Looking to find high-quality Android developers? To do so, you\u2019ll first need to design a set of interview questions that\u2019ll put your candidates to the ultimate test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technical recruiters like you may want to ask the following questions to assess your candidates\u2019 knowledge level, while also getting some useful insight into the Android developer\u2019s attitude towards Android development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a recruiter searching for the right Android developer, we hope these questions will help strengthen your hiring efforts and decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let’s jump right in, shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking to hire the best remote developers? Arc can help you:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u26a1\ufe0f Get instant candidate matches without searching Try Arc to hire top developers now \u2192<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n An explicit intent<\/strong> is where you tell the system which Activity or system component it should use to respond to this intent. Implicit intents<\/strong> allow you to declare the action you want to perform; the Android system will then check which components are registered to handle that action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, you\u2019re looking for candidates who understands when they should use each type of intent, as the vast majority of the time they\u2019ll use explicit intents to start components in their own application, while implicit intents are most commonly used to communicate with components from other third-party applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is still a much-debated topic, but the code used to create an Activity is fundamentally more involved than the code used to create a Fragment. The old Activity has to be destroyed, paused or stopped, and a new Activity has to be created. The developer should acknowledge that the best practice is to only use Activities when you need to swap the entire screen, and use fragments everywhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bonus points<\/strong> if the Android developer mentions any of the following use cases, where you\u2019ll almost always use<\/em> a Fragment, rather than an Activity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This question provides an insight into the app developer\u2019s understanding of the lifecycle of dynamic fragments, as well as Fragment transactions, and the back stack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the “Back” button is going to return the user to the previous Fragment, then you\u2019ll need to save each Fragment transaction to the back stack, by calling The developer definitely shouldn\u2019t suggest<\/strong> creating a “Back” button specifically to handle navigating between fragments, but bonus points if they mention that you should never try to commit a FragmentTransaction after calling Read More<\/strong>: How to Write a Great Thank-You Email After an Interview<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you only need to override the In particular, be on the lookout for an Android developer demonstrating an understanding that you should only<\/em> extend from a class when you need to modify some of its functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ThreadPool consists of a task queue and a group of worker threads, which allows it to run multiple parallel instances of a task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, you\u2019re assessing the app developer\u2019s understanding of how multithreading has the potential to improve an app\u2019s performance, but also how it can negatively impact performance when used incorrectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using ThreadPool is more efficient than having multiple operations waiting to run on a single thread, but it also helps you avoid the considerable overhead of creating and destroying a thread every time you require a worker thread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An AsyncTask<\/strong> is not tied to the lifecycle of the Activity that contains it. If the Activity is destroyed and a new instance of the Activity is created, the AsyncTask won\u2019t be destroyed. This can lead to a number of problems, but the major ones an Android developer should be aware of are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The solution is to avoid using AsyncTasks for long-running background tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Phone Screen Interview vs Actual Phone Interview: Learn the Differences<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Struggling with interview prep? Meet senior developers from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google now on Codementor. They\u2019ll help you tackle coding challenges, practice interviews, and sharpen your skills in live 1:1 sessions. Explore our other software development interview questions and answers to prep for your next remote job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start by making sure your Android application has the necessary read access permissions. Then, get access to the ContentResolver object by calling The Accessing data is one of the tasks that\u2019s most likely to block the main thread, so the developer should stress the importance of performing data queries on a separate thread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Serializable<\/strong> is a standard Java interface that\u2019s easy to integrate into your app, as it doesn\u2019t require any methods. Despite being easy to implement, Serializable uses the Java reflection API, which makes it a slow process that creates lots of temporary objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parcelable<\/strong> is optimized for Android, so it\u2019s faster<\/em> than Serializable. It\u2019s also fully customizable, so you can be explicit about the serialization process, which results in less garbage objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the developer may acknowledge that implementing Parcelable requires more work, the performance benefits mean they should advise using Parcelable over Serialization, wherever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, you\u2019re checking that the Android developer understands that you need an additional component to connect an AdapterView (such as ListView or GridView), to an external data source. An Adapter acts as this bridge, and is also responsible for converting each data entry into a View that can then be added to the AdapterView.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: 10+ Tips for Preparing for a Remote Software Developer Zoom Interview<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This question checks whether the developer is aware of the golden rule<\/strong> of threading on Android: never perform lengthy or intensive operations on the main thread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An ANR dialog appears when your UI has been unresponsive for more than 5 seconds, usually because you\u2019ve blocked the main thread. To avoid encountering ANR errors, you should move as much work off the main thread as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a complex topic, so you\u2019re only looking for a high-level overview of the steps involved. However, the developer should make it clear that you should always subclass the View that most closely resembles the custom component you want to create \u2014 very rarely would you extend the View class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After extending your class, you need to complete the following steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Build types define properties that Gradle uses when building and packaging your Android app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This question allows you to