13 Best App Development Courses for Beginners in 2023

If you look at the statistics, you will find that mobile app developers’ average current annual salary is $66,857.

This number is enough to lure many beginners who want to be app developers. However, becoming a mobile app developer is not an easy process.

As a beginner developer, you will need to learn systematically to make your app. If you want to become an expert app developer, then take help from these 10 best mobile app development courses.

Whether you have immersed partially in app development before or are a complete newbie, there are several beginner app development courses to help you learn mobile app development online.

But, before you choose any course for you, consider which mobile app development platform will best suit your requirements. Looking at some stats, Android has the largest market share with 2.87 million apps, whereas iOS comes second with 1.96 million apps.

Once you made up your mind to learn and offer the best app development services, find the right mobile app development course from the list we have shared in this blog. But before doing that, make sure you know the steps to learn mobile app development.

How To Learn Mobile App Development?

This is a five-step guide to help you learn mobile app development. So let’s begin!

1. Choose One Platform

   The first step that you need to take in order to learn app development is choosing a platform. There are plenty of platforms; however, iOS and Android are dominating the mobile app industry.

   All the platforms have a unique set of features. Consider the one which is beneficial for you.

   No doubt, you can attempt to master every operating system. However, this is not recommended. Focus to cover only one and then explore other app developing platforms as well.

   If you choose to code with Swift or Objective-C for iOS, then you need to look into Xcode.

   

   Image Source: Xcode

   On the other hand, Android Developers will need to know about Android Studio.

   

   Image Source: Android Studio

   These programs will give you the tools to help you software design and publish the apps on respective platforms.

2. Learn Essential Background Skills

   To be an expert in app development, you must possess the software development skills and knowledge.

   But before you jump to the conclusion, it is essential to find your level of programming knowledge and skills.

   1. If you have experience in web development and want to learn how to build mobile apps, then choose various useful tools and frameworks that are common on both platforms, such as the Appcelerator Titanium framework.

   This will help you to transit your website development skills to mobile app development and make it easy for you to learn the required skills.

   2. If you do not have any experience in coding, but you have a basic knowledge of object-oriented programming, you can easily learn to develop Android and iOS apps.

   3. If you are a complete newbie, you can opt for various mobile app development online courses.

3. Select The Best App Development Online Courses

   You can easily find online courses on various sites like Coursera, Pluralsight, and that too for free (Note: Some of them do charge a fee).

   To make this easy for you, we have also shared the best online courses to to jumpstart your mobile app development career. Go through them one-by-one and find which one will best suit your requirements.

4. Mastering The Coding Skills

   Once you have selected the platform, this will be the next step to master its core concepts.

   For iOS

   You can choose one of the programming languages, either Swift or Objective-C. However, it depends solely on the reason for learning iOS app development.

   If you want to develop an app to create your own products, then Swift is the best choice. However, if you have a plan to join a app development company, then learn Objective-C first.

   The simple reason is that there is tons of documentation meant for Objective-C. You will also need to maintain or fix the code.

   For Android

   For creating an Android app, you will need to learn either Java or Kotlin. Those who are a newbie can take help from Google’s Android Developer Library. These are well-documented and a comprehensive set of training materials.

   Also, make sure that you know about the various types of Android devices in the market. In the beginning, it may create confusion. But later, you will get the potential to reach a wider market.

5. Move To Other Platforms

   Once you have mastered the first platform, try to move to the next platform. These steps to learn app development will remain the same.

   Increase your chances of getting selected for any app development task by learning app development for various platforms. However, each platform comes with its unique set of features. Therefore, please don’t forget to modify your app accordingly.

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Best App Development Courses

1. Coursera – Foundations of Objective-C App Development

   

   Image Source: Coursera

   Instructors	Don Patterson, Associate Professor; Sam Kaufman, Partner at Gradient
   Price	Free and Paid ($39/month)
   Duration	15 Hours
   Skill Level	Beginner
   Certification	Yes, on course completion

   Many iOS developers prefer to build apps using Objective-C. If this is also on your list, then this app development course of Coursera will give you a foundation in this language.

