The Guide to 2018 App Development: Best Practices and Tips

Despite the fact that most of them have been around for less than a decade, apps are everywhere. According to expert forecasting, there were more than 200 billion app downloads in 2018 alone, a number which is expected to only increase in the future. Because of the boom in the market, many people are interested in app development.

However, developing apps isn’t always easy. There are a lot of things you need to do and keep track of during the potentially-long process. Also, with many people creating apps, there is a lot of competition in the space. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to help during your app development journey. This article is going to look at some best practices and tips for developing great apps.

Test Early and Often

While many developers might think to only test your app right before you release it, that isn’t nearly good enough. You need to test your app early and often, to make sure it is ready for release. If you test after development but before release, it might be too late to make important changes to things that you missed. Here is a great source https://www.appoptics.com/ that will give you some insight on testing an app and some of the best optimization points. Periodic testing will ensure nothing is missed and everything that needs to be tested, is.

Also, don’t just test before release, you need to continue testing throughout the life cycle of the app. Each new update should be tested before release as well as after release, to ensure the app works as expected. In addition to testing yourself, it is also worthwhile to get others to test the app and check for potential issues and errors. There are numerous online sources to find app testers, and you could potentially even use some people from your target market to test, as well.

Make Navigation Incredibly Simple

While the content of the app and the user experience is important, many would argue that the navigation is just as important. Navigating throughout an application is something no one thinks about, but bad navigation becomes obvious immediately.

While some developers try and get too cute or creative with their navigation, generally, it is simply better to keep it simple.  People shouldn’t be confused with your navigation and always should be able to get to where they want to go. Tips on making navigation great within your app include making it obvious, keeping it constant throughout your app and using a traditional design people expect like a tab bar or drop down menu.

Know Your Users

When releasing an app, you will generally need to choose which platform to release it on. While some will be cross-platform, many will be native to either iOS or Android devices. Despite what you might expect, the users of each platform are different. They have different interests, spend different amounts of money on apps and have a difference in loyalty.

So once you decide the type of app that you want to have, you should decide which platform makes the most sense to release on. In addition to knowing the actual users of the platform you are releasing on, you should also know what different users expect. For example, those using a personal finance or budgeting app likely don’t care as much about a colorful and unique design, while users on a photo editing app or game might.

Knowing your market and developing an app that caters to their wants and needs is always a good idea. Going in blind and just releasing an app without any research or studying your market is a good way to fail.

Don’t Forget About Security

While you might be primarily concerned with creating an app people want to use and how to monetize, but be sure not to ignore the importance of security. Your app is likely going not only have a lot of user private information, but also information about your own company. This could include credit card information, addresses and emails.

As a result, you need to be sure to protect this information. If the information is leaked or compromised in some way, you could be on the hook in a big way. Not only will you lose a lot of users and suffer bad press, but the breach could cost you a lot of money. In order to keep everything safe, you should be sure to encrypt sensitive information and also use 2FA (two-factor authentication).

In conclusion, hopefully this article has been able to help you learn some new practices and tips when it comes to app development. App development isn’t easy, but these tips can help you focus on what matters most and how you can develop a great app that your users should enjoy.