An Overview of Mobile App Development Process
A step-by-step guide on how to develop a mobile app.
How to build an app for my business? Where to start from? How much time does it take? We are sure these kinds of questions have arisen in your mind. This article will clear all your doubts and queries related to the mobile app development process which you should follow and why you should go for it.
Having a mobile app for your business has several benefits, including improved consumer interaction, more brand recognition, increased exposure, and many more. It gives you a direct marketing channel and increases the accessibility as well in the market which is beneficial for businesses. Developing a mobile app for business can be a strength for companies if they are planning to target a large audience.
According to Statista, the amount consumers spend on mobile apps increased steadily between 2019 and 2021, reaching $170 billion in 2021. In 2022, the App market is expected to generate $465,655 million in revenue and if we talk about revenues, they are expected to increase in most industries over the next several years, reaching $613 billion by 2025.
What Are the Best Mobile App Development Platforms?
You have to plan and decide the mobile app development platform on which you will release your app. It’s a crucial decision to make because it will have a direct impact on your strategy, the tools that you are going to use, and the business objectives. We are sure you are thinking about which platform to choose for the process to build an app? Here are the famous platforms which you can consider for your app:
- React Native
- Flutter
- Xamarin
- Ionic
- Appcelerator
- Alpha Anywhere
- Adobe PhoneGap
- Swiftic (iOS app development)
Mobile App Development Process: Steps by Steps Guide
Now, Where to start from? Well, it’s up to you how many processes you follow for developing your app but we suggest you follow all the app development stages before launching your app on the app platform.
1. Build an app development strategy
The first step in any mobile app development process is to devise a strategy for turning your concept into a commercially viable app. You have to discuss these particular questions before proceeding further:
- What is the goal of your application?
- What industry problem would your mobile app help address?
- Which marketing strategies you will follow to market your app?
- Which app development platform will you choose to release the app?
- What kind of business model do you have?
- How you will analyze your competitor’s strategies?
- How much money are you willing to invest in the app?
- What is your business model for generating revenue?
Once you have all answers, then take the next step of an app development process.
2. Market research
It’s time to get started on the most crucial stage of your app development process. Market research reveals the market’s true need or interest. As a result, you can adjust your concept, and the study can provide you with a clear list of requirements that will help you prioritize the major ones.
Let’s have a look at some of the benefits of conducting market research:
- It enables you to have a deeper understanding of your clients.
- Help you to select the right language, framework, and technology.
- Through market research, you get a good understanding of your competitors.
- Helps you evaluate your product thoroughly before launching it? Assists you in determining how to reach your target audience?
3. Planning and Analysis
An important aspect of planning is determining the skills required for your app development project. In your planning and analyses phase, you have to take various decisions related to mobile app development.
Various operating systems necessitate various technological stacks. Your IT stack should be based on your needs. Whether you’re creating a native mobile app, hybrid app, or cross-platform mobile app, you’ll need to compile a list of the technologies that are needed. Then you have to start hiring developers that are familiar with the technologies that you want to integrate into your app.
If you want to create a mobile app that works on both Google play store and Apple app store then your development team should comprise both iOS and Android developers.
4. UI/UX Design
Have you heard a saying of the first impression is the last impression?
The same can be said for your application. Users place a high value on the appearance and feel of a mobile app. It is at this point that the design of the UI/UX of an application becomes crucial. A seamless user experience with compact design is the goal of app design. The ease with which customers can adopt your software and benefit from all of its features determines its success. Let’s discuss the process of app design:
- Information architecture and workflows
- Wireframes
- Style guide to choose design patterns
- Preparing mockups
- Creating Prototypes
5. Wireframes
The process of designing an app often begins with sketches on paper. Wireframes are ideas, not complete designs. A wireframe is a conceptual layout of your app’s functionality. It is also known as a low-fidelity mockup because it gives your app a visual structure. It will also assist you in analyzing the appearance and performance of the application.
