How and why I built A native Android English Vocabulary app
About me
I am a native Android developer. I am an indie dev and freelancing as an Android developer. I have also worked at a startup and for large companies.
The problem I wanted to solve
I wanted a vocabulary app for native speakers. When I searched in google play I only found apps for people who did not know English.
What is A native Android English Vocabulary app ?
I built a native Android vocabulary app that tracks specific vocabulary words and gives you all the words information such as multiple definitions, a wiki link, etymology(for premium users), synonyms & antonyms, the ability to pronounce words, multiple example sentences and a searchable note section.
Tech stack
Native Android dev. This project uses MVVM and data binding. I have clean code.
Firebase for the backend and lots of other features, life deferred deep-links, remote config, analytics,crash reporting, google login and auth, firebase ads and more . Mixpal for analytics. Many Google services including the support library, in-app purchases and google auth.
The process of building A native Android English Vocabulary app
I started with finding a suitable dictionary api. I then created an MVP with the barebone of what I wanted in the project.
Challenges I faced
The most interesting challenge I have faced is when my users started to grow and the api I used started costing a huge amount of money. I had to figure out how to keep the app running without loosing any feature and dramtically reducing the api cost.
Key learnings
I should have made projections of the API vs user usage. This would have made me choose a different API when I started building the app.
Check out the app here : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.clearfaun.spencerdepas.vc
Tips and advice
Projects take a long time to finish. Because of this consider long terms goals.
Final thoughts and next steps
I am currently working on marketing the app. I would like to increase the amount of money it generates.
In my opinion, learning English is the most popular activity among all people in the world, because you can be any specialist, but if you want to develop, then you cannot do without English. I study at promova.com, and I like this platform because there are full-fledged language learning courses, where there is an emphasis on both grammar and vocabulary.