11 Tips for Mobile Software Development

More than 99 million smartphones shipped in just the first quarter of this year, says analyst firm IDC. Many of them are winding up in the hands of business users, including your employees and business partners. That trend means, sooner or later, you’ll have to develop smartphone apps. Here are 11 tips:

1. Track market shares.
It’s critical to keep up with trends in smartphone platforms, where the only constant is change. Sure, BlackBerry has long been synonymous with business, but it now lags both Android and Apple’s iOS in the race for market share, which affects what your company uses. In fact, Android is a case study in how quickly a platform’s fortunes can change: Between late 2009 and late 2010, Android’s market share grew 615 percent -- enough to leapfrog into first place, says analyst firm Canalys.