In our daily lives, mobile applications play an integral role from our time routine setup to facilitating gaming, entertainment, shopping, calling rides, online bookings, payments and so on. Faster and more efficient mobile apps always remain in demand and to retain the interest to the users, the app developers and service providers make them more interactive and easier-to-use. The evolution of smartphones has made the businesses capable of creating the apps that help improving their sales, market their products and services and enhance the reputation of their brand. A mobile app performs smartly in the customer’s journey and play a significant role in finalizing the sale.
Every new advancement in mobile app development brings rapid delivery of new features and updates and seamless experiences for the users. In the immensely competitive business landscape of today’s era, having your own app makes one stay ahead in the game. However, now comes the question – how to create an affordable as well as effective app that can take your business to its destined heights. Point to discuss is to find the individuals and organizations to meet the challenges of developing an app.
Manektech – one of the leading software and app development company in the South Africa help create the apps that are less time-consuming and incredible for the usage of their customers. The company saves time, money and efforts of the users with presenting the perfect quality app with less time required.
Types of Approaches to Develop Quality Mobile Apps
Before embarking on your app development journey, it is important to understand different processes of development. Always remain aware of the pros and cons of the process so that you can yield the best results through developing a perfect app for your business and create the app that serves your purpose.
The process involves usage of technology to create smart applications that can easily run on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones.
#1 Code Your App by Yourself
If you know how to code, you can definitely create the mobile app for free. Apart from utilising your coding skills, you can also invest a lot of time to get the app working. This method is mostly preferred by the programmers as they can create a native mobile application leveraging the native features of the app and assures you have an evolved app experience.
Creating a native app requires the app to be create on the separate operating services for all the platforms. Hence, learning different programming languages like Objective-C or Swift for developing iOS apps and Java or Kotlin for Android apps. Having the right skill set can definitely help you get the exact app that you need.
#2 Hire an App Development Agency
Not everyone has the skills of developing an app that gets placed in Google App Store and Apple App Store, but this doesn’t mean that you should give up the idea of having an app. Here comes the opportunity to find a perfect agency that can build an app for your business or according to your project requirement. However, if you are looking to build the apps for all of the operating systems, then it could be an expensive job. Just hire the specialized professionals for each of the apps or connect with an app development company that takes care to create apps for all the operating systems.
#3 Reach an App Builder
You should be proficient in a variety of programming languages and coding skills to build an app from scratch. Also, it could be expensive and may take much time if you hire an agency or a professional to do this job for you. Hence, another option of hiring an ‘app builder’ seems best for startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.
An app builder comes with a no-code platform that allows you to create an app in minutes. Thus, you can not only build apps in minutes but can also publish it on the leading app stores to let the users find it and download it easily. These app builders typically come with the feature of drag and drop interface where you can add blocks of features into the app without needing to learn the coding.
What Should be Identified Before Developing a Mobile App?
Before investing your time and resources in creating an app, there are a few things deal with. Though the process of developing an app is not that complicated, still planning a strategic solution and appropriate digital approach is important. Let us review the things need to be identified before you are staring to build an app.
- Decide on your OS – Whether you want a native app or a cross-platform app, deciding on the OS is important as the software’s functionality directly affects the functionality of the app. Other than building the separate apps on different platforms, getting cross-platform apps is best for the future development goals of the company.
- Know the Target Audience – Always try to have good understanding of your target users, their behaviors, goals, and preferences, and the type of devices and mobile platforms they use. Your app marketing practices may help in this regard. Always keep in mind your target audience so that you can help them enjoying the app.
- Check your App’s Future Road Map – Concept proofing your app idea is important with taking the necessary steps to understand whether your app is capable of solving an existing problem. Check how it will help its users, whether it will work specific to your organization and how it will help the companies achieve their future goals.
Taking a pause at this development stage will be helpful to check what the future of your app would be. Go with the highest priorities for your app and brin a solid base of agreement to one point from where you and your team can start with developing a successful app. - Know What is Trending - Do appropriate research to know what is trending in the market. The one that is different from the others existing in the market is not a good idea to create. Your app strategy should be unique and your app should be user-friendly for the users. If you got a business-specific app, checking competition to know how your app will stand against the others already standing in the market.
