How to Become a Mobile App Developer? [A Step by Step Guide]

The mobile application industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the technology world today. It is vast and expected to grow even much bigger in the coming years. According to the Statista Digital Market Outlook estimates that revenue across most segments in the mobile application industry will increase over the next few years and overall will reach around 613 billion U.S. dollars by 2025.

With this enormous growth in the mobile app industry, the market is very profitable and anyone can create and own a mobile app or even start a career in this industry. Most people usually think they need to get some computer science degree to become a mobile app developer, it is not very necessary. However, you can do that but it can take a lot of money and time to get to where you want to be. And that's why this post was made,  to explain actionable step-by-step guides to make you a strong mobile app developer.

How to Become a Mobile App Developer

In this short article, you are going to see a very simple 5 steps guide to becoming a very professional mobile app developer. So, without wasting any time, let's dive deeper into what you want to see.

Pick One of the Major Platforms

This very step sounds vague but no worries because I have your hands just follow up and get cleared. The initial step towards learning the necessary skills needed to develop a mobile application is to wisely choose a major platform you would spend most of your time working on. The buzzword platform here means choosing between Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian, and Blackberry RIM.

However, it is interesting to note that you don't have to focus on all the mentioned platforms when starting. Additionally, only Android, Windows, and iOS platforms happen to be the dominating platforms in the mobile app development industry. Among the three most popular platforms, Android and iOS are being dominated by most mobile app developers. So it will be a wise decision to start your mobile application development journey with either Android or iOS.

Most importantly, each platform is entirely different from the other. It is good to know all of them if you can but, when starting as a beginner in mobile app development it is super important to start your journey specializing in one platform and you can advance and expand your horizon from there to the next app development platforms if you want.

Learn The Essential Background Skills [Basics]

Just like every other skill, it is very important to learn the essential basics when getting started. To be a mobile app developer, it is very compulsory to get started by understanding the basics and you must possess the needed software development skills and knowledge. Before diving deep into the programming world, I'd suggest you get a clear road map, a good mindset, conquer your fears, and pick a good programming language as the given shown in the article links.

The next important question is, where exactly are you starting from? There could be three scenarios to it, let's see those scenarios.

• You are a pro web developer who is looking to learn mobile app development. In that case, you will find many useful platforms that will help you transit to mobile app development such as Appcelerator Titanium. The interesting thing is that your learning curve will be very small since you already have some programming experience.
• You may have done some coding before, and also you have a basic idea of how object-oriented programming works. In that case, it would be super easy for you to understand and learn how developing a mobile app works because most programming languages used for mobile app development are centered around object orientation.
• You are an absolute beginner. In that case, it’s best to take up a short introductory course on computer science. You can easily find such courses online on sites like Coursera, edX, Udemy, etc., and most of the beginner's courses on those websites are free.

Now that you know exactly which group of programmers you belong to, it will be easy for you to make your decision wisely. The next step involves:

Mastering the Coding Skills

Now that you have chosen your major platform and know the basics required to get started, it is time to dive deeper into the core concepts for each platform.

1. iOS

This is the operating system that runs on every Apple mobile device. To get started with this platform, you need to learn Swift or Objective-C programming languages. But how do you choose? That depends solely on the reason why you are learning mobile app development.

If you are solely interested in creating your simple mobile applications, then Swift will be a wise option to choose. Swift was introduced in 2014 and since then, it has received mostly positive feedback over the years.

However, if you are planning to become a full-stack iOS developer for a mobile app development company, the best choice for you might be to learn Objective-C first. Mainly because tons of well-structured documentation is meant for Objective-C, and there are still thousands of iOS apps out there built with Objective-C programming language. You may need it to maintain or fix the code.

Apple offers a very colossal iOS Developer Library, which is very well-documented. You will find many tutorials and videos to help you learn to code. It enables you to break down the complexity of the iOS development program into small basic parts for easy understanding. There are many great blogs and strong online communities on iOS development.

2. Android

Android is the flagship mobile operating system owned by Google. To develop apps for Android you need to know Java or Kotlin programming language. For newbies who have no clue how it works, you will need an introductory course to the programming language Java or Kotlin to get started. The best place to begin is Google’s Android Developer Library. Again, these are extremely well-documented and have a comprehensive set of training materials.

Before you decide to start with Android development, you should be aware that there are many different types of Android devices on the market like Samsung Android devices. It can cause a bit of complication in the beginning. But once you get past it, you will have the potential to reach a wider market.

Additionally, other programming languages can help you develop good mobile apps for these two platforms without the need to learn different programming languages like Java, Kotlin, Swift, and Objective-C. Those programming languages are there to help you achieve the same thing in a cross-platform way, which means targeting Android and iOS platforms using one codebase. It is also important to know that those languages make use of different frameworks to achieve this. They are;

• C#  and Xamarin
• Dart and Flutter
• JavaScript etc. just to mention but a few.

Using Mobile App Development Software

One more alternative to developing an app for your product is by making use of mobile development software. In this case, you don’t even need to know how to code. It usually has thousands of templates to get you started and this software handles the underground coding on your behalf.

Practice Your Skills

Knowing how to write code is simply the beginning of building an app. The best result comes from writing and practicing clean code and documentation. Additionally, there is no replacement for hands-on, you need to get your hands dirty on code to be a good mobile app developer. Let's discuss the tips on how you can organize your practice session:

1. Get and Develop a Mobile App Idea

Mobile app development is all about solving real-world problems. Start by developing an app idea. Look out for the problems that people are facing in daily life, it may also be the problems you face and think the mobile app can solve. List them out, and shortlist the one that makes the most sense. And once you have decided, start mapping out your app.

