iOS App Development: Understanding the Basics

The term “mobile applications” refers to software applications for Android & iOS active mobile systems. User information can be collected, used, and transferred from a mobile device using mobile apps. As mobile app developers, we need to consider privacy at all stages of an app’s life cycle.

Mobile applications have created a great deal of concern among consumers due to their privacy implications. Media outlets and government agencies have raised the issue in light of the recent data breaches.

 Do there exist any industry standards or mobile app development standards that are up to date?

In the absence of common industry standards and blind eyes on the part of developers, a lot of projects suffer. If the tech stack or architecture are incorrect, it also suffers. It may be difficult for developers to collaborate and meet the business goals. Make sure your mobile app developer follows industry standards when you hire them.

Let’s begin by understanding standards before moving on to mobile app development. Now, everyone wants to conduct business online through mobile applications. This article is a complete guide to web and mobile app standards.

Standardization: Why do we need it?

The importance of standards for Mobile App Development can be summed up as follows:

• Assurance of product safety
• Custom-made products are functional
• Support collaboration
• Minimizing or eliminating obstacles
• Ensure a general understanding of the product.

Simply put, standards are agreements on the mutual working Process and procedures to achieve a specific goal.

How Do Mobile App Development Standards Benefit You?

It is imperative that mobile app standards are adhered to in order to ensure the security of end users’ data, meet the client’s purpose, and serve the target audience. Developers are able to collaborate seamlessly on one platform.

There are no barriers to the development of websites or mobile apps, regardless of whether developers work onshore or offshore. Thus, the importance of adhering to mobile app standards cannot be overstated.

iOS App Development Standards

Generally, standards are created by standard bodies. A group of experts from various technology companies convenes to determine how to use technologies to meet their needs. The iOS mobile app development industry does not currently have a standard body for setting standards for apps.

It is true that every inventor of a technology has various documents, but most of them are primarily focused on promoting it instead of addressing the standard. Hence, we have described below which standard practices developers can adopt when developing iOS mobile app.

1. iOS App Requirements Gathering 

Gathering requirements (or eliciting requirements) refers to the process of defining software requirements. In essence, this is the process of identifying what needs to be done, and why iOS mobile app needs to be constructed. What are the app’s ambitions, what concerns will it address, and how will its success be measured following its launch?

The following tasks are usually involved in this process:

• Requirements for Elicitation

The key to understanding users’ needs and providing solutions to their discomfort areas and desired outcomes is to capture all user business requirements and business needs. Users are also referred to as shareholders.

• Requirements Documentation:

Organize and detail out the feature specifications in a simple form, so that the iOS mobile app development team can later access them. Following the gathering of requirements, it should be put together into a document or in a way that addresses the challenges of users by offering functions and feature specifications to address those challenges

• Requirements understanding:

To ensure the client’s vision is understood by everyone, this task will clarify the client’s vision.

The impact of omitting the Requirements Gathering 

Many people fail to understand the importance of requirements documentation even though it is crucial. During the requirements analysis or discovery phase, you cannot skip this step, because the project will suffer throughout the development process.

In such a situation, none of us would wish to end up in, and this is why documentation should never be skipped at any stage of the project development process, whether it is at the beginning or at the end. For instance, if requirements are not properly documented, the team will be unable to track any changes made to the project and may also be unable to properly estimate the cost of the project.

The problem with this approach is you’ll end up with lots of sleepless nights, a lot of meetings to solve all the problems, and of course, a lot of money and time spent.It is therefore a standard practice to strictly adhere to the project documentation process when developing iOS mobile app.

2. Technology Selection for iOS App Development

To develop iOS mobile apps , app developers are commonly equipped with a deep understanding of technology skillsets.

A typical instance of this is the use of Java by Android app developers, despite Kotlin being the official language for Android apps. This has led to Java being considered to be the best technology stack for developing android mobile applications worldwide.

In order to build iOS apps, developers choose either Objective-C or Swift. You should therefore make sure that the developer is well versed in the following Native technologies when choosing the tech stack for native iOS mobile app.

If you wish to develop an iOS mobile app, you should ensure that your developer is conversant with these technologies and can suggest which is the most suitable technology stack for your backend.

To ensure the security and scalability of native apps, developers should take into account the requirements of their clients prior to the development of the iOS mobile app.

Hybrid apps should be developed using tech stacks such as Cordova, PhoneGap, Xamarin, Flutter, Lonic, etc. The developer can use a variety of technologies to develop a cross-platform mobile application, for instance React Native, Xamarin, and C#. When selecting a technology stack for building professional, scalable, and secure software, it is critical to have a plan.

