is it hard to make an app ?

[Andrei Saioc]

“Is it hard to make an app?” is one of those questions where the honest answer is: it depends what you mean by “make an app.” If you’re talking about a simple to-do list or a quote generator, that’s very doable today, even for beginners. If you’re imagining the next TikTok, Uber, or Instagram, that’s a completely different universe in terms of complexity, budget, and skills.

On the easiest end of the spectrum, basic apps aren’t that scary anymore. There are drag-and-drop builders, templates, and no-code tools that let you create simple mobile or web apps without writing much code at all. You still need some patience and the ability to think logically, but you don’t have to reinvent all the technical stuff. For internal tools, prototypes, or very simple products, these platforms can get you a working app surprisingly fast.

Things start getting harder when you want something custom and polished. A real-world app usually needs at least a few pieces working together:

• A user interface that looks good and works on different devices

• A backend (server, database, API) to store data safely

• Authentication (logins, passwords, maybe social login)

• Notifications, payments, analytics, and so on

None of these parts are impossible to learn, but they stack up. You’re not just building screens; you’re designing how the whole system behaves when real humans use it, sometimes in very weird ways.

Another layer of difficulty is platform choice. Do you want native iOS and Android apps, a cross-platform app built with something like Flutter or React Native, or a mobile-friendly web app? Each option has trade-offs in performance, cost, and learning curve. Native apps give you more control and a “super smooth” feel, but you have to build and maintain two codebases. Cross-platform tools are more efficient but add their own quirks. Even this decision alone can feel like a mini research project.

Then there’s the part nobody talks about at first: making the app usable and pleasant. Writing code that “runs” is one thing; shipping an app people actually enjoy is another. You need to think about:

• How quickly new users understand what to do

• How many taps it takes to complete a task

• What happens when the internet connection is bad

• How the app behaves when something breaks

A lot of the difficulty comes not from programming itself, but from all these practical details you only notice when you put the app in someone else’s hands.

If you’re building solo, there’s also the mental load of wearing every hat at once. You’re the designer, developer, tester, product manager, sometimes marketer too. That can be fun, but it can also be overwhelming. The more ambitious your app idea, the more you’ll need to either learn multiple disciplines or get help from other people.

The good news is that app development is very “learnable.” You don’t have to be a genius; you just need consistency and realistic expectations. Start small: a simple notes app, a habit tracker, a basic quiz. Every tiny project teaches you something—how to work with buttons, how to save data, how to debug when things go wrong. Over time, those skills compound, and what looked impossible at the beginning becomes routine.

So, is it hard to make an app?

• A basic app? Not really, especially with modern tools.

• A polished, scalable, money-making product? Yes, that’s hard. But it’s also a step-by-step process, not magic.

If you’re curious about building apps, don’t start by trying to clone a billion-dollar startup. Start by shipping something tiny that works. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have a much clearer answer to your own question—and it will probably be, “It’s not easy, but it’s definitely possible.”

[Author]

Posts