How to Become a Google Certified Android Developer?

Android, the world’s most used mobile operating system. Many features of it make it different and better from other mobile operating systems. Learning Android App Development is a great skill in itself. The process of learning about android development is quite challenging and exciting. Just think, if you get an official certificate from Google and it proves that you are a good Android app developer, then how good it will be. This will create an impact and will help to grow your carrier in the android development field. 

In this article, we will find out all about this certification program through Google. We will also know what the process is for getting a certificate for yourself.

What is the AAD Certification Program by Google Developers?

AAD, stands for Associate Android Developer. The AAD Certificate is officially provided by Google Developers after going through a project-based evaluation process and an online interview. The certificate helps android app developers to stand out from the crowd. Through this evaluation process, you can also know whether you are industry-ready or not. You will be given a certificate and a virtual badge with it. You can use that badge on your social media handles and also as an email signature. The Associate Android Developer certificate and the badge have many advantages. 

Advantages of Being a Google Certified Android Developer

• You can use the tag as an Associate Android Developer and Google Certified Android Developer in your resume, social media profiles, and anywhere along with the badge.
• Your chances of getting hired as an Android app developer are becoming very high.
• You can get more salary and perks after being a certified android developer.
• You can get more clients and they may pay you a large amount of money for developing or enhancing their app.
• You will be recognized as a more authentic android developer over developers with no certificate.
• Also, you can get a chance to participate in the summit for android developers. In which, all expenses are paid by Google.

There are many more perks and advantages for a Certified android developer. So, if you want to make your carrier in android development, then this certificate is really going to be worthwhile for you.

How to Get a Certificate and Badge for Yourself?

The following steps should be followed to become a Google Certified Android Developer. You have to do registration and pay the fee for the examination first. Let’s do it from the beginning and in steps.

Step 1: Check your abilities

The first step is to check the abilities of yourself. Whether you are ready to participate in the exam or not. For checking it, you can refer to the official syllabus in which the topics are mentioned, which can be asked in the exam. If you are not sure enough about those topics, we would suggest you brush up your skills for them. Cause there is only one attempt for the exam if you are not able to qualify in one attempt. In order to sit in the exam again, you have to repay the whole fee. So, please ensure that you have studied all the topics and are comfortable with those which may be told you to implement in the exam.

Step 2: Apply for the exam

Now you have to apply for the exam in this step. Go to the Google Developer official web page which is dedicated to certification. There you will see an option for the Associate Android Developer program certification. Click on learn more and signup button.

 You will be redirected to a new page where you will see two options. One is for sign up with Kotlin and another is for Signup with Java. 

Choose your preferred language and then on the new page you will see official instructions related to the exam with a button for purchasing the exam. 

Clicking on that will land you on a new page where you have to upload your ID proof and, after that, you have to pay the fee. The fee is $149 or if you are from India, then you have to pay 6500 INR. 

ID proof can be your passport or Driving License and other documents are also accepted, varying depending on the country. You can check it on the official webpage for developer certification by Google. After successfully submitting the fee and identification proofs, you have now successfully applied for the exam.

Step 3: Give the Exam

After applying, you have a button for starting with the exam. Whenever you click on that button you will be given a project which you have to import into an android studio, and there will also be guidelines that you have to do in that project. You will be told to add new features, debugging, testing the application, and fix some bugs. The guidelines will be there about what things you have to do in that application. You also have to submit the completed project within 8 hours of starting the exam. Before starting the examination, you also have to add a custom plugin from an android studio which is named as Google Developers Certification plugin. This will monitor your exam and the exam will be automatically submitted in 8 hrs after starting. So, complete the project on time.

Step 4: Give the online interview

After successfully submitting your project, you will be notified soon about whether you have qualified for this round or not. After qualifying, you will have an exit interview which is supposed to be on zoom and is supposed to be for 30 minutes. In the interview, you will be asked basic questions about the projects which you have just completed in the previous round. Also, the questions can come from the basic concepts of programming and android. After having the interview, you will be notified soon on your email that you have qualified for the online interview round or not. Qualifying for this round will make you a Google Certified Associate Android Developer.

Note: Screenshots and instructions are given for Step 1. For Step 2 and Step 3, we are not able to provide the screenshots because, to do that, we have to pay the fee again. Therefore, detailed instructions are provided for Step 2 and Step 3 without screenshots.

Study Materials

At GeeksforGeeks, we have already created exceptional and quality-level content for Android Development. According to Google Experts, they have divided the exam syllabus into five major topics. The topics are Core Android Fundamentals, Creation of user interfaces, Data management, Debugging, and Testing. We have listed some important subtopics for these major topics. In the table below, we are linking all the subtopics of android, which are very very important for this exam. After going through these subtopics in a detailed manner, a newbie will start developing better android apps and these topics will also help him to qualify for the exam.

For the complete Android Tutorial refer to: Android Tutorial

Note: These topics are important, and you should learn about each of the mentioned topics in a detailed manner. Also, you should visit the official webpage for the study guide for this certification exam and learn about the implementation of each topic mentioned there.

Conclusion

This is all about the Google Developers Certification for Associate Android Developer. Hope you enjoyed reading the article and it has been informative for you. Try to learn each topic in detail which may be asked for implementation in the project-based evaluation exam.