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Almost every tech geek would have dreamed of creating an app at some point in their life – one that is aesthetically and functionally pleasing. And if you have an excellent idea for an app, it is the best thing to do because mobile apps are expected to generate a staggering amount of US$693 billion by 2021.
However, what stops most of us from creating apps is the lack of expertise. Of course, you can always outsource app development, but it will be costly. If you are an entrepreneur on a solo quest to develop an app, or a newbie planning to become a mobile app developer, you need to learn app development from scratch.
This article is all about learning app development, and we will introduce you to 20 free app development courses to kickstart your career or fuel your passion. Before that, let’s talk about a question that raises eyebrows all the time.
How Long Does It Take to Learn App Development?
Although learning app development is a continuous process, fair estimates can range from a couple of hours to even six months. The disparity between these figures is primarily because of the nature and complexity of each app development course.
For instance, if you want to learn to develop a basic gallery app, it may take only a few hours to do so. But learning to create complex apps that incorporate location services, graphics, and advanced functionalities may take months.
If you are a newbie in app development, check out our guide on how to become a mobile app developer that clearly defines the steps you will need to take to become a successful developer.
Where Can I Learn App Development for Free?
Although self-learning from YouTube tutorials and developer forums is equally effective to learn app development, enrolling into an app development course will bring more structure to your learning experience.
We have compiled 20 best courses that allow you to learn app development for free.
10 Best Free Android App Development Courses
1. Android Basics in Kotlin
Android Basics in Kotlin is a free Android app development course offered by Google Codelabs. It is specially designed for newbies having no prior programming experience and want to learn Kotlin, the recommended programming language for Android app development.
During the course, you will learn to develop Android apps using the Android Studio, and will also get to know the fundamental concepts of Android app development. All you need is a computer installed with Windows, Linux, or macOS, and a reliable internet connection.
2. Fundamentals of Google Android Development
This course offered by Alison is the answer to “Is making an app easy?”. In a duration of 2-3 hours, the course will cover the entire basics of Android development, starting with what exactly is Android. The lessons also include an architectural overview of Android apps, along with easy to understand modules on the lifecycle of Android apps and APIs.
You will learn how to use different development tools such as IntelliJ, Eclipse, and Netbeans, and gain more understanding of concepts such as memory allocation, hierarchy viewing, adapters, and invalidation.
3. Mobile App Development in 27 Minutes: Android
Being able to learn Android app development in under 30 minutes may seem absurd for many. But this course offered by Udemy lets you do it in just 27 minutes, and you don’t need any prior knowledge of programming.
In this course, you will learn to develop a basic Android app, starting right from installing the Android Studio to connecting layout elements and storing Android Shared Preferences. By completing this course, you will have sufficient knowledge of how Android development works and will make it easier for you to follow advanced level courses.
4. Become an Android Developer from Scratch
This free android app development course offered by Udemy, as the name suggests, helps you to learn about Android programming from scratch and is compiled into a 12-hour on-demand video.
The course will equip you with everything you need to know about building high-quality, professional Android apps and how you can effectively deploy one in the Google Play Store. Although the entire course is free, if you pay a little amount, you will get a certificate on completion.
5. Android Kotlin Fundamentals
This course is ideal for beginners in Kotlin programming, but not for people who are entirely new to programming. As a prerequisite, experience in any object-oriented programming (OOP) languages like C++, Java, or Smalltalk is recommended.
By finishing this course, you will have proficient knowledge of app layouts, activity and fragment life cycles, and will also know how to connect your app to the internet to retrieve and display data.
6. Android Developer Fundamentals
The Android Developer Fundamentals course is aimed at educating beginners with basic Android programming concepts. The course revolves around building a variety of Android apps using Java, one of the most widely used programming languages.
This course was created by the Google Developers Training team, and as a prerequisite, you are required to know the basics of Java programming. Throughout the course, you will learn to use themes and styles, implement navigation strategies, and understand Material Design principles.
7. Developing Android Apps with Kotlin
This course was developed by Google in association with Udacity and will give you hands-on experience in creating Android apps that are on par with industry standards. The course introduces you to industry-proven tools and techniques that will help you to build apps with the least amount of code and errors.
Developing Android Apps with Kotlin also comprises several interactive quizzes and is taught by professionals in the industry. It may take approximately two months to complete, but since it is a self-paced course, you have all the freedom to progress the way you like.
8. Advanced Android Development
This course offers an advanced level of Android development training with the help of the Java programming language. It will help you to effortlessly add features such as custom views, location-awareness, animations, and more importantly, it includes the result-driven ways to expand the user experience of an app.
Advanced Android Development is recommended for experienced developers and will prepare you to certify yourself as an Associate Android Developer. On completion, you will be able to create fast and small Android apps with location detection features and physics-based animations.
