Do you believe that your idea will be in high demand in the mobile app store? Do you have a product or service that would be a great fit for a mobile app, or are you ready to create a cool new game that will take over the
AppStore and
Google Play Store right off the bat ? The idea itself is not that important. It is much more important to approach the process of creating an application in a systematic and correct way to develop your product.
Developing a mobile app is not easy, from design and marketing to fixing bugs and releasing updates. Many novice developers often forget about the important moments of creation, which are beyond the direct writing of code. In this article, I've covered six common bugs that can ruin your application if you don't avoid them and do your best to prevent them. When you take on a mobile app project, don't make these mistakes and you'll be on the right track.
Mistake #1. Developing for too many platforms
Simultaneous development of a program for various platforms is the first serious test that programmers face and, I must admit, it is still not easy for me. Most of the market share is on Android and iOS. According to research by
Statistica , there are more than 2.8 million apps on Google Play today, followed by Apple in second place with 2.2 million apps. What do you prefer? Often developers try to write for these two main platforms at once, some even try to include the Microsoft Store in this list. The dilemma is not so simple: of course, ideally, you would like to make your application available on every popular platform, and do it right away. However, from a development perspective, doing everything at the same time is often a big mistake.
Only if you have inexhaustible resources, simultaneous development for several platforms is a good idea. It will just take away your precious time and money. But if you are a novice programmer, besides working individually or with a small group, then most likely you are experiencing a shortage of both time and money. This will be especially noticeable if the application does not become successful. Instead of concurrent development, it is better to consciously choose the main platform. The decision should be based on the target audience of potential users. And a few months after the successful launch, you can explore other platforms. By doing so, you will not only save time and money, but you will also avoid major questions about your application at this initial stage.
Mistake #2. Creating bad interfaces and unnecessary features
Nothing can kill an app faster than a bad interface. Remember, the idea behind a good app is to make everything as simple and accessible as possible, while still providing all possible features. You have to take the time to develop a great interface. If interface design is not your forte, hire a professional to do it for you, of course, if your budget allows it. If money is not enough for this, then start with a more detailed study of interface design. Books like this one
UI is Communication: How to Design Intuitive, User Centered Interfaces by Focusing on Effective Comm...
The application should not have "features for the sake of having features." They must be helpful. If you add additional features that do not provide any real benefit, then you will simply clutter up the interface, which will invariably annoy users.
During app creation, decide which features of the app will be key for users and focus on their quality detailed development. All additional features (including sharing features), while important, are not core to your application. After a while, you can return to them and include them in the app with updates.
| Focus on the features that are key to your audience and combine them with an interface that is easy to use: it should be simple yet powerful enough to meet the needs of the app. Useful powerful features combined with a simple and intuitive interface is the key to success. |
Mistake #3. Poor quality testing
So, your application is ready. Time to upload it to the Play Market, right? No not like this! After creating an application, it is very important to spend some time on testing. This stage is needed to detect all sorts of nuances, unexpected errors that may come up, and in order to tighten the design as a whole. Unfortunately, many developers neglect this step of the development process and don't do it properly. In most cases, the rush is due to the desire to release the application as soon as possible. And some are simply not used to spending a lot of time testing in general. The end result of this forcing the testing phase is the discovery of a large number of bugs after the application is launched.
Bugs can be part of the software, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do your best to prevent them. With the variety of smartphones on the market, it's important that your app is thoroughly tested on as many popular devices as possible.
During testing, use all available tools. I'm sure that you know developers as well as friends who would like to try your product, so let them download the application and do it. Give them time to calmly use it, the way regular users will, get feedback from them - listen to praise and criticism.
| The more problems you find at launch, the fewer people will want to download your app. Most likely, many active reviewers will download your product, and if it turns out to be full of bugs because you rushed through the testing phase, then this will have a very negative impact on the reviews. And the application of an unknown author with bad reviews is not the best reserve for the future. |
Don't rush through this step. Let testing take as long as necessary. Remember, quality is everything, and don't worry if your app comes out a month later than you expected.
Mistake #4. Ignoring financial calculations
I am sure that you, as a developer, are primarily focused on the functionality of the application. Therefore, I put special emphasis on the following phrase: never forget about monetization, even in the early stages. I am sure that everyone would like to release a product that will bring profit in the future (or at least a good name so that you can profitably sell the following applications). Why, then, do many developers miss such an important part of working on a mobile application? By incorporating a financial strategy into your app development plan, you can deliver a much more positive user experience for your product from the outset, because unfinished financial aspects end up hurting the app experience. Without a clear monetization policy, the application may not meet your financial expectations,
In the early stages of development, you must clearly define the financial policy. Will your application be paid? Will you have ads? Do you plan to sell goods and services? Are you considering a freemium (shareware) model? You should ask yourself all these questions before you release an app. Proper financial planning will be the key to the success of your product and a guarantee of a return on investment after its launch.
Mistake #5. belated marketing
Lack of marketing is one of the most common mistakes among programmers. It is clear that you are not an advertising specialist, you are a developer. Many people think that marketing should be launched when the application is already ready. This may be very far from the truth. While you don't have to start thinking about marketing strategies on the first day you get started, it's worth thinking about it long before the release date of the app. The main idea is to generate interest in your product and create a target audience of future users. Then, by the time the application is released, you will already have people ready to download it.
Understanding when exactly to start dealing with this issue is quite difficult. There are many factors to take into account here. Obviously, in order to advertise properly, you must have demo materials. It can be application screenshots or even videos. I am sure that once you have an application project with several working features ready, it's time to start marketing. As features are added and functionality expanded, you can release new videos and take new demo screenshots to show how your app is evolving.
Mistake #6. Failure to fix bugs
No matter how much time and effort you put into testing, users may encounter (even more: they will definitely encounter) bugs in your application. Bugs are an integral part of software, and users are used to dealing with them. However, you need to be prepared that fixing some bugs often gives rise to others, and sometimes new bugs appear like mushrooms after rain. Some errors can be corrected quickly, others can take a lot of time. Users are loyal to minor bugs, but serious bugs should be quickly fixed as quickly as possible.
Your work does not end with the release of the created application. Once a product is released to the market, you need to keep an eye on feedback so that you can quickly respond to any issues that arise. It is advisable to focus on the released product at the start and follow everything that happens to it. And even when you start working on another project a month later, you still need to keep your finger on the pulse.
Bugs need to be fixed throughout the entire period of the application’s operation, but here it is important to properly allocate your time - serious bugs are fixed first, minor ones can wait. The success of the application depends on your attention paid to this issue. Time management is extremely important - you should not push your new project into the background, and at the same time you should always have time to fix bugs in an already released product.
| If an error is found, fixing it as soon as possible is your most important task. As soon as a solution is found, you need to release an update in order to get rid of it completely as soon as possible. |
Results
Since an increasing number of users are moving to work with smartphones and tablets, the mobile application becomes to some extent a measure of the quality of the service provided. In addition, there are a lot of mobile applications, and you need to try very hard to get noticed. So, if you want to create an application, you need to do it very well. If you are going to do it somehow, then it is better not to start: the reputation of a bad developer releasing a low-quality product is something that you definitely do not need. I am far from thinking that following these tips will guarantee the success of the project, but if you ignore what is said in them, your application will most likely be lost among the rest and not become popular. If you avoid the above mistakes, you can be sure that you have provided a good start to your project.
