The best way to hit the iOS or Android market is by building your own application with a unique and smart solution approach.
Planning to build a new app that offers a seamless user experience besides its original utility?
In most software development strategies, mobile application development has a major role. According to a report by Statista, the global mobile application revenue is projected to reach $613 billion by 2025.
When building a mobile application, you have two choices for a platform, Android and iOS. While Android has a considerable share in the market, iOS also has a large user base and yields more revenue despite a smaller share.
The Apple store has around 2.2 million applications for iOS users as of 2022, and about 60% of mobile app developers work on the iOS system. Before starting to build a mobile application, there are various key factors to keep in mind, the first and the most important one is hiring an iOS developer.
Since hiring the right professional is a daunting task, this guide will walk you through the best hiring practices and things you should watch out for in an iOS developer.
The Importance of iOS Development for Business
Apple still leads the market because potential clients paying for app services are more for Apple than Android. These clients play one of the most crucial reasons for considering iOS development for business.
Another big reason is that iOS users are more satisfied than Android users. This is why iOS users are the first choice for business apps. No lags, glitches, and smooth customer experience make iOS apps less likely to glitch on apple devices.
Mobile App Development: The Latest Trends
Analyzing the trend and working according to it will increase your app’s reach and potential target users.
Here’s a list of trends booming in 2023
1. 5G
In 2022, tech companies started focusing on incorporating 5G at full scale, and every smartphone user now looks for 5G-enabled devices. Year 2023 is going to further accelerate it.
2. Foldable Devices
The trend of compacting things has started, so developers must focus on their app performance on foldable devices.
3. AR & VR
Web3 is ready to capture the tech market very soon, pushing AR and VR in mobile app development.
4. App Security Gets Primary
Regarding Apple, security is always pushed first; thus, mobile apps should focus more on security than new features.
5. Wearable App Integration
Wearable devices are also getting into the trend, so developers should focus more on the seamless Integration of these wearables with application algorithms.
5 Must Consider Points Before Building an iOS App
Building your iOS application is a smart choice to have complete access to application working, modifications and revenues. But, before building an iOS app from scratch, you must know these five crucial things:
Research on Apple Users
Apple users are way different in terms of requirements and UI/UX needs compared to Android users.
App Must Be Compatible With Various iOS Versions
If you want a good user reach, your app must be compatible with various iOS Versions as various age groups use Apple products.
Social Media Integration
Social Integration is a must because billions of iOS users enjoy at least one social network to connect with friends and the world.
Match Apple’s Speed
Apple is well known for its smooth and undisputed speed. To match this speed, ensure your app works glitch-free in all device types.
Choose The Right Program And Platform
For a perfect user experience, you must build your application on the best app-building platform with the most advanced programming tool.
iOS Developer Role and Responsibilities
iOS developers develop applications compatible with Apple’s iOS operating system. Technically, a good iOS developer is proficient in both complex and (technical skills, including programming and tech tools) soft skills.
iOS developer hard skills
Excellent knowledge of Swift and Objective-C language.
Being able to write clean code. This can only be possible if a developer can:
Understand and edit others’ code.
Understand the requirements and obey the rules of the App Store.
Knows Apple app guidelines.
Ensure UI/UX requirements.
Use MWM, Services, Rx, etc.
Understand C ++.
Understand the concept of object-oriented programming.
Understand HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
Use the Core Data, iOS SDK, APNS, and GCD.
Test applications and fix bugs.
iOS Developer Soft Skills
Spatial Reasoning: Visualizing things in a three-dimensional before implementation.
Self-reliance and Proactivity: Good iOS developers can quickly respond to various tasks simultaneously.
Creativity, Adaptability: Being creative doesn’t just give new ideas but also helps find solutions when things get stuck.
Communication skills: A developer has to communicate with different team members and software engineers.
Stress tolerance: A developer under stress can push the entire team into difficulty; thus, resilience against stress is a crucial skill that iOS developers should have.
Experience
Experience comes with time. In an iOS development project, there are several vital tasks, like requirements definition, formulating development approach, architectural decision-making, testing, review, deployment, etc. A developer gets experience by performing these tasks again and again.
Based on these, a developer’s experience is subdivided into three different levels:
Junior
It determines the beginner’s level and ranges from 0 to 2 years of experience. Junior-level developers work under the direction of more senior colleagues.
Middle
At this level, developers have 2-5 years of experience and can now work on different projects independently with little or no guidance.
