Best IDEs & Tools for Android App Development

As of 2025, Android development is exploding. Developers and companies alike require IDEs and tools that offer speed, scalability, and neat code as Android 16 comes out and Jetpack Compose is made the default UI toolkit. Here is a handpicked list of the top IDEs and tools for Android development, along with a brief description and example code to demonstrate their application in real-world projects.

Why this list?

With its real-time updates, better security, and Material 3 expressive aesthetic, Android 16 is shipping extensively and on Pixels. You will experience longer release schedules and greater QA expenses if your toolchain is not in sync. The IDEs and tools that teams are already using to write cleaner code and ship faster are the focus of this guide.

1) Android Studio — the standard for native Android

The most capable developer tool to create Android apps is still Android Studio, the native IDE. It now includes AI-based coding, improved Compose previews, and more trustworthy profilers because of the most recent Narwhal Feature Drops. Android Studio is your first choice when working with Kotlin + Compose.

Many businesses hire Android app developers skilled in Android Studio to ensure speed and efficiency from day one.

Example: Quick Compose Preview in Android Studio

@Composable
fun GreetingCard(name: String) {
    Card { Text(text = "Hello, $name!") }
}

@Preview(showBackground = true)
@Composable
fun GreetingCardPreview() {
    GreetingCard("Android")
}

2) IntelliJ IDEA — for polyglot teams

IntelliJ IDEA's refactoring, inspections, and VCS UX are hard to beat if you code with code shared out with server/desktop projects or live within multi-module repositories. If your business appreciates a single robust IDE that plays nicely with all stacks, select IDEA Ultimate, which ranks second only to Android Studio in most competing lists.

Best suited for: advanced code examination, JVM polyglot squads, and monorepos

3) Visual Studio Code — light on Flutter/React Native

Visual Studio Code is the way to go if you want to code for various platforms. It is lightweight, versatile, and supports React Native and Flutter well. Compared to full-featured IDEs, coders adore its simplicity and hot reload loop.

Best for: Flutter/React Native, front-end-dominant teams, speedy prototyping

Example: Flutter widget in VS Code

class Counter extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  _CounterState createState() => _CounterState();
}

class _CounterState extends State<Counter> {
  int _count = 0;

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Column(
      children: [
        Text('Count: $_count'),
        ElevatedButton(
          onPressed: () => setState(() => _count++),
          child: Text('Increment'),
        ),
      ],
    );
  }
}

4) Kotlin + Jetpack Compose — the future is now

With the new UI, Compose is also the default. Compared to the previous View system, expect enhanced testability, less boilerplate, and quicker feature delivery. The design-system alignment of Compose ensures app consistency regardless of the UI variation in Android 16 because of the new Material 3 guidelines.

Best for: Net-new screens, staged migration plans, design-system governance

Example: Counter in Compose with state

@Composable
fun Counter() {
    var count by remember { mutableStateOf(0) }
    Column {
        Text("Count: $count")
        Button(onClick = { count++ }) {
            Text("Increment")
        }
    }
}

5) Firebase — feature delivery with fewer moving parts

Dependency injection and solid networking are key pillars of a clean architecture. Retrofit is still the best means of making API calls in Kotlin applications, although Hilt simplifies DI.

Best suited for: fast boots, data-driven releases, minimal backend ops

Example: Retrofit + Hilt setup

@Module
@InstallIn(SingletonComponent::class)
object NetworkModule {
    @Provides @Singleton
    fun provideRetrofit(): Retrofit =
        Retrofit.Builder()
            .baseUrl("https://api.example.com/")
            .addConverterFactory(MoshiConverterFactory.create())
            .build()

    @Provides @Singleton
    fun provideApi(retrofit: Retrofit): Api = retrofit.create(Api::class.java)
}

interface Api {
    @GET("posts") suspend fun posts(): List<Post>
}

6) Firebase — stability & feature management

Firebase adds to analytics A/B testing, App Distribution, Remote Configuration, and Crashlytics. It enables teams to ship safely and deploy quicker.

Best used for: reproducible releases, compliance, multi-app portfolios

Example: Firebase Remote Config flag

val rc = Firebase.remoteConfig
rc.setDefaultsAsync(mapOf("new_ui" to false))

suspend fun isNewUiEnabled(): Boolean = suspendCoroutine { cont ->
    rc.fetchAndActivate().addOnCompleteListener {
        cont.resume(rc.getBoolean("new_ui"))
    }
}

7) CI/CD — automate builds and tests

Every commit is built, tested, and even deployed automatically because of continuous integration. Android pipelines are ensured to be reliable with CircleCI, Bitrise, or GitHub Actions.

Best used for: large-scale architectures, tidy test boundaries

Example: GitHub Actions config

name: Android CI
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          distribution: temurin
          java-version: '17'
      - name: Build
        run: ./gradlew build

8) LeakCanary + Testing — ensuring app quality

Performance problems kill user experience. LeakCanary recognizes memory leaks automatically, and Espresso/Compose testing confirms flows of the user interface are rock-solid.

Best for: preventing MTTR, protecting ratings, safer feature flags

Example: LeakCanary dependency

dependencies {
  debugImplementation "com.squareup.leakcanary:leakcanary-android:2.14"
}

Final thoughts

Stability, speed, and automation are all included in the top Android toolchain of 2025. Set up first Android Studio (or IntelliJ), then Kotlin + Compose, Hilt + Retrofit, Firebase for release watchers, and CI/CD. You'll reduce errors, ship quicker, and make your stack future-proof.