Now in the last lesson, we got an overview of how apps work on the phone. 1
So in this lesson I want to take you one step further and look at how apps are made from beginning to 2
end. 3
Now one of my favourite shows of all time that you get on Discovery is a show called "How Its Made" and 4
it basically takes you into the factory and shows you how a bunch of random things get built on the 5
factory floor. 6
Things that just steel bicycles or floors or drum crushers or skateboard wheels and I just find it so 7
fascinating seeing how all of these everyday objects get made and built. 8
So if you're curious have a look at some of the episodes and there's some real gems in there like how 9
rubber gloves are made. 10
And it shows you every step of the factory process from dipping it in latex to drying it and rolling 11
it. 12
And I don't know why but I find it so interesting. 13
The process that's involved in creating all of these everyday objects. 14
So that's what I want to do here. 15
I want to do a special episode inspired by the show on how it's made: "The App Episode". 16
So the app industry is absolutely massive. 17
Last year Apple reported it paid app developers 26.5 billion U.S. dollars and that number 18
grew by 30% year on year. 19
So it's a massive industry and it keeps on getting bigger. 20
Now of course some of that money goes to big companies such as Clash of Clans or Clash Royale or some 21
other form of clashing. 22
But there are also a lot of stories of independent, one-man developers who have made it big on the App 23
Store. And one of the best examples is the 7 minute workout app. 24
Now in the course resource list, I linked to the article that's written by the maker of the 7 minute 25
workout app a guy called Stuart Hall and by himself he built an app that got 2.3 million 26
downloads without spending a cent on marketing which generated him over 70,000 U.S. dollars in profits 27
and was acquired and sold to a company just after 18 months. 28
It's a really fascinating read but he goes through the entire process of how he built this app from 29
idea to app store all by himself with no budget just the skills and know-how of how to build an app 30
and the grit and perseverance of an entrepreneur. 31
So I know that you're taking this course for various reasons. 32
Some people want to get a job as a developer. 33
Others just want to gain a new skill and make apps for fun and other people want to build a business 34
based on an app. 35
But before we get started and really dig into learning and building our apps I think it's really important 36
to first have an overview of the entire process from beginning to end of how an app is built. 37
So step 0 before you do anything else is why ask yourself why do I need an app. 38
And in many cases you actually don't. 39
If you just want to build an app that simply displays data or information say the opening hours of your 40
shop or the services that your business offers then you don't actually need an app you can simply build 41
a website that looks good on mobile and that will take far less time to build. 42
And it's much easier to do. 43
But however if you need to tap into the sensors of the phone or if you want to be able to push notifications 44
to the user, then you probably do need an app. 45
But just make sure that you're on the right path before you even begin. 46
Now once you're sure that you want to build an app then the next step is the idea stage not just coming 47
up with an idea which is the easy part but validating whether if the idea is actually a good one. 48
So let's say that I'm bored of swiping on Tinder for my next match and instead I want to find my perfect 49
match in the form of a Sunday roast. 50
So what if I have an idea for an app that's called Tender and it's going to match me with the dish that 51
I fancy the most right now. 52
And it could be a delivery app such as Uber Eats or Deliveroo where I get that meal made and sent to 53
me. 54
Or it could be just a recipe app where I try to find the thing I want to make today. 55
So here's an app idea. 56
But how do I know if it's actually a good one. 57
Well that's when you would need to validate the idea. 58
Talk to lots of people and get a diverse range of opinions. 59
Make a minimum viable product that doesn't require any technology at all to test and see if people are 60
actually interested or a landing page describing your idea and promote it on social media and see if people 61
actually want it. 62
And essentially what you're trying to establish is: once this app gets made, will people actually want 63
to download it and use it? 64
Now once you figure that out, then you're ready to move on to step two which is designing the app. 65
And in this app development bootcamp course that you're enrolled on, I've included full modules on app 66
design. 67
So you'll learn how to build wire frames how to build prototypes for your app and learn how to use all 68
the tools and the design principles to make not just a functional app but a beautiful app that people 69
will love. 70
And then you can move on to step three which is the actual development the programming of the app. 71
And that is going to take up most of our time in this bootcamp. 72
We're going to be building over 25 apps and through the process of building these apps. 73
We're going to be learning all of the fundamentals of iOS development and the Swift programming language 74
so that you become a well-rounded developer and you'll be able to tackle new problems that you haven't 75
seen before or build custom features, 76
once you've completed the course. 77
So let's take our Tender app and let's say we've written all the code for all the functionality of the 78
app and we've developed and built it. 79
Then the next step is to test the app. And I'm going to tell you about automated as well as manual ways 80
of testing your app so that it looks and works well on all devices so that people all around the world 81
no matter which phone device they have will be have to enjoy using your app so that you can get those 82
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star reviews that are crucial for your app to get more downloads. 83
Now step five: We're ready to publish it onto the App Store. 84
And I'll tell you all of the ways that you can get press for your app launch and also what are the rules 85
behind getting your app featured on the App Store. 86
Now that you've made and published your app the next step is to tell people about it. 87
So in this boot camp there's a full course on app marketing as well where I show you all of the ways 88
that you can get your first customers get your loyal fans and start getting those downloads and making 89
revenue off the app store. 90
Now finally step seven as with all great things you need continuous feedback and continuous improvement. 91
So when your app is alive on the App Store you'll start getting reviews of people who want to request 92
other features or they have suggestions and you can take some of those on board and update and refresh 93
your app and continuously improve your user's experience. 94
So that's a very quick and broad overview of how apps are made from beginning to end. 95
Now if you scroll to the very bottom of the curriculum you'll find that I've included a full length 96
version of this lesson and it's a talk that I give often at conferences, hackathon, and various events. 97
And it goes into far more detail on every one of those steps that I've talked about in this lesson. 98
So if you're interested getting more details on each of the steps and seeing each of the steps fleshed 99
out, then head over there and take a look at that talk. 100
And then once you're done continue back where you left off in the curriculum track and we're going to 101
get started building our very first app.