It began in 2015. I was having a 3 months summer vacation. Being an Android enthusiast and having a basic Java knowledge, I decided to build my first android app. I am gonna share my app development experiences to you, because I think it will be beneficial for you before jumping into android development.
1. Market Study
The first thing I did was creating my app! Damn it! That was a major mistake. If you are considering to build an android/iOS app, first thing to do is market study. I was completely unaware of this important step and it turned out to be the biggest mistake I have done in building my first android app.
Mine was a diary app. As I went half way through the development process, I started to compare my app with other diary apps available in play store. When I searched the keyword 'diary', I got a whole lot of diary apps in play store. I downloaded the first one in the list and saw how ugly was its UI! When I saw its download count I was really happy. It got 1 MILLION DOWNLOADS!!
If an app with such horrible UI got 1 million downloads, mine will get more than that without doubt! I ended my market study there. If I have actually given some more time before formulating that idea, I could have done a lot better in my summer vacation.
Market study requires deep and smart thinking. It is what defines how well your app is gonna be received in play store. So think smart!
I will tell you how my thought process deceived me! The app I have seen, was one of the diary apps that has been released earlier. So even though its UI was not good, it got the benefits of releasing early. Why do you think WhatsApp has got more users, even though there are many similar messenger apps available? Releasing early is one key to success. Also, even if my app had better UI and features, it will be hard to get users who are active users of my competitors. Because its a diary app. One won't leave all his/her entries in one app and start using another.
All this realization came to me when I was striving to get downloads. So before even thinking about starting app development, do some serious market study. Choose your app's category and analyze the possible competitors. Once you have figured it all, you can step into coding.
This article about my first android app will continue. Subscribe if you are interested : )
1. Market Study
The first thing I did was creating my app! Damn it! That was a major mistake. If you are considering to build an android/iOS app, first thing to do is market study. I was completely unaware of this important step and it turned out to be the biggest mistake I have done in building my first android app.
Mine was a diary app. As I went half way through the development process, I started to compare my app with other diary apps available in play store. When I searched the keyword 'diary', I got a whole lot of diary apps in play store. I downloaded the first one in the list and saw how ugly was its UI! When I saw its download count I was really happy. It got 1 MILLION DOWNLOADS!!
If an app with such horrible UI got 1 million downloads, mine will get more than that without doubt! I ended my market study there. If I have actually given some more time before formulating that idea, I could have done a lot better in my summer vacation.
Market study requires deep and smart thinking. It is what defines how well your app is gonna be received in play store. So think smart!
I will tell you how my thought process deceived me! The app I have seen, was one of the diary apps that has been released earlier. So even though its UI was not good, it got the benefits of releasing early. Why do you think WhatsApp has got more users, even though there are many similar messenger apps available? Releasing early is one key to success. Also, even if my app had better UI and features, it will be hard to get users who are active users of my competitors. Because its a diary app. One won't leave all his/her entries in one app and start using another.
All this realization came to me when I was striving to get downloads. So before even thinking about starting app development, do some serious market study. Choose your app's category and analyze the possible competitors. Once you have figured it all, you can step into coding.
This article about my first android app will continue. Subscribe if you are interested : )
