Learn how to develop and launch your first iOS app

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Launching an app has been a worthy enterprise for more than a decade. App developers have the opportunity to work on a variety of exciting projects that are popping up daily, if not hourly. The limitations for what kind of apps can be created is only limited by the imagination of the developers and by the willingness of users to participate.

iOS as a platform is more powerful than ever, both due to its composition and technical specs as well as the creative applications we are seeing pave the way for others to base their concepts on. AR and VR alone have offered a whole new universe of possibilities as the technology becomes more and more capable of being mobile oriented.

Previously, the focus was on desktop or laptop development as the key to the future. Over the past five years, mobile users have reshaped the way that many websites and businesses cater to their target demographic because of the advantages that mobile-oriented projects offer.

If you are interested in launching an application, there are a few things you need to consider before you dip your toes into the world of iOS and beyond.

Is your idea unique?

For every unique app idea, there are tens of thousands that are just slightly altered regurgitations of the same puppy face app, each touting itself as the next Snapchat. You have to ask how fleshed out your app idea actually is and do the research to find out if your project has already been done.

If it has not, great – act on it now, because it is only a matter of time before someone else does.

Who is going to create your app?

On one hand, your budget matters. If you are able to piece together the rudimentary version of your application yourself or with a partner, that is far more advantageous than outsourcing the whole process if your funds are limited.

If your partner and your combined technical skill set will not cut it, and you are going to have to look into iOS development solutions that will work for your project.

This can mean partnering with a firm that has the experience fleshing out and creating a working prototype that will allow you to pitch for capital. Or it can mean working with an iOs developer or two and piecing together a team based on what you already are capable of/have the funds for.

Do you know how you will market your application?

If you are not familiar with how the app business works, it is not as easy as just throwing it up on the App Store and hoping it works out.  Before you reach out to anyone, look at how other applications that are similar have been marketed and find out as much about what avenues will allow you to maximize your reach.

Launching an app, like any great project, will be a challenge that will be both educational and ideally profitable. Most people do not strike gold on their first application but buy building a portfolio of applications.

Have you ever done any app development? What were the biggest hurdles you had to overcome?

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Diogo Costa

24 y/o, born and living in Portugal. Majored in Biology, but tech and computers were always a passion. Wrote for sites like Windows.Appstorm and MakeTechEasier.