One App Developer’s Humorous Take On How To Build A Successful App For iOS

These days, it seems that everyone wants to be an app developer. Thankfully, technology has lowered the barriers to entry, and young and somewhat old are teaching themselves the basics of coding and app development. Thousands upon thousands of new developers are entering the game, seemingly on a daily basis. Our fertile new app economy gives us inspiring stories like this one, though, of course, it also gives us frustrations like this, and plagiarism problems like this.

Over the last three years, app development has come a long way, for better and for worse. Some developers have been there for the whole ride, and have some interesting thoughts to share as a result. For example, three years ago, a French astronomer and engineer named Frédéric Descamps created an iPhone app called Starmap, which is, simply put, a mobile guide to the constellations, allowing users to point their phones at the night sky and discover constellations, tap on planets, stars, and more for easy identification. And mapping.

According to Descamps, he created his app over the course of four months “on a lark”. At the time, Apple’s App Store was just launching, and so he wanted to test the viability of a night sky-focused app to see if the new app-adopting public would get excited about science apps that have utility both for professional astronomers and everyday stargazers. It worked, and Starmap stayed at the top of the charts in the early weeks following the App Store’s launch.

Descamps was surprised to find early success, but managed to capitalize on it nonetheless, and has since expanded operations to a team of 12 and launched various iterations and upgrades on the major theme, all of which have racked up more than 4 million downloads.

The French app developer was lucky to take advantage of the early interest surrounding the App Store, but he says the road has been full of trials and tribulations, and has required an active sense of humor along the way. So, below Descamps has created a flow chart that provides a humorous and somewhat insightful look at the process of building a “successful” iOS app, informed by the “pain” and “joy” of dealing with the bumps along the way.

Take a look and let us know what you think.

Excerpt image from Discovery Adventures