Pay close attention to how the user will interact with your wireframes when creating them. Avoid using colour schemes and design elements as their trend is gone and they don’t look good.
The design should be intuitive and user-friendly so that users will pay attention.
6. Style guide
User interfaces can be perplexing. Wireframes can often misinterpret.
Style guides are ongoing documents that specify the design protocols for an app. It contains aspects like your branding guidelines, navigation symbols, and other functionalities that need to be specified.
The following are some of the elements to consider for mobile app design guides:
- Attractive fonts
- Appealing colors
- Exceptional layouts
- Interactive graphics
- Components
- Bars and menus, etc.
7. Mockups
High-fidelity designs can be called mockups and they are the final renderings of app visuals. Here mockups combine the style guide and wireframe to build the final version of the app. You can make certain modifications as per your business requirements. There are various tools available in the market that helps in creating the best high-fidelity mockups.
8. Prototypes
Prototyping is the process of transforming low-fidelity wireframes into ready-to-use designs. After completing all the process of app designs, you can share the prototype with your team, friends and any other person who you think can give you relevant feedback. Prototype plays a vital role in the whole app development process, especially when it comes to convincing investors.
9. Begin App Development
How to build an app? After completing the app designs process, the process of app development begins. At this stage, you have to take care of a few things like, Which technology stack you are going to use in the app development and what will be the technical architecture of the app. Apart from this mobile app development is divided into three integral parts:
- Mobile Backend server technologies
- Application Programming Interface (APIs)
- App Frontend development
Backend Technologies — Database and server-side objects are needed to support a mobile app function that’s why it is the most important factor that should be taken care of while deciding the development phase. In order to accommodate the necessary mobile app features, you might need to adjust the backend platform you’re using. You can make necessary changes to it if needed.
App Frontend Development — The front end is something where your users will interact. This decides the first look of your app which should be attractive and insightful enough to attract new users. In general, mobile apps have interactive user experiences (UX) that employ an API and a back-end database to manage your data.
10. Testing
Know more: How To Reduce App Development Cost Wisely?
Then comes the testing stage where you test your app to check whether all the functions are working properly or not. Quality assurance testing plays a crucial role in the mobile app development process and it ensures the high performance, security, and functionality of the app. You have to prepare appropriate test cases that will cover all essential testing phases of the app. These testing are divided into five sections:
- User experience testing
- Functional testing
- Performance testing
- Security testing
- Device and platform testing
All these tests should be done before launching the app in the market.
11. App Launching
Here comes the final stage where you have to release your app to the app store. To complete this process you must create a developer account on both these platforms, then only you can submit the app on the platforms. Ultimately it depends on you which platform you choose to release the app, whether it is iOS or Android.
Metadata has to be prepared at the time of submitting the app so that people won’t face any issues in finding you’re app. Metadata includes:
- App title
- Description of the app
- App category
- Keywords
- Launch icon
- App screenshots
After the submission, the review process gets started for iOS apps which takes numerous days or weeks. It all depends on the quality of your app, if Apple finds your app suitable for the store they will approve it soon, and they also check whether you have followed the Apple iOS development guidelines or not.
Android apps get available on the app store in just a few hours because no review process is followed here for uploading the app.
Why do businesses need to develop mobile apps?
In addition to offering valuable marketing opportunities, developing a mobile App for business can help you reach your target audience and get ahead of your competitors. Here is the list of benefits which businesses can avail themselves through mobile apps:
- It improves communication with customers and clients.
- It helps in reaching a new audience by increasing brand awareness.
- It makes customer engagement much better.
- It helps businesses in standing out from the competition.
- Through mobile apps, companies can build an effective loyalty program.
Conclusion
The mobile app development process can be intimidating and time-consuming. But, if done correctly can give users the seamless experience that they have ever gotten. We hope that this detailed article has helped you in comprehending all of the aspects.
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