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Published November 07th, 2016 by

Top 5 Things You Need to Consider Before Writing an iPhone App

Top 5 Things You Need to Consider Before Writing an iPhone App

Writing any kind of application is more like a two-part process where you need to accumulate enough skills and knowledge in programming, and develop your strategizing skills in creating a winning app. in the case of iPhone app development, for the first part, you need to know the basics, which are learning the different computing languages used, understanding how to work with Apple’s IDE (Integrated Development Environment) Xcode, picking and sticking to a certain writing style and preparing the architecture of the whole app.

Getting the Necessary Technical Background

For newbies in iPhone app writing who have a bit of programming background, getting started is just a matter of reading additional resources like Apple’s app writing guide: Start Developing iOS apps in case you are not adept in developing for iOS platform. For those who don’t have a background in coding at all, finding a place where to learn app development is your primary goal. Enrolling to iPhone application development tutorial classes in Udemy can be a good place to start. You may also want to attend coding classes like those offered by Code School. There are so many iPhone app development for beginners courses that you can choose from.

You can also have a more in-depth learning about how to develop an iOS app, in another article where we gave emphasis on analyzing functionality requirements, preparing design requirement, estimating the app development budget, managing app store feedbacks and developing the app itself as the most important steps.  As for professional app developers, it’s more of looking at the new Apple updates and cross referencing the current codes or scripts you used to pinpoint if there are some parts you need to tweak in order to adjust the apps functions accordingly.

Polishing Your App Marketing Strategy

When you already get the knowledge accumulation part done, you will also need to dedicate a considerable amount time in creating a strategy to help your app prosper in the Apple store. Finishing an app is always just one part of the deal, getting people to use it, monetizing it and maintaining a good level of customer engagement are three very different things. Here are four fundamental considerations that you need to take a closer look at before you finally work on your app and your marketing strategy.

  1. Filling a Need

What are the latest iPhone app development trends today? Do you notice any specific needs that you can fill? Focus on that. If you already have an app in mind, then try to look for similar apps. Is there a market who will use the app? In creating an app, you might want to consider looking at the features of these popular apps that make them highly likeable.

Business of Apps enumerates 10 of the most popular iPhone apps of all time. Among the apps found in their list are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google Maps, iTunes, Twitter and Find My Phone. Majority of these apps are social media apps, while two of them are used in navigation. Other apps that are widely popular today are games because you can easily earn money from this kind of app, given that you are able to maintain a good number of active users who purchase add-ons.

The same article written by Business of apps shares how iOS apps downloads steadily increase over the years, which is a good signal for those who want to make their own apps to earn money or create apps that their clients can use to access products and services. If you are an iPhone app developer who aims to come up with an app that can serve a specific purpose in transportation, shopping, social media, personal improvement, medicine, and other fields, there are plenty of apps that you can get inspiration from. For individuals who want to use iPhone app development for business purposes, you should consider looking at the apps of your competitors and filling in the gaps or supplementing features that would increase your app’s user engagement.

2.Challenges in Developing an App   

The biggest challenge of any app developer in the industry today is maintaining a healthy user engagement and mobile app retention rate. Some users would just install a particular app on their phones, and later remove them when they realize that they don’t serve the function that they need. Users tend to jump from one app to the next when they are not satisfied with the features. Your goal is to prevent that from happening.

It can be costly to develop an app because of the different tools that you need to avail. The cost varies depending on the type of app that you want to write and the devices where you want your app to be used. According to Blue Cloud Solutions, simple and table-based apps can cost around $1000 to $4000 to develop, while games can cost around $10,000 to $25,000, depending on the graphics and the games function. To keep your investment safe and make sure you have a good return of investment, you should learn how to keep your users happy by reading resources like MoFluids’s article about smart practices to increase user engagement and app retention.

Another challenge that developers struggle with is creating an app that gets significant attention. With more than thousands of apps developed and updated on a regular basis, it can be hard to get noticed. To solve this problem, Venture Pact suggests that you work on focusing the iPhone app development process in improving the graphics, creating a friendly user interface and supplying very usable features. The more complex and ugly the graphics are the less likely users would stay using the app.

Developers also struggle in marketing the app. Venture Pact stressed out in their article that marketing plays a very significant role in the success of an app. In fact, they said that marketing is far more important that the development itself. Fortunately, there are a lot of tools that can do the app marketing for you.

  1. Knowing the Competition and the Playing Field

Ask yourself questions like who are the best developers and what are the most popular apps in the market today? What language do they use? In that way, you can have a basis of comparison for the app that you want to create and readily create adjustments to make it stand out better.

You also need to ask questions like what parts of their app get significant praises from users. Pay attention to these features and use them as inspiration in creating a similar or more advanced add-on feature for the Apple app you will develop.

Another part of the iPhone app development framework is to plan on how you can increase the appeal of the app to your target users. This can be done by studying your target population. How long are they likely going to use the app? Under what circumstances will the app be used?

You will also need to focus on the app itself. Is the app a new one or are you merely going to edit a few codes to improve its functions? If it’s already an existing app but you wish to improve certain components, make sure that you don’t forget to conduct a benchmark analysis. It’s also essential to conduct a competitor research as a supplemental source of data. iSixSigma reminds iOS app developers in an article the strong differences between the benchmark analysis and competitor research. In conducting benchmark analysis, best practices are put on focus, while for competitor research, you have to look more into the performance measures. You should double check on that if you are not familiar with them. Both of these processes also play a significant role in checking the marketability of the app.

  1. Latest iPhone Updates

Even before writing an iPhone app, it’s very crucial to keep yourself updates with latest software version releases of Apple. In some instances, you may need to recode some of your scripts to adjust to the software update. Failing to update on a timely manner can severely affect the functionality of your application. This can result to having many unhappy and unsatisfied customers.

For you to be able to select the best iPhone app development service in the market, you need to have a full grasp of what you want to do first. As discussed above, you should have a background or at least a solid an idea of how to code an app. Then, you need to utilize the four app making strategy we have discussed to make sure that your app doesn’t flop. In addition, you will also need to learn how to select. Reading through iPhone app development reviews will give you great insights on the options that you can choose from.

Feel free to check out our comprehensive reviews of iPhone app development services. Customers who have been able to experience the app first-hand have shared their feedback about the different companies that offer app development services.

Our rankings are completely independent, transparent, and community driven; they are based on user reviews and client sentiment. These iphone app development companies had to earn their way up and didn't just pay their way up.

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