My Opinion: Udacity Android Kotlin Developer Nanodegree Review 2024

My Story

First, a little bit about myself, I’m a Software Engineer currently working as a project manager, especially in the field of mobile solution development. With that being said, I’ve experience in Android development, and I was looking for a way to improve my skills in terms of best practices, app architecture, MVVM, Kotlin etc…
I found many interesting courses on many platforms, such as Udemy, but my decision to choose Udacity was motivated by the fact that the instructors are from Google.

This Udacity Become an Android Kotlin Developer Nanodegree review will help you a lot in understanding the program structure, its syllabus, duration, pros, and cons.

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Syllabus of Udacity’s Android Kotlin Nanodegree

The course syllabus is well-structured, it is divided into 4 courses and each course can have up to 6 lessons organized by level of importance. The courses also have challenging projects to practice your learning and implementations.

The only experience listed as a prerequisite is with Object-Oriented Programming, but I would suggest having a little experience with Kotlin. There is a Kotlin Bootcamp on Udacity that is free to take.

Let’s do a complete in-depth review of this android kotlin nanodegree from Udacity.

Course1: Developing Android Apps, Part 1

In Lesson 1, you will learn how to build a basic user interface, handle user input and Android lifecycle events, and create dynamic and navigable interfaces using constraint-based layouts. This course is divided into 5 lessons: Build your First App, Layouts, App Navigation, Activity and Fragment Lifecycle and App Architecture (UI Layer)

Project1: Build a Shoe Store Inventory App

In this project, you will build a multiscreen Android app and use fundamental Android development skills. You will set up a development environment, use Android Studio’s Layout Editor, and implement best practices for navigation and user interface in Android. You’ll also follow recommended Android app architecture guidance with ViewModel and LiveData lifecycle classes.

Course2: Developing Android Apps, Part 2

In this course, you will learn the best practices of Material Design to create a quality user experience and learn how to make an app more accessible to as many users as possible by implementing data persistence, using RecyclerView and using APIs to connect to store and retrieve data.

It is divided into 4 lessons: Recycler View, Connect to the Internet, Behind the Scenes, Designing for Everyone

Project2: Build an Asteroid Radar App

This project consists of building an app using a free, open-source API provided by the NASA JPL Asteroid team. You will create an application that connects to the internet to retrieve and display live data, implement networking best practices to fetch and display data and images, and create a database to store and access user data over time. You will also learn to use RecyclerView to create a clear and compelling UI to display the data. Finally, you will test your app with Talkback enabled and make your app more accessible for as many users as possible.

Course3: Advanced Android Apps with Kotlin, Part 1

In this course, you will learn how to enhance your application’s functionality and drive user engagement using Android’s robust notification system, building custom views, and using canvas drawing to allow for the update of a display based on data or user interactions.

You will also be able to create simple animations to enhance the presentation of the content and overall usability of the App.

This course contained 6 lessons: Using Notifications, Creating Custom Views, Drawing on Canvas Objects, Clipping Canvas Objects, Android Property Animations, and Using Motion Layout to Animate Android Apps.

Project: Design an App with Application Loading Status

In this project you will create an Android app that will download a file from the internet, and create notifications, custom views and animations to build a status bar in your app. You will also build custom views using canvas and paint, animate UI elements with property animations, and use MotionLayout to enhance the user experience of your app.

Course4: Advanced Android Apps with Kotlin, Part 2

This is the last course of the Nanodegree and in this course you will learn how to build an app with location awareness and Google Maps. You will also learn best practices and techniques for testing to enable you to scale your app quickly and safely while mitigating any negative effects, and how to use Firebase for authentication and remote storage.

The course is divided into 6 lessons: Wandering in Google Maps with Kotlin, Virtual Treasure Hunt with Geofences, Testing: Basics, Introduction to Test Doubles and Dependency Injection, Survey of Advanced Testing Topics, Implementing Login on Android with FirebaseUI.

Project: Build a Location Reminder App

In this project, your app will remind users to perform an action when the user is at a specific location. The app consists of a To-do List that includes Google Maps and location services. You’ll learn how to add Google Maps and style map views in your Android application and enable location services and tracking. With location services and reminders.

Project2: CAPSTONE PROJECT: Design and Build an Android App

This project is the opportunity to design and build either 1) a custom Android application inspired by your own idea or 2) a Political Preparedness application that will deliver civic data to the end-user via the app. You’ll apply skills acquired throughout the Nanodegree to design an engaging user interface that incorporates data from RESTful interfaces and web APIs, and utilizes mobile hardware to enhance application functionality and provide an engaging user experience. The project will allow you to showcase recommended Android app architecture patterns, delivering a highly functional and scalable application that takes full advantage of the Android platform.

