How To Develop An App Idea In 7 Steps & 6 Questions To Test Viability

Consider you've got a brilliant app idea that could change lives, but you don't know what to do next. Sound familiar? If so, you're not alone. Every year, app design agencies like NUMI get hundreds of new project inquiries, most of which start with the same story.  

How do you develop an app idea? How do we test its viability? If you're asking similar questions, you're in the right place. This guide will help you get answers and turn that app idea into a reality.

One great way to get started on your app idea is with NUMI's product design services. Our team will help you map your app's user experience and design an interactive prototype. This process will help you visualize your app, test its viability, and showcase your project to stakeholders before any code is written.

Understanding The Mobile App Market

The Mobile App Market Is Booming

The mobile app market is on fire; there’s never been a better time to dive in! If you’ve been sitting on an app idea and convinced it could be the next big thing, you’re in luck—the numbers back you up. Let’s start with the sheer scale of the opportunity. By 2026, global consumer spending on mobile apps will hit an eye-popping $233 billion. That includes everything from subscriptions and in-app purchases to premium downloads. 

To give you some perspective, in the third quarter of 2022, customer spending hit $31.6 billion. And the market volume? It’s expected to climb to an astounding $614 billion by 2026. There’s money to be made in the app world. But here’s the catch: it’s a crowded space. The Apple App Store sees over 1,000 new apps launched every single day, and Google Play? Multiply that number by three. That’s a lot of competition.

How to Stand Out in a Crowded App Market

So, how do you stand out in a market where everyone’s trying to grab attention? It starts with a great app idea. But an idea alone isn’t enough—you need a solid plan to turn it into a successful app that resonates with users. If your app solves a real problem, delivers value, or entertains uniquely, you’re already ahead. What are the next steps? Refine your idea, understand your target audience, and determine how to make your app good and indispensable. The mobile app market offers opportunities for those willing to take the plunge. With hard work, creativity, and thoughtful planning, your app idea could be the next big hit in this ever-growing industry!

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How To Develop An App Idea In 7 Straightforward Steps

1. Research: A Compelling App Idea Starts with Compelling Research 

When you want to visit an unknown country, you read tour guides and talk to friends. When you want to eat out in an unknown city, look for the best option on review websites or apps, talk to locals, etc. If you want to buy a new laptop, you read articles in trusted media and watch YouTube videos. Whenever you want to buy something new, you do the research first. The same goes for developing your app. Treat your app idea as a serious business project. 

You might get excited and emotional about your concept, but remember that the app business is very competitive. There might be tens or even hundreds of similar apps fighting for users worldwide. 

Just consider

As of the second quarter of 2019, there were 2.46 million apps available on Android and 1.96 million on the App Store. Those are the two most significant stores, don’t forget about the smaller ones. You need to understand what market you’ll be dealing with clearly. The research will also help you answer the question about how to make money with an app idea. Ultimately, you are not developing an app for altruistic reasons; you will need to monetize it someday. Like with any business, before creating the app, you need to do market research and understand your users. 

These are some of the questions you’ll have to try to find the answers to: 

• What problem will my app help solve / how will it help the users? 
• Who are my users? 
• Are they adults or children? 
• Men or women or both? 
• How old are they? 

• Where do they live? 
• What do they do for a living? What devices do they use, and how often? 
• Are there any other similar apps? 
• How many? In what app stores are they present? 
• How big/successful are they? 
• How many downloads do they have? 
• Do they receive good reviews from their users? 
• What are their users complaining about? 
• How can I be different than the competitors? 
• What additional value can I give to my users? 
• With all the competition, is my app able to succeed? 
• What pros and cons does my app idea have? 
• How do your future competitors promote their products? 
• What do their app listings look like? Do they run ads? 
• (If you want to learn about interstitial ads, check out this blog post!) 
• Do they have app websites, blogs, SoMe pages, and YouTube videos? 
• Do journalists write about them, and what? 
• How do peer apps make money? 
• Are they showing ads? 
• Do they offer in-app purchases? 
• Do they sell data to third parties? 

2. Create a Business Concept to Make Your App Idea More Than Just a Hobby 

Based on your findings during the research, take your time to craft a business concept. It is essential to write everything down and not just keep it in your head. Don’t rely on your memory; we all forget some things. And sometimes, while writing, you can stumble upon new and valuable ideas. Your business project should consist of several blocks: The app – the main idea, advantages for the user, pros, and cons, features Your users – analysis of my target audience Market and your competitors – apps I will be competing against Monetization strategy – how to make money from an app idea Marketing – how I am going to promote my app. 

