When I first heard about AppCooker I thought “ok cool another iPad mockup tool”. Ummm… not quite.
First let’s enumerate the problems entrepreneurs and developers often encounter in the app creation process:
- They don’t know, or neglect to make a plan for how to make money
- They do not understand the process of making an app and what makes a successful app
- They don’t know how to organize the flow of the functionality/mockups
What I love about App Cooker is they have taken a wholistic view of how to create an app. It’s not just a mockup tool it also include a bunch of other cool features to keep people from wasting enormous amounts of time and money on app ideas that suck or won’t make money.
Define. Describe. Refine.
This is an incredibly helpful place to start when you’re in the early phases of brainstorming your app idea. You’re first prompted to create a “Product Definition Statement” that clearly defines what the app does and who it is for.
Rarely do people create a PDS, and this is how app development gets out of control. If you can create a PDS, tape it to the wall, and design and develop around that single goal, you will be way ahead of 90% of app developers.
On the right column you are also prompted to think about 5 key areas that help you evaluate the potential for success:
- Idea
- Newness
- Ergonomy
- Graphics
- Interactivity
Based on your star ratings for these areas, the app gives you feedback on the feasibility of your app idea.
Is Your App Idea Cost Effective?
This is my favorite area of the app. They do a great job of helping you:
- define and track the costs of developing your app idea
- define monetization strategies
- calculate the profitability potential of the app
Store Submission Info
App Cooker does a great job of giving you tips within the app so that when you get ready to submit your app to Apple, you’re not left scrambling to define:
- your keywords
- app description
- store name
- categories it should live in
Mockup
The obvious feature App Cooker provides is a mockup tool, which is incredibly robust. Not only does it allow you to build out individual screens, it also allows you to arrange them to be navigable and to switch orientation.
Conclusion
AppCooker isn’t just a mockup app, it’s a business tool that anyone serious about making apps should have in their toolkit. In fact, you should pick it up now while it’s still at its $19.99 introductory price, (even though it is still worth the $50 they will eventually charge).
Let me know if you’ve found this review helpful in the comments below!
Discussion
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After reading your article I was very motivated to by the app, but reading the reviews on the AppStore, I’m no longer convinced… A lot of people complain the listed features are not all implemented, hence the 20$ start price. Apparently the developer is exposing this fact after the app is bought. I think it’s worth a read through the reviews before buying.
@francois I should have mentioned that in my review, although even as is I believe the app provides more then $19 worth of value. In fact, I think the app in its current state provides more than $50 worth of value just in the mockup section of the app.
I think this is a beautiful app in its own right. I bought it not just to do mockups, but to see graphically and operationally how they accomplished some of the tasks that many iOS apps need to do. So the $19 is worth it for me just for that.
Brendan
Want to win a promo code for App Cooker?
http://www.whatsoniphone.com/blogs/giveaway-win-app-cooker-and-design-apps-chef
This is a great app for focussing your mind on a new app idea
We found the intro on how to get going and use the tool harder to understand than a “hidden objects” game…what are we missing?
The app does have a lot of functionality packed in, and takes some exploring for sure. I’m sure the guys at AppCooker would appreciate any user experience feedback you have, just go here: http://www.appcooker.com/ and scroll to the bottom of the page and you can contact them. :)
Jen, relay it´s very nice APP and very powerful, what I can´t understand, if it´s for iPAD Mockup or for iPhone also.
Off curse the tapptics site is very useful and nice, i´m thinking to buy Download Kit and the cours no. one, just waiting use App Cooker to know what i´ll need from your site.
Thank´s.