Lately, app stores have been packed with various branded apps and storefront apps built by entire teams of programmers, designers, layout specialists, and other narrowly focused professionals. And if it is a game, the list grows by a couple dozen more job titles. But today we will talk about apps that came into being thanks to solo programmers.
So, you have come up with an idea and you are eager to bring it to life. The main thing is to get down to business right away, because endless musing over a finished project soon kills the desire to actually build it. As soon as you feel that the work is starting to bore you, it is better to set the project aside and come back to it later (the key here is not to forget that it exists). Alongside development, keep an eye on similar games/apps and answer the following questions for yourself:
- How is my app different from other similar ones?
- Who might be interested in this app?
- What needs to be done so that interested users learn about its existence?
- What can keep the end user interested over the long term?
Now you are confident that the app you created is the very one people were missing and that it will turn the tide of progress (this is an exaggeration, of course, but still). It is unlikely that anyone will want to let people use the app without getting something in return. In our case that something is money - everything comes down to it. At this stage we have to choose a monetization method (a way to earn income from the app). Many articles write about a wide range of options, but in reality the choice is not that big. Forget forever - do you hear me - forget about creating a paid app with no "annoying ads that irritate everyone". Unless, of course, you have built a super-mega-useful app that has absolutely no competitors (which happens in exceptionally rare cases, but it does happen).
For the most part, apps of this kind pay off through various kinds of advertising. And that is the right approach - it brings a relatively stable income. The main thing here is to retain the app users. Let us look at the main types of ads in an app.
The horizontal banner is the most common type of advertising. It is usually embedded into the app user interface and, in small amounts, does not annoy users too much, but there will not be all that many people willing to tap such a banner, and therefore the income from placing it will be modest accordingly. Sometimes users open such an ad by accident (if it is placed near the controls), but this leads to penalties from the advertiser. Banners of this kind can be either a static image or an animation.
Full-screen ads. Such ads bring in more income because of their eye-catching nature, but in large amounts they lead to user loss and negative reviews.
Installing apps for in-game currency (with some effort, you can squeeze this into a program too). The idea is as follows: the user installs the apps advertised in your app and in return receives gems, coins, crystals, and other goodies. And you, in turn, receive a reward from the advertiser.
Searching for an advertiser on your own would cost you too much time. That is why there are services that do this work for you. I will not name them specifically, I will only say that the bulk of them pay for ad clicks.
Let us talk about platforms for publishing an app. I do not advise diving straight into the top stores (Google Play, App Store, etc.). This is because registering an app there requires paying a fee. To begin with, you should test the waters - publish the app on free services. One of them (and my favorite) is Spaces.ru. In response to publishing, in the very first week you will get a ton of downloads and comments (not always constructive), from which you can extract value for improving the app. Based on user reaction you will be able to decide whether it is worth publishing the product on more serious platforms.
Now you have an idea of what to do with a finished app and how to profit from it.
