App Development – An In-depth Overview
Here’s everything you need to know about mobile app development. And ways it can help you grow your business.
1.
What is Mobile App Development?
Over the last decade, there has been a steep rise in the count of mobile apps available on the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
Today people rely more on mobile apps as compared to websites.
Due to this fact, businesses have started launching their own apps to catch up with the customers.
These apps that developers create can be native apps, hybrid apps and HTML5 apps.
Mobile apps have become an essential element of most businesses. Mobile apps are regarded as one of the most powerful tools for reaching the target audience. Almost every adult in the world today has a smartphone and this market continues to grow exponentially.
The creation of mobile applications has its roots in traditional software development.
Modern smartphones are equipped with advanced features like Bluetooth, cameras and other sensors. Mobile apps must use all the features of smartphones.
In the case of software development for desktop PCs, programmers need to create an application that can run on a minimum set of hardware. The same principle holds true for mobile applications. Although the hardware requirements are much more minimal.
There are different types of apps, namely gaming apps, business apps, education apps, entertainment apps, travel apps and much more.
The hardware in smartphones and tablets is not comparable with that of laptops and desktop computers.
2.
Mobile App Development Platforms
This single platform offers you all of the tools needed to create a mobile application.
The creation of iOS or Android applications is the prime target of these platforms.
iOS is Apple’s proprietary mobile operating system built specifically for iPhones. Android however, runs on your mobile devices manufactured by various OEMs, including Google.
While these app platforms are quite similar. However, different software development kits or SDKs are used for different platforms.
Apple uses iOS operating systems only for their own devices. Android app development is available for other companies to their specific requirements.
Over the years, app developers have built more than 1.5 million apps for both platforms.
3.
Why Does Your Company Need a Mobile App?
To ensure the visibility of apps in such a complex scenario, app makers need to be very focused on the approach.
You need to follow a systematic approach in the mobile app development cycle.
These apps are changing the way we live our everyday lives. In order to get things done, we need different kinds of mobile applications.
This has resulted in app development companies building an app which are more useful enterprise apps. You can also get your app developed by a development agency.
There are numerous advantages of mobile apps for any industry, be it small or large.
You can use a mobile app to increase the company’s profits. You can also make mobile payments using apps that can increase the company’s profits.
Mobile Apps Important for Customer Building
You must design your app with an innovative approach for targeting potential customers. An app will not only increase revenue but will also increase brand awareness. Today cost effective mobile app development technologies are being used to develop advanced and reliable mobile apps.
There are other everyday advantages of mobile apps that make them important for your businesses. But it also makes them a necessary part of our modern-day lifestyle.
Today smartphone users spend more than 90 percent of their mobile time on apps. 85 percent of consumers prefer native mobile apps over a mobile website.
Mobile apps account for nearly 42 percent of all mobile sales for Fortune 500 companies. The average consumer has about 30 apps installed on his device and spends about 35 hours a month using them.
4.
App Development Strategy and Goals
Before you jump into the design and development phase, your first step should be to formulate a killer strategy.
This would require deep dive research in your own business, target audience, and competitors.
Defining your strategy is the first and essential phase of your app development process.
You require a step by step process that would help you to build the mobile app quickly. There are three main steps: understanding the requirement, developing the product, and finally testing the product.
The first phase of the mobile app development process defines the strategy for transforming your idea into a successful app. You may include a more significant part of this in your overall enterprise mobility strategy.
To produce an accurate return on investment (ROI), developing a solid mobile strategy is of utmost importance. The creation of a mobile strategy is indeed a daunting task.
While outlining your strategy, you must honestly answer and address the following questions.
What are you going to offer? What your competitors are offering through their mobile channel?
How will the features of the app you are offering will be different? How are the features you are offering are preferably better than your competitors app?
While developing the strategy, you will have to first identify the app users or the target audience. Then you need to do some research on the competition and establish the app’s goals and objectives.
Finally, you need to select the mobile platform for your app. Designing a mobile app for your business needs robust strategies.
This will help you develop a customer engagement and profitable mobile app. Once the strategy is formulated, you need to align it with the goals and objectives.
5.
Design and Development of the Mobile App
Once you completely understand the mobile app requirement and design, you will be better prepared to develop an app.
After the function and features of the app are outlined, the app can be developed within budget and timeline.
Breaking the app development process into simple steps will help you develop your app quickly and in an efficient manner.
App Development Stages
An effective app development process flow is spread over over six key phases.
Idea:
When brainstorming app ideas, you need to put some research into answering a few key questions like: What does the app do? What problem does the app solve? Who is the target audience? Do your competitors have similar apps?
Design:
The next phase is the design phase. You need to design and develop a user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) for the app. The UI/UX of the app will help users to navigate through the app and make it easy to use. After all, you are creating an app for your target audience to actually enjoy using, so UI/UX details matter.
Development:
This is the actual programming and coding phase. During this stage, your development team will write the code for your app. At this stage you also need to ensure that your app actually incorporates all the ideas and feedback. Once you develop the code, next you start with the preliminary testing.
Testing:
Testing is an exciting phase in the app development lifecycle. You finally have a complete app concept with exciting graphics and perfectly designed screens. Now it’s time to rigorously test your app in a variety of real-world scenarios. This is done in order to identify any technical flaws and defects.
Launch:
First, you should be confident that your app is working correctly in all scenarios. Once you are happy with the usability of the interface, it’s time to launch your mobile app. They can be released in the app marketplaces or app store like Google Play and Apple App Store.
Marketing:
Next, you need to create a marketing strategy to get users to download your app. However, remember that marketing your app is an ongoing process even after your app has been released.
Conclusion
App development is an ongoing process. Hence these stages are recommended for any app development project. However, with the right planning, resources and processes – there is no reason why your app idea cannot develop into a successful solution. An app that serves your audience for many years to come.
Markfiniti is a leading mobile app development company in Dubai. Over the years, we have provided app development services to companies across different domains. These include healthcare, finance, retail, construction, logistics, entertainment and more.
We follow the same strategy and process for all our projects. Thus aiming to create the best mobile apps for our valued customers. Normally, we adhere to the mobile app development process, which ensures a successful launch of our app.
Finally, if you are planning to develop a mobile app today, get in touch with our team today. You can discuss with our team the questions you might have about making your idea into a successful app.