Step-By-Step Guide: Turn Your Idea Into A Mobile App In 2024

Transform your app idea into your very own mobile app reality with this guide!

The app economy is booming and the time has come to progress your vision for a mobile application into reality. With the ever-increasing sales of smartphones, the user base of mobile apps has skyrocketed in the last few years.

According to Statista, by 2020, mobile apps are expected to generate about $189 billion in revenue from app stores and in-app advertising. In yet another report by Statista, there were 2.8 million apps available on the Google Play Store and 2.2 million apps in Apple’s App Store as of March 2017. These figures clearly highlight the growing demand as well as mass consumption of mobile apps and increasing weightage on questions like how to make an app and how to code an app.

Anyone can get tempted by the tremendous amount of opportunity in this field. Now, as we know the true growth chart of app development ideas, what if an idea strikes your mind about developing a mobile app? The sprouting of an idea is not an issue, but to bring that idea to life is a task to accomplish. Here’s what to do!

 

1. What Is Your Idea For An App?

The most essential aspect of an effective app is a thoughtful idea. For you, your idea may be the best but, for others, it may not work as expected. So, with some deep analysis of the market, you can polish your idea a bit more. The app idea should be crisp and definite. Mobile apps are easily dispensable. If something doesn’t click for the user, it will take only a few seconds to get rid of it. Be it food app ideas or gaming app ideas, your app ideas should target a problem to get rid of it. That is crucial for growth after the app is released.

While going through the mobile app store, every user has a set picture in his mind before he ends up on some app. Only after close scrutiny and a brief description of the app, the user decides to lay his hand on an app. Here comes the crisp definition of your app into play. If you are able to convey your intended idea to the user, only then will it be impactful.

Begin your journey by putting your thoughts down on paper as unmistakably as it could be. Scan the web for tools that can be brought into use for making your idea a success. Once you are done with the learning, look out for companies that may help you chalk out your plans. Most importantly, envision a unique idea that promises to answer most of the users’ problems.

Also, don't constrain yourself to a solitary app idea as most successful business ventures always go on with multiple ideas. It is done to keep other ideas in backup in case of any misadventure. So, you have an idea for an app now what?

2. What Kind Of An App Do You Need?

Mobile apps are compact software programs intended to run on various gadget platforms, for example, mobile phones, smart watches, and tablets. Compared to laptops and desktops, these apps are compressed in every sense to make the UI (User Interface) compatible with smaller screens and touchscreen-style controls.

Depending on various requirements and platforms, mobile apps are categorized into a few categories. Let’s answer your how to make an app with these three major categories:

• Native Apps: These apps are designed in such a manner that they work on one type of mobile operating system. For instance, to create an iPhone app, developers will be working in Objective-C and such an app won’t run on Android and if the app is designed to work on the Android platform, the end product won’t run on iOS.
• Web Apps: Web apps are not a real app but, a website that looks more like it. To bring it into use, the user has to go to a particular URL and install it. It will bring an icon of that website on your screen and hence, you can use the app. Generally, such apps are written in HTML5 and are designed to run on the mobile browser.
• Hybrid Apps: Hybrid apps are the ones that bring you a mix of native and web apps. Some apps may be more inclined towards running on a platform and some may focus on web-based technologies. Such apps are more in demand nowadays due to their versatility.

Now that you are clear about your thoughts, keep your head on the shoulders and push off with the following key components.

Comprehend The Market Trend

After contemplating your desired idea, you need to come to the forefront. The focus should be on knowing everything about the market, from current trends to user expectations and from heavyweights in the industry to quality standards, all of it should be at your fingertips. Such market research will assist you in making your mobile app a unique product.

If some similar apps are previously available on the market, get to know about the length and breadth of them. Look out for application features and reviews of similar apps and try to embed the missing elements into your app. By doing so, you will be able to get an upper edge above all the other apps that may resemble the one you are up to. Add all the new learning to your feature list.

