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More people are choosing to use mobile applications over their desktop counterparts mainly because they have their smartphones everywhere they go. Despite over 5 million apps in the Google Play and Apple App stores combined, new applications are added every year.
Developers try to outdo each other and build the best, most popular app possible. Getting millions of app downloads is a daunting feat that few ever accomplish.
The developers could benefit from a few tips for building a better mobile app which include:
Start With The Basics
It may sound simple, but the most obvious is often missed. To build a better mobile app, you should begin by addressing the basics. When creating the app’s prototype, you should have a clear vision of the final product. Have the user flow, wireframes, and design ready.
Most developers are usually caught up in adding fancy and advanced features to the application instead of focussing on the basics. Try to sum up your app in as few features and functions as possible. By starting with the basics, you ensure that you address the necessary elements of the app before moving on to other elements.
Think ‘Web Service’
When building an application, you should build it for use across multiple platforms. Therefore, you should build the code to be completely abstract as if it were a web service. Make the programming language independent from the platform it will run to make it reusable across platforms.
You can subsequently build the original user interfaces that the ‘web services’ will use. Using such architecture, you can ensure that the user interface code is separate from the logic, but both can flow independently. Thinking in terms of ‘web service’ is more of a mental shift than anything else.
Using Mobile Analytics Tools to Get Insights That Help You Make Your App Even Better
Analytics is an excellent tool to use when developing an application. It can give you insight into your app, particularly about user behavior. Analytics is based on data about actual app usage, so when building your app, you should have a testing stage where users test the app and use mobile analytic tools to get insight into the app’s performance.
Software developers often make the mistake of not inputting session recording tools to capture sensitive information. When they include them, they are often so taxing on devices that they diminish user experience. Knowing how to use analytics tools is vital to making better apps.
Testing Is Mandatory
Before releasing an app on the app store or market, testing is mandatory if you want to produce better mobile apps. App testing should be a crucial element of the quality control process.
Therefore, you should test the mobile application at every possible point of the development process. Complete testing will help you find defects in the code that you can fix promptly before proceeding to further development stages. Testing will save you a lot of time and money in the long run, leading to developing a much better app than without rigorous testing.
Keep It Simple
Simplicity is the key to creating a great mobile app that millions of billions will use. Leo Tolstoy wrote, “there is no genius where there is no simplicity.” As a rule of thumb, you should try making your user interface design as invisible as possible.
Therefore, if you consider adding a feature to the interface, you should seriously consider whether the user needs the feature. If yes, apply it; if not, discard it. The better the design, the more invisible it should be to the user.
Creating a popular mobile application is a goal for most software developers. To create better mobile applications, developers can use tips such as complete testing, starting with the basics, thinking about ‘web service,’ and using analytics tools to get insights that will improve their app. However, simplicity is what makes apps go viral and have billions of users.
