The world of making mobile apps is exciting! For many, it is a new marketplace. A place of new opportunity and possibility. All of these things are correct, but mobile software development needs to START with the right thinking or your competition will beat you to market.
If we were working together on this app, there are a few things I’d have to make sure you know. Each of these is important. The right decisions can make sure users are engaged and know what to do. The wrong decisions can result in confused customers and lead to people uninstalling the app just as fast as they downloaded it.
Mobile and web development are the same
Everyone is familiar with websites and web pages these days. Think about it. Who hasn’t seen amazon or online Tax Software these days? So it is easy to assume that web and mobile development are the same. However, from the start, even the screen size changes the goals and viable choices in mobile development.
Your goals for each page become more directed and simplified. Accomplishing one task becomes key. A web page with thirty options of things to do just becomes confusing and takes subtracts from the ease and enjoyment of using an app. The target metrics and engagement are very different in mobile when compared to just an online web page.
People are busy and often use applications with one hand. With web pages people are usually sitting in front of a computer with little to no distractions. From this point alone, it becomes easier to see how mobile development takes a whole new mentality in terms of user engagement.
It’s “Okay” to make an app for just IOS or Android
There was a time when mobile development was made for a specific platform. You could just create an app for the Google Playstore or the Apple store. Those days are over.
If your app does not exist on at least both Google and Apple your app ( and company ) is often seen an inferior and less professional. To add to the problem you are leaving market share on the table by not developing for as many devices as possible. On top of all that, if your app isn’t available on both stores you are basically inviting competition to “copy” your app and provide it where ever you are not! This just isn’t a smart move in most business peoples book.
Google and Apple development means learning two languages
There was a time where both Apple and Google development required you specific programming languages. Swift for Apple and IOS development. Kotlin / Java for Android development.
This has changed in recent years. Now there are languages and options to develop for BOTH platforms with one language. The one that I prefer (right now) is React Native. Other options are Google’s flutter, and langauges like Xamarin (owned by Microsoft)
These new options mean you do not have to learn two or more separate languages to have a mobile app available on multiple platforms. I recommend being in this space for mobile development. Word has it that many companies are also going this route. Why? This is because two or more separate teams are no longer needed.
Going to market for mobile apps is as easy as web
If you have ever done any web development. The release strategy can be relatively simple. Sometimes as simple as just uploading files to a server. For web development, this means you can release changes at any time an very easily, In come cases, releasing changes on a daily basis are common.
This is not the case with mobile development. Both Apple and Google have code reviews of you app BEFORE you are allowed to put it on their stores. No body wants an app on their phone that crashes as soon as you download it. We expect the apps we get from the Google and Apple Stores to work and that we can trust them with things like credit cards and personal information. So you can see why it makes sense that the app stores would insist on a general review of you app before it is placed in the stores.
** Depending how your app was created the review can be a few days to several days depending on what feedback you get from the stores.
If my app is beautiful it will beat my competition
I have run across this one several times in the past few years. Some people want to win a design award as recognition. Others want to show off a style of feature that they designed in an app store.
While I do agree good and beautiful design can make your app stand out from the crowd, that can never be at the sacrifice of the function of the app. If it’s pretty but crashes then it is useless on many levels.
Your reason for creating the app needs to be compelling in that of itself. The app has to provide some sort of value that other apps are not. BUT at the very base level it has to work without crashing and smoothly before making it prettier than your competitions app. If your idea is that your app will get customers because of your unique logo and not because it provides use to you clients / users you should save your time and money and keep you day job.
What does this mean to you?
Many of my readers are looking to become software developers (as perhaps you are in finding my blog). These few top of mind topics are meant to give you a primer on the mental shift that occurs when changing over from web development to mobile development. If you have never done web development, that is great! You have the advantage of NOT having some of the bad habits and pitfalls listed above.
All this being said mobile software development can be very rewarding. Seeing a customer run through your app without having to explain anything creates a great sense of accomplishment. If your new to the development game, I welcome you and encourage you to read more about development, and most of all. KEEP GOING!