7 Quick Tips for Developing Your Mobile App

Featured article by Mark Pedersen, Independent Technology Author

Often the initial app idea is followed by developing a concept and then coding the first prototype, but what next?

Without some basic considerations, experience and theory on the subject, one has to rely on intuition and guesses to create a marketable product. Why make things harder for oneself?

Read these 10 tips to get a better understanding of what is necessary things to consider before, while and after having your app programmed.

1. Native or framework?

This question should be asked of your app developers at the beginning of the process, especially when the app should function on several platforms such as both Android phones and iPhones.

There are plenty of different frameworks to help aid in the development process, taking care of compiling the code to various operating systems, but sometimes the cost savings are not worth it compared to the lack of functionality that frameworks ultimately sacrifice.

2. Secure the rights to the Code

Are you using a private developer, a team, freelancer or app agency? Be aware of licensing and rights to the software – you might not own the game once it’s completed!

This is important for many reasons, not least for legal grounds, but equally important is it when you want to change developers, you might have to pay an additional fee to have the rights transferred to you or your business.

3. Launch with a MVP

How many updates do you have on your phone each week? Chances are quite a few. While it is tempting to not launch your app project until it is completely finished, there are very few instances where this would be advisable.

Instead, focus on developing a minimum viable product, which will serve as the first version, having enough features and functionality to be relevant, but still a light version that can be shipped and published quickly.

Anyone who’s launched an app, or even a simple website, knows that the development process is only a part of the overall success plan. It is equally, if not more, important to market the app after it is published, attracting users and media, building links and reviews all take time, and with a MVP in the store, this work can be parallel to the end-product.

4. Focus on your users

By keeping in mind what users are going to utilize the app once it’s working, you can potentially save some costs by omitting bloated features, bad cluttered design and so forth.

User experience should no longer be something you think of only once the app is finished, these day’s people expect an app or website to be optimized for UX from the very start, and if you are launching in a competitive area, UX can be one of the best ways to take over market shares.

5. Consider common app store rejections

Both Apple and Google have a rigorous submission process, checking many things, from simple meta data such as company address and websites, to more convoluted things such as in-app sales promotions, meaning that there are strict rules for what types of products are allowed for sale in the app store.

Since the review process can take a long time, up to 8 weeks, it is important to ensure an accepted submission on the first attempt, since otherwise there will be useless downtime.

6. Quality testing

Some services have sprung up in recent years, advertising with an automated quality process. It is still recommended however, to do manual quality testing on as many devices as possible, so open that dusty drawer, and pick up your old iPhone 2 or HTC One, not everyone has the latest phones and operating systems, so backwards compatibility is quite important still!

7. Use existing modules and packages

Where possible, consider using open-source modules and packages for developing functionality that is commonly used across projects. No need to invent a login screen when there are hundreds out there already.

It will not only cut down on costs significantly, often times the code available on places like GitHub is far more secure than what freelancers can develop in the same time, since GitHub has a large community of users all adding to the projects, coming from many different backgrounds.

Conclusion

None of the above tips are meant as unbreakable rules, in some cases it can be the right thing to do, to ignore one or more of these tips. However, if you are unsure why you would ignore one of these rules, chances are that you shouldn’t!

Author bio:

Having more than 15 years experience in the world of web and app development, Mark Pedersen has been on the forefront of open-source development ever since coming across PHPNuke back in 2001. He has since moved on to first Joomla, before settling on WordPress for web development, and lately he has been working exclusively with app development, being employed at Nodes, a UK-based app agency.