Ultimate Guide to Mobile App Development

According to Statista’s report, by 2026, users are projected to download more than 140 billion mobile applications from Google Play Store alone. Even further, despite Covid pandemic, the global revenue from mobile applications increased to nearly 320 billion dollars and is likely to surge at a rapid rate, according to another statistic on the research giant’s website.

What does it indicate?

It means mobile applications are here to help businesses secure a huge client base beyond specific regions. Whether you own a small business or have a chain of companies in different industry niches, having a mobile app would only increase your potential because according to Think with Google, most people prefer smartphones as their medium to shop, search, and transact.

Business Benefits of a Mobile App

Your business does require a mobile app even though your brick-and-mortar company is doing absolutely fine. The reason is simple – smoother management, fewer efforts, and more profit.

Mobile app development shall bring ease into your business operations if you are doing completely okay in your business; nonetheless, if the company suffers from less visibility and customer base, mobile applications can remarkably boost its presence as it can reach potential customers sitting anywhere in the world. All in all, building a mobile app for any business is any time profitable and beneficial.

Mobile App Platforms and Market

Smartphone users are largely divided into two groups – Android users and iPhone users. This means your customers too are divided into these groups – some use Android-based products and others have Apple products such as iPhones, iWatch, and iPads. Now, to tap all users, your mobile applications should be available on both platforms; Google Play Store and Apple Store. Simply put, creating an app for Android and iOS are the two primary goals you must have to build your application. You can choose to hire Android app development companies and iPhone app development companies to create a native application for Android and iOS devices respectively.

According to research, Android has maintained the largest share in the app market with 71.8% whereas iOS accounted for 27.6% globally in 2022.

So, which platform you should target? Android or iOS? Do you know which customer of yours uses which mobile phone? Since every customer has the potential to become a loyal client, you don’t want to lose any. Thus, developing mobile apps for both platforms is advisable. However, top mobile app development agencies have a great solution to overcome this hassle – cross-platform app development wherein you can build a customized mobile app that works on both Android and iOS with the same code. Indeed, you save a lot of money as well as time.

There is another aspect to having a mobile app – Progressive Web Apps(PWAs) that most mobile app development firms offer. PWAs are an alternate option to traditional mobile app where you don’t need an app store release. They are more affordable and offer decent security, pace, and ease because they operate through browsers but still give an app-like user experience.

Do you need Technical knowledge as a businessperson?

The simple answer is no! You don’t need to possess any technical knowledge about mobile app development; nevertheless, it is a big advantage if you are a techie or know about how things work in the mobile app development process.

The making of a Mobile app involves several steps, processes, and tools. For instance, frameworks, platforms, programming languages, components, libraries, and other licensed tools and APIs. It is always recommended that you may have a glance at any detailed guide to mobile development so that you can put your thoughts and vision better when you approach mobile app development companies.

You always have the option to discuss various mobile technologies such as React Native, Flutter, Xamarin, Swift, Iconic, etc., with your tech partner or top mobile app developers with sound knowledge of the latest technologies.

Front-end and back-end development of your mobile app

Whether or not you possess sound technical knowledge, it is crucial that you understand the two interconnected core components of your mobile app development – front-end and back-end mobile app development.

There is a difference between front-end and back-end development; the front-end development former one is called as client-side rendering wherein the visual and interactive UI shall face users. In simple words, it is what users see on your mobile app. On the other hand, the back-end development is server-side action such as how things work on the mobile app. It means all the mechanisms behind every action taken on of mobile app such as users’ tap or touch the components.

The Journey of Your Mobile App Development Process

A businessperson would never lack of innovative business ideas whether it is to expand the present business or to venture into a startup. Thus, it is important that you need to jot down all your ideas on paper which is the first step toward building any fruitful business. Once the ideas are on paper, you need to think about automatizing the entire process for smoother business operations; in other words, you need to turn your app idea into a pro solution.

Though all your ideas can be comfortably converted into mobile app features through customization, it is of paramount importance that mobile app development experts should approve your ideas through a feasibility check. That being said, the tech gurus may help you with crucial processes in building customized mobile apps such as wireframes, prototypes, and other factors such as design process, target market, agile development, and other quality check techniques.

Typically, the entire procedure of mobile app development goes through eight steps;

Step: 1- Identity Project Requirement
Step: 2- Market and Competitor Research
Step: 3- Create a Wireframe for an App
Step: 4- Select the Best Method for App Development
Step: 5- Define App Features and build an MVP
Step: 6- Testing of Mobile App
Step: 7- Release the App on app stores
Step: 8- Marketing of the Mobile App

By following these steps of the mobile app development process one can create successful mobile applications.

Mobile App Success and You

In May 2022, more than a hundred thousand apps were released only on the Android platform (Google Play). And the figure has been quite consistent ever since. This means if you are releasing your mobile app on any platform, it will be just another app on the store if it does not provide great value to users.

What does it mean?

It means you should be all eyes and ears when it comes to developing a mobile app for a specific niche or business. How do you offer uniqueness to users? How is your customized mobile app development different from others? What makes your digital product stand out from the crowd of already existing hundreds of thousands of apps on the store?

