How to Score on the App Store in 2015
How do you make an app store hit? Is there a science to it? Is there a sure-fire way to knock it out of the park? Probably not, unfortunately. The mobile scene evolves so fast, and new innovations emerge so that every new generation of apps is a bit different. There’s no easy way to guarantee success, but there are certainly guidelines that can help you get there, here are a few important tips:
-
Target a specific need and a specific niche. This is the best way to ensure your app has an interested audience. Being too broad with the purpose usually leaves people unimpressed. Of course, being too specific has it’s problems as well.
-
UX Design is the key to impressing and engaging users. UX incorporates the information architecture, aesthetics, and interactive feel of the app. Don’t skimp on design.
- Make it work. Apps don’t do well if their core functionality isn’t usable. This could be due to bugs or limitations in your tools—make sure your programming/engineering team is up to the task.
Building an app is a complex process. It isn’t like baking cookies, where there’s a set recipe to follow and we have mastered the art —the number of steps and processes involved in development is simply too long to list. Instead, it really boils down to having a good idea and having a team that can execute it.
For the coming year there are a few trends you might consider jumping on the bandwagon for. These are technology movements that are in their early stages, which is a good environment for entrepreneurial ideas.
The Quantified Self: This is the idea that we can use sensors and digital data to help people understand their own behavior in quantifiable terms. A pedometer counts your steps, for instance, and you can compile that data over time to understand how much walking you actually do. You can similarly hook an app up to your credit card and bank account to automatically sort and graph your income/spending habits. While this is powerful trend in consumer apps all on it’s own, it is also important to remember that 2015 promises to be a very strong year for wearables, like the Apple Watch, which will in turn introduce more opportunity for the quantified self.
Apple Watch Apps: The Apple Watch is one of those devices that is going to really shake up the industry and sell a lot of units. Apple has promised strong support for an app ecosystem on the new watch, and the tools are already available to start building Apple Watch apps here. Finding ways to use this new device is a great way to take advantage of the excitement surrounding this upcoming device.
You don’t have to build a brand new app to find success in 2015, existing app owners have a couple of ways they can pump up their app’s popularity for the new year. If you can find ways to adapt your ideas to some of the trends mentioned above, that’s great, if not, then in general terms there are two reliable ways to support your existing app and bring it into the limelight.
Expand to new platforms! Android and iOS certainly have their unique strengths, and it’s common for phase one app releases to stick to one or the other, but they also each have large user bases (Windows Phone too!) that are worth taking advantage of. It is a lot simpler to rebuild an app for a new platform than it is to build an app for the first time, since all the design decisions have been made and it’s just a matter of porting over the assets and functionality.
For instance, Software Developers India recently helped iKoast launch the Android version of their app. It was originally built for iOS, and once the concept was proven on that platform work began to expand it onto Android. Launching on a new platform is an opportunity for renewed marketing buzz, and of course gives you access to a whole new user community. What’s not to like?
Release an enticing update to invite old users back to the app and generate some marketing buzz. Feature updates or visual redesigns are two great opportunities to do a little marketing for your app. Informing people about the changes makes for great informational content on blogs, news sites, social media, and all the places people go online to view content.
This provides a great boost in awareness, and can bring in a fresh download spike. Similarly, old users who have your app but don’t open it up often will suddenly have a great reason to get back into the app. These two events combined should result in a substantial boost to the app’s user community following the update launch.
If you’ve got an app idea for 2015, let’s score big on the app store. Get in touch with the Software Developers India development team at 408.802.2885 or via our website.
We’d love to hear from you!