How To Be Apple Developer

You want to be an Apple Developer? so, you came to the right place, here i will tell you 9 steps of “How To Be Apple Developer“

How To Be Apple Developer

you got this! Your big idea for the next killer app. But … how do you build an app?


In this article I will show you how to bring your app ideas to life. We will dive into iOS development with Xcode and Swift. You learn which tools to use to speed up the app development process. What happens after you launch your app? It’s all here …





There are 9 steps to create an app:

1. Sketch your app idea
2. Do some market research
3. Create mockups of your app
4. Create your app’s graphic design
5. Create Your App Landing Page
6. Create an app with Xcode and Swift
7. Launch app in app store
8. Market your app to reach the right people
9. Improve your app with user feedback

1. Sketch Your App Idea

Every app starts with an idea. It does not need to be big, ground breaking or clever. Just one idea is quite good.


Sketch your app idea with pen and paper. The goal is to make the idea tangible. You define how your app works and its features before developing the app. Its as simple as that!

How to be Apple Developer – Sketch of App Idea

You do not need any special tools to sketch your app idea. A pen and a notepad are sufficient. Start sketching, make a list of features, and see if the idea comes to life on paper.


I like to separate the features of the app into two groups: Must Have and Nice to Have. The Must Haves are features that you cannot have without your app and Nice to Haves are features that are fantastic but not important.

How To Be Apple Developer ?

When you build an app, you want the app to be as lean and as simple as possible. This is called a minimally viable product (MVP), and is the first, simplest version of your app. When you matter the most, you speed up your app development process and make your app more flexible against setbacks.


Some questions you can ask yourself:

• Which features can you skip?
• What is a unique selling point or wealth creator?
• Are there any features that make your app bloated, or slow?

A good app does a good job. some examples:

• Bear-taking note-taking app is great for note taking
• A transport app like Uber helps people move from A to B. – Other features are secondary
• A game app like Two Dots is great at entertaining people – it shouldn’t be trying to do more

It is attractive to build an app with lots of features. This only obscures the one thing your app is good at. Make sure that your app only does one thing, and does it well.

• Time: Spend a few days, a few hours, on sketching your app.
• Cost: Free.

2. Do Some Market Research

Market research is often abandoned by app developers, even though it is an important part of building an app.

How To Be Apple Developer

Before creating an app, you want to know if your app idea is viable. You are asking questions like:

• What are the alternative apps and competitors in the market?
• What do potential customers want? What are their needs and desires?
• How much should I pay for my app? What is a good business model?

Doing market research before creating your application can save you from making many mistakes quickly. You validate assumptions and assess the needs of potential customers.


Two types of market research are particularly helpful:

• Finding out what mistakes your contestants are making
• Finding out if people are looking for an app like yours

This is right! You can estimate demand on apps without making it the first time. In this article I will show you exactly how to measure for a simple to-do list app to-do demand using Google Trends and Keyword Planner.


Finding insight is also another objective. You want to walk in your customers’ shoes, so to speak. Instead of assessing needs and desires while sitting safely in front of your computer, you want to get out there and talk to people.


What is your app for? what are they like? How does your app affect a particular issue that users are struggling with? How are they currently solving that problem? With your app, what changes do you want to make?


Based on your research, you can clearly define the problem your app solves, and who you solve that problem for. You use these information to create an app that serves its users better.

• Time: Spend a few days exploring, making room for ideas.
• Cost: You can do this for free, or invest some money in Pro Tools.

3. Make Mockups Of Your App

It is best to mockup before you start building the app. A mockup is a rough outline of your app’s layout, user interface (UI), and flow.

How To Be Apple Developer

Here’s an example:


In the image above you see how I have outlined three important UIs of the Balsamiq mock-up in my app crest. This is a very difficult sketch, isn’t it?


Mockups do not include:

• Fine UI elements
• Exact Position of UI Elements
• Complex color schemes and effects

A mockup shows you what an app looks like, distracting you without unnecessary detail. This is a functional rather than aesthetic approach to the design of your app.


A mockup should describe the interactions and flow of your app. What happens when you tap on that button? How to get from screen A to screen B? What is your app’s navigation flow?


I suggest you use childlike mockups to create a mockup of your app. The software includes a large number of UI templates, and has struck a good balance between roughness and flexibility. I’ve used Balsamiq for years – it’s an app that really stays with you, and fits my workflow well.


When you are building an app for a client or employer, there is a good chance of showing them the end result before creating the app. You can guide them through the UI using mockups, and help them visualize and visualize the entire app. I always use mockups in sales meetings!


It is also a good idea to create a functional-technical design in front of your mockup. You explain what the app does in simple words. You can create annotations in your mockup software, or simply create a text document that explains how the app works.

• Time: A few days or 1-2 weeks, depending on the complexity of your app.
• Cost: $89 for Balsamiq Mockups 3 desktop – worth it!