- Plan for Your App’s Design and Security Features – The design of your app is one of the key factors for its success and the design of the program must have a user-friendly interface. It should be easy to download and use. Content should always be the top priority along with facilitating the security of the app. If the app comes with high level of data protection facility, it will save the valuable and potential sensitive information of your customers.
Important Steps to Develop a Mobile App
An app doesn’t build overnight, it takes a lot of efforts, time, and resources to make it and reach to its target audience. Some of the important steps that are implemented during mobile app development process are discussed below:
Step#1- Establish a Development Team – A good team of expert developers, designers, and testers is equally important to develop an app additional to various software programs and online tools as the resources involved. There remains a lot of complicated elements that come together while building an app and are best handled by a group of people.
Step#2- Competitive Research – With millions of Android and iOS apps available today on the internet, users always search for something unique and friendly. The app that comes with absolute customer friendly features and meet their requirements makes your product stand out in the market. Start researching on the apps presented by your competitors and make your one more useful for the customers including the insights over what they like and need in their app.
Step#3- Highlight Core Features of the App – Establishing the core app features is another step in developing your app. In the research process you come to know what users are searching in the market and what they actually need, deploying the key features like speed, simplicity, and good image resolution that have been neglected by other developers will be helpful.
Push notifications and social media linking are other important features to provide users relevant and personalized information that helps keeping them active and engaged over the long period. Try incorporating new features to your application and regular updates after it is up and live.
Step#4- Create Mockups – Once after gathering client requirements and outlining the key features of the app, having a user interface and developing a template, mockup, and tutorials if needed, is important. Mockup is defined as the detailed outline of the app’s appearance followed by a cohesive color scheme and typography that includes basic layout of the app, images and so on. The mockup, if implemented correctly, gives an idea to the development team about how the app ill look and operate after its actual creation.
Step#5- Plan Absolute Security of the App – This step brings most of the important features to be included in your app i.e., app security here you have to safeguard your app from the cybercriminals who tend to steal user data. Remember, a slight breach in the app data may cost your company to loss users and millions of dollars. However, through data encryption, authorized APIs, temper detection, strong authentication, and constant testing of potential breaches could ensure that your mobile app and mobile platform both are secure and thus, benefit your users.
Step#6- Start Coding – Begin coding at the front-end and back-end side of the app with your team coordinating to ensure your customers get a cohesive end product. Experienced developers and programmers are best employed to get the agile development facilities with adaptable, efficient, and flexible coding.
Step#7- Initiate with Multiple Tests – Testing a project is a tedious task and tightens budget too, still quality assurance is something that one cannot ignore for developing and presenting a successful app. The QA team thinks about the front-end and back-end functionality of your app to ensure the app functions for hat it is supposed to. Device compatibility testing ensures it runs perfectly on whatever operating system it is meant for. What type of app is built – native, hybrid, or cross-platform, device-specific considerations are tested prior. App’s integration, installation and storage, and security optimization functions ensure that the app is ready to launch in the market.
Step#8- Gather and Implement Feedback from the Users – The testing team should inspect the app before its official launch to get an insight of the invaluable user feedback and confirm whether it is ready to reach many users providing different experience levels. If there are some loopholes, or the expectations lack to match, the team adjusts the key features of the app and makes it better before the app goes live. When the app is live, constantly receiving of the feedback gives makes scope for necessary adjustments and updates for the future of the app.
Step#9- App Store Launch - Final step is the publication of the app in the app stores. There are some rules that you need to follow and rules differ for all depending upon the requirements of the app stores. A mobile app developer just focuses on releasing their app to Google and Apple App Stores, but this can limit your reach. Developing the cross-platform app, however, ensures good visibility of the app with involving more users to it.
FAQs for Mobile App Development
- How much does it cost to develop a mobile app?
- How much time it takes to create an app?
- Can making changes to already developed app is possible?
- Can payments be received through a mobile app?
Manektech Does it All for Your App Building Needs
The question of ‘How to Build an App’ haunts many startups, organizations, and established companies, but the solution lies with the Manektech SA which is a tech-driven and award-winning agile software development firm that perfectly matches your business needs.
Professional app developers at Manektech take advantage of the new technology and tools and make apps in nearly every category. The company stresses on internal communication within the organization and communication with their clients to avoid any possibility of confusion. They figure out how to build an app for all types of companies and industries and take time to time feedback from their customers to improve their performance. As a leading mobile app development company in South Africa and other parts of the world, Manektech has set the benchmark and established its reputation in the market.