Guides / How to build

How to Make an Android App: From Idea to Google Play

How to make an Android app: Android Studio vs cross-platform vs an AI builder, testing on real phones, AAB files, target API rules and Google Play.

Mythex Team · 2026-11-01 · 6 min read

To make an Android app, choose how to build it (native Kotlin in Android Studio, a cross-platform framework like Flutter or React Native, or a web app wrapped for Android with a tool such as an AI builder), build and test it on real Android phones, then package it as an Android App Bundle and publish it through Google Play Console. Android is the friendlier platform to start on: the tools run on Windows, Mac and Linux, you can install test builds on your own phone, and the store account costs a one-time fee rather than a yearly one. Here's the full path.

Three ways to build an Android app

Native: Kotlin and Android Studio

Android Studio is Google's free development environment. You write the app in Kotlin, design screens with Jetpack Compose, and run it on an emulator or a phone plugged in by USB.

Choose native if you're a developer, or want to become one, and the app needs deep access to Android: background services, Bluetooth hardware, widgets, or custom camera work. Expect a learning curve of months if you're starting from zero.

Cross-platform: Flutter or React Native

These frameworks let you write one app that runs on Android and iPhone. They're a strong choice when you want an installed app with a near-native feel on both platforms and have developer skills, or a developer.

Web-wrapped: a web app inside an Android shell

Here the app is a web app, and a tool like Capacitor packages it as an installable Android app. This is how Mythex makes Android apps. You build the app by describing it in chat; Mythex builds a full-stack web app with a database and storage; you publish it; then, on the Pro plan, Mythex builds it for Android on its own build machines. You don't install Android Studio.

The trade-off is honest: the screens are web pages. That's fine for booking, ordering, tracking, portals and most business apps. It's the wrong choice for a fast 3D game.

Step 1: Pin down what the Android app does

Write the core flow in one or two sentences. Example: "Delivery drivers see today's stops in order, tap one to open directions, and mark it delivered with a photo." Then list the phone features it needs. Camera and location here; nothing exotic.

If you're unsure whether your idea needs to be a phone app at all, our mobile app ideas guide explains which ideas genuinely benefit from being on a phone.

Step 2: Build the first version

With an AI builder

Describe the app as you'd explain it to a new colleague:

Build an app for delivery drivers. A dispatcher logs in on a laptop, adds today's stops (customer name, address, phone, notes) and assigns them to a driver. Drivers log in on their Android phone and see their stops in order. Tapping a stop shows the details and a button to open directions in Google Maps. The driver marks a stop delivered by taking a photo, which is saved with the time. Phone-first layout for drivers, a table view for the dispatcher.

Build it in the Mythex Android app builder, test it in the live preview, and publish it as a web app first. That gives you a link to try on any phone before you make the Android build.

With code

Create a new project in Android Studio, build one screen at a time, and run it on a real device as early as possible. Keep the first version to the core flow; settings screens and polish come later.

Step 3: Test on real Android phones

Android runs on thousands of device models, so test more widely than you would for iPhone:

• A small, older phone to catch cramped layouts and slow performance.
• A large, recent phone to check that layouts stretch sensibly.
• Large text and dark mode turned on in system settings.
• A weak connection, by walking to the edge of Wi-Fi coverage or using a slow mobile network.
• The back button. Android users expect it to work everywhere, so check it doesn't exit the app unexpectedly.

Step 4: Understand the file Google wants

Google Play requires new apps to be uploaded as an Android App Bundle (AAB). Google turns it into optimised installs for each device. Two rules apply to every upload:

• A higher version code each time. Google rejects a bundle whose versionCode isn't above the last one.
• A recent target API level. As of November 2026, new apps and updates must target Android 16 (API level 36), a rule that took effect on 31 August 2026.

On Mythex, the build number is chosen for you, above anything already on Google Play. If Google refuses a build, the reason goes back to the agent, which fixes the app and builds again.

An AAB can't be installed directly on a phone. To try a build, upload it to an internal testing track in Play Console and install it from the Play Store as a tester.

Step 5: Set up Google Play Console

You need a Google Play developer account. As of November 2026 registration costs a one-time 25 USD, and you need a government ID and a card in your legal name. Choose:

• Personal account if you're an individual. New personal accounts must run a closed test with at least 12 testers, opted in for at least 14 days in a row, before applying for production access, and must verify access to an Android device.
• Organisation account if you have a registered company. This needs more verification, but skips the 12-tester rule.

Then create the app in Play Console: name, default language, app or game, free or paid. The package name, which the first upload sets, is permanent.

Step 6: Upload and test

You can upload your AAB by hand under a testing track, or let a tool do it. Mythex offers both:

• Without connecting Google Play, the Android build is a file you download and upload yourself.
• With your own Google Play service account connected, every Android build goes straight to your app's internal testing track, and the agent can manage the store listing for you. Anything public, such as a production release, needs your go-ahead first.

Our step-by-step guide to publishing an app on Google Play covers the listing, Data safety form, content rating and review in detail.

Step 7: Release and update

When testing is done and production access is granted, create a production release, choose the countries, and roll it out. After that, updates follow the same path.

With a web-wrapped app there's a useful difference: because the Android app opens your published web app, everyday changes, such as new screens, fixed bugs or new content, reach Android users when you click Publish. You only need a new store build for things that live in the shell, such as the app icon, name, permissions or a new target API level.

What it costs

Android or iPhone first?

Look at your audience. In many countries most phones run Android, and its developer account is cheaper and testing is easier, so it's often the sensible first platform. If your users are mostly on iPhone, read how to make an iPhone app. If you want both, how to make a mobile app compares the approaches that share one codebase.