#6 Launching a mobile app without developers with ChatGPT

I recently embarked on a little experiment—a side project that turned into a case study in innovation. You see, I've always preached a simple mantra within my team: fall in love with the problem, not the solution. A lot of people often lose sight of this. I decided to heed my own advice and tackle a gap I spotted in the mobile app ecosystem—Leadership tools. Many offerings are subpar at best, so I rolled up my sleeves and decided to create one.?

The thing is, I’ve been a Backend Dev, a Product Manager, and a CEO, but I never really made mobile apps myself. What if I told you that, even without prior experience in mobile development, I managed to bring an app from conception to prototype in under two months? All thanks to a fusion of AI and modern development tools—with a bit of elbow grease, of course.

The process was fascinating. Let me walk you through this step-by-step adventure.

Step 1: Ideation

Before anything else, find a problem worth solving. It was the lack of quality leadership advice & tools in the form of mobile apps, which help you on a daily basis. There were many, but none that hit the mark. Once you've fallen in love with a problem, you're ready to craft a solution. It’s quite a topic, and I will explore the “how”s and “why”s in the next article.

Step 2: Choose the right tools

With the goal clear, the next step is gathering your toolkit. Here's what I used:

• ChatGPT (kudos to OpenAI ): specifically, the paid GPT-4 version ($20/mo), as it generates better code. I’ve made some GPT-3 prompts that generally worked, but the paid version is just so much better. It’s a fantastic choice if you’re unsure where to start, need to debug, or general directions to your target.
• Cross-platform framework: Ionic for JavaScript development across iOS, Android, and Web. Angular came to be my choice, but React and others are good contenders.
• Native API access: Capacitor.js (from Ionic) to interact with native device features.
• Xcode: To build iOS applications. You can download the latest version from the Mac App Store.
• IDE: Visual Studio Code with extensions like Ionic (for tests and builds).

Do note: ChatGPT comes with a bunch of restrictions (which keep changing as the platform evolves), namely:

1. The current data cutoff date is April 2022, which means ChatGPT has little idea of the latest changes in iOS/Ionic/Angular APIs.
2. The number of messages you can receive in one session also changes all the time. You’ll likely be able to chat for a couple of hours until ChatGPT forces you to take a 30-minute break. It’s awful when you’re “coding” at midnight and waiting for the next prompt and answer.
3. ChatGPT is quite slow during code generation, and getting the right answer might take a while. Worth the wait, naturally, and quite soon GPT-4 Turbo will solve this.
4. You get to see code snippets, not the entire code of the app. That is due to context size and the general token algorithm behind ChatGPT. The paid version, GPT-4, currently has 8k tokens available in a single conversation. As soon as the token limit is reached (i.e. enough information was given by the user and processed by the system), ChatGPT will start to forget stuff. Yeah.
5. ChatGPT can be somewhat imprecise with code, especially if it's complex. However, it’s still much better than coding completely on your own—the chatbot does help you learn quite fast.

Step 3: Develop that app!

Now, onto the creation phase. Try something like this, if you want to follow my example:

Familiarize yourself by understanding the framework. If you're new, don't fret. There's plenty of documentation and community support to guide you. There is a learning curve to everything, naturally, but it’s worth it.

Build a prototype using ChatGPT code. Ask for snippets of code or solutions to specific problems you encounter. This AI isn't just a coder; it's a tutor. Keep that in mind at all times.

The beauty of Ionic and similar frameworks is the ability to test your changes on the fly, right within your browser. Try new changes as you get a new code snippet, and see where it brings you and how it works.?

Capacitor.js comes in handy when you need to incorporate native device features like push notifications or accessing the camera. You’ll probably need all these, too.

Xcode will be your go-to for compiling iOS apps. VS Code and its extensions offer an invaluable space for writing, testing, and debugging code. You’ll probably deal with a lot of these as well.

Here’s a custom chat I’ve made to help you get started, with all the right prompts in there already.?

Of course, debugging is just as easy to do as well. Say you get this: Error: src/app/pages/affirmations/affirmations.page.ts:15:5 - error TS2322

My feelings when it works:

By the way, I created a special version of GPT specifically for this purpose, named App Engineer Pro:

Step 4: Test and iterate

What's incredible is the immediacy of testing changes.?

You can see the evolution of your app in real-time, right in the browser – until, of course, you need to dive into the native APIs of iOS or Android. When the time comes to compile an iOS build, you'll need an Apple developer account, which comes with a fee and a waiting period.

But here's where it gets even more exciting—the app not only materialized but began to embody the very principles I wanted to promote. It offers daily leadership affirmations and quotes right on your lock screen, with my wife curating the content—a family endeavor that added a personal touch to the app's purpose. Users can mark the insights as relevant and personalize their experience.

To test your app on a real device without an Apple Developer Account, use Ionic's Browser Nexus for simulation and iron out any bugs. Testflight will help you share beta versions with testers before the release—you can find it in your Apple Dev Account in App Store Connect. That way, you can easily test native iOS APIs such as vibration, haptic feedback, notifications, and other stuff.

Step 5: Prepare to launch

You're almost there.

• Apple Developer Account: If you're aiming for the App Store, sign up for an Apple Developer account. It's an investment that paves the way for your app's future, at a mere cost of $99. You’ll need it for all the iOS APIs, like widgets, icons, app actions, and many others.
• Content curation: Populate your app with quality content. In my case, leadership quotes and affirmations curated by my partner Svetlana Sharifulina, PhD gave the app its soul. ChatGPT can also help you out here with content. Here’s our favorite prompt: “Please rephrase this text and present 5 options; the goal is to motivate users to take action.”

Step 6: Launch and scale

Launch your app and monitor its performance closely. Use data and user feedback to grow and adapt your product to serve your audience better. You know, review management is something that never gets old.

So, during this three-month journey, I designed a tool that encapsulates the essence of effective leadership—The Leadership App. With over 3,000 affirmations and 300 quotes, it’s intended for leaders eager to refine their skills. This app delivers daily affirmations from notable CEOs across 30+ leadership categories. Users can personalize their experience, selecting categories that resonate with their journey and sharing their discoveries with peers to foster a collective growth mindset.

As for myself, I’ve learned:

• Angular and Typescript skills
• Good understanding of Hybrid app development
• Swift widget frameworks
• Plugin debugging (sounds like a nice name for an alt-rock band)
• App builds
• App beta testing
• App costs: $99 (Developer account), $20 (ChatGPT Plus, multiplied by 3 months of use), $10 (Per domain, it's needed for the Support form and Privacy policy page). $179 in total.

?

Again, all within three months—just in my spare time. If you ever wanted to try and launch an app yourself but never had the required skills, fret not. You’ve got it. Go ahead and try, like I did!

This journey in leadership is not just about personal growth—it's a transformational path that redefines what it means to guide. You can check out the Leadership App: Motivation in the App Store. Thanks to Ionic, the Android version is coming soon too.

Reflections

What our journey teaches is that the barrier to app creation has lowered—a lot. With openly available tools, you can bridge the gap between an idea and a product in a way that was unimaginable a decade ago.

I learned that you don't need to be a seasoned developer to bring an app to life. With some curiosity, a little bit of investment, and the right problem to solve, you can create something valuable. To all aspiring app creators out there—dive in; the water's just fine.

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Any questions? Let's discuss. Thanks!