10 Best Android Libraries For 2026 That Every Developer Should Know 

Best Android libraries for app developers

Android libraries are inevitable for developers if they want to accelerate their app development process. They facilitate everything an app developer needs for building a full-fledged app and act as a backbone of Android mobile app development.

There are numerous Android libraries available on the market nowadays. Choosing the best one will help you to optimize and streamline your android app development process. This article reveals the 10 best Android libraries for app developers to use in 2026 and beyond.  

List of Best 10 Android Libraries To Use In 2026 and Beyond

Here are the lists of the top 10 Android libraries that enhance overall app development speed and assist developers in expediting the development of high-quality apps.

1.  Dagger 2

Dagger-2 is a popular library among Android developers. It is a fast and lightweight dependency injection framework that mainly depends on Java annotation processors. It is primarily used to organize app source code in a way that can be easily testable. 

Dagger 2 assists app developers in creating app component graphs by marking all the dependencies. This helps developers to build robust and easily maintainable large applications with zero maintenance.

GitHub Link – https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/android/dependency-injection-with-dagger-2-in-android/ 

How to use Dagger2?

  • Add the latest version of Dagger2 to your project build.gradle file
  • Make a list of dependencies you want to inject into the app’s components
  • Create a Dagger2 module and component to add the dependencies and ink the module and the injection target respectively.
  • Annotate the injection target for the dependencies
  • Inject the dependencies in the target by creating a component instance

2. RxJava2

RxJava2 is a reactive programming library mainly used to handle and streamline the asynchronous operations involved in the app development process. Most Android developers use the RxJava2 library for developing custom apps to predict the data streams with the help of observable patterns.

It helps developers detect errors around chained async operations quickly, filter data, map data, and do data transfer with ease. If you are about to develop an awesome Android app that handles tasks impeccably, then RxJava2 is the best.  

GitHub Link – https://github.com/ReactiveX/RxJava 

How to use RxJava2 & RxAndroid?

  • Add both dependencies to your Android Project
  • Create an observable that emits a sequence of data
  • You need to subscribe to this observable for receiving the data 
  • Use RxAndroid to run different threads 
  • To transform the data streams, use the RxJava2 operator 

3. Picasso

Picasso is an open-source android image library developed by Square. It is a popular library that allows developers to build apps with real-time image-loading options. The Picasso library simplifies the real-time image handling process from external URLs through caching, resizing, and displaying in the app UI.  

With the reuse policy of Picasso, developers can easily handle all size images efficiently by allocating minimal memory.

GitHub Link – https://github.com/square/picasso 

How to use Picasso?

  • Add a new project in Android Studio
  • Add the Picasso dependency to your build.gradle file
  • Now, you have to incorporate an ImageView layout into the activity.xml file
  • Create the ImageView instance in the layout in Mainactivity.java
  • Your Picasso is ready to download and store the images. 

4. ZXing

ZXing is well-known as a Zebra crossing; it is an open-source barcode image processing library. This open-source Android library uses Java language and offers ports for supporting other languages. The internet giant Google uses ZXing in its Android barcode scanner app.

ZXing supports a wide range of code formats that include MaxiCode, PDF 417, RSS-14, ITF, and many more.  

GitHub Link – https://github.com/zxing/zxing 

How to use ZXing?  

  • Create a new Android project
  • Add the ZXing dependencies
  • Create the app layout
  • Configure the app activity
  • Change the orientation
  • Run the app

5. Firebase

Firebase is one of the powerful Android libraries developed by Google. This Android library is specifically designed to excel in mobile and web app development processes. With this library Android app developers can easily handle real-time databases, cloud storage, authentication, and many more operations without any trouble.

More importantly, this tool allows developers to create a database remotely and access it through JavaScript. The cloud feature of the Firebase library will enable developers to easily auto-synchronize the data and share it with clients within milliseconds.

GitHub Link – https://github.com/firebase/ 

Core Firebase ServicesWhat it Does
Firestore / Realtime DatabaseStore and sync data in real time
AuthenticationSign in users via email, Google, Facebook, etc.
Firebase StorageStore files like images and videos
Cloud Messaging (FCM)Send push notifications
AnalyticsTrack user behaviour and events
CrashlyticsMonitor and report app crashes
Remote ConfigChange app behaviour without updating
HostingDeploy web apps fast

6. EventBus

EventBus is the best Android library for developers to develop an app with multiple active components.  This open-source library is mainly used to decouple classes and remove dependencies through central communication. Because of its ability to simplify the communication between the components, the app development process will be accelerated significantly. By removing all those dependencies, EventBus streamlines the coding process. 

