Today’s world is a “digital world”. Nowadays, people, be it youngsters or even the elderly, like to spend time on either the internet or mobile apps. In fact, studies have shown that the latter is the favorite time-pass by the majority of smartphone users. Whether it’s a social media app, photo editing app, or simply a news app, they’re always using their phones.
Now, suppose you have a killer idea for such an app. You have determined its category, the targeted audience, and also the rudiments. But you aren’t savvy about how to build one. Well, stop worrying; you’re not the only one.
How to Create an App?
That’s why we decided to list steps to make your unique app.
Step 1 – Set your objectives
The foremost thing to do before making any app is to determine your objectives. Ask yourself why you wish to build such an app. All apps aren’t the same. Neither are their intended functions and goals. Determine whether you want to create brand awareness, resolve some prevalent issue, or simply want to reach a broader audience.
If you fail to determine your objective clearly, your app won’t turn out to be as intended. An aimless app development process would inevitably lead you to confusion.
Step 2 – Decide what functionalities and features to include
Once you’re done setting your objectives, determine your app’s functionalities and features. An app is best defined by the features and functions it offers. Therefore, choosing them correctly is a prerequisite for making an amazing app. For achieving so, perform a little market research and observe what your rivals are already offering in their apps. Note what good they’ve achieved and what they are lacking.
Then, add the good features they’re offering along with some new, unique features of their own. Features that’d make your app stand out. However, remember that adding random, irrelevant features to it just for the sake of making it seem good won’t help. So, do your homework properly.
Step 3 – Perform some research about your rivals
One of the worst mistakes to make while creating an app is to underestimate the abilities of your rivals. Overconfidence or ignorance wouldn’t do any good. Thus, it’s best to research and gather data about your competitors. Such research would offer you an opportunity to strengthen your app idea and determine what features are crucial. It’d also help you get a good idea of the app you’re developing and catch your rivals by surprise.
Step 4 – Design your wireframes
Wireframing is the process of graphically representing an app’s entire layout. It’s basically the blueprint of how your app is going to be at last. Having such a graphic representation of your app before your eyes could help you work distraction-free. It also reduces the chances of potential development errors.
Thus, it’s crucial to design your wireframes. You can pick either online or offline wireframes based on your predilection. Offline wireframing includes the classic pen-and-paper method, while online is a bit more modern and convenient. Wireframing tools such as NinjaMock, Adobe Suite, etc., could aid you in designing online wireframes.
Step 5 – Pick your development route
As we said earlier, proceeding aimlessly while developing your app could end up puzzling you. That’s why it’s always recommended that you pick a steady app development route. After designing your wireframes, you must pick a platform and the programming language. If you’re clear about objectives, as we said in Step 1, you’d have no trouble picking your ideal platform and language.
Also, you need to take some factors into consideration here. These include your budget, requirements, etc. Decide whether your app would be an iOS or an Android one. Once decided, choose your coding language. C++, Java, Kotlin, etc., are some good language options to pick.
Step 6 – Start developing your smartphone app
Once you’ve got your hands on all the materials, it’s time for the real action. That is, developing your app. While developing your mobile app, try to make the UI as simple and intuitive as possible.
Also, restrain yourself from overusing push notifications as they’re annoying and could lead to an increased number of uninstalls. That’s something you would never want, right? Besides all these, make your app more foolproof by employing a fast database. In simpler terms, do everything possible to contribute to an awesome user experience.
Step 7 – Test your app out
Once your app development process is over, it’s essential to test it before making it available to the public. Such mindful testing could help you identify any issues like bugs, technical glitches, etc., and instantly fix them. While you may not find every bug/error in your test, it helps make your app closer to perfect.
For testing your app, you may pick either the internal or the external testing option. Internal testing is the process of testing your app by you/the development team from the viewpoint of an end-user. Contrarily, external testing is when you let other people unfamiliar with your app test it. Tools like Ubertesters, TestFairy, etc., could satisfy your external testing needs.
Step 8 – Release your app
As you’ve made your app now, it’s time to make it public. First, based on its platform (iOS/Android), submit your app to Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Make sure you comply with your respective app store’s guidelines. YouTube has tons of videos/tutorials on this topic. To understand this aspect better, you may watch them. It could also assist you in improving your app store optimization score.
However, you have to prepare yourself for facing rejection though. Why? Because a CNBC report revealed that App Store and Play Store declined over 40% and 55% apps each year, respectively. That means, on average, half of the total number of apps submitted gets rejected. Several reasons, including software compatibility, privacy issues, bugs, etc., contribute to these rejections. So, your app can get rejected as well. Therefore, you must make your app as foolproof as possible by researching religiously. Have a crystal-clear comprehension of all the requirements of publishing a mobile app and act accordingly.
Step 9 – Indulge yourself in diligent promotion and marketing
Contrary to the common myth, good products also need clever marketing to succeed. Marketing is crucial to make users realize your distinct identity and your stand-out features. Let’s be realistic for a sec; there are a plethora of “good” apps out there today. Why should people pick your app over those? That’s why you need to actively step up and provide them with reasonable grounds for doing so.
Good promotion is a key to any product’s success. Hence, begin promoting your app regardless of its launch status. Follow effective promotion tactics to increase your reach. These include publishing a blog post regarding your app, making interactive app-related videos and posting them on social media, etc. Exposure and reach are your primary aims here. So, be creative and employ any tactic that you think would work best in your case.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve apprehended the steps of creating an app, you should put your knowledge to the test. Remember all the stuff mentioned in the article, and you’d have no trouble developing your own unique mobile app. Go ahead!