From Android User to an Android App Creator
When I talk about being an Android creator, I am not just talking about the operating systems. I am talking about the apps that make having an Android device great. Android is an open source operating system that powers many different tablets and smartphones.
There are tons of android apps available for download from the Android Play Store, and if you have an Android device you probably downloaded a few already. But for some, just using another programmer’s app is not enough. You have a desire to create your own app. Fortunately, Google wants that too.
They have a SDK (Software Development Kit) and great tutorials that offer newbies an opportunity to get their feet wet in developing apps. If you know a programming language called Java your transition to creating an Android app should be almost seamless because Android apps are coded in Java. If you don’t know Java there are some great tutorials online. These tutorials are just good as many of the books you can purchase. Some people have the assumption that because something is free it is worthless. But that is not the case when these free Java resources.
Free Java and Android Resources
Udacity.com offers many free online courses and one of those courses is Introduction to Programming in Java. This is an interactive course that you can work on at your own pace.
Coursera.org is another online resource for free online courses in many different subject areas. The courses that are offered change, but at time they will have courses that offers training in Java and/or Android.
I will also encourage you to review some of the YouTube videos to find some great Android tutorials. There are some that are better than others. There is one Android Development playlist under the account of Derek Banas that is well done and very informative.
Getting Your App in the Play Store
To actually have your app appear in the Google Play Store you must register for a Google Play Publisher account. Although most everything else is free, the Google Play Publisher account will cost $25.
After you have built your fist app, you will see that it may not be the glimmering app you wanted it to be. But remember that Rome was not built in a day and neither will your app.
It is going to take some practice, before you even consider placing your app on the market. Once you do publish your app you are open to getting a lot of feedback. App users will tell you what they like and what they don’t like. It may be hard to hear some of the criticism of something that you put your heart and soul into but in the end it will be beneficial. You can use that feedback to improve your app and then take that knowledge and use it for you future apps.
How can you promote your app?
Well there are tons of free ways and some are easier than others. First, you can tell your friends and family and tell them to their friends. Word of mouth is a powerful thing.
Another way is through social media. Going viral is such an everyday term that everyone knows what that means. Create a twitter account and/or Facebook page to promote your app. Again you can harness the power of friends and family. Ask them to follow you on twitter and to like your page on Facebook. Also you can ask them to send tweet to you on Twitter and post comments on your Facebook page. Another social media avenue is to create a YouTube video for your app. Provide a detail description about your app and include items about how it would benefit the user. You can also create website for your app. You can get a free blog on WordPress.com and blog about your app. Of course all this activity is going to take time and you may not have all the time to do all of these. Remember to cross promote. Have links to your twitter account and Facebook on YouTube and do the same for all your social media accounts.
As you do your research your will see that there are many ways for you to make your way into the into the App development business. With the low cost of entry, even the little guys have a good opportunity to be successful. It is going to take effort and research on your part find more in-depth ways to learning how to program and promote. It won’t all be easy, but that is a good thing. This by itself will limit the number of apps in the market. But there is also the point of the quality of the app. If you can create a great quality app that users will enjoy then you creating your second app will not be as hard. With the first successful app you have the knowledge and the following of your users. You can then leverage all of this to create more apps. The main thing is getting over that initials learning curve. But if others have been able to do it, so can you.
