Mobile phones are an absolute necessity. Everybody has them in different shapes, forms, and brands. Smartphones have been by far the hottest mobile phone device isn’t just a means of communication. The more internal storage, the better, as people tend to install mobile applications to improve their smartphone activities.
Various mobile apps available cater to different needs. The mobile app industry is a war zone, with many smartphone users testing their apps and using them for good. Moreover, you can create an app as long as you have the right equipment and knowledge, but that doesn’t guarantee your success.
Hence, here’s a guide to developing mobile apps and how you can succeed with them.
What Is Mobile App Development?
Mobile App Development is the process of how applications are made for our smartphones, particularly for Android and iOS. These applications are meant to serve a specific purpose, whether for communication, entertainment, or work. There’s a constant demand for applications, and that’s something tech companies do their best to deliver.
According to Statista, there are 3.14 million apps in Google Play and 2.09 million apps in the Apple App Store. The majority of these apps can be downloaded for free. Despite this, it’s these free applications that gain more revenue in Google Play alone by 98%. This is because of advertisements, subscriptions, in-app purchasing, and even merchandise.
One of the factors in getting good revenue on your app is the app type and how it caters to people’s needs. The following are the main types of mobile apps.
Social Media Apps
Social media apps are made for communication and interaction. Not only can you communicate with these apps, but you can also utilize various media forms that you can upload to the platform. You could also share your thoughts and experiences and meet other people with the same interests as you. These apps are usually the top downloaded apps. Examples of these are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.
Lifestyle Apps
Lifestyle apps help with how you live your life. They assist in many ways, such as giving instructions, suggestions for your different tastes, and directions. The appeal of these apps is that they help you with your daily life and make things convenient for you.
There are many categories encompassing lifestyle apps, such as entertainment, travel, dating, meditation, health, and fitness. Examples of lifestyle apps are Spotify, Trivago, and Amazon.
Gaming Apps
Games count as entertainment, and it is one of the biggest platforms in the app store. These apps gain revenue either due to them being a paid product or because of in-app purchases. In North America alone, mobile gaming has a market value of 21.9 billion dollars.
There are several kinds of mobile games, such as online mobile games, idle games, puzzles, simulators, and role-playing games. Examples of mobile games are PUBG Mobile, Candy Crush, and Minecraft: Pocket Edition.
News/Information Apps
News or information apps are the types of apps that deliver news or information. These are the digital counterparts of newspapers, magazines, news shows, and any other types of medium that provide information like textbooks and encyclopedias. Apps like these help with homework or if you want to stay updated with current affairs and trends. Examples of these apps are Google News, Amazon Kindle, and Britannica Mobile.
How To Create A Mobile App
Mobile app development takes a lot of time, ideas, and money. If you want to make an app that smartphone users will download, here are the basic steps to doing it.
Brainstorm for Ideas
What mobile app do you want to make? You need to set the basic premise of what you want your app to be like and what it does. What do you want it to work for? What type of mobile app do you want it to be? Is it free, or is it paid upon download? How much will you charge for development? Those types of questions are what you need to build the concept of your app.
You can also refer to the current demands of people online. Some applications got popular upon a certain trend or need. For example, Zoom helps with online conferences, offering different features that became popular when the pandemic hit, forcing people to stay home. Another good example is TikTok, a social media app to keep people entertained during their free time.
Analyze the Market
Now that you’ve built the basics of what you envision your app to be, how would it fare in the market? This one will determine if your app has an appeal. You need to look into the market of what you’re getting into.
Look up apps that resemble what you want yours to be, and make some comparisons. List down the name of these apps, their features, how many downloads they have, their means of payment, updates, and reviews about the newest updates. This helps give insight into users’ certain needs and what these apps lack. You may look at them for reference and information as well.
List Down Features
While you may have decided what you want your app to do, you have to go into the specifics. Since you’ve looked into some of the apps in the market you want to dive into, you can now make a better picture of how you want your app to look like and function, plus a way of developing your app that fulfills the shortcomings of those you’ve looked up might have.
Not only should you write down what your app can do, but you also need to look at it from a technical view. List down a set of commands that further operates how you want your app to behave. Don’t forget the basic features, such as the settings, user account, and the search engine. Make a combination of something both unique and familiar.
Design the App
Create a design that is eye-catching yet simple. You can begin by drawing it or use a photo editing app to do so. Start with your logo. It has to be recognizable and unique.
Once you’re done with that, you can do the layout for your app. Use the same range of colors you did for the logo, but do not exaggerate the design. It has to blend in well with your app’s content and have a font that is easily readable. Another fun option is designing both a light and dark mode feature for the app. Ensure that the interface for both modes is pleasant to the eyes to not look annoying or confusing to users.
Create the App
Now is the time to build your software. You have two choices: the first is by doing it yourself or with a friend, and the second being having someone else build it for you. You can always do it yourself if you have experience in programming and have the necessary tools for it.
The second option will require money. You can hire a freelancer to do it for you while staying hands-on with the project so that they can perfectly capture how you envision your app. If you want to settle for something better, you can ask a mobile app developing company to do it.
This is costlier than having a freelancer do it, but with a company, you’ll have a group of people do it for you while coaching you on how to improve your app and market it. With the help of companies, like Slingshot mobile app development, for example, the app can be made exactly the way you want it.
Submit To Mobile App Stores
Once the app is complete, all that’s left is to send it to stores where it can be available for users to download. Your best options are pitching them to Google Play and the App Store. Contact them and provide what they require of you, and then wait for a response.
Promote your App
Congratulations! Once your app is available in stores, all you need to do is promote it to attract app users. You can begin by publishing a website or an account on big social media sites. You may also promote it through ads or even make a press release to reach more people. Pretty soon, people will be trying the app and eventually use it.
How To Succeed In Mobile App Development
Not all apps last long. Some apps you might see trending today might become irrelevant soon. Hence, you need to find a way to stay in the game. Here are a few tips on keeping your app alive and marketable.
Stay Relevant
One of the many reasons why some of the great apps you see today are still loved by millions is because they keep up with today’s world. They follow trends and add features that make them more relevant than they already are. As much as possible, keep updating your app to what today’s trend is. You don’t have to always update it, but you can always make something that acknowledges these trends.
Actively Read Reviews
Keep going to the mobile app stores from time to time and patiently read the reviews. One of the reasons why some apps become unsuccessful is due to dissatisfaction among users. Keep an eye out for negative reviews, especially when many users comment on the same thing, and look for ways to improve it in your next update.
Keep Promoting
Make your app the talk of the town, not just from the day you launched it, but make it something people will use and talk about. Take advantage of social media to showcase the app. Have active social media accounts, and when you can, you can even have promotions and collaborations with influencers to invite more people. Do video advertisements to attract people and at the same time gain revenue.
In Conclusion
Mobile Apps are a hot commodity in the modern world, and if you want to develop your own, plan it very well from the ideas to how you want it built. Know your market well, follow trends, and make sure you stay relevant.
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