   Moreover, you will get to know the basics of iOS app development. It will also make it easy for you to read and write this language, organize your code professionally using objects and blocks, and prototype several entry-level apps.

   Once you learn the basics with the help of this app development course, go for the extensive iOS app development course if you want to pursue iOS Development for creative entrepreneurs specialization. This way, you will get hands-on coding exercises and cover a lot to enhance your skills.

2. Pluralsight – iOS 11 Fundamentals

   

   Image Source: Pluralsight

   Instructors	Simon Allardice, Author
   Price	Free and Paid ($29/month)
   Duration	4 Hours
   Skill Level	Beginner
   Certification	Yes, on course completion

   This app development course is ideal for those who have a bit of Swift experience and just need a little guidance for iOS app development.

   iOS 11 Fundamentals takes you through 6 different levels, such as app anatomy, adaptive user interfaces that work on multiple devices (including iPhone X).

   Also, the adaptive UI allows you to put buttons and labels on a screen and fetch data from the internet.

   With the help of this mobile app development course, sharpen up the skills you need and create your own app for an iOS operating system using Xcode 9 and Swift 4.

3. iTunes U – Developing iOS 9 Apps with Swift

   

   Image Source: iTunes U

   Instructors	Stanford’s School of Engineering
   Price	Free
   Duration	24 Hours
   Skill Level	Beginner
   Certification	No

   This is a free mobile app development course offered by Stanford’s School of Engineering. This high rated iOS course is updated for iOS 11 and Swift, and it is also free and available via iTunes U.

   This app development course will cover the introduction to Swift and interface design for mobile devices, memory management, and multi-threading.

   There are 46 different lessons, and the majority of them are presented in a video format.

4. Ray Wenderlich – Saving Data in iOS

   

   Image Source: Ray Wenderlich

   Instructors	Felipe Laso-Marsetti, Technical Lead; Ehab Yosry Amer, Lead iOS Developer; Christine Sweigart, Administrative Assistant & Video Editor; Adriana Kutenko, Graphic Illustrator
   Price	$9.99/month
   Duration	2 Hours
   Skill Level	Intermediate
   Certification	No

   This app development course offered by Ray Wenderlich offers a very specific but essential aspect of creating an app, which is the ability to save data.

   If you are looking for something like this, then this app development course is highly recommended. You will learn a lot through this course.

   There is no point in building an iOS app if a user cannot access their data after the initial session. Therefore, a developer must learn various ways to save data with iOS apps.

   This is an intermediate course, but you will get to learn working with property lists, encoding and decoding objects and using JSON.

   Moreover, this app development course is related to the iOS Data and Networking Learning Path to master networking. Later, you can build an app according to your required features, such as location awareness and push notifications.

5. Udacity – Android Basics by Google: Nanodegree Program

   

   Image Source: Udacity

   Instructors	Katherine Kuan, Developer Advocate, Google; Jessica Lin, Nanodegree Instructor; Jennie Kim Eldon, Product Lead for Android Nanodegree Programs, and Team
   Price	$399
   Duration	3 Months
   Skill Level	Beginner
   Certification	Awarded with Nanodegree Credential

   The best thing about Udacity’s Nanodegree programs is that they are built in collaboration with companies like Google, Amazon, and Mercedes-Benz.

   There are other Nanodegree programs, which include Data Analyst, Full Stack Web Developer, and VR Developer.

   However, this app development course also ensures to help people with no coding experience.

   This app development course focuses on providing you with real-world skills, ultimately to help you build Android apps.

   From the start of designing and building a basic single-page app to display information about a small business, you will come a long way.

   And at the end of this online course, you will progress in the stages of building an Android app, and you will also learn ways to expand the user experience.

