The world has gone digital and it is as though, the only way to survive. A digital transformation has become a need of this post-modern era of smartphones and the internet. Some businesses have catered to generations but still require a timely digital transformation to effectively meet the needs of their modern audience. You may be full of compelling ideas for a new, exciting app but it is no good unless your deliverable perfectly matches your vision. Stepping into the crazy world of icons can seem overwhelming and designing the perfect app is certainly not an easy task. However, with the right direction and support, one can surely make the most of it. There are millions of apps out there but only a few have over a billion downloads. Most individuals or businesses that seek app development services have two main concerns, time and cost! The simplest answer for them from Aivatek, “which is a well-known Mobile App Development Company in Salt Lake City ” is that it may only take a moment to have a big dream but to turn it into reality requires a great deal of patience, resources, and effort! However, there is also a technical explanation to all of these concerns which shall be explained further.

 

Time Duration

A good, fully functional app that is bug-free and has a friendly and interactive user interface will take nothing less than twelve to sixteen weeks. This is a rough, hypothetical estimate to offer our readers a basic understanding of the minimum time required to plan, build, test, and launch a decent app. The process, however, can surely be longer depending on the number and complexity of various features that need to be incorporated into the app. There may be many app developers who promise a quicker delivery but based on our experience and knowledge, a developer needs a minimum of twelve to sixteen weeks to coherently sail through all phases of app development.

 

The phases of app development

The phases of developing an app are like a directive road map that guides you and your developing team, from the very step of conceiving an idea to the final phase of delivering a product on your relevant online application store.

● Ideas and Objectives
This is where you communicate your ideas with the app developing team. Both parties discuss ideas to identify the main objectives of the app. It is always easier to work towards clearly defined goals, therefore, it is advisable to communicate effectively during this phase, leaving no room for any ambiguity.

 

● Research
This is where you and the development team work on refining your ideas, assess the suitability of various features and work towards developing a concrete plan of action.

 

● Design Planning
The development team is likely to do some design sprints with you at this stage, allowing both parties to validate the most suitable ideas for your app. Another important aspect of this stage is to engage prospective users to gain a better insight into user expectations and responses regarding the design of your app. If you allow your app development team the time and resources they need at this stage, the subsequent stages are likely to be smooth and speedy.

● App development (back-end and front-end)
This is where the real drill happens. This stage is all about coding and can be divided into two further phases, back-end development, and front-end development. But it depends on the nature of the app whether it is IOS or a custom app, or an Android app development. Back-end development is the core functioning of the application, covering significant aspects such as user management, data storage, and integration, server-side logic, push notifications, and much more. The duration of this phase depends on the number of features and complexity of your app. Front-end development deals with the aspects of your app that are viewable and accessible to users. This phase requires a lot of going to the back end and fixing things until you can view your required results on the front end.

● QA testing
This is a very crucial phase that requires developers to assess the app through various testing channels. The aim is to ensure a friendly user interface that promises an excellent user experience.

● Launching the app
This phase means deploying the app on iOS, Android, or a cross-platform. This phase may also take up a fair chunk of your timeframe because all platforms have their specific criteria for uploading an app, for instance, screenshots, app description, icons, etc.

 

Common mistakes that often prolong the duration of app development

It is crucial for anyone seeking to develop an app or hiring app development services to identify some of these significant factors that negatively impact the time required to build an app.

 

Identify your objective

The clarity of ideas and your objectives is of utmost significance. A client/business with a clear understanding of their objectives is likely to communicate their specific requirements to the app developers, allowing them to smoothly sail through the process. A haphazard, confusing bombardment of ideas and interrupting the development process with new directives will only prolong the process. It is important to fully understand the objectives one aims to meet with an app before kickstarting the development process.

 

Think like your audience

When developing an app, it is important to think like the targeted users because it is your audience that decides the future of your app. If a developer can understand the audience’s expectations, they are likely to speed up the development process with less need to constantly revise the design aspects of their app.

 

There is no happy ending

Let’s assume a best-case scenario, your app is fully functional, launched into the Appstore/Play store, and loved by your targeted audience, well, this is still not the happy ending. Even great, ubiquitous apps like Whatsapp, Facebook, or Amazon are constantly optimizing their apps to offer unmatchable user experience.

Tips and tricks to speed up the process app development process

 

Some tips and tricks that may not look like it at first but are known to speed up the process of app development.

 

Don’t get distracted
Once you have identified the goals you wish to achieve through your app, it is important to stick to them. The development process can often be like impulse buying, you may get distracted by the various exciting features apps have to offer. If you interrupt the process with new additions and directives, the process of development will slow down. Therefore, it is important to first work towards achieving your pre-set goals.

 

Hire a professional

It may seem like you are stretching your budget but hiring a professional, well-experienced app developer can save your time and cost. A professional app developer will be experienced in understanding their client’s objectives and effectively working towards achieving them. It will save time and cost for revising the back and front development repeatedly, also guaranteeing an excellent user interface.

 

MVPs
Minimum Viable Product is a great way to save up on time and cost initially. An MVP is the most original form of your app comprising all the basic features it has to offer. It can be launched to the relevant platform to assess the response of the targeted audience.

 

Other added features and revised improvements can always take place later, over some time.

 

Originality vs. Cloning Solutions

You can always start start your mobile application development from scratch and use your creativity to make it unique and truly original. However, this means a lot more time! It will require you to invest more time for every phase including research, development, testing, and assessing the response of users. However, If you are not too keen on using your creativity, there are many solutions like programming apps, white label solutions, and cloning that will allow developers to use pre-developed apps, make minor changes to present them as yours. This can be a quick and easy fix but might negatively impact the long-term profitability of your app.

 

Conclusion
If you are looking to build an app for yourself or your business, the key is to take the first step and be consistent with your progress. If you have defined your key ideas and objectives, completed your research, and analyzed various sprints, you are likely to speed up the process of completing at least a worthwhile MVP (Minimum Viable Product) version of your app. This will allow you to launch your app on time with all the basic, core features you wish to offer to users, allowing you to make improvements and add new features over time.

 

Leonardo Da Vinci took four years to paint the famous Mona Lisa, hence, we must remember that quality takes time! It is advisable to allow developers the time they need to develop the perfect app because it is crucial to make a good first impression on your users. If your targeted users are disappointed by an app full of bugs or a complex, hard to navigate user-interface once, you may make all the right changes but will be very less likely to bring them back. There is no formula to calculate the exact time you may need for your perfect app but you can be certain that hastily jumping through developmental phases and avoiding attention to detail will not result in a good quality app.