Most of us have had an idea for a mobile app, but many of us have stopped short of creating it.
Three Brisbane-based mobile app creators have shared tips for those looking to get into the industry and areas where they think mobile apps will start to dominate.
Jess Wilson, 24, created Stashd, a Tinder-like app for fashion items, about two years ago which has grown to include more than 4000 brands with users in more than 100 countries.
Ms Wilson developed her app to cater to those who wanted to browse fashions rather than brands and simplified the purchasing process by letting users "swipe right" on items they liked, sending them to the brand's website for purchase.
Ben Burton, 25, co-founded Zeppee, a Tinder-like app that connects people with pets waiting for adoption, which launched earlier this year.
Zeppee allows users to "swipe right" on animals they would like to adopt and sends potential adopters to third-party websites to guide them through the adoption process.
Mitch Hills, 21, launched Aroundabout, an app that tells you what you can see, eat and do in the area you are in, in May last year.
While all three apps are success stories in terms of their download rate and their rate of retention, it was not always smooth sailing.
Here they explain mistakes they made, tips they've learnt along the way and where they think the future of apps is heading.
What to watch out for
None of the three founders had a background in developing mobile apps, which meant they were not ready to "talk in code" when it came to explaining their vision to developers.
"I think it is important to learn how to speak it (code) to make sure people don't rip you off," Mr Hills said.
"Before you talk to developers, anything you haven't figured out, you are paying for them to figure it out for you."
Ms Wilson, who co-founded her app with a developer, said those who are not technologically savvy needed to surround themselves with people who were to prevent costly mistakes.
"If you don't have a tech background, you want to make sure you approach people who do," she said.
Mr Burton said it took time to choose the "right" development team and warned not to trust everyone.
"Our first development team, we got all this smoke and mirrors off them about it taking six weeks which ended up being about six months," Mr Burton said.
"We had to do a military coup and swap developing teams."
QUT Mobile Innovation Lab founder associate professor Dian Tjondronegoro, whose lab focuses on research, teaching and industry engagement in mobile and multimedia computing, said the complex nature of developing mobile apps and writing code was becoming easier.
"The role of developer is more open now, there are now more powerful tools to do it than before," he said.
"Back in 2007, everything was code based - you needed to know how to write codes - but now there are other tools.
"If you wanted to create distance between objects you would have to code, but now you can just drag and drop.
"You can code less lines and get more results out of it."
All three creators warned not to be swayed by the amount of downloads your app has but rather how long and how frequently your users accessed the app.
"People think a lot of the game is downloads. Downloads can be great for investors, but what you want are active users and the way to get that is to create features that they want to actively go back to," Ms Wilson said.
"The thing we noticed we did wrong, we made something cool but we didn't give enough reason for users to come back," Mr Hills admitted.
"We made a really nice looking discovery platform but we didn't have enough spaces for people to leave reviews, take pics, invite friends, that sort of thing."
Three biggest tips
Ms Wilson said the biggest tip she could give to those thinking about getting into the world of mobile apps was to understand the problem your app is trying to solve.
"Don't make an app just to make it for the hell of it, do some market testing and figure out what the problem is you are trying to solve and talk to the market," she said.
"Do your research and have people on your side who can fill the gaps of knowledge."
Mr Burton said you should never be afraid to ask the "dumb" questions.
"From the very start, when it is an idea, don't be afraid to talk about your idea with other people," he said.
"The reality is, if people know what you are working on, they are going to be able to give you feedback before you have even built it."
Mr Hills said recognising your skill and not wearing too many hats at once was key to maintaining success.
"Founders are great at starting it and having a passion to keep it all going but they don't have experience of a CEO," he said.
"You want to focus on your strengths, for me to not do marketing and leadership, would just make me a worse version of who I am.
"You should absolutely let things go the way they should go and not try to fit for things just because of ego."
Skills
Ms Wilson said being patient and not comparing yourself to others was one the biggest skills needed in creating mobile apps.
"Being able to have conversations with your tech co-founder, patience to stop and understand everything from their perspective," she said.
"Having patience from both sides and being able to understand each other.
"If you compare yourself to other people you are limited to their glass ceilings."
Being able to sell yourself was the biggest skill Mr Burton said he developed.
"The biggest skill for me, I would say the ability to sell, not just the product but also you as well," he said.
"They are investing in you as much as your product.
"The ability to speak and be able to sell, that confidence in yourself is going to fast track what you want to achieve.
"I remember when we launched, seeing Jess' huge amounts of success, we launched and 15 minutes later I was like, 'What is going on, why is Sunrise not calling me to come on the show immediately!'."
Mr Hills said understanding how important business relationships were maintaining them was key to being successful.
"The team is a big thing, don't agree to staff too quickly, getting into business is like getting married and getting divorced is just as bad," he said.
"Never assume that just because you are mates, as soon as money becomes involved, things change.
"Communication is really important, with our business partners, developers and consumers."
What's next?
Searching for and delivering content would be the next big areas to work within, Ms Wilson said.
"The way we search for things and how things come up, you can literally take a photo to search using the photo," she said.
"The way we deliver content, we can deliver algorithms based on the user."
Mr Burton said artificial intelligence was going to start finding its way into apps.
"Everyone now is doing huge stuff but I reckon people will start putting it down into apps. There is not necessarily a need for it, but definitely a market for it," he said.
Mr Hills said removing the middleman in areas of real estate and money would be the next big boom for apps.
"Technology is a lot about removing the middle man, I think there is going to be a lot of peer-to-peer lending," he said.
"Connecting people in property and money and education, I think people are going to start shifting, learning specific skills they want to learn instead of going through a whole course."
Professor Dian Tjondronegoro agreed and said there was a big push towards making people's daily interactions and actions more "mobile".
"People start to realise the market opportunities around creating powerful apps that help people's day to day activities," he said.
"I remember in the past there was a very simple app showing where all the toilets were, people used look for a sign but now they say, 'Hey, here is an app for that'.
"There is this integration between people and what they can do with their smartphones, they realise it is a lot more powerful than being confined into one space."
Professor Tjondronegoro said the new generation of users, who have grown up with smartphones, will be able to build on the successes of the past nine years.
"We have a very good run between 2007 and now there already a lot of existing apps that people can learn from, a lot of simple apps that people can build on top of if they want to do it alone," he said.
"A lot of people can have an idea and before they commit themselves, they can learn the trade or the trick and build it up to the point where they can test the market.
"If people have ideas, they should go with the entry point and build a really simple version and see what the market for it feels like."
