An Entrepreneurial Guide on Mobile App Development

Modern smartphones have transformed the way we interact with the world around us. The reason behind this transformation is the advent of mobile applications. Mobile applications have taken the world by storm. They have created an on-demand economy where every product or service is available at their fingertips. This increased penetration has forced businesses to adopt mobile apps as their core business channel. The fastest growing tech companies are assisting business owners with their development needs to stay at the forefront of this technology revolution.

There are over 5.7 billion apps available on the App store and Play store alone. According to Statista, the total revenue in the app market will reach $430 billion in 2022. Furthermore, this revenue is expected to reach $614.40 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 9.27% for the forecast period.

If you are an entrepreneur looking to turn your app idea into a successful business app, here’s what you need to know. Not every app developed accomplishes success. Most apps are rejected by the marketplaces due to poor UI, inefficient UX, speed, and more. While a few apps get popular for a limited timeframe.

Fret not!

In this article, we’ll discuss the anatomy of mobile app development and provide the information you need to create an excellent unique app for your users.

But before starting with the app development process, let’s understand why you need to build an app for your business.

Why build a mobile app?

Most people assume that building an app is just to stay with the technological trends in the market. But that’s not it; mobile apps have become a necessity for every business, be it an established business or a startup. Below are a few benefits of mobile app development for your business:

• Provide more value to customers

With the increasing pace of technological development, consumer expectations are also growing. Mobile apps have become a great channel to provide more value to customers by offering personalization and ease of use.

• Build a stronger brand

The more value you offer your consumers, the more interest they will have in the brand. App owners can leverage this channel to their advantage by building a stronger brand. Also, you can use app data to understand your target audience better and build better marketing strategies.

• Enhance customer engagement level

Your mobile business app is a great platform to boost customer engagement levels. You can offer personalized services and solutions to any issues faced by your customers. The more your consumers engage with your app, the more ROI will be generated.

• Gain competitive advantage

No doubt, a mobile app gives you an edge over competitors. Compared to conventional websites and digital platforms, mobile apps offer better speed, responsiveness, reliability, and customer experience.

Now that you know why you should develop an app for your business, it’s time to understand the types of mobile apps.

Types of Mobile App Development

There are majorly three types of mobile app development approaches used worldwide. By choosing an approach that matches your app objectives, you can achieve the desired user experience and build native features required for your mobile app. Below are the different types of app development approaches you can use depending on your app requirements:

• Native app development

Native app development includes the idea of developing two apps individually for iOS and Android. Businesses choose among the two platforms depending on their goals. For example, if they are looking for a greater user base, they prefer Android. But, if they seek a constant revenue stream, they prefer iOS.

• Cross-platform app development

The cross-platform app development approach involves developing one app and publishing it on Android and iOS. Also, this approach offers several benefits, such as code reuse, low cost, greater recognition, and more. Additionally, select the best frameworks for Android and iOS to ensure high performance.

• Progressive web apps

Progressive web app development is among the leading approaches for app development. This approach increases business reach while eliminating restrictions on the Play store and App store. Also, these apps offer quick-in and out time and save up the device’s memory size.

• Hybrid app development

Hybrid apps run on a web application in a native browser. These types of apps are built using languages such as CSS, HTML, and Javascript. After that, Cordona is used for wrapping them into native apps. They are more cost-effective as you need to write the code once and then reuse it for multiple platforms.

Now that we have seen the different app development approaches, it’s time to dive into the mobile app development process.

Mobile App Development Process

Entrepreneurs understand the need to develop an app or what kind of app they should build to yield the most revenue. But where to start from? How do you put a mobile app development project plan into action? This section defines the various steps you must undertake to develop a successful mobile app.

• Define your goals

When starting with the app development process, you must be clear about the unique value proposition that you’re offering to your customers. Your UVP must be concise, clear, and easy to understand, defining the problems your app will solve. Make sure to identify the app’s USP and always set measurable goals instead of vague ones. It will save more time and resources.

• Research the target market

Before starting the development stage, you must understand the target market. Assess your target audience and segment the user personas to understand your potential customers. Understand how your potential customers interact with brands, leading businesses, market dynamics, and more. Also, perform an extensive competitor analysis where you must include the mistakes that prior competitors have made. It will help you dodge flaws and build an efficient appreciable app.

• App features

The success of your app is dependent on the features you are incorporating into it. You must identify the features that are must-haves and can save the nice-to-have features for the later versions of the app. Make sure not to add any unnecessary features, as it may leave your users frustrated. Remember, simplicity with innovative features is the key to a successful mobile app.

• UI/UX design

Your app’s user interface and customer experience are crucial to its success. The user interface is the first thing a user looks at and feels, so you need to create an appealing UI. While customer experience involves factors like loading speed, processing time, click speed, and more. Make sure to keep simplicity at the forefront of your app design process.

• Build an MVP

The MVP is the first version of your app with the most primal features. Your minimal viable product explains to users the usability of the app. With continuous iterations in the MVP, the goal for a successful full-fledged app is achieved at low development costs. Focus on MVP building while aligning your features strategically to the app.

• Test your app

Testing an app is the most crucial part of your app development process. It is because testing your app gives the assurance of product quality. You can implement A/B testing to test two app versions and decide which is best. Simultaneously, you can also run tests with your target audience. They are also called early adopters and give real feedback for your app. Implementing continuous feedback loops will ensure a high-quality, efficient product.

• Launch your app

The most important part of your development process is launching your app. It is because of the hard efforts and budgets invested into product development. Soft launching your app is great, and make sure to plan your day of the launch. For instance, don’t plan it on any national holiday or weekends as people would not be much available during those days.

• Post-launch activity

Now that you have launched your app but how to promote it to your target audience? Well, this is where app marketing comes into play. The app marketing strategies must be planned to save time and get better results after the launch. Creating a buzz in the market for your app will help you get more downloads once your app is launched.

Mobile app development trends in 2022

Modern mobile applications include capabilities like data personalization, data security, image recognition, product gamification, content sharing, payment processing, and many more. It is possible because of the growing development trends in the market. So, below are a few mobile app development trends you must know in 2022.

Cost of mobile app development

The cost of developing a mobile app depends on several factors during the development process. For example, some notable factors are features, tech stack, development team size, UI design, geographic location of the team, complexity, platform, and more. In a nutshell, the cost of mobile app development can range from $20,000 to $200,000+. The above price range is a ballpark estimate and does not include the actual development cost. To know the complete development cost, reach out to app development companies and get an estimate.

Wrapping Up!

In the end, I hope you liked the above-shared information on mobile app development. The mobile app industry is bringing a huge change in the world economy and is likely to expand more with the changing technological trends. If you are starting your mobile business app development journey, partner with a reputable development company. The right development partner will assist you across the complete mobile development journey and might provide additional support as well.