I feel that it's better to develop in Kotlin, for android, as a beginner, given the recent announcement.
Any other suggestions?

read the "rule of leaky abstraction" blog post.

I'd still say learn Java first. There are going to be way too​ many legacy apps in that language that need working on to justify starting with kotlin.

Industry will take at least 5 more years to widely adapt Kotlin

Heres a suggestion: dont

@Zaphod65 @Huuugo @RazorSh4rk You should learn kotlin. Java is annouying, and kotlin will be adopted faster then you think.
Two years ago I considered refactoring a complex android app to kotlin, and in hindsight, I should have done it.

Let's say I have zero intention in getting a development job but am interested in developing Android prototypes and demos by myself.

Would that kind of case make Kotlin more worthwhile than starting off from the basics of Java just for Android development? I also have zero interest in the world of Java or JVM itself, just interested in Android development

@vertti you make no sense. can you explain wtf are you talking about?
if you don't want to program then don't. If you want to do demos, then go use an app creation platform.

@magicMirror I'm setting up my own startup. I'd like to learn Android development in order to develop business analytics apps for my business, and generally to prototype different concepts. I don't see how this wouldn't make sense.

I didn't say I'm not interested in programming. I said I'm not interested in Java. I don't need to learn it in order to land a job, but I do want to learn Android development. I'll learn Java for it if it's the best choice, that's what I was asking

@vertti Still not making any kind of sense.
I'm pretty sure your usecase is confusing you: don't mix the method with the problem ypu are trying to solve. Android development is based around a VM called Dalvik that has a deceptive learning curve, and has a lot to do with Java. You are actually talking about building small apps that show some sort of analytics data based on data from a server. One has nothing to do with the other. My impression that you should build your apps in JavaScript and deliver the data via a WebView app or mobile browser. This way you will not be locked into a specific platfrom, and will have a lot if advantages over a native Android app.

@magicMirror alright thanks for the advice! This is the kind of advice I was hoping to get.

However, I do also want to learn some "real" Android development outside of my potential business context, so that I would actually be able to develop more serious Android applications at some point. Moreover, I've noticed react native for example has a hard time with some things like animations, which can be crucial in some applications.

What I was trying to ask is that would it be enough to learn only kotlin now for Android development.

@vertti Kotlin is a derivative of Java, similar to scala, and some others. You can fully develop Android apps in it, and drop to Java in case you need it.
I suggest you avoid doing that for now - learning it will not help you in your short term goals, it is a long term investment.

@magicMirror ok that's what I've understood myself too. I've also heard pretty much all of android documentation is for Java though.

Perhaps I'll just continue with react native now then. Thanks for your advice!