Many people think they don’t know what skills are required to release an app, even if they want to develop an app for their smartphone(s).
In this article, Alcor will introduce the types of smartphone apps that can be developed, what kind of iOS developer salary you can earn, the skills needed to actively develop smartphone apps, and three selections of tools that can be used to create smartphone apps.
What kinds of smartphone (smartphone) apps can be developed?
There are two types of smartphone apps you can develop: Android apps and iOS apps.
Let’s take a closer look here.
Android app
- Android apps are available on Google Play, and there is a wide range of types such as business, entertainment, and games, and the development environment is an “IDE (integrated development environment)”.
- However, with no-code tools, you can develop Android apps without any programming knowledge.
- Once you’re done developing, sign up for a Google Developer’s account.
- Android apps can be published on Google Play, and the registration fee is $25.
iOS app
iOS apps are apps for the iPhone and are available in the App Store. Similar to Android apps, there are different genres: business, entertainment, and games.
- The development environment mainly uses “XCode” and the development language usually uses Swift, released by Apple in 2017.
- Swift is easier to learn than Java or C++.
- After the iOS app development is completed, it will be submitted to Apple.
- Apple’s scrutiny makes it more difficult to release an app than an Android app and requires an annual registration fee of about $99.
- Skills required to actively participate in the development of applications for smartphones (smartphones).
- The skills required to be active in smartphone (smartphone) application development include programming skills, UI/UX skills, and marketing.
Alcor will take a closer look at them here.
Programming skills
There are many programming skills needed to develop smartphone (smartphone) apps, but the languages required for Android and iOS apps are different.
Let’s take a closer look at each.
For Android apps
The programming skills required to develop Android apps include Java and the recently released Kotlin programming language.
- Java is a programming language that is used all over the world, and if you learn it, you can not only develop Android applications but also business systems.
- Kotlin is an object-oriented programming language compatible with Java and allows you to switch from Java to Kotlin.
- Since it is a new language, there are still few people who can program with Kotlin, and there are very few of them.
- Kotlin has features such as simpler code, safer design, and faster development speed than Java.
For iOS applications
The programming skill required to develop iOS apps is the Swift programming language developed by Apple.
- Not only is it strong in iOS apps, but it’s also possible to develop web apps and services.
- Objective-C was used before Swift.
- Unlike Objective-C, whose notation is difficult to understand, Swift is a programming language whose code is simple and can compensate for the shortcomings of Objective-C.
Swift has the following advantages:
- No need for semicolons at the end of sentences, making it easier for beginners to learn
- 6 times faster execution than Objective-C
- Eliminate risky code
- You can check your work even in the middle of programming with the Playground feature
UI/UX skills
UI/UX (user interface/user experience) skills are also necessary when developing applications for smartphones (smartphones).
- User interface refers to the screen design when a user sees the screen of a website.
- For smartphone applications, it is important to have a design that allows users to quickly find the information they need, such as operations that are easy to read and use.
- UX refers to the impression users have when they actually use the program.
- If an app is easy to use, it will bring satisfaction to users.
- When designing a smartphone app, it is said that it is good to keep the design simple according to the screen size and emphasize functionality, such as “tap”, “swipe”, “pinch”, and “flip”.
Marketing skills
If you want to release an app that you have developed yourself into the world and provide a service, it would be good to have marketing skills.
- To develop an app that users want to download, you need to identify the target persona, understand the feelings of the target app, and develop a smartphone (smartphone) app that meets their needs.
- Apps don’t make money unless they are downloaded.
- So you need to find a way to get users to download it.
Future Prospects
In conclusion, since the number of devices equipped with iOS is expected to continue to increase in the future, the demand for iOS engineers to develop applications used on iOS devices will also continue to grow.
Since there are supporters of Apple products all over the world and the company will likely continue to grow, the future is very bright for iOS engineers who develop apps for Apple products.
Smartphone app development is difficult
The biggest reason why it is difficult to become an iOS engineer out of the blue is that smartphone app development is more difficult than web app development.
- Since smartphone app development uses a system that is a culmination of technologies used in web development, there is a lot to learn, and each level of difficulty is one step higher than the other.
- For example, when developing a web app, if an error occurs, the error is displayed in the browser and the information can be used for debugging.
- However, in the case of iOS, when an error occurs, the application just crashes, and it is difficult to identify what caused the error, so the debugging method becomes very specific.
- As for the development process, in the case of the Web, it is possible to develop according to a framework, but in the case of a smartphone application, it must be developed for each OS and device.
- Whenever a project or site changes, it is necessary to understand even the lower layers of the development environment, such as memory and CPU, each time before starting development, which is very difficult.
In this way, there is a lot to learn because smartphone app development takes a little more time to do everything, and it is definitely more difficult than web app development.
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