The standard practice for developers is to ensure all influencing factors are taken into consideration, such as the type of app, its intended audience, and its launch date.

Consequently, it is accepted practice for developers to ensure that all relevant factors are considered, such as the type of app, the number of users it will support, and the timeframe for the launch of the app.

3. Types of App Development

You must identify the format that will best capture your requirements before defining the requirements for your iOS mobile app. Various types of mobile apps exist, including web-based, native, and platform-specific applications. To combine the advantages of native and web-based applications, a hybrid application is the best solution.

All types of mobile apps can be tailored to suit mobile users’ needs, from native to web-based to hybrid. There’s no clear winner or best solution since each type of development has its own strengths and weaknesses. Such recommendations and choices will be based on your project requirements.

Since technologies are limited in terms of standard bundles, such as native apps that use a variety of databases and backend technologies, you have the option of developing hybrid and cross-platform apps using full-stack development techniques such as MEAN (Mongo, Express, AngularJS & NodeJS) or MERN (Mongo, Express, ReactJS & NodeJS) or MEVN (Mongo, Express, VueJS & NodeJS).

So when it comes to full-stack development, Node.js and MongoDB are recommended, although React is founded by Facebook, Angular is developed primarily by Google, but both are maintained by a community of individuals and companies. In a similar manner, Google has created an open-source Ul software development kit called Flutter.

A native or hybrid tech stack would be best suited to small apps, whereas a Native stack would be best suited to large apps. You should also be aware of the reasons for choosing the technology as part of a standard practice.

4. UI/UX standards for iOS App Development

A poor design or UI/UX will directly affect the app’s performance, even if your developer chooses the best technology stack and codes the best code. As a result, User Interfaces and User Experiences must be given a high priority, and UI/UX standards are of vital importance. Designers need to follow some general principles & guidelines when building UI designs for iOS mobile apps in order to create a consistent look and feel across all screens.

UI Guidelines

A UI guide provides examples of Ul objects and their behavior so you can see what Ul objects are capable of. Developers, designers, testers, or the entire team can benefit from such Ul guidelines, which are often defined at the organizational level.

• Design

An organization’s design guidelines are the manifestations that the organization presents to the world. Logos, colors, images, and symbols are all designed according to each business’s style guide.

• Layout

In this section, we describe the entire structure of the interface. This guide contains responsive construction behavior as it uses a list or grid layout.

• UI elements

The guidelines provide specifications and Ul elements that are visible and interactable on the interface. Among the items included in Ul are standard controls such as dialogue boxes, menu items, input controls, panel views, navigation bars, labels, buttons, design windows, chat boxes, header menus, footer views, and other similar items.

• Text

Text guidelines establish the style and tone of the text that should be used in the UI. You need to ensure that your text is understandable by a wide audience, including people from different cultures. These guidelines specify specifications for text sizes, font colors, backgrounds, and styles, such as bold or italic or no style. Various types of text are displayed in Ul, including fields, labels, messages, and information about users.

• Coordination and conduct

These guidelines consider how the program responds to the user’s communications (click, action, voice) regarding the project.

• Platform

The industry is experiencing rapid change in terms of platforms, as mobile, software, and automotive applications are being developed for traditional desktop applications. Organizational Ul guidelines provide information on all platforms and serve as decision guides. All platforms are detailed and the Ul guidelines act as a decision guide for the organization.

• Accessibility

Creating a system that is accessible to everyone requires following a few specific guidelines for users with disabilities, such as partial vision, where the main objective is to make sure that such users can feel and access the design just as anyone else can.

• Patterns

Generally, Ul guidelines include patterns that can be reused. Such patterns describe the feelings or behaviors of regulating bodies. A few examples of these features include pagination, navigation, search boxes, and buttons, as well as forms designed for different purposes.

• Resources

Several resources are provided in the guidelines to assist in the development of the program. Many of these resources provide a variety of design templates and thumbnail sets for a variety of devices, libraries, and UL fonts, along with multiple color schemes or palettes.

UX Guidelines

There is more to UX than just Uls. The User Experience is an integral part of the User Interface. Users experience (UX) is concerned with understanding the needs, interests, abilities, and limitations of users. Moreover, it examines the business objectives and goals of the project management team. User experience (UX) practices are focused on improving the quality of user interaction with your product ideas and related services.

Designers often make the mistake of confusing UX with Ul design as if they are the same. It’s really important to understand how these two categories differ.

The main goal of UX is to make sure the end user gets what they paid for.

