Feel like ordering something from the web? You have an app for that, which cater to your every whim, such as booking an appointment, movies, booking a taxi, ordering grocery and whatnot. We are surrounded by mobile applications that do various tasks for us and makes our life easier. Mobile applications have become an important part of our lives since the last decade or, to be clearer, since the rise of smartphones. Thanks to the evolution of technology, these apps can now be made with fewer resources and time.
Not only the number of mobile apps has increased in the past years, but also the businesses or start-ups that contribute to the rapid sped of the genre. Mobile app development for start-ups is necessary as their primary need is either to gather funding or earn great revenue figures. For both the purpose, they need a vast exposure and excellent customer reviews that keeps them floating. Mobile app development is the most common and feasible way to take your business to the next level regardless of the size of the business. Here we will learn about the key points of the mobile app development process.
Let’s start with the market scenario!
Market Size and Trends of Mobile App Development
Mobile application development has become the need of every business regardless of the industry they cater to, such as healthcare, food sector, logistics, and much more. If you compare the global market of this particular genre, it has seen a tremendous rise since the year 2016. As back in the day, market valuation stood at 125 billion US dollars as compared to the year 2020, where it stands at 170 billion US dollars. It has also been projected that it will continue to grow at a rapid rate and will surpass the valuation of 366 billion US dollars by the year 2027.
In terms of application development by type of platform, it can be said that Android is a clear winner. There are two reasons for that; Android has a massive user base as compared to iOS, and it is more scalable than any iOS application. Despite the popularity of Android, it is difficult to understand how Apple’s app store has more revenue generation than any other Android app store. However, in terms of the number of downloads, the Google play store remains at the top without any complication.
The current market scenario suggests the users are more attracted to Android applications and smartphones, and the future is kind of inclined towards the same.
Types of Mobile Apps
Now that you are on a journey to develop a mobile app development, the agenda should be clear. You should be clear about the facts like whom it will serve, what type it should be to gather more views and revenues. In terms of types; mobile app development can be divided into two parts:
- Native apps
- Hybrid apps
Native apps
These are platform-specific mobile applications. These are encoded in a specific programming language, such as Java and Objective-C, for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems. These applications have fast performance and high reliability. They also have access to other phone features like a camera, GPS, contact list, and so on. Examples of these applications are Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian, and much more. You can easily find an affordable app development company that has expertise in native app building.
Hybrid apps
These applications are just like native applications, and their programs are encoded in the local application container. Similar to native applications, they also use mobile device features like camera, contact list, phone storage, and much more. They also allow cross-platform development; for example, the same program components can be reused in different mobile operating systems.
Benefits of Mobile App Development for Start-ups
A start-up is mainly based on an idea that is supposed to change the world. Developing an app for such an idea definitely deserves to get popular. When you start an app development for a fresh idea, there is a bundle of benefits that come along with the process. Here is a list of the benefits that will put your start-up on the map.
Keeps You Ahead of the Competition
By developing a mobile application, your start-up outperforms the competitive market. In most cases, start-ups do not think about developing applications. But if you believe in the concept and find a start-up app development company that values your ideas, you should proceed with extreme dedication. You should not worry about the app development cost as it’s an initial investment that will reap you tons of benefits later.
Indirect Business Promotion
The mobile app is very useful for promoting your business, as it is easy to download and use. When a person finds something interesting and new, he shares it with others. Therefore, if your mobile app is user-friendly, the user will definitely recommend it to others. In other words, your business benefits users, and it’s an outdoor promotion of your brand at no extra cost.
Easily Enhance Your Userbase
The number of mobile phone users is greater than the number of computer users. If you want to target that significant section of users, you must have a mobile phone application to deliver your services/products on their mobile phones. Hence, it is a better platform for your business to enhance increasing the number of customers.
Simplifies Your Business
Mobile applications development reduces customer effort and tends to do brilliant work, saving them time as well. The customer and the company do not have to communicate with each other. The customer can use the company’s products/services by ordering them through its mobile application.
Honest Insights Promotes Business Growth
It is considered important to include a feedback form about your services in the mobile app of your start-up as it allows customers to give their valuable feedback. It lets you know about the shortcomings of your business. You can improve your services as per their feedback to enhance the outcome and popularity. Remember, customer feedback helps you make your business better.
