Glossary · Web & App Development
Android Studio
Overview
What Android Studio is
Android Studio is the primary tool Google supports for Android app development. It is based on JetBrains' IntelliJ IDEA platform and provides a purpose-built environment for writing, testing, and packaging apps for phones, tablets, Wear OS, Android TV, and more.
It supports Kotlin—Google's recommended language for Android—as well as Java and C/C++ via the NDK. Unlike Apple's Xcode, Android Studio is cross-platform, running on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
What Android Studio includes
The IDE bundles the Android SDK, a fast code editor with refactoring and code completion, a visual layout editor for XML UIs, and live previews for Jetpack Compose. The Android Emulator lets developers test on a wide range of virtual devices and API levels without physical hardware.
It uses Gradle as its build system and includes profilers for CPU, memory, and network usage, plus a debugger and integrated testing. It packages apps as APKs or Android App Bundles for distribution through the Google Play Console.
Why Android Studio matters
Any team building native Android apps relies on Android Studio for development, emulation, and producing the signed App Bundle uploaded to Google Play. Cross-platform frameworks like Flutter and React Native also use its SDK and emulator for their Android builds.
Because it is free, cross-platform, and officially maintained by Google, it is the default choice for Android work and keeps pace with new Android APIs, tooling, and UI approaches like Jetpack Compose.
Where we use it
Related Zen in Tech services
How our team puts Android Studio to work in real projects.
FAQ
Android Studio — common questions
Is Android Studio free?
Yes. Android Studio is free to download and use on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Publishing to the Google Play Store requires a one-time Google Play developer registration fee, but the IDE itself has no cost.
What languages does Android Studio support?
Android Studio primarily supports Kotlin, which Google recommends for Android, and Java. It also supports C and C++ through the Android NDK, and it works with cross-platform frameworks like Flutter (Dart) and React Native.
What is the difference between Android Studio and Xcode?
Android Studio is Google's IDE for Android apps and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux; Xcode is Apple's IDE for iOS and macOS apps and runs only on macOS. Teams building for both platforms typically use each tool for its respective OS.
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