I Have an App Idea. Now What?

You've got a brilliant app idea that could change the world—or at least make life a little easier. But without coding skills or a six-figure budget, turning that idea into reality feels impossible.

Adalo lets you build database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps — published to the App Store and Google Play — from a single no-code editor. With the right approach and tools, you can validate your idea and bring it to life without writing a single line of code.

And just as you start to imagine your new lifestyle as a Bezos-level billionaire, the real world starts asking some questions. Pesky questions like, “Well, how do you actually build an app?” If you’ve got years of experience as a programmer, you already know the answer. But if you’re like me and the other 99% of people who don’t know how to code, you’ve got a problem. Of course you could just hire a team of developers to build the app for you. That’ll cost you between $13k and $178k and take about seven months. That’s the kind of investment in time and money that most of us can’t afford to make, especially not on a whim.

Fortunately, there's another option. Platforms like Adalo, a no-code app builder for database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms, published to the Apple App Store and Google Play, are changing the game entirely. Instead of spending months and tens of thousands of dollars, you can build and test your app idea yourself, without writing a single line of code.

So, what do you do? Do you let your idea die? But what about changing the world? And what about that 30-foot yacht you were already making plans for? ;)

Fortunately, frameworks like The Lean Startup offer a path forward. Before you bet your life savings on the development costs for building your app, it’s a good idea to test the market to find out if other people really are interested in your idea. Surveys can go a long way towards making sure you’ve got the right idea. And their easier than ever with online tools like Google Forms, Airtable, and Typeform.

Surveys, though, can only get you so far. Henry Ford once famously said “If I had asked people what they wanted, I would have built a faster horse.” Ok, I’ll be honest here; this quote, though often used, is totally made up. But even though Ford never said this, the quote itself has become famous because it makes a clear point:

People have a hard time evaluating what they haven’t experienced yet.

Creating interactive mockups gets one step closer to solving this problem. Tools like UXPin, Adobe XD, Figma, and InVision are all great options for helping you actually show your idea to someone so that they can give you meaningful feedback. The problem, is though, that although these mockups may look real, at the end of the day they really aren’t. Even after you’ve spent hours building the perfect looking mockup, you still don’t have a functioning app you can test with your audience.

Luckily, your app idea couldn’t have come at a better time. There’s a new phenomenon dubbed “The Rise of No Code.” This trend is fueled by a new generation of tools designed to help you (yes, you) create an app without any coding at all. Fulfilling this vision is why my co-founders and I created the Adalo platform. Anyone with an app idea should be able to build the first version of their app themselves — quickly, and without knowing any code.

With Adalo, and tools like it, you can turn your shower idea into a real, working app that you can send to your friends in just a couple of hours. With something real they can try, you know you’ll be able to get worthwhile, actionable feedback. With that kind of feedback you can know whether you’ve got the next Instagram on your hands or if you dreams of becoming a billionaire will have to wait for the next shower idea to come along.

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