Today, if you want to make an income, it's not enough to simply have a job. You need at least 2 or 3 different sources of income to ensure that you can pay all your bills just in case something unfortunate happens. Technology has evolved so much that in the past few years lots of people have discovered another way to earn money: they develop mobile applications. Many entrepreneurs have made a name for themselves by developing mobile apps, and if you're interested in learning how to develop mobile apps yourself, keep reading this article.
Mobile app development is just a rapidly growing industry because people are finding more approaches to earn money through their smartphones. Each day the number of active users keeps growing. Below are a few numbers that may illustrate just how large the has become:
- The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to achieve 1 billion in 2014 ( source ).
- In accordance with statistics there were nearly 35 million iPhone developers at the time of December 2010 ( source ). This figure shows an increase of 25% over the previous year's figures!
If you want to develop mobile apps then you'll need several things before you can start. This will additionally apply to almost any development, however you especially need these:
- Skills and knowledge – You'll need to know how exactly to code, and you'll also should find out about design concepts like UX (User Experience) and HCI (Human Computer Interaction).
- Some type of computer – Obviously! Ideally it should be a laptop/netbook that runs Windows or Mac OSX since most computers nowadays run one of these operating systems. However, if your skills are good enough then you might be able to develop an application on Linux as well.
- A smartphone – It's not necessary for developing apps, but it will definitely help since you can test them entirely on your device. If you don't have a smartphone then you may always make use of a friend's or a family group member's device.
- An IDE – A pc software development kit (or IDE - Integrated Development Environment) is essential to produce applications for Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms. Popular IDEs include Xcode , Eclipse and Visual Studio.
- The developer license – You can develop apps without paying anything, but when you want to publish them on app stores then you'll need to pay for the annual fee which can be currently $99 for Apple App Store and Deniz Güney Entrepreneur Google Play Developer Console. Several payment methods can be found, including charge cards, PayPal and wire transfer from your bank account.
Mobile app development is just a rapidly growing industry because people are finding more approaches to earn money through their smartphones. Each day the number of active users keeps growing. Below are a few numbers that may illustrate just how large the has become:
- The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to achieve 1 billion in 2014 ( source ).
- In accordance with statistics there were nearly 35 million iPhone developers at the time of December 2010 ( source ). This figure shows an increase of 25% over the previous year's figures!
If you want to develop mobile apps then you'll need several things before you can start. This will additionally apply to almost any development, however you especially need these:
- Skills and knowledge – You'll need to know how exactly to code, and you'll also should find out about design concepts like UX (User Experience) and HCI (Human Computer Interaction).
- Some type of computer – Obviously! Ideally it should be a laptop/netbook that runs Windows or Mac OSX since most computers nowadays run one of these operating systems. However, if your skills are good enough then you might be able to develop an application on Linux as well.
- A smartphone – It's not necessary for developing apps, but it will definitely help since you can test them entirely on your device. If you don't have a smartphone then you may always make use of a friend's or a family group member's device.
- An IDE – A pc software development kit (or IDE - Integrated Development Environment) is essential to produce applications for Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms. Popular IDEs include Xcode , Eclipse and Visual Studio.
- The developer license – You can develop apps without paying anything, but when you want to publish them on app stores then you'll need to pay for the annual fee which can be currently $99 for Apple App Store and Deniz Güney Entrepreneur Google Play Developer Console. Several payment methods can be found, including charge cards, PayPal and wire transfer from your bank account.