A Complete Guide to Mobile App Development

Mobile internet usage continues to grow as Internet connectivity becomes more crucial to our everyday lives. No longer just limited to work, study, and research, internet use has now become integral for entertainment, communication, personal banking, shopping, and healthcare services. 

Internet usage is classified into three: mobile, tablet, and desktop. Mobile commands 57.87% of the global market share, eclipsing desktop at 40.2% and tablet at 1.94%. The implication is clear: if you want to be visible and reach more people online, you must appeal to mobile device users. 

As business owners, one of the best ways to establish yourself as a mobile-friendly brand or business is to develop a mobile app. Branded apps have immense potential for promoting growth and increasing revenue. They attract new customers while keeping current ones happy and engaged. With the right strategy, mobile app development can propel your business to greater heights.

To help you navigate this endeavor, we present this guide on how to develop quality and functional mobile apps.

App Development Planning Guide for Businesses

Jackrabbit Mobile’s guide to mobile app development in a nutshell:

• Pre-Development Checklist 

Complete these requirements to avoid delays during the development phase.

• Step-by-Step App Development 

A seven-step mobile app development guide for businesses.

1. Research
2. Wireframing
3. Prototyping
4. UX and UI Designing
5. Coding
6. Beta Testing
7. Deployment

• How To Screen a Mobile App Development Company 

If mobile app development isn’t your company’s forte, entrust the task to professionals.

Pre-Development Checklist

To start this guide to mobile app development, here’s a quick rundown of the things you need to have or decide on before starting actual development work. 

Assemble a team

The first thing on this checklist is assembling a team to spearhead and make crucial decisions about your app’s design and development. There’s so much that needs to be decided on and done in mobile app development, and it helps to have a core group with various backgrounds and expertise that you can consult in the process. 

For example, you’ll want a product manager with experience developing technical spec sheets, roadmaps, workflows, and managing schedules. 

Here’s a list of the specialists you’ll need for your team:

• Product Manager
• UX/UI Designer
• Mobile App Developer
• Quality Assurance Specialist
• Researchers and Beta Testers
• Product Marketing Lead

Develop your idea

Sometimes, the best app ideas emerge from random musings on an ordinary day. However, a vague idea needs to be fleshed out. This involves thinking about what it can do, and who you are making it for. This is crucial to our mobile app development guide because it will set the tone and direction for the entire project.

1. Value Proposition – What can you offer that doesn’t already exist on the app markets?
2. Target Audience / Users – Determine your target users. What consumer problems do you want the app to solve?
3. Features – Hone in on one or a few problems and how your app can solve them. Avoid trying to make your app do everything or solve everything at once. Even if you pull off the coding, users might be overwhelmed or confused with the excessive features and abandon your app. 
4. Information architecture – Most apps use data to function correctly. You have to decide what data your app will use, how the data will be stored and displayed, and how users can interact with the data in the app. 
5. Goals – If you plan for this app to be tied to your business, what are your business goals? To streamline buying and product delivery? Increase subscriptions? Increase sales? Deciding on your goals from the beginning will guide the design and functions of your app.
6. KPIs – Decide on key performance indicators that will serve as your measuring points for success. Remember that if necessary, you can adjust the KPIs further in the development process.

Choose a platform and tech stack

One of the most crucial parts of this app development planning guide is picking the platform or OS for your app. As discussed at the beginning of this blog, Android and iOS are the most dominant operating systems for mobile devices. Choose the ideal OS based on your target market and other factors like target market demographic, budget, available expertise, time frame, and the features you want to put in your app. 

After deciding on your OS, choose the tech stack your developers will use. Below are some well-known examples:

Android	iOS	Hybrid
* Java * Kotlin * Android Studio * Android Development Tools * Android Software Development kit	* Swift * Objective-C * iOS Software Development Kit * Apple Xcode	* Flutter * JavaScript (Typescript) * React Native * Apache Cordova

Create a technical specs sheet

Once you have your goals, main features, OS, and tech stack, you can dive into the specifics of the app. Create a software requirements specifications sheet with a detailed description of the above. The spec sheet is vital because the team will refer to it for guidance as the project progresses. Therefore, it should be as detailed and comprehensive as possible.

Determine a budget and timeline

By this point, your team will already have an idea of how long it will take to build the app and how much it will cost to develop. How much does it cost to create a mobile app? It will depend on the complexity, scope, features, resources (i.e., tools and specialists), overhead costs, and allotted time for creating the app. You may have to be flexible on how much you’re willing to spend, but establishing a budget cap should help the team keep expenses within a reasonable range.

