Today, if you wish to make an income, it's not enough to simply have a job. You'll need at least 2 or 3 different sourced elements of income to ensure you are able to pay your entire bills in case something unfortunate happens. Technology has evolved so much that in recent years lots of people have discovered another way to earn money: they develop mobile applications. Many entrepreneurs have made a term for themselves by developing mobile apps, and if you're interested in learning how to produce mobile apps yourself, keep reading this article.
Mobile app development is a rapidly growing industry because folks are finding more approaches to earn money through their smartphones. Each and every day the amount of active users keeps growing. Here are a few numbers that may illustrate just how big the is now:
- The amount of smartphone users worldwide is expected to attain 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 wish to develop mobile apps then you'll need several things before you can start. This is true of almost any development, but you especially need these:
- Skills and knowledge – You'll need to find out how to code, and you'll also should find out about design concepts like UX (User Experience) and HCI (Human Computer Interaction).
- Some type of computer – Of course! 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 might be able to produce an application on Linux as well.
- A smartphone – It's not required for developing apps, but it will certainly help since you can test them entirely on your device. If you don't have a smartphone then you could always make use of a friend's or a family member's device.
- An IDE – A software development kit (or IDE - Integrated Development Environment) is important to create applications for Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms. Popular IDEs include Xcode , Eclipse and Deniz Gueney Visual Studio.
- The developer license – You are able to develop apps without paying anything, but if you intend to publish them on app stores then you'll need to pay for the annual fee which will be currently $99 for Apple App Store and Google Play Developer Console. Several payment methods are available, including credit cards, PayPal and wire transfer from your bank account.
Mobile app development is a rapidly growing industry because folks are finding more approaches to earn money through their smartphones. Each and every day the amount of active users keeps growing. Here are a few numbers that may illustrate just how big the is now:
- The amount of smartphone users worldwide is expected to attain 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 wish to develop mobile apps then you'll need several things before you can start. This is true of almost any development, but you especially need these:
- Skills and knowledge – You'll need to find out how to code, and you'll also should find out about design concepts like UX (User Experience) and HCI (Human Computer Interaction).
- Some type of computer – Of course! 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 might be able to produce an application on Linux as well.
- A smartphone – It's not required for developing apps, but it will certainly help since you can test them entirely on your device. If you don't have a smartphone then you could always make use of a friend's or a family member's device.
- An IDE – A software development kit (or IDE - Integrated Development Environment) is important to create applications for Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms. Popular IDEs include Xcode , Eclipse and Deniz Gueney Visual Studio.
- The developer license – You are able to develop apps without paying anything, but if you intend to publish them on app stores then you'll need to pay for the annual fee which will be currently $99 for Apple App Store and Google Play Developer Console. Several payment methods are available, including credit cards, PayPal and wire transfer from your bank account.