Designers must ensure that the design conveys a practical and important user experience by:

• Authenticity: The content you provide must be genuine, unique, and meet the requirements
• Easy to use: The site should be easy to navigate
• Intention: The purpose of an image, trademark, identity, product, or other building material is to elicit a sense of emotion, inspiration and appreciation
• Accessible: Content must be accessible to individuals with disabilities and easily navigable both on and off site.
• Trustworthy: Your users should be able to trust your information.
• A user interface is the area where people interact with a product, whereas a user experience is the emotional response to the product experience.

Requirements of an iOS App Developer 

There are many elements that go into the development of an iOS application, which require specialized knowledge and skills. Before beginning the actual development process for an application, developers must meet certain requirements. The following requirements must be met:

• The latest version of Mac OS on a Mac computer.
• Mac App Store users can download free Xcode, the app development environment for macOS.
• If you wish to have your app appear in the App Store and to gain access to various Apple resources, you must apply for the Apple Developer Program, which requires an annual fee of USD 99. As soon as you have registered with Apple Developer Program, you can submit your app for review and, once approved, it can be downloaded from the App Store.

You will need a Mac OS computer with the latest macOS version installed in order to use iOS application development tools, such as Xcode. As these programs rely on macOS’ architecture and frameworks, other operating systems may be unable to run them.

React Native and Flutter are cross-platform applications that allow you to develop cross-platform iOS applications using Windows. Compared to traditional native apps, these frameworks offer more compatibility with various platforms because they use different development methods.

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Frameworks and Tools for iOS Development

As a programmer, you might know the acronym DRY, which stands for “Don’t Repeat Yourself.” As an iOS developer, you might find these tools useful:

SwiftUI:

The SwiftUI framework lets you build simple, flexible iOS app interfaces using declarative UI. Its simplicity and clarity make it popular.

UIKit:

A set of UI components is available in UIKit, a native iOS framework for building mobile interfaces.

React Native: 

A React Native application can be developed using only one codebase using the React JavaScript library, which enables developers to create high-quality iOS and Android applications.

Flutter: 

Flutter is a cross-platform development framework developed by Google that enables the development of beautiful and performant iOS and Android applications using an innovative approach to user interface design.

Best Practices in iOS App Development

Apple rejected a record number of applications from the Apple App Store in 2020.

Several applications were rejected as a result of fraud or blatant plagiarism. However, the decision to reject an application is based on the quality of the application. The iOS app  experience is taken very seriously by Apple. You can increase your monetization efforts by designing an app that engages and retains your users. Apple and users will both be satisfied with an iOS application that is created with the help of best practices.

Here are some specific best practices for each of the key areas:

1. Architecture:

It is important to choose the right architecture for your application. The architecture you choose depends on the type of project, like Model-View-Controller (MVC) or Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM). Your app’s architecture should be chosen in accordance with its specific requirements.

The term “design pattern” refers to a reusable solution to a common problem in the design of software systems. You can improve the efficiency and maintainability of your code by using design patterns.

Your code should be organized into layers and separated as much as possible. Because you’ll be able to write more modular code, you’ll be able to test them more easily.

2. Technologies:

• Apple recommends using its technologies. With Apple’s iOS development tools, like Swift and Cocoa Touch, you can develop apps with a variety of technologies. You will be able to take advantage of the latest iOS features if you use Apple’s recommended technologies, and your app will be compatible with the latest iOS versions.
• Third-party libraries should only be used if they’re indispensable. When you use third-party libraries, there can be a lot of complexity, and that can make your application more difficult to maintain.
•  There may be times when you will need to rely on a third-party library, but if that is the case, make sure to choose one that is well-maintained and has a good reputation.

3. Code:

• Keep clean code at the top of your priority list. The benefits of clean code include its ease of reading, understanding, and maintenance. Format your code correctly and follow good coding practices, like typing descriptive variable names, putting comments in, etc.
• Generally, unit tests are small tests that are performed on individual units of code in order to verify that they work as expected. It is possible to identify bugs early on and resolve them before they become a greater problem by writing unit tests.
• Implement a continuous integration server (CI) to ensure that your code is continuously integrated. Continuous integration servers can automatically build and test your code whenever you make changes to it. Therefore, it is important to catch bugs early in the development process and ensure that your code works at all times.

4. Version control

The importance of version control lies in being able to keep track of changes made to the codebase over time. A few best practices are listed below:

• Track changes to the codebase using version control systems such as Git and SVN.
• Ensure that each feature or bug fix has its own branch.
• Provide a description of the changes in the commit message.
• Be sure to pull changes from other developers in order to keep the repository up-to-date.

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5. Error handling and debugging

For an application to be stable, error handling and debugging are crucial. Here are some best practices to follow:

• A user-friendly error message should be displayed when an error occurs.
• Programming errors can be caught by using assertions during the development process.
• Ensure that errors and debugging information are logged using a logging framework.
• To identify any unexpected behavior in the application, test it in different environments.

