Mobile Apps Ideas and What you need to make them

The total revenue for mobile apps in 2022 is projected at $420.70 billion. It is projected that mobile apps will have a market volume of $542.80 billion by 2026 (Statista). This has been driven by the availability and easy access to smartphones.

Mobile apps are used for entertainment, communication, transportation, banking, sports, education, productivity, planning, socialization, simulations, healthcare, business transactions, and many other things that are important to make our lives better.

There are many businesses and startups that build their product around mobile apps, but coming up with ideas for mobile apps is not as easy as it seems. Mobile apps that attract the attention of users are those that solve their problems.

We are going to look at ideas for mobile apps and everything you need to develop them, including tips on how to monetize them. Developing mobile apps will help you to sharpen your development skills and form a new stream of income.

We are going to group these ideas into different categories to make it easy to find the category of your interest, let us get started.

EDUCATIONAL MOBILE APP IDEAS

• REVISION APP

You can make an app that students can use for revisions. You can choose whatever subjects you are comfortable with and come up with questions, answers, explanations, past exam questions, and short notes. You can also add videos that explain different topics.

As an example, you can look at the app I made for students to help them in revising biology – BIOLOGY REVISION. It is simple and straightforward, yet very effective in helping students.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a backend infrastructure for your questions, answers, videos, notes, and any other dynamic content that you would want to add to your app. To make it inexpensive, you can use shared hosting like Inmotion hosting or use a backend as a service like Firebase.

MONETIZATION: you can monetize this app in many ways, you can use google AdMob for in-app ads or use a subscription model. Admob is very easy to work with but you need a lot of users to make a significant income.

Subscription is a great monetizing model but you need to make sure your app provides great value for users. You can also add affiliate products that are helpful to students.

• TEACHER CLASSROOM APP

Managing the classroom can be tedious, you can make an app that helps teachers to manage the classroom, you can add features such as student register, quizzes and tests preparation, student information and performance, class timetable, etc. you can also talk to teachers to get their challenges and add them as features.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a backend system to handle all the dynamic data and student information. I found shared hosting to be inexpensive and easy to use. You can use firebase to make it easy and quick to develop.

MONETIZATION: the best way to earn from this app it to sell directly to teachers.

• MATH SOLVING APP

Math is a huge challenge for many students around the world. Making an app that helps students to solve math problems would help a lot of students. You develop algorithms and use machine learning to solve some of the problems automatically for students and show the step-by-step process of how it was solved.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need to be good with Algorithms, math, and machine learning. You also need a backend for dynamic content. Using Firebase would be inexpensive, you can also use AWS

MONETIZING: using Admob in-app ads would be a great way to monetize this app, if you gain a lot of users, you will be able to get a lot of income from ads.

• LIVE ONLINE CLASSES APP

The Covid-19 pandemic taught us how important live online classes are. We have no idea what will come in the future and it may be possible that we may be required to stay at home again someday. Live online classes help to continue learning even in the comfort of your home.

WHAT YOU NEED: you need a very good backend system that is capable of real-time communication. Using AWS is the best option for such an application.

MONETIZATION: The Subscription model is the best way to monetize this app.

• STUDENT MEETUPS APP

Some students love working in groups to solve different challenges. You can develop an app that helps students to meet depending on their subject of interest.

WHAT YOU NEED: a backend system for dynamic data, maps integration for pinning places, and you can also provide some materials on different subjects to spark the discussion. You also need hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION: using Admob in-app ads would be a great way to monetize this app, if you gain a lot of users, you will be able to get a lot of income from ads. Affiliate products with an orientation toward students would also be a great monetization method.

• NOTE-TAKING APP

An app that can help students to take notes and share them can be very resourceful. You can add features to turn voice to text and text to pdf, a share functionality, and an algorithm to summarize notes into easy-to-digest points.

WHAT YOU NEED: you need a good understanding of algorithms, a backend for dynamic data, and hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION: you can use a combination of in-app ads, in-app purchases as app add-ons, and affiliate products.

• LANGUAGE LEARNING APP

There are many schools that have language classes as electives for their students. You can make an app that helps students to learn and understand a new language. It can have features on reading, pronunciations, translation, conversations, cultures, history, etc.

WHAT YOU NEED: you will need a backend system for dynamic data, algorithms, or APIs for translations, speech to text, text to speech, and hosting for your backend technologies.

MONETIZATION: you can use a combination of in-app ads and a freemium model.

• COLLEGE PREP APP

Preparing for college is not easy, you need to know the options available to you, the programs to study, and more. Thus, you can make an app that helps high school graduates adequately prepare for college.

