Apprentice contestants give hilarious app lessons

The world of mobile websites took centre stage in BBC1’s The Apprentice last week, as both teams were challenged to produce and market their own smartphone app from scratch.

The results were hilarious, cringeworthy and surprising – and taught us a few lessons about what to do and what not to do when creating a smartphone app.

To start with, if you can avoid working with a bunch of passive-aggressive egomaniacs, then you’ll probably produce a better app – but that’s The Apprentice contestants for you!

On a serious note, watching both teams devise and discuss their ideas was a masterclass in what not to do. The girls’ “Ampi-apps” lorded it over the boys’ “Slang-a-tang” in the end, but both teams made huge errors along the way.

So what did they teach us?

•    When it comes to an app idea, always think of the market and the end user rather than what you might consider to be a great idea in your own head. An app, like any other product, is something that you want other people to buy, use and recommend, so it’s got to have wide appeal.

•    If you’re targeting a global demographic make sure your app is accessible – the boys’ focus on regional accents lost them any business outside of the UK, and they lost the task.

•    Never waste an opportunity to market your app properly. Edna’s time-wasting “speech” at a tech conference was terrible. By contrast, the boys saw their presentation as a chance to add value to as well as interest in their product.