Android App Development Services

Who can build an Android app from scratch

Building an Android app from nothing means dealing with thousands of device models, a policy driven Google Play Console, and users who expect the app to work on a three year old phone as well as on a new one. Tepia has built native Android apps for thirteen years, including apps for ministries, grocery chains, wellness brands and IoT access control hardware, all visible on the Tepia portfolio.

Tepia’s Android work is US led. Your project manager, design lead and engineering lead are in the United States, and the Kotlin engineers on your build are individually sourced and work in US overlapping hours. Every engagement gets a named project manager and runs through Tepia’s six phase process.

Tepia builds Android apps engineered for retention. On Android that means paying attention to install size, battery use, cold start time and behavior on low memory devices, because users on Android are quick to uninstall an app that feels heavy.

When native Android matters most

The situations below are where Tepia sees native Android win clearly, particularly for operations and field teams.

The last row matters. If you are launching the same consumer app on both platforms, Tepia will often steer you toward cross platform development and reserve native Kotlin for the cases above.

Device fragmentation and Google Play policy

Android fragmentation is real but manageable when it is planned for. Tepia sets a minimum supported Android version in Discovery based on your actual users (for most consumer apps that is a version covering roughly the last five years of devices), tests on a physical device matrix that includes low end phones, and uses Jetpack Compose for layouts that adapt to screen sizes and foldables.

Google Play policy is the other moving target. Google requires apps to target a recent API level every year, enforces a Data safety form that must match real data collection, restricts sensitive permissions such as SMS and background location, and reviews account deletion flows.

• Target API level updates handled on Google’s annual schedule.
• Data safety and privacy policy alignment checked before every release.
• Permission requests justified in the user flow, which also improves grant rates.
• Play Integrity and signing keys managed in your own Play Console account, which Tepia never holds hostage.

Tepia treats Play Console compliance as part of engineering, not as paperwork to hand back to you.

How Tepia approaches Android app development

Tepia’s six phase process is the same for every platform. These are the Android specific details.

1. Discovery (typically 1 to 3 months). System investigation, user interviews and third party integration review, plus a device audit: which phones, tablets or rugged units your users actually carry. Deliverables: Investigation Summary, Interview Summary, User Stories.
2. Design. Design questionnaire, moodboards and a style guide built on Material Design 3, then detailed wireframes and sample designs covering phone, tablet and any kiosk layouts.
3. Development and Testing. Kotlin and Jetpack Compose with Alpha and Beta schedules. Test plans cover functional, user acceptance and non functional testing, including battery, memory and behavior on your slowest supported device. Builds go to your team through Play internal testing tracks.
4. Training. In person and remote, hands on sessions using your user story scenarios, which for field teams often means a half day on the actual handhelds.
5. Launch. Play Console listing, Data safety form, staged rollout by percentage, data migration and transition from the old system, with Tepia support reps on the rollout.

Android for field teams, IoT and enterprise rollouts

Much of Tepia’s native Android work is for businesses rather than consumers: technicians, drivers, warehouse staff and plant floor operators who need an app that survives a dropped signal and a dropped phone. Tepia designs these apps offline first, with local storage and a sync engine that resolves conflicts when the device reconnects, and pairs them with a web admin portal built in React or .NET.

For connected hardware, Tepia has built Android apps that talk to devices over Bluetooth Low Energy and cloud APIs, including the Maximum Controls gate control product, which shipped with iOS, Android and an admin portal. The IoT and connected device page covers firmware coordination and MQTT in more detail.

For enterprise fleets, Tepia plans Android Enterprise enrollment, managed app configuration and the Training and Launch phases together, so the day the app goes live your staff already know it. Newport Medical Solutions’ CIO said of working with Tepia: “We were impressed with Tepia’s genuine passion for their craft.” See all Tepia services or the main custom mobile app development page.

Frequently asked questions