Developing the Android Developer Inside You

Becoming an Android developer isn’t a complicated task. And it’s likely simpler than you believe. To see what’s involved, ask yourself these questions:

Do I want to develop Android applications?

Do I like free software development tools?

Do I like to pay no developer fees?

Do I have a computer to develop on?

If you answered yes to every question, today is your lucky day — you’re ready to become an Android developer. You may be wondering what we mean by pay no developer fees. You’re reading that question correctly: You pay no fees to develop Android applications.

There’s always a catch, right? You can develop for free to your heart’s content, but as soon as you want to publish your application to the Google Play Store, where you upload and publish your apps, you need to pay a small, nominal registration fee. At this writing, the fee is $25.

If you’re developing an application for a client, you can publish your application as a redistributable package to give to him. Then your client can publish the application to the Google Play Store, using his Google account, to ensure that you don’t have to pay a fee for client work. You can then be a bona fide Android developer and never have to pay a fee. That’s cool.