Developing applications need not only the right web engineers, but product managers with great perspectives towards market fit, user expectation, and optimal functionality.
With Apple’s store constantly strengthening requirements regarding applications that seek to be uploaded to the store, you need to ensure you’re not alone fighting to win your way up. At Socialander, our professional IOS app development services eliminate the stress, offering you improved results for your budgeted spending.
Why You Need Our IOS App Development Services?
Every business that seeks to grow should have an IOS application available for its users to download, however, spending so much energy on this development – especially when you’re not experienced – will cost you so much. IOS app development takes a lot of effort to complete. There are a lot of requirements you need to fulfill which can overwhelm you. Indeed, you would prefer an easier and more accountable option.
At Socialander, our team of engineering experts is experienced in the creation and deployment of IOS applications for both commercial and fun purposes. We understand the entire process that it takes to create, set up, and upload an application to work optimally on the Apple store.
If you know this is exactly what you need to double your sales and profits, you can book a free consultation session with our team. However, if you’re not convinced about the importance of our IOS app development services to your business, keep reading to get a hang of its importance.
What is iOS app development?
iOS app development is making apps for hardware that run on the iOS operating system. These devices include iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPod touch, etc. The software is written in native languages such as the Swift programming language or Objective-C and then conveyed to the App Store for clients to download.
As a mobile app developer, there may be challenges related to iOS app development. For starters, you would have to get a Mac computer and it’s no news that those are usually more expensive than your windows computers.
Also, your iOS app, upon completion is thoroughly scrutinized to ensure it’s of good quality before it is shared on the App store.
But, if you or your organization already use either the iPhone or iPad, then notwithstanding the high standards of acceptance, you could try out the iOS app development, as it is quite easy with the right resources and planning.
What are the requirements for IOS App Development?
To venture into iOS app development, you’d need:
- An Apple Mac computer,
- Xcode, and
- An active Apple Developers account to work together.
The Apple Mac computer should, however, be running the latest version of macOS.
The Xcode can be downloaded for free from the Mac App Store. It is the integrated development environment (IDE) for macOS and only apps signed and published by Xcode can be submitted to the App store. It only runs on macOS, which in turn, only runs on Apple.
With Xcode, you can do more than sign and publish your completed app. It contains a user interface code editor, designer, testing engine, asset catalog. This is almost all you’d need for iOS app development.
What iOS programing language can I use?
Currently, you can use Objective-C and the Swift programming language to develop an iOS app.
Objective-C
Objective-C, developed in the early 1980s, was derived from the C language. For decades, it was the primary programming language for every Apple product. Even after the Swift framework was launched in 2014, most developers decided to keep their legacy applications in Objective-C rather than integrate them into the new language.
Swift
The swift programming language is now the most popular, all-purpose, and multi-patterned language of iOS launched in 2014. Although Swift shares some similarities with Objective-C, it is faster, more secure, and easier to use than Objective-C.
To develop native mobile app development on iOS, using the modern Swift programming language is most preferable.
iOS Software Development Kit (SDK)
This is one of the most beneficial resources of iOS app development. Because the iOS apps are developed consistently with high standards, Apple can release native APIs and libraries as kits with good features that are easy to use.
And, you can use the kits to access the features built into iOS and integrate third-party apps with ease. You can also create apps that connect to social media, automatically record replay videos, or use the camera or native calendar app.
Some iOS SDK fundamentals are the Cocoa Touch frameworks including the UIKit, GameKit, PushKit, Foundation Kit, and MapKit. These essentials and more allow you to manipulate the iPhone or iPad camera, add voice interaction using SiriKit, explore music with MusicKit, expand viewing and listening via AirPlay 2, and even add iMessage Business Chat to your application. iOS 11 added the power of machine learning with Core ML and augmented reality (AR) experiences with ARKit.
How do I prepare my development environment?
The first step to iOS app development is to download Xcode, launch it, and create a new project. Then familiarize yourself with it before building and running your app with the featured iOS Simulator app in Xcode.
The iOS Simulator app allows you to get a feel of what your app will look like. You also get to interact with it on any of the hardware types and iOS versions.
Because of how powerful iPhones are, you should consider depositing the heavy lifting to the cloud to deal with resource-intensive tasks. Connecting your app to cloud-based services through APIs allows you to use the cloud for storage, app caching, and database management.
How do I test the iOS app?
When you complete the iOS app development, you will have to test it. Do not be discouraged if it doesn’t turn out perfect the first time. Most developers seldom get it right the first time either, including the experienced ones.
The good thing with the iOS app is since it is Apple’s proprietary mobile operating system, it runs on only Apple’s devices. So, unlike having to test the android app where you would have to test on different manufacturers, you only have to test with the same brand – Apple. You may have to test on the different generations of the iPhone with the different operating systems though.
The Xcode is the first part to be tested. Other than the standard unit tests, Xcode has some automated UI testing. The UI testing doesn’t interact with the code using APIs, it rather mimics an interaction between a real user and the code. You can write tests that go through your UI, interfacing with the app just like a regular user tester would, to spot errors or challenges. If you write thorough tests that cover your app, UI testing is often more comprehensive than that of a person.
Nevertheless, there is still a place for humans to beta test your software. After all, they are the ones who will eventually use the apps. With the TestFlight app, you can side load apps that haven’t yet been submitted to the App store, to iOS devices. This way, your user base, family, and friends can test your app as well. The Testflight app allows iOS developers to test internally with about 25 team members on up to 30 devices each. With this, your iOS app development team can test your app and prepare for the Apple beta review before you can share your app with external testers.
You can invite about 10,000 users to download a test version as soon as Apple approves your app under its App Store review guidelines. These users use a unique link to access your app when they download the TestFlight app. You can share the testers into groups and collect holistic feedbacks and data to work with. You can test the Push Notifications, data storage using Core Data, and making a network call to 3rd party APIs.
When you have passed all the stages of testing with the iOS app, you can then submit and sign your app to the App store through Xcode. Now the review will be thorough. You may have to revise and submit until you get the final approval.
At this point, you can get App Store Connect to build your App Store page and deploy your iOS app to the App Store. To do that, you must be a member of the Apple Developer Program. This will grant you access to beta software, advanced app capabilities, extensive beta testing tools, and app analytics.
If you decide to sell your app, Apple takes 30% of your sale, as well as the $99 annual fee they charge to be a part of the Developer Program.
Why You Need Our IOS App Development Services?
To develop an iOS app, get the idea, you need to learn the requirements, choose a language, develop your environment, and test. Once you cover all these steps and get approved, you can have your app on the Apple store in no time. But this process is tedious and can run from days to weeks, making it difficult for you to focus on other things.
Instead of investing so much into app development without certainty, it’s advisable you work with a focused and experienced agency that can help you create exceptional IOS app applications suitable for all devices.
Our team of engineering experts will help you create stunning representations that will reflect your business core values, offerings, and premium products and services. This will help your customers to access your business easily, and even make orders without wading through your website.
If you know this is exactly what you need to boost your sales and profits, you can book a free consultation session with our team.
