Idea to Execution: How Mobile Apps gets Developed from Scratch?

We all know the world has shifted to mobile devices. According to Statista, It is estimated that there will be 18.22 billion mobile devices by 2025. This number helps to get an idea of how there are innumerable people who rely on mobile devices for their daily activities, and this also resulted in the booming of the mobile app industry. From shopping and entertainment to different services, mobile apps serve a wide range of purposes. Do you also have an idea for an app and don’t know how to execute it? Or Are you the one who wants to make it big in this exciting mobile app industry? Well. No worries. We will take you through all the steps and make this complicated process a smooth journey.

Mobile App Development Process

App development can be divided into three categories: Pre-development, Development and Testing, and Post-launch. Let’s get into each category.

Define Your Idea

Write down your idea. There is a saying a problem clearly stated is half solved. Please don’t take it quite literally in this context, but it will certainly help you to get a precise picture of what problem you are trying to address. Your idea doesn’t have to be a new invention or something way beyond expectations. You can also provide extension service for an existing business. The most important thing is to make sure someone else isn’t doing the exact thing you want to do. 

Set Measurable Goal

People often mistakenly define goals in monetary contexts, such as ‘skyrocketing sales’. But that goes without saying. The fact is it doesn’t make your business stand out from every other business on the planet. Instead, a meaningful goal should reflect your purpose and mission. A goal is what you strive for, and objectives are how you get there.

Make sure your objectives are SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timely

Market research

You must complete market research to determine the users’ pain points. You can conduct surveys or interviews and research the competition. In the case of an app that is part of your existing business, you can use your current customers as a resource for insightful research. In the case of a completely original app, you’ll need to reach out to prospective users who might need the product/service. This way, you can figure out a way to create an app that enhances users’ experience. 

Decide Features and Create a Low-fidelity Wireframe

After realizing customers’ needs and wants with proper market research, you can develop a more refined list of features available to users. By collaborating with a top-of-the-line mobile app development company, it gets easier to add innovative functionalities along with primary features. It also allows you to create a low-fidelity wireframe, which is a rough sketch with dummy text to help your team understand how the application will work and map out the user journey.

Analysis and Strategy Development

All visions begin to take shape at this stage. You can build detailed functional requirements for the different use cases. The next step is to build a product roadmap. Convert your strategy into a harmonious set of priorities. At this point, you can have an MVP (Minimum viable product- a development method where only the core functions are developed to solve a specific problem) defined to save money and prepare for the initial launch. When you want to build a native, a cross-platform, or a hybrid mobile application, you need to make a list of technologies required. You can also choose a web and mobile app development company and start hiring developers with expertise in your preferred mode of mobile app development.

You will also need to choose a name for your mobile app. Keep it short and easily remembered, searchable, and probably an action word. Many developers use obvious names for their apps, and sometimes they connect with consumers by trying to appeal to their opinions. Keeping App Store Optimization in mind is also important if you want your app to be found by users looking for similar apps.

UX/UI design

The success of your mobile app relies heavily on how your user easily adapts and benefits from its features. A dedicated UX/UI design team creates an exceptional user experience for your app and makes a pixel-perfect digital product to keep your users engaged.

• Developing User flow

This step includes how the data will be displayed to your users, how the interaction will happen and how the user journey is meant to unfold.

• Creating Wireframes

Wireframes are the digital form of the sketches that a UX/UI designer has made for app design. These are layouts that focus more on user experience and aesthetics. It is a prompt and cost-effective approach to developing intuitive mobile app design.

• Design patterns and elements

This step includes creating a color scheme, typefaces, components, alerts, and graphics. The whole document is called a style guide, and it ensures the consistency of the look and feel of the app.

• Mockups

Wireframes and style guides come together in mockups to create a prototype. They are high-fidelity visual designs. During this phase, changes can occur to the structure and workflow to make it look and feel exactly as you envision.

• Prototype

The prototyping comprises turning low-fidelity wireframes into ready designs so they can be shared with the team and everyone can use them to offer quality feedback. 

App development

There are mainly two types of development approaches:

1. Native development: utilizing the original programming languages and tools of the mobile OS: iOS or Android
2. Cross-platform development: involves the creation of mobile applications that are compatible with multiple operating systems at once.

The development of an app involves three critical elements:

1. Technical architecture
2. Technology stack
3. Development milestones

Taking this technological approach will help build the app with an atypical and enriched user experience.

Three parts are integral to most mobile app development projects:

• Backend server technologies

It involves creating architecture that makes it quick and easy to sort through information, storing information in a remote database, and scripting to add logic to the interaction.

• Application Programming Interface (APIs)

An API is a means of establishing communication between the app and the server database. Microservices-based architecture and proper encryption standards can create a scalable and secure data exchange interface between the front end and back end of mobile apps.

• Frontend development

A frontend is what users see when they access your mobile app. The development of mobile frontends involves a variety of technologies. If you are building native applications, you can use technology-specific offerings. For example, iOS applications can be developed with Objective-C, Swift Programming Language, Android applications can be developed with Java, Kotlin, and cross-platform applications can be developed with Flutter and React Native.

Each programming language offers its unique capabilities with your chosen platform. You should be able to choose a team that understands which necessary technologies can be leveraged the most by implementing the appropriate programming language.

Testing

A fully-functional app is meticulously examined and tested by QA specialists in a variety of scenarios to reduce the possibility of errors occurring during real-life usage. To ensure that every planned feature is included in the final version of the product, they go back to the initial documentation. QA engineers ensure that an app is stable, usable, and secure. To create a flawless application, any application must undergo a variety of testing methods. Mobile applications must be tested using the following methods:

• Performance testing
• Functional Testing
• User Experience & Interface Testing
• Documentation Testing
• Security Testing
• Recovery Testing
• Platform testing
• BETA Testing
• Certification Testing

Deployment and Support

After building and testing the mobile application, it’s time to deploy and maintain it. Deploying mobile applications can be a tedious process, especially if the application is comprehensive and requires lots of testing. Apps must be submitted to the appropriate app stores, Apple App Store for iOS applications, and Google Playstore for Android applications. The App’s release in the app store requires metadata including App’s title, short description, category, keywords, launch icon, app store screenshot, and promotional video.

Your goal should be to minimize the number of uninstalls once the user has installed the application. For that, maintaining your mobile application regularly will help you establish a sustainable brand image in the minds of users. You can implement some practices including fixing bugs as well as adding enhanced features from time to time.

Ensure your app’s success after launch

When your app is available in the app store, monitor its usage through mobile analytics platforms and track key performance indicators (KPIs). Keep an eye on crash reports and other reported issues regularly. Encourage your users to provide valuable feedback and suggestions for your app. Support needs to be provided promptly to end users. For a smooth user experience, you should stay on top of technological advancements and routinely update your app.

Turn your idea into a phenomenal reality. 

So that was a simple explanation of how mobile apps are developed. Mobile app development is an ongoing process and maintaining your mobile products after launch will help you maintain their use while rewarding you with a multifold return on your investment. At ultroNeous, we provide mobile app development services to companies across the education, impact the healthcare industry, finance, hospitality, real estate development strategy, travel, and many more. Our dedicated team will help you turn your visions into a phenomenal reality. Get in touch now to shape your ideas exactly how you envisioned them.