Why the Android Market S*cks

My man's spitting facts

If you go the extra mile they will say that you are just a developer so don't suggest. Just do what is told. Native android development sucks and it's time to switch and move from this

ok phillipp I am always on your side but cmon, I can't find a job for a junior dev despite knowing all the skills required for that, at this point I have applied for about 150+ jobs and not one reply mostly because All I see is senior jobs. The only one interview was a startup that reached out to me. Working up to 20 hours a day as there is no one else on an android based project making 315$ a month. Being in a third world country just does that to you. At this point I am willing to work for 4$/hr doing anything and I still can't find a job

This is not only Android market sucks is all the tech market now. After the covid we have now less demands and lot of joblees developers

Always appreciate these type of videos. I see a bunch of comments here and they're probably in better situations than me, but this is my dream and I haven't even put my best cards on the table down yet.

I am definitely working on the side of my online presence and freelancing, and expanding my Android/Kotlin skillset. Applying to jobs inefficiently isn't the only thing you can do, even getting a non-tech job that at least pays the bills so I can go home after work and code because this is what I want is a huge help because it lifts that financial burden from me. And coding keeps me sane as it's been my goal ever since I discovered it.

Thanks for the help over this past year I have discovered your videos Philipp. Both on a technical side and a personal side. It's kept me motivated in the Android ecosystem and up to date, with these mentality type of videos especially. I'm tired of complaining, I just want to do.

In my experience, companies often seek developers with a broad set of skills. However, when I've been declined for jobs in the past, the feedback usually highlighted my lack of specific knowledge in areas like 'X' or 'Y'. Despite spending a decade working on various projects in mobile, back-end, and front-end development to broaden my portfolio, I now face a different critique when applying for positions in these areas: I'm told I seem unfocused.

It’s impossible to please everyone, but eventually, you’ll find the right fit—someone who recognizes your potential and craftsmanship. Until then, keep improving yourself, gradually.

Interestingly, this advice could also apply to dating.

Unfortunately, there is a decrease in software jobs all over the world. Currently, there are only 1700 Android developer job postings in all of America. Considering the developments in artificial intelligence and the contraction in the sector, it seems that it will decrease further.
There is nothing we can do at this point, most of us will have to do as much as we can and move on to different professions. By the way, I'm a big fan of your courses.

don't go to a tech company, go to a company that has/wants an app.

Do more than others! what? like work extra hours for no extra pay? no thanks

i work at IBM and now there are no projects in native Android as clients now prefer flutter and react native to reduce cost, and management told us to switch to these technologies temporarily. my question for you is if native android market will go back to its state so we can get our native jobs back?

In my country, the entry level jobs for android dev is lesser than the senior level. As new comer it suck

In my case, I was looking for an internship with android native dev position, its difficult to find a native one, everywhere i look its always saturated web react tech stack. But still I'm not going to forget the valuable experience with Jetpack Compose

Thank you Philipp for your insight!
In your experience, what is the development path of an Android developer today?
a.) Acquiring the widest possible but relatively shallow knowledge, or ..
b.) How to gain deeper knowledge in a given technological field?
c.) Both?

You should give examples not just tell people to "get gud" with examples proving they work. Otherwise this is all hearsay.

Startups are always been my preference I haven't felt any down about the market.

I started studying algorithms 💪

All market is kinda harsh right now. I am a frontend totally focused in web development. I'm practicing Kotlin+android and learning more about it, I wanna expand my knowledge and work with that as well. You think its a good way to go? Or Kotlin+android is really a waste of time rn?

Flutter native 👍

I really hate that almost all of my friends have an ios phone! They don't care about my android app and altough, I would have some test devices for them they just don't ask for it. Like they don't care. I mean, are those real friends? What do you guys think about that?

Yaa i am not gonna give up don't worry i am on this way

It was better few years ago in USA, Now its Dead in Canada and market remaining in USA

Ideal solution: everyone has to stand out... no wait a min. that can''t work.

Something that I've seen over and over again during my 12 years of building Android apps is Android developers that are technology focused, rather than business focused. I've heard things like "let's switch to Room" and "we need material design".

