In today’s mobile-first world, businesses are increasingly investing in mobile app development to reach and engage with their customers. Mobile apps provide a convenient and personalized way for businesses to connect with their users, offer them relevant information and services, and create a seamless user experience.
Mobile app development companies are going through a transformative phase. Advancement in micro-processing technologies enables you to run mobile applications on multiple platforms. For example, mobile apps built with Flutter or React Native will work on Android phones, iOS, Mac, and PCs.
Mobile app development is a complex process that involves various stages, from ideation and design to development and deployment. It requires a diverse skill set, including expertise in programming languages, user experience design, and mobile app platforms.
In this blog, we will explore the world of mobile app development in detail.
MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT
Mobile application development is the process of developing software for smartphones and digital assistants, most commonly for Android and iOS. The applications can be preinstalled on the device or can be downloaded later from a mobile app store. The programming and markup languages used for this kind of software development include HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Swift, C# and many more.
The mobile app development process requires developing software that can be installed on the devices, and enabling backend services for data access through APIs, and testing the application on target devices. To develop a scalable mobile application, you must consider the screen sizes, hardware requirements, and many other aspects of the development process.
To stay relevant, responsive and successful, organizations need to develop the mobile applications that their employees, customers, and partners demand. Once you have selected the OS platform, you need to overcome the limitations of mobile devices. By following a few basic guidelines and best practices, you can streamline your application development journey.
WHY MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT IS IMPORTANT
The installation and download of applications are higher than ever as the sale of smartphones, and smart devices are on the rise. Mobile applications are the heartbeat of most businesses as it enlarges the customer base.
The advantages of building mobile applications are
- Effective communication between the developers and customers through the application creates a customer base
- The fastest way to let your customers know the offers and new product launches
- Intrinsic payment options of the applications increase sales of your product and services
DIFFERENT APP DEVELOPMENT PLATFORMS
Native app development
Applications that are built using one specific technology dedicated to Android or iOS platforms are called native apps. Each mobile OS has its languages used for coding native apps. Kotlin or Java is used for developing Android mobile applications and Swift or Objective C is used for developing iOS mobile applications.
Native apps are known for their fast performance, robust functioning, and user experience that is tailor-made to their platform. Using system resources provided by a chosen platform is much easier and works better.
Pros
- Faster performance
- Better functioning
- Higher usability
- Easier bug prevention
- No dependencies on open-source libraries
Cons
- A bigger team of specialists is required as native languages are very specific
- Adding new features for more OS takes longer and is more expensive
Hybrid app development
Applications that are characterized by combined features of a native app and web app. Hybrid mobile applications can be built using well-known languages and frameworks like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Basically. it’s a combination of web and mobile elements to quickly create a product available on different platforms.
The process of developing hybrid apps consists of creating a backend codebase that will then be covered with a native shell that allows them to be uploaded to Google Play or App Store.
Pros
- Lower development cost
- Shorter time-to-market
- Easy maintenance
- Adding new features is simple with one codebase
Cons
- Hybrid apps won’t work offline
- Need a bigger team of developers – a web developer for the backend and a native developer for the rest
- Complex applications slowdowns the OS
Cross-platform app development
Cross-platform application is developing a single application that can run on various operating systems, instead of developing different applications for each platform. Hence they share the same codebase for all platforms, but they have their respectful difference in UI.
The driving force for cross-platform applications is to develop software that works well in more than one specific digital environment.
Pros
- Code reusability
- Cost-effective
- Easy hosting
- Consistency in UI components
- Cloud integration
- Shorter time-to-market
Cons
- Lower performance
- Hard code design
- Slow code performance with limited tool availability
- limited user experience
Progressive Web Apps
PWA is a viable alternative for hybrid and native apps for most business applications. These applications are rarely hardware intensive and are budget-friendly. Building a single PWA instead of supporting multiple native platforms can help to reduce development time and cost.
The UX is optimized for each platform and there is no dedicated framework or language for PWA.
Pros
- Loading Speed
- Work offline
- No need for installation
- These applications can be found online in the browser
- Access on different devices and platforms
- Easy to adapt to different screen sizes
Cons
- Hardware integration problem
- Weaker performance on iOS
- Needs more battery power
- Limited hardware and OS features
COMPARISON
| Native | Cross-platform | Hybrid | Progressive Web Apps |
| Native applications are developed using tools and SDKs offered by Apple and Google | Cross-platform mobile applications are developed using various programming languages and then compiled for each platform separately | Hybrid applications are developed using the latest web technologies and then bundled as mobile applications for the required platform. | The same Codebase is used for both web and mobile applications. |
| Progressive Web application on the browser whether it is a mobile or desktop. | It offers the best runtime performance | Web development tools are used to develop a mobile app | These are web applications that also run on mobile |
| Specific SDKs can be directly used with Platform | Unified user experience is offered. | A unified user experience is offered. | No app installation is required. |
| Higher development and maintenance cost | Dependent on third-party open-source libraries | Developed using web development technologies | It runs on the browser URL using the internet connection. |
APP CATEGORIES
- Healthcare apps are application programs that offer health-related services for Android, iOS, and tablets. These are accessible by patients both at home and on the go.
- Manufacturing apps turn industrial workflows into a streamlined manufacturing process. It cuts production costs, increases productivity, and helps your workforce systematically reduce the flaws of the system.
