Making a mobile app is extremely exciting.
Got any fresh ideas and want to start making a mobile app? Ones that never been developed or a solution for a common problem you’ve encountered? Are you planning to develop for iOS, Android or another platform?
You’re pumped with ideas and energy and want to get straight to work! Before you take on the challenge and start hashing out lines of code. It’s very important to plan ahead and research what SDKs, Game engines, and other useful tools to use.
So if you’re a first timer, here are some tips before you start making a mobile app:
1. Come up with an idea.
Brainstorm for ideas that could improve people’s lives. It could be a solution for a problem or a fun game that could be so addicting to play. Define a solid goal for your app. What is it you want your app to do or achieve? Whether its purpose is to notify you about your schedules, remind you to drink water every hour or whatnot.
As for games, try to be as insanely creative as possible, your imagination is the limit. Make your levels simple but not so simple to complete in that way it could be more engaging for user.
2. Make sure your idea doesn’t already exist
Coming up with a unique idea that hasn’t been developed yet is easier said than done. If you are like most people trying to think of a great app, there is always the disappointment when you find out it already exists. With millions of apps available, there’s a very good chance someone has already published it.
Knowing that your app already exist makes developers lose morale and abandon our ideas. However, you shouldn’t’ lose hope! Most apps in the market are copies of another app just with an added twist. Take a look at what’s on the market and think of how you could improve your app to fill a gap in the market.
3. Keep it simple
Make your app’s feature set as simple as possible. People don’t want to be feed with so many small features that isn’t need. But focus to your app’s core functionality in that way it could greatly improve performance and doesn’t waste your mobile resources.
4. Choose a platform
Decide whether you want to deploy on Android, iOS, or any other mobile platforms available. Each platforms has its pros and cons. With Android you can customize almost everything given you have the skills and knowledge. Research for the latest trends for each platform you will be deploying your app.
If you’re planning to deploy on multiple platforms, find out their limitations. There is a possibility that a certain feature can only be achieved on one platform but not the other. You don’t want your app to have different features on each platform. Make them as similar as possible.
If your target platforms are iOS and Android, there are components that may be available Android but not on iOS. There are also components that have the same functions but take different approaches in implementation. For example, in Android the tab bar is located below the action bar while as for iOS it is located at the very bottom the screen.
5. Create great UI & UX design
When making a mobile app, User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) are two essential things you can’t ignore. Identify your target market and understand their behavior. A bad user interface could result to a bad user experience. Focusing too much on the back end and less on front end can affect your app’s credibility.
A simple and straightforward interface will allow users to perform multiple tasks using a few simple steps. Following standard design guidelines provided by your mobile app platform can create a UI that is easy to understand and user friendly. As more and more apps are developed, you need a step it up with a unique and engaging UI to make your app stand out from the rest.
6. Set up your development environment or tool
Use developer tools provided by the platform you choose like Android Studio for android or Xcode for iOS. If you’re planning to deploy on multiple platforms there are many integrated development environments that support native cross-platform development such as Xamarin Studio.
There are also tools available for web developers to create hybrid applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript like PhoneGap, Appcelerator, Ionic and many more. The availability of these cross-platform development tools makes life as a developer easier since we only need to write once, compile anywhere.
Install the latest SDK’s and all the prerequisite components for the platform you gonna develop. Do this ahead of time so that you don’t waste development time on just downloading and installing. This could take a lot of time depending on the size of the tool, its components and how fast your Internet connection is.
