What plugins and extensions do you use for mobile app development?

In my experience a great plugin for Flutter developers is device_preview. This plugin allows you to test how a design could look like in real devices. Its features are: - Preview any device from any device - Change the device orientation - Dynamic system configuration (language, dark mode, text scaling factor, ...)

In iOS development, I find Fastlane to be a valuable tool. It's a set of tools aimed at automating the deployment and release process. With Fastlane, tasks like beta distribution, code signing, and deployment to the App Store can be streamlined, saving time and reducing the chances of manual errors.

Flutter Inspector is an integral tool in the Flutter framework, offering a visual peek into the widget tree of an app. Its key features include: 1. Widget Tree Visualization: Easily navigate and understand the hierarchy of widgets. 2. Property Inspection: View detailed attributes of selected widgets. 3. Layout Explorer: Troubleshoot and comprehend widget positioning and sizes. 4. Interactive Mode: Modify widget properties in real time to see immediate effects. 5. DevTools Integration: Seamless work with other Flutter DevTools for a holistic development experience. In essence, the Flutter Inspector simplifies UI building and troubleshooting, making it indispensable for Flutter developers.

While developing natively for Android, I like to have the ide plug-in for sonar lint, it is very useful to find warnings, vulnerabilities and other code smells. I thing it security while developing is very important and underrated

I am using the Bloc Library Tool plugin in my Flutter app. By using it developers can streamline the creation process of Blocs, events, and states, reducing the boilerplate code that must be written manually. This not only saves time but also helps in maintaining a consistent and clean codebase.

For React Native development, You should definitely try Flipper. This will give you most complete debugging experience for your React Native project. Flippers allow you to debug Network Requests, Layout see logs from both JS and Native side. It has many other community powered plugins; you can also build your own plugins. For building the app and distribution across test/app store/play store users you may want to use MicroSoft App Center, you can also use Expo Application Services which is relatively new but gaining traction among developer quickly. For error reporting, use Sentry For UI library, use React Native Paper

For mobile app development, I rely on a mix of cross-platform and platform-specific plugins to streamline workflows. Cross-platform tools like Firebase and AdMob handle analytics and monetization. Platform-specific plugins, such as Android Jetpack libraries, ensure native experience. For testing and debugging, I trust LeakCanary and Stetho to catch memory leaks and inspect SQLite databases. In terms of design, tools like Lottie enhance UI animations, while for performance, I rely on Android Profiler. Collaboration is powered by GitHub for version control, and productivity extensions like Hilt for dependency injection keep the project clean and scalable.

The app update in the stores are ofter time consuming and not flowless. The Shorebird.io solution helps out in this case. The very similar codepush technique used for React Native applications by Expo can be used for Flutter apps. Shorebird is free to start and very cheap for a few projects.

In Neonicz Software Solutions we concentrate on hybrid mobile application development using Flutter, React Native and Ionic-capacitor. I design architecture for the application development. Mostly using micro services or service oriented architecture with JWT token authorisation. Any questions you can directly reach out to me. I can help with the mobile application architecture.

Plugins I use to develop Android apps in Kotlin: Key Promoter X: Tells you when you missed an available keyboard shortcut so you learn them or get a notification telling you how many times you missed it. Kotlin Fill Class: Have you ever started constructing a data class and forgot all the property names? This automatically adds all property names, so you don't have to play a memory game. Rainbow Brackets: Color your brackets to match in just an eyeball. It is also configurable to color variables so that you can identify it quickly. ben-manes.versions: A gradle plugin that checks all your dependencies and lists available updates. ktlint: Enforce coding standards and best practices for Kotlin GitToolbox: Automatically fetch branches

Writing unit tests has never been easier with TestData from Jetbrains; you can generate mock data for your test cases right in the IDE. All you have to do is cmd+N. Kotest plugin: running Kotlin multiplatform unit tests becomes easier. JsonToKotlinClass: This will help you generate data classes from your json string. You don't have to worry or bite your head on that huge json data anymore.

If you're working quite often with JSON, and you need it for tests or other reasons you can you Json Formatter plugin. Json Formatter will help you format your JSON into more readable format.

My must-have set in Android studio: - Android localize: Android localization plugin. supports multiple languages and multiple translators. Excellent at maintaining apps with multiple localizations - Rainbow brackets: makes easier to navigate the code hierarchy - JSON to Koltin Class: convert Json String into Kotlin data class code quickly. There is also similar JSON to Dart plugin for Flutter

Focusing on platform-specific mobile app development can enhance your ability to leverage unique features and requirements of each platform. For Android development using Android Studio, plugins like Android ButterKnife Zelezny simplify view binding, Android Drawable Importer helps with image handling for various screen densities, and LeakCanary detects memory leaks. For iOS development using Xcode, plugins such as Alcatraz for managing extensions, SwiftLint for enforcing coding standards, and InjectionIII for hot reloading code changes are beneficial. These tools streamline development, improve code quality, and optimize platform-specific functionalities, ensuring a more polished and efficient application.

