The Online Magazine Focused on App Design, Branding & Marketing

When your app is in its infancy, you should be doing everything you can to validate your idea before you plunk down the big bucks to have it brought to life in development. One way to get some feedback on your idea is through primary research.

Primary research is a fancy way of describing anything you go out into the world and collect yourself. Surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups, and specimen samples are all examples of primary research. However, the type of research I’m considering here is primarily surveys.

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Mobile application SDKs are supplied with various default controls to help expatiate and standardize common application functionality. This is great when the application design lends itself to using these controls out of the box. But when customization is required, this can lead to trying to twist those controls to your will and lead to ugly code.

I was recently tasked with creating an app where the tab bar had an image background and each tab is represented by two images for the default and selected state. Rather than try and bend the iOS UITabBarController, I decided to use it as a guideline for creating my own custom tab bar. The downside is that the tab bar controller must be created in code and outside of Interface Builder, but all sub-screens can still be designed using IB.

More after the JUMP…

Android development takes a bit of time to wrap your head around, especially if you are more familiar with Windows or iOS programming and using delegates instead of anonymous classes. I was recently tasked with creating some custom dialogs to capture specific user input and wanted to do so in a way that would encapsulate all the dialog configuration and data retrieval. I wanted a nice black box where I could supply the necessary default information and easily retrieve the results. To do this I created a simple base class that all my dialogs would use. More after the JUMP…

Mobile applications are some of the most accessible pieces of software on the market today. This is due to the low cost of the applications themselves, a low barrier of entry for developers, and the growing number of devices owned by consumers. A continuously successful application requires great design and development and it is rare to find somebody who is an expert at both.

When I’m creating a GUI based application, I spend way too much time trying to line up individual components or determining the ideal layout. This usually is not even for the final product, just to get it good enough to pass off to the designer. Some features will inevitably be missing or not quite to the designers liking, so another development pass has to be made. This might be unavoidable if the software is a game changer or trying to create fun, but the fact of the matter is with most mobile applications (and software in general) a lot of time is spent reinventing the wheel and the inevitable feature-creep.

A solution: the bleuprint! A well made bleuprint will streamline the development process. The majority of bugs and crashes from software come in when the design changes mid-development and existing code is altered as quickly as possible to stay on schedule. With an application bleuprint in hand, I’ve found two common development paths to follow: developing the application in feature sections by adding the functionality as the screens are created or laying out all the screens and transitions and then start adding the functionality.

The development path chosen will depend upon the complexity of the application. A complex workflow might be hard or nearly impossible to layout all the screens without doing a lot of extra or unnecessary work. When the application allows for it, I prefer the method of laying out all the screens initially. This allows for testing of the overall UI flow and any kinks can be worked out early. Once the UI is set, you can just pick off the key features and get to fun part of developing. With mobile applications, updates and added features are commonplace. Focus your energies on what you are great at and hit the gate with great design and development on the key features.

Apple and the iOS have been enjoying themselves. Since the time the iPhone has been introduced into our lives, not only do we now have a reason for ignoring our dinner companions, but Apple has trekked to the top of the mobile device market. As a company, the iPhone has helped place Apple among the elite companies of the world, even becoming more valuable than its chief rival, Microsoft.

Not content to just sit on the sidelines, there have been competitors trying to put a sizable dent into the slice of the market pie that Apple has cut for themselves. RIM and the Blackberry maintain a strong, loyal fanbase despite there seeming to be a lack of production lately from an app development perspective. The biggest competitor of course is the Android. Versatile yes, but far from perfect. Would a worthy competitor ever come along? More after the JUMP…

For all those Mac owners who have been let down by the connectivity (or lack therof) of their WindowsPhone and their computer, Microsoft is hopefully helping you out. Microsoft has just released a new update for their WIndows Phone 7 connector. Now you can set up devices, sync content purchased on your handheld device and import files manually.

Have a Windows Phone? Tried the new update? Let us know your impressions.