15+ Best Mobile App Development Courses for Beginners
Would you like to become a mobile app developer?
The mobile app development field is wide and it can be tough to choose a path.
It’s possible to be at crossroads when it comes to deciding between learning iOS or Android development. Consequently, it may be challenging to determine what programming languages and development environments you may need to learn.
From Swift to Dart Programming, and Xcode to Android Studio, there are plenty of options at your disposal, making it especially easy to get overwhelmed as a beginner.
To make your search process simpler, I’ve compiled the best mobile app development courses online.
These tutorials will enable you to build all types of applications, including games, chat, and networked apps, among others.
In this guide, I’ll take you through the best mobile app development courses for beginners online for building high-quality, native, and cross-platform apps.
Let’s get started.
1. iOS & Swift – The Complete iOS App Development Bootcamp [Udemy]
This mobile app development Bootcamp may be the right option to quickly master Swift for iOS development.
By taking this course, you’ll be able to:
Use the SwiftUI framework comprehensively in a manner that greatly simplifies coding. This is therefore one of the best app development courses on Udemy for building native iOS apps with ease.
Prototype your idea while factoring in import UI parameters, and design wireframes to smoothen your app development process.
After taking this course, you’ll become an iOS app developer and know where to freelance. You’ll also be able to start an app-based business, making this the best mobile app development course online for your business.
While there are a few outdated course sections to watch out for, you also get lots of additional resources that you can use to stay ahead. Namely, you’ll get a coding eBook and design assets you can use to tap into modern app design trends.
2. Android App Development Specialization [Coursera]
If you’re more interested in android app development, this specialization will point you in the right direction.
After taking this course, you’ll be able to:
- Understand the Java language and how to use core classes and features to develop apps for android, thanks to several hands-on projects to get you acquainted with Android Studio and other tools.
- Use Robotium and JUnit for engineering maintainable apps. This is therefore one of the best app development courses on Coursera for building scalable and reliable Android apps.
- Comfortably fit into any junior developer role, courtesy of an excellent capstone project in the final part of the specialization, that recaps all the knowledge you’ve learned along the way
However, this course provides little skeleton code to work with compared to most specializations. Nevertheless, this is a strategic approach that is geared toward unlocking your creative app customization potential.
3. Flutter: Part 01 Introduction [LinkedIn Learning]
As far as cross-platform, app-building is concerned, this is easily a contender for the best app development course on LinkedIn Learning.
This Flutter training will teach you how to:
- Use cross-platform app testing tools, and turbocharge Android Studio with Flutter. Therefore, you gain skills you would otherwise only find in the best Flutter courses online.
- Observe best practices for using Google Flutter, and its Dart programming language, to create a single codebase, reliable across various screen resolutions.
- Use Xcode with Flutter to also build close-to-native iOS mobile applications. So if you’d like to build high-performing cross-platform apps, this is one of the best mobile app development courses online you could try out.
While this course doesn’t use the latest versions of Android Studio and Flutter, the concepts it teaches are well manageable even if you rely on the latest software versions for the tutorial.
4. iOS 14 Getting Started [PluralSight]
This beginner-friendly iOS 14 training is an excellent choice if you don’t have experience with Swift and Xcode, and would like to learn more about both.
After taking this course, you’ll learn how to:
- Adhere to Swift 5 coding best practices to build apps with several screens, and seamlessly bridge the navigation across them.
- Build adaptive user interfaces for iOS native apps using SwiftUI, making this one of the best app development courses on PluralSight to learn UI design.
- Use Xcode 12 to create single view applications, in addition to modeling app behavior using data-driven controls.
While you will be building apps for iOS14, the great news is that any app built against the iOS14 SDK will also be able to run on the latest iOS15 devices. So it’s still the best mobile app development course online as your apps can also tap into the iOS15 market as well.
5. The Complete Android N Developer Course [Udemy]
This covers Android Nougat and teaches you android app development using Java programming.
Through this course, you’ll learn how to :
- Host your apps on the web with free web hosting. This is therefore the best app development course on Udemy for building extremely scalable apps.
- Generate revenue with your application and observe all submission guidelines and fine print involved in getting approval for the Google PlayStore.
