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In 2022, there will be 7.26 billion mobile users in the world. This number sounds insane, but it’s the reality of today’s world. Of the 6.64 billion people in the whole world, 83.72% of them are using smartphones these days.
One more interesting thing to know is that they spend more than 4 hours on the apps they have installed on their phones. These numbers are a bit overwhelming but are 100% genuine. These facts rang a bell in our minds that if someone wants to build a mobile app, it will be a massive choice for that person.
As the choice is going to be a game-changer for them, he/she also needs to get a clear idea of all the facts related to mobile app development. We already discussed the app development Cost estimation from world wide and how to Develop an App. Now we will discuss, How Long Does it Take to Develop an Application?
Key Stages of App Development
Whenever you plan to create something huge you need to plan it out with attentiveness. You need to break the process into stages before you start working on it. The process of building a mobile app is also divided into some major steps. All these steps require a different amount of time to be done.
In this part, we are going to discuss the time required to complete these key stages in Mobile App Development.
Brainstorming, Forming Ideas, And Research
This is the first stage of developing a mobile app. If you get an idea for developing a mobile app, you need to do great research and brainstorm on it. Everyone in your team or group doesn’t need to agree with your idea. You need to take time to do a great brainstorming with your team to understand the necessities and the loopholes.
This app development process requires a lot of time and energy from your app development team. The most important thing you need to remember at this stage is market research of app idea. It requires most of the time for market research.
You also need to check the target audience you want. If you want to create an app for fitness, then you need to target an age group of people between 18 and 35 years old. If you are developing something related to the gaming niche, you need to target youngsters and teenagers.
You need to understand people’s sentiments, the competition, and the needs of the audience and then plan the app development timeline.
This stage will require at least 2 to 3 weeks of continuous grind. At the end of this stage, you will get a prototype, market research statistics, and a minimum viable product ( With less features the app should have complete flow)
Plan it Out
The next stage after the research and idea formation is planning the whole details carefully. This is a crucial stage as it requires the most basic decisions of the Web App Development Timeline. Choosing between native or hybrid apps, Android or iOS, cross-platform, mobile or web apps, etc.
After these decisions are made, you need to decide the features you need to add to your app. The features you add to your app should not either complicate or slow down your app. The features that you can include in the app are screen sharing, buttons, push notifications etc.
This process is an important step and will need at least 1 month to plan things out. After this step, you will have a full-featured prototype ready for the app’s development.
Design Sprints
After doing the proper planning for the app, you need to prepare the design sprints for the app. What are “design sprints”? What are design sprints, you ask?
Design sprints are a diagrammatic representation of your project in five phases that help you to understand and reduce the risk of launching a new project or business idea. It is a time-constrained project. The four phases are mapping, planning, making, and testing.
This process takes about 7 to 9 days to complete. You can understand the user’s values, their ways of using the app, and how easy or difficult it is for them to use it.
Stage of Development
This is the stage where the real work regarding the development of the app starts. At this stage, the particulars you need to keep in mind are the UI, backend, and frontend. The whole process of building an app takes almost 2 to 3 months, depending on the size, complexity, and niche of the app.
The first aspect of UI is the fact that the user is going to see. It includes designs, colours, graphics, pictures etc. This feature should be perfect because we know that what is seen is sold!
The features, frontend and backend are also very important as they are the core of develop an app. At the front, there are all the things and features we see on the app, and at the backend, there are all the things that make it work and are technical.
We won’t be able to use the app properly if the backend of that app is weak. Let us see what all data is covered under the front and back end of the app.
Frontend Engineering:
- HTML/ CSS
- Frameworks
- Version control/ Git
- Debugging
- Responsive designs, etc.
Backend Engineering:
- Database and Cache
- Servers
- APIs, etc.
QA Team And Developers
You cannot deny that this is the most important thing of all. You can plan things; do great market research; prepare prototypes; have a design ready, but still, if the core team of developers is not good, you won’t be able to get through it.
Investing in a good Hire a QA team and developers is a must if you want to develop something out of the box. You can choose the team for yourself or you can contact the agencies who can help you with the same. You can also contact freelance developers. Nevertheless, you have to choose the best.
If you have technically skilled and pro workers, your work will be completed in less time and vice versa. Also, the team will help you with various mid-project hurdles that eventually arrive once you start the work.
You need to have a team that has great bonding together. Otherwise, the work will not be done efficiently. Normally, clients prefer a ready to work team instead of the developers who are new in this field. Team selection should be given the highest priority. You at least need one week to select the perfect team for you.
