Mobile Application Development for Businesses – A Complete Guide

In a digital age where the world is literally at our fingertips, mobile apps are more than just a growing trend, they are revolutionizing the way we connect, shop, and explore. With billions of apps downloaded each year, the digital landscape offers a rich opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs to dive into the world of mobile application development and reach out to a global audience.

As per Statista, in 2023, consumers downloaded 121 billion apps from the Google Play store and around 35 billion from the App Store. The number is further expected to increase by 2026, reaching 143 billion and 111 billion for Google Play Store and App Store, respectively. Furthermore, the total revenue generated by mobile apps is also expected to reach $673.8 billion by 2027, pointing to a rapidly expanding market.

Simply put, the unprecedented surge in app downloads and the expected revenue to be generated by the apps signifies that now is the right moment to bring your digital vision to life and capture the momentum of this digital wave. Whether it’s finding smart solutions to everyday issues or inventing completely new ways for people to experience the digital world, the possibilities for innovation in 2024 and beyond are unlimited.

Our blog will help you deep dive into everything you need to know about mobile application development for your business. From exploring various app types and understanding their benefits to the underlying development process and overall costs, this mobile app development guide will help you in navigating the journey of bringing your app idea to life.

What is Mobile App Development?

Mobile app development is the process of creating applications for smartphones. These applications can be preinstalled on the device, downloaded from a mobile app store, or accessed through a mobile web browser. Typically, a mobile application uses a network connection to work with remote computing resources. Thus, the process of app development involves:

• Building installable software bundles
• Implementing backend services such as data access with an API
• Testing the app on target devices

To develop robust and scalable mobile apps, you also need to consider hardware requirements and the screen sizes. In addition to this, it’s important to focus on the app’s performance in different network conditions and integration capabilities with other applications and services.

Why Should Businesses Leverage Mobile Application Development: A Quick Glimpse Into Multifaceted Benefits

Mobile apps have become an indispensable entity for businesses of all sizes, be it a startup or an established titan. As a business owner, ignoring the benefits of leveraging mobile application development means missing out on opportunities for growth and engagement. Below are some of the ways mobile app development for businesses is benefiting them:

Provide More Value to Customers

In the past few years, the business landscape has changed significantly. Businesses now rely heavily on technology to initiate and complete transactions with consumers.

Mobile apps are an integral element of modern tech that is constantly changing how consumers shop and satisfy their requirements. With the increasing pace of technological advancements, consumer expectations are also growing. Thus, mobile apps have become a great channel for meeting those user expectations.

For instance, retail shopping is one of the key business categories that benefit the most from mobile apps. By shifting to retail mobile apps, you’re sure to make your goods and services more accessible and easy to use.

For instance, at Appinventiv, we built an ERP application for IKEA, the world’s finest furniture retailer, that gave customers the real-time status of products’ availability and allowed the brand to gather customer information for marketing purposes. Our efforts led to the creation of a solution that has been adopted at over 7+ IKEA stores. The brand also touts the solution as one of the biggest sources of ROI measurement.

Modern consumer behavior prioritizes personalization and convenience, and apps make that available at the customer’s fingertips.

Build a Stronger Brand

The more value you offer to your customers, the more interest they develop in your brand. However, it’s impossible to achieve a deep brand experience without deliberate branding efforts. This is where branded mobile apps come into the picture.

Mobile apps are becoming an innate part of our everyday lives. App owners can utilize this channel to their brand’s benefit. The more branding elements you get right within your app, the better the impact you can expect on brand marketing results. You can even collect data from this app to understand your target audience better and improve your brand marketing strategy.

Achieve Increased Customer Engagement Level

One of the best ways to increase revenue generation and brand awareness is to focus on increasing the customer engagement level. If you successfully boost how frequently your customers engage with your brand, you will experience an increase in RoI, customer lifetime value, and other important metrics. For app owners looking to increase the engagement level, they need to include certain innovative features in the app.

Perhaps the most important for them is segmented targeting. This includes creating multiple user categories and controlling the type of content delivered to each segment of users. User segmentation allows you to provide accurate recommendations, send personalized messages, and understand your customers’ journey better.

Other in-app elements that can help achieve higher customer engagement level include loyalty programs, continuous features updates, and discounts. Apart from the features, it’s crucial to pay attention to UI/UX design. A poor UI may compel your users to uninstall your app and move to a similar and better app.

Have a Competitive Edge in Your Niche

In the ever-changing digital landscape, it’s pretty tough to keep up with your competitors. A mobile app gives you a significant edge over your competitors.

Compared to conventional websites and digital platforms, mobile apps do a much better task when it comes to offering speedy communication and enhanced customer experience. Considering the number of ways a mobile app strategy can improve your business processes, its overall effect on your revenue generation will eventually become evident.

