Step-by-Step Guide to Developing a Successful iOS App

Introduction

The trending strategy of developing a business mobile app is proving a successful one for over a decade. Diverse industries have been making the most of mobility solutions for various purposes, be it going digital and improving the platform experience or enhancing customer services by bringing the services and products to the users’ fingertips. 

Anyone not having an in-house dev team will hire a top iPhone application development company to build an app for Apple devices, targeting Apple users. This is called a native iOS app development process. Similarly, there is native Android app development to target Android users, and then comes cross-platform app development which helps to build mobile apps used by both iOS and Android users collectively.

Whatever it may be purpose, mobile application development services have been clearly ruling the game for B2B, B2C, and B2B2C businesses. Today, we will talk about prerequisites you should consider before starting an iOS app! However, we will start with the problem points of why the majority of mobile apps fail.

Why do Mobile Apps Fail?

Let us start with a fact here, shall we? By 2023, the projected revenue from mobile apps is around $935 billion; by 2024, people will have downloaded about 184 billion apps. – Statista reports.

Nevertheless, the million-dollar question is: Are these all successful mobile apps? The answer is NO. Let us first understand the reasons behind the failure of the majority of mobile applications.

The following are the primary reasons why mobile apps fail.

• Lack of market research
• Ignorance of understanding the audience’s needs
• No authenticity or originality at all
• No thought process behind platform selection to develop mobile apps (Native vs Cross-platform)

The problems are not only limited to the business end, the challenges are also associated with the iOS app development process too. Every iPhone app development project is unique and every project comes with a unique set of challenges and complexities. However, the most common reasons, irrespective of the nature and scope of the iOS application development project, are mentioned below:

• Project delays and budget overruns due to poor processes, improper capacity planning, dependencies, and talent gaps.
• Multiple project stakeholders with different priorities and goals
• Rigid iPhone app development process
• Feature imbalance delivering vague app experience
• The feeble (weaker) backend of the mobile app
• Unoptimized app performance before market launch
• Poor app design leading to poor user experience
• Lack of quality mobile app testing by QA expertsLack of willingness to hire a team for continuous app maintenance & support

A proactive approach and strategic planning are needed right from the start. Hence, the first step towards building a successful iOS app is to find the right iPhone app development company.

Also Read – https://www.bytestechnolab.com/blog/best-option-among-ios-app-development-and-android-app-development/

How to Develop a Successful iOS Mobile App in 2023?

We aim to simplify everything required for successful iPhone application development. Before anything else, take a look at the set of basic requirements for developing an iOS app.

Mac Computer/System

The first thing you need is to have a Mac computer with an Intel processor running on the latest version of Mac OS. The latest version is macOS 13: Ventura. The macOS is necessary for running Xcode and accessing the iOS SDK for iPhone app development services. Make a note here that it is crucial to use the latest macOS as the older one might not be compatible with the latest releases of Xcode and iOS SDK.

Apple Developer Account Registration

It is absolutely essential and FREE. You will be able to download Xcode only after you register successfully to your Apple Application Developer Account. The benefits will extend up to accessibility to iOS SDK and unlimited access to development videos and technical resource support. All the information is available on Apple’s developer program website.

Xcode Installation

Considering you have registered successfully for Apple Application Developer Account, Xcode installation comes next in line that is the only tool an iOS app developer needs initially. Xcode is Apple’s Integrated Development Environment (IDE) used for coding, building UI, and testing apps made for all Apple devices. 

Note that the latest Xcode 14 can be downloaded for FREE that has everything you desire to develop, test, and distribute across all Apple platforms. The iOS app development services have become easier and richer with Xcode 14.

Understanding iOS SDK

Having good knowledge of Software Development Kit (SDK) is pretty much required. It is knowing the mechanism of a vehicle before repairing it. The SDK includes frameworks, libraries, tools, and APIs that allow iOS programmers to build apps for Apple devices. A lot of built-in features are provided to integrate push notifications and iCloud. Moreover, iOS SDK has everything an iOS app developer would need to create intuitive user interfaces, integrate third-party services, and also craft custom app designs.

Knowledge of Objective-C or Swift

You already may know that you have to use either of these two programming languages to build iOS applications. Objective-C is an older of the two, used to build apps for various Apple platforms such as macOS and iOS. Swift is the new version of the programming language invented specifically to build iOS apps and deliver trending features to developers to make iPhone app development services faster and easier.

These are the prerequisites for creating powerful, intuitive, and engaging iOS applications. Now we will learn some basics about preparing and setting up your environment for building iOS mobile applications.

Setting Up Environment for iOS App Development

Configure Your Development Environment

If you do not have an Apple ID, create one as it will be required for signing into the Mac App Store and downloading Xcode. After creating your Apple ID, you will need to set up two-factor authentication to foster security in your efforts and protect your data.

