UI Design – Tools for Designing A Mobile App

ByBuildinary's Editorial Team

UI Design – Tools for Designing A Mobile App

We live in an app-driven world. Consider how many mobile apps you use daily. According to eMarketer, the average US adult spent about 3 hours and 25 minutes on apps daily in 2018, and that time is expected to increase by 11 minutes this year. Apps account for up to 90% of the time spent on mobile devices. But what does this mean? Well, apps have essentially become the place we hang out virtually on our smartphones and tablets.

As a developer, if you want users to spend time on your app, you need to focus on creating a captivating user interface (UI). Thankfully, there are many app design tools out there that make the process easier. In this article, we’ll look at some of the best app UI design software out there.

Tools for Android UI Design

Adobe Experience Design (XD): Adobe XD was built for Android and Microsoft Windows 10. The app allows you to bring your app idea to life by creating a wireframe and a prototype. It is incredibly easy to use.

You can do a lot of things with Adobe XD. The tool shows you how your app will look on different screen sizes and allows you to adjust your design to suit these platforms. You can use Adobe XD to animate your design, create voice commands as well as add plugins and integrate other apps. Adobe XD is the perfect tool to breathe life into your app idea – from creating a basic layout to designing a full prototype.

Android Studio: This is one of the UI designing tools provided on the official Android platform. As you can imagine, Android Studio is used to create Android apps. However, you can run it on Windows, Mac or Linux.

You can use Android Studio to create a layout of your app and preview how it will look on different screen sizes. It comes with many other features including an APK analyzer, a code editor, an emulator (which can be integrated with Google’s ARCore platform) and much more. Android Studio provides all the tools that you need to make programming your mobile app UI. However, you need some programming knowledge to be able to use this tool.

Mockplus: This is another excellent app for designing your mobile app UI. It is designed to allow you to create an app mockup with ease. You can use this tool to develop both Android and iOS apps.

Mockplus is easy to use. It has a drag-and-drop design. There are thousands of icons and up to 200 components to choose from. It also supports fast testing. You just need to scan a QR code to test this app on your native device. Although this tool has a short learning curve, it comes with a lot of advanced features that give you control over the UI of your app.

Tools for iOS UI Design

Sketch: This popular tool allows you to design the UI of your iOS app and create a prototype. Sketch is a lightweight tool with simple functionality. You can export the codes and preset design of your app to another platform. While it does not support photo editing, it provides just about everything else that you need to get your app idea off the ground. You can add animations, choose from hundreds of plugins and bring your prototype to life with Sketch. This tool does not only allow you to create a basic prototype but an interactive one with proper content. You can even export your prototype to clients straight from the Sketch platform.

Proto.io: This is an iOS UI design tool, and it also works on Android. Proto.io was designed to allow you to create a high-fidelity prototype of your app. You do not need any coding experience to use it.

Proto.io is the right tool to take your app idea from the early stages to a clickable prototype. It can be used to develop apps for different platforms; from smartwatches and phones to desktops. It has a drag-and-drop design and a vast UI library to get you started. This tool supports animation. You can sync your work to Dropbox or Google Drive and even send it to your device for realistic testing. You can also share the app with colleagues and clients. Proto.io is one of the best tools for working out the UI ideas for your app and testing it.

Conclusion

There are many equally good UI designing tools out there. However, these are some of the most popular. Here are a few things to keep in mind before you start working on the UI design of your mobile app.

1. Take the time to develop the idea of your mobile app before you start building it.
2. The UI of your app must have a consistent structure and user-friendly design.
3. Take the time to test your app UI thoroughly before you release it.