3. Find Partners or Co-Founders to Help You Develop Your App Idea 

It might be tough to implement an app idea on your own. It takes time, knowledge, and money. If you need a partner, try to find one or several with the skills you lack. These can be your friends, former colleagues, or somebody from the LinkedIn network. Some people want to start a business but can’t develop the idea. Maybe your idea will make them interested. 

4. Develop the App and Build Your Team 

Congratulations if you are a developer and can do it independently with a couple of friends and developers. But if you know nothing about coding, you must find an agency or some freelancers to do the job. Based on your research (Step 1), you will know where to publish your Android, iOS, or both apps. But it’s not only developers who you will need. 

A UX/UI designer should help you design the app, having the wireframes you provide as a reference. The designer and you should already have an idea of the primary and complementary brand colors and the brand style overall. Estimating how long it will take you to make your app live is hard. By then, you will learn that not everything you have thought about can be implemented, not all the features can be coded, etc. But don’t get upset! No problem remains unsolved forever! 

5. Prepare for the Launch and Create a Marketing Roadmap 

While developers are coding, you should focus on your app launch and some business development tasks. Think about the branding. When launching an app, you most likely will not think about building a big brand. Nevertheless, you must invest time and money in creating your app’s icon and developing the brand style consistent with all your visual materials across communication channels. Learn about ASO. Think about an efficient app listing before launch, not when you see I have too few downloads. 

ASO (app store optimization) helps you get many organic downloads – meaning no money is spent on advertising. But it’s not easy if you know nothing about it. So do your research and learn how to: Do keyword research Find relevant keywords Create the correct app name Design the icon Write good descriptions and subheadings Design converting screenshots Track keywords over time Improve your app listing with app A/B testing Creating an appealing icon with a designer is a very responsible task. The app icon substantially impacts the store listing visitors, conversion rate, and downloads. 

Creating clear screenshots is not less important. Look for best practices; decide whether you want them landscape or portrait; think of the appropriate style. Think ahead of relevant keywords and create good descriptions for your app stores. Keyword research is the first step and the base for a successful ASO (app store optimization). Decide for which countries you will need to localize your app listing from the start, and prepare localized app descriptions and app screenshots. 

Prepare for the launch. How do you want to inform the world that the new app has been released? Is the announcement on ProductHunt enough? Or do I want all the national media talking about you? (I highly doubt it, but who knows). If you have a limited budget, think about sending emails and messages to friends and family, telling them about my app launch, asking them to download it, and rating it with five stars. Don’t be shy; we talk about friends and family who love you. 

Post about it on all the social networks where you are registered. Post about your new app on ProductHunt. Inform the Reddit community about my latest app. Create a list of app review websites and bloggers who review apps and write a pitch to them. Craft a marketing roadmap. The launch is only the beginning. Promoting the app further should be one of your priorities. Will you use SoMe? What about creating a landing page and posting on a blog? Do you need any partners? Even if your app is not your full-time occupation but a side project, there are some basic things that I must do for my app. Otherwise, nobody will ever find it. 

6. Test the App Before You Publish 

You may be very impatient to publish your app finally. But take some time to test it. Let your friends and family play with it for a couple of days. Users are demanding. If the quality of my app is not good enough, nobody will use it for a long time, I will get bad reviews, and it will make it very hard to get downloads with poor reviews and low ratings. 

7. Publish Your App at the App Stores, and Keep Up the Good Work 

You might think that publishing your app is the final step, but it is, in fact, only the beginning of an incredible adventure. You must constantly update your app, introduce new features, provide user feedback, fix bugs, promote the app, implement activities to improve retention rate, grow the user base, and make money. So, exploring new monetization opportunities while keeping good engagement and retention rates will keep you busy.

6 Questions to Ask To Ensure Your App Idea Is A Viable One

1. Is There a Demand for Your Idea (or Can You Create One)?  

Understanding demand is the cornerstone of app success. Does your idea solve a real, pressing problem, or can it create a new need people didn’t even know they had? Serving an apparent market demand is a simple way of running a successful app. 42% of apps only fail because there is no need in the market for their service. 

Take the example of a storage-compression app that helps users free up space on their devices without compromising file quality. This addresses the pain point for many smartphone users. On the other hand, ideas like Uber created a demand by simplifying an existing service—taxi rides—into something more convenient and accessible. The key takeaway? You don’t always have to solve an existing problem; sometimes, you can reshape how people think about their needs.  

2. What’s Your Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy?  

Even the best apps need a strong launch plan. How do you plan to grab attention in a market flooded with thousands of new apps daily? Take a page from Apple’s playbook: even with its massive brand presence, Apple still invests heavily in marketing to ensure every new iPhone gets noticed. This could mean targeting niche communities, running social media campaigns, or using influencer partnerships for your app. Also, have a contingency plan if your initial strategy doesn’t work. Flexibility is key because not every GTM plan succeeds on the first try.  

