How Hard Is It To Build An App?
From tech savvy people to the ones whose relationship with the technology is limited only to their mobile phones, we have all stumbled upon the same question: How hard is it to build an app?
Let’s admit to ourselves, building app is a tricky business. Although difficulty mainly depends on the complexity of the application, everything has hardships for someone who does it for the first time. It is the same when it comes to creating an app. But there is no need to worry; because building an app has become much more easier than it was before!
In this text I will be talking about some potential difficulties that will require a close attention in the making of an application. And in the end of the text there will be a small suggestion which will be beneficial for people who are new to this field.
The Idea
··· First things first. You should not just make an app as a leisure time activity if you want people to use your application. You will need to spot a problem or some insufficiency. Finding a good idea could be considered hard usually. Because you can not just sit down and wait for a “good idea” to come to you all of a sudden. Instead, they have the habit of coming out of nowhere while dealing with unrelated things. So, you better take notes when they are revealed to you. And your app must be serving that idea conveniently. Also, it is better if your app is dealing with only one idea. If an app starts to serve more than one purposes, it will probably cause confusion among the users. Therefore, if our ideas are not interlinked or not related, it is better to save the other idea for another application.First things first. You should not just make an app as a leisure time activity if you want people to use your application. You will need to spot a problem or some insufficiency. Finding a good idea could be considered hard usually. Because you can not just sit down and wait for “good idea” come to you all of a sudden. Instead, they have the habit of coming out of nowhere while dealing with unrelated things. So, you better take notes when they are revealed to you. And your app must be serving to that idea conveniently. Also, it is better if your app is dealing with only one idea. If an app starts to serve more than one purpose, it will probably cause confusion among the users. Therefore, if our ideas are not interlinked or not related, it is better to save the other idea for another application.
Audience
··· Before you start making an app, you need to have a specific target audience. Just like it is crucially important in marketing strategies, picking the correct target audience is important when creating an app. To pass the second step successfully, you need to weigh your idea and your app well. After that, you need to analyze the customer groups and pick the best option for yourself. To get a general idea, even a small scale survey about the possible reactions from different target audiences will be of much help. You could simply ask your friends if they would use your application. These things being said, although audience choosing might seem easy, if done wrong, this fault easily can make your app stillborn.
Design
··· Once you have your target audience, the design must be appealing to them. In other words, the design must be made for them. For example, if you are going to build an app meant for senior citizens, it is much better to keep your application simple. It is also better to not put small buttons on your app. On the other hand, if the app is made for young people, you better catch their energy in your design. While keeping the visuals appealing, the primary function of the app should not be put in the background. Also, the importance of colors must not be overlooked. The colors must symbolize your purpose in the application. For example, white color is generally preferred in health applications. Or blue color for applications that remind you to drink water. Red is generally used for food applications since it makes us feel hungry. There are a lot of professional tricks when it comes to designing. In this step, therefore, getting help from a professional designer will definitely be a good idea if you are not one. Remember, visuals and function must be completing each other, not opposing!
The Platform
··· Android or Apple? This is another question that needs attention. It is known that these platforms have slightly different users. Therefore, picking the platform on which the app will be published will of course have effects on the future of the application. The main difference between these platforms is their audience. Since people are more “okay” to pay for an app on Apple Store, it is a better option for people who want to make money with the app. But for people who want their product to be used massively, Android should be better since Android has a more crowded market since it expands to the far east. However, it is not an obligation to pick only one platform. You can always publish your work on both of the platforms.
Are You Any Better?
··· Unless you have the most unique idea which has not been thought of on the earth before, you must analyze the market and detect the potential competitors of your app. Once you have studied them carefully, you must ask yourself “how my app is better than theirs?” and “why should they use my app?”. The more answers you find to these questions, the more unbeatable you will become in the market. These days users are more interested in “how is presented” than “what is presented”. So, the app must be unique in the way it deals with a problem unless it is the only app that deals with the very same problem. This being said, considering the number of mobile applications, the question in the title must be asked over and over again.
Test! Test! Test!
··· After countless sleepless nights, you think your application is ready. Well, you might want to reconsider. When you have finished building an app, there undoubtedly will be things overlooked. The testing phase allows you to see the bugs, potential glitches and such. Also, while testing, you will be able to see your application as a whole. Seeing your app like this will definitely give you new ideas on how to make it better. But testing is not easy as it sounds. Today there are professional people whose job is to test programs; it is a profession. They are known to put applications under the stress of various scenarios. Therefore, the testing phase can be difficult at times.
Making Money With Your App
··· Now that you made sure your app works just fine, with the correct audience and the correct design for them, you can begin to harvest your efforts. But again, picking the right way to make money using your app could be a little bit tricky. There are certain widely used methods to monetize your application. These are Freemium, In-App Purchases, Ad Supported Apps and Paid Apps. Briefly,
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1. Freemium is an app where some of the features are locked to the paid users, while it can also be used for free. Spotify is an example to this method.
2. In-App Purchases allow you to make money by selling content in your application. These types of applications can be downloaded for free. Mobile games generally use this method. A well known example could be Clash of Clans.
3. Ad-supported apps are the most popular method of monetization. As it can be understood from its name, the app allows advertisements. So that the app maker can make money without needing users to pay them. But one should pay attention to the risk of advertisements covering the content. Annoying adverts are massive deal breakers.
4. Paid Apps are the most traditional way of making money from an app. User pays for the app for one time only (before downloading generally). After that they do not get bothered by advertisements or in app purchases. They fully enjoy what is in the app without restrictions or needing to pay subscriptions.
Should You Be Worried?
No, you should not be. Although the parts I have written here might be hard a little bit, you are not alone. As I have mentioned at the beginning of my text: “making an app is much easier than before”. Because there are many paid or free app makers available for use, things are relatively easier. In the past you were expected to have a decent amount of knowledge about all the steps of app making. But now there are software that does most of the dirty work for you.
Mobiroller
Mobiroller is one of the assistant software which is designed to help you in the process of mobile app making. It is made by professionals for people who do not want to get their hands dirty, yet they want to make a decent application. It presents solutions for each difficulty I mentioned here except the Idea Finding and Picking the Target audience parts. You can easily pick yourself a premade design that is best for your concept. After that you can choose whatever function you want just like you are shopping in a market. With the professional touch of Mobiroller, you will be able to conquer any platform you take place in and surpass your competitors without any difficulty! And the best part is that Mobiroller is free if you do not make money from your application! So, if you are making an application for your personal or friends’ use, you do not have to pay. But if you are going to make money using your app, you will be expected to pay a little price in return. With the help of Mobiroller, you should not worry about at least the %75 of the problems I mentioned here. Making an app is not hard anymore when you have a modern approach!