4. Create A Graphic Design Of Your App

Now that your project is taking shape, it’s time to create a graphic design for your app. The design of your app includes pixel-perfect visual details, graphic effects, image assets, and sometimes animation and motion design.

How To Be Apple Developer

I suggest two approaches for creating graphics for your app:

1. Do it yourself with the graphics template
2. Hire a professional graphic designer

Professional graphic designers take years to practice and perfect their craft, and a good graphic designer can produce 100 times more results than an inexperienced designer, such as yourself (you are a developer).


As an app developer you need to play to your strengths, and this means that outsourcing work is not particularly good for you. Take advantage of platforms such as Upwork or TopTal to hire a professional graphic designer.


If you want to go it alone, do not reinforce the wheel. Use a design template made specifically for iOS apps to save time. Use the template’s building blocks to create your own design, and then customize them.


There are some templates that I particularly like:

• NOW, by TETHR and DO Invision
• Facebook to iPhone iPhone GUI
• Stark UI Kit by Binet
• Sewing by Lena Seleznova
• Phoenix by Adrian Chiran
• Apply pixels by michael flarup

The iOS kit from Facebook in particular is useful, as it contains the pixel-complete UI elements of iOS. We can use it to create detailed mockups with the default iOS UI.


Be aware of copyright and licensing when using someone else’s original work. Copyright law is real and universal. You cannot copy and use goods found on the Internet. When a usage license is not explicitly granted, assume that you cannot use the work in your own project.


You can use tools like Photoshop, Sketch and Affinity Designer to create graphic design for your app. I recommend Sketch, as it has built-in support for mobile app design, and can directly export @ 2x and @ 3x image assets.


The end result (or “delivery”) you intend is a set of images and assets that you can import into Xcode. You use interface files for your work in the interface builder or with SwiftUI (see below).


You cannot import sketches or Photoshop designs directly, so you’ll need to recreate it in the interface builder and / or Xcode to create your app. You consider interface builders, importing image assets, and installing auto layout constraints to bring your app’s UI to life.


Oh, and don’t forget to check the human interface guidelines. They are exceptionally helpful for understanding how iOS design works, so you can take advantage of iOS design when creating your app. In fact, Apple’s documentation is a treasure trove of insights and information.

• Time: some days, some weeks. Ask your designer for a quote.
• Cost: A good template is free or cheap. Ask your designer for a quote.

5. Create Your App Landing Page

Marketing is an often overlooked and underrated subject for app developers. Just because you have created a great app, does not mean that people will find it.

How To Be Apple Developer

You should at least create a landing page for your app, and before you build your app. Here’s an example:


This website is for my app Crest. It summarizes what the app does, who it is for and why it is a helpful app. The page also includes a call to action (CTA) for the application to sign up for the waiting list.


This is an opportunity to quickly connect with potential app users before your app is launched in the App Store. As an app developer, you want to build a relationship between you and a prospect customer, so that interaction can occur. After such a conversation the user can try your app or become a customer.


Your application’s page requires the following components:

1. A neat title at the top of the page
2. A brief introductory paragraph or annotator video
3. App screenshot or iPhone mockup
4. Call to action to sign up or install the application
5. Breakdown of application features and benefits
6. A story about the app’s creators, or the “About Us” section

You can play around with the exact order of these elements. Best to take action and call above the “fold” of the page. But to make a personal connection with people, it is not uncommon to place a story or “about us” section on the page.


The page serves as a central point that you can take to people if they are interested in learning more about your app. And while you’re still building your app, you don’t have an app page in the App Store yet, so you’ll need something else to attract potential customers.


Even when you have an App Store page (example), you cannot blog on that page, send a newspaper, or ask feedback from other adopters. A simple web page goes a long way in building a lasting relationship with the people you want to reach and serve. It is smart to ask for their email address, which you can keep in touch with.


Effective tools to create your webpages are Strikingly, WordPress and Leadpage. Neither of those tools requires any knowledge of HTML.


In 2019, many app developers still see their App Store page as the only channel to market their app. This is a missed opportunity, as there are many other marketing channels that can bring in app installs. Many of them work best with a website, so consider creating a landing page when you are building your app.

• Time: a few days. This pixel is not perfect!
• Cost: Free, or up to $ 100 per month for a good landing page builder.

6. Build An App With Xcode And Swift

We are finally here. It’s time to build your app!


Now that you have laid the foundation for your app project, it becomes very easy to build an app. You have taken the first step in marketing your app with your app design mockup and website. way to go!

How To Be Apple Developer

You build an iOS app with Xcode and Swift. The Xcode IDE consists of a project manager, code editor, built-in documentation, debugging tools, and interface builder, a tool that you use to build your app’s user interface. Everything you need to build an iOS app!


