A Step-by-Step Guide of Developing App for Apple

If you’ve been following news from Apple, you’ll know that the Apple App Store is one of the most successful Internet application stores out there.And the sheer popularity of the store almost guarantees that you’ll make quite a bit of money if you write an app that is useful and interesting to Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch owners.This guide shows the step by step procedure for Developing App for your Apple Device.

developing app

Developing app for Apple

The problem is getting started – just how do you get developing app of Apple? It’s not as difficult as it seems.Here is a step-by-step guide for developing app of Apple which I’ve put together. Read on and before long, I’m sure you’ll be writing and submitting apps to the App Store like a pro!

Step 1: Think Of A Good Idea

good idea for developing appSo what’s the first step to developing app of Apple? Well, think about whether you app solves a unique problem. Are there any niches you can specialize in?,Research some good ideas before you start developing your app.For example, there are many app categories with tons of fans, e.g. pet lovers, weight watchers, photographers – the list goes on. Or perhaps you can even take an existing app and improve on it.

Also, can you make your app highly interactive? The truth is, many of us iPhone and iPad users have short attention spans. Nice user interfaces are definitely a bonus.

Step 2: Develop A Tools Checklist

So what do you do next? Well, the next step for developing app for apple is to make a list of items you’ll need. Here we go:

Join the Apple iPhone Developer Program ($99)
Get an iPhone or iPod Touch
Get anLatest Mac computer or Hackintosh with Mac OS X 10.11.2
Prepare a Non-Disclosure Agreement
Download and install the latest version of the iPhone SDK if you don’t already have it.
A hardcopy notebook for brainstorming

Step 3: So What Do You Excel In?

Before you run off to code your app, think about what skills you bring to the table.’Developing an app doesn’t mean you have to do it all yourself. Remember, to make a product successful, you need a good team. You can go it alone, but you can also waste a lot of time, energy and sanity in the process.Stop and think about what you excel in Check out the list below to see what you can and cannot do. Then find people to fill the gaps.

Market research
Outlining App Functionality (Sitemap Creation)
GUI Design
Programming (Objective C, Cocoa,Swift)
App Promotion and Marketing

Step 4: Do Some Market Research

Market research for developing app

It’s critically important to do some market research beforehand. A good way to learn is to go straight to the App Store and discern the good from the bad and ugly.Do some market research in the App Store beforehand.You can also perform concept development by analyzing other similar applications. Always ask yourself – what problem does your app solve? What value does your app bring to your audience?

Step 5: Know the Device UI

Understand the concept for developing appIf you want to create an iPhone app, you need to understand the capabilities of the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch and their interfaces. A few things you should consider:

How do well-designed apps navigate from screen to screen?
How do they organize information?
How much information do they present to the user?
How do they take advantage of the iPhone’s unique characteristics
Get really familiar with your device’s UI

What you can do is to download the top 10 apps in every category and play with all of them. You should then list at least 5 features you’d like to incorporate into your app.

Step 6: Who Will Use Your App?
You must answer this question if you’re to write a good app.For example, if you’re writing a game app, maybe your audience will want to beat their high score. If it’s a utility app, think of what actions your audience will do (e.g. in a “coffee shop locator” app, think of the actions a user will they take within the app to find that coffee shop).Think of as many user scenarios as you can and you’ll begin to understand how users will use your app.

Step 7: Sketch Out Your Idea

Sketch Out Your Idea for developing appOne important tip that many app developers don’t do is to sketch their app. And this means really sketching the look and feel of the app on a piece of paper or notebook.As you sketch, think of what information each screen need to present. Think of how the user is taken from point A to point B to point C. And think of how elements on the screen should be proportioned or sized.Sketching out your idea will boost your creativity for the app far beyond where you think it is.There’s also a nice iPhone Stencil Kit available in the market to quickly sketch out iPhone UI prototypes on paper.Sketch out your screen designs with the UI Stencil.

Step 8: Ok, Time for Design!

If you are a designer, you should now download the iPhone GUI Photoshop template.This is a collection of iPhone GUI elements that will save you a lot of time in getting started. If you are not a designer, go out and hire one! When looking for a designer, try to find someone who has experience designing for mobile devices.

Here are some good places to look for designers: Coroflot, Crowdspring and eLance. When posting your job offer, do be very specific about your requirements. And be choosy when selecting your designer – it pays off in the long run.The Elance website where you can find designers for your app.

Step 9: Programming

Programming for developing appA large part of Apple app development involves programming. If you are a Objective C/Cocoa developer, then you can of course just open up Xcode and get started. Here are a few great forums to join if you need programming help:

Apple Dev Forum
iPhoneSDK
iPhoneSDKForum
iPhoneDev Forums
iPhoneSB

If you are not a developer, then simply get out there and find one. You should get a developer on board early and start talking with them so they understand your requirements.

Specify the type of app you want to produce to the developer – whether it is a game, utility or anything else. Each type usually requires a different coding skill set.

Step 10: Submit Your App to Apple Store

developing app then submitt to app store

Wow, you’re nearly there. So how do you submit your application to Apple Store when it’s done? The entire process of compiling your application and publishing the binary for iTunes Connect can be difficult for someone unfamiliar with XCode. Ask your developer to help you if you can.

Here are the high level steps you need to go through:

Create your Certificates
Define your App ID’s
Create your Distribution Provisioning Profile
Compile the application
Upload to iTunes Connect
Submit your app to the Apple App Store

Step 11: Promote Your App
promotion for developing app

After your app is uploaded to the App Store, the story doesn’t end there. You need to ensure your app doesn’t just sit in the store unnoticed. Come up with a plan to market your app. Come up with many plans.

Here’s what you can do to Promote your App:

Incorporate social media. Think about how your app can incorporate social media and build that functionality into your app.For example, if your users make the high score on his or her favorite game, it is a good idea to make it easy for the user to post it to Facebook or Twitter. Or you can set up a fan page for your app on Facebook and Twitter and use them as platforms to communicate with your users.

Make use of Facebook and Twitter to promote your app:

Pre-launch promotion. Start building buzz about your app before it has launched. E-mail people who write about things that relate to your app and see if they will talk up the upcoming release of your app.

Plan for multiple releases. Don’t pack your app with every single feature you want to offer in the very first release. Make your dream list for the app and make sure that the app is designed to incorporate all of the features at some time in the future.

Step 11: Stay Focused – Don’t Give Up!

When writing your Apple app, it’s easy to get sidetracked by new ideas and think of this and that. Don’t fall into that trap. Focus on getting a base, functional copy of your first app out to the App Store. Then slowly improve on it in future.

Conclusion:-Well, that’s all for this step-by-step guide for developing app for Apple. Hopefully, you now have a much better idea on what needs to be done in app development. You might also want to check out another article I wrote about app development here. So have a good time developing app for Apple – and I’ll see you in the App Store soon!