You can add features on scholarships, programs of study, mental preparation, material preparations, and more. This app can help to make many high school graduates be ready for college.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a backend for dynamic content, familiarity with college programs and enrolment processes, and hosting for your backend stack.

MONETIZATION: you can use a combination of in-app ads and scholarship affiliate programs.

• TUTOR MARKETPLACE APP

You can make an app that brings together tutors in many different fields to meet students who need tutoring services. Many tutors can register their services that students can buy or enroll in their tutoring services.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a good backend system for all the dynamic content and registration of tutors, you also need good hosting for your backend. AWS will do the job.

MONETIZATION: The best way to monetize this app is through transactional charges. Each time a service has been bought by a student, you get a small amount as commission.

HEALTHCARE MOBILE APP IDEAS

• MEDICATION REMINDER APP

There are many people on medication who forget to take their medicine at the appropriate time. You can make an app that reminds the patient to take medicine, you can also add extra features that motivate them to take medicine at the required time.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a backend system and hosting for your backend, shared hosting will work just fine with this app.

MONETIZATION: in-app ads and affiliate products to help patients with health practices would be a great monetization strategy for this app.

• DIET APP

Part of being healthy is watching what you eat. You can develop an app that helps users to monitor their diet. You can also ass features for a slimming diet, the nutritional value in food, recipes, calories calculator, and more.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a backend system for dynamic data and a good hosting service for your backend.

MONETIZATION: A combination of the freemium model, in-app ads, and affiliate products will give the best results for this app.

• FITNESS APP

We all desire to stay physically fit, you can develop an app to help users to be fit. You can add features for tracking steps, videos for exercises, water intake tracking, fluids value, food nutritional value, types of exercise, and more.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a good backend and hosting service for dynamic content, including videos. AWS can be a great choice.

MONETIZATION: you can use a combination of in-app ads, freemium model, subscriptions, or affiliate products for fitness supplements.

• FIND HOSPITAL APP

Sometimes, you may be in a new place and you are not sure where to find a clinic, hospital, or health post. An app that can help users to find health posts can be very helpful. You can add a database of hospitals, the services they offer, their location, etc.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a backend infrastructure, a map for navigation, and good hosting for your backed.

MONETIZATION: You can use a combination of in-app ads and affiliate products to monetize such an app.

• CONNECT WITH DOCTORS APP

This app should allow users to connect with health practitioners wherever they are. You can add features for live chat, scheduling appointments, messaging, and other health-related information.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a backend system good enough for real-time communication and hosting for your backend. You also need to work hand in hand with health practitioners

MONETIZATION: A freemium model is the best monetization model for this app.

• YOGA APP

You can make an app to help users practice yoga, you can add features helpful for meditation and music that fit in that category.

WHAT YOU NEED: You will need a backend system for dynamic data, music, and hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION: You can monetize this app with yoga affiliate products and in-app ads.

• VEGETARIAN RECIPE APP

This app should be centered on vegetarians, you can add videos on how to prepare some vegetarian recipes and other vegetarian useful resources.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a backed for all the dynamic content and videos. You also need hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION: Vegetarian affiliate products would be a great monetization strategy, you can also use in-app ads for extra income.

• BLOOD DONATING APP

Donating blood saves a lot of lives every year. You can make an app that helps volunteers to donate blood. You can add features that help those in need of blood to match with blood donors and add alerts to inform donors each time their blood has been used to save a life.

WHAT YOU NEED: You will need a backend system for dynamic data, government or health regulating board permission (if required), and hosting for your backend technologies.

MONETIZATION: You can use in-app ads to monetize this application.

• MENTAL HEALTH APP

There are many people who are struggling mentally. You can make a mental health app to help users with stress, depression, etc. you can add features to connect with counselors online, video chat, message, and schedule appointments.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need counselors to work with, a backend technology for dynamic data and real-time communication, and hosting for your backend infrastructure.

FINANCE MOBILE APP IDEAS

• PERSONAL FINANCE APP

This app helps users to manage their finances by tracking income and expenses. It can also be used for budgeting and learning more about financial management.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a backend for dynamic data and good hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION: You can use a mix of affiliate marketing and in-app ads.

• FINANCIAL LITERACY APP

This is meant to teach users about finances. You can add features on investment, loans, budgeting, accounting, and more. You can also provide relevant financial reports, statistics, and other financial-related information.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a good backend infrastructure for dynamic data, access to different financial reports, and good hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION. A combination of affiliate marketing and in-app ads would be a great monetization strategy for this app.

• ACCESS LOANS APP

Accessing loans easily can be a great challenge in many countries. You can make an app that helps users to access loans easily and to understand the types of loans they are accessing.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need to work with loan lenders if you are not the one providing loans. You also need a backend for dynamic data and good hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION: You can monetize this app through loan and banking affiliate programs.

