• • Get planning

The planning phase of your application creating process is imperative and will serve as a foundation for any future work.

• • Conduct research

We can’t stress this enough – like any other product, your app’s success requires thorough research. Understanding your niche and how your product will fit into your industry will help you with positioning and creating a marketing strategy. Armed with your research, you’ll have an overview of your industry, avoid common mistakes and encourage innovation within your organisation.

• • Know your audience

Understanding your target audience is key. Spend time getting to know your customer, their needs, wants and the problems they are looking to solve. If you don’t have a clearly defined audience, you may end up wasting precious time and resource building an app that your customer won’t use.

• • Think about the money

Next, you’ll need to calculate your running costs and allocate a budget. What is your business model? What is your most valuable product? How will you generate revenue? No matter the purpose of your app, you’ll need to create a sustainable plan to ensure future success.

• • Apple vs Android

The two major platforms for app distribution – Google Play Store and Apple App Store, each have their own unique characteristics and advantages. In a world where most smartphones are Apple or Android, don’t get lost in the crowd! Positioning is key. Launching on both platforms will allow you to cater to a much wider audience and increase brand awareness.

• • Mind the gap

After conducting through research and have defined your target audience you’ll know where you fit in and the problems your product can solve. Think about what you can do that your competitors cannot. How do you add value? What makes your product unique?

• • Get building

Let’s cut to the chase… How do you get started? Can you build an application for free? Enter Appy Pie’s App Makr. With our custom no code app building platform, you can bring your idea to life! With our easy-to-use drag and drop interface, you can explore app development with no coding experience.

Follow these steps to create your own app:

Choose your app name

The name of the application is how your app users will perceive you and your business. If you already have a flourishing business, it is advisable to continue with the same or similar name so that your existing customers can easily find you and can place their trust in your app. however, if you are only starting out, you have the freedom to choose any name you like. A few things that may help you find the right name for your application include:

• The name should reflect the brand image you have in mind
• The name of the app should be unique but easy to remember and pronounce
• Your application should be named keeping your customers and their personalities in mind
• Steer clear of jargons and clearly communicate the value of the application
• The app name should have a global appeal, even if you are only serving locally (yet)

Select a color scheme

Once you have decided the name of your app and chosen the appropriate business category that your app belongs to, you are another step closer to answering your question – how to build an app. Now, it is time to decide which color scheme would be perfect for your application. We first consume with our eyes, hence the color scheme that you choose for your mobile app is of great significance. At Appy Pie AppMakr we have six attractive design schemes that can make your app look like a million dollars. Choose a color scheme from Deep Ocean, Go Green, Cheerful Cherry, Dynamic Sunburst, Carbon Mystique, and Techno Grey.

Your choice of color scheme depends on multiple things the foremost is the brand image that you want to build. Let’s list out all the factors that you must keep in mind while choosing the right color scheme for your app.

• Brand image, brand colors (if it is already in place)
• Product line or any USPs
• Target market and your client persona

Customize your app design

The way your application looks is very important, and you have to think of more than just choosing the right color scheme. The question now is – how to build an app that looks great! The next step in creating your app using Appy Pie AppMakr is to customize the look and feel of your app to make it truly unique. In the design customization section, you can experiment with different aspects of aesthetics that make your application what it is. Let’s discuss each of these aspects in detail.

• • App Icon, background and splash screen

One of the biggest advantages of creating an app is that you get to put yourself on the screen of your target customers. Your app icon is what they will see every time they look at their screen. If you have a logo for your company, you can use it as an app icon and if you don’t have one, it is time to create your own logo with the logo maker from Appy Pie Design! The background you choose for your application is important, you can choose a block color, images from Appy Pie, or simply upload one of your own!

Last, but not the least – the app splash screen. This is the screen that comes up as soon as the application is launched. This is the introduction your app users get, to your app. The platform has some great options for you to choose from. However, for an app that is truly yours, you can head to Appy Pie Design and create the perfect graphic for your application.

• • App layout

The layout of your app essentially means the way all the elements in your application are laid out. This is more than just aesthetic. The way things are organized has a great impact on the way your app will be used by your customers or users. There are multiple ready-made layouts available in the design customization section where you can choose the layout that you believe will be perfect for your application and for your target audience.

