The Android interview questions in a tech interview assess your knowledge of programming languages. You may be asked to implement several features in an existing codebase or a new app.
With the increase in Android App development, job opportunities for Android developers are expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. Here is a list of important Android interview questions for freshers, senior developers, and tech leads that will help you ace your Android interview.
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Here are some of the most frequently asked Android interview questions at various IT companies. We'll go over Android interview questions about coding, system design, and other topics.
Here's what we'll cover:
Here are the Android Interview Questions asked in FAANG companies. Whether you have applied for the position of software engineer, software developer, engineering manager, or tech lead, these Android Interview Questions will help ace your next interview.
Android is an open-sourced operating system. Founded by Andy Rubin, it is a Linux-based operating system. It allows software developers to create and run applications that perform basic and advanced functions. The latest version is Android 12.0 - Android 'Snow-Code' that was released in October 2021. The main advantages of Android are:
The disadvantages of Android are:
An Activity in Android is the screen representation of an application. It is a single screen that represents GUI (Graphical User Interface). Users can interact with activities like dialing the phone, logging in, and viewing email. The lifecycle of android activity is an important part of Android interview questions.
Android Debug Bridge is a command-line tool. It is used to communicate with the emulator instance. ADB controls your device over USB from a computer, installs and uninstalled apps, copies files back and forth, and more. It is a client-server program that incorporates three components: client, server, and daemon.
Android architecture refers to the various layers in the Android stack and forms an integral part of Android developer interview questions. It includes the Android operating system, middleware, and important applications. Every layer in the architecture provides services to the layer just above it. The four layers are:
APK stands for Android Packaging Key. It is a compressed key containing classes, UIs, supportive assets, and manifest. All files are compressed into a single file format, i.e., in APK.
The various vital terms related to Android programs are frequently asked in Android interview questions. An Android toast is a brief message displayed on the screen which provides feedback to the users about the status of the operation initiated by them.
AAPT stands for Android Asset Packaging Tool. It carries out the packaging process by allowing developers to view, create, and update ZIP-compatible archives (zip, jar, and APK). It compiles the resources into a binary format, optimizing them for the Android platform.
Some advanced Android interview questions for senior developers include the most crucial topics like intents, manifest, fragments, widgets, and more. Here is a list of important Android developer interview questions.
An intent is a kind of information passed to the components of an application. It is a messaging object used to request an action from other components of an application. It is used to launch an activity. There are two types of intents:
The Android manifest file describes essential information about applications to the Android system, build tools, the operating system, and Google Play. This information is a must for the system before running any app's code. The various aspects of the applications and Android systems form an important part of Android interview questions.
Android devices have multiple built-in, highly accurate sensors which measure certain parameters such as orientation, position, temperature, and many more.
The three main sensors in Android devices are:
If Android applications crash frequently, you can take the following steps that guarantee higher success rates:
The various Android programs and their implementation strategies form an integral part of Android team lead interview questions. A .dex file (Dalvik Executable file) compiles Android programs which are then zipped into a .apk file. A .dex file is created by translating compiled Java applications and optimized for efficient storage.
DDMS stands for Dalvik Debug Monitor Server. It is a debugging tool in the Android system that offers the following array of debugging features:
The key differences between services, threads, and activity are:
Orientation in Android helps to represent the layout in a row or column.
The syntax for orientation is:
<activity android name=".activity" android: screenOrientation="portrait">
An exception occurs during a program execution that disrupts the normal flow of the program's instructions. Android interview questions are related to the following types of exceptions:
It is one of the majorly asked Android interview questions. An Androidmanifest.xml file is essential for every Android application. It contains information regarding the application. An Android system must know this vital information before executing codes.
Android Runtime (ART) is the managed runtime used by Android applications and system services. It consists of Dalvik Virtual Machine and Core Java Libraries. DVM has the following significance:
AIDL is the most predominant part of Android interview questions and answers. AIDL stands for Android Interface Definition Language. It handles the interface requirements between a client and a service through interprocess communication. The process includes breaking down objects into primitives that are understandable by Android. AIDL supports the following data types:
Here are some more Android Interview Questions for practice. Solving these will help you ace your Android interview.
These top Android interview questions will give you all the information you need to ace your upcoming software developer interview. The topics covered in this article are the most sought-after skill sets in Android developers, according to engineering managers.
Q1. What should I study for Android interview questions?
You must primarily work on the fundamentals and strengthen Java or Kotlin programming concepts. You must prepare for the data structures, algorithms, and the latest trends in Android technology for Android interview questions.
Q2. What coding concepts are important for Android interview questions?
The important coding concepts you must prepare for Android interview questions are arrays, strings, hash tables, linked lists, recursion, sorting algorithms, trees, graphs, and dynamic programming.
Q3. What happens in a virtual session of an Android interview?
While asking Android interview questions, interviewers might ask you to implement features in either a new app or an existing codebase in virtual Android apps interview questions. You are supposed to code in Android Studio on your laptop/PC and screen share with the interviewer.
Q4. Which programming language is best suited for Android interview questions?
Java and Kotlin are the best programming languages for Android interview questions as they offer faster deployment compilation and prevent applications from increasing size.
Q5. What is API in Android?
An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of rules ('code') and specifications that programs can use to communicate with one another. The end-user sends a request, the API executes the instruction, retrieves the data from the server, and responds to the user.
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