8 Steps to Design an Android User Interface (UI)

By John Houghton on January 9, 2014

We previously discussed about how to design an iPhone app UI, and now we’ll discuss how to design an Android app.  The good news with Android is that Google doesn’t need to approve your app.  The bad news is that you have enough rope to hang yourself.  A poorly-designed app is enough to cast a death sentence upon the whole project.  When you start to get traction the first set of negative reviews will do you in.  Design is the most visible element of your project, so it behooves you to invest heavily here and do it right.

1. Read Android’s Design Guidelines.  You can find Android’s design guides online if you query: Android Design.  You’ll […]

How to Get Your iPhone App Approved by the iTunes Store

By John Houghton on January 8, 2014

One of the most vexing parts of publishing an iPhone app is getting it approved by the iTunes store.  It can take a week or longer, and many first-time or unprepared developers get their apps rejected.  My collective team and I have submitted and received approval for dozens of iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPod) apps, and we would like to tell you about our experiences.  The Apple approval process is actually good for you and your users.  For you to successfully get your app through this process means that you get Apple’s seal of approval, and have permission to sit with what is right now the world’s top brand.  Here are the most important tips for getting into […]

Tale of a Costly Offshore Mobile App Development Experience

By John Houghton on January 7, 2014

As you may have read from previous blog posts, my company did an extensive search of many countries for mobile developer talent, both for iOS and Android.  Read my article, 12 Countries for Recruiting Mobile App Developers.  We sent out hundreds of solicitations via LinkedIn, got good responses, screened them, and it seemed that we’d found the perfect candidate.  We’ll refer to him here as Lukas.  While the name of the developer has been changed, the timelines and figures presented here have not been changed.  Lukas said he had made over 50 apps, had a Master’s Degree in Computer Science, and we were able to verify one app of his on the iTunes store.  It […]

12 Countries for Recruiting Mobile App Developers

By John Houghton on January 6, 2014

As I’ve said before, my company is always looking for top developers, so I thought I would share an exercise we did last year to target countries for recruiting.  The first thing I should say is that there are good and bad developers in every country.  The key to finding good developers is knowing someone you trust and getting referred by them; however, a lot of folks don’t know any developers, or the developers in question are all booked up (there is a shortage of talented developers).  When you find a good team, the metrics discussed here might not matter or even apply, so take this data with a grain of salt.  If you wanted […]

5 Things to Look For in Offshore Mobile Developers

By John Houghton on January 6, 2014

Screening offshore developers can be tricky.  Let me share some best practices.  To screen new talent at our company, we come up with small non-critical assignments and give them out to new developers or teams that have already passed the first couple of rounds of non-technical screening.  The non-technical screening shows you if they can keep commitments, read assignments completely before starting, and show up to meetings on time.  Don’t put your new or inexperienced developers on a critical project.  The pitfall here is if one of these new developers or teams is working on a critical project, they might blow through your deadlines and budget, leaving you in a bad spot.  Give them a […]

Should I Offshore My Company’s Mobile App Development?

By John Houghton on January 6, 2014

As the head of a mobile app development company, I’m always looking to find and mentor new developer talent both onshore and offshore.  In this article I’ll be sharing some best practices for offshore hiring.  In case you didn’t know it, there has been a shortage of talented mobile developers since mobile apps took off in 2008.  The first thing I should say is that you should be offshoring only if you have the extra resources to find and manage a good team.  In effect, what you are doing is using your time to find and manage offshore resources, which almost always requires more time than finding and managing local resources.  The idea is that […]

7 Steps to Design an iPhone App User Interface (UI)

By John Houghton on January 4, 2014

So your company is involved in an iPhone application development project and you need to have an iPhone app user interface  (UI) designed by next week.  Rest assured, you can complete the assignment in time if you focus.  This kind of last minute assignment happens at many companies, especially here in the San Francisco Bay Area where mobile development is so popular.  Assuming you have your branding and the rest of your creative aspects in order, if you’re new to designing mobile apps, here’s what I would recommend:

1. Read the Apple iOS Human Interface Guidelines.  I would give you the link, but due to Apple’s non-disclosure agreements with developers, you have to have a developer […]

How to Build a Mobile App Development Team

By John Houghton on January 3, 2014

When many people say they want to develop a mobile app, they look for a development team (coders), but they really should be looking to build a well-rounded team with different development disciplines. Only when the team is properly staffed with the right skill sets does the app have a chance at success.  

One of the main roles that people neglect are functional roles, i.e. the product managers.  A product manager on a mobile project is similar to a brand manager on a consumer product.  They are in charge of the strategy for that particular product and they should have a lot of experience in the software industry.

Whether hiring for an internal or external project, […]

How Much Does it Cost to Move an iOS App to Android?

By John Houghton on December 9, 2013

Suppose you have an iOS app (iPhone/iPad/iPod) that you’ve developed.  It’s already out on the market, and now you want to do the same thing on Android, essentially move it over.  How much cost or effort will it take?

Basically, it’s about the same coding effort as it was to develop the original iOS app.  You see, iOS apps are written in Objective-C, but Android apps are written in Java.  The languages are totally different and use different libraries.  The things you can leverage are the look and feel of the user interface, and since you’ve been through the development process once, chances are, the Android rewrite will be quicker.

Why hasn’t anyone figured out how to […]

Gamification and Why Your Mobile App Needs It

By John Houghton on November 20, 2013

You don’t have to look far to see how gamification has accelerated online websites and apps.  Take the Facebook “Like” for example.  This game mechanic has driven the success of the Facebook platform.  If you already have or are thinking about building an iPhone or Android app, you should give some thought to what’s going to keep your users coming back.  Applying principles of gamification can be just the thing to make your app successful. Watch the video now:

Watch MP4 (iPhone/iPad) 

In this first episode of Mobile App Development TV, we talk to Danny Maco, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who frequently serves as an advisor to startup companies here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and […]