Testing Of the App
Once you have done with the App Development Process, you need to check whether the app is working properly or not. This is a crucial step that can’t be ignored at any cost. Although, the team of the developers include this task in their work guide. They will check the app, if it is running or not.
You cannot get a perfect version of the app you and your team have developed. You need to check the bugs and need to fix them in time. Without it, you won’t be able to launch the app in the market.
Debugging is the most crucial step and requires at least 3 to 5 days after the App Development. It involves alpha and beta testing to make the app error-free.
App Launching
Once you are done with everything, you need to launch the app the Android or iOS. This process also takes considerable time. If you need to keep this thing in mind, if your application is incomplete, it will be rejected by the stores.
The iOS store reviews the application in 24 to 48 hours, and the Play Store reviews it in 2 to 3 hours. iOS store runs a detailed review on the application in comparison to the play store.
These were the stages that are a must follow, if you are planning to develop an app. The time to complete the stages can vary due to lots of reasons. Overall, the development of an app takes at least 3 to 9 months to get a detailed structure.
What Slows Down the App Development Process?
Now, let us discuss some points due to which the time of the project gets delayed. These reasons can delay your work by few months also.
Unexperienced Developers
This is a major reason why your work gets delayed. If you don’t have an experienced team of web and app developers, they won’t be able to work to their full potential. This can delay your work and you also need to invest more money eventually. Try to make a team with technically sound developers and they should at least have an experience of a year in this niche. This will save your time and money as well.
Mid Project Changes
When you plan the whole project, you don’t think about this. You can have sudden changes in your app. This isn’t that common but still happens. This changing procedure can take a lot of time to plan again.
Niche Differences
This is also a major thing to take into account. The time required to develop different niche apps is always different. If you want to develop an app for a gaming you need to give at least 3 to 5 months or if you want to develop an app for social media you need 2 to 3 months. The time of the development depends on the complexity of the app also.
Complicated Technologies
As we said above, if the app is too complicated or long it will require more time than others which are simple and small. Some technologies which require comparatively more time than others are machine learning, AI, virtual reality etc.
How Can You Speed Up the Process of App Development?
In this portion, we will discuss how you can speed up the development of your app. As we know these days, the competition in the market is increasing insanely. So, delay in the process of development means giving time to others to get developed. You cannot afford to lose any time at all in this field.
We will discuss some of the aspects which will reduce the time required to Develop an app. Read them carefully and try to use these methods in your process of development also.
Cross Platforms
If you are planning to develop an app, try to make it a hybrid. A hybrid app means an app that can be used on both the Android and iOS platforms. These apps require less time than native app development and cover comparatively more audiences. The platform on which you can develop a hybrid app is called “Cross-platform” or “hybrid platform.”
Professional Developers
We are emphasizing this particular point so much because it is going to play a very crucial role in the journey of app development. You must hire a professional developer or an agency of professional developers who can help you build your app within the expected time frame.
Our company has been developing apps and providing professional services to our clients for a long time now. If you also want us to help you in your journey towards greatness, do contact us and leave your load on us!
Check Out : How to Hire a Dedicated Developer for Mobile App Development?
Prototypes
Prototypes are a nice way to understand the workings of your app, as they will save you time on debugging and corrections. The prototype of the app will not be the real app, but it will help you understand the changes or any amendments you need to make in the working of the app.
then you can include those changes and features and can launch the very same app without any hesitation. Lots of big companies have made the prototype or MVP version of the app and then launched it. Some examples are Airbnb, Mailchimp etc.
White Label Solutions
White-label solutions are not something typical. It is a type of product that has not been made from scratch. It takes the developed products of other companies and builds something new and fresh around them. Although it saves a lot of time from the developer’s end, it is not going to generate the same traffic that an original product does.
Automated Testing
Last but not least, you need to keep this thing clear in mind. Automated testing is something which is one of the most important tasks at the end of the development. It is an automatic test on the developed app and helps you improve the quality and security of the app.
It may sound obvious, but still, it is ignored by lots of developers. It helps you to reduce the amount of time you need to spend on manual checks.
Wrapping It Up
All the points which are important to consider to have a time estimate are written above. You can have a perfect idea of the required timeline for Mobile App Development. As mentioned above you need to hire Dedicated team of professional developers who can help you in this. Our company has been providing services in this field for a long time. Do contact us for your queries and to hire the best team you can ever have!
