Did you know that Google Play offers apps designed to help mobile developers become more effective and knowledgeable? Let’s look at a few I've found are handy to have on your Android to make your mobile dev life easier.
XDA Developers
Everybody knows about the wizards at XDA Developers. They've hacked just about every kind of Android device since the beginning of time. Their smartphone app gives users a direct line into the latest forum threads. Do you need help on Google Chromecast? Just click on “Hardware Hacking” and it's right there, with over 800 topics to choose from. Want to know the latest news about that cool Samsung Gear smartwatch? From the main menu, scroll down to “SmartWatches,” then select “Samsung Galaxy Gear.” You'll be whisked to an XDA Web page covering troubleshooting, accessories, Android development and other topics. Click here to find mobile developer jobs.
Developer Central
This free application lets you watch thousands of developer videos and read technical articles from the most popular YouTube channels and blogs. Channel sections are grouped under topics such as Adobe, Android, Apple, Google, BlackBerry and Microsoft. Each section offers literally hundreds of videos from “hands-on” tutorials, to reviews of products like the Huawei TalkBand B1, to a rundown on the Mobile World Congress. A note: To run the app, you’ll need Adobe AIR installed.
Developer
Developer interrogates and displays all kinds of technical data about your Android device. It can tell you what DrmManager is installed, the build bootloader, the package manager and specifics about the memory and processors. And that's just under the Android category. Other categories include connections, battery and GPS. Each shows specifics about that particular capability plus its status.
AndroidScript Programming IDE
This is an interesting little app that helps you learn the basics of JavaScript. You don't need a PC, you can edit and write applications right on your device. If you download a companion program that runs on your Windows, Linux or Mac machine, you can connect to the built-in browser-based IDE over Wi-Fi. The application has a well-organized bunch of sample programs and lots of documentation to help the novice get up to speed quickly.
Springpad
I admit this last app is an outlier. Springpad saves Web pages, notes and other bits of information on an easy-to-use bulletin board-styled wall that’s accessed from your smartphone or notebook-bound browser. When I see a Web page I want to remember, I hit the menu key, then “Share” and choose “Add to Springpad.” Within a few seconds the page is saved to the wall. Later I can see all my saved pages, neatly organized, from either the browser on my notebook or my Galaxy S3. I use it all the time to capture reference material and have set up categories such as “hacking,” “consulting,” “mobile dev,” “Linux” and so on. It's easy to look through the pages to find new ideas for projects or stories. You can even tag the pages to make searching easy. You’ll find it’s convenient to save pages from both your smartphone and notebook on a centrally searchable wall.