6. Google Developers Training – Android Basics in Kotlin

   

   Image Source: Google Developers Training

   Instructors	Team of Expert Tutors
   Price	Free
   Duration	5 units, 28 Tracks & 6 Quizzes
   Skill Level	Beginner
   Certification	Yes, with passing certification exams

   Google Developers Training offers free Android Basics in Kotlin training to beginners who are new to programming.

   If you have started fresh, then you will begin with the Android programming concepts using the Kotlin language. This will also help you to build different apps using Android Studio.

   Once you complete the beginners’ course, you can explore other courses that are designed for experienced developers.

   These beginner courses cover everything that you need for Android app development to ace graphics, localization, and performance. You also get lifetime access to the online video courses.

   Later, you can move to other free mobile app development courses. And once you learn everything, give certification exams to earn certificates from Google.

7. Team Treehouse – Build a Simple Android App with Java

   

   Image Source: Team Treehouse

   Instructors	Ben Deitch, Teacher at Treehouse
   Price	$25/month
   Duration	3.5 Hours
   Skill Level	Beginner
   Certification	Yes, on course completion

   This app development course offered by Treehouse has a lot more for a beginner who wants to develop a simple Android App with Java. If you also need to build a simple app, then know the basics with the help of this course.

   You will learn how to use Android Studio and also the basics of the SDK. This app development course will cover the screen layout, refactoring your code, and testing and debugging within 3.5 hours.

8. Udemy – Android N: From Beginner to Paid Professional

   

   Image Source: Udemy

   Instructors	Mark Wahlbeck, CEO, Devslopes Academy
   Price	$117.46
   Duration	25 Hours On-demand Video Tutorials
   Skill Level	Beginner
   Certification	Yes, on course completion

   The aim behind designing this app development course for beginners is to make them understand coding principles and to make sure what they are doing and how to apply it in future projects.

   The course will help you to evolve from a complete beginner to a professional Android developer. In the beginning, you will learn how to code using Java.

   Later on, you will cover many topics, such as Git and Android, object-oriented programming, using maps and GPS.

9. edX – HarvardX’s Computer Science and Mobile Apps

   

   Image Source: edX

   Instructors	Doug Lloyd, Senior Preceptor; David J Malan, Gordon McKay Professor; Jordan Hayashi, Software Engineer; Brain Yu, Senior Preceptor
   Price	$358.96
   Duration	6 Months
   Skill Level	Beginner
   Certification	Yes, on course completion

   Harvard University’s Professional Certificate in CS and mobile applications makes it possible for a developer to create an app at a self-pace and implement an app design all their own.

   This course will help the beginners to master essential concepts for creating an app, like debugging, data structure, algorithms, and abstraction.

   This app development course will also ensure to provide a firm primer in important coding languages for mobile application development, such as Python, JavaScript, SQL, and React Native.

   Enhance your programming skills with the help of this course, and at the end of this app development course, you will learn to build mobile applications.

10. Udemy – Windows Phone Mobile App Development

    

    Image Source: Udemy

    Instructors	Tiffany Ford, a Professor & Computer Scientist
    Price	$21.75
    Duration	2 Hours On-demand Video
    Skill Level	Intermediate
    Certification	Yes, on course completion

    The basic idea of this Udemy course is to help developers to create mobile applications for the Windows Store with real-life project examples.

    Starting from creating the mobile applications for the Windows Store to deploy applications to the Windows marketplace for distribution, you will know all tips and suggestions.

    Moreover, this is one of the most useful app development courses if you have experience in C# programming to understand the lessons in a great way.

11. Mammoth Interactive – The Ultimate iOS 11 Course. Learn to Build Apps!

    

    Image Source: Mammoth Interactive

    Instructors	John Bura, Instructor
    Price	$500
    Lessons	56 Lessons
    Skill Level	Beginner
    Certification	No

    This is the best alternative to Objective-C, where aspiring developers will learn Swift as a modern programming language developed by Apple. This is relatively easy to learn without having prior coding knowledge. The instructor will guide you to learn iOS app development with XCode 9 and Swift 4.

