What makes a mobile application developer competent?

By irshad

For every possible human need, there is probably a mobile phone app, waiting to be discovered on the App store. It is, therefore, no surprise that the demand for mobile applications has been steadily raising ever since the smartphone was invented. Easy accessibility and greater convenience has made mobile phones the preferred device to access the internet.

For every possible human need, there is probably a mobile phone app, waiting to be discovered on the App store. It is, therefore, no surprise that the demand for mobile applications has been steadily raising ever since the smartphone was invented. Easy accessibility and greater convenience has made mobile phones the preferred device to access the internet. Because of these factors, the demand for mobile applications has been on the rise as well. For this reason, many mobile application developing companies are mushrooming to fill the supply gap and to tap into this booming industry. For the same reason, they are also investing in creating apps to meet various needs and simplify business processes.

Increased investment and interest has further created an enabling environment for this industry to grow faster. This has further acted as an incentive for several mobile application developing companies as well as freelancers to mushroom at a faster pace. With multiple options in hand, it becomes difficult for the ones in need of a specific app to handpick one from the sea of developers. Here are a few characteristics of a competent Mobile Application Development company that one should keep in mind before going forward.

Great UI/UX Skills

There were 3.5 million apps on the Google Play Store in 2017 and 2.2 million apps on the Apple App Store in the same year. The number must have only magnified by now. The astronomical number of apps on their respective app stores denotes that the users’ hands are already full. The developers must have great UI/UX skills to make their apps attractive and distinct enough for their apps to stand out from the crowd and be attractive for the users. They should also be capable enough to use these skills to make the user interface easy to use and navigate.

Knowledge of Industry Standards

Different companies of mobile phone brands use different platforms/operating systems that make use of different programming languages. For this reason, companies should have proficiency in not just one platform, but multiple mobile platforms. The most common platforms today are Android and iOS. The languages used are Java / Kotlin for Android and Objective C / Swift for iOS.

Cross-Platform Development

Gone are the days when owning a phone or gadget was a luxury. In January of 2018, Statista reported that there were 3.7 billion unique mobile users on the planet. This number is almost one and a half times more than the total number of people on the planet. One can safely deduce that a certain section of the population now owns two or more devices and the chances of them using only one platform are pretty much non-existent. For this reason, app developers should know how to develop cross-platform mobile apps. There are several advantages to this approach. The same app can be deployed on multiple platforms, which makes it easier to manage and maintain in the long run. Another advantage of implementing cross-platform development is uniformity. Uniformity of the app across platforms raises the level of user engagement.

Creativity

This does not need much explanation. The quality of your app will be very much evident in the creativity of the team that developed it. Creative and out-of-the-box thinking is required to design a proper user interface and user experience. The overall look and feel will drastically change if this step is followed from the very beginning of the app development process.

good Communication

The app development company should have a great team of people that communicate well. Good communication skills are extremely important as this will bring out the best from the discussions between the client and the development team. This skill creates an enabling environment to bring out great results for the client.

Portfolio & Track Record

It goes without saying that a companies portfolio says a lot about the kind of work they have done in the past. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many clients a particular mobile app development company has worked with, what matters is the quality of their work and their dedication to solve client’s problems.