Building a mobile app today is a daunting task. Probably because there are so many competitors doing the same thing out there that just standing out is a challenge, let alone offer the right thing to the right audience.
There could be tons of app building programs that could make your life easier. But if only all of this was as simple as that! The process is complicated for even with the tools that make your life easier; you have to have a grand idea. To add to that idea, planning, and appropriate methodical work is also required to make the entire process simple.
The big idea becomes a potential to generate profit only when there has been the right planning associated with it. To make a better plan for your next app development endeavours, here are a few tips that you need to follow.
-
Beauty and usability stand relevant to the platform.
When apps are created for various platforms, they are created by the usability of a particular platform. Keeping in a view a specific user of that particular platform, they are built to deliver the top-notch to cater in the best possible way.
One app could seem to be so different on ios then it would work on Android or even windows. The elements will be the same, but the user interface would vary. If you have designed the app keeping each platform in view and their core usability functions, it will stand to be beautiful in its way for each of those platforms. To be able to do this, you need to study the target platforms and the branding parameters of each. If all of this is too challenging for you then perhaps sticking to one platform would do you good.
-
Think about ‘web service’ for cross-platform apps
For cross-platform apps, perhaps one of the biggest hassles is rewriting the code each time. Sometimes it is such a big obstacle that developers don’t use more than one platform for the very reason.
But if you build your code to abstract like a local web server, you can save yourself from that. The programming logic will be completely independent regardless of the various screens or platforms and will be reusable across the chosen platforms. You can then go ahead and build native user interfaces to consume web services. As you use this architecture, the user interface will be decoupled from the logic so that both of them can flow independently. Therefore, think of it as a ‘web service’ before anything else, and you will be fine.
-
Keep an eye on target platforms.
Find out all that you can about your target platforms before investing time and money in developing apps that may go in vain due to certain obstacles that may vary from one platform to another.
Read the user interface guidelines for each of the platforms for a clearer understanding. Even if you use the target operating systems as part of your routine, you know the particular demeanour that you deal with every day, how one is similar to or different than the other, you need to read the guidelines in full anyway. Here’s develop guidelines for Android and ios that you can learn to gain a wealth of information that will come in handy for an eternity.
-
Empathize with your user
if you didn’t know this, then you might as well not be fit to build an app, let alone market your app. No matter what happens, the user needs to be your centre of gravity. For app development on a particular platform, get inside and explore it through the eyes of a user. Examine other apps for comparison to see why would you (as a user) want to use another app over the app that you’ve built.
Even when you test, ask yourself whether you would want to use this app or if it would do you any good. Why do we need to consider the user so necessary? It is because everything today surrounds the user and his/her needs and demands. We, as developers, are here to provide solutions to the users’ problems. If we don’t do that, there are so many options available that the user would switch without even giving a second thought about it. To achieve success, the user and his needs are to be considered as a top priority.
-
Testing is the key
Whether you are building a cross-platform app or not, you need to make sure that you test often. For the recent app development, some platform-specific codes and components need to be taken into account.
If you work day and night on android version and suddenly, one beautiful day you thought that ios should also be considered and run it there to find out off-course object positions, unadjusted fonts or an app that crashes on loads, you will regret. So here’s the key to fix all of that at once: plan whether you do or do not want to go for cross-platform app development (because it can be tricky). But regardless of that, you need to test it often to identify the problems as and when they occur instead of piling them up.
-
Work in teams
For a graphic artist, it is crucial to learn about the visual language, navigation paradigms and other components of each platform to decide which one to prioritize if you are choosing just one platform or how to go about it in the matters of cross-platform app development. Find out the subtle differences, make notes in the usability patterns and utilize it as and when it deems fit.
Moreover, if you happen to be a programmer and you have a graphic artist in your team, or a freelancer working for an agency providing your mockups, you need to understand the need to work with the designers as a team and educate them of the elements. Different mobile app platforms act differently and have an entirely different usability experience by definition. Make sure you educate your team, so all of you are on the same page.
Also read: https://skytechers.com/can-mobile-app-help-e-commerce-business/