Top ten issues to address before developing iOS applications

In this article we will show you 10 questions you might want to ask before developing the iOS platform (iPhone, ipad, ipod) application.

1. Which platform should we target?

Only iOS (the IPhone and IPad) and Android have enough downloads, purchases, and usage. Other platforms also have applications, but the majority of users are too small, or the application download is not enough to support. Perhaps the future may change, but in today's case, this is an indisputable fact.

Perhaps some people will argue that WP, BADA can prop up a jiangshan, but in not really put a lot of out, will not suggest a rash of aggressive.

2. Do we need to develop different applications for different platforms, or is there a cross-platform solution?

Yes, you need to develop different native applications for different platforms. There are many cross-platform solutions on the market, but none of them are strong enough, including Sencha, SproutCore, and titanium.

In the long term, HTML 5 will have the strongest industry support and provide a great framework for application development. But that won't happen in the next 18 months. Remember one of the most important things that an iphone app needs to look and use like an iphone app; Android apps have to be like an Android app; If you want to cross the platform, make sure you know what the native apps look like first, Will not sacrifice the user experience.

I also think that HTML5 will eventually lead the trend, but the overall application and acceptance is not imminent. Whether using HTML 5 cross-platform or using native applications is not a priority, and the focus is on user experience.

In the experience of the past year, whether Foursquare, Viber, Instagram have made the best proof, they are based on a single platform, emphasizing the success of a single platform "user Experience", if you want to do more than one platform, but ignore the differences in the use of experience in various platforms, is already the beginning of failure.

3. How long will it take us to spend more development time on each additional platform?

This depends on the type of application you are developing, but generally, it's probably 30~50% time.

4. Is it possible to have an in-house application, rather than through an open App store?

Yes, each platform has a different solution, and it's fairly common.

In the author's more familiar iOS, the general practice can use iOS Developer Enterprise program, and of course, Adhoc distribution is another solution.

5. Can we reuse the system that has been completed on the website?

Yes, applications should make the best use of off-the-shelf systems, usually on the JSON architecture, without having to iterate over the Bedstead house.

6. Compared to the learning curve of the iPhone and Android, objective C is harder to learn than Java?

This has nothing to do with language, it's about locking the SDK (Cocoa touch or Android SDK), and learning the same curve.

7. Can I sell things through the application? How do I get to the gold stream?

OK, on the iphone, Apple won't ask the user for a credit card number, and if you choose to use Apple's account, Apple will take 30% of the handling fee, and most of the online retailers will choose to have users create a user account and then have them log in through the application, This account can be used to open a receipt/Login credit card account. This restriction does not exist on the Android application.

8. Why not a website, and then can make a version adapted to the mobile browser?

App-oriented mobile phone users, who prefer to consume content through the use of apps, IDG's data supports this view and shows that the app drives 8 times times as much traffic as the mobile Web site.

As the famous lbs Service Gowalla CEO points out, the user is "overwhelmingly" using a native application. Before the "Mighty" HTML 5 was popularized (which included the popularity of development manpower and the shift of all Web services), the mobile browser version was only a temporary antidote, better than no better way.

9. How do app projects work?

Like all software development projects: purpose/purpose, vision, sketch, visualization, design, development, testing, and online. We prefer a scrum-like development approach where application projects are focused on user experience and interface design.

10. What type of application does a typical company start with?

Typically start with the features that they have on their site, and start adding the functionality of the application's properties (like GPS positioning and photography).