people we work for or people who work for us, we value honesty, passion, and the desire to explore. We have expertise in website development, android app development, iOS app development, Flutter, React Native app development, UI/UX design, and marketing strategy. With the engagement of our highly technical team, we have delivered over 110+ projects providing a positive impact on the users.
In this tech-savvy generation, having a web application for your business is a necessity. More and More people are moving towards e solutions for their real-world problems. Like booking a cab, buying groceries, online shopping for clothes, and many more. So, If you want to reach a huge target audience for your business, having a website is a must.
However, only having a web app will not suffice, you need to have a marvelous web application to come into the eye of your target audience. Business owners who are considering developing new web applications or who are responsible for maintaining current ones must recognize the importance of application speed. Think of all the times you browsed a website on your laptop or mobile and it didn’t open or work properly in the first two minutes. As soon as something like that happens, you either start refreshing the page or close the website and move to another one. Remember the time, when you downloaded an app and it wasn’t working properly and in the first five minutes you uninstalled it from your device. So, we can say that the first few minutes when a user visits your web applications are very crucial. Those few minutes can make or break your brand’s image in the eye of the user. Keeping this in mind, we can understand the fact that the speed of our web application is an influential factor for your web app.
In this blog, we’ll learn about 10 ways by which we can increase the speed of our web app. Let’s get started.
1. Use Caching
Defining caching mechanisms for users’ browsers can help the app run faster. Don’t forget to specify the caching techniques for the user’s browser to improve the performance of your web app. Although browsers make every effort to regulate caching, they believe it is usually wiser to prevent caching by default rather than caching by request.
2. Remove Render-blocking JavaScript and CSS
CSS and JavaScript that block rendering should be limited — this enhances the user experience. Accessibility, maintainability, customization, consistency, portability, and performance are all dependent on the Stylesheet. You can improve the user experience by using non-blocking assets and allowing users to fetch and render HTML markup before the CSS is loaded and parsed. JavaScripts follow the same rule. Aside from that, you may expect the CSS and JS files to be compressed for use. This will minimize the file size and increase the speed with which your web app loads.
3. Images
PNGs should only be used when absolutely necessary; otherwise, JPEGs should be used. For logos and other images, JPEGs are always preferable over PNGs. This is because PNG images are large and take longer to load, slowing down the application’s performance. Second, you must examine the image resolution required and design images accordingly.
At the backend of every image, there is some redundant data that can slow down the pace of your app. Therefore, you must remove metadata from your photos, minimize their size, and speed up your web app. SVG pictures could be used for graphics visuals since they are vector-based, display high-quality at all resolutions, and are yet small. As a result, you might consider using these for icons or logos.
4. Server-side Rendering
As not every JavaScript solution for single-page apps has increased server-side rendering, it’s best to stick with more developed options like React and Angular2.
5. Mobile First CSS
If your customers have older devices, switching to non-bloated CSS would be a wise decision. It will assist in reaching a 10x increase in app speed. This is because non-bloated CSS makes extensive use of classes, limiting the lines of code read by the browser. Aside from that, the finest application development companies also recommend using mobile-first CSS. It’s built on the premise that app developers should wrap all desktop CSS in media queries and use mobile as the default. Because mobile device browsers don’t read the code in media queries, your app will execute faster, resulting in more efficient web app development.
6. CDNs
The CDN (Material Delivery Network) is a worldwide distributed system of proxy servers that works to provide high-availability and high-performance content to users. It can considerably improve the time it takes for clients all across the world to respond to your assets. As a result, you should pay attention to them. The implementation of a content delivery network can enhance user response times to files.
7. HTTP Requests
MORE HTTP REQUESTS = MORE LOAD TIME
A long load time can be a disruptive and frustrating experience for your users. Mobile users will have a particularly bad experience, as most of them will have to wait until every asset on a webpage is downloaded before the page even begins to appear in their mobile browser. So, we must try to minimize HTTP requests.
8. HTTP compression
Web performance can be improved by using HTTP compression. HTTP compression reduces the size of data transmitted. We recommend allowing compression for all files, with the exception of those that have already been compressed, because it improves web performance significantly. To compress data, all major browsers support gzip with the Content-Encoding header. This enables the transmission of fewer bytes to browsers, resulting in speedier content delivery. Incompatible browsers, you can also employ a more efficient brotli compression technique.
9. Lazy loading
One of the most important performance gains for first page loads with several images is to load the images only when they are in or near the viewport this is known as Lazy Loading. To achieve the same outcome, you may either utilise the IntersectionObserver functionality incompatible browsers or alternative tools such as react-lazyload.
10. HTTP/2 Protocol
The HTTP network protocol has been updated to HTTP/2 (h2 in DevConsole). Because of the following differences between HTTP/1.x and HTTP/2, switching to HTTP/2 may increase performance:
The web is being taken over by mobile apps. The speed of the web app has a significant impact on its success. The capacity to launch programs at breakneck speed ensures that your company stands out in a crowded market! With the growing popularity of mobile applications over desktop websites, it’s critical that you take the necessary steps to increase the speed of your web app. the speed of your web app, which will not only improve the user experience but also help you construct a successful web app in order to stand out from the competitors. Remember that a lightning-fast application can help you carve out a special place in the customer’s mind and spirit! As a result, your application’s conversion rate may improve.
In a growing application, performance is a never-ending process that usually necessitates regular adjustments throughout the entire stack. There are a plethora of intriguing ideas to try. I hope that this information encourages you to consider performance in your application:
Startxlabs, one of India’s top digital transformation service providers. Launched in 2014, Startxlabs aims in innovating a digital future by developing technology for the web and mobile platforms. From our beginning as a technology development company, we’ve tried to stay true to our core beliefs and to deliver exceptional services to our clients. Whether it’s people we work for or people who work for us, we value honesty, passion, and the desire to explore. We have expertise in website development, android app development, iOS app development, Flutter, React Native app development, UI/UX design, and marketing strategy. With the engagement of our highly technical team, we have delivered over 110+ projects providing a positive impact on the users.
