App+Development

[|App development technology presentation]

Bringing in over twenty billion downloads in just a few short years, there is no doubt the app market it here to stay. Since 2007 the Apple and Android app stores have been booming. Creating an entirely new market for entrepreneurs and software engineers. There has been success stories, but thousands of more unsuccessful stories. Some call it the gold rush of the 21st century. What makes the app market so appealing is the low start up costs and high potential returns. Not only now but in the future these numbers will get even better. In the next few years there will be more than one billion smartphone users around the world. With these incredible statistics, the app market becomes very desirable for business. There is already millions of apps and millions of ideas. Technology is so advanced it makes it easy for anyone to turn an idea into reality. All that it takes to strike it rich in this new market is a small investment of your time and/or money.

As they say, before one can understand where things are going, one should know where they have been. The smartphone is really just a wireless communication device. So lets start from the beginning. In the 1930's the handheld radio was released to the United States Military for communication purposes. The next big innovation in the wireless communication world was the automobile phone in the 1950's. Than another significant leap to the release of the first cellular phone in 1984, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x. This phone took fifteen years and one hundred million dollars to get brought to the market. It looked like a brick and only had the basic functionality of calling and receiving phone calls. It is what we now classify as a first generation phone. The second generation phones began appearing in the 1990's. They were very similar to the first generation phones but they were much smaller and had more basic functionality's such as texting and simple application use. Years later the phones became more appealing and had more capabilities such as internet access, wifi capable, radio capable, etc. These are classified as the third generation phones. Finally we come to the fourth generation phone, the smartphone. Although the first real smartphone was released in 1993, most recognize the first real smartphone as the Apple iPhone. It was released in 2007 and what jumpstarted the app revolution. Since than other smartphones have come out such as Android, Windows Mobile, Palm Pree, and Blackberry. The two most successful of the bunch is the Apple app store and the Android market. They bring in billions of dollars annually.

When statistics say that the app market has brought in billions of dollars, who really gets the money? Well, Apple and Android take 30% of all sales leaving the rest of the 70% to entrepreneurs and developers. Basically, for every billion dollars made in the app stores, the entrepreneurs and developers have made seven hundred million and the host of the market (Apple, Android, etc.) has made three hundred million. Some companies have actually posted records of upwards of five hundred thousand downloads in just one day. Not only have some of these companies had great daily successes but some have had great long term successes. Rovio, a well known company developing the application, Angry Birds, has had such high successes they now have a movie as well as consumer goods. Rovio as a company is now valued at 1.2 billion dollars. This company has become a billion dollar company on a market that was non existent five years ago. So how do you get involved with this market? How do you become the next "Angry Birds"?

The light bulb, the concept that you know would thrive. Whether you see an opportunity and have a solution, or just have an innovation, it all starts with the idea.
 * 1. An idea.**

This is when you make a clear vision. Take the idea, refine it, make it your own, and create a solid concept.
 * 2. System Concept Development.**

Now things begin to get serious. Plan how much money is needed, decide if people would even like the app, what is the input and output functions of the app, when do you want it done by, when would be the best time to release it, who is your target demographic, what future updates would be successful, who is going to code your app, etc. All of these things really are what will come together to form the business plan.
 * 3. Planning.**

When analyzing the requirements many things must be taken into account. Is the technology possible, and if possible, will it work effectively? If it is not possible how can it be done? Will it be accepted into the market? Apple will reject any application that does not look close enough to the native user interface. They will also reject it if it does not follow there rules or is to similar to anything they do or plan to do in the future.
 * 4. Requirement Analysis.**

The fun part has arrived. designing your app. This can be done in many different ways. The most effective is a program called balsamiq mockups. It allows you to create a mockup version of the app. What every button on every page does. This is almost a prototype that can be used to show investors and/or development companies. However, it is not pretty or customizable. To show the colors and true designs of the app you should rely on hand drawings or computer design programs like Adobe's Photoshop. Make sure that it is exactly what you want. If you are not coding on your own than these designs are what the developers will go off of. Do not leave any room for assumption or guessing because the developer will do exactly what you show them. Monkey see monkey do.
 * 5. Design.**

Finally the idea is becoming a reality. If you are coding yourself, be careful. Double check everything because it is a lot easier to fix mistakes in the process than in the end. If you have contracted with a development company, be persistent. This means request daily updates, screenshots, demonstrations, pictures, and feedback of how the app is going. You must have constant communication. Make sure you are following all of the requirements of the app store and try not to change the idea around. It can complicate things and cause problems when coding. However, if you find it is not coming along as expected, do not be afraid to make the necessary changes. After all, this is your product and will be the direct cause of your success.
 * 6. Development.**

This is what could possibly be the most important part of the development process. The "beta" testing. When testing the prototype you must click every button in every situation on every phone you can get your hands on. Customers of the app world tend to be very bi-polar with there apps. If anything glitches or does not work perfectly, they will not use it or will post bad reviews. But on the flip side, if everything is smooth and well developed, they will absolutely love it. Never skip or shorten this step. Take all feedback and suggestions to heart, go back to step five, repeat, and make it happen.
 * 7. Integration and Testing.**

After completing the first seven steps, it is time to implement. Depending on the markets you chose to enter, you must decide when to submit your application. When submitting into the Apple app store it can take anywhere from a week to months. If you plan to enter into the Android market, it will upload instantly upon submission. If you plan to enter both, enter the Apple app first and when that is approved, enter the Android to make your big releases on the same day. You also want to prepare. This means your social media, advertisements, servers, databases, customer service, website, and anything else you plan to use. Basically, prepare to operate a functioning business. Whether this is a job or just a hobby, if you are not prepared it can only equal one thing, failure.
 * 8. Implementation.**

Just because it has been released, it doesn't mean things are over. There are still things to do. You need to deal with bugs and glitches, fix them, and send out updates. As well as constantly keep implementing new ideas within the app to stay competitive. Releasing a successful app is similar to a wild fire, once it starts, it grows uncontrollably. WIth this growth many other entrepreneurs and developers will copy your idea and try to do it better. Watch out. Not only do you need to maintain the technical side but also the customer side as well. You must constantly be improving your human relations and social media. Always thinking of new creative and innovative ways to make money and market your app. With such a new BOOMING market, there is still so much room for growth. They sky is the limit.
 * 9. Operation and Maintenance.**

These nine steps of developing an app are very similar to developing any product or business. Every step is important and if all done correctly, success will come much easier. App development is the fastest growing market and is very easy to get into. It can take as little as a few weeks to get through the complete process of an idea to an app on the market. When attempting to tackle this billion dollar industry, if done right, it'll make you a millionaire almost as fast as the lottery. If you follow these nine steps and have a passion for your idea, success is right around the corner.