Developing an app may sound challenging. It’s not easy as it may sound.  With the help of a team, translating a person’s idea into a product is a whole different game. Ideas can be different but the development process remains the same. While technical challenges aside, there are other challenges that a startup can run into while developing an app. It is wise to discuss and understand those challenges and be well prepared before you even take the plunge.

The right approach while developing a mobile app starts with assessing its chances of feasibility. Your app idea may offer a unique value proposition to your customers. But to ensure that the time and effort spent are really worth it, the potential challenges or roadblocks must be duly acknowledged and addressed.

Common challenges that startups face while developing a mobile app

Technical

Every app idea has its own technical difficulties in implementation. Being cognizant about the technical limitations can help you in implementing your app idea in a better way. If you are a non-technical founder and relying on an external development team, then you should definitely take the below points into account.

• Assess the technical capabilities of the team
• Get the reference of their previous projects which were built on the same technology
• Include the developer in the weekly calls and address his problems
• Acknowledge the developers’ efforts
• Don’t hesitate to point out the technical glitches

There can also be instances where you have to reconsider your app idea. For instance, If your app’s functionality depends on tracking the user screen interaction by taking screen captures, it can be a hassle. This is because Apple does not allow screen captures to record user screen interaction.

Legal

As an entrepreneur you are very excited about the app idea, it’s development and marketing. But have you ever given a thought to consider the legal issues your app might run into? There are very basic legal issues that you need to consider like signing an NDA with the development agency before you even discuss the app idea with them.

Some of the basic legal issues are

• App Development Contract
• Entity formation
• Intellectual Property Ownership
• Patent
• User Generated Content  (UGC)
• DMCA
• Restricted content policy

For instance: In many Asian countries, sport-betting apps are illegal. If you’re banking on developing the best sports betting app for the Asian market, you’ll want to take a closer look at regulations in that country. If you haven’t researched the legal considerations of your app, you could waste a lot of time and money on an app that is not feasible.

With the GDPR, the processing of personal data has it’s own compliance issues. If you are developing an app that collects kids data from the individuals in the EU then parental consent is required to process the data. Even though your app startup may not be operating directly from any of the EU countries but your app processes and controls the data. This is sufficient for your app startup to comply with GDPR.

Regulatory

Some industries have regulatory requirements and your app may require approval from more than one regulatory body. For instance, if you’re building an app to teach restaurant workers how to handle food safely, it’ll need to be approved by the Department of Health and Safety. Make sure you understand the regulations surrounding your app’s core functions before you invest too much money and effort.

App Marketing

As an app entrepreneur, your job doesn’t stop with developing the app. The overall success of any startup lies in marketing the app and putting it before the audience. User acquisition and adoption help you with the user feedback to improve your app. Some of the basic marketing routines that you can follow for marketing your app are putting up a landing page, app store optimization, social media outreach, influencer marketing. Initially, the above activities can help you get traction. Read about other strategic ways by which you can use your existing app users to market your app.

Finding the right development team

If you are a non-technical founder and have been looking out for ways to find the right development agency, you are not alone. We have all been there, right?  There are multiple steps that you need to consider while finding the right development team for your app. Below are a few areas that you need to pay attention to,

• Competence and the capability of the team
• Clear Communication
• Character and attitude of the team

Conclusion

We believe the above pointers discussed must have given you a clear idea about the basic legal issues that app entrepreneurs can run into while developing the mobile app. Having known the basic legal issues now it’s time for you to seek a legal advisor’s help to get into the details of these legal issues. We wish you good luck in developing your app!

Pro tip: Now that you have identified the legal factors that might derail your app idea. You may also be interested in knowing the other factors like market need, business plan, time to market, requirement clarity, etc. At Appomate, we have put together all this as a package for you called “App Readiness Accelerator Kit”. Download it now!