Why Mobile Professionals Should Use More SDK Platforms in 2020

The number of smartphone users is exploding. This opens up SO many opportunities to be successful in mobile product management today.

However, even though app installs are increasing worldwide, the number of apps is decreasing.

Source: Buildfire

How can this happen?

One reason is the high competition, which forces apps to shut down.

This is a sign that a few apps will take over the ever-increasing app market.

Therefore, as a mobile product manager in today's market, I constantly look for the edge to survive, outdo the competition and take over market share.

Delivering a great experience will give my app a competitive advantage and my SDK stack is a vital factor here.

Whoever has the best SDKs will win.

It’s that simple today. 

We live in a world with powerful solutions. I can do things with SDKs that weren’t possible 10 years ago. 

Pick a successful app in any industry, and you'll find a handpicked SDK stack. As a result, app professionals have to be willing to invest in high quality SDKs to compete.

Firebase detects crashes & bugs that go unnoticed on apps without it. A/B Tasty finds winning variants while apps without it stop improving.

That is a huge change from the last 10 years when apps were just starting out.

With the help of today's SDK platforms, I can track (almost) everything:

• Mobile KPIs
• State of UX
• A/B Tests
• Marketing Attribution
• And more

However, there’s one problem: I can’t just integrate one SDK to cover all my needs. There isn't an all-in-one SDK.

This leaves mobile product managers with the only option of having to integrate multiple SDKs.

But here’s the truth: The number of SDKs on the market is so high that researching all of them would take weeks. Like in chess, the possibilities are endless. Additionally, many SDKs are unstable and not worth considering.

So how do I know which SDKs to choose?

Fortunately, you’ll find help below. I will show you best practices on how to choose your mobile SDK stack.

I will also give you a free guide with the best SDKs on the market at the end of this article.

1. Map out your Needs

Your SDK stack has to cover essential areas like marketing, UX and A/B testing. 

However, which specific SDK platforms fit your needs best depends on the app you have and the market you serve. 

For example, some apps rely heavily on the service of a location-tracker SDK, while other apps don't need this at all.

2. Make Sure that Integration is Easy

Image Source: Unsplash

As a mobile product manager, you know that your developer's time is valuable. If you're low on resources, you don't want to bother them by setting up an SDK platform that takes a week to customize.

Therefore, integration should be quick and easy. The best case is a simple drag & drop integration of the library.

import com.uxcam.UXCam;
UXCam.startWithKey("App-key from UXCam");

Example: UXCam's Android SDK integrates with 2 lines of code.

3. Get in Touch with the SDK's Customer Support

You should get in touch with your SDK provider's customer support as soon as possible.

The major points that drive people away from businesses are a bad employee attitude and unfriendly service.

Image Source: PWC

And that’s understandable - bad customer support destroys the trust you need to have a great work relationship.

Building a relationship with customer support has two major benefits. 

First, they will help you integrate the SDK correctly. 

Second, you’ll get to know if you can rely on the company’s customer support. If that’s not the case, it’s a red flag.

4. Test the SDK in your Development Environment

Make sure that everything is working smoothly in a test environment before putting your app into production.

Testing your mobile app with the SDK internally first will allow you to see if everything works as expected. You’ll also be able to test for any impact on your app’s performance.

The Complete SDK Guide

The SDK market is complicated. The complete SDK guide will give you a quick overview of the market leading vendors. The categories listed in the guide are:

• Quantitative Analytics
• Qualitative Analytics
• Crash Analytics
• A/B Testing
• Push Notifications
• Advertising
• Payments
• User Testing
• Attribution
• Surveys
• Location Data

To avoid the wrong SDKs in these categories, download the guide below.

Click here to download the guide