Being familiar with all the tools that can help you effectively code your app is paramount to your app’s success. There are a gazillion tools out there for all sorts of purposes that come in handy a lot during development and streamline the whole app-building process, whether you have to brainstorm, plan, take notes, do development or test, deploy your application, or track it afterward.

With these tools at your disposal, you get to focus better on the core task. Top Native and Hybrid app development companies use a lot of tools to ease up the process, so let’s see how you can leverage these tools in your app development process. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the blog, starting with tools for brainstorming and planning.

Tools for Brainstorming

Before you jump into development, you have to brainstorm hard and pour through your fingers whatever is in mind so you don’t get stuck in between and the development process goes smoothly. Here, we have listed the top tools for brainstorming.

MindMeister

It is an online tool that comes in handy for mind mapping, on which you visualize your ideas, share them with others, and collaborate with them.

XMind

It is another mind-mapping tool that comes with some presets and templates to rinse your thoughts on, letting you do a wide array of tasks.

Tools for Time Management and Productivity

App building is quite a time-consuming and self-draining process, and if you linger and go loose, you will inevitably miss the deadlines. That is why it is important to keep checking on yourself.

PomoDone

It is a productivity tool developers use to track and keep checking in on their workflow so they remain productive throughout the day. This app is based on the Pomodoro Technique, which was introduced by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s and is quite popular for being quite productive and effective.

Want to know what it is? Here is how it works:

• You set a 25-minute sprint
• Then take a 5-minute break
• Then again, work for 25-minute
• After every four pomodoros, take a 15-to-30-minute-long break

This improves productivity and saves your brain from exhaustion.

RescueTime

RescueTime is another piece of software that you can use to keep checking on yourself. It measures your active computer time. You may ask, How does it do it? By taking into account your mouse and keyboard activity, if it detects there is inactivity, it starts a minute timer, and if it still finds no activity after 5 minutes, it subtracts 5 minutes from our record.

Tools for Note-Taking and Documentation

Throughout the process, you need to keep pouring and sharing your thoughts and ideas that may help your team complete the task more efficiently.

Evernote

Self-explanatory from the name, an app that lets you save ideas, create to-do lists, write articles, and do many other tasks.

Microsoft OneNote

Developed by Microsoft, a note-taking app that lets you create text, handwritten, and multimedia notes.

Notion

Another quite popular note-taking application gives you the freedom to do a wide range of things, such as make to-do lists, write articles, create calendars, write a thesis, etc.

Tools for Collaborative Whiteboards

Whiteboard evokes old school-day memories of when we would be taught on whiteboards; today, we use them to brainstorm and for quite a multitude of tasks. Here are the top two collaborative whiteboard applications.

Miro

Miro is a collaborative whiteboard tool that lets teams come up together and do things beyond just brainstorming, like plan, strategize, do UX research, visualize ideas together, and a lot more things.

Microsoft Whiteboard

Another collaborative whiteboard tool that lets teams working remotely plan, visualize, think, and make strategies together.

Tool for Project Management and Planning

It becomes quite paramount to keep checking on a project so it is not delayed and is completed on time. Here is a collaborative tool you can use to track the performance of your team and the progression of the project.

Trello

Trello is a project management tool that you must have studied at college if you haven’t. It is quite popular among project managers to plan and manage on cards, boards, and lists. It is quite intuitive and gives you the liberty to customize your workboard as you prefer.

This is quite a favorite tool of any Native or Hybrid App Development company.

Tools for Development Stage

• Integrated Development Environment: Though there are many IDEs there, choose the most robust one. If it is an Android app, then go for Android Studio, or if it is an iOS app, then Xcode. You could streamline the development process. During development, you can use extensions and shortcuts to reduce redundancy.

Other popular IDEs

• Visual Studio
• Eclipse
• NetBeans
• IntelliJ IDEA
• Cloud9 IDE
• Xcode
• Android Studio
• GeneXus
• WebStorm
• Rider
• Qt Creator
• Eclipse Che
• Lazarus
• Apache Cordova

Based on what kind of app you are making, you can choose one of them.

• Version Control: Using Git along with either Github or Bitbucket can help you collaboratively manage and track versions and work together.
• Prototyping or Blueprinting Tools: You can use tools like Sketch, Adobe XD, or InVision to make prototypes,i.e., wireframes, to visualize how your app’s UI will look and how users will interact.

Tools for Testing and Quality Assurance

• Emulators/Simulators: Looking for tools for testing and quality assurance? No worries, you can leverage built-in emulators (Android Emulator, iOS Simulator) for basic testing and simulation of real devices or cloud-based solutions (like AWS Device Farm and Firebase Test Lab) for more comprehensive device testing.
• Bug Tracking: Want to track bugs and fix them on the spot? Well, there are many tools out in the market, like Jira, Bugzilla, or Trello, that you can use to track and manage the reported issues and bugs, letting you have effective communication within your core development team.

Analytics and User Feedback

• Analytics Tools: Want to track how your app is performing? To track your app performance, you can integrate platforms like Google Analytics, Firebase Analytics, or Flurry Analytics to collect data on user behavior, app usage, and performance metrics, make future strategies, and act accordingly.

Marketing and User Acquisition

• App Store Optimization (ASO): Use tools like Sensor Tower, Mobile Action, or App Annie to optimize your app’s keywords, description, and visuals for better discoverability on app stores.
• User Acquisition: On platforms like Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and Twitter Ads, you can run targeted ad campaigns to reach prospects and potential users and drive app downloads. 

Monetization

• Ad Networks: Want to make money off your app? Integrate ad networks like Google AdMob, Facebook Audience Network, or Unity Ads to display ads in your app and generate revenue through user interactions and their impressions.

Performance Monitoring and Optimization

• Crash Reporting: You can integrate crash reporting tools like Crashlytics or Sentry to monitor and diagnose app crashes in real time. It allows you to fix issues promptly.

Conclusion

With the help of tools, you can streamline the whole app-building process by staying productive throughout the journey. These and other tools help you focus better on the core task, the app, while automating or sidelining redundant tasks.

Choosing the right combination of these tools and keeping in mind your app’s specific requirements and your target audience can substantially increase your app’s chances of success in the app stores, where over 1,500 apps are released every day. And if you find the whole process quite overwhelming and still want an app, well, fret not; you can hire any Native or Hybrid app development company or Laravel development company for your app.