I want to build a mobile app, I’ve never built one before. My profession is a web developer so I have the necessary technical background to complete this project. Anything I don’t know I will be able to research and figure out online. I am confident Stack Overflow and other sites are just as friendly to app development as they are to web development.
The first question to ask myself is what app? What are some ideas that I have? In the brainstorming process quite a few candidates have circled through my head. In fact I’ve done so much brainstorming I’ve become indecisive and unproductive. The ideas aren’t anything innovative but here are the ones that I’ve mulled over:
- Dating app, simple interface to meet and connect individuals on a date
- Job posting and search app focused on software development
- App to support a smart device (this would also require engineering a smart device)
- Personal finance and budgeting app based on how I would conduct my own finances
- Stock app with portfolio and real-time stock quotes capabilities (but not actual trading)
- Simple to-do list (not saturated at all)
- The winner: An online marketplace for selling used goods
The idea is simple, an online marketplace app that allows users to post secondhand items for sale. They will be able to upload images and add titles and descriptions for their products. Buyers and sellers will be able to communicate through the app, but the actual transaction itself will happen outside of the app very much like how Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace currently operates. There will be a $100 maximum pricing limitation to regulate the types of products that get listed. On many of the current marketplaces sellers can list anything from old appliances, used cars, or even rent out entire rooms. I think that is excessive. This pricing limitation will keep 99% of all listings to items one would find at a local garage sale.
What will I name this app? This is a question that could take months on end to answer. I’ve tried so hard in the past to find the perfect name for my projects that by the time I figured something out, I lost interest and the project was a non-starter. But not this time. I came up with a name almost immediately. My app will be called Keep It 100. I love the name! It is straightforward and embodies a basic principle of the app, which is to keep your listings under $100. The phrase “keep it 100” is also slang for being authentic and real, a sentiment that is also very applicable to an online marketplace. It is settled, I have a name! I registered some domains for my project: keepit100app.com and keepit100.app. Oh and of course 100devnotes.com for all the notes that I will share as I go through the development process. Now I am all ready to move forward and begin the journey.