Things To Keep In Mind Before Starting Mobile App Development
It is often a misconception of people that mobile apps can be created with ease and no costs are involved. Knowing the basic C language and/or other languages used for developing applications is often considered the key to creating apps. However, if you want people to go crazy about your mobile application, you have to shake off these misconceptions. Almost everyone who has ever created a mobile application would be rich today if it was so easy to make these applications and earn money from them. The reality is a bit different from what’s known too often.
First, there is money involved in making mobile applications and if you thought you could do this for free then you were wrong. The first costs involved in making mobile applications are of buying the necessary tools that are required to create these apps. If you are creating applications for the iPhone you will have to buy a MAC and all the necessary software required to create an app for the iPhone. Furthermore, you must also know the additional costs of creating applications that look professional and have the potential in them to be famous and to make money for you.
You will always need a team of professionals in order to have your mobile application created professionally. Applications that are complex in nature can only be made by professional teams. Creating a mobile app is a full project and needs to be dealt with like a project. First you will need to do proper project management then you have to go for designing, architecture, programming, testing, etc. It is always highly recommended that you go for a beta version of the software and get some people to give you feedback on the improvements that could be made on your application.
One more important thing to keep in mind is whether or not you want to have a native app developed. A native application on a mobile phone is the one that has been designed and programmed only for a particular operating system and platform. Because of this reason this particular application makes the best use of the resources available to it from that operating system and platform. It is constantly kept in mind what platform the application is being designed for and what resources it is going to use. It doesn’t work on other devices and operating systems.
To make money from an application is not as easy as it might sound on most mobile app development articles. You have to be a skillful marketer if you want to have your application recognized by your target audience. If your application is built for a particular device only then you have already narrowed down the audience you are targeting. If you want to approach bigger audience you will have to make your application for various operating systems e.g. iOS, Android, Windows, etc. Not to forget that developing an application for all these platforms means you will have to spend even more money.
Top Design Tips for Creating Mobile Apps for Your Organization
In the mobile context, good design is important because of the small screen and a dynamic operating environment.
Here is a set of 10 principles and recommendations for designing better apps – especially better mobile apps for your organization.
1. Don’t just port what you have to different platforms since the look and feel should be according to the target platform. Capabilities may differ based on the platform so developers need to choose developing the same app or go to related apps instead.
For corporate apps, the degree of standardization should be more than in consumer apps so that familiarity assures users they can do what they need, irrespective of device and reduces learning time. The app is center of experience and hence one must honor fundamental UI assumptions and basic interactions before designing something.
2. Take advantage of mobile constraints to think innovatively and creatively. Use facial recognition to auto-crop on the central focus of the image rather than building views in the asset library. Do not clog the limited storage space with images avoid consuming bandwidth during app updates.
3. Take advantage of mobile capabilities like for instance, by using the camera to snap images or location services to narrow down the suggestions. Use sensors to reduce user or app background effort.
4. Design accessible for all types of users. Avoid trying to make text technically readable because after a certain age, human eyes will not be able to read small text. Adaptive design should be used as preferences over text size for setting the layout.
5. Show mock-ups on the device for the client so that they are getting a hang of how it would actually look. What looks and works well on a big screen may feel wrong on a mobile device’s screen. Show your prototypes in actual context.
6. Users understand only a few universal graphical metaphors like old analog images, including TV screens, tape players, cameras, pilot lights, and even CDs. Although the iconography allows for universal design, now icons are now becoming confusing users and looking less familiar.
7. Design apps without much complexity. Also the user’s uncertain environment needs to be taken into consideration. Don’t overload the app and focus on the core benefit.
8. Make data travel to the user and do not ruin the context. Use motion and transition for a better user experience, pushing the value and exhorting them to go deeper.
Good design is important for Mobile Application Development despite the fact that there has been an overflow of bad apps from vendors and IT shops.