If you're looking to build a stock trading app, it's smart to familiarize yourself with the process before you start.
There are few better ways to invest your money than in stocks. Although not everyone can do it, that doesn't mean people won't use your app to trade stocks. But before you even write a single line of code, there are important things to know.
And that's why we're here to tell you the 5 things to know before you start your developer journey. So with all that out of the way, let's begin.
What is a Trading App?
A trading app is an app that allows users to trade on the stock market. Brokerage companies have identified the need to automate the trading process, and one way to do that is by using an app. A user can register and fund their account to trade on the stock market through these apps. Users can also pick and choose which stocks to buy and sell. These apps completely automate the stock trading process and eliminate the need for a real-life broker.
Simply said, a trading app makes life easier for traders. Through these apps, users can make investments to achieve their life goals.
Steps to Know before To Build a Trading App
While trading apps do sound quite simple in nature, they are extremely difficult to develop. As you can imagine, these apps are tasked with managing their user's finances. This means that you must focus on security, among other things. But with all that said, you can indeed build a stock trading platform. All you need is to familiarize yourself with the process.
To do all that, make sure to continue reading.
#1 Determine the Type Of Application
The first place to start is to figure out what type of application you want to build. In the world of stock market apps, there are two viable options.
The first and one that we recommend is a full-fledged mobile application. The benefit of this type of application is that you're making it easier for users to use all kinds of features. Most stock trading apps fall within this category of apps. Another benefit to a fully-fledged mobile application is that interaction is much easier. Users can interact with the app and its many features more effectively than the other option. And lastly, you're meant to download the app from and install it onto your mobile device.
The other option is a mobile site. A mobile site is a website. This type of application is vastly different from a mobile application as you cannot download it onto your mobile device. What you can do is use the browser on your mobile phone to access the website. In most cases, the website will be fully optimized for your mobile device. But a clear drawback to using this type of web application is that integrating features is much more difficult.
#2 Choose an Operating System Platform
Since we're indeed focusing on stock trading apps, what you need to know is that there are multiple smartphone operating systems out there. The most popular two are Android and iOS. But Windows Phone and various Linux-based operating systems do exist.
At the moment, stick to Android and iOS as those are the ones that really matter. But regardless, you will need to figure out which platform to build your app onto. If you want to be a professional in your field, then you'll optimize your app for both platforms. If you don't know how to build a stock trading app and don't know how to develop cross-platform compatibility, then you will have to hire professionals to do it.
Regardless, the two platforms to focus on are iOS and Android, as they share 98% of the global smartphone OS market.
#3 Understand the Stages of Development
Building stock trading apps is no piece of cake. That's because the process for building a mobile application is long and hard. You'll need to implement a lot of features. And the last thing you want is for these features to not work. But we can sum the development process into three stages.
The first stage has to do with research and hiring. We mentioned iOS and Android as possible platforms for your application. Both OS's work exceptionally well, but you'll have to find experts that can code the OS-specific programming languages.
The second stage is the backend stage, and this is where the hard part begins. Backend developers can be expensive to hire, but they're necessary for the success of your stock trading app. These developers have to be experienced in multiple programming languages and many frameworks. In this stage, you'll be building the most important features. These include features such as registration and sign-in, transaction features, security features, alerts, and many more.
And the last stage is the frontend stage. This is the part of the app developing process where you focus on design. This stage will determine how the app will look, feel, and how each client interacts with your stock trading app.
#4 The Most Important Feature - Trading System
No doubt your app will have all kinds of features. But none is more important than developing a fully operational trading system. If you mess up this one, you're in big trouble. This feature IS the whole app. Whenever someone uses your application, they must be provided with a seamless and pleasant experience. Thus, you'll need to invest most of your resources into making sure this feature is fully operational and functional.
#5 Never Forget About Security
Whenever developing an application that is specifically designed with handling user's money, security is of utmost importance. Your users will never forgive you if something goes wrong with their money. Since we're talking about finances, you will need to know how to keep your user's money and private information safe and secure. As you can imagine, the last thing you want is for someone to gain access to your user's accounts. Being able to implement security features such as 2FA and password protection features is a must!