As per a report by Statista, the global consumer app and business and productivity app market size from 2013 to 2016 stood at 85 and 58 billion U.S. dollars.

Learn About Your Audience

One of the most crucial aspects of any business is to lock-on to the desired audience. Without defining the audience, one can’t move even an inch. The user base can be from a specific group of sexual orientation, locale, age group, salaried ones or some particular profession. And once you make up your mind regarding the audience, you would be able to figure out their needs and requirements as per your mobile app.

This will ultimately aid you in tailoring the app accordingly. The entire task moves around the user’s commitment. The research about the audience can be done on different individuals and as well as on groups also. In the end, it will be the audience that will take your product to the pinnacle. In the next section, we have covered how to make an app idea a reality in terms of actual mobile app development segment.

Hire An App Development Company

Picking up an apt app development company is one of the key steps in initiating your grind. Professional developers and designers will turn your fancy ideas into user-satisfying products.

Any such top-notch mobile application development company will take care of every task of the app development that will ultimately inject the required strength and vibrancy into your app. On top of that, you will also be saving your time and money by handing over the application development task to some reputed agency.

Keep The Development Cost In Mind

Before setting out your own app, you need to fix a particular sum that you will be utilized during the app development. It is profoundly fundamental for the developer to pull in the user and burn through cash on the different parts of the application. The ‘how to make an app’ phase is also highly influenced by the development cost i.e how much the app owner is willing to spend on developing an app idea.

The following are the various development factors that influence the development cost of an app:

• What exactly does it promise to deliver to its users?
• The mobile platform for which it will be developed i.e will it be for iOS, Android, Windows or some other?
• What particular devices will it be compatible? As all app stores charge the amount to list an app on their platform. And if you have plans to launch on multiple platforms, be prepared to shell out more.
• Do you want to link your app with third-party apps that will be the source of its content?
• The addition of visual objects greatly influences the development cost of the app.
• Features such as GPS navigation, NFC technology, and other technologies define the usability of the mobile application.
• The cost is just not limited to app development. You will also be spending some amount of technical support as well

Having said that, there are some typical or average benchmarks for app development project costs that we can apply for different types of apps. For example:

• iOS – $28k approx
• Android – $23k approx
• Windows Phone – $18k approx
• Hiring A Developer In The US – $107k / year approx

Chip In With Some Creative Design

Lately, the survival of a new mobile app idea in the market has become very arduous and it is due to the fierce competition in the app industry.
According to a report by Statista, as of 2018, the total number of available apps in the Google Play Store stood at 3.6 million, after surpassing 1 million marks in July 2013 and till January 2017, a total of 2.2 million mobile apps were available on various iOS devices. If combined, the figure falls a bit short of 6 million on the two major mobile operating systems.

Therefore, in order to carve a space for yourself in such a huge cluster is obviously not that subtle. Your mobile app design should be brimming with tons of creative touch, so that, it should be able to attain the attention of the audience and keep floating in the market for long enough.

It’s time for Remuneration

No idea can sustain for long without making money. Once you can attain profit from your app idea through various means like membership expense, in-application buy, in-application promotions, and sponsorship. Here, you have to figure out which of these methods work for you and go with it.

There is not much scope for a paid app until it establishes itself. But with a free app, you can make money using the in-app purchase option for some additional tempting features. Otherwise, look out for a sponsorship agreement for the app. Such ideas work mainly with apps related to public convenience or social initiative. Always tread forward with one or two monetization strategies.

Test The Beta Version First

It is always wise to test the product before launching it in the market and for the same, Beta programs are introduced. You can take a cue from Silicon Valley experts like Apple and Google.

They released multiple beta versions of their app on the market before making them publicly available. This way, you can get to know any of the snags or glitches present in your final product and the ultimate app will be simply flawless.

Launch Your App With A Blast

If done with all the changes brought up by the beta version, move on to launching the app for your audience. To generate more curiosity in the people, pitch in with teasers and pre-launch activities.

