Despite the decline in iPhone sales, iOS apps are still popular than Android apps. Also, the developers can build iOS apps in a quicker and cheaper way than Android apps. But the users now have the option to choose from more than 2.2 million iOS apps available in the Apple App Store. No developers can increase app download and app installs without making the iOS app standout in the crowd.
Likewise, the developers cannot persuade users to return to the iOS app without optimizing user experience. The developers must implement a custom iOS app development strategy to keep the mobile app popular and profitable in the long run. Also, they must consider a number of factors while developing the iOS app to accelerate and streamline the mobile app development process.
11 Crucial Factors to Consider before Developing iOS Apps
Target Audience
A number of studies suggest that iPhone and iPad users spend more on the in-app purchase and mobile commerce transactions than Android device users. But the choice of the mobile app still differs from one user to another. While planning the iOS app, the developers must focus extensively on identifying and analyzing its target audience. They must clearly define the geographic location, age group, occupation, and preferences of the people who will use the iOS app.
Competitor Analysis
Each user nowadays has the option to choose from an array of similar apps. The developers have to explore ways to beat the competitor apps to accomplish more app downloads and installs. They must spend some time to scrutinize the competitor iOS apps elaborately. The initial research will help developers to make the iOS app standout in the crowd by optimizing its user interface (UI) and user experience (UX).
Programming Language
At present, Apple allows programmers to choose from two official programming languages for iOS — Objective-C and Swift. Objective-C is a mature and general purpose programming language. At the same time, Swift is designed by Apple as a modern programming language for iOS app development. Both Objective-C and Swift are fully interoperable and compatible. Hence, the developers must pick the most appropriate programming language for writing iOS apps.
Development Approach
While developing a new mobile app, most users nowadays target major mobile platforms –iOS and Android. Hence, the developers need to define the targeted mobile platforms clearly. If they decide to develop the iOS app first, they need to write the app in Objective-C or Swift. On the other hand, robust cross-platform mobile app development tools like Xamarin enable programmers to build native apps for iOS and Android with a single and shared code base. The iOS app developed with Xamarin even delivers native app-like user experience by accessing the native UI and APIs. But Xamarin requires developers to write iOS apps in C#.
Wireframes
Apple enables developers to wireframe iOS apps without putting extra time and effort. Hence, it becomes easier for developers to experiment with innovative UI and UX ideas by representing key elements of the iOS app. They can even get the app’s features and functionality evaluated by the client and make changes to the wireframe before starting iOS app development.
UI and UX
Once the wireframe is finalized, the developers can start working on the iOS app’s UI and UX. But they must focus on the app’s user interface and user experience to beat the competition. The UI will help them to increase app downloads, whereas UX will help them to prevent user abandonment. They must explore ways to optimize the iOS app’s UI and UX to generate revenue consistently.
Backend
The developers can build an iOS app with multiple backend options. They can still create a custom backend to facilitate database connectivity. Also, they can make the iOS app connect with the local database through APIs. Hence, the developers must evaluate various backend solutions and pick the one that maintains a consistent user experience without increasing infrastructure cost.
Analytics
No developers can keep his iOS app profitable in the long run without understanding the choices and preferences of users. They must monitor the behavior of end users consistently to understand their likes and dislikes. The mobile analytics help developers to monitor and assess the performance of iOS apps consistently. The information collected through the analytics further help businesses to prevent app abandonment and meet business requirements. The developers must decide the right mobile analytics solution to keep the iOS app popular.
Security and Privacy
The recent Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal compels many users to uninstall iOS apps that do not protect user data and respect user privacy. The developers must build the iOS app with robust security features and implement advantage data encryption mechanism to convince users that their data are 100% secure. They even need to perform elaborate security testing to identify and eliminate the vulnerabilities compromising the security of the iOS app and user data.
App Store Review Guidelines
No developers can get his iOS app listed in Apple App Store without meeting the app store review guidelines set by Apple. The developers must understand and implement the latest app store review guidelines while developing that iOS app. They can further enhance the app’s user experience by following the latest review guidelines. Also, the developers can easily eliminate the chances of the iOS app being removed from the App Store.
Testing
Many users nowadays abandon iOS apps after one use. The iOS app must deliver optimal user experience under varied user conditions to retain and engage users. The developers must evaluate the iOS app’s user experience by performing a variety of tests. They further need to perform the tests with both real devices and emulators. The iOS app also needs to be tested and evaluated continuously to avoid fixes and maintenance in the future. The developer must integrate testing activities seamlessly into the iOS app development lifecycle.
On the whole, the developers must focus on several factors to build an outstanding iOS app. But they must remember that users love apps that leverage the new features and enhancements included in the latest version of iOS. Also, the trends in iOS app development keep changing from time to time. Hence, they need to keep the iOS app development strategy flexible enough to adopt the emerging trends and focus on additional factors.