Swift is a powerful and intuitive programming language, and is the default programming language for creating iOS, macOS, iPadOS, tvOS and watchOS apps. If you are learning iOS development today, I recommend you learn Swift instead of Objective-C. Since 2019, we’ve got a great new tool for creating user interfaces (UIs) at our disposal: SwiftUI.


You can divide application development into two categories:


1. Front-end: This is a part of the app that you can see. This includes layout, navigation, graphics, user interaction, animation, and data processing.


2. Back-end: This is part of an app you can’t see. This includes databases, networking, data storage and user management.

When you build the front-end of your app, you are creating the user interface of the app, and when users interact with your app, you determine what should happen. You set your app’s navigation, and you build the app’s features.


The back-end of your application stores most of the data. These days many apps use cloud-based back-ends, such as Firebase or Parse Server.


When data is created in an app, such as a photo, tweet, or social media post, this data is uploaded to the cloud and stored in a database. The app keeps local copies of that data, and updates them whenever new data arrives.


As a developer, you integrate front-end and back-end with each other. Imagine that you are building a Twitter app. You build a user interface to create and view tweets, and you connect those UIs to the back-end database. Newly created tweets are saved in the database, and previously stored tweets can be read from the database.


A large number of devices can speed up the application development process. You do not need to code everything by yourself. Thanks to the proliferation of tools for an open source community and professional development, you have an armada of tools, libraries and frameworks to choose from.


Here’s a quick selection of my favorite tools for building iOS apps:

• Xcode, Interface Builder, Swift and SwiftUI for iOS Development
• Balsamiq mockups and Sketches for graphic design and UI / UX
• CocoaPods and libraries such as Almofire, Swiftigson and MBProAGHD
• Firebase, Parse platform, Realm and Core data for storage and database
• Fastlane automates your application publishing workflow (among other things)
• Paintcode converts your visually designed UI elements into Swift code.
• Apple developer documentation is super useful articles, tutorials and documentation on pretty much every iOS component
• TestFlight is the default platform to beta test your app (see below), and with it you can distribute your app to 10.000 devices

Learning how to code is challenging, like learning another skill. Swift, Xcode and the many development tools that are available today make it easier than ever to build your app.


If you feel inspired to learn iOS development, I recommend you buy a good book or course. You can learn almost anything for free these days, including tutorials with iOS development. It’s not always a good idea to do.


Learning only with tutorials is a bad approach, as you miss many fundamental topics and best practices. Most iOS tutorials only teach you surface coding tricks, and as a result you will lack the foundation to code on your own.


Some online courses, such as my own iOS development course, have the added benefit of giving you access only to the member community. You can connect with developers like yourself who are facing the same challenges as you.


My course also gives you 1-on-1 access to your course instructor, so you can ask questions and get help when needed. This has proven to be critical to the learning experience of developers.


And last but not least: Don’t forget to practice! Practice Makes Perfect. There is no point in watching a YouTube video about the development of iOS if you will not practice what you learn.


Self-taught developers know this, as they have spent years finding solutions on their own while learning programming. This idea is not always included in the syllabus, books and tutorials.


Most early developers struggle to go on their own to write code since iOS tutorials, and this is where practice leads you to mastery. You want to set aside some time during the day, or during the week, to practice, experiment, make mistakes, and learn new techniques.

• Time: 1-2 weeks for MVP, or week / month for full app.
• Cost: Free to DIY, commercial projects often cost upwards of $ 25k.

7. Launch Your App In The App Store

Are you ready to launch your app? Now that you’ve created the app, it’s time to launch it in the App Store.

How To Be Apple Developer

The process of publishing your app in the App Store is straightforward:

1. Prepare your app title and meta data with App Store Connect
2. Upload latest app build to the Apple App Store with Xcode
3. Apple reviews the app following the Apple App Store review guidelines.
4. When your app is approved, it is published live in the App Store
5. Done! People can download and install your app now

Creating an app, and publishing it in the App Store is exhilarating! It is quite a thrill, and to create, experience and experience something to bring it into the world is a fantastic feeling. Seeing “ready for sale” in the App Store still gives me butterflies …


What will happen next?


When you publish your app, the work does not stop. In fact, it has only just begun! Once you gather some early adopter feedback (see below), you go back to the drawing board to improve your app.


You do some market research, improve your mockups and designs and create new features. You launch the next version of your app in the App Store, and the cycle begins again. It is an iterative process.


You also have to promote your app. I suggest that you start promoting your app before launching it. You discuss something before launching, so when you actually launch, you walk on the ground.


