iOS App development is interesting and challenging both at the same time. It requires a creative bent of mind and a technical edge as well. Every project that an iOS App Development company works on is different. Therefore the process involved also differs from project to project.
However, when it comes to tools, you will find every programmer have his own list of tools and resources. When you hire iphone programmer, you can ask them straight the website and tools they frequently use for the development purpose. The tools and website they refer will give you a good idea of the kind of programmer they are.
Using the right tools and consulting right websites for ios app development, will help in planning and brainstorming, establish clear communication of ideas and help resolve technical troubles to build mind-blowing animations.
Over a decade of experience in iOS App Development has helped us come up with a list of 11 Useful Websites and Best Tools for iOS App Developers that every developer needs to know. These resources are indispensable and can help you fasten the workflow and execute the right design decisions.
Here are 11 Useful Websites and Best Tools for iOS App Developers:
1. The Marvel app
Top in our list is the Marvel App. The tool converts raw sketches on paper into engaging, tappable prototypes making it easy for you to give a demo to your clients. This is good to demonstrate an app idea and collect app feedback. Since it works with .psd files, you don’t have to sweat hours converting designs.
The Marvel app provides the most realistic prototyping experience. The tool offers custom animations and fading between screens. This being an interactive tool, it allows designers to import from Sketch and build prototypes of app interactions, animations, and transitions, which you forward to clients or other stakeholders.
2. Proto.io
This is a perfect tool to create highly engaging prototypes with the look and feel similar to the mobile apps you are developing. You can use the tool for testing your prototype designs on multiple devices.
Proto.io has a gripping feature wherein there are actions which add to the efficiency of the application. Other fascinating features include Dropbox sync, Adaptive UI libraries, Material Design UI Library, and Offline mode.
The tool gives you the option to create swift screen transitions, make orientation changes or touch gestures. You can even test each prototype on any device including iPhone, iPad or Android. Proto.io was initially intended only for mobile apps, but it found its markets in other emerging internet-connected devices such as smart TVs, refrigerators, alarm clocks. Developers are using it even for development for gaming devices and Google Android Wear.
3.HotGloo
It’s a highly robust wireframe UX prototyping tool that provides you the ability to prototype any type of mobile application that needs a particular user interface. HotGloo is developed with extraordinary interactive features, making it possible for more than one app designer to collaborate on a single app wireframing project.
Using this tool you can work on your wireframing project from anywhere, anytime around the clock. It also eliminates the barrier of the browser or operating system you are using.
4.UXPin
It’s an intensive wireframing and prototyping web tool that allows drag and drops synchronization with Photoshop and Sketch. UXPin systematizes the workflow keeping all the layers of the design intact. The simple interface and built-in features allow the programmer to assimilate design and create highly interactive wireframes and prototypes.
UXPin also comes with usability testing to execute design decisions to help you perform tasks, count the users, track their clicks and publish results to the team. It has a dynamic toolkit that comes with various design elements and patterns to help you create brilliant designs from scratch. UXPin comes with UI libraries with several ready-made features including bootstrap elements.
You can use the drag and drop interface of UXPin to build wireframes and prototypes compatible with multiple devices and optimized for a range of screen sizes and resolutions. It also has an intuitive commenting system for real-time joint editing and easy-to-share previews.
5.JustInMind
This is another excellent prototyping tool. You can use it for better and faster prototyping for websites and mobile apps. The best part about JustInMind is that you can download it on your computer and work offline. You can use the tool to design self-explanatory wireframes and receive feedback instantly.
It comes with superb widget library that you can use to enter HTML, videos, interactive maps, online widgets, docs, and online/offline content. JustInMind allows you to easily add elements from UI libraries and build Master pages easily. The tool allows you to conveniently share mobile prototypes with other team members. You can also conduct testing on your smartphone.
6. POP
POP App or Prototyping on paper is an excellent tool to develop a working prototype compatible with your Android device. It is the best tool for mobile prototyping. It also makes the transition from paper to digital prototyping extremely easy.
To develop a prototype with POP, you only need to take pictures of your sketches and upload them to POP. You can even upload .psd files to Adobe Creative Cloud. From here things are as simple as shifting between views, gestures, and interactions. Since POP is integrated with Dropbox, you won’t find any trouble sharing your work with team or stakeholders.
What differentiates POP app from other tools out there is its ability to work with the images of your hand-drawn app sketches and connects them together onto your mobile. POP eliminates any visual constraint in the app, making your drawn prototype compatible with any device.
7.Axure
Axure is the wireframing tool which is a zero coding platform. It consists of all the documentation tools that you needed to pass the design choices and document the layouts. It comes in Standard edition and the Pro edition which has few extra collaboration and documentation elements.
It is the largest application devised for advanced prototyping solutions. If speed is what matters to you, Axure can help you quickly form prototypes of responsive websites and mobile applications. You can do a lot of activities with Axure such as you can add interactions, make Master pages and pick from ready-made elements and patterns from the Widget libraries.
You can also import images, gradients, add colors and maneuver the transparency of each object. Axure version 7 supports excellent framework which has unique web fonts, string functions, events, and convertible prototypes.
8.MockPlus
MockPlus is powerful and clean prototyping tools compared to others. It is a code-free and easy-to-follow mockup tool. You can create or link interactive pages and components by simple drag-and-drop option.
It comes bundled with 3000 UI icons and 200 components that resemble Android, iOS and PC programs. Using simple drag-and-drop option you can build interactions. There are several previews to test out your prototypes. It is also an excellent tool when it comes to efficiency and simplicity. You can export and share prototypes on mobile devices via simple export options.
The collaboration features make your teamwork as time-efficient as possible. It’s a major new update in MockPlus 3 and includes group project, online review, collaborative design, and other features.
9.Zeplin
It’s basically a plugin and web app that is compatible only with Sketch. You can use it to combine all the attributes of the shortlisted elements into a collective specifications sheet. Zeplin helps to clearly establish the handoff between the design and developer teams. Using this app, you can frame interactive specification sheets. When you use Zeplin, you don’t have to wait until the end of the design process in order to hand over the specs to the developers.
Zeplin allows you to introduce the developers to the process much earlier. Still, all the iterations can be done as per the need. Zeplin can significantly cut down the speccing time and, enhance the overall app speccing process.
10. Sketch
This is a very lightweight MacOS based UI tool. Even though Photoshop has been a personal favorite to many designers, some have made a switch to Sketch and for a good reason. Sketch possesses similarity to Photoshop, however, it is more focused on UI/UX design. This super graphic design tool is powerful and comes with a wide range of features to bring out professional results. Some of its features include infinite zooming, 2x export, and styled vector shapes. It has an ‘Export All’ feature and since it is vector-based, there should be no problem with anyone exporting PDF, JPG, and PNG files.
Normally many app designers require 3 different tools for 3 purposes. They need Omnigraffle for wireframing, Illustrator for vector logos and Photoshop for visual design. When you use Sketch, one app fulfills all your needs and help you achieve overall productivity with no wastage of time.
11.Xojo
It offers one of the fastest ways to build native iOS Apps. Xojo is a cross-platform app development platform. You can deploy the resulting app on Windows, MacOS or any other operating system.
Xojo provides drag and drop tools which you can use to instantly and intuitively assemble a beautifully designed interface. The rich framework of Xojo provides straight out the box tool to seamlessly integrate graphics, internet protocols and more.
Xojo comes with a well-stocked library of help to get the beginners started smoothly. There are enough example projects, videos, and documents to learn Xojo.
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