Choose a monetization model

Getting a realistic cost estimate for your app’s development should inspire you to explore monetization options. A monetization strategy is necessary if you have investors or a board of directors who want to see ROI from your app development project.

Here are examples of app monetization strategies:

• Freemium app model
• Paid or premium app model
• Subscriptions
• Affiliate marketing
• In-app advertising (ex: interstitial ads, banner ads, gamified ads)
• Transaction fees
• In-app currency (ex: tokens with equivalent monetary value)
• Crowdfunding
• Integrated email, SMS, and social media marketing

Consider intellectual property licensing

Suppose you came up with a genuinely novel app with the potential to be the next big thing in the app community. If you are confident about your app’s potential, consider applying for a patent or copyright your work. The application can take a long time, so it would be a good idea to start inquiring about the application requirements early on. This also ensures you can fulfill licensing/patenting/copyrighting requirements as you go through development.

Step-by-Step Mobile App Development Guide

Now that you have the building blocks of your application, you can proceed with the app development. Below is a standard procedure that most developers follow.

Research

The team must conduct a thorough market analysis and study your app’s target demographics. They will have already done initial research during the ideation phase and creation of the spec sheet. However, more in-depth research may be necessary if you’re trying to penetrate a dense market with many established competitors. Researchers must delve into user behavior patterns, end gains, pain points, and other factors that can contribute to your app development.

Wireframing

You will see your app slowly take shape during wireframing. The wireframes don’t contain much detail yet, but they will outline the app’s bare bones, so to speak: the structure, layout, navigation, and transitions from feature to feature. Wireframes provide the outline for in-app user experience, and the best part is you can still move things around to find the best architecture that will make the app feel seamless and easy to use.

Prototyping

With the wireframes as a basis, the developers can create a prototype, which is the functional, interactive version of the wireframes. It is a rough sample of the app and will give you a concrete idea of how your app looks and feels like. Prototyping can already shed light on major issues or oversights with the initial ideas for features and functionality, so it is a crucial step in mobile app development.

UX and UI Designing

This phase of the development will be all about the user experience. From the visuals to the execution, the UX and UI specialists will flesh out the app while focusing on the user side of the application. They will explore design elements, color schemes, fonts, layouts, buttons, page transition styles, and more. 

App designers should always aim to create a smooth user interface and enhanced user experience. UX and UI are critical factors for the success or failure of a mobile app. Avoid rushing the design stage and let the experts produce a unique app that will be a joy to use.

Coding

With the design and structure finalized, developers can finally get to work and build the app. However, coding and designing aren’t entirely separate; developers might suggest changes in the design if they find the implementation difficult or impossible, given the available time or resources. Conversely, the UX and UI designers can consult the developers as they finalize the overall app design.

Beta Testing and Analysis

Once developers are done, the app must be thoroughly tested and explored to uncover bugs, design flaws, errors, and other potential issues. Recruiting beta testers who weren’t involved in the production would be wise: they can give unbiased feedback and point out concerns the development team might have overlooked. 

The most important part of beta testing is collecting feedback and fixing the problems raised by the testers. Usability, security, mobile device compatibility, and overall performance are crucial areas to look into during testing. 

Deployment

When all bugs are fixed, and all pre-launch criteria are met, the app will be ready for deployment. However, the work doesn’t entirely end here. Vital user feedback and recommendations will emerge in the next few days, weeks, and months. Use the information to improve the app, perhaps by adding new and in-demand features and removing functionalities that users don’t find helpful. 

Developing a mobile app takes a lot of work and resources. But, if done strategically and smartly, mobile app development can be advantageous for its investors and affiliated brands and businesses.

Work With a Reputable Mobile App Development Company 

If it’s your first time developing a mobile app or if you prefer to entrust its creation to experienced professionals, hire an established mobile app development company with a reputation for satisfying clients and creating highly functional apps. 

A partnership with a seasoned mobile app developer can support your goals for business expansion. You’ll want a partner that shares your goals and acknowledges your limitations but doesn’t let the latter get in the way of innovation or achieving remarkable results.

Jackrabbit Mobile is perfect for this role. We offer custom app development solutions, helping clients achieve significant milestones with our expertise and hardworking team. We work with business owners, non-profits, and enterprising individuals who need our expertise to realize their ideas.

If this is a venture you’re interested in or if you want to know more about the process, reach out to our team here at Jackrabbit Mobile. We have worked with businesses and entrepreneurs from various industries, creating highly functional, branded apps that helped them achieve their business goals. 

We can do the same for you. Contact Jackrabbit Mobile today.