The message from the Gurus was loud and clear! This is the right time in the country to start working on developing apps for various mobile platforms.
App developers should keep basic needs of users in mind and avoid getting carried away in the race to develop the ‘coolest’ and the ‘slickest’ looking app, because they will quickly lose the novelty factor.
Word of caution
Experts also had a word of caution. Bulk of the profits generated from app revenue is shared by telecom companies and app stores, leaving hardly anything to the actual developers.
Business acumen must
“To succeed, having technical knowledge is not enough. To survive, developers should have business acumen,” said Founder and CEO of IMImobile, Vishwanath Alluri in the app conference ‘AppFest 2012’ here on Thursday.
Three-day conference
The AppFest 2012, organised by Internet And Mobile Association Of India (IAMAI), featured close to 400 app developers from Hyderabad and elsewhere. The three-day conference will also have developers taking up challenging problems thrown at them by companies and develop best applications and vie for projects.
The AppFest became a platform for wannabe developers to get lessons on idea development for apps.
“You need a good idea for an app to succeed. To arrive at an idea, you need to look within yourself and think about issues that trouble you the most. Once you isolate the issue, start thinking innovatively to solve the issue through apps,” suggested Anirudh Suri, former policy advisor to Minister of State for Communications and Technology, Sachin Pilot.
Starry-eyed young engineers aspiring to develop best-selling applications got an opportunity to rub shoulders with CEOs and Heads of app development units of IT companies. “This is a great conference for developers like us to interact and get exposed to new ideas. We are also preparing to develop some interesting apps in the next two days in the conference,” says N. Venkatesh Kumar, a developer from Expin Systems Pvt. Ltd., a start-up involved in Apple store.
‘Be clear about goals’
Top executives pointed out that developers should be clear about their goals.
“You should have clear knowledge about the platform on which you will develop the apps. Keep in mind that the apps developed should be compatible not only for mobiles but televisions and PCs. Keep the interests of the consumers in mind while ideating,” suggests Director, Cloud Strategy, Microsoft, Rajnish Menon.