Build a Personalized Marketing Channel

Another area that can benefit a lot from a business mobile app development is the marketing department. The first and foremost advantage digital marketers enjoy when businesses opt for mobile apps is the direct access to user information.

The data collected from user sessions within the app can be very helpful in improving your marketing efforts and campaigns. Once your marketers get access to all the data they need, an app allows them to deliver more effective and personalized content to users as compared to other traditional marketing channels.

After looking into various benefits of app development for business, let us now move ahead and understand how to build a mobile app in detail below.

How to Develop a Mobile App for Business?

If you’re wondering how to develop an app to enhance your business or launch a new idea, here are certain steps you should consider before the development begins. These steps are crucial to the success of your application, so don’t skip over them.

Define Your Goals

When starting with the mobile app development process, you must have clarity regarding your goals.

What are you setting out to achieve? What problems are you trying to solve with your application? Your goals will ultimately determine your entire app development process. If these aren’t clearly defined from the start, it’s easy to get lost along the way once you start building your app.

Don’t set any goals – set measurable goals. Otherwise, you won’t be using your time and resources effectively. You can set goals related to the end-users as well as your business. Every goal should have clear KPIs to measure and track its success.

For instance, let’s say you want to build an app for your e-commerce business. Your goal might be to reduce shopping cart abandonment rates on mobile devices. To ensure that you achieve this goal, you must know your current abandonment rates to measure them against the numbers when you eventually launch your own app.

Research the Target Market

When developing a mobile app for business, you need to conduct research and find out more about your target market. This will help you understand how consumers interact with brands, leading players, market dynamics, and more. You should also check user reviews for top apps in the market. This will help you come up with a better product.

You also need to understand your target audience. Learn about your users’ location, average age, and the types of devices they use.

Finalize Your App Features

It’s crucial to have the right features integrated into your app. You have to identify the features that are necessary to serve your users in the best possible way. While adding popular features to your app might sound attractive, unnecessary features may leave your users frustrated.

Furthermore, the more features you add, the more it will add to the cost and lengthen the mobile development time. So, it’s advisable to focus on simplicity in the early development stages.

Choose Intuitive UI/UX Design

What is the first thing your customers see when they open an application? It’s not the features but the way your app looks and interacts with users. User-friendly and easy control of app’s features is what makes it appealing to its users. The app functionality is useless if the app users are not able to actually implement it in real life. This will leave them frustrated, and they will move on to another application.

While user interface (UI) refers to how your mobile app represents itself to the user, user experience (UX) is how the user interacts with the app and gives commands to complete or solve the issues that the app was originally built for.

Your app’s effectiveness can be measured by the optimal combination of its attractiveness and functionality. Considering this, make sure the mobile app for your business follows the below-mentioned basic rules:

• It’s intuitive
• It’s simple
• It’s engaging
• It does what it says it will

When implementing trendy mobile app design, make sure that it not only looks beautiful but interacts with the user and makes the use of the application fast and comfortable.

For instance, we developed an innovative mobile app for Pizza Hut for their Middle-East users. As a renowned organization offering dedicated mobile app development for enterprises, we built an engaging UI/UX for the pizza joint, allowing users to easily navigate and order food in a few clicks.

Furthermore, our team integrated unique features to automate food ordering and delivery right at the customer’s doorstep, eliminating unexpected delays. The app has been downloaded 50k times to date, and the conversion rate has increased by 30%.

[Also Read: 7 UX Design Mistakes That Can Deter Your App Success]

Hire an App Development Company

Hiring a reliable app development company will ensure that your app includes all the latest functionalities and features at affordable costs. A dedicated team from a reputable mobile app development company generally includes UI/UX designers, project managers, app developers, and market specialists who always consider your vision and offer valuable suggestions.

In addition, hiring a leading app development firm can also help you leverage its industry expertise and the latest technologies, paving the way for a more seamless, innovative, and user-centric app experience.

Build MVP

An MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, is a version of an app that includes only its core features. It’s designed to show users the app’s primary purpose without incorporating all the advanced functionalities. The idea behind MVP app development is that you get to gauge how the millions of app store users accept your app idea before you invest any more money into scaling the app for its next level.

The fact that MVPs give a very clear idea of the app’s worth at low development cost and efforts have made them the first step toward ensuring the success of the app.

A number of brands started off as an MVP and have now become top-notch businesses, such as Twitter, Dropbox, Airbnb, Spotify, and Groupon, amongst others.

To get a better hang of the idea, here’s a pocket guide on the minimum viable product. Apart from giving you an in-depth idea of what the concept is about, the guide will also give you the practical steps to be followed to develop an MVP.

