Mobile app development is one of the fastest-growing tech skills right now, and it’s growing in popularity. Many new frameworks and software are being introduced to the scene; some of them have already recognized their government. And since every language has established its presence in the field, how could Python be left out?
You can use various other languages to develop Android apps using Python, Java, Kotlin, C, C++, Lua, C#, Corona, JavaScript, HTML5, and many more. The Python ecosystem has a wide range of libraries that cover almost all the characteristics of Android app development. Building an Android app using Python is a very well-known approach due to its flexibility and easy-to-understand capabilities.
But the biggest challenge in building an Android app using Python is that native Android and iOS software don’t understand the language. So to bridge the gap between native and Python applications, we need to use many frameworks and libraries. So before we talk about the process of Android app development using Python, let’s find out what Python is.
What is Python?
Python is a well-known high-level object-oriented programming language created by Guido van Rossum in 1991. Python is a relatively simple programming language that is easy to learn and understand. It can run on various platforms such as Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi, etc. It runs on an interpreter system, which means that the code can be effectively run immediately after it is written. Additionally, the Python development syntax is much simpler than that of any other programming language.
Why Use Python for Android App Development?
Python is recognized as one of the most popular languages in recent years. Some of the advantages of the Python framework for Android app development are:
Faster programming performance
Unlike other programming languages, python programs are directly executed by the interpreter, i.e. without a compiler, which makes it an ideal programming language because it takes less time to execute with a more straightforward method of error catching.
Test-driven development compatibility
Python makes it easy to prototype applications. It fully supports the development of prototypes and allows you to build applications directly from prototypes by refactoring them. In addition, Python is cross-OS compatible and therefore can be used on different platforms to develop and run code.
Various libraries
Android app development using Python allows you to opt for modules from its vast array of efficient and robust libraries as per your requirements without much coding.
Strong community
Community plays a significant role in language growth. In the case of Python, its community is very active and provides numerous guides, tutorials, and documentation, which gives it an edge.
5 Common Tools Used for Android App Development Using Python
Python can be used for web app development, mobile app development, scientific and digital data analysis, computing, and software development. However, to build an Android app with Python, some tools help us write code that can run on the Android operating system. All of these platforms generate native source code for supported platforms. Generated native codes are similar to handwritten codes and can be easily optimized using native compilers. Let’s discuss some popular platforms for Android app development using Python:
KIVY
Android app development using Python was only possible because of the open-source Python library for mobile app development and other multi-touch application software that is Kivy. Its original version was released in 2011 and stable in 2019! Kivy supports Android app development and its apps can be run on IOS, Linux, OS X, Windows, and Android.
Kivy is an open-source Python library for rapidly Cross-platform app development user interface applications. It allows developers to create python GUIs on various platforms such as Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. Additionally, it has a graphics engine developed over OpenGL, so it can handle GPU-bound workloads when needed.
But again the question arises: When React Native and Flutter have such attractive libraries as Material io and React libraries for developing attractive user interfaces, why should a developer choose Kivy for Android app development? In addition, Kivy has a customized UI toolkit that offers text stickers, text input forms, buttons, etc. So the tools are not characterized by native UI controls, but the tool confirms the reliability and flexibility of your mobile application from one platform to another.
Kivy has a python-to-android project that allows you to port Python applications to Android. It has a similar toolkit for iOS, but can only be used with Python 3.4. So if you want to use Python on your Android phone and work with a not-so-native UI-based app, then Kivy is one of the best options because it only needs an understanding of Python and not platform-centric languages like Kotlin or Swift.
BeeWare
BeeWare is another popular development framework that allows you to write applications in Python and compile them for cross-platform deployment on a variety of operating systems, including Windows, macOS Linux GTK, and mobile platforms such as Android and iOS development. The BeeWare repository is updated frequently.
It gives you tools and an abstraction layer that you can use to write native desktop and Android apps using Python. A significant difference between BeeWare and Kivy is that BeeWare uses the Native UI Toolkit, while Kivy uses the Custom UI Toolkit. Because BeeWare uses a native user interface toolkit, you can create an excellent user interface with a native look and feel across multiple platforms.
The Open Source development process has been recognized as the most reliable way to develop robust Android applications written in Python. That’s why the entire BeeWare toolkit is BSD-licensed and open to anyone to use and modify. However, one of the main disadvantages of using the BeeWare project is that it is relatively new and therefore needs time to build a strong community.
SL4A (Android Scripting Layer)
Originally named ASE (Android Scripting Environment), SL4A is a facade kit that exposes a greatly simplified subset of the Android API. SL4A brings scripting languages to Android by editing and running interactive scripts and interpreters directly on Android devices. These scripts have many APIs that complement Android apps, but the greatly simplified interface makes them more accessible.
Scripts can be run interactively in the background as well as in the terminal. Python, Perl, JRuby, Lua, BeanShell, JavaScript, Tcl, and shell are currently supported and more are expected to be added. SL4A is an alpha quality software designed for developers to create a python programming application for Android.
Pyqtdeploy
Pyqtdeploy is a tool for deploying PyQt applications. It supports desktop platforms like Linux, Windows, and OS X and mobile platforms like iOS and Android. Pyqtdeploy works by taking individual modules from a PyQt application, freezing them, and placing them in a Qt resource file converted to C++ by the Qt RCC tool. The Python standard library is also supported.
Pyqtdeploy also generates a Qt .pro file that defines each part of the generated C++ code. From there, the Qt make tool will generate a platform-specific Makefile, which will then generate a single executable. Other Qt and platform-specific tools can then convert the executable into a platform-specific distributable package.
Chaquopy
Chaquopy is a Gradle-based build plugin for Android Studio. Chaquopy allows you to easily combine Java and Python in your application using any language that suits your Python development needs for the Android platform. With the Python API, you can write code to develop Android apps using Python. The entire Android API and UI Toolkit are directly available to you.
Chaquopy works in the standard Android build system:
- If you use Android Studio, you can start using Chaquopy in 5 minutes without changing your existing development process.
- Download and installation are done via Gradle.
Problems creating an Android app using Python
Although Android app development using Python is possible, it will not be as efficient and reliable as developing Android apps using Java. As we all know Java is the official language for Android as declared by Google. Java for Android is like Android standard and other languages we use may not be as good as Java. Let’s look at some of the problems that can occur:
- Other frameworks may not support all features of the Android operating system.
- It is not always possible to use custom tools.
- These codes may not run very fast because they first generate native code and then optimize using native compilers.
- Sometimes high-level graphics may not be supported.
- The app you will develop will work perfectly on your local computer, but the animations will not be smooth when running on Android. Because it still runs as an instance of Python, it is slow.
Conclusion
Python has reached greater heights and is growing in recent years hence it can be used to develop both enterprise and product-based applications in the coming years. Additionally, Python has proven itself to be a competent language – accessible to novices but powerful in the hands of experts.
So if you want to make your idea a reality, you can take help from a reputable Python app development company like Moon Technolabs. They can help you with fully functional Android app development and help you reach new heights in this ever-evolving digital world with their exceptional Python app development services.