- Create various layouts and themes for Android N due to the huge bundle of templates provided for Android N, including icons and backgrounds. It is for this reason that this is one of the best mobile app development courses online.
Unfortunately, this course teaches Java for app development, which involves a lot more coding work compared to a modern programming language like Kotlin. Even so, once you learn Java, you can easily switch to Kotlin thanks to excellent interoperability.
6. Build a Mobile App with Google Sheets on Glide and No Coding [Coursera]
If you’d like to build apps but don’t want to get bogged down by any programming technicalities, you’ll find that this is an excellent tutorial.
This course will teach you how to:
- Use Google sheets to create data structures, which will provide the data sources to support the mobile app you’d want to build.
- Easily build apps using the powerful, no-code app builder, Glide. Consequently, this is the best app development course on Coursera for building apps fast without programming experience
- Gain the practical skills necessary to pass interviews and get a developer job without experience.
Unfortunately, no-code app development often offers limited flexibility, as you only get access to bare features and functions. Still, it remains the best mobile app development course online for building apps fast without having to learn to program.
7. iOS 14 Development Essential Training [LinkedIn Learning]
If you’d like to get started building apps for the huge iOS 14 market, this is the training to get you acquainted with iOS’s most trusted development environment.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:
- Customize the Xcode interface and use popover, detail, and list views to add navigational and interactive features to the apps you build.
- Create your own storyboards while observing the standards and best practices for creating beautiful iOS layouts, making this one of the best mobile app development courses online for iOS developers.
- Use the Swift programming language and the SwiftUI to build user interfaces via declarative syntax.
While the course support for this mobile app development training could be better, you won’t have to deal with deprecated features, so it’s still one of the best app development courses on LinkedIn Learning for modern iOS app building.
8. Working with Android Tools and Testing [PluralSight]
For proper software quality assurance, it’s important to know how to leverage Android Studio and its expansive features for comprehensive debugging.
Through this course, you’ll learn how to:
- Implement automated user interface tests with Android Studio, which will save you the time and trouble of performing manual tests that may be error-prone.
- Perform local JVM unit tests efficiently to test drive your app prototypes so you can pick out exceptions and bugs before they reach end-user devices.
- Use Android Studio productivity tools like automatic code generation and refactoring, making this one of the best app development courses on PluralSight to speed up building.
While the majority of this mobile app development tutorial focuses on testing at the expense of building apps, it’s an excellent tutorial to add an important design aspect to your skillset that could save you tons of time.
9. Flutter & Dart – The Complete Guide (2023 Edition) [Udemy]
For building cross-platform apps that could easily pass for native apps, this mobile app development training may be perfect for you.
By taking this course, you’ll learn how to:
- Build apps that can tap into a phone’s hardware, such as the camera and more. This is therefore the best mobile app development course online to make cross-platform apps that behave just like native apps.
- Create beautiful images for your mobile apps then schedule and automate push notifications for important user updates.
- Unlock Flutter’s unique advantages over React Native and other cross-platform IDEs, and use debugging shortcuts to create quality apps.
While you may have to work around a few outdated plugins, it’s still the best app development course on Udemy if you’d like to get into advanced Dart programming. You’ll get to learn the full set of Flutter features needed to create complex app designs.
10. Build Your First Android App (Project-Centered Course) [Coursera]
This is the mobile app development tutorial will show you how to tap into the immense Android market through quality Android native apps.
After taking this course, you’ll learn how to:
- Build a storyboard for new projects, while approaching mobile design from the user’s point of view. It is for this reason that this is one of the best app development courses on Coursera for creating user-oriented apps.
- Become an Android app developer who can not only create simple designs like Hello World but more advanced, interactive, and multi-feature applications.
- Use the Kotlin programming language to build and customize your apps in Android Studio.
Being a project-focused mobile app development tutorial, you may find that this course doesn’t focus too much on theory. On the other hand, this makes it one of the best mobile app development courses online if you’d like to learn mostly by practice.
11. Android Studio Essential Training 2020 [LinkedIn Learning]
For a quick introduction to Google’s official IDE and Kotlin, this is the course to sum it all up in concise and important chapters.