GitHub Link – https://github.com/greenrobot/EventBus

How to use EventBus? 

  • Define an event: Create a simple class representing the message to be sent.
  • Subscribe: Annotate a method with @Subscribe to receive it, and register/unregister with the bus.
  • Post: Call EventBus.getDefault().post() from anywhere to deliver the event to all subscribers.

Want to build a custom android application?

Want to build a custom android application?

7. Glide

Glide is another Android image library just like Picasso. It can load and display images from various sources with minimal memory usage. Glide image library was developed by Bumptech and backed by Google. The internet giant Google uses Glide in many of its open-source projects.

Glide is very efficient and easy to use. It plays a major role in resizing images, handling APIs, and image loading operations without getting any ‘OutOfMemoryException’.

Github Link: https://github.com/bumptech/glide

How to use Glide?

  • Add Glide to dependencies in the build.gradle
  • Design a comprehensive layout file for your project
  • Use fragment class to load the images into ImageView with Glide 
  • Now, add the given fragment to the activity through Navigation Component
  • Add internet permission to the Android Manifest
  • Lastly, bring Gradle into sync to make your Glide ready for loading images.  

8. MPAndroidChart

MPAndroidChart is one of the powerful Android libraries. It allows app developers to add interactive charts and graphs to the apps. This user-friendly library is easy to use and offers a wide range of charts that include line, pie, candlestick, scatter, radar, and so on. By using this library, app developers can easily visualize the data to the users/viewers.

GitHub Link – https://github.com/PhilJay/MPAndroidChart 

9. Gravity View

Gravity View is one of the highly innovative Android libraries that allow app developers to make use of the image tilting aspects. It is an invaluable tool that empowers app developers to display Gravity Forms on websites with extended capabilities.

Gravity View tool is the best for developing dynamic apps for managing Gravity Forms data at moderate cost.

GitHub Link – https://github.com/gofynd/gravity-view

How to use Gravity View?

  • Include the library in the project’s build.gradle file.
  • Get an instance of the GravityView in the Android activity or fragment.
  • Use gravityView.deviceSupported() to verify the device has the necessary sensors (gyroscope) before proceeding.
  • If supported, link the target ImageView and the desired drawable resource using gravityView.setImage(imageView, R.drawable.image).
  • Register the listener in the onResume() method and unregister it in the onStop() method to efficiently manage sensor resource

10. Espresso

Espresso is a handy test library that guides Android app developers to be prepared for the UI testing procedure. This testing tool is specifically designed to create and perform automated tests on Android applications with all securities.

The Espresso library plays a handy role in inspecting the app functions across all real devices and emulators consistently. 

How to Use Espresso?

  • Add Espresso dependencies to build.gradle file
  • Write test code using Espresso’s API
  • Use a testing framework like JUnit to run the tests 

Conclusion

In the world of limitless possibilities, using appropriate Android libraries will make a significant impact in streamlining the Android app development process. Android libraries are a vital tool for developers to build applications faster and at moderate prices.

Picking the best Android libraries based on their features, functions, and performances will make developer’s jobs easy. 

Are you struggling to sort down the right android library for your development? Well, consider partnering with a mobile app development company. They help you to pick the right one by understanding your needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Android library?

Android library is pre-written code that developers add to the project to avoid building common features from scratch. It saves time and reduces errors. Retrofit for networking and Glide for image loading are some examples of best android libraries.

What are some top android libraries in 2026?

Picasso, Glide, ExoPlayer, Retrofit, Mockito, etc. are some of the top android libraries for developers to use in 2026.

What is the best navigation library in 2026?

Jetpack Navigation Component is the standard for both XML-based and Compose-based apps. The Navigation Compose library for Compose offers a clean and type-safe way to navigate between screens. Voyager and Decompose are third-party alternatives popular in Kotlin Multiplatform projects.

Is WorkManager the best solution for background tasks?

Yes. WorkManager is Google’s recommended solution for deferrable and guaranteed background work. It handles battery optimization constraints and works across all Android versions. Kotlin Coroutines are preferred for immediate short-lived tasks.

Maulik Paddharia is a results-driven Senior WordPress Backend Developer at Impact Techlab LLC, specializing in Custom Plugin Development, Headless CMS Solutions, Security Optimization, and API Integration. He excels at building custom functionality and managing databases, consistently leading innovative projects from concept to completion.

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