How Creating Mobile Applications Is Difficult

All the experts agree that handheld application development is more difficult than you’d expect. There are several explanations for this:

1. Multiple devices to support: One of the first decisions to make is which handheld platforms to support. Is it better to limit yourself to the BlackBerry or should you go for a larger set of devices? The platform you choose greatly influences what your application can or cannot do.
2. Radically different application models: Even if you limit yourself to one platform, often you’ll still have multiple application models to choose from. On the BlackBerry platform, for example, you have to choose between developing a full-fledged BlackBerry app or a more portable Java ME app.
3. Steep learning curves: Developing a mobile application can require learning a different programming language (like C#) and/or a new set of programming tools (like Visual Studio). Because the market is so diverse, programmers often have a hard time finding useful development documentation.
4. Confusing database choices: Unless you’re creating an online-only app, you’ll need to persist data locally, and there are so many options for doing this. Complex data needs may be best served by a full-fledged embedded database. Simpler applications may get away with built-in data storage options, but data exchange with external data sources can be quite more complex in those cases.
5. Prosumer versus large business targeting: While Apple has shown that there is great market potential serving the consumer market, there is still a lot of money to be made with business-focused applications. The two markets are completely different, however, and you simply cannot develop for both of them with the same application.
6. Not insignificant startup expenses: Handheld application development is not inexpensive. Labor are in demand and cost a lot, and there are non-trivial expenses in terms of hardware and network charges.

Because of these complications you might wonder why anyone bothers to create handheld apps. The rewards can greatly outweigh the costs. The return on investment of a mobile enterprise app can be tremendous, especially for apps aimed at field personnel. The demand for mobile consumer applications means there’s a lot of profit for companies able to satisfy that demand.

You’ll save yourself a lot of headaches if you do your homework. If you want to write a good enterprise application you’ll need to invest in great mobile enterprise tools. For consumers, you’ll still need good development tools, but you’ll also need a lot of flash and a simple user interface.

Succeeding at mobile app development requires a lot of thought and planning.