This blog will give you an understanding of what you need to know before making an app. It will also give you an idea of some of the things that many developers will hide from you.

A basic understanding of the components involved in your project

Many times clients come to us and ask us for a mobile app based service or system. They think of the project as only the front interface and do not consider other components of the whole system. You must have a good understanding of the various components involved in your project. Some services or solutions might be based on a stand alone app, but many app based services/businesses have other components too. For instance app based services like “Just Eat” or “Uber” are not only the app. Each of these app based systems has many other components too. It has a backend database with user profiles and admin access, it has Android app and iOS app. Some app projects might also include a hardware unit such as a Bluetooth based electronic control unit.

Which mobile platform should I target?

Over 97% of the Mobile Operating System is captured by these two platforms (Android and iOS). Therefore, many businesses focus only on these two platforms. It makes maintenance, upgrades/updates etc easy for them.

Develop native apps – You must also beware that many times developers will not give you native apps. Native apps are apps that are written only for a specific platform. A native app developed only for Android will not work on another platform. Since mobile screen are small and they have limited resources (in terms of processing, memory and screen) therefore native apps are the best apps in terms of performance and scalability. We want to highlight that many times, your developer will give you apps developed through cross-platforms and will charge you for each platform whereas in reality they would not have developed the app for each platform. Please note that typically a native Android App Developer cannot develop a native iOS app and vice versa. To know more about native apps and other options read our blog on “What are the different options for app development?”

Jack of all trades, master of none

If your app does involve expertise from multiple areas such as web, Android and iOS; and you come across a developer who claims that he is a Jack of all, then, do note that he cannot deliver you the best app OR at least he is going to deliver an app that would later on shows problem. The reason is that as explained earlier, all of the above are specialized areas. There is too much competition in the areas of mobile app. If you are going to develop native apps then you must go for a team which has at least one person in each of these specialized areas.

Cooperative and supportive

The team that you select must be cooperative and must give you proper time for testing the app. They should be willing to make the revisions. With regards to cooperation, there are 2 types of IT companies. The first type of companies are the ones with limited gains and limited vision. Their focus would be to do the project for you, take money from you and would not be interested in a long term relationship. Normally their quality and services is not that good and therefore, they would try to disappear soon after they delivered you the project. Your app might start showing problems after a few months when the traffic increases on it or when it needs some bug fixing or updates. The second type of companies are those companies who understand this logic that your success is their success. Its very simple. Any startup or small company that brings a software project would need expansion and more IT solutions if they success and expand. A good service provider always understands this logic and gives priority to your success. He/she will always look for a long term business relationship.

Business Ethics and Profile

The team that you select must have some business ethics and a good profile. Many IT Companies will not take care of your Intellectual Property (business concept and model), data security and privacy. Many times IT companies are approached by organizations who collect and sell data. This data if provided to your competitors can be of huge loss to your business. Your IT service provider must never compromise on your data.

Security

This is something that is many times overlooked by startups, small and medium businesses. But we say that its very hard to win without ensuring a high level of security and privacy of your data and IT tools. Many companies and developers do not have even an idea of how to build secure apps. Since security is a process, it cannot be 100% guaranteed but your developer must ensure best practices to ensure the security and privacy of your data.

Trust and Sincerity

Remember the IT team that is providing you services is like your life partner. Mobile apps and IT solutions are not a one-time product. Their scalability, maintenance, upgrades and updates continue as long as you continue your business. Once your business start growing, you will need more and more IT solutions. There is no scale to measure trust and sincerity but its very easy to see the profile of the company and the person you are speaking to. You must have a chat with your provider to ensure that he/she is trust worth and sincere and will never exploit your lack of knowledge or limitations in future.  Google a little bit about the company and its achievements. Google about the company’s representative you are in contact with. People with established profiles must be your first choice.

Outsourcing / sub-contracting

In over 95% of the outsourced projects that I have worked on, there has always been time management and many other issues. My personal suggestion is to reduce the outsourcing or sub-contracting bits to the minimum. You can outsource things like graphics designing, video making, branding or contents writing but for the main technical development part (like web, mobile apps and their integration), I would suggest that these must be done directly by the staff of the service providers. It does not matter wherever they are located but as far as they are on the Payroll of the service provider. This ensures not only in-time completion but also ensures the data privacy and security of your software and Intellectual Property Rights. If a developer is working with another company and providing part time services to your main contractor/supplier then the priority for that developer will be his own primary employer.

Bugs fixing and updates

Normally apps do need bugs fixing or upgrades after each certain time. Even Apple and Google need bug fixing and updates and therefore they continuously related the updated versions of their Operating Systems. Therefore, you must have a good relationship with your service providers. Also do note that it will be a major disadvantage if your main supplier has outsourced your work to someone else because it is very difficult to grab the services of an outsourced supplier for later bug fixing or upgrades/updates into the app. Many time it is difficult to approach them OR they are busy in some other projects.

Previous Experience

It is very important that your supplier has developed previous apps. It is not necessary that they must have developed exactly the same app but something that requires similar skills in terms of developing the app would be necessary. The importance of previous experience increases a lot if your app also involves electronic system such as remote automation and control through Bluetooth or the designing of an electronic system that is controlled and monitored through an app.

Support in submitting and publishing the app

Your service provider must also provide you support in publishing the app. Please note that many times Apple would not approve your App straight forward. Your app must be according to the App store guidelines.

Social Media and reach to market

The completion of your app project is not the end. Even if you have diamonds to offer but if the people don’t know, how are they going to come to you. There is a huge competition and your service provider must guide you on how to take your app to the huge audience. Normally there is some cost associated to it. Good teams (service providers) have an expert in their team who can guide you on how to exploit social media platform. Some development companies also run their Twitter/Facebook pages. We strongly suggest Facebook as it has a huge potential as compare to other platforms. You service provider can give a post or two of your developed app on their website. But you will need to provide them with the proper designs and contents that match the audience of that particular social media page. To know more about the importance of social media for your business, read our blog on “Why is Social Media promotion important for my app or business?”

We also suggest the following blogs to give you a better understanding of the topic.

Do you want to have a mobile app, website, eCommerce solution or a software for your business? Do you want to be one step ahead of your competitors? Do you have any innovative idea that you want to make app for? Contact us for a free 30 minutes consultancy and we’ll help you being one step ahead of your competitors. To know more About iFahja, visit our About us page and our profile.

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