Hiring High-Paying Mobile Developer Roles | Aniday

1. What is a Mobile Developer?

A mobile developer creates software for mobile devices and technologies. Whether the Android, Apple or Windows platform, mobile developers must learn the software development environment and programming language for their chosen platform. 

While based on traditional web application development, a mobile developer creates apps that utilize specific features of a particular platform.

Languages commonly used to create web and mobile apps include Corona, Python, PHP, Swift, QML, Java, Java for Mobile Devices, Objective-C, BuildFire.js, HTML5 and C# for Windows Phone and others.

Mobile developers are hired by many employers including Android and iOS platform and app development companies, the entertainment industry, software firms, financial services and retailers. Essentially, any business operating a website or online service can utilize a mobile app.

2. What does a Mobile Developer do?

The role of a mobile developer involves interacting with back-end teams like product managers and UI/UX designers. They must familiarize themselves with software applications and be user-sensitive. They work fundamentally with the systems of major OS manufacturers like Android, Apple and Microsoft. 

Mobile developers are involved throughout the app lifecycle from conception to release to support. They gather specific requirements to create a fully-functional app. Then, they troubleshoot and debug the app to optimize its performance. They collaborate with product development teams to plan for new features and use many tools used by traditional developers - but with skills specific to their role.

3. Skills of a Mobile Developer:

Traditional technical schools may not teach mobile development skills, but degrees in related fields would certainly be helpful. Many mobile developers come from back-end development backgrounds but must also be proficient in using one or multiple programming languages. They should also be familiar with object-oriented design principles, able to work in teams, have strong analytical skills and superb problem-solving abilities.

Requirements vary by employer but Computer Science or Information Systems degrees set applicants above others. Typically, a bachelor's is the minimum for entry-level developer positions in most cases. Advanced roles will require higher education levels like a master's. Experience is hugely important in this field, so consider internships in a relevant sector. 

There are two types of mobile developers:

• Native Mobile Developer: builds and installs native/platform-specific apps built for specific platforms in the language accepted on the platform.

• Hybrid Mobile Developer: combines building hybrid apps that blend aspects of native and web apps.

Most specialize in native or hybrid, but some choose both. Some native mobile developers even focus solely on Android or iOS apps. Whichever platform they choose to specialize in demands experience publishing to the store they are working with.

4. Roles and responsibilities of a Mobile Developer: 

The tasks and responsibilities of an app developer will depend on experience level. A mobile app developer's main role is to create, maintain and deploy source code to develop mobile apps and programs meeting customer needs and requirements using computer programming languages.

Additionally, app developers may design app prototypes, provide unit structuring and assist app development teams or clients in planning.

Languages a mobile developer often prioritizes include: Linux/Unix, Python, Perl, Shell Scripting, Java, C#, Swift, ORACLE, Apache, iOS, Adobe ActionScript, ABAP, Drupal, HTML, LAMP Stack, Ruby On Rails.

Common skills required of a mobile developer include: App design, software design, coding, native app writing skills, backend web services knowledge, UX and UI knowledge, unit testing, automation and code review, creativity and intellectual agility, organization and multitasking, willingness to learn new technologies, APIs, solving complex problems.

5. Some requirements collected by Aniday for Mobile Developer roles:

Additionally, Aniday has summarized some requirements for this position:

• Mobile project development: Native (concurrent iOS and Android) or Hybrid (Xamarin)

• Collaborate with related teams (UI/UX, backend, operations) for product development  

• Support full app lifecycle (design, testing, release, operations)

• Consult on solutions architecture, design documentation, and project documentation 

• Participate in issue resolution, performance optimization, and user experience improvements

• Participate in building, and expanding new features for Mobile products

• Support research and proposals for company projects

• Minimum x years experience in Mobile development: concurrent iOS & Android or Hybrid

• Proficient in at least one Mobile language group: Swift, Obj-C, Kotlin, Java, C#, C++

• Strong knowledge of Mobile architecture models (MVP, MVC, MVP, MVVM, VIPER) 

• Strong knowledge of working with File Systems and Web Services (REST, JSON, SOAP)

• Experience with open libraries, Mobile SDKs

• Experience with data binding, thread handling, lazy loading, notifications, analytics

• Experience with profiling/debugging, testing, and performance optimization

• Experience with Agile/Scrum modeling, GIT Flow, etc.  

• Ability to select architectures, propose designs, and provide optimal solutions for apps

• Ability to work in teams, and work online with leaders/clients for efficiency