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Step by Step Guide to Mobile App Development Process

With each day, thousands of apps are published by Google Play Store and Apple App Stores. Among them, few apps are for games, social networks, and others for eCommerce apps. For developing professional applications, one needs to follow a similar mobile app development process. Each app is different and uses different methods and processes.  The mobile app development process typically includes idea, strategy, development, design, and other post-launch phases. Here, in this blog, we’ll take a closer look at each stage. We have differentiated each phase under the following steps.

Challenges in NonProfit Mobile App and Web Development.

Customer 01

Planning and Strategy

Define strategic goals, identity requirements, build team structure and create a product roadmap

A solid idea for you will be the pivotal foundation for every later development stage. Conceptualize your application by taking into consideration your target users’ persona: their prominent traits, their behavioral patterns as well as their problems that your competitors have yet to address satisfactorily. After doing throughout research, lay down every piece of knowledge and insight that you have accumulated onto the table and start brainstorming. Visualize how the app is going to benefit your future users and ultimately generate profits for your business. It is also crucial to have your ideas validated as soon as possible by putting together a prototype before investing a great portion of your time and resources into the idea concretization. With a prototype, you can gain early feedback, make modifications to your app and guarantee the long-run success in an inexpensive manner. Once you are done with validation, proceed to writing down a comprehensive plan and timeline for your mobile app development process. A proper plan keeps you from getting sidetracked and overspending your budget on the miscellaneous stuff.

App Dev 03

UI/UX Design and Mockups

Create a seamless, effortless user experience and a unique, shining user interface

The design stage typically begins with devising an initial wireframe, which is an inexpensive method for you to try out the different ideas on the design before the real work begins. The wireframes lay out the overall structure and the connections between different components of an application in the simplest form, without any intricate visual design involved. Still, from the wireframe, we can have a generic idea on the placement of visual elements as well as the action flow of a user on the app. With the wireframes in place, the team of designers can proceed with their work. There are two different areas of focus on the design of a mobile application: user interface (UI) and user experience (UX). UI is the visual presentation layer of the application. It is the front face that attracts the attention of your users and invites them to stay. Thus, creating an appealing UI should be one of your priorities. On the other hand, UX encompasses the flow of navigation through the app. A good UX design shall streamline the navigation process of a user, enhancing the comfort of using the application. Note that the design phase should involve both the designers and the developers. The assistance of software developers can give designers more insights on producing a coding-feasible design, allowing a smooth transition from design to development.

Design 03

App/Web Development

Develop back-end, front-end, APIs and more that needed for your App/Web to function effectively

The technical development stage should be conducted so as to adhere to your idea, your overall application structure as well as the design for UX and UI. This stage will define the technical performance of your application. Thus, you wouldn’t want to go wrong with it. There are two important decisions you must make prior to this stage: which technology stack to utilize and who shall be the developers for your application. Experienced developers allow the development to progress without too many bottlenecks, and the right technology shall leverage the final application performance. In deciding which technology to utilize, one important factor for your consideration is the type of application you are after: native or cross-platform. Generally, native apps are applications with one source code developed for Android/ iOS only. Native apps are developed in high compatibility with the nature and functionalities (Bluetooth, GPS,…) of devices. Hence, going native allows you to optimize the app performance to the highest possible level. The most popular technologies that programmers usually utilize are Java and Kotlin.

Marketing 01

Testing & Deployment

Perform testing to assure quality and launch your app on the Apple and Google App stores

A mobile app development cycle is not complete without the testing stage. Testing ensures that the app can properly handle the expected volume of users with seamlessly functioning features. Moreover, testing secures the same performance of your app across different devices. This is extremely vital for a mobile app, given the great variety of devices. The common misconception is that testing is the final step of a mobile app development. Actually, for testing to have an impact on the final operations of the application, it should be integrated into the development cycle as soon as possible. After all, it is not an ideal situation to discover a detrimental malfunction just a few days before the official launch.

