** These are the illustrations **
Instagram has long been a true force in the social sphere, but it was years before it had a Web-based interface. Its entire model was mobile-based—the website was secondary.
Over the past years, findings by PCMag have even found it increasingly difficult to bring together the annual Top 100 Websites feature.
This means that access to the Internet via the Web has diminished, while the reach of mobile platform continues to rise.
It also means all those hours you spent honing your HTML and CSS skills may not be necessray because focus has shifted to the ability to create a functional and engaging mobile app. It doesn’t mean you have to take an app-programming class in order to do this. Like the early days of the Web, several tools are available that will allow anyone to create a product with limited programming language.
But if you have the coding skills, it will give you the ability to create a unique app.These third-party services will even handle the process of submitting your app to the various stores (e.g. Google Play, the iOS App Store, or the Windows Phone app store).
We will get into some of those services below, but let’s start with a very basic overview of each environment and how to break in all by yourself.
While Android is the larger of the ecosystem (worldwide), iOS is in the midst of a very impressive comeback. And if you want to make some cash, iOS users have shown that they are far more willing to actually spend money on apps.
Before getting started, you should also know that Apple maintains a far more stringent lock-down on its store than Google or Microsoft. You have to follow Cupertino’s rules.
First, you will have to enrol in the iOS Developer Program, where memberships begins at $99/year (there are different levels for enterprise and education). If you aren’t using a third-party development tool, you will have to download XCode—the official IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for the iOS and Mac environments—from the Mac app store. You don’t necessarily need any programming knowledge to use Xcode, but it can help if you want to get into the nitty gritty.
The primary language iOS apps are written in is Objective-C programming language. Last year, Apple introduced the much less-techy Swift programming language to use alongside Objective-C.
Apple also provides a basic tutorial of XCode usage. In addition, the company offers an additional suite of tools that will help you test, distribute, and monetise your app.
After your app is developed and tested, you must submit it for review by Apple before it is included in the App Store. Apple’s official stance is that “review times can vary for each app.” If your app is rejected for some reason, you can submit an appeal to the App Review Board. But ultimately, Cupertino always has the last say.
To submit apps directly to Google Play, you will need to sign up for a Google Play Developer account, which will cost you a one-time fee of $25. Submitting apps to Google Play is a far less rigorous activity than for the App Store—once submitted, it should be available in a few hours.
If you want an overview, Google offers a nice step-by-step training guide for budding developers.
The first thing you will need to do is download Android Studio. While there are other IDEs out there, Studio is officially for Android and is available for download on Windows, Mac, or Linux.
If you want to design for Android, it might help to be acquainted with the Java programming language. It is not the only language that Android apps are built in, but it is the fundamental one. Android Studio gives you the opportunity to develop, test, and monetise your app. Once you have developed and tested your app, you will publish it using the Google Play Developer Console.
Windows is by far the smallest mobile OS environment, but as it attempts to seamlessly bridge the Windows desktop, mobile, and tablet environments with Windows 10, it may become more robust. Time will tell if this strategy will be successful.
For an overview of the development process, Windows Phone has a nice development guide. First, you will need to sign up for a Windows Developer Account and pay a one-time $19 fee.
You will need to use Microsoft Visual Studio to develop the apps. Windows Phone, like regular Windows apps, are written in a variety of languages including C# or C++ with XAML, C++ with DirectX, and JavaScript with HTML/CSS.
If you want to test on your phone, you will have to register it as a test device, though there are several Windows Phone emulators you can use. Once completed, you can just publish to the Windows Phone store
