Smartphones have changed the way people interact with the world and each other. Ten years ago, mobile phones were only used to communicate via phone calls or texts. Smartphones are more than just phones; you can talk, scroll, search, shop, and do much more with a smartphone. Thanks to mobile app development companies, the world is just a single click away with a smartphone.
In 2020, most brick-and-mortar stores switched to eCommerce stores to thrive in the challenging times of the global pandemic. During the pandemic, shoppers prefer to shop online and make most of their shopping decisions through their smartphones.
But it will become a permanent consumer behaviour after the pandemic. Most store owners seek it as an opportunity to grow and expand their business. This has led to the development of on-demand mobile apps to cater to the demands of your potential customers.
In this digital era, mobile apps are necessary to ensure your online presence in the digital world. The majority of users use their smartphones to browse the internet. According to reports, in 2015, approximately 57% of the website traffic worldwide was mobile users.
Most people hire a mobile app development company to build an interactive mobile app for their startup business. In this post, we will learn how to develop your mobile app using a step-by-step guide.
8 steps for mobile app development
1. Make a plan for your mobile app
The first step in mobile app development is to make a plan for your app. You need to define your business goals and objectives exactly what you want to achieve through your app. Understand your target audience and how your app will cater to their demands.
Research your competitors in your market niche. This will help you design a mobile app that can make your business stand out from the competition.
2. Decide a budget
An important aspect of the process of mobile app development is to set a budget for your app. You need to decide on a budget before going into app development. Setting a pre-budget will help you determine your app features and the services you want to hire to create your app.
3. Define your app features
Another important step in the app development process is to determine your app features. If you are a startup business, it is better to start with a minimum viable product and not cram too many unnecessary features into your mobile app.
Try to keep your app features to a minimum at first. You can add more features to your app using up-gradation. The must-have mobile app features include:
- Loading speed
- Simplicity
- Scalability
- Security
- Search options
- High image resolution
- Bold and bright colour schemes
- Push notifications
4. Sketch a wireframe
In this step, you create a wireframe of your app. At this point, you should have a pretty good idea about your app design and what features you want to incorporate into your app. Now it’s time to sketch the wireframe of your app.
A wireframe is a two-dimensional illustration that depicts your website content’s webpage layout or arrangement. Wireframes are used to determine your app’s website responsiveness, architecture, and user experience.
A wireframe can give you an idea about your app’s functionality and usability issues. You can also use online wireframing tools to create a wireframe for your app.
5. Define your app backend
After creating the wireframe, you need to define the backend of your apps, such as the application programming interface, data integration, data diagrams, servers, and push notification services.
Most SMEs (small and mid-size enterprises) choose the Baas platform for their app backend development as it can solve common issues such as lack of in-house talent and scalability.
Disclaimer: You may need to modify your wireframes if you encounter any technical limitations in the process of backend development. So, keep flexibility at this stage.
6. Test your Prototype
At this stage, you will test your prototypes. Prototypes are the first draft in the process of app development before you reach your final product.
When these prototypes are deployed on real-world users to find the functionality and usability issues, prototype testing effectively analyses the quality, features, and other critical components.
7. Develop your mobile app
In this step, the actual app development takes place. Your app designer will choose the programming languages depending on your app type, iOS, Android, or both. Selecting the right app developer to create your app is one of the most crucial steps in app development.
Because an expert app developer knows which programming language would be most suitable for your app, programming languages are used to build a mobile app.
There are various programming languages, such as Java, Kotlin, C++, Objective C, Swift, Python, Ruby on Rails, and many more. Developing a cross-platform mobile app is a cost-effective way to save your budget.
8. Quality Assurance
After the app development, quality assurance testing is used to ensure the app’s functionality, usability, security, performance, and many more. The quality analysts perform quality assurance tests to ensure the app works well and fulfills the user requirements.
Conclusion
Therefore, an online business must have a responsive mobile app and an eCommerce website. Many mobile app development agencies offer responsive and user-friendly mobile apps to attract more potential customers to your brand at highly affordable rates.
