Developing a mobile application is not a news; however, creating it successfully is what matters the most. We are in an era where technology is surpassing every other thing helping us get the fair share of benefit in our businesses. And mobile apps are helping us exceptionally well to get all these benefits. The fact that mobile apps are becoming one of the most important tools for helping businesses grow leaps and bounds urges us to know the process of developing an application rather knowing all about development cycle of mobile apps.
While there are different states involved in the development of mobile apps, they all can broadly be divided into numerous phases to list these processes out one by one.
Here is a brief on all these processes:
Phase 1: Planning Your Research for a mobile app development
Planning is one of the most important aspects of every development it is the creation of mobile apps. And while developing mobile applications, you need to be very specific about:
- The aim of the mobile application
- The kind of audience it will target
- The time required to develop the application, and finally
- The platform on which the app will be developed
Once you are clear with the answers to all these questions, it will get easier to develop the application. Of all this research, it is also important to have a detailed analysis of your competitors’ business. This will help to get ahead in the right direction. While having the analysis of your competitors’ business, figure out the features that are lacking in their application. Including the ones (app features) that your competitors miss will help you to get an edge over others.
Phase 2: Creating the Design and Development Prototype
Prototypes are the early sketches that help determine the flow of mobile app development in respect to app creation and designing. Having a plan at your end makes it easy to follow the procedure in order to get further. It is not important to have all the exhaustive wireframes. Rough sketches can also help to plan the work. Be it designing or the development, a pre-planned procedure is always the best approach to get the things done in a structured manner. It is advised to develop the designs and the mobile app development methodology (agile or waterfall, as per the requirement) in this phase only. Such a strategy is the doorway to developing an application that could easily write the success story of your business.
Phase 3: Moving to Coding Phase
Here comes the actual mobile app development phase. The coding of an application is the most important stage as it involves all the technicalities to address. From this stage onwards you are ready to move on to the coding and programming phase, which is one of the most important phases. The programming phase needs all the attention in order to develop applications that are bug-free.
If you are wishing to get the freelance assistance for developing the application, the services are easily available out there in the market. Additionally, the job can easily be done with in-house assistance. While hiring the programmer, keep in mind to get experienced resource on-board.
Phase 4: Test Your App Again and Again
To err is human and programmers are not different. While coding the application in the first place, coders may create certain mistakes (bugs) that can easily be resolved while testing the application. Because of this reason, the testing phase is considered the most important of all phases. Testing allows enough time to get all the bugs fixed prior to the actual release of the application.
It is important to identify all the bugs prior to the official app release. Apps with lots of bugs is never going to create the kind of impression that is required. Therefore, it is essential to test the application before its official release.
Here is a brief on two different testing methodology
UAT Testing: Known widely as user-acceptance testing, it is the phase that is carried out by actual software users. During the phase, the app is tested by the actual users, which allows developers to know the actual user experience and the real potential of the application.
Beta Testing: Rolled out for the bunch of beta testers, the beta users take participate in the beta testing. The feedback from these users are then included in the final version of the application before it is officially rolled out.
Phase 5: The App Launch
It is the final stage in the entire mobile app development procedure. As your application is ready to be launched, it is now time for you to register it over different App Stores. Besides the two main App Stores that we know as Google Play and Apple App Store, mobile apps can also be stored on a range of other platforms too including the Amazon App Store. Prior to launching the application, it is important to address your app towards the right audience group and on the right platform too. A thorough research in this direction will help to launch the app in the right direction.
Launching the final version of your application doesn’t mean you are done with the app development procedure. The application will require continuous updates and that is why it is important to keep a check on your app. Update it regularly so that users can have the best experience out of it.
The Bottom Line for mobile app development
Developing an application is not only about creating the prototype but also about using the right technology to develop the application. An app needs to go through a series of procedure and that is why the final outcome needs to be something that can help organizations get the actual benefit. The above-mentioned phase are the ones that help in the development of a successful application. Have a look at these and get to know what it takes to develop an application. Keep in mind to develop your app on the latest trends, technology, and with the features that an app should include for the right exposure in the industry.
Author
Siya Carla is Business Development Manager at Finoit Technologies, a leading mobile app development companywhich makes ideas into reality by providing unique web design and custom software development services.