In this Udacity Android Kotlin Developer Nanodegree review, I will try to focus on the details of the program and find out is it worth to learn Android Kotlin from Udacity

My Project Experience

The learning style in Udacity is very easy to follow. Video or lecture + quizzes, also the course is maintained up to date which is valuable. One bad note for me here is the exercise style: the instructions give you all the steps needed to accomplish the task. An improvement in my opinion would be to give high-level instructions and let the learner try to resolve things by himself.
On the other side, I really appreciated doing all the projects. They were very challenging and the hardest one for me was the project in course 3: creating custom views and loading status. It was the first time I worked on that kind of project. But hopefully, mentor was there to help you with your issues. The time to answer is very short, so will have quick advice.

How much I paid for this Nanodegree?

As mentioned on the course page, one can get access after paying $399/month. ($1200 for 3 months).

Overall, the course’s price is not cheap. Luckily I had a coupon of 70% that is also why I enrolled in the nanodegree.

Tip: Some content is from the Kotlin Bootcamp, I will Highly recommend enrolling first in the Udacity Kotlin Bootcamp in order to pass less time on those content in the Nanodegree. It could save you money as you may finish before the estimated time

Lastly, I always recommend you to stick to the date of completion and deadlines of the projects.

Completing More in Less Time

As mentioned before, I already have some background in Android development, so it was easy for me to finish some courses quickly. Overall, I graduated in less than 2 months. That helped me save money (4 months is the estimated timeline). I learned well from the Kotlin Bootcamp and skip that part from the Nanodegree.
Also, sometimes I spent the whole day (about 9h) on the Nanodegree depending on my free time.

Now in this review of Udacity’s Android Kotlin developer Nanodegree, I will cover the features, advantages, and disadvantages.

What I like about Udacity(Pros):

Mentorship

Mentors are always there to help, they are very active and always pushing you to accomplish your project by giving advice, sharing tips and links for documentation, and they can also analyze your code to recommend best practices

Project reviews

Well-structured project review format. You have to pass all the requirements in the project in order to validate it. Validate all projects will ensure you to obtain the Udacity certificate at the end. If some part of the project failed during a review, the reviewer will point it out and give you a recommendation and guide you to related documentation.
It could also happen that one reviewer did not pass a requirement and another submission another reviewer validate it. Don’t be frustrated by that

Career services

One of the feature I like a lot in Udacity is the Career Services. It helped me to work on my online professional profile in order to boost my career by analyzing my LinkedIn & GitHub profile, my resume and making a recommendation. The Career service also provided a valuable resource in order to have the most impactful profile on these site cited above. I did not use the 1:1 meeting with a coach and think it is not available any more on Udacity since May 2021

What I didn’t like about Udacity(Cons):

I found Udacity to be pretty expensive for a beginner. I suggest enrolling in the course when there is good discount available (up to 50% or 75%).

I also think Udacity should provide minimum instructions while doing exercises or projects. This can compel students to do more research and find a way out.

Conclusion:

Beside the price consideration, this nanodegree was valuable for me, I learned new features in Android development as well as best practices. The Career Services feature was definitely valuable since I worked a lot on my professional online profile.
Working on a realistic project is always a good way to improve skills and put into practice what you’ve learned so far. It will also make you confident for interview I don’t regret taking the Android nanodegree program, I will recommend it for whom budget is not a problem.

Job Scenario

The average salary earned by the Android Developer in the US market is $108,763 per annum. Entry-level Android developer salary is around $76, 744. It’s the skill and the experience gained which can increase your salary above the market average. A Median Salary for an Android Developer in India is 4 Lakh per annum to 10 Lakh per annum depending upon location, skill, and experience. Android Developers are also in demand in various freelance marketplaces such as Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc. 

FAQs of Udacity Become an Android Kotlin Developer Nanodegree

1. Why should I enroll in this Udacity Become an Android Kotlin Developer Nanodegree?

Android is a leading mobile operating system with over 75% of the global market share. This can be your best time and opportunity to learn Kotlin with Android App development and become a professional Android Kotlin Developer.

2. What jobs will this Udacity Become an Android Kotlin Developer Nanodegree prepare me for?

This Udacity Become an Android Kotlin Developer Nanodegree will help you to prepare for the job role of junior to mid-level Android Kotlin Developer.

3. How do I know if this program is right for me?

This Nanodegree is specially designed to prepare you for the job role of a professional junior or mid-level Android Developer or Android Kotlin Developer with the help of various concepts and realistic projects.

The purpose of this article is to find out whether the new android kotlin nanodegree is worth recommending to you or not.

This nanodegree is well updates as it replaced earlier android one in december. There are very few reviews available on the internet.

I've completed my first project on the program. Program's content is great but not just content. I used mentor support too. It was fast and valuable. I am so excited for the next step. #AndroidDev #Kotlin #udacity #nanodegree

— Archi (@archiiidev) December 28, 2020