Nothing wrong with Room and Material Design, but there needs to be a connection to the business.

Do your research (ideally with a couple of benchmarks) and formalize a proposal that outlines how Room can be used to improve the metrics that the business values.

And no, a blanket statement like "performance" is not a good reason if you can't show how performance is likely to increase conversion, retention etc.

Dude You sound just like a manager shitting on his employees "go the extra mile" ?? Really? For companies that don't give two flying fucks about You? What happen? You can't get devs that take your shit with a smile on their faces and are trying to make everyone lower their bar ?

I am thinking seriously switch to devops and backend areas, nowadays android jobs are decreasing, I know all developers roles are decreasing, but android more yet

Can you put more attention on Compose Multiplatform? Native Dev is dead. Flutter killed my spirit. Which employer wants a dev who only does half of the job in double the amount of time that a cross-platform dev can do 3 apps (Web, iOS, Android) at the same amount of time. I will forever be a Kotlin fan, but I prefer focusing on cross-platform since that's what profit loving employers want. I grew up watching Coding In Flow but he has also abandoned it for JS. My first mentor lost motivation with Android Dev. You are also emphasizing too much native android dev, why not do more Kotlin Compose Multiplaform since you have a lot of background in Native Android which kinda sucks now. But hey, I don't blame you, even the Kotlin team isn't hyping up CMP. It's so dead 🙄

Why not both?
I think it is important to talk about systematic problems, that is literally the only way they can change. But as you said, playing the victim is also not going to get you anywhere worthwhile. You can do one without the other, if you are mindful.

I just switched to .net 🤷 feels impossible to find a ntaive Android job in my country.

Totally agree, Complaining doesn't change anything.

What do you mean by extra mile sir

🎉🎉

I don't know the world you're in. I'm in Russia and here's a huge market for Android devs. Everybody have a smartphone, a lot of Banks, Telephony companies, tech companies need to have a phone app. How's demand is low anywhere? What do people use? Web?

Why is people so defensive? I'm a mediocre developer and I bet my butt I can find a new job in less than a month, 100% remote

I think this is overall a poor advice, like the others in the section mentioned if everyone is going the extra mile, it's pointless. This strategy is not sustainable for workers and only companies will benefit from the higher performance in the short term but in the long term the programmers just get burned out. A bit extreme example but when miners worked in dangerous conditions, it didn't solve the issue to tell individuals to be careful. It took many systematic changes collectively through unions and collaboration to make this profession safer. It is of course not the same with developers, but it is the same sentiment. Sitting in front your your desk for 8 hours doing intens brain gymnastics while stressed about deadlines because everything was supposed to be done yesterday is not healthy.

After 1 year of unemployment, what has helped me getting interviews again is seeing Android Development through the lens of a business / marketing perspective, preferably from my prospective employer's.

Don't just develop: develop with a purpose that is aligned with your prospective employer's business, and thinking about how your users will benefit from it.

It's easy to talk when you're not the one suffering! There is not much Android openings at all. No matter how many miles you go, there is no company need it.

@Philip thanks for bring this up, for sure it is an healthy discussion, and I feel that some take aways are here to be picked, I have couple of questions / thoughts to share and hopefully get some enlightenment:
1. Is that only happening to android-devs or iOS developers feel the same
2. apart from business-side (investors / employers) who are now reluctant to hire the native devs (vs Flutter / React-native ones), is there something fundamentally not favorable to native-android development, with long-term, like native-dev not coming back? Or it is temporary and not viable as Employer / investor is holding investment due to fear of market indicators, or just greed ?
If above questions answer in a way that native-development is not going away, then it is really good idea to stay on track and keep improving native-dev skills, thanks

Android market does not suck!

I feel what you are saying. But people shouldn't blame themselves fpr the situation they are put in. Of course if you want a job you'll try ypur best to go that extra mile and work with what you've got. But i disagree with Phillip for taking the blame of this moment. Time is taugh. I used to always take a responsibility until i burned out and had to talk to a psychologist for the first time in my life. Juat keep the persistance and keep working, keeptrying guys

Guys should i pursue native android or go flutter way . I am currently beginner in app development so want so good suggestions