- Logistics apps help the owner of a business to manage a warehouse, monitor fleet in real-time, track packages, and send ETA to your users with a push of the fingertips
- Retail apps are software that allows buyers and sellers to transact their business online with a holistic experience. They intimate the customers about the deals, coupon codes, and available products
- eLearning apps are interactive webpages that allow students/learners to input their data and get expected results through interactions
- Financial apps allow their users to conduct financial transactions remotely on Android, iOS, or tablets. Financial wellness from debt management to making predictions before you invest is literally at your fingertips.
- Media apps are interactive software that allows users to access a wide range of movies, streaming services, and music.
- Food and Hospitality apps allow users to find deals, make reservations, read reviews, and order food of their choice. Tourists are attracted to local specialties and places, customer reviews their experience that is more interactive.
APP DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Strategy
The first phase of mobile application development is defining the strategy for developing your idea into a successful app. This phase should involve finding out the demographics that will use the app and potential competitors. One app’s objective may differ from another but still, there is an app-specific impact to address during the development process.
Analysis & Planning
At this stage, your idea starts taking shape and turns into an actual project. It begins with defining the use cases and making a detailed checklist of functional requirements.
Once the requirements of the application are identified, prepare a product roadmap. It includes prioritizing the application requirement and clustering them into delivery milestones. Define the Minimum Viable Product if time, costs, or resources are a concern and prioritize this for the initial launch.
UI/UX Design
The success of an application is determined by how users are adopting and utilizing all its features. The main objective of mobile app UI/UX design is creating excellent UX making an application intuitive, interactive, and user-friendly.
- Information Architecture & Workflow – The first step of the application design process is to determine the data that is displayed to the users, the data it will collect, user interaction, and the journey with the finished product.
- Wireframes are digital sketches that include conceptual layouts, also referred to as low-fidelity mockups. It gives visual structure to your app’s functional requirements.
- Style Guide is an app’s design strategy that includes design standards from your company’s branding rules down to the navigation icons, which are documented. The style guide includes the font family that the app’s text will use, color scheme, etc
- Mockups are the final renderings of the app’s visual design, also referred to as high-fidelity designs. mockups are designed by applying a style guide to the app wireframes.
- Prototypes – Static designs of mobile app functionality can turn into click-thru prototypes using tools like Figma and Invision. Prototypes are highly useful for simulating the UX and workflow expected from finished products but are time-consuming. Prototypes help to identify the modifications to the app’s proposed functionality as they offer early-stage testing of design and functionality.
App Development
Mobile app development includes three integral parts namely back-end/server technology, API, and Front-end.
- Back-end/Server technology includes database and server-side objects necessary for supporting the functionality of the mobile application. If an existing back-end platform is used, then necessary modifications have to be done for supporting the desired functionality.
- Application Programming Interface is a method of communication between the application and database[back-end server]
- Front-end is the mobile app an end-user will use. Mobile apps consist of interactive UX that utilizes an API and a back-end for managing data, when an app needs to allow end-users to work without internet access then it utilizes local data storage.
Testing
Quality Assurance is one of the most important phases of the mobile app development process to test usability and security. To ensure comprehensive QA, you need to design test cases that address all the aspects of testing.
Your app must undergo the following testing methods
- User Experience Test – A critical step in in-app testing is to ensure that the final implementations that match the UX created by the design team.
- Functional Testing – It’s quite difficult to predict every end user’s behavior and usage scenario. Hence, the functionality of your app must be tested by many users to cover potential testing conditions. This ensures that users can use the app’s features and functionalities without any issues.
- Performance Testing – The main objective of performance testing is to check whether the app can perform consistently even with different loads.
- Security Testing – Security is the greatest concern for enterprise mobile applications, as any potential vulnerability can lead to hacking. If any app requires users to log in, then these sessions must be tracked on the device and the backend. User sessions must be terminated when a user is idle for an extended time. And if your app stores user credentials to make it convenient for them to re-login, then you must ensure that using trusted services.
- Device and platform testing – The mobile app testing process is completely different from web app testing. You can get away by testing your web app in the Windows environment on the Chrome browser. But the mobile app has to be tested on multiple devices to ensure the smooth working of the app for all users. The complexity of mobile app testing on all mobile devices and ongoing support costs are the primary reasons why companies tend to build their enterprise mobile apps for a single platform.
Deployment
Releasing a native mobile app entails submitting your app to the app store. However, you will need a developer account with Apple App Store for iOS apps and Google Play Store for Android apps before launching your mobile app.
An app’s release in the app store requires the following:
- App’s title
- Description
- Category
- Keywords
- Launch icon
- App Store screenshots
Once iOS apps are submitted to the Apple App Store, They go through a review process which may take from a few days to several weeks depending upon the quality of the application and how closely it follows development guidelines provided by Apple. If your app requires users to log in, then you will have to provide Apple with a test user account as a part of the release process.
There isn’t any review process for the Android app, and they will be available in-app store within a few hours of submission.
Monitor the app usage through mobile analytics platforms and keep tracking Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for measuring your app’s success.
BEST PRACTICES FOR MOBILE APPLICATION DEPLOYMENT
Once the user installs the app, you should work on minimizing the uninstallations. One can achieve maximum financial benefits in the long run by delivering the best user experience, keeping up with the competition, and regularly maintaining mobile applications to create a sustainable brand image in the minds of users. Here are the few best practices
- Monitor the performance
- Keeping UI updated
- Ensuring that the app supports the latest software
- Regular bug fixing
- Adding new features regularly
CONCLUSION
The mobile application development stages are quite tedious and overwhelming. But, it is an ongoing process and will continue after the initial launch, you will be receiving user feedback and may have to build additional functionalities.