Mobile application, also known as a mobile app or app, is trending in the technological world. Several apps are available in the Apple store and Google play store. Thousands of apps are added to these stores daily.
App development is not a tricky process these days. If you have an idea or a solution to a problem, you can develop the app. But it requires extensive planning before launching it or uploading it on the App store.
Many people argue that they have an idea, but they don’t know where and how to start the app. If you are trying to develop an app for the first time, then you must have a lot of questions in your mind. Like is it worthwhile to develop the app or will people like it and use it, etc.?
Many entrepreneurs launch their apps to facilitate their customers or clients. Different apps have different purposes and functions. People develop apps to increase their sales and also to benefit from ad money. It is estimated that the revenue from apps will go up to 18 billion dollars in 2020.
In this article, we will discuss the app development process comprehensively. Different apps are developed with different methodologies. But we will let you know the standard development process which will help you to start from scratch easily. This process enables you to develop the app in a comprehensive way.
Let’s have a look at all the steps in depth.
Idea Generation
Sometimes we can have a solid idea, but might end up feeling it might not work. However, actual, these might also be intelligent ideas that may fulfill the needs of users very well if they apply them properly. The best idea is the only one that solves the problem of the targeted audience whom you expect to download and use your app.
Therefore, the idea must be solid and applicable. You can determine the feasibility of your idea by performing market research. This will include the competitor’s performance, worth, and features offered by competitors. This will help you in setting the targets and let you know the gap available in the market.
Market research will help you to find out the potential problems and let you think in a different way to provide a better solution for your targeted audience. If you are capable of finding a potential problem, then you can easily find out the market inefficiencies.
The next thing you have to do is understanding the origin of the problem. From market research, you will find the missing elements in available solutions for that specific problem. This will enable you to fill that gap and set your target to achieve a certain level.
Preparation
After the completion of your ideology step, you have to sort out certain things to convert your idea into a perfect app. For this purpose, create a timeline and note the different features you want to use in your app.
You have to make your budget and find out the modern trends of machine learning. This will provide you the information about the usage of AR/VR technology in apps.
At this point, you have a perfect understanding of the visuals. You must be aware of the capability of backend systems that will provide support for the proper functionality of your app. You can do this by getting information about different devices used by your targeted audience and the platform they are using.
This will enable you to understand whether their devices are fulfilling the requirements that are necessary to run the app. This will help you to choose between the different available ideas and the selection of certain features that will work properly. You may drop some features that you think are not feasible in the initial version.
Designing
Many people argue that they just need the basic design of the app and want to focus on the development. Keep in mind that the design is not just the look of your app. It includes the techniques of the user interface.
Many developers like to build the app from zero. This is highly recommended as it lets you iron out the fine details of the end version of your app and allows you to map out the final vision.
Development Phases
The development stage consists of three phases, i.e., Alpha, Beta, and Release.
At the Alpha stage, only the basic functionality of the app is developed but without any testing. The app at this stage can operate barely with many glitches and bugs that have to be removed and updated.
The Beta phase includes all the key functions and features of the app with light testing applied on the app. Even at this phase, some bugs still present that need to be fixed. However, you can release the app for some external users as a testing process and get their feedback and suggestions for improvement.
At the final phase, also known as the release phase, almost all the bugs can be identified and removed with the help of different testing processes. Now the app is ready and released for the use of the general public.
You would ideally want your app to be full of features that are unique and best among the other apps available on app stores. For this purpose, you must keep in mind the capacity of processors used by your targeted audience and design your app according to their capacity.
Because if users find that your app is heavy and it is difficult to run on their smartphone, they will uninstall it immediately.
There are different tech companies present that offer their services to develop apps for different businesses. Check out our portfolio at https://develop.codeage.org/cleaner/project-portfolio/ to see samples of our work and how we can help bring your project to life!
Testing and Launching Phases
You have to perform different tests to keep your app free from bugs. How your app looks like and how well it performs on your device is not enough to release it for users. Mobile testing is one of the important tests because it is more expensive to fix the bugs after the major developments of the app.
