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Android is currently the most-used mobile platform worldwide, and without a doubt, has become immensely popular among app developers world over. Several software development kits (SDKs) are available in tech market to develop Android apps. However, using cloud based tools for Android development saves significant costs and gives rise to faster development of Android apps. With cloud-based tools, you dont need to deploy your own server for running your app. It also saves you money by eliminating the need of a backend developer to code your app and establish a connection with database.

There are many virtues of cloud-based tools for Android development, and this blog sheds light on top 5 Backend as a Service (BaaS) available to power your Android app.

• Parse

Parse is a top-notch BaaS to develop a full-featured app in quick time, and add a scalable and powerful backend. With Parse, it becomes a doddle to store data, manage users, send push notifications, track analytics etc.  Parse gives the flexibility of developing applications for all major platforms.

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Advantages of Parse are:

1. Developers need less lines of code for API integration.

2. Parse is a perfect fit for maps as goes really well with real-world latitude and longitude.

3. Search functionality works really well with usage of keywords.

4. Reduces complexity of handling data.

5. Being an open-source documentation, Parse is comprehensive for developers.

6. Parse analytics enables to track an application in real time.

Server maintenance and data management are no longer a challenge with Parse. Parse Android SDK allows you to easily launch your Android app on Google Play in a very short span of time. Parse Push allows to create push campaigns to increase engagement of users and encourage them to keep coming back. Parse also rids the need of building the same backend over and over, thus saves you a lot of time to think about what you need to improve about your apps user experience. Parse powers Android apps by making them more social.

• Firebase

Firebase provides a robust platform for Android apps development and reduces the hassles of storing data and authenticating users by using a few lines of code. API of Firebase gives rise to easy and fast syncing of simple data structures.  Firebase also reduces app development time and allows to work in real-time. However, push notifications with Firebase either  requires integration with a 3rd party notification service or building a server-side component.

Developers can access data in Firebase by using a client library or the REST API.  Firebase deals data as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and provides a great control over data access by clients. A secure SSL connection with a 2048-bit certificate makes data transfer highly secured. Firebase apps also work offline and a client comes to know about changes as and when  the apps go online.

• Amazon AWS

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Amazon AWS provides SDK to develop some interesting apps by giving developers access to the storage, database and messaging services. Developers can create high quality apps using AWS as it provides access to Amazon Lambda, S3, DynamoDB, Mobile Analytics, Machine Learning, Elastic Load balancing, Auto Scaling etc. Developers can also access libraries, code samples and documentation for Android.

AWS provides an open-source SDK for Android. Amazon Analytics helps measure app usage and is built to scale with your business. Its possible to integrate the AWS SDK with the Mobile Analytics service.

• Kumulos

Kumulos is another brilliant cloud-based tool for Android development. Developers can use Kumulos to store, manage and access data through cloud. Moreover, its a matter of minutes with Kumulos to develop backend features for your apps.

Kumulos as a cloud-based backend platform for Android opens avenues for scalability, reuse and improved security. You can easily integrate amazing features into Android apps via Kumulos. Another advantage of using Kumulos is apps can easily communicate with Kumulos service to perform basic CRUD systems on your database, thanks to the intuitive interface for creating web services. Such a feature offers great help in swift, easy migration of data.

• Kinvey

Kinvey is also a sophisticated cloud-based tool for Android development. Developers find it apt for Android development due to it being a full-featured Backend as a Service solution. Kinvey offers 3rd party integrations, option for push notifications and custom business logic. Core analytics capabilities also come with Kinvey to gauge numbers of users, active users, active devices, events, API calls, storage etc.

Kinvey does not require a long code for solution, and scalability makes Kinvey even better to go for Android development. Kinvey provides developers a large, powerful and scalable solution. Moreover, there is no need at clients end to have a team to monitor the web servers. Support from Kinvey is also available for developers who use tools like AngularJS, Backbone.js, PhoneGap, Node.js and Appcelerators Titanium.   

Above are the 5 most-used cloud based tools for Android development and you can choose one of them for your project based on requirements. I hope features of these BaaS platforms will help you make right choice for your App development project.