Some security tips for your Android app development project

Android is a Linux-based open-source mobile operating system designed and developed by tech giant Google Inc. There's no doubt in that the Android OS has completely changed the mobile sphere. The recent market survey reveals that Android-based smartphones and tablets have a much higher sale that the iOS, Windows and Blackberry.

Thanks to its insane popularity, the global Android App Development markets are flourishing at a very rapid pace. No matter, how much is the demand, fulfilling this requirement is not that easy as it sounds. Although the SDK (Software Development Kit) is available for free but the app development process can cost you a bit. At present, there's a large array of Android powered devices, distinct OS releases, security patches etc which you need to keep in mind while building an app.

Given below are some security features that you need to implement for the safety as well the quality of your Android app. 

Always use encrypted communication: It is recommended to communicate with the backend app server in a highly encrypted format. You can opt for certificate pinning which offers enhanced security and best practices, as it is becoming a new trend in the mobile app development. 

Don't trust upon any user input done via Web App: When it comes to web apps, all the inputs done by users should be treated as un-trusted. Various issues related to cross-side scripting (XSS), SQL, OS Command Injections, JSON/XML etc should be handled by both client & backend app server. 

Avoid storing any Sensitive Data: It will be good if you refrain from the keeping any sort of sensitive data on the Android device, especially during the run time. Doing this will surely discourage the hackers and will prevent them from the tampering the functioning of your mobile app. The whole idea behind this step is data processing when the need is and delete the same as soon as the requirement ends. 

Go through Perplexity: It is essential that your Android apps should face the obfuscation process.  This should be done to encrypt the key that has been used during the encryption process. A good approach would be to put a restriction on downloading the encryption from the server, during the run time. 

Avoid unnecessary Permissions: Excessive permissions should be definitely avoided. Only ask for the urgent ones. It should be a strict "NO" to use permissions that want to gain access to personal or financial information. 
Be Cautious of What all the App Stores in the Device: If you are into app development, then you should be careful of what all the app stores on the mobile device, which consists of parameters such as caches and logs as well as the what exactly is stored in structured data. Some common vulnerabilities include unsafe storage of user credentials, passwords etc. 

Summing Up

In this article, you will read about some security tips for your Android app development project. Apart from that, you should also remember that it's important to incorporate an efficient app development life cycle with multiple protection layers.