App development: Where do I start?

Creating an app from scratch can be overwhelming if you don't know how to do it. You've probably come up with a great idea for an app, but when it comes to implementing it, the questions begin. How do I do it? Where do I start? How long will it take?

In this post we present you a small guide to create your first mobile App, but keep in mind that it may not work for all cases. Keep what best suits your strategy or follow the guide to the letter.

why are apps so important these days?

Here's the correction: Apps are computer applications for mobile devices or smartphones. When developing an app, you need to consider which operating systems it is compatible with for subsequent installation. The most important ones today are iOs and Android, the latter being the most widely used with a market share of around 86%.

Apps have become famous because they are available on the net, ready to be downloaded and used. You can get them for free or buy them. Apps can be found in the Play Store (belonging to Google) in the case of Android mobiles or in the App Store for iOs, which belongs to Apple. We can also mention the AppStore for Android, from Amazon.

Apps have become indispensable in our daily lives as they facilitate the tasks we carry out every day. For example, in the past, to meet up with a friend you had to do it on the computer or call them at home; nowadays it is no longer necessary, you can talk wherever and whenever you want, easily and quickly. Furthermore, they are also starting to be used in the business world as they facilitate many actions such as sending data, filling in forms... in other words, they automate processes and reduce production costs.

The downloading and use of applications is one of the trends that dominate the current digital market and the business world as they represent a great opportunity to reach a greater number of potential customers by offering them something useful and of quality.

The main attraction of business apps is clear: whatever your company does online, it can also be done on smartphones, providing other important benefits such as portability or user location. Moreover, it is a differentiating factor that surprises consumers and will help you position yourself as an innovative entity in front of your competitors.

Developing an app step by step

To begin with, some of the questions to consider before you start developing your project idea are the following:

which operating system is the best fit for my app: iOS or Android?

what elements do I need for the app project (this should include design, a homepage, UI/UX, mockups...)?

what tools do I use to speed up the app development process?

how can I publish my app on the App Store or Google Play?

Well, it is important that you are ambitious and want to answer these questions quickly and easily, but we recommend that you first take into account a series of steps to follow to better organise the development of your app:

• Have the idea and create a sketch: an app is born with an idea. Create the draft of that app in a visual and tangible way and define how it will work and its features. When creating an app from scratch, it is good to try to start in the most basic way possible, i.e. based on your first vision of the app.
  
  
• Study the market: at this point we must know the needs of our market in order to know how to solve them and find out if there are other apps that do the same or almost the same as yours, who are the potential customers and what the business model will be with an estimated budget. You can use the Google Keyword Planner tool to find out how many people are looking for what you are trying to do.
  
  
• Create mockups: after you have made a sketch of your app, it is time to create mockups. A mockup is a draft that defines the design of your app, the user interfaces and the flow of the app. A mockup only shows the essential details of the app from a fully functional approach.
  
  
• Design your app: the design of your app includes pixel-perfect visual details, graphic effects, image assets and sometimes animations and motion design. The design is not only about how your app will look, but also how the user will interact with it. Therefore, look for a developer who can build an attractive app with a good user experience.
  
  
• Create a landing page: a mistake that is often made when developing an app is to ignore marketing for its promotion. Creating a good app is no guarantee that users will find it and use it. It is necessary to make it known, and for that, a good way is to create a landing page for your app, in order to direct potential users to it.
  
  
• It is time to create the app: it is in this phase that you will have to apply all your knowledge to develop the app, implementing everything we have mentioned above. Basically, you will have to work on two fronts
  • The Front-end: this is the part of the app that you can see, including design, navigation, graphics, user interaction, animation and data processing.
    
    
  • The Back-end: this is what you can't see, including databases, networking, data storage and user management.

• Upload your app to a Marketplace: once you have developed your app, it is time to upload it to a Marketplace, such as the App Store or Google Play. These are the platforms that will allow users to download your app, so it is very important that you meet all the requirements of both platforms. After these steps, it will be your job to promote it and make it reach as many people as possible. In addition, the more users use it, the more feedback you will get to improve and optimise your app.

Some tips to implement your promotion strategy

Promoting your app correctly will be of vital importance as our efforts and investment will be reflected in the number of downloads it reaches, and thus obtain benefits. Some tips that we recommend for the promotion of your app are:

• Tempt customers: offer discounts, coupons, raffles or contests. Incentivise the download and use of the application by providing a complementary value by encouraging users to spread and share it.
  
  
• Free of charge: companies that do not specialise in applications should not see them as a business in themselves. Allowing free downloads will help to increase the number of potential customers rather than generate resources, reinforcing the company's business model with the possibility of increasing sales.
  
  
• Get the word out: use social media and email marketing to promote your new app in a less costly and more effective way. It is also very important that you take into account the factors to improve ASO.
  
  
• Not only marketing: although marketing seems to be the most obvious objective when developing an app, functions such as customer services and customer relationship management (CRM) can be very useful for users.

The digital transformation has reached everywhere. It is part of the consequences of a digital era in which we are all connected. To a greater or lesser extent, companies are increasingly feeling the need to join the digital world, and they are doing so by betting on innovative ideas such as the development of an app.