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We all know how much of a big hassle it is to create your own customized app, yet it’s soul-satisfying once it’s done. However, people tend to forget that after the first step of creating an app, there’s maintenance, updates, and let’s not forget, protecting it from bugs, and god forbids hackers! That’s why we came up with 5 pointers for every startup that’s developing its own app.

We talked to some startup founders and they were more than happy to provide us with these valuable points that you as an entrepreneur and/or app developer would need to keep at the back of your head while developing your app. So here are 5 things you need to keep in mind while developing an app.

  • Think of it as a Science Lab – Apps are used by thousands of phone/OS combinations, which means that numerous bugs and errors are going to come up and you’d need to constantly fix them. Which is why you need to continue testing and fixing your app before and after you publish it. And most importantly, do not forget to allocate a budget for testing and bug fixing. According to the founder of the Malaeb AppAhmed Al-RawiYou will never build the perfect app, it’s a dynamic process, and everything is a hypothesis until proven.”
  • Maintain Your App Like You Maintain Your Home – Aside from testing, apps and/or software in general require maintenance as Ezra Erani, a Mobile Developer at Hack Arabia mentions. “Having a customer facing app is a commitment in that regard, from bug fixes, to feature rollouts, staying compatible with operating system upgrades etc,” he adds. Yep, that is one thing you now need to add to your errands list: updating your app frequently.
  • Master the Art of Showing offThere are over 1,000 apps that are published on a daily basis, most which are probably similar to yours. So it’s kind of naive of you to think that your app is going to hit the market and get thousands of downloads once it’s up. To combat this, you can do online and offline advertising, or reach out to app reviewers that can give a shout out your app as they show the audience that they’re using it, and even reach out to your existing customers via email and online campaigns. Make sure that you stand out when promoting your app! Make people realize that they actually need the app and that it’s not just another basic repetitive app. Go extra and flaunt it all!  
  • Scope of the ProjectAccording to Ehsan Al-Koohej, the general manager of Kooheji Systems, developers tend to underestimate the changes that are going to occur while developing the app and after testing it. “Developers often try to put down all the requirements and build the application according to plan. But that does not work because apps are an ever-evolving process. New ideas come up daily, bugs are found, and scope changes. This is why a project which was supposed to take 100 hours might end up taking 200 hours, and even after that the app is never complete,” he claims. Ehsan also adds that an additional effort would be required in order to have weekly and monthly updates which even users are nowadays expecting from every app they use.
  • Conventional or Modern Methods? Ezra also mentions that people generally lean towards using the newest and latest framework that is slightly different than the older version, “in order to stay relevant.” He says, “Generally, at least in the mobile realm, sticking with the more mature tech stacks will perform well across all (or at least most) functionalities, while at the same time making it easier to grow your team or work with other developers.” So it doesn’t really matter if the framework is new or old, think more in terms of practicality and less in terms of modernity. But hey, modernity is good, but sometimes conventional methods are just as great!  

You now have a basic idea of what you should keep in mind before, during and after developing an app. Developing an app is just the first step, what comes after it is the bigger and most important challenge. There are plenty of sources out there that you can utilize to help launch your app, you can even take free online courses to learn how to do the things mentioned above! Some of the great online sources are Udemy, Lynda, Coursera and more! Next time you build your app, make sure you don’t underestimate its aftermath!

And while you’re at it, please make sure to follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, or Like us on Facebook, also make sure to check out our video on the startup ecosystem in Bahrain.