Toronto iOS, watchOS and tvOS Development | iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple TV Development company in Toronto, Canada

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While there is no universal formula for building a successful iOS app that will get rave reviews and quickly attract a large user base, there are a couple of things which, if you manage to integrate into your app development process, will help you build a fast, reliable, and appealing app. It’s enough to look at top-rated and most downloaded apps in the App Store to understand why the following tips are so important. Implement them into your own app development to build better apps that will stand out.

Use analytics to understand app usage patterns and solve issues

Powerful analytics such as Crashalytics, New Relic, Flurry, or Localytics enable you to set up Key Performance Indicators (KPI), track screen flows and session times, and monitor crash data, helping you understand how your app is used and where the hiccups are. Mobile app analytics are now available as cloud-based services which are affordable and easy to get the hang of. They come with deployment costs and you don’t need a specialized tech team to understand them because they are made with mobile app developers in mind. Starting with the recommendations above, find the right analytics for your needs and use the valuable data they provide to enhance your app development, new releases, and updates.

Keep it simple

A predominant characteristic of great apps in the App Store is polished simplicity. It’s important to make the difference between an app that is designed to be simple while having a clear purpose and great features, and one that is simple because it is bare. The French writer Saint-Exupery said “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”. In other words, don’t cram your first release with all the features your developers can think of, but rather concentrate in it the essentials, adding features later on in new releases, according to user demand. The same is true for the interface, which should feature only elements that can justify their presence there

Have real people assess the user experience

The user experience is often what separates apps with otherwise similar features, turning some into hits while plunging others into obscurity. The problem is that developers can be so involved in the app they’re making that it’s hard for them to be objective: they don’t notice little details like the quirks in the interface, the slowness of some features, or the design of the app icons. Whether you’re building a content app, an utility app, a game or some other kind of app, a crash-free user experience isn’t enough. You need more than that, you need a smooth, responsive, enjoyable user experience, and a service like usertesting.com can offer you the feedback you need to improve your app. Alternatively, you can outsource an app testing project, but make sure your app ends up in the hands of real people before it hits the App Store.

Move in-app events that require waiting to the background

Nobody likes to stare at a screen that shows an upload in progress, a download in progress, or any other kind of process that takes up seconds or more. When users see such a screen they feel like they are sitting there wasting time that could have been better spent doing something else. Instead of treating your users to waiting screens, move the events they present to the background and feature engaging screens that will divert them, such as “Did you know?” screens, or else a funny animation or short clip. Eliminating waiting screen takes some ingenuity and plenty of development work, but it’s one of those key features that make the difference between great apps and not so great apps.

Reduce the number of steps and taps the app requires

Your app may be polished to simplicity, and it may have a friendly interface, but if it has a 7-step sign-up process, or requires that the user follow 5 different multi-step screen tutorials before he or she can get to business, it won’t get far. Another issue that alienates mobile users, who by the way have a short attention span and about a million other apps to try, is a slow user interface. If your app requires a few too many taps for any of its functions, and especially for the main functions, that has to be remedied. Ideally, you will want to place essential features only one or two taps away. Screen flow analytics and extensive user testing can help you reduce the number of steps and taps your app needs.

Secure your app with SSL or TLS

Because so many people use iOS devices to connect to wireless networks on the go, data connection encryption should be one of your priorities. App security becomes even more important when your app requires many user permissions and uses private user data such as name, address, phone number, contacts, email, photos, or login information. Securing your app’s data connection can be done with the industry standards Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption, which should be included from the start in your app development to-do list.

Don’t just port your app from android

Apple users and Android users are both mobile users, but they can have different expectations, and even different usage patterns. Keep in mind that iPhones and iPads are more powerful than many Android-based devices, and that their users have higher incomes. A quick comparison between the App Store and Google Play reveals that iOS apps are often more polished and come with features which may not be available in their Android counterparts. In recent years, Android has come a long way, but differences between the two mobile platforms remain. Successful porting from one platform to the other can be done, but to ensure a high standard of quality, build your app from the ground up for iOS.

Applying these tips to your mobile iOS app development project will help you build a more beautiful and more engaging application that people will love. However, your work shouldn’t stop there. Dedicate yourself to continually improving your app, integrating user feedback, polishing existing features, and adding new ones. App development is an on-going effort, one that has to be sustained for your application to be a success.