Getting Started With App Development? Read This First

Alright, so you are in a fresh mood, early morning sipping a cup of coffee when you think of a brilliant mobile app idea. You are sure your app idea is unique and will offer value to your potential users. However, is an idea enough to ignite a spark, or do you need to do something about it?

NO! So then, what’s next? 

Well, if you don’t put up a proper road map for your app, it’s going to burn to ashes without a doubt. All you need is a proper guide to succeed in your mobile app development process. 

If you are on your mission to build an incredible mobile app, you have landed in the right place. This article will portray exactly how you start from scratch and accomplish your mission. 

Once you go through this guide, it’s probably best to look for an experienced app development company that will help you create a great app. There are several talented app developers in chicago that you would definitely want to hire for your project to deliver a flawless user experience. 

Let’s get started with the mobile app development process without further delay.

A Guide to Deliver a Mobile App of Your Dreams.

It can be pretty exciting, to begin with, the app development process right away, but if you start without proper planning and mind mapping, it will cost you a fortune and become a disaster. 

Below are some mandatory steps that you should follow to succeed in your mobile app journey. 

1. Mobile App Idea

So, first of all, you need a unique app idea to begin with. Mostly, you will find ideas from the already existing apps in the App Store and Play Store. You need to be open & creative in your thoughts to accept new concepts and think about what will bring value to people today. 

Once you have the idea, you need to confirm if it’s worth investing all your resources to develop this app. 

Ask yourself the following questions to define your objectives:

• Why do you want to develop this unique mobile app?
• Will it benefit your business? Or will it produce adequate funds for your business?
• Is the idea apt as per the current market needs and the company’s target audience?
• Do you have sufficient resources(time & money) to feed this app development process?
• What are your apps’ rare features, and how will they attract your audience?

These are some great questions that you can ask yourself to lead you to the next step. 

2. Conduct Research

Once you know your goals & set your objectives, you must ensure that the market is ready for your mobile app. Many apps sound unique and valuable, but you need to check through if it is really going to be helpful for your target audience. 

Suppose you create a specific app with massive demand in India, but your target audience is US-based. Is it going to succeed? Hell no! There are chances maybe a few people might subscribe to your app, but it’s not going to be enough for you to sustain in the market. 

Therefore, make sure you consider the target audience before you create an app.

Moreover, after searching the App Store, you might come across an app similar to your idea! Don’t get dejected; you just need to make a few variations to your app idea and check your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses to ensure you offer your potential users what they aren’t. 

Below are some benefits of performing market research:

• It helps you recognize business opportunities.
• It helps you better understand your target users.
• You can get a clear idea of your competitors. 
• You can get to know the user’s demands.
• You can frame your mobile app in the best possible way.

3. Decide your App’s Monetization Strategy

After all, making money is the end goal. But before you start the development process, you must determine how you will make money from your app. Since mobile apps have a huge development cost, choosing an effective monetization model will help you get a better return but huge profits. 

Below are some monetization models for your app:

• Paid App Model: This sounds simple, but it’s pretty challenging to convince people to pay for your app. Hence, several apps first offer a free trial period to some premium features that users have to pay to use it. This is how it encourages users to enroll for a paid version of your app.

• In-app Purchase Model: This is quite common in gaming apps. You can make money via unlocking some pro features, themes, coins, etc. If users like your game, they are willing to pay for it, and you can earn unlimited. As per sources, Pokemon Go is a notable example of this, as it earned over $4 billion despite being free-to-use. 

• Ads Model: The most common form of monetization model, and you’ll mostly see many apps use it. You can easily add ads to your mobile app, but remember, while it is an easy source of income, it might annoy the users with frequent pop-ups.

• Subscription Model: This is somewhat similar to Paid App Model, where you can offer a free trial to the users. Another version is where you could render a subscription of the app, but after using the premium features, users need to subscribe to it to export or save an image or video, in case of a photo or video editing app.

4. Create your Mobile App’s Wireframe

You must be wondering, “what is a wireframe?”

Well, a wireframe is like a draft of what your app will look like. It doesn’t have to be too neat or well-designed since it’s a rough layout. You need to get an overall idea of how it will look once it’s developed. 

A wireframe aims to show the app’s layout and features. Your focus during the wireframe should be on the app’s flow and structure. Moreover, you must also plan your app’s visual elements like logo, font, color palette, animations, images, menu, and buttons. 

These are several tools to create your app’s wireframe, such as UXPin, Fluid UI, InVision, Balsamiq, Proto.io, Prott, and Figma. 

5. Choose a Mobile App Platform

Once you are done wireframing your app, decide the platform where you wish to launch your app. Below are the two options available:

NATIVE APP

This goes well when you want to build an app only on one platform, iOS or Android, since it uses a unique codebase for each platform. 

CROSS-PLATFORM APP

Unlike native apps, cross-platform apps allow developers to use a single codebase for multiple platforms. This ultimately results in reduced cost and time. 

6. App Development 

Once you are done with the wireframing, designs, and frameworks, it’s time to build a robust app. Here, the developing team codes the app using the best framework and technologies required to deliver a flawless user experience. 

The time it takes developers to build a mobile app depends on the complexity of the app. If your app is simple, it can take about two months to develop, while if it is a complex one, it can take even a year to develop. A complicated app can involve all sets of tools and advanced technologies like IoT, AI, AR/VR, Blockchain, etc.

7. App Testing

Once your app is created, the best thing to do is test it before hitting the submit button. Running a test ensures if there are any bugs or errors that need your attention. 

Below are the various types of testing every quality assurance engineer (QAE) should know:

• Performance Testing
• Functional Testing
• Usability Testing
• Manual Testing
• Compliance Testing
• Interruption Testing
• Compatibility Testing
• Security Testing

8. App Launch & Maintenance

So you have tested your mobile app, and everything looks great. Now, it’s time to launch your app in the App Store and Play Store. 

It is crucial to read the guidelines of the Apple App Store and Google Play Store to save yourself from app rejection. Ensure that your app is fully-functional and doesn’t have any error or crash possibility; if not, your app will indeed face rejection. 

Imagine going through the whole app development process only to get your app disapproved; it could be an ordeal! Hence, make sure you view all the requirements before submitting your app to the App Store.  

After your app is launched, your work is not over. Only celebrate once your app is loved by several users and is not uninstalled by them. It would help if you always keep your app maintained and upgraded as per the existing trend; otherwise, your app will fail to retain the users. 

Begin Your Mobile App Process Today!

We finally come to an end after covering most of the things you need to know. It might seem overwhelming; however, the right mobile app development company can help this work seem easier with their tremendous experience and talented development team. 

Hence, once you generate a unique idea and conduct your market research properly, ensure you choose the right app development company to help you succeed.