Make sure that every feature and function of your app is tested properly in every development phase. There are possibilities that one feature or function is working properly in the beta phase but may create problems in the releasing phase.
Let’s have a look at different tests that are necessary to go through for every app.
Practical testing will ensure that all the features of the app are working properly and perfectly as designed.
Usability testing involves the views of new users about the approach to different features and user-friendly nature.
Performance testing will provide information about the response time of every function and feature available in your app.
Designer testing will facilitate you with information about every feature, and the function is available on the dashboard of the app.
Technological testing helps you to find out if your app is compatible with different devices like smartphones and tablets with Android and iOS operating systems. Different tools will facilitate you in getting the data of this test, but practical testing is important.
Promoting The App
After the successful completion of all the stages mentioned above, if you fail to promote your app successfully, then it could potentially be a major waste of the resources you’ve spent to develop the app.
In this guide, we will discuss in detail the different tricks and tips that will help to promote your app effectively. As a result, you will be able to better manage your time to efficiently spend on developing and planning the app features and functions.
The main purpose of promotion is that your app gains a good number of downloads that will be only possible with the help of the following steps:
APP STORE OPTIMIZATION is one of the important things for apps to ensure the success of the app. As there are hundreds and thousands of apps available in the App Store and Google Play store, you have to use the proper keywords in the description of the app, and while selecting the name. Because the app store is the place where users will finally get in contact with your app; if your app is supported with proper keywords, it will show on the top of the search results and have more chances to gain users.
RANKING of your app’s website is also important for better results. You can do the same process but in a slightly different way to make your website on the top of the search result. If your website ranks on Google’s first page of search engine results, you will gain more users. Most importantly, your website should be properly optimized and have a proper link for downloading the app. Different FAQs and screenshots of your app are important to get better results.
Pre-launching users will help you to provide the views and suggestions that provide you a good number of downloads at the start. You can get a chance to engage your initial users with different features and get good rating stars.
Paid promotions is also another technique to promote your app. You have a wide social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many more that offer paid promotions and introduce your app with a huge number of users from around the world.
Growth Tracking
It is not enough to complete just the development, launching, and promoting phases for successful startups these days. It is just the start of the journey. You have to start the analysis of growth for your app. For this specific purpose, there are companies available in the market that provide its services free of costs like Google Analytics, Pirate AARRR, and Mixpanel.
These will help you to know the position of your app in the search results. They will provide complete information about the user location and even the keywords they type to reach your app or app supported website. This will also facilitate you with the information on the devices used by different users with their respective model.
All the tracking measurements will help you to improve your target and to set goals.
Monetization
However, building a successful app is not just the only purpose and reward for your time and efforts. Everyone who owns the app must want to earn money from it. This may be in the form of getting customers and boosting up their sales graphs while some people do this for earning with related revenue techniques.
The apps can let the owners earn from different verticals. For example, by providing limited features in free versions and require subscriptions for advanced functions, you may also put an option for in-app purchases in exchange for exclusive features while also have the option to sell the user’s data.
Different ad networks are available like Google ad words that provide good profit margins by placing different ads on your app. For vast earning options, you have to consider different options that suit your app better. Conducting a little survey about different profit-sharing ratio will help you to choose the best option.
But you have to consider the time frame when your app can start monetization and earn. Some app owners ignore this point and fail to generate profit. As a result, they get disconnected from monetization, and might face difficulties during the later stage of the app’s lifecycle.
Conclusion
We have discussed the various processes of developing an app in detail in this article. Obviously, it is a lengthy and exhausting process. But we tried to provide you with all the information that is necessary for the successful completion of the app. This should help you to maximize the chances of success.
Additionally, one of the most important stages is the proper growth of the app. You have to carry out proper and regular data analysis and make improvements where needed. Finally, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on your competitors and update your features and functions as needed to provide better services and options to your users.
Thank you for your sharing. I am worried that I lack creative ideas. It is your article that makes me full of hope. Thank you. But, I have a question, can you help me?