Build Efficient, Safe Android Apps with our Kotlin SDK
At PubNub, we know that the success of our customers comes from having the best tools and technologies available in order to deliver their app quickly and with minimum obstacles. That’s why we’re on a mission to continually improve our offerings based on the evolving needs and feedback of our customers.
One of the most consistent requests we receive is for more robust support for Android development using the Kotlin language. This is because Kotlin offers key improvements to security, usability, and application size over Java. And, after Google’s endorsement of Kotlin in 2019, it has become the preferred programming language for Android development teams, whether they’re upgrading existing products or building completely new applications.
That’s why we’re excited to announce General Availability for the PubNub Kotlin SDK. With this release, developers using our Kotlin SDK will be able to easily and natively implement the full range of PubNub functionality, including our popular Files and App Context features. This release opens the door for teams to build refined, secure Android applications completely in Kotlin, with all the features and functionality of PubNub fully supported and readily available.
Empowering modern Android development
As a language, Kotlin empowers developers to build safe, performant, lightweight applications with succinct and error-free code. This release lets developers build with PubNub and leverage all the benefits of Kotlin, with no need to context-switch in order to complete features using legacy Java libraries. Our Kotlin SDK will be especially beneficial for apps where sharing is a key user requirement, and for teams where performance, security, and efficiency are development priorities.
Notably, this General Availability release brings our popular Files functionality to Kotlin. File sharing is a core capability of many applications, allowing users to share multimedia files like images, video files, and audio clips seamlessly and in real time. Files is a key feature for developers building multi-user solutions like chat.
For example, in telemedicine, it enables photo and record sharing directly between patients and doctors, leading to more effective care communication and treatment. In social spaces, Files gives users easy multimedia sharing for more expressive communication. And in collaborative apps, Files speeds communication and enables creative applications like multi-user music composition. No matter the use case, Files has proven to be a key feature for PubNub developers, and this SDK release ensures that teams using Kotlin can natively leverage its full power.
Alongside the features added to the SDK itself, this release also comes with a complete getting-started guide, which will help your team quickly get up and running with PubNub in Kotlin.
Easing and accelerating development for teams
Kotlin is in increasing demand by developers due to its powerful capabilities and efficient design. The smaller, more efficient applications enabled by Kotlin consume less of a phone’s resources (like memory, storage space, and battery life), giving teams an advantage when developing for platforms where these resources are at a premium. This release makes it easy for Kotlin developers to use PubNub natively and as a core part of their tech stack, bringing together these mobile performance advantages with the complete range of PubNub features.
On a team level, Kotlin’s efficient and less error-prone code means a more effective development team, faster app deployment, and easy iteration. Combined with PubNub’s ease of use, this means that teams can develop and refine lightweight apps more quickly, and with less risk of bugs. With our Kotlin SDK, your team will spend less time iterating through core development, leaving more time and resources to expand your app with new features and functionality instead.
With the core benefits of Kotlin and the full range of PubNub features available—including Files— this release gives your team everything they need to quickly build efficient, refined, and secure real-time applications for Android.
Get started with the Kotlin SDK today
Any PubNub developer can access the Kotlin SDK. Just visit our Kotlin documentation to get started, and to learn more about how to integrate these features into your applications.
And, for teams interested in learning more about how PubNub can support remote interactions within Android apps at scale, get in touch with our team. We’ll show you how PubNub makes it easy to build real-time functionality for any app.
