The world of mobile development is spinning about a hundred times faster than our planet. Don't believe us? You're right to be skeptical - we don't have a study to back that up. What you can trust are these sources of information that we've compiled for you in this article. Why? We use them ourselves to keep up with the rest of the world and stay one step ahead of the competition.
Official accounts @AndroidDev and @Kotlin are a must-follow. You can find the latest news, best practices, live demos, examples, tutorials and everything else you need to level up your dev skills. But what are some other accounts that you should definitely keep an eye on and not let slip away from your attention?
@ianhlake - Android Toolkit Developer and Runner. Ian will supply you with the latest updates in Jetpack library releases every two weeks. Expect an interesting dose of information in an easily digestible format.
@riggaroo - Developer Relations Engineer and an excellent source of information on Jetpack Compose. Interested in advanced animations and other graphic-related topics? Then Rebecca is your person.
@JorgeCastilloPr - Are you a Jetpack Compose enthusiast, but more interested in its technical and performance aspects? Jorge, who currently works as an Android Engineer at Twitter, will take you into the depths of Compose and explain in an understandable way how its processes work.
Web
Searching for trustworthy information on the web is like trying to find a needle in a haystack - and a really big one. So, besides the official sources, where else should you focus your attention?
Android Developers Blog
Unlike Medium, you don't have to worry about the validity of information on this blog - it's an official source that's backed by Google itself. As a little bonus, you can find Android Developers not only on the blog, but also as authors on Medium, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter. You'll hear more about them in this article.
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/
Stack Overflow
If you've been in development for at least a while, you probably don't need an introduction to Stack Overflow. On social media, you can find countless memes and sketches inspired by real events about what development looks like without this online platform.
So, what makes Stack Overflow so indispensable?
Extensive knowledge base
You've been stuck on a problem for hours, and one error follows another? You'll likely find a solution in one of the discussion threads on Stack Overflow. If you found the solution yourself but are unsure of its correctness/efficiency, ask others for their opinion in one of the discussion threads. Not only will you save your own nerves and your client's money, but you'll also likely learn something new.
Compared to Stack Overflow, on Reddit you occasionally find out things you don't want to - especially if you're browsing it in your free time. Rabbit holes (or should we say Reddit holes?) are already infamous on the internet. However, if you stick to a specific topic as a developer, Reddit offers you similar advantages to Stack Overflow thanks to its extensive developer community - from new information to collaboration in problem-solving and today's essential networking.
Android Developer Community
Online forum for Android developers from all over the world, under the auspices of Google. In addition to networking, collaboration on problem-solving, and creating documentation, you will find recommendations for interesting tools and libraries or tutorials dedicated to their effective use.
https://developer.android.com/
Medium
One of the most popular media outlets not only on the topic of Android development.
Whether you are interested in "hard" technical topics or want to broaden your horizons with the experiences of other developers, you will find something for yourself here. If you also decide to subscribe to Medium Daily (or Weekly) Digest, you will receive pre-selected articles directly to your email. You can choose whether you are more interested in articles about developments in the field, tutorials, or tips on useful libraries and open-source applications.
However, the principle of trust but verify still applies here. Anyone can be the author of published articles, so their quality can vary significantly from piece to piece. When evaluating the credibility of an article, it is therefore necessary to take a moment to reflect and ask yourself questions such as:
- Who is the author and what articles do they already have on their account?
- Does the author cite credible sources?
- Is the information current and accurate? (compare information from several sources)
- Are there any conflicts of interest that may affect the presented information?
If the text passes this filter, it's good to go. If not, it's worth looking for information elsewhere.
Mailing
Time is the most precious thing we have in life - and for developers, it's doubly true. So, if you want to save time searching for the latest development news, but at the same time, it's a priority for you not to miss anything crucial, newsletters come into play. Our favourites are Android Weekly and Kotlin Weekly.
Are you cautious when subscribing to newsletters? On the official websites of both aforementioned newsletters, you can find previews of the latest issues, allowing you to easily verify if they are the right sources of information for you. At the same time, unsubscribing from newsletters is never a problem.
YouTube
Feeling exhausted after a long day of reading documentation and not in the mood for more text? Fear not, YouTube has got you covered, and so do we! In particular, we recommend checking out these two channels: Kotlin by Jetbrains and Android Developers.
Kotlin by Jetbrains
A great source of information, whether you have 15 minutes to spare or a whole hour. From updates and news to solving problems of different calibers, and even conference recordings. Kotlin has managed to reach the development audience from juniors to experts on this channel. And we definitely recommend turning on notifications for new content.
Android Developers
We have already mentioned that Android Developers have their own YouTube channel - but we can't resist reminding you of it once again. News from the world of Android development, live videos, demos, tutorials ... all under one roof and usually in a format of under 15 minutes.
Podcasty
Podcasts had their boom in 2014, and the growth of their popularity began to slow down six years later. However, they still find their place in the ears of countless people traveling to work, to see family, or cooling off after several hours of debugging. Which podcasts do we turn to in such moments?
Android Developers Backstage
Listen to in-depth technical discussions or interviews directly with Android engineers from Google. You can find the podcast on both Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Now in Android
Regular updates on topics related to the latest platform releases, libraries, codelabs, and anything else that might be of interest to you as an Android developer. This all comes in bite-sized formats of just a few minutes, so you can easily listen to the podcast on your way to grab a coffee and back.
Slack
Did you know that Kotlin has its own Slack? And it's not just any small community! As of March 3, 2023, you would find 544 active channels, several thousand users, and countless posts from both the language developers and the broader developer community. If you already use Slack, it's definitely worth adding this workspace.
Which channels shouldn't you miss out on?
#announcements
Essentially a homepage with a stream of all the news, updates, and announcements. In addition to technical information, you can also find challenges for competitions with interesting prizes. The latest one (as of the date of this article's release) was the Kotlin Multiplatform Contest - and who wouldn't want to win tickets to KotlinConf'23, which regularly sell out at lightning speed?!
#compose
Don't know Compose and only create UI strictly in XML? It's like you're not even trying. Although Jetpack Compose has made creating user interfaces more enjoyable for developers for some time now (the first stable build was released in 2021), and you can find threads about it on Stack Overflow as well as well-crafted documentation, sometimes it's helpful to have active developers on hand to help solve a problem almost instantly. That's exactly what this channel is for. Ask questions, share your own solutions, and discuss which one is the best.
#coroutines
Light-weight threads, which may not always be so simple. If you're having trouble solving a problem related to coroutines and your release is on fire, ask for help from the local community here. No pressing deadline? Consider returning the favor by helping someone else. Or, simply refresh your knowledge by reading interesting threads.
https://slack-chats.kotlinlang.org/
That's it for today! In the next episode of this mini-series, we will focus on verified, well-known and lesser-known sources of information for iOS developers.
Do you have any tips that should definitely not be missed in the article? Send them to us via our Instagram or email pr.flow@etnetera.cz.
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