After taking this course, you’ll be able to:
- Filter LogCat messages to quickly analyze your code and find and fix any problems. Consequently, this is the best app development course on LinkedIn Learning for debugging.
- Clone a GitHub repository and build a data source for your app. Moreover, you’ll also be able to manage this repository’s branches with Git.
- Put important code writing shortcuts to practice so you can speed up your designs.
You may have to go through a few extra steps when installing the Android Emulator on a processor other than Intel CPU. Regardless, it is still an excellent tutorial no matter your computer hardware because you get excellent instructor support to quickly resolve any problems.
12. iOS Networking with REST APIs [PluralSight]
With this iOS networking training, you’ll understand how web services work, and the techniques for connecting your app to databases on the internet.
By taking this course, you’ll learn how to:
- Configure URL requests. In particular, you’ll be able to make POST and PUT and DELETE requests to manipulate how your app accesses server resources.
- Create codable data models and perform custom data encoding and decoding.
- Work with background threats and handle any errors. It is therefore the best app development course on PluralSight to troubleshoot iOS network problems.
You may want to have good familiarity with Xcode and Swift before taking this intermediate-level mobile app development training. With the right foundations, it is one of the best mobile app development courses online to learn how to integrate web services to create a powerfully networked app.
13. React Native: The Practical Guide (2023 Edition) [Udemy]
Would you like to build iOS or Android apps?
If you can’t decide between Kotlin or Swift, this is the mobile app development tutorial to enable you to build both iOS and Android apps with one programming language.
Through this course, you’ll learn how to:
- Connect your app to a backend server, making this one of the best app development courses on Udemy, if you’re also keen on backend development.
- Know when to use the React Native CLI and the Expo CLI to fast-track app development or settle for more in-depth features.
- Debug apps using the in-platform debugger tool to identify problems with the UI and the codebase. Consequently, it provides excellent mobile app development training for troubleshooting React Native apps.
Unfortunately, it’s crucial to bring in JavaScript and React knowledge into this class. However, there are plenty of refreshers within the training as well.
14. iOS Development for Creative Entrepreneurs Specialization [Coursera]
To gain Fluency in Objective-C and Swift for iOS app development, this may be the right mobile app development tutorial for you.
This course will teach you how to:
- Create a gaming app that can tap into an iOS smartphone’s sensors, making this the best app development course on Coursera for creating immersive gaming experiences.
- Implore SpriteKit user interface concepts, that you may also find in some of the best SpriteKit courses online to create beautiful 2D games with nice interfaces.
- Master JSON Syntax. As a result, you’ll be able to write well-formed JSON and thereby make networked iOS apps that can interact with web services.
From Objective-C to Swift and SpriteKit, this course covers a lot of ground and may seem intimidating to beginners. On the upside, it is one of the best mobile app development courses online because you get so much value as this training touches many design aspects.
15. Swift 5 Essential Training [LinkedIn Learning]
If you’d like to master Swift 5 for building apps for the entire Apple ecosystem, this is the mobile app development training to show you the ropes.
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:
- Handle the errors that arise in Swift 5 app development, making this one of the best app development courses on LinkedIn Learning for debugging iOS apps.
- Create protocols, classes, and structs to store variables of different data types to power the apps you’ll learn to build.
- Use conditional logic to control the flow of code, thanks to real-life examples drawn from past app projects. In the end, you’ll gain the practical context to implement various Swift components.
Unfortunately, while the course is well-structured, you may not find adequate support due to instructor unavailability. Nonetheless, it remains the best mobile app development course online for Swift 5 due to its high practicality.
Conclusion
Would you be interested in iOS app development?
If so, why not try the iOS & Swift – The Complete iOS App Development Bootcamp?
It’s perfect for learning Xcode and Swift programming right from the basics and even holds your hand careerwise with some excellent freelancing tips.
Conversely, if you’d be more inclined toward building apps for the Android market, you may find that the Android App Development Specialization is a great choice. It covers major Android Studio tools, as well as unit testing.
That said, remember some of the best mobile app development courses for beginners online also include cross-platform app development with React Native and Flutter. So it’s also easy to combine the best of both worlds.
