Project Idea #9 - Mobile Apps
Start your App Development journey with simple App ideas
Welcome to the 9th post in the Fun Weekend Projects series - where I share cool project ideas that you can build over a weekend. These projects are a great way for you to improve your coding skills while having fun in the process.
I had this itch to build mobile apps for the past 10 years. Working as a backend engineer, I never got the chance to try it before. Since starting this newsletter, I’ve been building projects I’m passionate about and I’m excited to share that I’ve finally built and released my first mobile app (hopefully the first of many). Please check it out and provide feedback: Android | iOS
I have been working on building mobile apps for Devterms.ai for the past month. What I realised is that building basic minimalistic apps is easy. There are good frameworks like Flutter and Expo to build cross platform apps. However, me being a first-time app developer, I found the process of publishing and releasing the apps on App Store/Play Store more challenging.
You can easily start your journey into app development by building simple apps. Some of these can easily turn into small side-projects that can earn some revenue for you. Here are a few project ideas that you can try:
FIRE Calculator: Help users plan for Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE) by saving their investment details and tracking their income and expenses. It can also send motivational messages when users hit milestones or savings goals. Think of it as a budget manager with a focus on achieving financial independence.
Flashcards App: Pickup any niche and create a flashcards app for it. Your topic can be anything like language, sports, movies, or any area of interest. Include all key terms and explanations in the niche to make it valuable for new learners. For example, you could create a language translator app specifically for travellers. Include basic terms/phrases that can be used to interact with locals while travelling to a new country. (By the way, Devterms.ai can be seen as a flashcard app)
Word Games: Pick any word game that you or your friends love playing. Turn it into a mobile app. For inspiration, the popular Wordle game was built by Josh Wardle to play with his wife. It became a massive success and got sold for 7-figure sum.
Pub/Restaurant Checker: An app for pub and restaurant enthusiasts to track and plan their culinary adventures. Have custom lists like best pizza/taco places. Add social features, to compare with friends. For simplicity, you can build this app for just your city.
Here are some additional pointers to keep in mind:
Follow Your Passion: Choose a problem or niche that genuinely excites you. This passion will drive you throughout the development process.
Start Small and Iterate: Begin with a basic, functional version and gradually add new features based on the user feedback. Aiming to build a feature-rich app from the start will be overwhelming.
Most importantly, have fun! Building mobile apps should be an enjoyable experience.
The key is to begin, learn from the process, and keep improving. Who knows? Your simple side project might just be the next big thing.