Career roadmap
Mobile developer roadmap
From language fundamentals to a store-published app, one path through UI, device APIs, and release engineering.
Timeframes assume a typical part-time pace. Faster or slower is fine; the order is what matters.
Language & platform choice
Weeks 1–6Commit to one lane. Kotlin for Android, Swift for iOS, or Dart/Flutter for cross-platform, and learn its idioms properly.
- You can build, run, and debug a starter app on a device
- You've chosen a lane and stopped relitigating it
UI & navigation
Weeks 7–13Declarative UI. Compose, SwiftUI, or Flutter widgets, plus navigation, theming, and layouts that survive rotation.
- You can build a multi-screen app with real navigation
- Your layouts survive small screens and dark mode
Data & device APIs
Weeks 14–20Apps earn their place by using the device: local storage, networking, camera, location, notifications, with permissions done right.
- Your app works offline and syncs when it can
- You request permissions like someone who's read the guidelines
Quality & release engineering
Weeks 21–26Tests, crash reporting, performance profiling, and the CI that produces signed builds ready for review.
- Your app has tests and a pipeline producing signed builds
- You can read a crash report and fix the actual cause
Ship to the store
Weeks 27–30Store listing, review process, analytics, and iteration, a published app is the portfolio piece nothing else matches.
- A published app with a store link on your resume
- A repo README that walks through architecture and decisions
Keep reading
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The proof-of-work strategy for breaking the no-experience loop: what to build, how to present it, and where the hidden hiring signals are.
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