Here are 12 recommended tools to help you streamline your iOS app development process. Many developers have used these tools, including prototyping and design, programming, testing, shelves, and final marketing, which basically covers the entire development process.
Prototyping and Design
with a good idea, what you do is not programming immediately, but designing the UI and creating prototypes so that you know how the app works and what adjustments you need to make based on the user experience.
App Cooker
Appcooker is not only a great tool to create prototypes, it provides many features that can also help you publish your programs to the App Store. It integrates dropbox,box.net and photo roll, and you can import icons and other UI resources directly into the prototype design tool. You can use features such as gradients and fills to create simple shapes, and you can access almost any UI control that Apple provides by default.
If you are not ready to delve into graphic design, you can use app cooker to put your picture resources together reasonably to create a rough, unified prototype. Appcooker also has an easy-to-use dynamic link feature that allows you to connect a variety of images.
Fluid UI
The Fluid UI is a Web prototyping tool for mobile development that enables designers to efficiently prototype a product. Pros: No device restrictions, no platform restrictions (Windows, Mac, Linux systems), support for Chrome and Safari (apps on Chrome are also available offline). Drag-and-drop operation without the need for programmers to write code. In addition, the Fluid UI Library is rich in resources for iOS, Android, and Windows 8. If you feel that inventory resources do not meet your needs, you can add them yourself.
for small teams that like to develop quickly, Fluid UI High fidelity simulates user experience and operation. Even after the prototype is created, the developer can perform touch testing to share the mobile user experience. In addition, developers can iteratively develop on the fluid UI! The Fluid UI offers a free version and a paid version: the free version supports 1 projects, the rest is charged according to the number of supported projects, such as 29 USD/month for 3 projects, 49 USD/month for 10 projects, 129 USD/month to support 10 or more projects.
Make app icon
make app icon is a web tool that can help you quickly generate app icons. Make app icon can help you generate the various resolution icons that Apple's guidelines say, including retina devices and non-retina devices. In addition, you can create icons for the Android platform.
Although it seems to be a very simple tool, but can help you to save a lot of time, it is more convenient to use. You add images to the Make app icon page, and then leave your mailbox, the system will eventually send you the icon in a zip file, supporting different formats such as PNG, JPG, and PSD. (Send time will be a bit long ...) )you may realize that before you read the individual icon size descriptions and adjust how much time is wasted on each icon.
Sketch
sketch is an app on a Mac that's a great Vector/pixel hybrid development tool that can help you create retina images. You can use this app as a replacement for Photoshop and fireworks, which contains a number of developer-friendly features, such as "Export as a CSS file" and export for retina devices. Price \$49,15 days free trial.
Development and Shelves
Once you have the initial UI and design elements, you will start coding and final shelves, and some of the tools below may help you.
Sourcetree
Sourcetree is a free Mac software that is used primarily for git and mercurial version control. In my experience, most iOS developers use Git, and a small number of them are using mercurial and SVN.
Sourcetree can help you with your source code control program, and Sourcetree is a unique GUI tool compared to traditional, complex command-line version control software. For novice git users, sourcetree is simple and efficient to use, and Sourcetree has a very powerful feature for experienced app developers.
In addition, Sourcetree has some great features, such as incoming and outgoing changes, as well as intuitive branch management capabilities. Sourcetree allows you to save a lot of time on the operating terminal.
AirServer
Sometimes you will need to show the app on the big screen, or you want to show a bug fix screen, but you don't want to go into full screen video editing mode, then AirServer is a good choice.
AirServer is a very simple Mac and PC app that moves your iphone or ipad screen to your computer. AirServer can turn your Mac into a AirPlay terminal by wirelessly transmitting audio, photos, videos, and third-party apps that support AirPlay features from your IOS device to your Mac computer's screen, via your local network.
after installing the AirServer software, the iphone or ipad will display a list of devices available for airplay, select your PC, and your iphone screen will instantly appear on your computer, just like Apple TV's relationship with television. This is very useful for group demos and is suitable for large development teams for app-related testing.
Appuploader
Appuploader is an assistive tool for iOS app shelves that helps developers apply for iOS certificates efficiently and upload an IPA to the app Store. Pros: No device restrictions, no platform restrictions (Windows, Mac, and Linux systems), ideal for developers who don't have Mac computers configured for cross-platform development.
In addition Appuploader has some great features, create the application of the iOS certificate and configuration file, not limited by the device, a good solution to the shortcomings of the multi-computer development, but also through the template Update app information, so you can save a lot of time in the shelf process.
server-side services
Over the past few years, we have witnessed the rapid growth of server-side services for mobile developers, which claim to address similar storage, content delivery, and real-time functionality. A higher reliability and toolset can help developers reduce development time effectively, and it may be time to consider using server services in your next app. Here are a few brief introductions to this service:
Firebase
Firebase is a San Francisco-based backend service provider focused on real-time back-end data processing for apps that require high real-time data, such as Web games, collaboration tools, and more. With Firebase's services, you can create a unique experience for your users, especially for multi-player apps. Firebase now provides database services for multiple applications, including Scratchpad.io, Twitch, and Klout.
Firebas's service is very simple to use, just a single line of JS code, you can configure the Web app needs of the database storage services. Simplifies coding, allowing users to focus on the problem itself, saving development time. In addition, with the Firebase service, developers can implement real-time data updates without having to purchase a server, and users get new data without having to refresh the page. Firebase has released a new iOS SDK that can also help iOS developers solve certain data storage problems.
Kinvey
Kinvey claims to help developers get out of the dilemma of creating and maintaining a mobile backend. Kinvey is a cross-platform service with features such as user management, business logic, data storage, push notifications, extensive file storage across CDN, analytics, automated versioning, and other features. Kinvey is a powerful platform for both individual developers and enterprise-level developers.
Testing and Marketing
testing is a very important step in the app development process, and before the app is available in the App Store, developers need to make sure their apps run smoothly, save time and reduce the workload of the customer service staff. There are a number of services available for testing, user feedback, and app crash reporting, and the following are some examples:
Tokens
tokens simplifies the process of generating and distributing free promo codes for itunes Connect, whether it's releasing new apps or updating app versions. In addition, tokens can track your promo code distribution objects and whether they have redeemed promo codes, which can help you optimize a limited number (50) of promo codes to avoid wasting.
Smore
Smore is a web app that quickly makes e-flyers online, supporting not only images and text, but also video multimedia content. Use Smore to create an e-flyer for your app that requires, describe, etc. you need to submit your app to AppStore. Smore offers several optional themes that you can edit yourself if you are not satisfied with your system-generated e-flyer. In addition, Smore provides traffic Analysis Services, and you can clearly know how users discover your app.
countly
countly provides developers with a real-time, open-source mobile analytics platform that visualizes data collected from mobile users and gives developers actionable advice. Developers can easily deploy countly server-side code on their servers and integrate the development toolkit into their apps. Currently, the countly Analysis system has two versions of the development kit for iOS and Android. If you are familiar with Google Analytics and Flurry, then countly can also provide the same functionality.
12 iOS Developer Essentials productivity tools
