Mobile App Design Software
The best tools for designing a mobile app (Android and iOS apps)
The best tools for designing a mobile app (Android and iOS apps)
If you decided to design your own mobile app, this short FAQ is for you.
If you have some considerable software development experience and you want to design your mobile application from scratch, preferring to have more control over your code, then you need to use different designing tools: Xcode from the Mac App Store to design your own iOS app and Android Studio for your Android app. However, if you need a typical app for a small business (e-commerce/restaurant/etc.) or personal needs, you can use a simple visual drag and drop app designing software (see CREATE.APP educational project for more information about online App Creators). Moreover, many drag and drop app design software solutions are free of charge, so this is a good way to start with your first mobile application.
Yes, you can apply to be published in both Apple App Store and Google Play, after submitting the request through your Apple and Google developer accounts. Both accounts can be purchased by individuals; however, to make sure your app is published, you need to carefully study app store policies before starting the development. When using a third-party drag and drop app designing software, you will generally be guided through the whole process of publication in the app stores, moreover, you may just use the customer support service of your chosen App Creator and ask any questions you have on this matter.
When designing your iOS app you will use the native Swift programming language. Android Studio allows you to choose between Kotlin or Java. Kotlin is aimed to replace Java by simplifying the software design process so that you get the same things done with much less code. Kotlin uses the same Java Virtual Machine and Java inheritance. XML markup language is widely used when designing mobile applications for any major operating system. Some HTML and CSS knowledge will be useful too, as very few modern apps exist without any web interactions.
After designing your Android app, you can immediately test it on your smartphone. For the iOS app you need to set up the iOS simulator. Moreover, if you use Xcode and Swift, you will need any of MacOS devices to work with the Xcode as your iOS app design software. Many third-party iOS app design solutions, including visual drag and drop creators, do not require using MacOS at any stage.
Currently, there are no free app design courses which offer a widely recognized certificate of completion. However, if your main goal is to study the app design software for your own business (and not getting the certificate to seek faster employment in the mobile app development industry), then there are several great free app design courses available for online studying at your own pace. You can find the top rated mobile development courses here. Make sure you learn from the most recent course, as the mobile technology is changing fast and it is much more efficient to start learning from the newest source.