Your startup’s first iOS App
5 things to keep in mind when bringing your startup’s idea to iOS for the first time
You have an idea. A really good idea. It’s going to be amazing. You already picture your friends, family and tons of people using it. You want this ready now. You want this idea now on your iPhone.
Usually, after the main idea has been written down, researched the best business model, spend hours defining the initial style and logo it feels like the time to build this great idea.
So you gather some money, look for a developer and try your best to get this wonderful app as fast as possible, as perfect as possible and at the lowest cost possible.
While is understandable these requirements, chances are that the need to deliver at short times will lead to longer than expected developing times, faulty quality that may lead to App rejection and higher total cost of the application. This will create struggles between the entrepreneur and the developer, maybe resulting on hiring a new developer where this cycle will be repeated again; your app will be far from over and this time, internally, will be some sort of a code sandwich that will make things even more painful.
Truth be told: you can’t take forever to ship. The faster you can have your product out there, the faster you can improve it, the faster you can iterate and the faster you will get your idea on the hands of your soon-to-be users. So, what to do? Here are a few thing to keep in mind if you plan to have your new app on iOS:
1. - iOS is for products.
If you want Beta, go for Android
It is well known that the first ways to validate your idea is to create a first version usually called Minimum Viable Product (MVP), there are many books that tells you how at this stage the finish or feel of the app is irrelevant; the focus is on the what it can do and to do it well. Well the iTunes Store doesn’t play by those rules, it not only requires for your app to be relevant and unique, but it also must feel as a product. A certain quality standard is expected.
If you think that at this moment you have no time or money to invest on look and feel, consider to implement on Android first and jump to iOS later.
Android has a great environment for testing and you even may have private testing. Ok, iOS have private testing too, but it requires to have a “preliminar review” by Apple.
2.- The narrower the scope, the better.
If you want to have that app shipped someday this year
One of the main problems an entrepreneur faces is how to decompose you idea into smalls chunks that may be implemented over time. What is the core of your idea? What’s the first thing your app must do and do better than any other?
The answer to this question leads to the correct MVP. The lack of answering this question and thinking in stages is the main reason why apps takes way more time than expected and costs skyrocket.
The narrower the scope, the faster it may be developed, less the complexity and better the read you may obtain once it gets to the AppStore. You need to find that unique thing, the main idea to be validated, focus on that and build a product about that. About that single thing.
3.- Don’t assume X thing is easy
The complexity of code
Unless you’ve been a developer an have some experience in the thing you want to build, don’t assume that doing a certain thing its easy. Period.
That will lead to non-realistic deadlines, so before assuming dates in your head — in case you are a non-technical entrepreneur — find a developer friend and ask him about the complexities of your idea, and try to get an estimate time by that. Then when you find a developer, you may use that estimate to measure the skill of the developer.
4.- It’s not me, it’s your app
Take a time to read the App Store Guidelines
Please take a time to read Apple’s App Store Guidelines, you may going to need to re-think some parts of your app after that; it may be boring but it will save you some time in the future. If your the core of your idea is in conflict with the iOS guidelines, you may be on an epic crusade that you will lose at the end. Read the guidelines and talk to your iOS developer in case he sees some things that may be needed in order to avoid rejection.
Apps get between 6 to 12 days to be accepted by Apple. So not complying with the guidelines may add that many days to your deadline. Also, Apple takes very seriously user’s privacy, offensive content, spamming and poor usability. So, please, take a look at the document.
5.- iOS developers are like Pizza
There’s no such thing as a fast, cheap and tasty pizza. Pick two out of three.
The cost for iOS Developing hours will depend on the experience of the developer, if it’s a firm or a single developer, the country in which that developer lives and the time required for the completion of the App. As everything, expensive doesn’t mean quality, the opposite is also true.
Do a background check of your selected development, take a look at his portafolio. Be specific of the requirements of the app, ask for a tentative deadline based on what you described. Also important, be honest about your project budget, yeah really.
I hope this few points might help you on your quest after a great iOS App. Do you have any more tips or experiences about your first time in iOS? I would love to read about it! If you liked this tips, please recommend it (tapping the heart shaped button ❤) to spread this post with more people.