• • Fonts & colors

Your mobile app needs to communicate your offerings clearly to the app users. What you write is important, but how you write it and how it looks is important too! In this section, you can decide the colors for each section of your page, like the header, the layout, and the page. The colors and the fonts that you choose for your application define the readability of the content that you place on your app. While choosing the colors and fonts, you must make sure that everything is easily consumable (readable) for the app user.

Choose the right test device

It is quite natural to wonder how to build an application look good on the device of your choice and what it would look like to your app users. This is one of the most exciting parts of the process where you get to see the result of all your efforts. With the help of the QR Code or the link, you will be able to install the application on a device of your choice. Once you have the app ready on your phone, you would be able to see what your app would look like, to your app users.

Install the app on your device

As you are learning how to build an app, it is natural that you would want to see how your app looks on an actual device. This is one of the most exciting parts of the process where you get to see the result of all your efforts. With the help of the QR Code or the link, you will be able to install the app on a device of your choice. Once you have the app ready on your phone, you would be able to see what your app would look like, to your app users.

Add the features you want (Key Section)

Now that you know the basic process of how to build an app, let us dig deeper and discuss the most prominent and popular features on the platform.

The right question to ask at this point in time becomes – how to create an app that your customers would want to use. For an ideal application, it is important that you add just the right features, the features that not only go well with your application but are also important for you to serve your customers in the best possible manner. Naturally, this depends on the intent of the application you are making.

Most popular app features on Appy Pie

At this point in time you must ask yourself – how to make an app with the perfect features for your clients. Finding the right features for your app, is key to creating a successful application. No matter how brilliant your idea is, or how beautiful your application looks, if your app doesn’t have the right features to help your customers complete the actions you want them to take, there is not much of a point to it all. Is there?

Here is a list of the most popular features that you can add to your Appy Pie app.

• • Directory

This is one of the most popular features on Appy Pie and can prove to be of great one for your app. Using this feature, you can create listings for location specific businesses and give them the exposure they desire. This feature acts as a business on its own, where you can tie up with local businesses and list them on your app in exchange for a fee or commission. Your app users can easily find information they need and contact the businesses they find a fit. Incorporate this feature with the One Touch feature on Appy Pie AppMakr and your application users would be able to contact the businesses without having to navigate out of the application.

• • Blog

A blog is a great way to get your ideas out there, and there are multiple kinds of blogs that you can create. You may be a subject matter expert in technology, entrepreneurship, finance, cooking, photography, or anything else under the sun, blog is the right way for you to distribute that knowledge for the thousands of people looking for this information. One catch here is that if you have a blog on a website, your readers will need to type in your URL every time they want to read something you wrote or you will have to rely on them for opening the newsletters or emails you are sending out. This is why the blog feature is of such great value! Once you convert your blog into an application, you offer your readers an opportunity to make all the valuable information you are offering convenient to find. The biggest advantage you have here is that you effectively make space on their beloved smartphones, increasing the chances of them staying loyal to you.

• • Events

Are you planning a concert? Are you on the organization committee for the next seminar or even the mixer at school? Anything from a crazy frat party to a big conference for professionals comes with a million things to take care of. The tiniest of details can make it all crumble apart. As an event organizer, it only makes sense to rely on something that will never fail you – an application with the brilliant Events feature. This feature helps you plan the itineraries to the T so that there is no room for error. Combine this feature with Push Notifications and Calendar, and you can make sure that all your application users are updated about any change or new piece of information.

• • Education

Just because you are restricted to a certain geographical area, it doesn’t mean that you have to restrict yourself to the students who can reach you. Let students from all over the world benefit from your teaching by adding the Education feature to your application! You can add a dictionary, give video lectures, create e-books and sell them through your own application with the education feature. This will make education more inclusive, accessible, and easy to consume.

• • Map

With the Map feature in your mobile app, you have the ability to guide your app users to your place of business with detailed step by step directions. Consider this scenario. You have your doctor’s office all set up and have a great app to help people book an appointment instantly with you. However, when it comes to reaching your clinic, people just don’t seem to be able to find your place. Not only is it inefficient and quite frankly frustrating for everyone involved but is quite a disaster from the business point of view as well. Once you have the Map feature all set up, the application users can use it to get accurate directions without leaving your app and reach your place of business bang on time!

• • News

The world craves information, whether it is about the stock exchange, the latest political move, industry reports, or even the latest celebrity gossip. As a reporter, there are times when you just cannot wait to let the world know of what is going on in the world. Not only do news agencies filter out information sometimes but may also publish your story without giving you a credit. You don’t need to depend on anyone now! Create your own application and use the News feature to get your stories out there, in your own name! This application will help you highlight the issues that you care about, without the interference of a boss, an editor, or a board.

