Before we get started I’ve been working on an online session on my journey to build Worry Tree so if you’re interested in that you can sign up here to hear when it’s ready.
An increasing number of people have been asking me recently how you go about creating an app. In fact, I’m actually working on a second mental health app at the moment with a friend and colleague of mine, but more on that another day!
Since the question is being asked, I thought now might be a good time to take you behind the scenes on the process of creating an app.
First of all though, a disclaimer: I am not an app developer. I’m not highly technical and whilst I can pull together some html code to add a link in a website, everything that I have learnt has been self-taught. If you’re looking for technical detail on how to code an app, I’d suggest you start here and here but not here!
The Idea
The app marketplace is hugely competitive with over 2.2million apps currently available on the App Store and 2.8million on Google Play (according to buildfire.com). That means that your chances of creating an app that hasn’t been done already are getting smaller and smaller, and it also means that the chances of you creating that billion-dollar app are quite low. However, if an amazing idea for an app has landed with you and you feel excited by it, there are still many reasons to go for it. The number of app users worldwide has topped five billion, which means there’s almost certainly an audience for your app out there somewhere, you just have to find them. If that idea is one that you just can’t let go of, then definitely start investigating.
Testing the market
With any business idea its well worth doing some market testing before you invest your life savings in it. With WorryTree I created a free Facebook page about a worry app, and then invested about £20 promoting a post to my audience to see if there was much interest. I also spent time browsing the App Store and Play Store to look at what was already out there. There were other worry apps and anxiety solutions, but nothing that quite worked as I had in mind. This taught me that my idea was worth pursuing further.
Starting to create the user experience (Wireframing)
With an idea that seemed to have some legs, I started to draw on pieces of A4 paper how I imagined the app might work, screen by screen. Don’t be put off by this stage, it’s really important but it doesn’t have to be hugely detailed and you don’t need to worry yet about how it will look. It’s more about getting down on a sheet of paper how your app will work. Once that’s starting to take shape, I move it onto my laptop and start to build the wireframes. Wireframing is a technique used to build websites and apps and involves designing the structure of your app. Now you’re starting to really lay out your app in terms of how it will work, what the content will include and how it will link together. I generally use Balsamiq for wireframing a whole new app but if I’m just adding new sections I’ll draw these out in Powerpoint or Google Slides and then turn them into pdfs to share with my developer.
Finding a developer
The very first version of WorryTree I created myself in simple code using a fairly simple app maker online. It looked pretty awful and although I could build the basics as soon as I tried to start adding more complicated elements I started to run out of patience! I looked for a freelance developer through People Per Hour who finished the app off for me and I launched it on Google Play. My first developer, based in the US, disappeared shortly after that and so I looked for someone else who could take us to the next level. Jonas has been supporting WorryTree from Hong Kong since then although occasionally I’ve also worked with a brilliant developer locally when we’ve needed some extra hands on deck.
Launching on the App Store or Google Play
It’s quicker and easier to launch an app on Google Play which makes it available to all Android users, so when we rebuilt WorryTree for the second time we launched it on Google Play first. There are more Android users worldwide so this is a good way to get a feel for how successful your app is going to be, and also its much easier to make changes to your Google Play store listings so this is a really good place to experiment and find what works. We built WorryTree using a Google-based platform called Flutter, which then enabled us to also release an iOS version later on. To release an app on the App Store you have to have a developer licence which has an annual cost of $99.
Pricing strategies
The other thing you need to consider when you’re launching your app are pricing strategies. Is your app going to be free entirely or are you going to set a one-off download fee? Are you going to consider in-app purchases in the future or a monthly subscription? It’s okay to set a price for your app, most of us have mortgages to pay or dependents to feed, but don’t expect your app to be making money straight away or even any time soon. I launched WorryTree as entirely free at first and it’s only in the last six months that we decided to add a premium subscription. This premium version allows us to make sure that the basic worry journaling process remains free forever because it’s important to us that everyone can access that element.
It’s an ongoing process (and cost!)
One of the most important things I’ve learnt about app development is that it isn’t just a case of launching your app and then leaving it to see what happens. Apps can start to develop bugs over time and every time Apple or Android issue a new update of their operating systems it can make changes to your app which means you have to issue a new release. It’s therefore ongoing work keeping your app up to date. I’m lucky to have found a reliable and reasonably priced developer who for a monthly fee helps me keep WorryTree on an even keel. It’s also critically important that you keep growing and improving your app over time. Listening to your users, reading your app reviews and looking at your app analytics will show you what’s working and what’s not working, and so to keep it growing you do need to invest in improving your app and learning some of the basic analytical tools.
Don’t be put off
This is just a starter for ten to give you an idea of some of the steps involved in developing an app and if you’re interested in finding out more than I’m planning to do an online session on my journey with WorryTree soon which you can sign up for here. Beyond the building of WorryTree there’s then working out the branding, marketing and optimisation strategies and I’ll talk about those in a future post here.
Creating WorryTree has taken me so far out of my comfort zone at times and I’m still very much at the beginning of the journey. But I’ve learnt so much and come such a long way in understanding how it all works, so I’m very happy to share with all of you what I’ve learnt too!
Like any business journey, it can be hard at times and there are days when no one uses your app and you feel like you’re not going to progress. But then you get a 5* review or an email from a user telling you how much it’s helping them and it makes every difficult day worthwhile!