It will make people more inquisitive about your app idea and will garner maximum attention. Finally, plan something smashing for the d-day. As people will already be anticipating big, stand true to their expectations and unveil your app through an exceptional event.

Start Pitching In The Market

While this doesn't fall under the app's development program, yet it is still unquestionably sufficiently critical to make it more effective. When you are done with all the above-mentioned aspects of the app, follow:

• Dispatch it in the iTunes Store and Google Play Store, as it will be a kind of advertising for the app.
• Follow the basic i.e. social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as this will get the message out.
• Contact tech journalists and bloggers who might propound your ideas in public.
• Official announcements on free locales or a paid site can be exceptionally convenient.
• Even hiring a PR firm for promotion can also come handy.

Doing advertising in tidbits before the launch would definitely create buzz and keep your application from blurring, yet users tend to get bored in no time. Just in case, if you are thinking about the marketing aspect of the app you can wait until the completion of the development, then you might be testing the water in the wrong way.

As a rule, advertising is most noteworthy when it's new, and by making use of this opportunity, you can push your app toward the best store deals. If you are not smart enough, the chances of the app getting blurred will only multiply. So you have to take the opportunity at the right time.

Note down your Analytics

Rightly analyzed data will bring out the real picture of your app in terms of developing an app idea and help you to work on the required areas. Therefore, you need to incorporate appropriate and leading analytics tools that can track real-time users.

By using multiple tools, you can get detailed data about the user’s behavior. But if you are someone who has an app idea and want to know where to start then these tools might be of great help to you:

• App Analytics: This tool is for the iOS app, which lets you measure user engagement, marketing campaigns, and monetizing for your apps.
• App Annie: App Annie works with both iOS and Android apps. With this tool, you can access market data intelligence, basic app analytics, and store stats across multiple devices.
• Countly: Countly is another tool to gauze analytic data from the app. It allows you to send push notifications, gather crash reports, and develop individual user activity profiles.
• Facebook Analytics: It tracks and analyzes your user’s data. It can be integrated with mobile apps, websites, bots, and more.
• Google Analytics: Google Analytics is one of the well-known analytical tools that rightly measures app usage and behavior.

Feedback Is Crucial And You Know It Why

Make one thing very clear, nothing can replace direct feedback from your users. Various analytical tools can bombard you with data about your user base but cannot figure out the exact reason behind it.

For instance, you might see a drop in the usability of your app, it will only be the user who can disclose the right justification with fair feedback and responses. There are many aspects that a user can only tell because he is the one who might be using similar apps and can point out the much-needed improvement that you should follow.

What if your app doesn't meet the user requirements? Obviously, nobody wants to taste failure just after the product launch. Therefore, if the client chooses to give feedback rather, nothing is better than that. Feedback is a kind of response that demonstrates that people want to engage with your app only if you are ready to make required changes in your own app.

Make it simple for them to give your input, be responsive, and give a genuine idea of whether the feedback is proper. If you are convinced enough, make the changes and let the user know about it. This way you will gain their trust.

Once your application is out, you will be able to see its positive highlights and inadequacies. This is the right time to make your own app advances and enhance the app through the contribution from the market. We hope these points provided you with more exposure on what to do with an idea for your mobile app.

In The End: Keep A Backup Plan

If everything falls in the right place, you can celebrate and if things don't work out as you have comprehended, better luck will your next app idea. So it is equally important to have a backup plan.

The plan may include a complete overhaul of the app or an altogether different app idea that can also be brought into play. But at first, we would like to see your idea to work and the chances of success will depend upon the basics that we have mentioned in this article.

Also, in case you are interested in reading more about the latest mobile app development trends then we suggest that you stay tuned with MobileAppDaily. You can also get regular updates through our social media channels. Here’s our Twitter!

For any further doubts related to turning your idea into a mobile app or on how to make an app, just leave a comment below and our team will get to you at the earliest!