Reshaping Ideas To Reality- A Detailed Guide To Mobile App Development Process

Considering the fact that the industry of app development grows exponentially, there are a plethora of businesses venturing in apps each day.  To stay ahead of the cut to cut competitors, it is desirable to abide by the development protocols.

App Statistics

Given the fact that the world is digitizing at such a tremendous pace, the future of mobile apps is ever shining. According to Statista research, the estimated revenue generated by mobile apps would rise to $188.9 billion by the end of 2020. Another survey suggests that the total number of mobile app downloads would cross the mark of 258.2bn by 2022.

In the industry of mobile app development, the number speaks for itself and these numbers are massive. No wonder why startup geeks are actively trying their hands in the sector of mobile app development. Past few years have witnessed enormous growth in app startups worldwide.  Few invest in social media apps, some go for grocery apps whereas other options for the eCommerce industry. Irrespective of the type of the app build, all follow a standard way of development.

Here, we guide you on the process to develop mobile apps in a manner that Generates Greater Revenue.  

Process Of Mobile App Development

Ideating

Every success story begins with an idea and so does a mobile app.  Until and unless you own an idea or something unique to build, you cannot start the process of developing an app.  You need to have a clear concept on what you are, about to do and the reason why? You should know what is the problem and then draft an idea on how to solve the same.  

Strategizing

While we walk through the steps to mobile development, the most important and yes the first one is going by a Mobile App Strategy. True that you base your app on an idea but going straight to the development phase is not the ideal way. You need to employ significant strategies to drive your app to success. In this phase, you can draw a better picture of the idea and know exactly what to do after each step.

Planning & Assessing

After you have a strategy in hand, let's move on to the next phase. Planning the entire project, defining all the use cases, and binding each detail to build the project falls in the process of planning and analyzing. After identifying all the project requirements, you need to plan a road map.  Here, you need to prioritize the requirements of the app and then segment each into milestones to track them later. It considered as mobile app development cost, resources and time are a matter of concern, then you should draft a model of MVP(Minimum Viable Product) and launch the same.

And it's not just the initial phases that you need a plan, you actually paint each step, right from the start of the project till the same closes.  From identifying the required skill to deciding a name for the app, assessing the required personnel to forming a team, all have to be done in this phase.  

Design Your App

Next in line is giving your app a virtual significance. Mobile App Design is one of the crucial processes when developing an app.  The design of the app should be both simple and user-friendly. The effective design has the capability to turn app visitors to promising customers. Your app must be able to benefit users with all the features it has and at the same time, the app should be designed in a way that it guides the user across the app.  

In case your app is not intuitive, odds are you have higher misses than page hits. On the other hand, an app that renders seamless user experience ends up leveraging revenue.  

• Information Workflow: While designing an app, data holds the prime concern. The type of data that would be shared to all users, data or information that app would collect from the users, how users pass each stage while using the app and finally ending up taking services, all need to be known. In order to follow a better approach, app designers today take help of management software to visualize the workflow of the app.  Every app serves users with multiple roles and hence drawing different paths for each guide the developers in later phases.
• Wireframes: A conceptual design of the app account for wireframes. Earlier designers relied on pen and paper to roughly sketch the app.  However, the modern day designers are more digital and hence opt for wireframe. They are like the digital version of your pen and paper. Instead of manually outlining steps, wireframes help draw a layout on the screen.  Each functionality can then be traced effectively and efficiently using wireframes.
• Design Style: Designs are virtual appearance or a way to voice your brand new app. It is largely important to picture them as something enticing and attractive.  What would be your font style, the app icon, the theme to be used, you need to predetermine all so that your app becomes the way speak on your behalf.
• Mockups: This is something near to the end of the designing phase. Fusing wireframes with the style guide, you now finalize the design of your app.
• Prototype: A dummy is all you can deem this.  There are many tools available in the industry that help you design exactly what would your app look in real time. No doubt, you would find it unnecessary and time-consuming now but they are helpful. And in a sense that prototypes help you test your app and see if there are any modifications required. Early stage testing is beneficial since it reduces both time and cost overheads.  Had you build the app and them realized the modifications to be done, you would need to roll back to the first stage and then adjust all the required tweaks. Considering this, a prototype is no more a fancy stage in the process of app design but a necessity.

Developing An App

Now we actually develop an application.  Though it might sound just coding a few programs the phase has a bundle of things to be done. Mobile App Development stage is an entire process by defining the technology stack to be used,  the architecture to be followed and then draw each step as milestones. Developing an app is segregated into three phases, back end, API and front end. Each part is developed individually at first and then integrated to give better options.  

• Front End: This is what we actually see, and by we, I mean to say app users.  This is the only visible part to the users. The way users interact is driven by the front end of the app. When an app does not necessitate the need for internet, it primarily works on locally stored data.  While targeting a particular iOS, you need to choose the technology stack compatible with the same. For instance, Android apps are built on Java or Kotlin, iOS apps require the use of Swift or Objective-C. Since people are limited in time and seek a faster solution, it is advisable to undertake agile methods for development.
• API: This is more like a middleman and helps the front-end interact with the back-end.  
• Back-End: This is the storage system of your app.  All the server side objects and the database constitutes of the back end.  Modifications done in back end does not necessarily show up in the front-end.  

Testing

After you build an app, now is the time to test the same in real time. Quality Assurance testing is one of the first kind done while developing an app. App testers build several test cases to ensure the app is secure and scalable. Like we built uses cases, test cases help affirm the quality of your app along with the functionality embedded in the app. The more you test your app, the better it performs in real time.  There are multiple tests, an app needs to surpass before actually being deployed in the play store.

• User Testing: The final app must abide by the expectations of the user.  It should be able to provide a seamless experience to a user. When an app stands by its layout, it attacks a bigger user base.
• Function Tests: Here, the app is tested to see whether all the said features function in the said manner.  It helps assess the app accuracy and so this should be done by multiple users. This stage often results in several bugs and hence seek modifications.
• Performance Testing: Here, testers measure the responsiveness of the app.  Whether it consumes higher battery or does not gel with the network bandwidth. It is desirable that the app sustains a poor network and also respond timely.
• Security Tests: App security is another important test that these days testers do. Seeing whether the app is vulnerable to hacks is a major concern today and so testers check for apps backed by HTTP ensuring secured connectivity between the backend and the app. Checking for data leaks also form part of the security testing.
• Platform Testing: True that there are plenty of mobile devices available in the market and hence the app needs to be compatible with all. Where web app simply requires testing the performance on Chrome,  mobile apps have to be tested at several devices to ensure its app versatility.

Deployment and Support

Here,  we reach the end of the mobile app development process. The app is designed, developed, tested for bugs and errors and is now ready to be deployed. Based on the platform your app is built, iOS app development or Android app development, you will have to create a developers account on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Feed the necessary details as:

• Title of the app
• Description or about the app
• Category to which it belongs
• Keywords for SEO
• Launch icon
• App store screenshots

Once done, you need to submit the app.  Apple PlayStore has a review process before releasing the app however no such obligation is laid by Android. You can now track the performance of your app and make updates if required. Always keep track of the user reviews and feedbacks. Giving what the user expects is the secret to the app success.

Conclusion

So, you see the whole process of mobile app development. And each process requires a lot of efforts and zeal. You can skip either of them. And the process does not end after your app goes live. Here we, AppTrait Solutions, Best Mobile app development Company gives your dream idea into reality. We have creative team deliver a fantastic Mobile App. If you still have a question or any doubt to build mobile app feel free to contact us.