Android Studio is the official IDE for native Android development, built jointly by Google and JetBrains on top of the IntelliJ platform. It's used by about 15% of developers (tied for 7th place in usage share) and is effectively the only serious option for building native Android apps — there's no meaningful competing IDE for this specific job.
📌 Quick facts
Type: Full IDE, specialized for one platform
Made by: Google, built on JetBrains' IntelliJ platform
License: Free
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Primary use case: Native Android app development in Kotlin or Java
Key features
- Built-in Android emulator — run and test apps on virtual devices without physical hardware
- Layout editor — drag-and-drop visual designer for building Android UI screens
- Gradle build integration — Android's standard build system is wired in natively
- Kotlin-first tooling, with full Java support carried over from IntelliJ
- Profilers — inspect CPU, memory, and network usage of a running app in real time
- APK/App Bundle build and signing tools for publishing to the Play Store
Getting started
Download it from developer.android.com/studio, or install via the command line:
# Windows (winget)
winget install Google.AndroidStudio
# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install --cask android-studio
On first launch, the Setup Wizard downloads the Android SDK and lets you create a virtual device (emulator) to test apps on.
🎯 Best for: Building and testing native Android apps in Kotlin or Java — the standard choice for Android coursework and any job posting that specifically asks for Android development experience.