• FUNDRAISING APP

You can develop an app to help users raise funds for various projects.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need a good backend system and hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION: You can use affiliate marketing and charge a small amount for each of the successful fundraising projects.

• BUY NOW PAY LATER APP

A Buy Now and Pay Later (BNPL) app is a great way to help users get the products they want even if they do not have cash.

WHAT YOU NEED: you need a good backend system for dynamic data, a highly securely auth process, and goo hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION: You can monetize this app through transactional fees.

• TAX MANAGEMENT APP

You can develop an app to help individuals and small businesses manage and automatically pay taxes.

WHAT YOU NEED: you need a backend system that allows users to calculate and pay taxes with their app. You also need to be good with algorithms and you need a good hosting platform for your backend.

MONETIZATION: you can monetize this app through in-app ads and affiliate marketing.

• ECOMMERCE STORE

You can make an eCommerce store for other businesses or for your own products. Online sales keep growing year by year and it’s a great opportunity to share in this growth. To make it easy and quick, you can use platforms like Shopify for your backend.

WHAT YOU NEED: you need a good backend to manage your store, using platforms like Shopify makes it very easy to make an online store. It handles all the heavy lifting including hosting. You can try Shopify for free, no credit card required.

MONETIZATION: You can make money from the sales on your online platform. This is one of the most reliable income streams.

• INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES APP

You can develop an app that helps users to find investment opportunities in different niches such as Real Estate, company shares, Startups, etc.

WHAT YOU NEED: You need to be good with machine learning and algorithms to help users find investment opportunities that are suitable for them. You also need a backend system and hosting for your backend.

MONETIZATION: Affiliate marketing is the best monetization strategy for this app.  

ENTERTAINMENT & GAMING MOBILE APP IDEAS

• LIVE SHOWS APP
• MUSIC APP
• VIDEO PLATFORM APP
• GAMES
• SHOW YOUR TALENT APP

COMMUNICATION MOBILE APP IDEAS

• CHAT APP
• MESSENGER APP
• COLLABORATION APP
• SIGNS COMMUNICATION APP
• CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION APP

MARKETPLACE MOBILE APP IDEAS

• WEDDINGS & DÉCOR MARKETPLACE APP
• ARTISAN SERVICES MARKETPLACE APP
• DIGITAL PRODUCTS MARKETPLACE APP
• REPAIRS MARKETPLACE APP
• ELECTRONICS MARKETPLACE APP
• PET STORE APP
• REAL ESTATE APP

TRAVEL & TRANSPORTATION MOBILE APP IDEAS

• TRAVEL PLANNER APP
• TAXI BOOKING
• NAVIGATION APP
• CITY TOUR GUIDE APP
• HOTEL BOOKING APP
• TOURISM APP
• TRAVEL PACKAGES APP
• INTER-CITY LOGISTIC APP
• HEAVY GOODS TRANSPORTATION APP
• CAR HIRING APP
• USED CAR SALES APP

FASHION MOBILE APP IDEAS

• SHOES APP
• CLOTHING APP
• MAKEUP & NAILS APP
• FASHION SHOWS APP
• JEWELRY APP
• FIND FASHION SHOP

PRODUCTIVITY MOBILE APP IDEAS

• PERSONAL PLANNER APP
• NOTE-TAKING APP
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT APP
• TEAM MANAGEMENT APP
• TODO LIST APP
• SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT APP
• AUTOMATING APP
• SCHEDULING APP
• TIME TRACKING APP
• BOOK REVIEWS & RECOMMENDATION APP
• JOBS APP
• GROCERY DELIVERY APP
• GARDENING APP

SOCIALIZATION MOBILE APP IDEAS

• MEETUPS APP
• DATING APP
• SOCIAL MEDIA APP
• PICTURE & VIDEO SHARING APP
• CHAT APPS
• MESSENGER APP
• COMMUNITY SERVICE APP
• PET SITTERS APP

VIRTUAL REALITY & AUGMENTED REALITY MOBILE APP IDEAS

• ONLINE LAB CLASS
• INTERIOR DESIGN
• CITY PLANNER
• VR GAMES APP
• AR GAMES APP

There are plenty of ideas for mobile applications, choose what suits your needs and market it as much as you can. If you want to develop backends for mobile app apps quickly, you can use the WordPress API if your app is mostly informational.

You need is to buy web hosting from companies like Inmotion, which comes with a free domain for one year. Then install WordPress and you are good to go. When you make changes from your WordPress backend, those changes will be reflected in your app.

If you are building an online store, you can use Shopify for an easy and quick development process. it comes packed with a lot of powerful features and APIs to help you make a robust and scalable online store.