Senior
This is a proficient level, and developers at this level have more than five years of experience. They can guide Junior-level developers in more complex-level projects.
Choose Between Hybrid vs. Native Development Before Hiring iOS Developers
Before hiring an iOS developer, you must ensure whether you need a native or hybrid app. A native app gives the best user experience using device-specific hardware features. This is why native apps offer better performance and security.
On the other hand, hybrid apps work with one codebase and can be used on both iOS and Android.
Other Skills iOS Developers Need
Apart from the significant hard and soft skills, there are three other skills that you need to look for in a good iOS app developer.
The developer must know how to work with Xcode, the most popular IDE.
A good iOS developer should know how to use popular APIs like Cocoa Touch, UIKit, etc.
The iOS developers should know in-depth about the “Core Data framework.”
Hybrid iOS development: What skills do you need?
Hybrid iOS development builds applications that function in both Android and iOS. For Hybrid iOS development, a developer must know the popular hybrid development frameworks like React Native or Xamarin. Going with any of the frameworks, a developer learns the following skills:
JavaScript (or TypeScript)
HTML5
CSS
Mobile web optimization techniques
How to structure an application
Platform-specific design and interface conventions
Domain-specific knowledge relevant to the app
APIs
Data structures and access are relevant to the app you’re creating.
Benefits of developing an iOS App
iOS apps are best known for high-end quality and large revenue-generating. There are thousands of clients ready to invest in iOS projects with the ability to meet current business needs and give a return on their investment. Apart from revenue, iOS apps have some other benefits as well:
Enterprise Data Security iOS apps are more secure for enterprise data compared to Android apps.
High-Quality Standards Apple is known for its standard, and every app available on App Store has passed various parameters.
Customer Base Apple’s USP, or the customer base, is one of the prime benefits of iOS application development.
Exemplary User Experience iOS apps support the inherent capabilities of Apple’s iOS to provide the best user experience.
Low Fragmentation and Ease of Testing Apple typically develops just one update on its existing OS every year.
Less Development Time iOS apps take nearly 28% less time than Android apps of similar specifications.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire an App Developer?
Whether you want to develop from scratch or improve an existing application, the cost of hiring an iOS developer depends on various factors. These factors include.
Project Complexity The complexity of the project demands experience, which costs high. However, hiring an experienced iOS developer can deal with complexity, idea, integrations, design, features, and functionality.
Location Of Developer As per the developer’s location, the hiring cost varies.
Type of App development When hiring a developer for a specific application, the cost of hiring the developer can vary substantially.
What are the rates of iOS Developers in Different Countries?
Surprisingly, location plays a crucial role in deciding the rate of iOS developers. For example, in Canada, the rate of mid-level iOS developers is around $95,000. At the same time, a developer at the same level gets $120,000 per year in Australia.
In the US, salaries vary in different states and cities.
For example, in Raleigh, North Carolina, you will pay $88,754 per year for your iOS developer. In New York, the same-level specialist will get $97,084. In LA, the average salary is $104,589.
So let’s dwell upon the discussion about the effect of location and developer experience on iOS developer salary expectations.
How to Hire iOS Developers
Project Description
Before hiring an iOS developer, you must first plan the project upon various parameters and platform support (native or hybrid). Project description refers to a project blueprint that includes all minor to prominent edges.
Choose the Most Suitable Model
As per the project description, you need to choose a suitable model for hiring iOS developers. These models are-
In-House In this model, you hire an iOS programmer as a full-time team member; you have to pay them a full-time salary. Bringing them in-house will require space for their physical office. You can track their progress on a full-time contract and transfer them from one project to another if needed within the agreement period.
Freelance This is part-time hiring an iOS app developer for your project. You can use freelancing platforms like GitHub and Upwork to hire. This hiring method is a type of outsourcing where your in-house project manager interacts directly with the developer.
Outsourcing An outsourcing company takes care of the whole project you have assigned. They are responsible for your project design, entire project management, tech stack, ongoing support, and quality tracking.
Interview
Whether you choose in-house, freelancing, or outsourcing to hire iOS developers, you must conduct an interview process to check developers’ capability before handling any task.
The interview process can be different rounds, like technical, managerial, communicational, and HR, to check upon different aspects.
The Agreement, Contract, and Onboarding
After the interview, it’s time to discuss the project outline and deadline. The agreement determines the contract between the developer and company to complete the given project or task. It may vary from project to project, and in the case of in-house, the developer’s ultimate tenure is set irrespective of the number of projects.
