The importance of mobile apps in our modern world cannot be overemphasized. As the numbers of smartphone or mobile phone users increase worldwide, it is most reasonable that more mobile apps would be developed to meet various needs of the users while providing them with a mobile experience. Given the above, mobile app development companies are working hard to develop a wide variety of mobile apps to meet clients’ requirements.
If you are planning to develop a mobile app for your product or service, there are six important steps involved. Here are the six crucial steps that mobile app development involves:
1. Strategy Definition
The first and most crucial step in mobile app development is defining a strategy you will use to translate your app idea into a working and functional mobile app. This includes defining the objectives your proposed app intends to achieve. To do this, you need to determine the target app users, identify the competition, and decide the right mobile platforms for your app. The outcome of this step will help you focus on achieving your defined objectives.
2. Analysis and Planning
Here, you determine what the app will be used for and identify its functional requirements, which will determine the prioritizing and grouping of the requirements into delivery stages until its completion and launch. The planning stage will include finding mobile app development companies that have the right skills needed to develop your app, deciding a unique name for your app, and choosing the right platforms for it, such as Android, iOS, and Windows.
3. Design of UI and UX
The next stage involved in mobile app development is to design the right user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) for your app. This will incorporate all the proposed features and requirements of the app. Meanwhile, you must make sure that the app is user-friendly and works well without any inhibitions.
This stage involves the following:
a. Information architecture and workflow
b. Wireframes or layouts
c. Style
d. Mockups
e. Prototype
4. Mobile App Development
At this stage, the programming and development of the app begin. However, you must decide the technical architecture, choose a technology stack, and highlight the development phases or milestones. Besides, a crucial decision must be made regarding server or backend technology, front-end, and relevant API(s). Quite a lot gets done at this stage, and it is the core of the development process.
5. Testing
The developed app must undergo series of quality assurance (QA) testing to guarantee the stability, usability, and security of the app. However, relevant test cases that cover all aspects of the app must be prepared. Here are the testing usually carried out on newly developed apps:
a. User experience testing
b. Functionality testing
c. Performance testing
d. Security testing
e. Data testing
f. Device and platform testing
This is one of the most crucial stages because it defines the success of the app and ensures that a highly functional mobile app is provided.
6. Deployment and Support
This is the final stage of mobile app development when the app will!be submitted to relevant app stores – Google Play for Android apps and Apple App Store for iOS apps. Meanwhile, creating a developer account is required to submit the app to the relevant app stores. To submit an app, you will provide the app’s title, description, category, keywords, icon, and App screenshots. The app will be reviewed before being allowed to go live and be available to users, especially the iOS apps.
Mobile app development does not end at deployment, adequate support to fix bugs, update the app to meet the latest operating system, respond to users’ complaints, and lots more. The above are the six stages involved in mobile app development.
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