Now that smartphones dominate our lives, everyone is trying to come up with an idea. Even if you have an amazing new idea for an app, the chances are that you don't know how to make one. With these five steps you can take your app idea and make it reality and a business.

Create A Plan

The first step to making any mobile app is to create a solid plan. You are going to want to have an idea of how you are going to handle each step. The best way to start is to write all of your ideas down on a piece of paper and then connect them.

If you have the time to do so you should research app marketing and planning. There are many books, websites, and courses that can give you detailed information on where to start. But for those who want to skip that part, take each step listed here and write out how you plan to accomplish each step. Read it over and see if it sounds feasible to you. See if it sounds feasible to a friend too.

Learn A Language or Find a Maker

There are two different ways that you can make an app. The more complicated method is to learn the programing language that goes with the type of phone you want to make your app available for. The easier choice is to make is to use an app maker.

Programming languages can be learned from a variety of sources whether it be a course or an app or a website. Apps for Apple use a different language than those for android so you will need to learn two different languages if you want to program for both devices. Often times big companies will have two different development teams for the two different systems.

An app maker is a website or program that allows you to make apps without knowing a programming language. Instead of coding you make apps using a graphic user interface that allows for dragging and dropping. Somewhat like the process of using Dreamweaver to create websites. Unfortunately, many app makers cost a lot of money to be able to produce an app all the way through.

Test Your App

Testing any app that you make is important. You want to make sure that all features work the way that they should. Users who end up with a broken app aren't typically happy and will delete it. They are also likely to rate your app negatively.

Having other people test your app also gives you a way to test it out on a variety of different platforms. There are different models of the iPhone out there and many different Android phones from a variety of manufacturer. You never know when an app will work on one phone but not the other.

Launch Your App

Launching your app can be done through an app maker if you use one. It makes it super simple. All you need to do is give the app maker your development account info. This makes it easy to upload to both the App Store and Google Play at the same time. If you upload your app yourself you will have to do it via one store at a time.

The process of launching an app is more than just posting it on the store though. You also need to advertise your app and what it can do for those who would be interested in downloading it. You can purchase in app advertisements from a service, post your app to the internet, and send free copies to tech reviewers. There are a lot of different ways to get your app the notice it needs to succeed.

Maintain Your App

Your app isn't done when it launches. You need to maintain it as time goes on to make sure it will work with new updates. You also want to make sure that it will work with new phones that come out. This will allow you to maintain a strong customer base that won't go away with time.

Adding new features to your app as technology develops and you develop can also help you get more downloads. You can also add in app purchases to continue to make money from the app even long after you originally launch the app.

Maintaining your app comes down to keeping your customers happy.