Startups 02

Support & Maintenance

Ongoing update, health check and improve performance to keep your app performing at its best

The end of the launch day marks the beginning of the new stage: maintenance and updates for your application. Garnering your users’ thoughts and feedback on the application performance and iterating upon that to facilitate the app’s evolution over time. Frequent and effective updates show that you actually care about the users and in turn increase their commitment towards your apps. Beware of releasing too many unnecessary updates within a short period of time, however. It places a heavy burden on your app performance and people most likely don’t want to have large applications taking up space on their limited memory card.

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Frequently-asked questions in mobile app development services

Will you take care of the submission of the application on Google Play / Apple Store after the mobile development process is over, or will we do it ourselves? What about the post-development services?

  • Yes, we provide comprehensive custom mobile app development services at fram^. From conceptualization to post-deployment support, we shall be available and contribute at every stage.
  • For that reason, we shall gladly have the submission of the application taken care of upon the completion of development. We would like to note that the fees charged by the application stores shall be included in your final payment, however.
  • As stated above, we will not simply vanish after the completed app is transferred to you. Once the app is presented on the market, we will continue our job in maintaining proper operations should you wish us to.
  • In the case that you would want to monetize your app, release updates to fix bugs or add new features, or even expand the scope of the app etc. and ensure that the app stays up-to-date and is capable of retaining visiting users, our team is ready to assist you in making those goals a reality.

I have many ideas. Which one should I pursue in mu mobile development and how do I decide that these ideas are feasible?

  • From our well-established experience as a mobile development company, we can help you decide which idea to proceed with. In particular, we would arrange counselling sessions with you, where you can present your ideas along with your business conditions and objectives. Once we have a generic idea of how your business is doing and what you want to achieve with your app, we shall give our recommendations on the most viable idea to convert to reality.
  • In case you still have suspicions regarding the idea, there is no need to worry. Before the actual development, we always provide you with the initial design and the prototype for the mobile app.
  • Through the prototype, you can see in practice how the app looks and evaluate the overall user experience. From this prototype, we will also be able to address the critical issues in the whole design and make all the necessary changes before putting our resources into building the app.
  • In case you still want to take more measures to ensure the success of the app, please do not hesitate to discuss further with us so we can work out a solution for you.

Which choice to make between iOS mobile development and Android mobile development? Is it a good idea to proceed with cross platform mobile development services?

  • The answer would be up to how you would want your business to grow. The factors that you should put into consideration include the locations of your customers, what type of mobile devices they are using, how would you want to target them, your initial budget for development and the scalability of your business in the future, etc.
  • We suggest you do a background research and establish a business plan with clear objectives to gain better insights on which platforms to choose. In case you find this task daunting, our team at fram^ are totally capable of assisting you in doing the assessment and making recommendations for you to proceed.

Is it safe for me to share my idea of an app with you? How de we assure privacy and confidentiality during and after the process?

  • You can certainly trust us with the confidentiality of your ideas. We go to great lengths to ensure that your ideas stay yours, safe and private, even long after the completion of our contract.
  • To be more specific, we are more than willing to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement with you before the start of any discussion between us, provided that the conditions included in the Agreement are fair for both parties and are not overly restrictive in such a way that make it impossible for us to proceed with our projects.
  • Another thing to note is that when the project is officially started, we have legal agreements with all our full-time developers who join your team or work on the project to keep all information undisclosed.

How much do mobile app development services cost?

  • We wouldn’t be able to give you a concrete number on the development cost at this stage. The price we charge pretty much depends on the complexity of the app, how the app should be developed and the human resources needed to build.
  • Several factors that add to the final cost would be the design, the architecture of the app, how many testing sessions to be done, the features included and the app integrations with other systems. The scope of the app as well as the ability to scale the app as your business grows will also be taken into consideration.
  • We suggest you to clarify with us all of the requirements needed to receive an exact estimation of quotation and a clear roadmap of development to plan your launching date.