Marcus RichardsAs an app developer, whether you’re doing it solo or with a team, there are many things to think about before, during, and after the initial development stage. If you fail to consider the things in our helpful list below, there’s an increased chance that you may run into issues down the line. Instead of taking that risk, ensure that you can answer the questions below adequately, and if you can’t, take some time to work on those areas.
Have You Planned Your Development?
It’s easy to get carried away with developing an app, especially if it’s something you’re passionate about doing. You might find yourself creating new features after regular eureka moments and allowing the project to snowball. However, while some of the best ideas can come from these times of unexpected inspiration, failing to properly plan out your app development project and failing to stick to those plans opens your project up to unexpected hurdles that could cause significant problems down the line. Create an in-depth development plan and try to take a step back once in a while to reassess these plans. This will help you to identify any issues early and keep everything on track.
Do You Understand Your Audience?
It’s very important to have a good idea of what your target audience wants from your app. This understanding can be achieved via quality, in-depth market research, and listening to testers’ feedback. It may also be a good idea to check out the reviews and feedback of similar apps to see if there are any features you can add to satisfy those customers or any issues they’ve had that you can avoid. At the end of the day, there isn’t much point in releasing an app that fails to offer any more than others on the market or just doesn’t even have a significant potential audience.
What Platform Is It For?
There are quite a few different platforms for which you can develop your app, and it’s important to know this before you start development, as Android and iOS are very different operating systems. You’ll have to make two different variations if you intend to release your app on both operating systems. Remember that this will add to the development time during the initial creation of the app. It’ll also increase the amount of work required to release updates, as you’re essentially creating two apps. The benefit of launching on both Android and iOS is that, of course, you’re theoretically going to have a larger audience. Just be prepared for the added workload.
Do You Have A Plan For Security?
The actual development of your app’s features and UI can be very exciting and rewarding. So much so that it’s quite common to overlook the less enjoyable yet still extremely important work such as security. Ensuring that your app is safe for public use is a critical task, as any holes or weaknesses in the software can leave users vulnerable to hacking attempts as well as allow malicious entities to have a better chance at stealing data from you and your customers. You can use software from companies like this application testing expert, ForAllSecure, to help you with this. This will ensure that your app is regularly tested throughout the development stage as well as after launch to help you ensure that the software is as secure as possible.
Do You Have The Correct Expertise?
There are plenty of apps out there that have been created by solo individuals. However, that doesn’t mean that the development of all apps is going to be straightforward enough to allow for this. Depending on the complexity of your app, as well as your own personal level of skill in both coding and graphic design, you might need to reach out to other developers who can help you with this process. There is no shame in this either, and it’s much better to ensure that your app is of great quality and created by multiple developers rather than being unfinished because you are determined to undertake this project alone. Contact other developers via tech forums for advice where needed, and think about what sort of talent you could bring onto your team on a part-time or full-time basis if required.
Do You Plan To Release Regular Updates?
Custom application development rarely finishes after the release of an app. You must remember that there will likely be bugs and issues with the software that just couldn’t be detected without widespread public usage. Some bugs can be incredibly hard to replicate, and some may only appear once they have been downloaded from an app store, for example. The chances are, you are expecting to release updates once the app has been released, promoting the longevity of the app, as well as strengthening your integrity in the eyes of your customers. The last thing you want is a slew of negative reviews because you aren’t fixing issues for your customer base. It’s important to plan for regular updates and keep in touch with your fans and critics to reassure them that you care about your app as well as your customers.