Create Unique Development Certificate

This certificate is needed and used by developers to get your apps authenticated. As an iOS developer, you will need to create this certificate and install it on your system. Considering the fact that you already have signed in with your Apple ID, the next thing is about setting up a provisioning profile containing all the details about your apps to be built. This information will be needed while performing the iOS app testing and submitting an iOS application to the App Store.

Once all these primary steps are completed, you can now start iOS mobile app development using Xcode. This IDE helps you to write your codes in Objective-C or Swift and design your app layouts using Interface Builder. A debugger tool helps to debug your iOS app which you can compile into an executable file that can be tested on an Apple device before submitting it to the App Store.

Designing iOS App Architecture: Core Components

An app architecture is potentially the foundation of the success of your next iOS application. The app architecture is crafted to deliver stability, scalability, and performance for your iOS app. Let us brief you on the core components of iOS app architecture. These are mentioned below:

UI Design: The Interface builder tool is like an editor used to design beautiful interfaces and app screens faster to connect them to the code in Xcode IDE. Xcode Interface Builder (XIB) is responsible for the look and feel of every iOS app. The created user stories and storyboards are taken into consideration and used to design the UI elements such as attributes, buttons, tags, input style, labels, etc. This component helps in defining the user navigation and journey within the app.

Data Persistence: Data is the fuel that keeps the system up and running, right? This is the importance of Data Persistence. In iOS app development, this component helps the iOS app to store the data locally or remotely. It is primarily used to store and fetch data as and when needed upon a user’s request. The iOS app development uses Core Data to save permanent data of the app for offline usage, to cache temporary data, and to add undo functionality to your app on a single device. If you have a single iCloud account running on multiple devices, Core Data automatically mirrors your schema to a CloudKit container.

Networking: For extendability in terms of usage, functionality, and overall app experience; the Networking component is used that helps your iOS app to communicate with external services or apps. These may include third-party APIs and Cloud services that integrate with your iOS app to provide precise and secure data in a defined manner.

Security: It includes encryption techniques like SSL/TLS and authentication mechanisms such as OAuth. Security also helps protect against malicious attacks by using techniques such as sandboxing or jailbreaking prevention measures.

App Testing & Debugging: Xcode has a debugger tool that helps the application developers to debug quickly before launching it to the App Store. Manual and automated iOS app testing will ensure the desired performance and working of your iOS app. Whereas debugging will help the iOS developers to identify code issues and design issues that may hinder user experience.

There are multiple compatible tools and frameworks that can help in delivering faster iPhone app development services. Some of these include UIKit and Core Data which can accelerate the iOS app development time and improve performance. Other popular tools and frameworks used by many iOS developers are Cocoa Touch, CocoaPods, Core Graphics, Core Animation, Git, etc. to develop a successful iOS app.

Which are the Stages of iOS App Development?

In layman’s terms, there are mainly four stages of iOS app development. These are shown below:

iOS App Design

After comprehensive knowledge-sharing and brainstorming sessions to share business ideas and project expectations, considering that every project stakeholder is on the same page, the design process begins. It involves the design experts to come up with creative wireframes and design mockups that are used to define the app UI/UX. The design experts shall be using popular design tools such as Adobe XD, Sketch, and Figma.

iOS App Development

Once the design prototypes are approved by the client, the design team forwards the file to the iOS app developers who then start to write the code in order to implement the features and functionalities based on the design files. This is done using Xcode or other development tools like Cocoa Touch, CocoaPods, etc. Lately, many iOS developers have started using Carthage, a simple dependency manager that you can use to include its SDK into your ongoing Xcode project.

iOS App Testing

If you hire a dedicated iPhone developer, they will use iOS Simulator or other testing tools such as XCTest or Appium. These are used to test and check the overall performance and compatibility issues (if any) of the developed app before it is deployed. Xcode debugger is also used to debug the apps for identifying code and design issues before they are submitted to the App Store.

iOS App Deployment

Once the iOS app testing is performed and the developers have sorted the errors/bugs, the application can be deployed to the App Store. TestFlight is an online service for testing your mobile apps, where you can also invite users to test your apps and App Clips and collect valuable feedback before releasing your apps on the App Store. This is what makes TestFlight unique as it actually involves real app users and helps you boost the success of your next iOS app.

Are You Looking for an Ideal iOS App Development Company?

The success of your iOS app development project depends equally on the iOS app development company that you will be working with. Finding one? If yes, then your quest to find success has been achieved, especially when you consult with us to hire iOS app developers. 

We at Bytes Technolab Inc, are celebrating the overall success of 10+ years while having dominated the web and mobile app development domains. Contact us now to explore the bespoke engagement models to hire iOS app developers.