How To Build and Make Money With Mobile Apps: Part 1

I become interested in developing mobile apps since the launch of the Android OS. Having an iPhone and Macbook for iOS app development was not affordable for an Indian student who is just out of college. So Android was the natural choice to start building apps.

The most frequently asked question about mobile apps is “How to create mobile apps with no coding experience?”, “How do the apps make money?” or “How to Make Money with Mobile Apps?”.

In this article, I will discuss how to develop mobile apps from idea to publishing to play store/ app store, considering you have no coding skills.

There are many success stories of Mobile app developers who have made the fortune with one Mobile app. Many news articles talk about the earnings of mobile app developers who have made millions and still they are in their 20s.

To be honest as per the data only a few developers make a good amount of money out of the Mobile app and in Android, it’s even harder. The articles about the successful mobile app generally don’t talk about the apps before that which were not so successful. There are high chances that your first app will be a hit and you can make a living out of it, but if it doesn’t work don’t be disappointed, your 2nd app will work or maybe 5th or maybe 10th.

“Persistence and patience is the key to success”

Coming to the main topic of How to build mobile apps and make money.

How to Build Mobile Apps:

1. Concept: If you have an idea about the mobile app, write it down. Write down all the features you want in that app. Go to the Google Playstore and see if there are any similar apps available in the market. And I am sure there will be tons of apps already present in the market which serve a similar audience and have similar features. Make a list of all those apps. The idea is not important here in the app market, execution is the key.
2. Research: This research is not like product research or any scientific research. It’s very basic and will give you very powerful information. In point 1 we have listed all the similar apps available in the market. Now go to the reviews section of those apps and read all the reviews carefully. I repeat “ALL” the reviews carefully. 5-star reviews will give you positives about the app and all the 1 & 2-star reviews will give you negatives of the app. After reading through all the reviews you will get a fair idea about what exactly the user needs in the app. List down all the features and blend them into your concept.
3. Earning Analysis: The most important thing to check is how much money the apps are making or how much money your app can make. To get an approximate idea about this there are many ways to find out. 1) Go to the top-grossing section of the play store and check if apps in your list are in the top-grossing section or not. There are two types of top-grossing sections General top-grossing and category wise top-grossing. If your concept is in category wise top-grossing then you have high chances of making good earning with the app. 2) The second way to find out is App Annie. Create an account with the app Annie website. There are similar websites that provide the app store data. Appbrain is another player in the market. Check the revenue chart for different countries. If the apps similar to your concept are already making good revenue then you are in a good position.
4. Find the right development team: If you are not a developer and still want to create a mobile app then don’t worry, there are many companies in the market that can develop a mobile app for you. If you know the mobile app development then you can skip this step. I always recommend my clients to hire a team or a company to create any software product that they want, the same goes for the mobile app. Having a team working for you is any day better than having an individual freelancer. There are multiple issues when it comes to hiring a freelancer, we are not going into those details in this article. You can find good companies on upwork.com, there are many good review sites where you can get a list of very professional software development companies. Rating sites like clutch.co and goodfirms.com provides you a comprehensive list of companies. Get the list of companies and contact their sales team. Ask them for previous work samples. Get references from them. Get the feedback from the clients which they have worked with. Have a video call. If possible visit the company in person. While working with the company may be costlier than working with the freelancer but there are many long term advantages. Now once you have selected the company lets to move to the next step.
5. Brainstorming: Sit with the developers and explain the concept. Brainstorm the concept with them, you will get many good inputs from them as developers might have worked with many projects before and some idea about which things works better.
6. UI Design: This starts with creating wireframes for the app. First, decide how many screens you need. Then decide where to place the buttons. How the user should navigate through the app. Then create the UI design. The UI should follow design guidelines for the respective OS and should be as clean and intuitive as possible.
7. Technology Selection: The most important step in creating the mobile app is selecting the technology with which you want to develop the app. There are many powerful cross-platform development frameworks like Flutter, React-native are available. Also, you can go with Native android and ios development. If you have a simple concept and low on budget then go with Flutter or React-native. Let’s not misunderstand here with Flutter and React native you can develop large complex apps as well. In case you are a developer and already know Android or Swift then start building the app with technology you know. Test the user response and then build for different OS.
8. Monetization: While developing the mobile app you have to always keep in mind the monetization part. This is a large topic and I will cover it in Part 2 of this article.
9. Development: Once you have selected the development team and technology start with the development. Be precise with the requirements and explain each requirement in detail. Make sure the developer understands what you want. Keep open communication with the developer and provide quick feedback for any questions. Make sure to test the app on different devices before publishing the app to Playstore or App store.
10. Publish the app to the Apple App Store and Google play store: You need a developer account to publish the app to the Google Play Store or Apple app store. Google developer account cost 25$ for a lifetime. And Apple App store costs 99$/year. For each store, there are different types of graphics required to publish the app. Good Graphics is very important as it creates the first impression on the users. Once graphics are ready to upload those with build files. There is an approval process for the Apple App Store. This may take 1week time to get approved and uploaded on the App store. The play store approval process is simple and your app will be visible in the play store in 24 hours. We are writing a separate article on publishing app to different stores. If you need help with any of the steps to get in touch with us on LinkedIn Or Shoot me an email.