3. Can Competitors Easily Replicate Your Idea?  

Innovation can be fleeting if others can quickly replicate your features. If your app enables users to customize social media stories uniquely, what’s stopping platforms like Instagram or Snapchat from copying it? Patents and intellectual property can help, but they aren’t foolproof. The best defense? Build something hard to replicate—whether through proprietary technology, an exceptional user experience, or cultivating a loyal community before competitors catch up.  

4. How Will You Monetize the App?  

Revenue is the lifeblood of any app. Whether through subscriptions, in-app purchases, ads, or freemium models, you need a solid plan to generate income. Nearly 30% of startups run out of business because of cash flow problems. This only underlines the need for an app to have a revenue-facing long-term strategy. 

A sound app monetization plan is essential for the future of an app idea and its ability to garner investment. Investors will also want to know how you plan to make money and, eventually, provide them with a return. A subscription model, for instance, is currently trending because it allows for recurring revenue, but the right strategy will depend on your app’s niche and audience.  

5. How Will You Scale Your App?  

Growth isn’t just about user numbers—it’s about building a team and infrastructure to support that growth. You can’t do everything alone, and at some point, scaling will require delegating responsibilities to others. As your app grows, costs will escalate. A scalable revenue model will help you reinvest profits to expand without stretching resources too thin.  

6. Can Your App Resist Changes in the Market?  

Technological and market trends change constantly. Today’s transforming idea could become obsolete tomorrow, just like CDs gave way to pen drives, which are now overshadowed by cloud storage. Creating an app that can adapt to change—or building an ecosystem that locks users into your platform—can ensure longevity. 

How Google engages users with its interconnected search, email, and cloud storage ecosystem. Similarly, incorporating emerging tech like AI or machine learning into your app can future-proof it to an extent. By asking and honestly answering these questions, you’ll have a clearer understanding of your app’s potential and the challenges it may face. The app market may be competitive, but with the proper planning, your idea could be the next big thing. 

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How To Protect And Copyright An App Idea

Step 1: Form an LLC – Your First Line of Defense Against Idea Theft

Before creating your app, protect your idea from being stolen. Your first step to legally protect your app idea is to make your company official. This may seem intimidating, but it’s much easier than anything else. The requirements to form an LLC will vary from state to state. You’ll need to have an application, pay a small fee, and have a registered agent. 

It’s worth it, even if you have a small company or a single app in development. This legally separates you and your assets from your business, so you’re protected. What if you’re a resident outside of the United States? It’s just as easy for non-residents to form an LLC. You don’t need a U.S. address or to travel to the U.S. to start your LLC.

Step 2: Own the Copyright – Don’t Let Your App Idea Float Away

An idea is just that – an idea. Legally, ideas aren’t typically protected under copyright laws. However, app builders typically copyright their app idea as soon as you start to code the project, and there's something tangible that can be protected. You want to ensure everything is documented to support any intellectual property claims. 

Note the dates and times when you started to work on the app, the source code, and any other integral parts of the development process. You may have to work with developers or freelancers more skilled in app development than you. In this case, you have to ensure that you have a contract that clearly states that you own the copyright of the code. Otherwise, the developer can claim they own the code and do what they want with your app idea.

Step 3: Use Non-Disclosure Agreements – Protect Your App Idea from Idea Thieves

It takes a team to develop your app. The more people you let into your circle, the more you open the door to someone taking your app idea. To protect your app idea, consider an NDA. A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a contract that directs anyone – developers, designers, business advisors – to not share specific information about your app with anyone for a certain amount of time. An attorney should draw up the NDA to ensure the contract protects the most essential information about your app idea. Still, boilerplate versions are available online if you want to examine them.

Step 4. Register the Trademark – Don’t Get Stuck with the App Store Name No One Wants

One of the best reasons to form an LLC is that you can create a brand around your new company. This brand, logo, and product can all be trademarked and will become valuable as your app takes off. The branding of the app is just as important as the app itself. Think of the top apps on the market. They all have identifiable icons and a memorable name. These can and should be protected. Your brand is what the end-user will remember most. Registering your Trademark prevents others from stealing your intellectual property or allows you to sue them if they do.

Step 5: Pursue Infringement Cases – Stand Up to App Idea Theft 

The most crucial step that you can take after all of these steps is to follow through with action. You’ve taken the appropriate steps to document your app and legally register it with copyright and trademark offices. You have every right to go after those trying to steal your app idea, code, user interface – whatever you have trademarked. If someone infringes on your intellectual property, you have the right to go after them to protect your business. 

For example, Apple has a dispute form that you can fill out. Apple will investigate and remove apps that infringe on your intellectual property. Another step you can take is to send infringing companies a cease and desist letter. You can escalate the matter through an attorney if they don't respond.

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