As you embark on developing your next mobile SDK, it's essential to follow best practices that ensure your solution is both effective and user-friendly. With millions of apps available in the market, creating a high-quality SDK can be the key differentiator that sets your product apart from the competition.
Why Develop an SDK?
Before diving into the process of developing an SDK, you need to identify why you want to build one. Are you looking to offer a service that multiple app developers can use? Do you want to mask internal implementation details and business logic from users? Or do you need flexibility in terms of compatibility, scalability, and future enhancements without compromising your business logic or service?
If any of these questions resonate with your goals, then developing an SDK is the right approach. By creating a well-designed SDK, you can provide app developers with the tools they need to create innovative experiences for their users.
What to Include in Your SDK
When designing your mobile SDK, you should consider what features you want to incorporate. Will it require a user interface or be without one? Does it piggyback on other apps' UI or system frameworks? Do you need to handle explicit user permissions before enabling certain features?
To create a seamless experience for app developers, your SDK should also account for platform-specific features such as web views, network calls, security considerations, and more.
How to Develop Your Mobile SDK
The next step is to decide how you'll develop your mobile SDK. A well-designed SDK should aim to make life easier for app developers while providing a delightful user experience. To achieve this, consider the following aspects:
Simplicity
One of the most critical factors in developing an effective SDK is simplicity. Your solution should be easy to integrate and understand, with minimal learning curve required from app developers.
To simplify the process, you can use automation scripts, CocoaPods, or provide Xcode templates that download and auto-integrate with the specified target. Additionally, ensure that your SDK's APIs are well-documented and follow standard naming conventions familiar to app developers.
Security
When developing an SDK for payment-related services, security is paramount. You should use SSL for all networking calls, implement certificate pinning to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks, and avoid storing sensitive information locally.
To maintain the highest level of security, purge system-created web cache data and local storage when transactions are complete.
Scalability
Payment systems evolve over time, and new payment instruments may need to be added to your SDK. To enable easy integration of newer payment methods, design your SDK to be agnostic to changes in payment instruments in the backend.
This can be achieved by using a web-based backend that can be modified to include new payment methods without affecting the SDK. However, ensure that communication and handshaking between the web-based interface and the SDK remain consistent for all payment instruments.
Compatibility
To ensure your SDK is widely adopted, it's essential to maintain compatibility with the latest OS versions and architectures. This includes following guidelines enforced by new OS releases and testing your SDKs with the latest OS versions.
When you develop an SDK for the first time, set a base version of the OS that the SDK will support. Ensure that future versions of the SDK also support the initial version, as each client may have their own reasons to support a particular OS.
Coherence
Finally, ensure that your SDK maintains coherence across its features. If there's an API within the payment SDK to initiate a transaction, then provide consistent APIs for other related transactions.
By following these best practices and considering the complexities of swift app development, you can create a high-quality mobile SDK that sets your product apart from the competition and provides app developers with the tools they need to create innovative experiences.