Lastly, it’s the onboarding process after successfully approving the agreement or contract. In this onboarding, the process developer learns about the company’s or client’s working model.
Need Help Finding the Best iOS Developers?
Hiring good iOS mobile Application Developers does half the job by filling the skill gap in your development team. When hiring the right iOS developers, you save time plotting investment structure and design. iOS application development is complicated due to App Store rules and different versions.
If you need assistance hiring talented iOS app developers, partner with OnGraph for the best staffing solutions. With 14 years of industry experience, 250+ experienced developers, 100+ delivered applications, and 500+ completed projects, you can outsource your iOS development to world-class developers to create seamless, next-generation apps with high scalability and performance.
OnGraph Technologies provides you with the best remote iOS developers who provide scalable and robust solutions, timely delivery and follow the agile development methodology.
It’s all set! Kickstart your iOS app development journey by hiring the best iOS developer.
After completing every single module, testing the app thoroughly it’s finally time to make it to the app store and launch your very first app or maybe it’s been a while since the last time you updated your app. But, pushing a launch button to submit an app to the App Store isn’t as simple as it may seem.
What is an App Store?
Developed by Apple Inc. The Apple App Store is the second-largest app store (after Google Play) having approximately 1.96 million appsavailable. The platform that allows users to find and install iOS applications. Though both Apple App Store and Google Play Store keep removing many applications due to their poor quality content, the number of apps has been increasing over time.
The store makes sure every app has the highest standards and offers something unique with a focus on providing the best experience for the user. Apple wants its users to have peace of mind knowing that every app they download is secure and won’t harm their device.
Therefore, it is important to add your app on the app store with a detailed page and complete information.
In this blog, we will discuss how to submit an iOS app to the App Store. We will focus on the most important guidelines of iOS app publishing to help you pass the review process smoothly so that you do not get a rejection.
Take care of technical prerequisites
Developer account
App build uploaded to the app store connect
Computer that runs Mac OS X
The Xcode program installed
iOS app submission: Steps to follow
Assemble App Store Information
Prepare your app for Submission
Create your App Store listing via App Store Connect
Upload your app to App Store connect using Xcode
Submit your app for review process
Release
Publishing process: overview
1. Assemble App Store Information
Before starting the submission process for your iOS app, it is important to gather all the information you require. You should have the following things ready:
Screenshots
Name
Description
Keywords
Support URL
Marketing URL
Privacy Policy URL
App icon
Categories
Rating
Copyright and so on…
2. Prepare your app for submission
Make sure your app aligns with the App Store guidelines
Your app must go through an app certification procedure before going live in the Apple App Store. It may seem intimidating, but it is just a person who reviews your app to ensure that it complies withApp Store guidelines before approving it for publishing into the app store.
Therefore, I advise reading this document before submitting your app as the reviewer will use it to evaluate your app.
Test the app (and fix bugs, if any)
Along with adhering to the guidelines, you should make sure your program is error-free and crash-free. The reviewer won’t grant you a pass if s/he finds any error in it.
Don’t simply test your app in a normal setting. Test it on older devices, in low-storage situations, with limited network access, etc.
You may either test the app by yourself or take help from someone else. If you use another person as your beta tester, then you can use TestFlight (as a member of the Apple Developer Program, you will have free access to it).
Alright! You may now begin creating your App Store listing.
3. Create your App Store listing via App Store Connect
First, log in to App Store Connect: Go to the My Apps menu and choose the “+” option to build a new app before publishing it. The processes are same if you want to submit an update for an already-existing app, but instead of adding a new app, you’ll choose an already-existing app from the drop-down.
App Name and App Category
If you’re unsure of what Apple is looking for, use the “?” option while filling out your application details. The website is very simple to use.
You need to fill in all of the app’s details at this stage. The name, description, category (to be included in the App Store), target audience’s minimum age, privacy policy, and support URL.
If your app is social media-based and requires logging in, you must give the Apple reviewer a test account and password.
App Privacy Policy
You must also include the URL of a privacy policy. Simply search Google for “App Privacy Policy” to get a lot of samples and privacy policy generators that you may use if you’re unsure how to write one.
You will also need to put it on a public URL. Use your own website if you have one to post it. You can use a Facebook page or a website builder if you’re unsure of how to place it on a URL.
App Pricing
On this screen, choose your app’s price:
App Release Options After your app has successfully completed the certification process, you can choose how it should be released.