Here are some ideas:

• Start a blog and use content marketing to tell people about your app that you build.
• Send your app to a curated platform, such as Product Hunt
• Get local publicity and make connections with the affected people in your area
• Create an onboarding campaign for new app users
• Optimize your app keywords with App Store Optimization
• Focus on getting 1 user first, then 10, then 1000, then 10.000 – don’t try to make an impact on thousands of people from the beginning
• Use Network Effect to build a product that gets better when more people use it, and help people share their apps with others
• Set up an app install campaign on Facebook.
• Use search ads in the App Store
• Use the SKStoreReviewController to ask app users for review (which later increases your App Store ranking)
• Improve your app meta data and screenshots, and let people know about the benefits of using your app (rather than just listing features).

• Time: It is noon in publication, at the top.
• Cost:  99$ / year to publish in the App Store.

8. Market Your App That You Build To Reach The Right People – Marketing Strategies

App developers are problem-solvers. Your app solves a problem for someone, and this is what convinces them to install and use your app. But is it all there?

How To Be Apple Developer

Marketing helps in making changes. For example changing from an old solution to a new one. As an app developer, part of your job is helping people make that transition.


Marketing has a poor reputation, especially among tech-minded people. When thinking about marketing, they think of sleazy door-to-door salesmen about how Facebook sells their personal information, and convincing people to buy goods they don’t need.


Developers often think that good products do not require marketing. When you need a drilled hole, you buy the right drill bit. It’s logical, isn’t it? Then what do you need for marketing?


Most of the products we buy are not directly similar to drill bits. Do people choose iPhone instead of Android? Why buy Tesla instead of Volkswagen? Do people go to 3 Michelin Star restaurants because they are hungry?


Marketing is the voice that tells people who you are, what you stand for and how you differ from the options available. Marketing is about trust, empathy and building relationships with people.


It is about having humility that someone cannot say your solution is the best for them, and about having the courage to talk to people who can benefit from what you have created.


Do you need marketing as an app developer? Yes! You want to spread your thoughts, don’t you? Your product gets better when the right people gets benefit from it. Marketing is one way to reach those people. Use it wisely, and do not hide behind logic. Marketing is a question that you cannot solve logically – the only way is by making a personal connection.


Where to start Ask 3 simple questions:

• What problem does your app solve?
• What is your app for?
• How can you reach them?

Use the tips mentioned earlier, such as writing about topics related to your app, or starting an advertising campaign, or onboarding new users. Help people find out that your app is for them.

• Time: Help people find your app, as much as you can.
• Cost: Great marketing is free, and priceless.

9. Improve Your App With User Feedback

Real user feedback is critical to building an app. You use a user experience and their feedback to improve your app. So how do you do that?

• Use app analytics to gather quantitative data
• Use surveys and interviews to obtain qualitative data
• Talk to your users regularly and make a personal connection

The easiest way to get feedback from your app’s users is to simply send them a personal email asking them how they are doing, and how they are using your app.
The key is “how”. You don’t ask if they like your app, or how they want to improve it, or what they think of a new feature. You can ask those questions, but they are likely to give you possible answers. You need real world answers.


Steve Krug argues in his book Don’t Make Me Think, that you want to see real users because they are using your app. You can ask them what prompted them to perform a particular action in your app, or what they expected as a result, but you don’t want them to think too hard about the questions.


The risk of running surveys and focus groups is that people start thinking about what they are thinking, and think about how they will react in certain scenarios. It is better that you put them in the scenario you are seeing and what they do!


Once you have done some of those feedback sessions, you will identify interactions in your app that you thought would go differently. You compare your expectations against real-world results, and see if they match. If they don’t, then you either need to change your expectations, or change your app.


Make a list of possible fixes, and fix items in these two categories:

• Fix things that are obvious mistakes
• Fix things that are easy to fix

Don’t make it too complicated, it’s not rocket science! Things that need to be improved, improve and launch a new version of your app soon.


The key to working with the user feedback is experimenting with the actions and the results. No one knows what you have tested until it works best, and measured the results. The sooner your turn comes about experiments and their improvements, the faster your app will improve.


You can beta test your app with TestFlight. Just invite some people to test your app, and send them your next app. You can invite up to 10.000 people, and they can provide quick feedback on your latest journey.

• Time: A few hours, up to a few days for testing. Do not overdo it.
• Cost: Free, if you ask your customers. $ 100 for good testing equipment.

What Will Happen Next?

Pfew, that’s quite a workflow! So what next?


First, it is important that no creative work has ever been done by following the step-by-step template. Now you know the steps, but your implementation of those steps matters in building a successful app.


Second, you have to consider your app as a business. The purpose of the business is to deliver value, and maintain the ability to deliver value by levying a fee. You are paid to be useful, and as a result you remain in business. It’s okay to play around, but it’s not a playground.


I recommend you find out where you are in the process of making this app, and take the next step as much as you can. Keep progressing, build momentum, gain insight, and don’t stop. Before you know it, you are making an impact with your app – or just have fun!


Good luck, and happy app making.