The entire iPhone development process seems very, very slow, when you consider the fact that some 800 apps are released to the App Store every week, and your application is probably six, maybe 8 weeks into iPhone development, and not quite ready to release still.
For developers working on a new, exciting iPhone app idea, the possibility of a competitor releasing an iPhone app that is identical to theirs is a real risk. As such, the focus usually is on rushing the iPhone development process, and getting the first version out there as quickly as possible.
While the concern is valid, this strategy invariably leads to poor first version releases, negative reviews in the App Store, and the loss of the novelty factor for the application. Because in order to get the first version out fast, iPhone developers make some important compromises, which adversely affect the popularity of the app, and its revenue potential.
These compromises most commonly include:
Drop Twitter and other viral promotion features
This is usually considered as the most dispensable feature. ‘If people like the app, we can always add these things’ is the argument most iPhone developers make. The truth is that it is essential for the first version to offer viral promotion options such as posting updates to Facebook or Twitter. Your first version has the novelty factor, and that’s when people are most likely to tell their friends about your app. If it’s been a couple of months, it’s old hat–there are two thousand newer applications to talk about!
Use an ineffective icon
An icon that looks dull, does not convey the right message about your app, and fails to catch the attention of the user is not serving its purpose. And changing the icon later on may not be such a good idea, since users relate to your app based on the app icon they see on their iPhone screens. Getting it right the first time will save a lot of effort later on, and also give that initial push your iPhone application needs. Trying out many different icons before picking the final design is essential.
Average User Interface
The first version of most iPhone apps is generally ‘a pale shadow’ of the real thing that is still inside the developer’s head. This is where people make perhaps the gravest mistake. When they first open the application, users are not going to focus on just the idea the way you want them to and ‘excuse’ the lack of polish or precision of controls. If your app doesn’t have the Save and Resume buttons of just the right size and color, responding precisely to touch and even able to interpret a swipe as a tap in some cases, then the idea itself will have little appeal to users.
Not enough care with presentation
This is another big mistake iPhone application developers make. The screenshots presented in the App Store are usually not attractive enough and are selected rather carelessly, and the description is often too clever and not helpful enough. Such shoddy presentation can be fixed with later versions, but by then thousands of users would have looked at your application and turned away to look for something else.
Dropping basic features like ‘global scoreboard’
This one applies to games in particular. When people play a game for a long time, and set a new record, the one thing they are most interested in is whether they are the best, or whether there is a new level they need to reach. Just about every iPhone game today incorporates a version of global, online scoreboard, and leaving such a basic feature simply makes people expect less from you, as well as makes the game less appealing to users.
In general, the approach seems to be to just release a simple version first, and then if people download and like the idea, make a proper app / game out of it with all the bells and whistles.
But this strategy is wrong for many reasons. The truth is that there are over 40 million users out there. To get the maximum number of users, you cannot afford to drop the viral promotion features. Also, with the very high volume of application releases on iPhone, there is little chance that you will get any user to look at your application more than once in the App Store.
How well you present your app in those five second in the App Store, and then in the first 15 seconds when the user launches your app for the first time will determine the success of your application. And getting the first version right is key.
