Why build an app with an app template?

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On March 31, 2014

appsWhat’s an app template, and why build your app with one? Apps are very new, and until recently most apps are have been built completely ‘custom’. There aren’t any established CMS’s for apps, and they have to be developed natively (i.e. using native code to that platform) to get a great performance, and often require a complex API. Whereas websites have lots of great template tools to quickly and efficiently create great sites.  Tools like WordPress and CMS frameworks like Magento and Joomla. Now there is a way to significantly reduce the time and cost of building awesome native phone apps, with app templates from the likes of MyAppTemplates.

Starting with a quality app template instead of a blank screen when developing an app for iPhone or Android is efficient in 2 ways.  Firstly, the design is already done.  And with some the available templates out there (again MyAppTemplates is a good example) you get high quality designs and UX. You get the layered PSD files too so you can customise them easily in Photoshop, and add custom design elements into your app’s UI.

Secondly, starting your app with an app template gives you high quality, modern, native code base to build your app.  Native code (Objective-C for iOS and Java for Android) is so important. What’s the difference I hear you ask?  A native app is built using the device’s OS’s language, and utilises the device’s hardware to run.  Non-native code, like HTML5 or Phonegap for example use server calls to run that app.  So responding to touch can be laggy. Native is crisp. Good templates are all coded in quality native code, and will build on your device as soon as you get them.  Then you just need to code in the features you want, and add a backend or API if it is needed.  It’s a massive headstart to building your app.

And the best part about the efficiency of developing with an app template is it costs way less!  It can still vary in cost depending on the features in the app, but starting with a template will save you literally thousands of dollars in design costs and development, compared to starting from scratch. Awesome, right?