8 things you must consider before going into your first app development

1. Think of a solution to a problem

This is probably the most important step that will define whether your app will be successful or not. Put down all those ideas you have and eliminate the ones that don’t fit the objectives you want to achieve with your app.

Think of your customers and put yourself in their shoes. If you were one of them, what would you expect this app to solve for you? To help you get to this answer, you can ask yourself questions like these:

What is the main function of the app?
What is the purpose of its design?
What problems does it solve?
What primary and secondary functions will it provide to users?

These simple questions can save you a headaches during your app development. There is nothing better than a clear idea to advance faster in the development of any product. Sometimes it’s simpler than you think, just look around and see how all the products people use came from a need.

More searches happen on mobile than on computers/tablets for 15 of the 24 hours in a typical day. Google

2. Do a market research

You may be very convinced of the value that your app will have for users. However, you cannot blindly trust your intuition.

You have to investigate the opportunities and potential of your app on the real market. If you have the money to hire a company to do a market study for you, congratulations! Surely you will have many chances to succeed.

We do not all have a large budget to pay for an expensive market study. However, you can carry out a little research yourself by relying on tools such as Google Keyword Planner.

Find the searching trends with respect to the app you want to develop. Delimit the geographic area that interests you and the range of ages that your clients have. The metrics of this exercise will give you a clearer vision of the way your app development should go.

3. Website, mobile or desktop app?

Although native mobile apps are more popular it doesn’t have to be your ideal solution and you should consider other options. What are main benefits of website, mobile or desktop app?

Website app

Building a web application is definitely a cheaper and faster solution. Web apps are compatible with any platform, whether it’s Android or iOS. If you already know that you will update often, it’s probably best to start by developing a web application and later invest in a hybrid app rather than investing initially in a native app.

Native mobile app

If you assume that users will use your app several times a day, then it is clearly better to choose the development of a mobile application. Similarly, if you assume that the customers you target will often use your services in an offline environment, mobile app is definitely a better solution. In a mobile app, users can get personalized content exactly to their request. Moreover, access to services through a mobile app can be more secure than on website.

Desktop app 

Desktop app is probably the best solution for security. All data are locally saved and there is no need to send them through the Internet. In desktop software, there is enough screen space for more complicated applications. Today, desktop computers’ overall average speed is higher and is ideal especially for larger data.

4. Android or iOS?

If you’ve decided on a mobile app, there’s another important decision to make: what platform do you choose? Of course, the best solution is to develop apps for all platforms to cover the entire customer base. Sometimes, however, there is no time or money, and you need to decide on only one of those two.

When choosing a platform, think about demographics first – users of both platforms have different characteristics. iOS users are mostly younger, most of them live in North America and Western Europe. Although iOS users make up a minority of the global market, they have higher revenues and spend more on apps. By contrast, Android app users are most concentrated in South America, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and the price-performance ratio is more important to them.

Next thing you should consider is a development time. It generally takes longer time to develop and test an Android app as a result of longer release cycles and Android device fragmentation.

There is another significant difference between platforms in a matter of approval and release. On Android platform, it takes only a day or two to get approved and only a few hours when an update is made. In comparison, approval time in Apple store is 2-3 weeks long and even longer if the app is rejected.

5. Make your first draft

Now you already have some metrics that will guide you to start your app development. So it’s time to make the first draft of your app. Firstly, think of the functionality before the look of your app. Remember that if users do not find what they need in your app, they will not care for a fancy look.

In this draft, you will design the functions of your app: where you will place the menus, the search field, the buttons etc. Don´t worry, this will not be the definitive version. Later you can refine the details, including an attractive look to dress up your app.

People use an average of nine apps per day and 30 apps per month. App Anie Report

6. Think about care of your app after releasing

A successfully finished development of an app isn’t the end of the game, you have to think more ahead than that. Your app is a living thing and the process doesn’t end by simply counting downloads. You should be prepared to invest 20% of the cost of initial development to the maintaining process. The maintaining phase of an app includes functional, administrative, infrastrure and IT services. Besides this, you need to promote your app in app stores.

7. Listen to the users

Your app has been released to the market and the first users will start making reviews. These opinions are very valuable to improve the first version of your app or correct bugs before the negative evaluations increase. Do not forget to use tools such as Apptrace or Flurry to monitor the download trends and user engagement.

Of the mobile users who stop using an app, 30 percent would use it again if offered a discount, and 24 percent would use it again if offered exclusive or bonus content. Google report

8. Keep improving your app development

An app is like a baby. You need to take care of it and constantly pay attention so it grows healthy. If you want your app to be successful, you should track and improve your app functions constantly. Keep launching new versions according to what the users need. That’s the key for your app to become profitable.