• • Chat

What if you could come up with a way to bring all your favorite chat apps in one common space? If you add the Chat feature to your Appy Pie app, your app can be used for chatting on any of the popular instant messaging apps like Skype, Snapchat, WeChat, WhatsApp and more. This means your application users will not have to alternate between the multiple chatting apps they use to communicate with their friends and family. How convenient is that?

• • Coupon

This is quite an amazing feature and gives you a great advantage. Using the coupon feature in your app, you can generate coupon codes and promote your offer so that more of your application users and customers are encouraged to redeem them and use your application. Coupons make it easier to promote deals, your offerings, and your application on all marketing channels, including social media.

Test, test, and test before the launch

Just because you know how to make an app, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are ready to go live with it!

It is natural to think of your product as something that is the best and most flawless product ever. However, it is rarely ever true for any first-time product. When you build your own app yourself, it is important that you spend some time in testing the application diligently.

Publish your app

The most awaited time for any app developer is the time to go live on app stores! The question how to make an app has changed to how to publish my app. This is where all the fun happens! The process to publish your app is different for different app stores and we have created dedicated guides to help you out with both.

Once you have published your android app on the Google Play Store and our iOS app on the Apple App Store, your application users can easily go there and download your app from there.

Now, just going through the steps mechanically may not be enough. The Apple App Store can be pretty tough on your app and you may need a bit of a guidance to get the app store to approve your application.

Promote your application

This is the world of marketing and just because you have made an awesome app and published it on the app store, it doesn’t mean customers would be beelining for yourapplication on the app stores! This means even if you have found answer to the question how to build an application, you must ask yourself how to promote your app!

When you are developing an application with the intent to offer a solution to any existing problem, you must be prepared for the fact that people might already be employing a certain solution already. You would have to think how you would be able to convince them to make that change.

Ask your users for feedback

This is the world of marketing and just because you have made an awesome app and published it on the app store, it doesn’t mean customers would be beelining for your app on the app stores!

• Collecting quantitative data through application analytics
• Collecting qualitative data through surveys and interviews
• Establishing a personal connection by talking to the application users on a regular basis

The answer to your question – how to build an app is here! Simply drag and drop all the features you want in your application and place a request to build your application, Appy Pie AppMakr will take care of everything else.

Appy Pie AppMakr helps you build fully functional apps while cutting down the development time and costs. Build a native application like experience without having to learn any coding or spending beyond your means.

With Appy Pie’s no-code app builder, you can create Android and iOS mobile apps for a variety of businesses in different sectors including healthcare, education, entertainment, finance, ecommerce, restaurants and much more. Appy Pie has a vast range of features such as store, photo, video, social network, food court, etc. to help you build your desired application without any hassles of coding.

Appy Pie’s DIY platform also provides a number of video tutorials that will help you learn how to create an application and add the features easily, along with an experienced customer support team to back you up in case of any issues or queries.

Here is the step by step breakdown of the process that puts to rest the question that’s haunting you – how to build an application using AppMakr.

It begins when a user initiates a request to build an Android or iOS app, on Appy Pie. Next, the Appy Pie server gets this request and checks validation or other build requirements. The server then connects with AWS DevOps system through API Gateway endpoint. Now, the API Gateway puts forth a request to AWS Lambda Function, which checks the request and updates it to the database. At this point, AWS Lambda connects to the suitable DevOps service as per the platform preferences. This means, AWS Lambda will connect to AWS Pipeline for .apk (Android) and to Azure DevOps service for .ipa (iOS).

After building the application, the relevant DevOps service connects to AWS Lambda function and updates the application to database DynamoDB. AWS Lambda now connects to the Appy Pie server to update the application build. Once the app build is successfully completed, you will receive an email with information about the application and in case of any error the developer or the client will be notified to take necessary action.

At the end of the process, you get apps that are ready to go live on app stores of your choice without having to worry about maintaining native SDKs. Appy Pie AppMakr does all the work for you and builds your application in the cloud using the most up-to-date SDKs for the platform you chose to publish your application on. The best part is that we can help you create applications that are supported on multiple platforms. This means no matter which app store your target audience prefers, you can tap them with great efficiency. The platform lets you build applications in minutes, reducing your time to market and giving you the worm that only the early birds get!