Need advice on building an app

cassiekolsen

Hey everyone!

I’m new to this board and looking for advice. I’m looking to build a photo-sharing iPhone app but I don’t know how to code myself. I’ve thought about hiring developers, but I sort of want someone to help me think through the software part of the idea before jumping in. Does anyone know of any good resources for this?

Thanks!
Cassie

KatherineK

My reservations about this type of app aside - the best way is to either talk to local developers in your area or use https://tryblueprint.com. They just focus on the scoping phase and letting you talk to Google-level folks about your concept. Sounds like a fit for what you're doing and will probably save you a lot of money in the long run.

Otherwise you could try learning how to build it yourself (takes ages) or hire an agency (takes lots of $$$).

The Mind Studios

Dear Cassie,

As I am currently working in the field of IT I strongly suggest you talk to the developers directly - as no-one could tell you more about the job than those who do it on a daily basis.

More to this, as I represent the company of Mind Studios - we would be delighted to help you discussing this idea of yours.
Here's the link to our website just in case
https://themindstudios.com

Cheers,

Elina.

anushkachhakrabarti

1. Deep Market Research
Before hitting the market and start developing an application you should conduct a proper market research. Analyzing the market thoroughly will give you insights about your competitors, their strategy, their strengths and weakness too. This information will prove to be useful as you can avoid repeating the mistakes your competitors made. Researchers often overlook customer reviews. These reviews can give you a glance of likes and dislikes of users about a particular type of app. Thus, you must ensure that you take a note of the pain areas and try to resolve it in your mobile app. This strategy can give you a chance to win over your competitor’s customers.

Ystoi1

Defining a clear goal for the app is also going to help you get there faster. Start Sketching. Research has four main purposes:
Find out whether there are other apps doing the same thing
Find design inspiration for your app
Find information on the technical requirements for your app
Find out how you can market and monetize your app
Create a Wireframe and Storyboard.
Define the Back End of Your Mobile App http://djangostars.com/blog/app-development-cost-android-vs-ios/

bharat.nimblechapps

You can find best app developer through Clutch.co

tonytau

Man if this post was not a year old this would have been your lucky day

salenadam

Some advice on building an apps are:
-Track every exception and error.
-Test your app on real user.
-Search how to deal with problems?
-Build distributed feature  flag

Pulsarr

I think good advice for you will be to hire a developers. Which exactly app you need? On which platform? I can recommend to contact IDAP company, their developers have big experience in different software development and can provide a big variety of options and decisions. You can find more info and look portfolio on https://idapgroup.com/software-development/ it is their website.

Chiedo

cassiekolsen said:

Hey everyone!

I’m new to this board and looking for advice. I’m looking to build a photo-sharing iPhone app but I don’t know how to code myself. I’ve thought about hiring developers, but I sort of want someone to help me think through the software part of the idea before jumping in. Does anyone know of any good resources for this?

Thanks!
Cassie

Before paying anyone, do some surveys. Who's your target audience? Figure out who that is and try to get them to complete surveys about whether they'd use your app or not, how much they'd be willing to pay and which features are the most important.

If you can't get 25 (somewhat arbitrary) people to complete a survey about your app, chances are your idea may not be as viable as you thought.

So ultimately, before anything, make sure you have what it takes to get people to even give you the time of day.

Then when you do go and speak to developers on Upwork.com or whatever, ask them to build an MVP. Read The Lean Startup if you aren't familiar with the concept.

But don't let some agency build you a $50,000 app. When you do pay, start with an MVP. Ideally $5,000 or less.

jjackevans

If you want to have modern and professional mobile application you should find and hire professional developers. In this case you will have success. 

roxannemorris

I agree with Jack!

FrankLee

I can give contacts to a developing company(Intellectsoft) that has developed mobile application for me. It was logistics software for my little company. Their engineers are really professionals. Here is website https://www.intellectsoft.net/services/mobile-development  By the way if you want to see portfolio, there are many their works on the site.

erjulia

As I understood, you have got a startup, so you do not have big investments. Intellectsoft, as I know, a company that creates big projects for big companies.
For your budget I can strongly recommend you Cleveroad - it's a team of web and mobile app developers that can build any project from scratch. 

CCC PLLC

IT attorney here -- be sure to talk to someone with app development experience that has no vested interest in your decision. When you talk to developers, they will try to sell you on something (their services), and before you know it you might be investing $10k-$50k with nothing to show for it if you're not careful. Be sure to get advice form a neutral party who is not trying to sell you before you commit thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. 

lilla

As per survey , 80% percentage of the smart phone user spend 170 minutes per day in mobile apps. Which means that by having a smartphone app available for your consumers you can reach a wider audience and generate more profit your business.