A 6 Step Guide: Developing Mobile Apps
Mobile Apps have become a central part of our everyday lives. They have connected us to people living far away within a fraction of a second. They have given easy and reliable access to the world where you can talk to people, search history, gain knowledge, entertain yourselves and do business online.
Mobile phones have changed the world with how they operate and provide quick solutions, but have you ever wondered what makes a metal block function so well with wireless devices and who are the masterminds behind the unique creations? Mobile app developers are the people that work to provide smooth running of your mobile phones.
A mobile would not be working if it wouldn’t be for the different applications installed in it. A phone works because of the different basic applications installed in it before you purchase it. If you want to entertain yourselves with a specific application you can easily download it within seconds.
A mobile app development is a process of developing a mobile application for your mobile devices. These software or applications are designed in a way that they can easily run on smartphones and tablets.
Mobile Application Development Guide
- Make a Strategy
The first step in any technical work is to brainstorm and make a strategy to make your idea a success. Different phones have different mobile app strategies, so the mobility strategy needs to be mentioned during the app development process. A mobile application usually takes around six months to be developed. You need to identify your audience and competitors in order to set your goals and select an app mobile platform.
- Planning
The second step requires an in-depth analysis with planning about the functional requirements. Create a rough draft for the app, pointing out the requirements and the time periods required for each step. You need to plan your budget here and work on all the costs.
An app developer not only identifies the requirements but also the skills needed for the development of the application. Different mobile platforms require different development technology stacks.
Do you have an app name? If not, you need to come up with a name that is usually like the domain name. The name should be unique, so do a little bit of research to ensure your selected app name is not in use to avoid problems later.
- Designs
An application should work smoothly with the best user- experience and sophisticated look. A polished UI design helps in adapting to the mobile application quickly. How do you measure the success of an application? It is seen through how well the users are using the mobile features. A UI/UX design enables the best user experience with a user-friendly and interactive application.
The first step in the mobile designing process is to know what data will be visible to the end consumers, user interactions, and user app journey.
The second step starts with sketching the mobile app designs and later converting them to digital sketches for a visual structure also known as wireframes. It is a cost-effective approach to design layouts. This stage focuses entirely on user experience and creating device-specific designs.
The third step in the designing process is to document your company’s branding rules, the color theme of the application, font sizes, and navigation icons. You should follow the app designing guidelines for each of the platforms.
The fourth step includes the mockups created by style guides on the wireframes. After the finalization of the mockup further modifications are done in the overall application.
The fifth stage consists of a prototype. They are very helpful when checking the workflow and user experience. Creating a prototype is like the early testing of your app functions to avoid major blocks later on. Few companies create prototypes in the wireframing step for better app functionality.
- App Development
The development stage requires a lot of planning. The app developers need to define the technical structure and choose a technology stack before developing the app. The mobile app should contain a back-end server, APIs, and a front-end mobile app.
- Testing the app
This stage requires the mobile app developers to test the app in every way by running different tests at a time. Conduct quality assurance tests repeatedly at the developing stage in order to make the application stable, easy to use, and secure.
To ensure great quality mobility a mobile goes through functional, user experience, performance, security, device, and platform testing. More about marketbusinessmag
- Deployment
The deployment stage requires you to submit your app to different app stores, but before that make sure you have a developer account with Google Play Store or Apple App Store. What does an app release require? It needs your app title, a little description, category, a launch icon, different keywords and app store screenshots.
After a few hours of the submission, Android apps become available in the app store as there is no review process for them. On the other hand, an IOS app will go through a review process in the Apple App Store for an in-depth analysis. The review lasts up to a few days or several weeks depending on the IOS development guidelines and the quality of your app. The users may need an Apple test user account at the time of log in as part of the release process.
Once your app is on the app store the KPIs and mobile analytics platforms will help you monitor its usage and success.
A skilled app developer always asks for feedback from its customers to help improve user experience and frequently update the applications. The patching of the app will require you to go through the same submission process as before.
Mobile application development is a never-ending process that requires frequent updates, maintenance and reviews. Many different agencies provide mobile app development services with growing demand for mobile phones and businesses. Every business nowadays usually has its own company’s application making it feasible for the employer and employees to access anything through the application at any time.