1.    1www.stackmob.com
5 Habits of Highly Effective
Mobile Developers
2. Outsource your Backend Logic
Another time consuming part of development is working with your app’s data components, such as
hooking up Core Data, developing a server-powered backend to act as your web service, spending
time devising the various JSON parsing methods, managing data and reliably hosting your server.
As any developer can tell you, building and releasing a quality app is no small effort. The best
developers work smarter not harder. Knowing where to focus your time is key. Let’s explore five
tools that will free up your time to focus on building a great app.
1. Don’t Re-invent the Wheel
With time of the essence, wouldn’t it make more sense for you to
leave the data hosting and management to the experts?
StackMob’s backend platform can manage your app’s backend, quickly building out schemas,
providing authentication, social integration, geolocation, custom code and more.
StackMob gives developers ‘peace of mind’, with multiple API versions available and separate
production and development environments. You never have to worry about a change in
development breaking production and you can support multiple versions of your API — never
leaving a customer in the dark.
iOS and Android developers have active open-source communities,
responsible for delivering amazing free components. So why re-invent
the wheel when you can use tools that have already been peer-
contributed and tested?
This is a guest article by Tope Abayomi of App Design Vault. If your iPhone app needs a
home on the web, Tope is offering a free iPhone App WordPress Theme for all readers.
Cocoa Controls has an extensive directory of components (mostly free and open sourced), ranging
from customised UIViewControllers to navigational components and controls, that you can effortlessly
clone and use via GitHub.
Android developers can look to the Android Developers toolkit for a variety of resources and UI
components to get started.

2.    2www.stackmob.com
3. Leave Design to the Experts
A good app combines functionality and aesthetics, which relates to UX
and how usable and the app is. The problem is, many developers decide to
wear both their designer hat and developer hat, burning the midnight oil
trying to come up with a good UI.
5. Practice Source
Control Management
Whether you use Git, Subversion or CVS,
some form of version control is a tenet of good
development. Version control is more than just a
backup in case your computer crashes and burns,
4. Put your App through its Paces
A lot of developers bypass the testing phase altogether, eager to release their app, so they can begin
marketing it, only to get knocked back by Apple, because they forgot to test a certain scenario. It takes
at least 5–7 business days for Apple to review your app and developers want to avoid getting rejected.
TestFlight is a free service that allows you to upload your latest alpha
or beta release to a designated team of testers. In turn, testers can run
through the app, using different devices, in different locations, under
Does that sound familiar? It may make more financial sense to splurge a
little and hire a designer, someone who is more seasoned, to concentrate
on the visual detail, leaving you to finish off the coding side of things. Or if
you prefer to take a more hands-on approach, you can download a pre-
made UI template to cut your design time.
different environmental conditions. You can iteratively release new versions of the app to the TestFlight
testbed and track goals (such as if users are able to reach certain parts of the app) and crashes.
Another service that does a good job of managing your testing efforts is Hockeyapp, which can test
Android, Windows and iOS apps.
it also allows you to manage your code smartly. It provides a platform for sharing code across your
team more succinctly, to branch versions of your code for specific releases, as well as the ability to
annotate changes/commits to make it clearer to others reviewing your code.
Being a more effective developer will not only improve your app development, but also free up
more time to do other essential tasks that will help you succeed– such as marketing your app.
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