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Build Better, Ship Faster: 10 Android Libraries You Really Need

· 7 min read
Sandra Rose Antony
Sandra Rose Antony
Software Engineer, Appxiom

Imagine building a house with your bare hands. Then, someone hands you a toolbox that automates half the work, ensures structural safety, and even paints the walls. That's what the right Android libraries feel like.

You don't just want to write code. You want to write clean, efficient, testable code that doesn't give you a migraine three months later. These 10 libraries? They're your survival kit.

Let's break them down together. I'll show you real examples, sprinkle in some numbers, and tell you exactly why each one deserves a spot in your next Android project. No fluff - just the stuff that actually helps.

1. Retrofit: Your Shortcut to Smooth Networking​

You know that feeling when you set up an API call, hit "Run," and everything just works?

That's Retrofit.

Whether you're fetching weather data, syncing user profiles, or posting a form - Retrofit handles all of it like a seasoned assistant who just gets what you mean.

You define your API endpoints as interfaces. Something like:

interface ApiService {
    @GET("users/{id}")
    suspend fun getUser(@Path("id") id: Int): User
}

No tangled callbacks. No parsing chaos. Retrofit works seamlessly with Kotlin coroutines, so your networking layer stays clean and readable. And when things go wrong (because they always do), it plays nicely with error handling and retries using OkHttp under the hood.

It's like having a translator between your app and the internet, one that speaks HTTP fluently and writes JSON poetry on the side.

If your app touches the web (and let's be real, it does), Retrofit deserves a permanent spot in your toolkit.

2. Coil: Smooth Image Loading for Modern Android​

You've got beautiful images. Now what?

You need to load them fast, cache them smartly, and not freeze the UI in the process. That's where Coil comes in. Built with Kotlin and made for Jetpack Compose (but works great in Views too), Coil is lightweight and ridiculously easy to use.

Image(
    painter = rememberImagePainter("https://example.com/image.jpg"),
    contentDescription = null
)

That's it. No fuss.

It handles caching, decoding, scaling - everything you would expect from a high-performance image loader. Plus, it plays nicely with coroutines and modern Android APIs.

Coil is the kind of library that disappears into the background while making your app look and feel fast. And honestly, that's the best kind of magic.

3. Room: Local Database, But Less Painful​

Need offline support? User preferences? Storing data between sessions?

Use Room.

It's an abstraction over SQLite, but one that doesn't make you write raw queries unless you want to. Define entities, DAOs, and let Room handle the rest.

@Entity
data class User(
    @PrimaryKey val id: Int,
    val name: String
)

@Dao
interface UserDao {
    @Query("SELECT * FROM user WHERE id = :id")
    suspend fun getUser(id: Int): User
}

Room integrates smoothly with LiveData, Flow, and even RxJava. So your UI updates when the data changes without any extra plumbing.

The best part? You get compile-time checks for your SQL. Less crashing, more shipping.

4. Hilt: Dependency Injection That Doesn't Feel Like Work​

Do you ever pass a reference to a reference of a reference just to test something?

Yeah… no thanks.

Hilt helps you manage dependencies cleanly. It's built on top of Dagger but strips out the boilerplate, making DI feel less like magic and more like good design.

You add an annotation like @HiltAndroidApp, toss in @Inject in your classes, and you're good to go.

@AndroidEntryPoint
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    @Inject lateinit var userRepository: UserRepository
}

Just like that, Hilt takes care of object creation and wiring.

It also supports scoped components, ViewModel injection, and integrates with Jetpack libraries out of the box. Less setup, more structure. And trust me, it makes testing 10x easier.

5. OkHttp: Your Reliable HTTP Sidekick​

Retrofit might be the star of your networking show, but OkHttp is the stage crew making it all happen smoothly behind the scenes.

It's the low-level HTTP client handling timeouts, interceptors, caching, retries - and it's powerful enough to stand on its own too.

Want to add a custom header to every request?

val client = OkHttpClient.Builder()
    .addInterceptor { chain ->
        val newRequest = chain.request().newBuilder()
            .addHeader("Authorization", "Bearer token")
            .build()
        chain.proceed(newRequest)
    }
    .build()

OkHttp gives you full control when you need it, without getting in the way when you don't. It's stable, battle-tested, and flexible. Keep it.

6. Timber: Logging, But Not Annoying​

Log.d() is fine… until it isn't.

Timber is like Android's logging system - but smarter. It knows what class you're in. It knows what thread you're on. It tags logs automatically and cleans them up for release builds.

Timber.d("User loaded: $user")

And when you're ready to ship, you can plant a custom Tree to filter logs, send them to Crashlytics, or silence them completely.

It's clean, customizable, and saves you hours when debugging. Think of it as a diary for your app's internals - with filters.

7. Gson: Converting JSON Without the Tears​

API response in JSON? Gson's got your back.

Gson makes it dead simple to turn JSON into Kotlin/Java objects, and vice versa.

val user = Gson().fromJson(jsonString, User::class.java)

That's it. Done.

You can even handle complex structures, custom field names, or optional fields with annotations. It's been around for years and still holds up because of how reliable and flexible it is.

If you're building anything that talks to a backend, and you probably are - Gson is a no-brainer.

8. Firebase: Your Backend, Without the Server Stress​

Want real-time sync? Authentication? Crash reporting? Analytics?

Firebase gives you a full suite of backend services without needing to spin up a server. You can go as lightweight or as deep as you want.

One Firebase feature a lot of developers love: Crashlytics.

It gives you detailed crash reports, stack traces, and user context in real time. Perfect for catching bugs before your users do.

Firebase also integrates with analytics, messaging, A/B testing, and more. It's not just a toolbox, it's a fully stocked workshop.

9. Appxiom: Know When Your App Misbehaves​

You can't fix what you can't see. Appxiom doesn't just show you what broke - it tells you how that bug affects your business.

  • Real-time issue detection across dev, QA, and production.
  • Business Impact Analysis links bugs and slow screens directly to revenue drops, churn, and retention changes.
  • For example, see how "Conversion Drop: –15.3%" and "Goal Friction Impact: –3%" show the true cost of a glitch.
  • Works online or offline, so you never miss a bug even with flaky connections.
  • Plays nicely with your tools - Jira, Slack, and more - for seamless team workflows.
  • Built with enterprise-grade security, including end-to-end encryption and multi-platform support.

It's not just visibility. It's actionable insight tied to your bottom line. Appxiom isn't just monitoring; it's monetizing the maintenance.

10. Espresso: For UI Tests That Don't Suck​

Automated UI testing sounds great, until your test clicks a button before it's even visible.

Espresso fixes that.

It waits for UI events, syncs automatically with your app's lifecycle, and gives you readable, reliable tests.

onView(withId(R.id.login_button))
    .perform(click())

You can simulate clicks, swipes, text input, and validate UI elements - without waiting or sleeping your thread.

It's great for regression testing, CI/CD pipelines, and making sure tomorrow's code doesn't break today's UI.

So what's the takeaway?​

These 10 libraries aren't just "nice to have" - they're game-changers.

They help you write cleaner code, ship faster, catch bugs before users do, and stay focused on what really matters: building apps people love to use.

Add them to your toolbox, and your future self (and your users) will thank you.

Because once you build with the right tools, you stop surviving development. You start enjoying it.