9. Advanced Android in Kotlin
As this course is an advanced level program, it is recommended for those having coding experience with Kotlin, and not for beginners. The course comprises advanced topics of developing Android apps with Kotlin, such as Android notifications, login, advanced graphics and animation.
As a prerequisite for learning app development using Kotlin, the enrollers must be comfortable with installing and using the Android Studio, creating the layout, and connecting an app to the internet to retrieve and display data.
10. Advanced Android App Development
For those seeking to learn mobile app development to create advanced apps and acquire global users via the Google Play Store, this course is a classic choice. It is jointly developed by Google and Udacity and will take around six weeks to complete.
In this self-paced, online android app development course, you will learn to develop widgets, fragments, and how to leverage third-party libraries and services like Firebase Cloud Messaging and ExoPlayer. On completion, you will be fully-skilled to publish your apps on the Google Play Store.
10 Best Free iOS App Development Courses
1. Learn Swift Programming Syntax
This course offered by Udacity takes you through the essentials syntax of the Swift – the language used for iOS app development. The course will take approximately three weeks to complete.
By the end of this course, you will be able to apply Swift’s essential elements such as switch statements and optional types for building an iOS app.
2. How To Make An App For Beginners (iOS/Swift – 2019)
This course is a comprehensive iOS app development program, made specifically for beginners with zero expertise. It spans over a duration of 4.5 hours and gets right into easy-to-follow steps of app development in the very first lesson.
By the end of this course, you will be able to develop an iOS app using the Swift programming language and Xcode. You will also be guided through the process of submitting apps to the Apple App Store.
3. Start Developing iOS Apps (Swift)
Offered by the Apple Developer, this course is a perfect starting point for anyone planning to learn app development to create apps for the iPhone and iPad. As a prerequisite, enrollers are required to know the basics of the Swift Programming language. That doesn’t mean you have to be a Swift master, but someone who can read and understand Swift code.
The course will cover the major tools, concepts and best practices for faster iOS app development and will enable you to create a basic user interface (UI), and work with View Controllers.
4. Intro to iOS App Development with Swift
This course offered by Udacity will help you get familiar with the basics of iOS app development, and by the end of it, you will build an iOS app that makes your voice sound like a Chipmunk or Darth Vader.
The course is self-paced and will take approximately one month to complete. The course also contains several interactive quizzes to make learning app development as fun-filled and as quick as possible.
5. This Is How You Make iPhone Apps – iOS Development Course
This course is a comprehensive iOS mobile app development tutorial ideal for beginners having zero experience with coding. The entire course is divided into nine lessons, and by Lesson 3, you will learn how to code in the Objective-C programming language.
The course comprises four and a half hours of on-demand video, and by the end of it, you will have a fully-functional iOS app. It also covers information about every tool you need to develop an iOS app and the procedures for submitting your app to the Apple App Store.
6. Swift for Beginners
In this course, you will learn to use Swift, the programming language used to develop iOS apps. The course will introduce you to basics such as variables and types, if statements, and functions of the Swift programming language.
The course is self-paced and will take an approximate of 7 days to complete. It will cover all the fundamentals and core principles of Swift, necessary to get started with creating an iOS app.
7. Beginning iOS 13 Programming with Swift
This ultimate iOS app development course for beginners covers almost every aspect of developing iOS apps in the form of numerous tutorials. Although the course isn’t composed of on-demand videos, each lesson is well explained using simple-to-follow instructions and screenshots.
This iOS programming course covers almost every aspect of iOS app development, starting with what you need to begin iOS programming to iOS game development tutorials.
8. Learn Swift Series (2019)
Offered by Skillshare, the course is specially designed for beginners having no programming experience. It will take you through the core concepts of Swift programming, such as functions, parameters, if-statements, and data types.
Learn Swift Series is composed of 19 lessons, which will take around three hours to complete. By the end of the course, you will have a solid Swift development foundation.
9. Swift for Developers
This course is a quick introduction to the basics of Swift programming, which includes concepts such as variables, constants, and functions. It is self-paced and will take an average of seven days to complete.
The course is offered by Udacity in association with AT&T, and upon completion, you will be able to build an iOS app that creates and displays song lyrics based on user input.
10. iPhone App Development
This course offered by Stanford University, via Alison’s learning platform, will cover everything you need to know about Objective-C programming to create mesmerising iOS apps. It comprises up-to-date video tutorials that make learning app development a breeze.
The course spans a duration of 10-15 hours, and by the end of it, you will be able to develop apps that utilise the camera, accelerometer and location of an iPhone.
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All Things Considered…
These 20 free courses that allow you to learn app development were chosen based on their relevance, complexity, and most importantly, price (FOC). Do go through the details of each course and see if it fits your level of coding proficiency.