15 Best Android Books for Developers

Android is a very vast field and as with all other subjects, you need books to learn it. As always, some books are going to be better than others. There are quite a number of books available on the subject of Android and whether you are just starting to explore Android or you want to get better at it, there are 100’s of books available for you.

Ever since its launch, Android has become an operating system of choice for many of the cell phone manufacturing companies. Companies like Nokia, that didn’t jump into the Android ship are left behind and their market share got eaten up by companies that got into the Android game early on. Developers all around the world are also taking advantage of this huge market share of Android and coming up with interesting apps and games.

Whether you are an expert Android developer trying to make his/her application better at what it does or you are a newbie trying to get your hands dirty with all the android awesomeness, this extensive list of android books will help you learn how to make better applications and games.

Keep in mind that none of these books are better than the others. There is no ‘One Book to rule them all’ here. You should rather see each one as a means to getting better at becoming an Android developer. If you are already familiar with the subject of Android, you can skip the basic books and dive right into the advanced stuff. If you are just a beginner, feel free to read basic as well as advanced books. There is never enough knowledge about a subject, so you can read all these and eventually become a better android developer.

We have listed 15 best Android books we think will help any developer out there wanting to learn Android. Without further ado, let’s get to it.

Hello Android

Within minutes, “Hello, Android” will help you get started creating your very first working application: Android’s version of “Hello, World”. From there, you’ll build up a more substantial example: an Android Sudoku game.

This book gives you an overall perspective of the android games and everything you want to know about the Google’s Mobile Development Platform. Topics include Exploring 2D Graphics, 3D Graphics in OpenGL, SQL and developing apps with Multi-touch support. It is a good book for beginners as well as mediocre developers.
Visit: Publisher’s site for Hello, Android.
Find: Hello, Android on Amazon Store.

Beginning Android 3

If you are just beginning to understand how the Android works and how you can also start developing new apps, this book is the first thing you will need in your arsenal. It will help you create Flash games and other apps on Android. With the help of this book, you will be able to create apps for multiple screen sizes, and tailor your apps to other device-specific characteristics.

You will also be able to use WebM video and other multimedia APIs with the help of this book.

Written by Mark Murphy // More about Beginning Android 3

Beginning Android 4 Games Development

If you are into the app development business just so you could make an addictive game that you want to go viral, you should get your hands on this book. You will be able to set up and use the development tools for developing your first Android application and learn fundamentals of game programming.

You can create a full-featured 3D game, a 2D game, publish the games and get crash reports so that you can easily fix the issues with the games you develop. You will also learn about the Android’s APIs for graphics, audio, and user input. After the end of the reading, you should be able to develop your own playable android game.

Visit: Beginning Android 4 Games Development

CommonsWare Collection

With CommonsWare you get access to 3 good android books at the price of one. They have collected 3 useful books on the subject of android and you can subscribe for $40 and get a year’s updates and new book titles for free. Three books included in the subscription at the time of writing are:

• The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development
• The Busy Coder’s Guide to Advanced Android Development
• Android Programming Tutorials

We would recommend this resource to anyone with a busy schedule.

Visit: CommonsWare Website

Unlocking Android

This book is a “A Developer’s Guide”. It gives you a brief introduction of Android’s market and dives right into the coding stuff. Topics like user-interface design and Persisting data with the SQLite database are covered in this books. At the end of the book, authors W. Frank Ableson, Charlie Collins, and Robi Sen have provided some sample application too.

Visit: Publisher site for Unlocking Android.

Professional Android Application Development

A hands-on guide to building mobile applications, Professional Android Application Development features concise and compelling examples that show you how to quickly construct real-world mobile applications for Android phones. Fully up-to-date for version 1.0 of the Android software development kit, it covers all the essential features, and explores the advanced capabilities of Android (including GPS, accelerometers, and background Services) to help you construct increasingly complex, useful, and innovative mobile applications for Android phones.

Find: Professional Android Application Development

Programming with the Google SDK

This book gives you a brief overview of how everything works on Android, what the architecture of this Linux based mobile operating system is like and gives you the tools you need for the development. It also shows you how to get your apps working with Android’s in-built features like messaging, location-based services, maps, persistent data storage, 2D and 3D graphics, media services, telephony services etc.

Each section has a ready-to-use example code that gives you more than ample insight of how the programming is done. If you are getting ready to programme for the Android, this book is a must-have for you.

Buy: Programming with the Google SDK

Professional Android 2 Application Development

The is a book for more advanced programmers that are looking forward to learn more about programming for Android OS. It extensively covers the Android SDK (see also, how to install Android SDK) as well as the latest version of Android mobile operating system. You can study various projects in details in this book, which will in-turn help you understand the possibilities of programming for Android.

The paperback edition of the book even comes with CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials.

Find: Android Application Development Book

Pro Android 3

Pro Android 3 is exactly what the name suggests, it is a book for the Android professionals who have been in the app game for quite a while now and know their way around the basic app development. Using this book, you will be able to develop Java-based mobile applications with amazing interfaces and layouts.

Not only will it help you to use Android’s location-based services, network-based services, and security but also Android 3.0 SDK features, such as ActionBar and Fragments. With some instructions, you will also be able to create 3D graphics with OpenGL and custom components.

Visit: Pro Android 3 Book.

Android Recipes

Android Recipes book is for beginner as well as advanced Android programmers. It gives you a problem-solution approach on how to develop apps. With this book, you will be able to work with various Android APIs as well as external libraries that will eventually help you save your time and effort.

You will also be able to quickly develop an app using the Scripting Layer for Android (SL4A) tool as well as boosting its performance and enhancing the user interface. Each section of the book comes with its own section of real-world coding examples.
Visit: Android Recipes Book

Pro Android Games

If you are a big fan of games like Angry Birds, MegaJump, Fruit Ninja and want to develop similar games – this book will help you a lot. You will learn how to develop awesome games from scratch and also port them from C using Java Native Interface (JNI) for Android.You will learn how to develop mind-blowing 3D games on Androids Linux environment using C, Java and OpenGL

Written by Vladimir Silva // Pro Android Games

Beginning Android Tablet Programming

Written by Robbie Matthews, this books is more about the Android tablet scene. It is targetted at the  beginners and helps you code games for Android tablet interface. You get a brief overview of what the difference between Android smart-phone and tablet interface is, how it affects your approach and how to eventually make better tablet apps. Then, this book equips you with the tools and knowledge of how to build fully working  Android tablet apps.

Visit: Beginning Android Tablet Programming

Pro Android Apps Performance Optimization

Optimizing your App’s performance is as important as developing the app itself. With the help of this book, you will be able to take your app to the next level, making it better, faster and the best it can be. This will be done by using Android NDK.This book will also help you to make the best use of better, memory, multi-threading etc., so that you only use what you really need without wasting the system resources.

Written by Hervé Guihot // Pro Android Apps Performance Optimization

Android Apps Security

Making you apps secure is the most important aspect of developing for android. Security should be kept in mind right when you start programming. This book will help you with this regard.It provides you with guiding principles for how to incorporate security features in your app and explores various concepts of attaining this.

Written by Sheran Gunasekera // Android Apps Security

The Business of Android Apps Development

Visit: aPress’ Business of Android App Development

Apart from these books, there are plenty of other resources we would like to recommend. You can check Google’s very own Android starter guide to get a good feel on the subject of Android. You should also subscribe to official Android blog for news and updates.

If you are having any problems with your app, feel free to ask the Google Android community or ask in StackOverflow’s android section. Once you are ready to become a developer and publish your apps, you can apply for becoming an Android developer. There is a $25 registration fee but you can make that money back with just a few app sales.