6 best practices for native mobile app development
The future of trade is frictionless.
It’s a great time to build a native mobile app. Consumer demand for mobile apps is strong, and growing. According to research by Statistica, mobile app downloads increased more than 50% between 2016 and 2020, surpassing 200 billion. That’s a lot of mobile app usage - and the numbers continue to trend upward.
Launching a mobile app can lead to new customers, more revenue, and even a significant competitive advantage. But it can also be a bit daunting if you’ve got a great idea for a new app but you’re not an expert at the technical side of building one. Partnering with a third party team of software experts who are already familiar with app development best practices can be a great solution if you don’t have the technical expertise you need in-house.
What is native mobile app development?
Unlike web applications that run via an internet browser, native mobile applications are built to run specifically on mobile devices like phones and tablets. The two most popular mobile operating systems in use today are Android and iOS. In fact, according to Statcounter, as of October 2021 Android and iOS combined share over 99% of the world’s mobile operating system market.
Android and iOS differ structurally, so developing for each operating system requires a different tech stack. Java and Kotlin tend to be the most common coding languages used to build Android apps, and are often used alongside other tools like Android Studio. Objective-C and Swift tend to be the popular languages for building iOS apps, and are typically used in conjunction with tools like Xcode.
What best practices should you follow when building your app?
When you decide to move forward with building a mobile app, it’s important to lay the right groundwork from the beginning to make sure you get the best return on your investment. Here are several best practices to keep in mind while planning and building your app.
1. Start with a strategic plan
Imagine going on a road trip without any GPS and only a vague idea of your final destination. How likely do you think it is that you’d wind up where you wanted to be? Building a mobile app without conducting thorough market research and developing a solid strategic plan is like trying to drive to a destination you’ve never been before without any directions.
Always plan first. Research your target market to make sure your app will solve an important problem. Define your unique value proposition and design with it in mind. Establish a clear picture of the resources you’ll need, the timeline you’re looking at, and how you’ll move forward with each stage of the process.
2. Pick the right platform
You may ultimately envision your app in the hands of both iPhone and Android users, and that’s a fantastic goal. But because each operating system requires applications to be built using different technologies, you’ll need to pick one to start with first. After your app is a success on one platform, you’ll be better positioned to move forward with replicating it on the other one.
Go back to your market research and see if you can determine whether iOS or Android is more popular with your target audience. Once you’ve made your decision, be sure to follow all of the recommendations in the Apple Developer Guidelines or the Android Developer Guides to make sure you’ll be good to go when you’re ready to submit your app.
3. Build an SLC application
Once you have your strategic plan and positioning nailed down, and you know which platform you’ll be building on first, maximize your likelihood of success by designing and building a Simple, Lovable, and Complete application. An SLC app is similar to an MVP, but with a special emphasis on building a simple product that performs its job so well it delights your users.
Your unique value proposition should be at the core of your application design. At the same time, avoid building anything that’s more complicated than necessary. Aim to create a product that’s only as complex as it needs to be in order to achieve your users’ primary objective as frictionlessly as possible.
4. Keep UX top of mind
User Experience is key to the success of your mobile app. If people don’t enjoy using your app, they simply won’t. They’ll delete it and look for another solution that’s less of a hassle. Fortunately there are a number of things you can do to help users have a great experience and make them want to stick around. Here are a few of the most important things to focus on:
Speed - users expect apps to deliver the goods fast, so make sure that yours does
Responsiveness - your app should look great and perform well on all device types
Intuitiveness - it needs to be easy for new users to navigate the interface
Accessibility - users of all abilities should be able to operate your application
5. Include security features
Carefully consider which security features you’ll need. Will users be inputting personally identifiable information? Will they be giving you their credit card number or other financial data? What about health data, legal data, or other highly regulated information? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you’ll definitely need to implement security measures.
Consider which authentication method will be most appropriate for your users to securely log into your application. Will there be a need for encryption during data transfer? Where will user data be securely stored? Which anti-malware tools might you want to implement? Protecting your users from cybercrime needs to be a top priority.
6. Use Agile methodology
Using Agile methodology in your application development process will allow you to break a large dev project down into small cycles and perform continuous testing and integration with your code. You’ll be able to catch errors quickly and incorporate feedback efficiently. Conducting user testing will tell you what needs to be done to further improve UX.
Crafting thorough technical documentation for your Agile development process will help ensure that everything stays aligned with best practices. Also creating comprehensive product documentation for developers can be enormously helpful with future maintenance and updates.
Looking to build an awesome mobile app?
Are you ready to move forward with building a mobile app but lack the in-house expertise to execute the project? Basecode’s team of software experts can help you build a Simple, Lovable, and Complete application in line with industry best practices that solves your customers’ problems in a delightful way. Contact us to learn more.