You unlock your mobile, access Google’s PlayStore or Apple’s AppStore, enter an app’s name in the search bar and poof! Within seconds or minutes, the app is downloaded. That’s how easy it is to download an app, explaining the popularity of mobile applications. Mobile apps are becoming the need of every generation. From social networking to banking, these applications play a major role in managing tasks and connecting and entertaining individuals.

As easy as it is to use, creating a mobile app is not that easy. There are a series of steps involved, and one must ensure that the app remains responsive on all mobile models, allowing efficient use for all.

How to do that?

This article provides a comprehensive answer to this question. It walks you through the essential stages of this application development process, making it easier for you to follow and build an efficient app. 

Mobile Application Development Platforms

Before diving deeper into the creation of a streamlined app, let’s have a quick understanding of the platform for which these apps are constructed. We have three platforms across which the mobile software is launched, which include: 

1. iOS: This is strictly for app launches on Apple devices such as iPhones and iPads. Programming languages such as Swift or Objective-C are required for this purpose. 
2. Android: Per the name, this platform involves app launches on Android operating systems. Languages like Java or Kotlin are mostly used. 
3. Cross-platform: These platforms include applications that can operate across multiple operating systems, such as iOS and Android. React Native and Flutter are best for creating such software.

Mobile App Development Lifecycle: Key Stages

A common process of mobile application construction is basically divided into five key stages, which are: 

1. Inception 
2. Design 
3. Development 
4. Stabilization 
5. Deployment 

Now, let’s explore each of these steps in detail: 

1. Inception 

Every new construction, whether a building or software, involves a concept and proper planning. We know that millions of mobile apps are available across various platforms. While they may exhibit some commonalities, they almost always have a unique feature that sets them apart from others. This is what you must think about in this phase.

You always have a concept in mind as you think of making your application. Thoroughly ponder upon your concept, thinking about all the necessary points associated with the process. Be very thorough in your market research prior to starting the development process. Consider asking questions like:

• What kind of applications are your competitors making? 
• How does your software stand out among others? 
• What value can it provide the customers? 
• Will it solve the issues faced by your target audience? If so, then how? 
• What necessary features should you add to your app? 

Answering each of these questions will help you develop a solution that aligns with your users’ needs. 

2. Design 

This is the major phase in the entire process, as it determines the future success of your mobile application. To simplify the stage, let’s subdivide it further into different steps. 

Wireframing: Construct a blueprint of your app, sketching out the entire layout. It helps plan out the elements that will be visible on the user’s screen. Wireframe mockups set the stage for the software’s UX design. Those created using Balsamiq are commonly used to design the layout of user experience. 

Designing the UX/UI: A user-friendly application is like a shining star. A user experience, therefore, is the game-changer, determining the success and failure of your app. The interface rules and UX mockups help construct the user experience you seek, making the user “feel at home” on every platform. For each platform, there are certain guidelines:

• Human Interface Guidelines (for Apple) 
• Design Guidelines (for Android) 
• UWP – UWP Design Fundamentals (cross-platform) 

The guidelines are important to consider since every platform comes with a unique way of switching between the application’s different sections, features, and views. 

Now, move on to delivering a seamless UI to your valued customers. It requires paying sufficient attention to varying screen sizes and their responsiveness. Other considerable elements include optimizing the mobile’s visuals, color palette, typography, and imagery.

Next, use appropriate buttons and icons to properly guide the user throughout the interface. If you’re using animations and micro-interactions, ensure that they’re appropriate enough to enhance the user experience and provide feedback.

Prototyping is the last stage in the app’s design phase. As more detailed versions of the wireframes, prototypes offer a general idea of how the app works. They are an early version that helps catch plausible flaws and loopholes in the software. Real-time user feedback is easily obtained, allowing for early improvements.    

3. Development 

The development of your mobile app began with the creation of the prototype. However, considering it as an individual step, development involves giving life to the planned UI/UX. This is a stage where the code writing begins, setting the foundation for launching a proper, user-friendly mobile application.

The front-end development involves the addition of all the visual elements and ensuring responsiveness. The back-end development involves several different steps, such as: 

• RESTful API creation 
• Design and implementation of data schemas 
• Setting server environments 
• Implementing security checkpoint

Mobile app development languages such as Python, Node.js, and Ruby are commonly used in software’s back-end development.

This is also the stage where you integrate the front and back-end app development with other third-party tools. Key steps include: 

• Integrating API endpoints with front-end construction. 
• Synchronizing data between server and app. 
• API testing (for calls and responses). 
• Optimizing software’s performance. 

4. Stabilization (Testing)

Also, known as ‘Testing,’ this is the stage where the constructed mobile software undergoes several tests before its final release. It helps identify the bugs, find loopholes and flaws, and sort out all the issues in your software. Majorly, testing is done within the following categories: 

• Usability testing 
• Performance Testing 
• Quality Assurance 

During all these phases, you make sure that the app performs efficiently across all platforms (or at least on the one for which it’s built). They also ensure that loading time remains optimized, and that the entire UI/UX is flawless and seamless so as not to frustrate the user. 

5. Deployment

Now comes the final stage – the app’s deployment. This, too, requires strategic planning prior to the launch. No matter what the operating system is, there are some key considerations you should look into. For instance, it’s necessary to give appropriate product descriptions, icons, and screenshots. Each store, AppStore or PlayStore, has its specific guidelines and technicalities, and compliance with these is necessary to avoid any legal allegations in the future.

App’s Market Entry

This is the phase where you make your app completely market-ready, with no bugs or flaws left. Moreover, you start actively marketing your software through social media campaigns, influencer partnerships, and press releases. App Store Optimization (ASO) helps increase your app’s ranking in search results. You can gain increased customer attention by adding relevant animations and videos. 

Post Launch Considerations

Mobile application creation does not just stop at deployment and market release. In fact, it’s a continued process post-launch as well, requiring regular monitoring and maintenance. Some key considerations for the launch include: 

• App maintenance through security checks and updates. 
• Making iterations based on feedback.
• Adding and subtracting features based on changing times.
• Improving the application’s speed and reliability.
• Ensuring software’s smooth functionality at all times.
• Scaling it to support and handle large volumes of data.

Conclusion 

Creating anything from scratch requires effort and time. The more you give, the better results you get. Likewise, developing a mobile application demands proper time and planning. True, it’s just a small idea in the beginning. But through brainstorming and strategic decision-making, this idea gets polished, taking the shape of fully developed mobile software.

The above article entails some key steps that you should keep in mind when planning to create your efficient working software. However, there’s an emerging trend in the present times – to outsource mobile app development. It not only helps save your time and effort but also cuts down on some major capital costs. But whichever way you go, one thing’s for sure – having a mobile app at hand is now becoming necessary for increased growth and business scalability.