6. Security

Any application that handles sensitive information must maintain a high level of security. Here are some best practices:

• Ensure that data in transit is protected by using secure communication protocols such as HTTPS.
• Secure the device and data during transmission by encrypting sensitive information.
• Passwords and API keys should be stored securely in a keychain.
• Maintain a regular update schedule for third-party libraries to correct known security vulnerabilities.

7. Apple’s Human Interface Guideline

As a set of design principles and best practices, Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) are intended to assist developers in creating user interfaces that are intuitive, accessible, and visually consistent. You can also make your app more accessible to people with disabilities by using the HIG to design your app since it removes most of the guesswork from the process. Further, the HIG plays a significant role in the approval of your app in the App Store, thus following it is crucial if you wish to have your app accepted.

• Typography

The HIG provides guidance on typography, including font sizes, styles, and colors. In order to ensure ease of reading and understanding, the text should be designed in a way that does not depend on the device or display settings of the user.

• Layout

In addition to providing instructions on layout, HIG provides guidance regarding the arrangement of elements on a screen and the efficient use of space. A visual appeal and ease of navigation are the goals of creating a layout.

• Navigation

HIGs are also important in terms of navigation. Using the HIG, navigation systems can be designed so that they are clear, concise, and consistent. In order to facilitate user access to information or features, it is important that the site is easy to navigate.

• UI components

HIG provides guidelines for UI components like buttons, labels, and text fields. UI components should look consistent and behave predictably.

• Color

The HIG also gives color advice. Colors should be used in a way that makes them visually appealing and accessible to color blind people.

• Accessibility

The HIG places a strong emphasis on accessibility. The goal is to ensure that all iOS apps are accessible to people with disabilities. HIG also provides guidelines on designing accessible user interfaces and supporting assistive technologies like VoiceOver.

8. App Store guidelines

Besides the HIG, developers must also adhere to the App Store Review Guidelines. These guidelines cover a wide range of topics, including safety, performance, business, design, and legal requirements.

During the review process, Apple examines a number of key areas, including:

• Apps need to run smoothly and load quickly.
• Apps should have minimal cybersecurity measures like encryption and authentication.
• Apps should have a policy regarding privacy.
• The app should contain complete content and no broken links or placeholders.

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iOS App Development Trends

As one can see in the iOS ecosystem, there are a few trends that can be observed, such as:

1. Augmented Reality

Instagram has influenced a lot of creators to use different AR tools, and we all know how influential it has been. There’s a new feature in iOS apps that combines the virtual and physical worlds for a totally out-of-this-world experience. Apple’s ARKit framework makes creating AR experiences very easy.

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2. Machine Learning:

Using Core ML, developers can easily incorporate natural language processing, computer vision, and more, making their apps more intuitive and engaging for users. The popularity of ChatGPT is well known, and as the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in mobile devices continues to grow, we will see more and more features added to ChatGPT

3. Privacy

Apple has taken steps to ensure more privacy for its users, and we must follow those guidelines too. Privacy is a myth, but Apple is taking steps to make it happen.

4. Widgets

Users can now interact directly with app content from the home screen with iOS 16’s widgets.

5. Wearables Integration

The complexity of creating standalone apps for the Apple Watch is continuing to increase as Apple releases new versions of watchOS.

Common Challenges in Developing iOS Apps

Despite Apple’s restrictions on its features, it helps keep security and privacy intact, but it also limits the number of features that developers can offer their customers. There are a number of ways in which this makes developing iOS apps more challenging. There are a few challenges to overcome:

Device Fragmentation:

Despite iOS’s smaller screen sizes and resolutions, there are still enough differences to make designing and testing tricky. It’s up to app developers to test their apps across a variety of devices, including those with low resources.

App Store Approval:

App submissions to Apple’s App Store have strict guidelines, and apps that don’t follow them are often rejected. The guidelines must be carefully reviewed and followed by developers in order to avoid rejection and delays in approval.

Changes in Swift Language:

It is vital for developers to stay up to date on the latest Swift changes in order to maintain code compatibility. Developers must ensure they are using the most recent version.

Security:

Security is Apple’s top priority, which can make it difficult for developers to access certain features. To protect user data, developers must adhere to encryption and storage standards. 

User Interface Design:

It can sometimes be challenging to develop iOS apps due to their intuitive, sleek user interfaces. A developer must keep the user’s experience and usability in mind when developing an application. Additionally, they must ensure their designs are responsive across all screens and devices.

Testing:

As a result of bugs and other issues, the testing process is an essential part of the iOS app development process. Nonetheless, testing apps that support multiple devices and operating systems can take a great deal of time and resources.