check that the developer can differentiate between product flavors, build variants, and build types, as these are very similar concepts that are a common source of confusion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: 8 Behavioral Interview Questions Asked by Top Tech Companies<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many differences between ListView<\/strong> and RecyclerView<\/strong>, but the Android developer should be aware of the following in particular:<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a number of methods, but the ones that tend to have the most impact are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You use Handler<\/strong> to communicate between threads, most commonly to pass an action from a background thread to Android\u2019s main thread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This question allows you to check that the developer understands another fundamental concept of multithreading in Android: you cannot update the UI from any thread other that the main thread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: 8 Common Interview Mistakes Remote Software Developers Make<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The The Here, you\u2019re looking for an understanding that you should always use the simplest layout possible<\/strong> for what you want to achieve, as FrameLayouts are designed to contain a single item, making them an efficient choice when you need to display a single View.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you add multiple Views to a FrameLayout then it\u2019ll stack them one above the other, so FrameLayouts are also useful if you need overlapping Views, for example, if you\u2019re implementing an overlay or a HUD element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: How to Show Off Your Soft Skills at Software Development Interviews<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Technical interviews and screenings are a crucial part of hiring an app developer, whether it’s a Android developer, an iOS developer, or any mobile app developer familiar with making apps for both operating systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With these interview questions, you’ll be able to properly vet your candidates’ technical skills in Android development \u2014 even if you are not rehearsed with the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more general interview questions to kick-off your assessment, take a look at our interview questions<\/a> for software engineers, with a mix of technical and behavioral interview questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also explore HireAI<\/a> to skip the line and:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u26a1\ufe0f Get instant candidate matches without searching <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/a>Try HireAI and hire top developers now \u2192<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here are some of the most important Android developer interview questions to prepare for and how they should be answered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1016,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview-preparation"],"yoast_head":"\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Identify top applicants from our network of 350,000+
\u26a1\ufe0f Hire 4x faster with vetted candidates (qualified and interview-ready)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAndroid Developer Interview Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. What\u2019s the difference between implicit and explicit intent?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. When should you use a Fragment, rather than an Activity?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. You\u2019re replacing one Fragment with another \u2014 how do you ensure that the user can return to the previous Fragment, by pressing the Back button?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
addToBackStack()<\/code> before you commit()<\/code> that transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\nonSaveInstanceState()<\/code>, as this can result in an exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n4. How would you create a multi-threaded Android app without<\/em> using the Thread class?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
run()<\/code> method and no other Thread methods, then you should implement Runnable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n5. What is a ThreadPool? And is it more effective than using several separate Threads?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. What is the relationship between the lifecycle of an AsyncTask and the lifecycle of an Activity? What problems can this result in, and how can these problems be avoided?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Book a session with our interview prep tutors<\/a> today! Your first 15 minutes are free.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\n7. How would you access data in a ContentProvider?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
getContentResolver()<\/code> on the Context object, and retrieving the data by constructing a query using ContentResolver.query()<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nContentResolver.query()<\/code> method returns a Cursor, so you can retrieve data from each column using Cursor methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n8. What is the difference between Serializable and Parcelable?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. What is an Adapter?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
10. What is an Application Not Responding (ANR) error, and how can you prevent them from occurring in your app?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
11. Outline the process of creating custom Views<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
onSizeChanged()<\/code> or onMeasure()<\/code>.<\/li>onDraw()<\/code>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n12. What is a BuildType in Gradle? And what can you use it for?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
13. What are the major difference between ListView and RecyclerView?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
ViewHolder<\/code> pattern is entirely optional in ListView<\/code>, but it\u2019s baked into RecyclerView<\/code>.<\/li>ListView<\/code> only supports vertical scrolling, but RecyclerView<\/code> isn\u2019t limited to vertically scrolling lists.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n14. Briefly describe some ways that you can optimize View usage.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
15. What is a Handler typically used for?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
16. What are the steps involved in creating a bound service through Android Interface Definition Language (AIDL)?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
onBind()<\/code> to return your implementation of the Stub class.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n17. What\u2019s the difference between
onCreate()<\/code> and onStart()<\/code>?<\/h3>\n\n\n\nonCreate()<\/code> method is called once during the Activity lifecycle, either when the application starts, or when the Activity has been destroyed and then recreated, for example during a configuration change.<\/p>\n\n\n\nonStart()<\/code> method is called whenever the Activity becomes visible to the user, typically after onCreate()<\/code> or onRestart()<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n18. When might you use a FrameLayout?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wrapping up the Android Developer Interview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Identify top applicants from our network of 350,000+ with no manual screening
\u26a1\ufe0f Hire 4x faster with vetted candidates (qualified and interview-ready)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n