ADB Idea is a great plugin that allows you to perform various adb commands with a single button click. This is great for testing your app. ADB Idea allows you to uninstall, kill, start and restart your app. It also allows you to clear app data, enable/disable WIFI, revoke permissions and much more.

Testing and debugging are crucial for ensuring the quality and functionality of mobile apps. Various plugins and extensions can aid this process based on your needs. For testing on real devices, plugins like Firebase Test Lab allow you to run your app on multiple devices and configurations in the cloud, and BrowserStack enables testing on real devices and browsers online. For real-time debugging, Flipper provides a platform for inspecting and manipulating your app from a desktop interface, and Stetho integrates with Chrome DevTools for effective debugging. These tools enhance the testing and debugging process, ensuring a robust and reliable application.

For React Native, I use the Ui Kitten built on the EVA Design system, which has tools for semantic theme generators, SVG icons, and so on. Also, If you want to give a great experience from your app to users with interactive animation. You can use Rive which runs everywhere.

In mobile app development, design and performance are pivotal for user satisfaction. Plugins like Sketch and Lottie enhance design with mockups and animations. For top performance, tools like Flutter Performance and Reactotron help measure and optimize app speed, ensuring a seamless user experience.

In native android is good to use the android studio profiler to find performance bottlenecks, it shows you the whole heap and the calls tack of every memory allocation so you can know exactly what's causing the app to be slow. Also use the sonarlint extension, it will show you deprecations and warnings that could influence your app performance and security

Regular Testing: Continuously test app performance on various devices and configurations to ensure smooth operation. Optimization Practices: Minimize resource usage, optimize asset sizes, and use efficient coding practices to improve overall app performance. User Feedback: Gather and analyze user feedback to identify and address design and performance issues. Using these tools and practices, developers can create mobile apps that are not only visually appealing but also perform efficiently, leading to a better user experience and higher satisfaction.

A fun tool for colaboration is the liveshare extension. With it a dev can share the whole workspace with another dev and work together, it's great for pair programming.

In the realm of mobile app development, productivity and collaboration are essential. There's a multitude of plugins and extensions to choose from to streamline tasks. Trello and Jira help manage projects and issues, while GitHub and CodeStream facilitate code sharing and collaboration. These tools empower developers to efficiently manage their time, resources, and teamwork, ensuring the success of mobile app endeavors.

GitHub Copilot and GitHub Copilot Chat are amazing AI Pair Programming and AI Assisted Programming tools. Requires plug-ins/extensions for Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, NeoVim and JetBrains IDEs… and a subscription. Chat is available only in VSCode, but JetBrains extension is coming next month. I’ve never programmed so fast and easy as I do now. I wish there was something better than a 2-IDE solution fo iOS development (use VSCode with Copilot/Chat for coding, Xcode for everything else - building, compiling, demoing, working with plists, storyboards, xibs etc). Hey Apple/MSFT - do something great here, please!

Github Copilot helps quite a lot with suggestions and autcompletion. Another great plugin is IdeaVIM. IdeaVim allows you to use Vim features in IntelliJ IDEA. Once you get a grasp on vim commands and usage your text document editing speed goes up significantly. This results in greater coding efficiency as mainly we work with text when developing software.

Regular Testing: Test performance on various devices and configurations. Optimization Practices: Minimize resource use, optimize asset sizes, and use efficient coding practices. User Feedback: Gather and analyze user feedback for design and performance improvements. Automate Repetitive Tasks: Use automation tools and scripts to streamline workflows. Effective Communication: Regularly communicate with your team using tools. Documentation: Maintain clear and comprehensive documentation for code. Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): Implement CI/CD practices to automate testing and deployment, ensuring more reliable releases. Time Management: Use tools like time trackers and calendars to manage development efficiently.

For most of the mobile app setup, I set them up with firebase crashlytics, analytics and other metric plugins,code version, CI/CD pipeline, this might not come in handy at the initial phase, but as time goes on it helps simplify development

Analytics and User Engagement Plugins Analytics and user engagement plugins and extensions are crucial for gaining insights into how users interact with your mobile app. These plugins provide tools to track user behavior, measure app performance, and collect user feedback. They often include features like event tracking, heatmaps, crash reporting, and A/B testing capabilities. Popular analytics and user engagement platforms, such as Firebase, Google Analytics, and Mixpanel, offer plugins and SDKs that can be integrated into your mobile app to gather valuable data for making informed decisions and improving the user experience.

Own your code and assets Even from the very beginning of your project plan that how you will share or invite external parties into your project. Create your application store accounts on your own and upload your binaries there. If you cannot do it alone, invite others to the project with their account. This way you can control who has access to which resources. You can easily revoke permissions when not needed anymore. Take control! The above rule is also valid for: - GCP, AWS, Azure projects - Firebase project - Expo project - GitLab, GitHub, Bitbucket repositories - Google Drive documents - etc.