The answer lies in the five pillars of mobile app success –

1. Identifying the pain area of targeted customers
2. Making out what is trending in the market
3. Understanding the dynamics of ever-changing consumer demands
4. Integrating the latest technologies to offer the best user experience
5. Mapping your UI with users’ expectations and ease

Assuring that these five pillars are in the right place, you can bank on your digital product of any kind. The latest technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Virtual Reality (VR) are a few names that can help you make your mobile app a pioneer one; nevertheless, you may need to shell out extra bucks to have these luxuries in your product.

How to push your app to your customer’s home screen, permanently?

Mobile app success is all about its usability. Boring applications that lie in some corner of the inner pages of users’ mobile phones shall stay there without being used. Over a period, the artificial intelligence of the smartphone shall suggest users remove ‘unused’ apps and in the end, the app is uninstalled. The story is over!

So, how to make your app so lovable that it finds its permanent place on users’ home screens?

The answer is simple -if users find your app easy, convenient, and useful, it is likely to stay on their home screen, permanently!

Right from a mobile app development process, you need to take care of certain factors to make your app reliable, lovable, and usable. Here are a few factors that have always worked to achieve the target –

Best UI for admirable UX

Billions of dollars are put in every year to understand how to improve user experience (UX) through a user interface (UI). UI is the face of an app and it is the playground for the users. If UI fails to deliver proper UX, the app loses its charm. Hence, the UI components should be aesthetically designed and should function flawlessly.

Rewards and offers

Users love free and/or extra stuff of all kinds. Make a way in your business (services or products) to offer some rewards and offers so that customers, over a certain time, get surprises with free stuff. This has proven to be a huge factor in converting a normal customer into a loyal client. The rewards and tokens of appreciation are released after prolonged use of the app which means the users are bound to use apps frequently and for a longer duration. Various marketing campaigns and drives are conducted (for instance, seasonal offers, festive offers, and rewards for frequent app users) to keep users engaged and stuck to your apps.

Super app – All-in-one app

Everything at once! That’s the approach that has always worked when it comes to providing the best user experience. Simple as it is – a super mall that has movie theatres, shopping stores, food courts, and fun zones shall attract customers from all walks of life and age groups. Similarly, A Super app has all the necessary features that a mobile app needs for specific industry and more so that users don’t have to download multiple mobile applications. Top mobile app development companies can help you build a super app for any industry that assures customer retention.

Security

Mobile app users are quite concerned about the data they provide which may include personal information such as name, phone number, personal identification number, bank details, and so on. Asking your mobile app development companies to add extra layers (tiers) to your product shall have the best advantage to offer classic security to your users. It shall boost confidence in your users to use apps freely.

Quick support

Users have taken pains to download your app and use it for various purposes. Any glitch or impediment does not go well with users and, therefore, quick 24/7 customer support is what they are in grave need of. Your customized mobile app can have a chatbot for automated response or you can deploy customer care executives’ teams to answer or respond to customers’ queries in a jiffy.

Readymade vs. customized mobile app

You may come across top mobile app development companies that offer readymade products as solutions. For instance, if you want to develop a food delivery app, there is a software tool already available with them. With general features, you can simply buy or subscribe to the Whitelabel product without stretching your budget; on the other hand, customized mobile app development is a process wherein the product is developed from scratch. You will have a product in line with your business objectives and company goals as it would accommodate the best mobile app features.

For a customized product, your service provider’s top mobile app developers are all set to work on your project, dedicatedly. You can build your own team as you hire developers as per your choice and purpose. Industry or domain experts can be brought in by hiring them at special costs to make a product holistic.

Most projects for enterprise mobility are customized because they are well-researched and user-oriented. Between readymade white label solutions vs custom mobile app development, It is always advisable to go for a tailor-made digital product with a business-specific yet scalable approach.

Mobile App Development Cost

When you outsource app development, the major factor you look out for is the cost. While it is impossible to quote a perfect number for the overall price, there is always a range. For instance, starting development cost of most mobile applications, depending on their sizes and dynamism, shall cost you approximately $5000 to $50,0000.

Various sources are available to learn about mobile app development costs, but they would only give you a rough estimate. For final figures, you need to contact mobile app development companies and discuss in detail with features and other factors.

It is worth noting that mobile app development prices also depend on outsourcing destinations. App development companies in the USA and app development companies in the UK may give you different quotes as compared to development firms in Asia as the former ones would cost you more for the same project.

How to choose the best mobile app development company when all is good?

You may find more than one top mobile app development company in any region. It is not uncommon to get confused with the ranking on the search engine or online directories; however, the key point in choosing the best among the best relies on a few factors mentioned below to the best mobile app development company –

• Never Invest Before Comparing
• Evaluate the Portfolio of the Developed Apps
• Find the Online Reviews/Ratings of the Company
• Understanding their App Design and Development Process
• Experience of their Mobile App Developers
• Look for their Consultative Approach
• Budget and Maintenance
• Terms for Customization
• Post-Production Support for the App

Considering these four primary factors and their importance, you can ask questions to more than one mobile app development company and wait for their reply. Alternatively, browse through their social media platforms and authentic (corporate) websites to know more about their work and teams. Once confirmed, you can discuss the budget and go ahead with your project.