Manually: Go into App Store Connect and release it Immediately: It will be published as soon as it passes certification On a date: It will be released on a certain date specified by you (if it has passed certification)
4. Upload your app to App Store connect using Xcode
Your app must first function correctly and be error-free (the red warnings). Second, make sure that Xcode is set up with your signing and team information. If you are releasing a new app, don’t forget to have the version set to 1.0.0. (or if you are publishing an update, remember to increment the build version.).
If you are still facing issues with your Apple ID or the certificates at this time. Go to Xcode >> Preferences >> Accountsto review.
Publishing: With Xcode 13, publishing an app is incredibly easy. Before it used to take multiple steps, certificates, profiles, etc. but now Xcode is smart enough to enable or create all of those by itself. You must first choose the Generic iOS Device from the list of simulators in order to create the full app archive.
Go to Product >> Archive now and allow your app to be bundled. Depending on how large your app is, this procedure can take quite a while.
After this, the Archive window will appear, allowing you to manage all the archives created by Xcode.
Xcode will bundle a new archive for App Store Connect each time you select Archive from the menu.
Simply remove any outdated or duplicate items from this list.
Select the archive after that, then select Distribute App. You will be asked to choose the distribution method:
Once you have chosen the iOS App Store, a few checks and validations will be performed to ensure that you are not uploading a broken app.
If something goes wrong, there’s a good chance that Xcode will interrupt you right here, asking you to either start over from scratch or add any missing assets, like icons.
The upload procedure will proceed if Xcode finds no issues with the archive. Once again, the size of the archive and your internet connection will affect how long it takes to upload.
Once finished, a window similar to this one will appear. Congratulations! The iOS App Store is halfway to accepting your app.
5. Submit Version for Review
Every app that is uploaded to the store must be reviewed by the Apple team before going live.
Select the release type
Manual release – A Release button will show up after the app has been approved.
Automatic release – The app will be released as soon as it has been approved. Wait for the approval!
For new submissions, this process typically takes 2-3 weeks.
If your app wasn’t approved, look over the notes in the Resolution Center, update the app’s information as needed, and then resubmit.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET APPROVAL FROM THE APP STORE?
Most of the time, receiving approval takes one to three days, and after receiving approval, it can take up to 24 hours for your app to show in the App Store. You can ask for an expedited review if you need to release a new version quickly with an urgent bug fix or if you need to schedule your release to align with a particular event.
IF YOUR APP IS REJECTED
Before submitting your app once more for approval, you must make the necessary changes. Use App Store Connect’s Resolution Center to get in touch with Apple with any queries you might have. If you think your application was wrongly rejected, you can also escalate the issue and submit an appeal. One of the main reasons for app rejections from the Apple App Store is performance. Make sure your app is complete, that you’ve thoroughly tested it, and that all bugs have been fixed. Beta testing your software with a bug reporting tool will lessen the chances that it will be rejected for performance reasons.
6. Release
Enjoy the last and most rewarding step.
If you chose Manual release, click Release your app when ready
Now, you can see your app in the App Store.
Congratulations!
Few of the major reasons for rejections
UI guidelines – If Apple App Store UI guidelines are not followed, the app submission can be rejected
In-App purchase– If there is an in-app purchase of services, it should use the Apple payment system (gateway); else, it will reject the app
Third-party login– If there is any third-party login option into the app, such as Facebook, or Google, it must have login with Apple ID as well, or else the app will be rejected
Crashes and bugs– If the app has crash issues, it may get rejected. You should test it thoroughly for any such issues before submitting it.
Poor performance– A poor-performing app can be rejected. Make sure it offers a great user experience.
Privacy page– You must have a privacy policy page. It can be hosted on a website or even over a Facebook page, but there should be a page which details the privacy policy of the app
Broken links– Broken links on the app can be a reason for rejection. Fix all broken links before submitting them to the app store.
Copycat of another app– The app’s concept should be original. Else it can be rejected.
Inaccurate description– The app’s description should be accurate and easy to understand for users.
Wrapping up
The process of publishing an app could appear difficult at first, but we hope that this post has shown you that it is not as challenging as it sounds. Preparing the required resources in advance, such as the Privacy Policy URL, app screenshots, etc, is the key to streamlining the publishing process. If in case you stuck somewhere, our iOS app developers can help you out and get it approved for you on the app store.
Let’s have a conversation today!
Our experts are available to discuss your requirements and to become your tech partner