Planning To Develop A Custom Mobile App? Follow These Tips!

Creating a smart and user-friendly smartphone application calls for considerable professional expertise and complete familiarity with the latest mobile app development platforms and frameworks. Every year, many apparently 'fool-proof' applications are launched, which do not manage to make any major headway among targeted clients. If you wish to develop a successful application, the following pointers would help you:
1. Determine the purpose of the app - To be practically useful for customers, mobile apps need to actually serve one precise purpose/solve a specific problem of end-users. The purpose can range from real-time updates on stock market data, to simple gaming for kids. Find out what would be the exact genre of the app you are planning to create. That would keep the process focused, and help you identify your target buyers easily too.
2. Start of with a concept - At any professional mobile application development company, experts typically get together to deliberate on alternative ideas that can be implemented, to create the app. Once you are sure about its purpose, you have the option of choosing from alternative interesting concepts via which the application can serve the same. Make sure that the selected idea is technically viable.
3. Avoid 'me-too' apps - It's all very well to get into an intriguing process of Android or iphone app development in USA - but will your application have significant uniqueness value? That is a question you need to resolve, before proceeding to the designing stage of the app. Find out whether there are already any similar apps in the market, along with their popularity counts. If there is already an app similar to yours doing well among users, it would be tough for your application to make a mark.
4. Choose the design type - This would probably depend on the nature of the app, along with the proficiency of the mobile app developers at your organization. If the executives are experienced enough with sophisticated smartphone app development framework and tools, you can opt for a Native design for the application. Alternatively, in case you are looking for quickly releasing a no-frills app, the Web design scheme is likely to be more suitable.
5. Choose the targeted platforms - As far as mobile apps are concerned, one size definitely does not fit all. That's precisely why professionals from any leading iphone application development company in USA would stick to creating advanced apps for iphones only. Of course, if you have the requisite skill-set at your disposal, you can go for designing Android and/or Blackberry apps as well. Remember, apps for each different mobile application platform have to be separately customized.
6. Make your app user-friendly - Smartness in the choice of app development graphics and functional features goes a long way in determining whether it would be able to survive and prosper in the fiercely competitive mobile markets. Chalk up the app user interface (UI) and layout in a manner that, users would never have any problems in using it. Using elegant yet simple mobile application designs is particularly important when you are making apps for kids. The dashboard of smartphone apps should never give a cluttered feel.
7. Examine the prototype - With the basic functionalities and design features, create a wireframe of the application, and build a model prototype - which can be promoted to potential users. Highlight the advantages that the app is going to provide in the prototype itself. You can easily do this via your company's social media channels. At this point, you will also need to acquire the necessary development and marketing licenses for the app.
8. Pricing - Unless you are developing a free app (which can, of course, be done to promote your business), a proper pricing and revenue plan needs to be in place. Monitor the app development cost at every stage, so that you do not need to set its final price too high, to earn decent profit margins. You can conduct market surveys too, asking people about the maximum amount they are likely to pay for the application you are developing. Competitor analysis would also come in handy.
9. Implement an analytics tool - You need to be aware of how your app is doing in the market, and presence of an accurate and reliable analytics tool is an absolute must for that. The tool should give you real-time figures on the number of people who are downloading and installing your app, as well as the total revenue figures it is managing to generate. Scopes for improvement (if any) can also be identified at this stage.
10. Do beta-testing before release - If your app slows down the handsets of users, or has bugs in it - not only would the final sale figures remain low, but your mobile application development company would also be viewed in an unfavorable light. Create a core group of Blackberry or iphone app developers, who would actually use the app on their phones for a pre-specified period of time (at least a couple of weeks). If no issues are detected, you can go ahead with the full app launch.
11. Promote and distribute your app well - The custom mobile apps you create need to have adequate visibility on the online space, for buyers to be aware of them and actually purchase them. Start publicizing your applications on your social media pages and business website, from a few days before its release. Distribute the app through the leading web app stores. You need to ensure that the entire purchasing process can be completed in a few clicks.
After releasing the app, constantly monitor its performance metrics, and decide upon the upgrades/improvements required accordingly. Actively seek feedback from actual users, regarding the performance and the visual features of the application. Creating a mobile app can be a whole lot of fun - and following these tips would ensure its success too!