How to Start a Mobile App Development Process
The mobile app development process can be complicated depending on the requirements of the start-up. You have to be clear about some parameters that are mandatory for the app development, such as target audience, the development platform, the tech stack, and much more. Apart from the functionalities of the app, you should be clear about the budget, the team requirements, etc. Mobile phone app development cost is one of the concerns for various start-ups, but it should be considered as an initial investment for the better part that is yet to come. Here is an ideal development timeline.
Diligent Market Research
Any new venture that involves large investments should start with a solid market study and in-depth analysis to prove that the idea is ideal for generating sufficient sales. The success of an application depends on how many users it can get. To implement this, you need to research the market to find your target audience characteristics such as demographics, user identities, ethnicity, existing competition, and app store trends like which apps are becoming the most profitable or highly-rated apps.
Planning Session
The second step is to create a detailed application plan that includes everything you need, such as features, brand elements for CTAs, and advanced features. Planning must begin with deciding on the goals of the application and the necessary user actions. The next step involves mapping out what everything in the application looks like and translate the goals into different tasks
Put the Plan on a Paper
The next step follows the design of the application, starting from the icon to each page. It is never advisable to jump straight to prototyping. You can sketch out the whole plan on the paper to create a diligent roadmap or, in technical terms, do the wireframing.
Plan the entire application, from its layout, built-in pages, home screen, features/menu view, notification page to CTA buttons and pen and paper logo. This will help the designers and developers involved in the next step to better understand the application’s functionality, organize the user interface components accordingly, and delicately design them.
Since every single mobile app development process integrates a tech stack as per the genre app is designed for, but here is a generic tech stack that can is common for most of the apps.
1. Native App Development
a) Android Tech Stack
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- Kotlin and Java
- Java
- Android studio
- Android SDK
b) iOS Tech Stack
-
- Objective C
- Swift
- Apple XCode
- iOS SDK
2. Hybrid & cross-platform Mobile App Development
-
- React Native
- Typescript
- Xamarin
- Cordova
- Ionic
Finalize the UI/UX Design & Develop a Prototype
After the completion of the road map, the development process proceeds with designing the interface, where a team of designers works for the feel and appearance of the application. They design the interface by analyzing the entire wiring frame, the underlying architecture, the components, and the interactions required in it.
After the design mock-ups are completed, the development team must develop an application development plan with the developer to get a better idea of costs and time. Further, prepare a clickable prototype using any prototyping tool available online
The Final Development
After prototyping is completed, the actual development of applications begins with professionals with inherent programming skills. With a specific schedule, the necessary resources, and a cost plan, there is the least chance of demanding additional costs in development. The team also monitors every step of the development process minute by minute to identify bugs and help developers fix them immediately. This speeds up the delivery speed of the final product.
Quality Analysis & Testing
After you have completed the final development step, the application must be forwarded for quality assessment (QA) which is to ensure that it is running smoothly. Quality control is performed in two stages: one is preparatory, and the other is functional requirements. While the first stage decides the application’s targeted devices and future QA needs, the second stage evaluates all key features.
Once the quality control is done, test documentation is prepared, which defines the testing requirements and the number of test equipment required. This step will help identify errors and correct them before issuing.
However, even after these steps, the development process doesn’t end here. You need to assemble a perfect marketing team to plan for the launching and advertising of the application. Further, you must avail support and maintenance services from your start-up app development company to ensure that the application runs consistently and performs the tasks of gathering huge profits.
The Final Takeaway
The market of mobile app development portrays a decent future with unlimited opportunities for start-ups. Any start-up with a mobile application is more likely to succeed as compared to the one which does not have a custom mobile app. Every sector, whether it is healthcare or on-demand services, is flourishing with a perfect app. If you are in wondering about questions like what will the app development price, where should I find an affordable app development company, etc.? We have all the answers for you!
Matellio can bring your idea of mobile app development into reality with years of professional experience and learning. We have developed several flawlessly engineered mobile apps for start-ups and enterprises with great feedbacks. We understand your needs and offer customized services that fit perfectly with your business needs. Our range of hiring models delivers feasibility in terms of the cost of the development process. Still, thinking about your idea? Book a 30-min call with our experts, and we can get started right away!