2. Wisely Describe the Details of the Mobile App

The clarity in every mobile app development project is very important. Describe the app using simple language that is easy to understand. It is an important thing while developing a protocol to make sure that your app is easy to understand. Users should be able to figure out the navigation without any reference to other pages. Also, you need to figure out the features of the app as well. You must build an excellent user interface if you want your users to stick around.

3. Work with a Team or Hire the People You Need

Teamwork makes software development a fun and easy skill to learn. When you are starting, it may be difficult for you to develop a complete app all by yourself. For instance, you may be good at coding but may lack design skills. It’s better to take help from someone who is already an expert in the field. You can either hire an expert or collaborate with people that agree to help you.

4. Test Your App

Errors or bugs are known to be developers' friends, it is an inescapable thing whether you are a beginner or expert. Once you have completed developing the app, you need to go to the testing part. Bugs are unavoidable in the first cut of any software. You can have your friends download the app and let them play through it. If they notice any glitches, they can drop their reviews and things you can make better. The feedback will help you learn what works and what doesn’t in an app.

How long does it take to become a mobile app developer?

Becoming a very good mobile app developer can take literally as little as a few weeks with serious and intensive learning or Bootcamp. The most recommended route or path that most people take is to go get a computer science degree, where all the related concepts will be taken care of. However, if you care to learn mobile app development at your pace, then I recommend you try some online courses.

What qualifications do you need to be an app developer?

There are so many things that you need to be good at to be qualified as a mobile app developer. But we will focus on the most important ones. Let's dive right in;

• You will need maths knowledge for understanding programming at least basic algebra and statistics
• The ability to write computer programs, though not too complex of a program.
• To be a good mobile app developer having analytical thinking skills is a must.
• To be very focused and pay attention to detail.
• You must think and reason differently and have the ability to come up with new ways of doing things.
• The knowledge of systems analysis and development is an important one to know.
• Face real-world problems and have complex problem-solving skills.
• Lastly, but also very important is to have the best mindset.

The above list will shorten the time you need in your journey as a mobile app developer if you can figure out the above skills before moving on. Most newbie developers may be asking How do I become a 2022 app developer? I will try to be very specific with the steps you need to get started because there are important skills you need to have acquired to be successful;

•   Learn React Native. If there is a best library or framework you can check out for developing native cross-platform mobile apps, React Native is a good one to get started with.
• Having a great knowledge of Google's new cross-platform mobile development framework called Flutter will be a plus.
• To be a fully native Android app developer, learning Java or Kotlin is a great start to building good Android apps.
• Most mobile app developers choose iOS-only development. To be part of this group of mobile app developers you must have a strong knowledge of Swift or Objective-C.

Is mobile app development hard?

What makes mobile app development very interesting is that developers have choices to which platform to focus on and be good at. The two most popular platforms are iOS and Android.  And because of so many options, that is why many developers often find it to be more difficult than web development. But if you have the right mindset and patience, the whole journey will be super easy for you.

Are mobile developers in demand?

For the past decade, mobile app technology and industry have become a point of focus for many people. This enormous growth has made mobile app developers in high demand by most tech companies around the world. The potential salary of a mobile app developer is very attractive, competitive, rewarding, and expected to grow even bigger in time to come.

To be in high demand as a mobile developer also depends on the programming language skill you possess. And because of that, which language is best for app development? To clear a misconception that arises when most developers hear this question, There is no best programming language in the world, rather what we have is the best programming language for a particular project.

That simply means that there are so many options when it comes to mobile app development.

Where can I learn app development?

The internet is full of useful courses one can choose from to start learning mobile app development, but we are going to list the most used websites to learn most programming skills including mobile app development.

1. Udacity. Udacity is an expansion to free computer science classes offered by Stanford University.
2. Udemy. Founded in the year 2012, Udemy is one of the finest platforms to learn and improve your Android and iOS app development skills.
3. Lynda or LinkedIn Learning. This is Microsoft's finest platform for learning all the trending tech skills you want.
4. Tree House
5. PluralSight. 

Note that the list above is not an exhaustive list. Of course, there are so many others that one can choose from to learn anything about mobile app development. Also, for the sake of most newbie developers who might be asking Which course is best for mobile? the list of courses below will guide you very well;

• Android N: From Beginner to Paid Professional – Udemy.
• Android Basics by Google Nanodegree – Udacity.
• Learn to Code in Kotlin by Building an Android App – Mammoth Interactive.
• Build Your First Android App (Project-Centered Course) – Coursera.
• Build a Simple Android App with Java – Team Treehouse.

Is coding necessary for app development?

If you have been browsing the web for a while now you will notice that it is not very compulsory to know how to code to build a mobile app. But one thing is very certain, there are many free templates that you can use to build a mobile app without the need to write a single line of code. However, if you need to build a heavy and full-featured mobile app, it is very necessary to know how to code.

Additionally, to build a full-feature mobile application one might ask What are top 5 class mobile apps development? and it is very simple because you need the knowledge of Python, Java, C#, Flutter, React Native, Swift, Kotlin, R, etc to develop a mobile application as they are the top mobile app technologies.

Final Thoughts

That was it. To conclude, we suggest you don’t just start learning mobile app development immediately. Instead, take your time to think about a project you would like to work on while you will learn mobile app development.

Good luck in your mobile app development journey!!!

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