    In this app development course, you will learn to build a simple calculator app from scratch, an RGB to Hex code color converter app, basics of game development to build a hangman game app, and a savings calculator app.

    For this, make sure you have a Mac computer and XCode 9. Throughout the course, you will cover many things, such as designing apps in Photoshop and Illustrator, also how to use ARKit, Apple’s platform for implementing augmented reality tools, and to use WatchKit to make Apple Watch apps.

12. Udemy – The Complete iOS 10 & Swift 3 Developer Course

    

    Image Source: Udemy

    Instructors	Rob Percival, Web Developer & Teacher
    Price	$117.39
    Duration	29 hours 30 minutes
    Skill Level	Beginner
    Certification	Yes, on course completion

    This course is all about creating apps like Uber, Instagram, and Flappy Bird with the help of XCode 8 and Swift 3. Not only cover the basics, but you will also cover the accelerometers and motion feedback to online storage with Parse.

    At the end of The Complete iOS 10 & Swift 3 Developer Course, you will be able to build mobile apps using animation and implement features like location awareness.

    The duration of this app development course is around 30 hours, and you are getting access to it for a lifetime. You will get the course content in the form of videos and get 100 articles.

13. Coursera – Java for Android

    

    Image Source: Coursera

    Instructors	Dr. Jerry Roth, Professor; Dr. Julie L. Johnson, Instructor; Michael Walker, Instructor; Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt, Professor
    Price	Free and Paid ($49/month)
    Duration	39 hours
    Skill Level	Beginner
    Certification	Yes, on course completion

    This course is specially designed for those who want to enhance their skills in Java for Android. You will cover how to program core features and the Java classes.

    The course will help you in applying Java programming language features. So that you can easily access structured data, group operations, interfaces, and many other aspects.

    This course expects you to spend 5-6 hours a week so that you can cover all the video lectures, quizzes, and assignments. If you are a beginner, then this course is perfectly suitable for you.

How to Select The App Development Course?

1. Decide Your Criteria

   In this step, you need to decide your expectations from a course. Whether you wish to improve your skills or want to work in a company, try to establish what exactly you want or need from a app development course.

   

   Make this step easy for you by answering these questions:

   Purpose: Are you learning mobile app development to work or improve your skills?
   Duration: How much time can you dedicate to learn in a week?
   Skill-set: Are you looking for a specific skill? If so, what is it?
   Topic: In which topic do you have the most interest?

2. Explore Your Choices

   Now you get a clear view of your criteria, spend some time to find the best online courses. You could also select any one of the courses that we have shared in this blog.

   

   Moreover, choose a course that matches your requirements, such as budget, course duration, certification.

3. Read Thoroughly

   This is the essential step to consider the best course for your requirements. Please read all the instructions and descriptions carefully.

   

   Make sure you have understood everything about the course, and you are ready to take your decision.

4. Narrow Down Your Choices

   Compare all the courses with each other and check them against the criteria that you have set. By rejecting and selecting a lot of them, now choose one course that matches your requirements.

   

   Also, ensure that you have enough time to join the lessons. At present, if you don’t have time on your hands, bookmark the courses to start later.

5. Start Learning

   You have researched; you have made notes of your criteria; you have read all the descriptions.

   

   If everything is going according to your plan, then the only thing left to do is get started with a mobile application development course.

   Still, have some doubts? Here, we have answered some of the most common questions related to the courses.

Ready to Start Building Your First Mobile App?

We hope that this information will help you to find the best course for app development. In case, if you have bookmarked the course for later and want help from a professional mobile app development company for any suggestions, you may contact our team of experts.

Moreover, you can check our portfolio to find how well our app developers have created mobile apps. If you need any help with app ideas, you can contact us or check our Case Study section. Learn to bring innovations and life to an app. This way, you will surely ace any app development course.