The global mobile app development market approached the US$188-billion mark in 2021 and is expected to grow at more than 13% annually to 2030. Increased internet usage and people relying on digital services for everything from banking and shopping, to watching movies and playing games are considered significant drivers. 

As an organisation that is passionate about helping developers reach their full potential as is evident through their global Apps UP innovation contest, Huawei discusses some of the key things African developers must keep in mind to build successful and engaging mobile apps.

The first step should be to choose a platform on which to develop. It makes sense to go with the one that has the most users. Up next is bandwidth and power considerations. 

Despite mobile data becoming more affordable in Africa, local developers should still prioritise bandwidth-friendly apps. If possible, the app should be able to work when the device is offline. This is essential for users who live in remote and rural communities where connectivity remains a challenge.

Furthermore, developers also need to account for the unreliability of electricity infrastructure across the continent. There is simply no place for power-hungry apps that quickly drain the battery life of even the most powerful smartphones.

All about engagement

Beyond these nuts-and-bolts components, any app must ultimately be interactive and engaging. If the app is unable to solve a specific challenge, then people will not download and install it. An example of an app that addresses a market requirement can be found in one of last year’s Apps UP competition winners.

Developed in South Africa, UniAPS helps prospective students discover their Admission Point Score (APS) for a wide array of local universities, as well as get a list of courses they qualify for based on their matric (Grade 12) results.

Of course, fulfilling a need is one thing. But being intuitive and easy to use is something quite different. This is one of the key challenges facing any app developer – translating how they solve the consumer problem in an app that is user-friendly.

This is where a development environment like HMS Core becomes critical. HMS Core is based on Huawei devices and the Android platform and provides developers with a mobile service framework that opens up a variety of service capabilities. Using HMS Core, developers can create world-class apps in an ecosystem used by millions of people worldwide.

With HMS Core as a development environment, apps can incorporate a multitude of services, including message push, quick HUAWEI ID login, in-app purchases, positioning, maps, games, and machine learning. All this is done to help African developers create a better user experience for their apps to differentiate themselves from global app development.

Huawei provides African developers with an enabling environment to create apps perfectly suited to the needs of device users across the continent. The Apps UP 2022 global innovation contest pools the skills of developers from around the world to build an app ecosystem that intelligently connects everything. Local developers can submit their entries as part of the Middle East and Africa region to showcase their talents and achieve global recognition. Huawei is calling all prospective app developers to log onto the Huawei Apps Up portal and explore the various app categories open to them for competition submissions.