About
Most Android developers ship apps. I've spent 11 years shipping both - apps with 10M+ downloads, and Android itself, into cars. I'm Rahul Abrol, a solution architect working at the layer most Android engineers never touch: AOSP inside automotive head units. It's a world where the rules change completely - strict memory budgets, low-RAM constraints, safety-critical UX, and platform migrations where "just push a hotfix" isn't an option. A few things I've built and led: - Ported and customised AOSP system apps (Car Settings, Car SystemUI, Launcher etc) across an Android 13 → 15 platform migration for a production automotive head unit - resolving framework-level API breaks and OEM customisations along the way. - Owned the Rental Cars module and the entire Android CI/CD pipeline at Priceline (10M+ Play Store downloads), integrating automated UI testing via Firebase Test Lab and cutting release friction for every team shipping the app. - Led a team of 6 engineers shipping a full Jetpack Compose app that held 99.9%+ crash-free sessions, and drove framework migrations (Dagger 2 → Hilt, JUnit 4 → 5) on codebases too big to break. - Mentored cross-functional Android teams through code reviews, pair programming, and architecture decisions that outlive any single release. Outside work, I build in public. My current project is a DSA Visualizer in Compose Multiplatform - because the best way to understand algorithms (and KMP) is to make them move on screen. Everything's at github.com/rahulabrol. What I care about: systems that survive contact with real devices, real users, and real deadlines. Clean architecture is nice; architecture that's still clean two years later is the actual job. If you're building serious Android - automotive, platform, or large-scale apps - my DMs are open.
Work experience
Associate Solution Architect at KPIT, Apr 2025 - Present · 1 yr 5 mos, Bengaluru, - Leading AOSP/AAOS platform work for a production automotive head unit: owned the Android 13 → 15 migration of system applications (incl. Car Settings, SystemUI Launcher etc), resolving framework-level API breaks and preserving OEM customisations with zero feature regressions. - Reverse-engineered and documented AOSP Car Settings architecture (navigation flows, preference controllers) to de-risk the migration and cut ramp-up time for engineers joining the program. - Act as the Android platform authority for the program - reviewing designs, resolving HAL/framework integration issues, and translating OEM requirements into AOSP-compatible implementations.
Technical Lead Android at Float Group, Sep 2023 - Mar 2025 · 1 yr 7 mos, Hyderabad, - Led a team of 6 Android engineers shipping a 100% Jetpack Compose app end-to-end, delivering every release milestone on schedule for 19 consecutive months. - Owned architecture (state management, module boundaries) that kept crash-free sessions above 99.9% throughout. - Cut new-developer onboarding time roughly in half by instituting pair programming and architecture-focused code reviews.
Software Engineer Level 2 at Priceline, Apr 2021 - Jul 2023 · 2 yrs 4 mos, Mumbai, - Owned the Rental Cars module of the Priceline Android app (10M+ downloads): feature delivery, production triage, and test coverage. - Owned Android CI/CD end-to-end on CircleCI with automated UI testing via Firebase Test Lab - shifting regression detection from post-release to pre-merge for every team shipping the app. - Drove Dagger 2 → Hilt and JUnit 4 → 5 migrations across a large legacy codebase with zero release disruption; won the internal hackathon "best cost-saving" award for an AI-assisted Hotel Smart Map feature.
Senior Software Engineer at Toppr, Feb 2020 - Apr 2021 · 1 yr 3 mos, Hyderabad, - Solely owned the Toppr Codr app - profiling, debugging, and Play Store delivery - through Toppr's fastest growth phase (COVID-era EdTech surge). - Implemented MVVM architecture and REST integrations across three live consumer apps (Toppr, Toppr Answr, Toppr Codr).
Software Development Engineer II at Rocket Flyer Technology Private Limited, May 2019 - Feb 2020 · 10 mos, Gurgaon, India, - Architected the TrackThat SDK from scratch and built the TrackThat Driver app on top of it - a reusable location/tracking layer adopted across company products. - Shipped features for the VolerCars app (1M+ downloads) while managing a team of 4 developers - task allocation, code review, and delivery estimates.
Software Development Engineer I at Rocket Flyer Technology Private Limited, Apr 2018 - Apr 2019 · 1 yr 1 mo, Gurugram
