15 App Development Tips You Should Know Before Asking For A Quote

In this article, Appzur offers you 15 tips on application development. App development has become one of the most profitable businesses for many companies according to the ‘State of Mobile 2020’ report, prepared by App Annie.

What should you keep in mind when you are going to develop an app?

Have you decided to develop an app? Today we want to reveal to you what are the keys to success that you must take into account before launching to create your own app.

App development is probably going through the most critical moment in its history and all forecasts point to the fact that after the pandemic the app market will become the engine and lifeline of many businesses and entrepreneurs.

However, it is very common to see failures in business models based on the development of mobile applications. This is because many owners forget in the process of developing an app the most important parts that will make their application a success.

Business model App

1.     Define your business model

One of the most common mistakes when starting to develop an app is not being clear about the business model of the application. That is, not knowing how it will be monetized, what value it will offer the user or not even knowing what the previously existing market is.

A maxim that you should apply to yourself is not to create something that users already have available. That is, you should not develop an application that already exists. Add value and study the business model well, which will make your app useful for users.

2.     Define the main functionality

An app should not be complex nor should it have hundreds of features. Simply focusing on a really useful one for your users will be enough.

Many of the great apps that are used by millions of users today began with different functionalities that over time were validated and focused on very different ones. Time will tell you which functionality your users use the most.

3.     Research your market: competition, weaknesses, etc.

Do not jump into the development of an app if you do not know before how that market is. That is, the competition that exists (because there is always competition), how it does it, what functionalities it offers and how its users value it.

Only by knowing the market will you be able to offer a different and more competitive app.

Some tools that you can use to research the app market are Google TRends, Google Keyword Tool or App Annie. Thanks to these tools you will be able to analyze market trends or track downloads, income, rankings, ratings and keep up with your competition’s Apps.

4.     Know the needs of your audience

By knowing the apps that exist in the market, you will be able to offer something new and different to users. For this you must perfectly define the type of user, their preferences and their needs.

By discovering and defining this user profile in detail, you will be able to focus on the functionality and usefulness they expect from your app.

5.     How to monetize your app

There are many ways to monetize your app: subscriptions, in-app purchases or payment per download, among many others. Choose the model that best suits the preferences of your users so that it does not become an obstacle to the growth of your app.

For example, one of the most used business models to monetize applications is in-app advertising and Google AdMob is one of the most used platforms for mobile advertising.

This point is essential in the development of the app since once it is designed and developed it will be difficult to modify it.

6.     Build something that you are passionate about

It seems obvious but before entering the world of app development you should be clear that it will be a long-term job. Few or no apps have succeeded as soon as it was launched. For this reason, it is essential that you are motivated for a long-distance race and not for a sprint.

Only by knowing and being passionate about your market will you be able to evolve and develop the app as your audience expects it.

App development

7.     Design goes a long way

Invest in app design, this point does not require much explanation. Apps must have a modern, careful and very attractive design. It does not mean that it should be complex but it does have an aesthetic in which the User Experience (UX) prevails.

At this point it is important to have the criteria of a designer specialized in applications and tools to work on the user interface, such as Sketch to design or Zeplin to organize app flows.

8.     What technology to use

When starting app development, one of the first decisions you will have to make is to choose between a native application, a hybrid application or a progressive web app, analyzing each of them in detail. In this post we tell you what each one consists of and how you should make this choice.

In addition, at this point it is very important to decide the type of technology and language that will be used for its development. Languages ​​that are easy to test like Swift and Kotlin for native application development or Flutter for cross-platform development.

9.     Validate your idea with a first prototype

There are tools on the market that will allow you to make a preliminary design of a first mockup or prototype of what your app will be. You will not need to program for it and it will help you when looking for an app development team so that they have a clearer idea of ​​what you want to create.

One of the best-known tools for prototyping apps is Proto.io, which also allows you to even be able to make simple links of the app itself work.

10.  Focus on a simple idea

Less is more. As we explained when designing the business model of an app, you should avoid complex developments with dozens of functionalities. In the end, what users need is to solve their needs with a single, simple and practical functionality.

Thinking about this, the best way to design your idea without going crazy is to create a Minimum Viable Product (or MVP for its acronym in English). An MVP is an initial (but essential) version of an application with the essential functionalities.

11.  Have a technology partner

It is essential to have a technical team specialized in the development of mobile applications in which you can trust in decision-making. During the development process of an app, situations arise in which you will miss expert hands to advise you on the best decision.

What can take you a year can be achieved in two months with an application development company and with the highest quality.

The process of developing an app does not end with the launch of the application. You should be aware of improvements, possible failures, unforeseen events that always occur and implement a test system, also known as QA by its acronym Quality Assurance, to verify that the development will work correctly and that the criteria that were defined from the beginning are met.

Only with a trusted technological partner can you face the different situations that you will surely experience.

12.  Avoid large developments: 8 to 12 weeks maximum

It is advisable to work on applications that do not consume a lot of development time. Between 8 and 10 weeks on average is enough to be able to have an app up and running and so you can focus on how to evolve, improve, perfect it or even modify the business model based on the use that users give it through the data that you they provide the app analytics tools.

We recommend avoiding large developments that consume much more time and thus limit the process of improving the app.

Marketing strategy app

13.  Don’t forget your app marketing plan

It is useless to launch the best app in the world if there is no marketing and visibility plan that makes it known. Your business model based on an app will be based on downloads and purchases made by users.

For this reason, it is essential to have a visibility plan for the app once development is complete and launch begins. It will be necessary to take into account the positioning in the app store, the visibility in social networks, the advertising, the repercussion in the media, etc.

14.  Define your goals from the first minute

When we talk about objectives, we refer to the basic KPIs such as the number of monthly downloads, the number of users, the time they are in the APP, the purchases they make, direct communication with users through marketing or marketing. the app itself (push notifications), and other data that will help to understand how users are interacting with the application.

15.  Just Get Started!

It seems obvious but many are the companies or entrepreneurs who spend months and years maturing an idea and waiting to have the entire process in writing, detailed and defined. Our advice is that the sooner you start with the development of the app, the sooner you will be able to see the results of your application in practice.

Build your app and put it on the market to validate it. Based on this process, you will be able to perfect and improve the application so that you can reach a larger market.

If you do not start you will not be able to know if it is useful and well received. For this reason, we encourage you to start as soon as possible once the main necessary points that we have talked about in this article have been defined.