8 Powerful Tools for the Aspiring App Developer
We’ve all been there: You have an idea for an app; say, one that can tell you (from a photo) whether or not berries along a hiking trail are poisonous. Or, if you have your own small business, one that can connect your loyal base of customers to your brand at all times. Or maybe you have an idea that will actually revolutionize the landscape of social media.
But while many of us have truly inspired ideas for the perfect app, very few of us have the slightest clue how to go about developing one. To get you started, here are eight basic tools to help aspiring app developers, whatever your brilliant innovation happens to be.
Price: Free up to a $99 one-time fee for self-publish
Started in 2009, AppMakr is one of the most established and all-encompassing publishing platforms for DIY app-builders. Users can create apps with little to no coding knowledge required. The platform has a wealth of add-ons you can include, such as push notifications, Google Maps, integrations, chat rooms, photo galleries, event calendars and more.
Price: Starts free, up to $180 for a premium subscription
Appery is cloud-based, so there’s no software to download. Another platform with great all-around functionality, it has a drag-and-drop visual editor. It also includes Apache Corova, a platform that allows seamless app building without any native code from the app developer.
Price: Design is free; publishing starts at $7 per app
Appy Pie has easy design capabilities and a full suite of fun attachments for small businesses, including restaurant tools like GrubHub and OpenTable for booking reservations.
Price: Starts at $99 for HTML5 apps compatible with Android and iOS, up to $999 per year for native apps
App factory is perfect for content-heavy sites like publications and blogs. Give it your website or RSS feed, and the platform will pull content automatically to create an app in a matter of minutes.
Price: Plans start at $16 per month, with full plans up to $32 per month
Need a basic yet beautiful app for your bake shop or yoga studio, but have no idea where to start on design? Good Barber has you covered, with nine colorful templates and access to hundreds of features and fonts. A subscription also comes with a free mobile version and can link to your website’s domain name.
Price: Plans start free and go up to $299 per year
For the budding game-maker, create and publish games compatible with both mobile and Web platforms. GameSalad features a community forum where users can get feedback and advice from other game developers.
Price: Basic plans are free; premium plans are $83 per month
In addition to basic app-building features, Como has a lot to offer a small business that wants to get its name out there and interact with customers. Among other offerings, Como lets users schedule appointments and reservations, make purchases, post online reviews, and promote via social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Como also recently partnered with Amazon, which allows it to publish apps that are downloadable to Kindle.
Application Developers’ Alliance
Price: Free
This one isn’t a platform; called the AppsAlliance for short, it’s an online organization for app developers that “supports developers as creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs,” and “promote[s] the continued growth of the industry and advocates on behalf of our members on public policy and industry issues,” according to its mission statement. If you want to dive headfirst into networking with other developers and industry groups, this is one place to start.
By Allison Kade, Presented by Lenovo
