Today, if you wish to make a full time income, it's not enough to simply have a job. You'll need at the very least 2 or 3 different sourced elements of income to ensure you can pay all your bills in case something unfortunate happens. Technology has evolved so much that in the past few years many people are finding another solution to earn money: they develop mobile applications. Many entrepreneurs have made a term for themselves by developing mobile apps, and if you're thinking about learning how to produce mobile apps yourself, keep reading this article.
Mobile app development is just a rapidly growing industry because folks are finding more methods to earn money through their smartphones. Everyday the number of active users keeps growing. Below are a few numbers that may illustrate just how big the industry is becoming:
- The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to reach 1 billion in 2014 ( source ).
- Based on statistics there were nearly 35 million iPhone developers as of December 2010 ( source ). This figure shows a rise of 25% over the previous year's figures!
If you want to develop mobile apps then you'll need several things one which just start. This is true of almost any development, nevertheless you especially need these:
- Skills and knowledge – You'll need to know just how to code, and you'll also need to learn about design concepts like UX (User Experience) and HCI (Human Computer Interaction).
- A computer – Obviously! Ideally it must be a laptop/netbook that runs Windows or Mac OSX because most computers nowadays run one of these simple operating systems. However, if your skills are sufficient then you could be able to produce an app on Linux as well.
- A smartphone – It's not required for developing apps, but it will certainly help because you can test them entirely on your device. If you don't have a smartphone then you may always work with a friend's or a family group member's device.
- An IDE – A pc software development kit (or IDE - Integrated Development Environment) is essential to produce applications for Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms. Popular IDEs include Xcode , Eclipse and Visual Studio.
- The developer license – You can develop apps without paying anything, but when you wish to publish them on app stores then you'll need to cover the annual fee which can be currently $99 for Deniz Gueney Apple App Store and Google Play Developer Console. Several payment methods are available, including bank cards, PayPal and wire transfer from your bank account.
Mobile app development is just a rapidly growing industry because folks are finding more methods to earn money through their smartphones. Everyday the number of active users keeps growing. Below are a few numbers that may illustrate just how big the industry is becoming:
- The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to reach 1 billion in 2014 ( source ).
- Based on statistics there were nearly 35 million iPhone developers as of December 2010 ( source ). This figure shows a rise of 25% over the previous year's figures!
If you want to develop mobile apps then you'll need several things one which just start. This is true of almost any development, nevertheless you especially need these:
- Skills and knowledge – You'll need to know just how to code, and you'll also need to learn about design concepts like UX (User Experience) and HCI (Human Computer Interaction).
- A computer – Obviously! Ideally it must be a laptop/netbook that runs Windows or Mac OSX because most computers nowadays run one of these simple operating systems. However, if your skills are sufficient then you could be able to produce an app on Linux as well.
- A smartphone – It's not required for developing apps, but it will certainly help because you can test them entirely on your device. If you don't have a smartphone then you may always work with a friend's or a family group member's device.
- An IDE – A pc software development kit (or IDE - Integrated Development Environment) is essential to produce applications for Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms. Popular IDEs include Xcode , Eclipse and Visual Studio.
- The developer license – You can develop apps without paying anything, but when you wish to publish them on app stores then you'll need to cover the annual fee which can be currently $99 for Deniz Gueney Apple App Store and Google Play Developer Console. Several payment methods are available, including bank cards, PayPal and wire transfer from your bank account.