5 Steps to understanding the mobile app development

Technology has revolutionised the lives of people all around the world. Applications or apps as the colloquial term, occupies a substantial position in the revolutionising technology. There are hardly any basic material necessities that don't have an application to fulfil it. App development companies built apps for everything, from music, books, movies to food, dieting, tracking schedules and a thousand other such things. While using such an app, one hardly thinks about the lines of coding and time that went behind crafting the app. 

Mobile app development is the process of developing softwares or applications for mobile devices. Such apps typically run on mobile data. This process is similar to regular software development with some key differences such as specific functions in the app that use a particular feature of a mobile device. For example, an iPhone app development company customises apps that run only on iPhones. 

5 Steps to understanding the mobile app development

An app isn’t built overnight. Web application development is a lengthy process of multiple steps that have to be covered before a complete app is ready. Here are 5 key steps to help understand the successful development of a mobile app. 

Planning and research

An idea is the root of this process. An idea for a new app is conceived by a mobile app development company which is then materialised into creation. But before that, careful market research has to be conducted for various reasons. The first reason is to determine the practicality of the project. Then the prospective users will have to be found out. A gaming app, for instance, will have more young users than older ones. Market research will also give the developers an insight into the competition as there are multiple apps for one purpose. To stand out in the market, special features must go into the application which will differentiate it from its competitors. Planning out a strategy for a unique design, marketing policy, investment budget and regular updating of the app in the nascent stage of development is a key step towards a successful application. 

Application design

The design of an app, its user interface ( UI ) and experience design (UX) are two crucial factors that determine a smooth user experience. User interface design (UI) refers to visual mediums that help interaction between an app and a user. User experience design(UX), on the other hand, refers to the full experience of the user from the beginning to end. App development companies typically break the designing process into further steps.

First, the app design should offer a set of data where the functionality of the app will be laid out. This is called ‘Information architecture and workflows’. ‘Wireframes’ include pictorial representations of the key elements of the UI design. ‘Style Guides’ are documentations of more intricate and pleasant features of the UI experience such as colour scheme, font et al. Developing a style guide contributes to the consistency and uniqueness of an app. As the designing process starts taking a concrete shape, the visual design of the intended app is termed as a ‘mock-up’. It is also called a high fidelity design. After this stage, a mobile app development company starts making prototypes which are demos of the intended app.  

App development

This is where the materialisation and coding of an app take place. An app development procedure consists of three important parts, a backend or server technology, an Application programming interface (API) and a mobile app front end. Testing and quality assurance is the next step in web application development. 

Testing

Tests are run to identify flaws and defects in the app and to resolve them. Tests should cover functionality, user experience, performance, security and device compatibility. For instance, Android and iPhones will have separate conditions for running an app which is catered by the android app development and iPhone app development company, respectively. 

App launching 

Before an app is available to be bought and/or installed, it is submitted to Android and iOS app stores from developer accounts. Metadata such as the name, description, categories and app screenshots are also submitted. Therefore, it is necessary to keep a maintenance team at hand to fix subsequent errors or bugs that may arise quickly. Proper promoting and marketing of your app will also ensure its success. There are agencies that specialise in this field. One such agency is Brand Visage. You can check them out on their website. 

Wrapping up

Developing an app hardly ends at launching it on app stores. After usage of the app starts, you will receive reviews and feedback from the users. New bugs might pop up and more functionality might need to be added. Hence, it is important to keep an app healthy and updated to ensure consistent success and customer satisfaction.