User Interface Design (UI) is a design process to build visual elements through which the user will interact with digital platforms like an app or a website. To build a captivating mobile app or a website, the best UI designing app tools are necessary to maximize the design team’s efforts. 

Qualities needed in UI designing app tool

The outputs from a UI designing app tool are decisive in providing the best possible user interaction with the app. The target is to let the user interact and navigate through the app without wasting time and effort.  The important characteristics of good UI design tools are,

1. Save time in the development phase: Most UI design projects come with a deadline, so time is of the essence. A good UI design tool should reduce engineering time drastically and help the UI designer in achieving the best output. 

2. Ease of use: The UI design tool should be straightforward to operate. The features should be similar to other standard tools so that UI designers should feel confident and should not spend much time learning how to navigate. There should be plenty of shortcut keys and duplicating features. The tool should work on multiple platforms like Windows and Mac.

3. Customization facility should be available: The UI design tool should get customized graphic interface outputs. Some of the client requirements of the UI may be different from usual. The UI design tool should be able to adapt without creating any flaws. 

The best 10 mobile  UI designing app tools available in the digital world 

1. Sketch

It is a vector-based UI designing app tool that most UI Pro designers prefer. It works only on macOS. The features are similar to Adobe Photoshop. It has a spontaneous interface and is ideal for app prototyping. As it is vector-based, images remain intact even after scaling. The file size is very low, so it saves more space in the PC drives. It’s a one-time purchase and requires renewal of license every year. One drawback is that it does not have inbuilt image editing tools, which means an additional tool like Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator must be integrated for UI design. 

2. BuildFire

It is a complete start-to-end UI design app tool suitable for both Android and iOS app development. It has customizable options that will help create different designs, fonts, colors, and so on. It has a lot of app storage space. It has good plugins, analytics, and user management. One disadvantage is that it takes a little bit of time to get used to their interface.

3. Mockplus

It is a cloud-based UI design tool suitable to build mobile apps on both the Android and iOS markets. Its USP is rapid prototyping, giving rise to interactive prototypes and wireframes. It has inbuilt design components allowing faster screen designs, buttons, upload options, etc. The drawback is due to rapid prototyping. The sketches may not communicate ideas properly.

4. InVision

It is an interactive UI app design tool. It helps UI designers in every aspect of app development. It has good transitional elements like animations, gestures that allow static prototypes to be converted into interactive prototypes giving a real-life feeling of the app. It facilitates effective workflow management through its design system manager.

The company has also introduced an upgraded platform called InVision Studios.

5. Figma 

It is a free, open-source UI design tool. It is fast, allows many users to edit, and doesn’t require to be installed. It works on multiple platforms like Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, etc. It allows effective collaboration of multifunctional teams and takes less time for project implementation.  

6. Adobe Experience Design (XD)

It is a vector-based UI design tool similar to Sketch. Unlike Sketch, which works only in macOS, Adobe XD works both for Windows and macOS. It is fast and very easy to use. It has repeat grid options which help in rapid duplication. It facilitates animated prototypes which can be previewed on mobiles. 

7. Axure RP

It is a complete UI designing app tool suitable for professionals. It helps create interactive prototypes and sketches and has a feedback system that will help UI designers fix issues quickly. It has an inbuilt coding facility which is an added advantage. It allows you to work on dynamic content and also allows animations. 

8. Zeplin

It’s a UI design tool that unites designers and developers. Building a design and product specifications for developers is the salient feature of this tool. The iterations can be done simultaneously, reducing engineering time. Fetching files from other platforms like Sketch, Figma is very easy. 

9. Marvel

It is an excellent online UI design tool that helps designers create prototypes for mobile apps. It can create a workspace for several design teams. It allows synchronization of other tools such as Sketch, Adobe Photoshop, even from cloud storage like Google Drive and Dropbox.

10. Origami Studio

It is a UI design tool developed by Facebook. It was used to design Facebook messenger and Instagram. It is freely available and contains lots of android and iOS components. Prototypes are very interactive and give a real-world feeling. Also, it gives ample support for OS features like camera, microphones, etc.