Mobile app development has been quite a famous thing lately. With the rise of different kinds of mobile devices in the market, mobile app developers also started to come up with different, creative, and innovative mobile app ideas. Most people spend a big chunk of their time on smartphones. No matter what they are doing, they are still utilizing some kind of application for different reasons, such as entertainment, online shopping, work-related affairs, online banking, etc. But did you ever think what are the crucial steps for mobile app development process? If yes, then let’s take a look together on this article.
Essential Steps For The Development Of Mobile Applications
The mobile app development process is basically a kind of software development journey undertaken to run apps on mobile devices. Like any other technical process, it needs time, effort, skills, patience, and dedication to reach this journey’s end goal or destination. No matter what purpose a mobile application is serving, it requires some basic and similar steps to be followed every time. These steps include:
You May Also Like: How to Make a Mobile Game?
-
The Pre-Development Phase Of Your Mobile Application
Before jumping into the actual development phase, the mobile app development step-by-step process requires the developer to take some essential steps and decisions.
- Objective: The first step is to decide the objective of the mobile app. This means that you should have a clear idea regarding your app and the purpose it will serve to the users. You should identify why your application is unique, important, and different. Another important question to ask yourself is why people will use this specific application and leave others. In other words, know the ‘unique selling point’ of your app.
- Market Research: The next pre-development step includes conducting market research or competitor research. This step is crucial as it allows app developers to know the value of their app idea and similar apps existing in the market and tap the strengths and weaknesses of their competitor’s mobile applications.
- Target Population: The third step includes having an understanding of your target audience. The target audience is the users you are planning on developing the app for. You should know what the users are looking for in an app and how other apps are not serving the demands of the consumers.
- Operating System: The second last step includes taking a decision regarding the operating system your app will be developed for. Mainly there are two prominent mobile platforms that are used, i.e., Android and iOS. If you want to target the audience of both these platforms, the idea of cross-platform app development can be explored.
- Monetization Model: Selecting a monetization model is the last step in the pre-development phase of your mobile app if you are making a consumer application. The monetization model will work as financial aid. There are a few options of monetization models from which you can select one for your app.
- In-app advertising
- In-app purchases
- Subscriptions
- Affiliate marketing
- Paid apps
Once you have taken these important decisions, you are ready to proceed to the next step of app development.
-
Coming Up With A Plan Of Action
The mobile app development process requires a proper-working plan of action, as any other development process does. Again, this is a theoretical process and not a practical one. In this step, the mobile app developer comes up with the timeline or duration of the whole process of development. Along with that, establishing a product roadmap is also necessary. Identifying and listing the key features of your application, the technical elements of the app, graphics, guidelines, and information are all necessary parts of your plan of action.
-
Establishing A Development Team
Now that the plan of action for the application is made, the next step is to establish a team of professionals and experts that will serve their expertise in different tasks of the app development. Whether you are a beginner or someone who has experience in the world of app development field, each mobile application comes up with different challenges and requirements, and it is always good to have a robust support system and help. A team for mobile app development would mainly consist of a project manager, UI/UX designer, mobile developer, Quality Assurance Tester, and a digital marketer.
You May Also Like: How To Change App Icons iOS 16 Mobile Phones
-
UI/UX Design
What is a mobile app without mesmerizing features, proper functioning elements, and actually serving its purpose? The answer is nothing. No one would like to download and use an app that has errors or glitches. Therefore, one of the most important steps in the mobile app development process is to have a clear vision of what your app will look like to the users. In other words, your UI/UX design should be eye-catching. UI/UX design includes the graphics, animation, icons, and overall layout of the app. Some of the important steps taken in this process are creating wireframes, style guides, mockups, and prototypes.
-
Begin The Process Of Developing The App
Once all the decision-making steps are done, the process of mobile app development enters the phase of actually developing the app. In this stage, the development team starts joining bits and pieces and proceeds toward the first working sample of the application. Important decisions like deciding a programming language for the application, coding, software system, databases, and servers are taken in this step. Another thing that is paid close attention to in this step is the end result or the front face of the application the consumer or user will be looking at. Mobile app developers make sure that both the backend and frontend systems of the app are properly functioning and accessible.
-
The Testing Phase Of The Mobile Application
The testing phase in the journey of the mobile app development process is a crucial and exciting process. It is like watching something you made or created bloom in front of you. But again, it is not the final step of the journey and requires focus and concentration. The app is tested on different mobile devices. It is checked by the developers or testers to see if it is working correctly or if the information is understandable, and whether the overall experience satisfies the user or not. The five kinds of testing a mobile app should go through are:
- Functionality
- Performance
- Security
- Platform and device
- Extended reviews
You May Also Like: Why is a Quality Assurance Tester Needed on a Software Development Team?
At this point, Quality Assurance Testers are the ones that use their knowledge and expertise to detect the mistakes, flaws, errors, and bugs in the app. QA testers then provide their valuable services and solution to resolve these problems. They make sure that the errors are fixed, and the bugs are debugged for the app to be tested again until and unless it assures smooth and functional working.
-
Launch Of The Mobile Application
After completing the testing phase and being satisfied with the performance of the mobile application, the mobile app development process enters the second last stage of the journey.
It is important to decide the platform you will launch your app on, whether it will be an app for Google Play Store, Apple App Store, or other available app launching platforms. It is also essential for the digital marketer on the app development team to create hype or promote the app on different platforms before the launch date so that more and more people will get eager to know about the app and will wait for it to launch so they can use it.
-
Monitor The Performance Of Your Application
Most app developers think that launching a mobile app is the last step of the mobile app development process. When in reality, this is not the case. After launching your app you have to make sure to monitor the performance of the application, use the method of data analysis to record the usage and downloading rate of the application and provide quality customer service.
Conclusion
Mobile app development is an experience of its own. Having its own benefits and challenges, it is still something industries and companies are looking towards. The scope of mobile app development is getting wider day by day, and businesses are looking towards mobile app development companies for their app development.
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Mobile App Development
Q: How much time does it take to develop a properly working mobile application?
A: The time taken in developing a properly functional mobile application depends on the type of app you want to develop as well as the workforce you have in your team. But a general estimated time duration is 6-11 months.
Q: What are some of the key features of a mobile application?
A: While there are many features of a mobile application, some of the key features are user-generated content, push notifications, multi-device synchronization, integrations, admin panel and analytical tools, messaging, user engagement, etc.
Q: What does a UI/UX designer do in the process of mobile app development?
A: The main purpose of having a UI/UX designer on the team is that they manage the graphical features of the application. They manage the important tasks of icon making and animation on the team.
You May Also Like: The Android App Creation Guide of 2023