Test Your App

When you decide to create mobile apps for business, it’s inevitable to keep testing the app. Test everything from the app’s performance and content to user experience. Proper testing helps reduce the development cost and time, identify bugs, and greatly improve your reputation as a service provider. Furthermore, it is also vital to ensure that robust security measures are implemented. Regular security testing helps in detecting vulnerabilities early, preventing potential data breaches, and protecting both user data and your business reputation. Implementing thorough security measures and testing these regularly can significantly mitigate risks, enhancing trust in your services.

Launch Your App

Once your app’s testing is successful, you can submit your app to the Apple’s App Store or Play Store. However, when submitting an app on the Play Store or App Store, you need to comply with Google and Apple’s developer guidelines. Also, you need to align your monetization strategy with their requirements.

[Also Read: A mini-guide to successful mobile app launch]

Post-Launch Activity

After launching your app on Play Store/App Store, the next and crucial step of the mobile application development process is marketing. If users are not aware of your app, then there is no chance that they will download it.

To spread information about your app and convince your target audience to explore it, consider making informative and attractive videos that can display your app’s core functionality. And do not forget the potential of social media; digital platforms can help you reach every corner of the world. They will deliver people a glimpse of your app and highlight the key features that can simplify their life needs.

Building a Secure and Compliance-Friendly Application for Your Business

Building a secure and compliance-friendly mobile app is crucial for any business that wishes to protect its data and maintain trust with the users. Compliance with industry standards and regulations allows you to mitigate legal and financial risks while enhancing the overall security of your application.

Here are some key compliances typically necessary for business applications:

PCI DSS: The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is essential for apps that process card transactions. It mandates security measures to protect card information and prevent fraud.

GDPR: The General Data Protection Regulation governs data protection and privacy in the European Union. It requires apps to ensure data privacy, including secure data handling, clear consent mechanisms, and user data access rights.

HIPAA: For healthcare apps, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act mandates safeguards to protect sensitive patient data from unauthorized access and breaches.

CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act): Specific to California state, this act emphasizes transparency about data collection, usage, and sharing, and gives consumers significant control over their personal information.

It is vital to understand that adherence to regulatory compliances  is not just a legal obligation but also a critical component of building trust and credibility with your customers. Though, navigating these regulations can be complex and requires thorough understanding and expertise. Thus, it is vital to partner with a dedicated app development firm like Appinventiv that can guide you through the entire compliance process. With a deep knowledge of both domestic and international standards, our experts can ensure that your application not only meets all necessary legal requirements but also maintains the highest levels of security.

Now that we have looked into various compliances businesses need to adhere to while developing their custom mobile applications, it’s time to look into the types of app development they can pursue. So, let’s dive right into it.

Types of App Development Businesses Can Explore

There are certain advantages and disadvantages to building an application, no matter which app development approach you choose. By choosing an approach that matches your goals, you can deliver the user experience and native features your app needs to succeed.

Here are the common types of app development approaches you can select depending on your requirements:

Native App Development

The idea of native app development is to have two apps individually for Android and iOS. Businesses often opt for native app development when their app’s goals align more closely with one platform.

Generally, when businesses are looking for a greater user base they opt for Android, and when it is revenue that they are after, they choose iOS app development.

Apart from their overall goals, there are several other reasons why native app development is a better solution for a business than cross-platform or web apps.

Whatever the number of reasons pushing you to the native route, the platforms you can scale to are only two – Android and iOS.

Next, we will look into both options individually.

Android app development – According to BusinessofApps, the number of apps on Google Play Store in January 2024 was around 3.3 million. Android apps are usually the ideal solution for businesses looking to take their business to millions of active users globally.

There are many statistics that hint toward the growth tangent that Android apps are on –

These numbers and facts make Android app development for businesses synchronous to growth and access to the massive user base. The platform comes with the benefit of multiple revenue sources, the freedom to customize the app and a very low barrier to entry. All the benefits together make it ideal for businesses to invest in Android apps.

iOS app development – With over 2.2 million apps available to download on App Store, the iOS market is chosen by businesses not for its high user base but for its potential to generate high revenue for the brands who make their presence on the store.

Revenue comparison: iOS vs. Android

According to BusinessofApps, iOS catered to 66% of app consumer spending in 2023. The reasoning behind this difference in revenue can be attributed to the fact that Apple has established its market in some of the most developed, economically sound nations like the US and Australia. And it is due to these factors that have brought in a series of iPhone app development benefits for businesses.

Apart from this, the strict guideline that Apple has set for the brands looking to make an appearance in the App Store, in terms of quality, is also something that the users are willing to pay for.

You may like reading: Top 11 Legal Issues to Consider to Protect Your App in 2024

Cross-Platform App Development

While native app development is about developing two separate apps for Android and iOS individually, cross-platform app development is about developing one app and publishing it on both Android and iOS platforms together.

There are many advantages linked to cross-platform app development, such as code reuse, low development cost & efforts, and greater audience reach. But at the same time, they even come with a set of disadvantages, such as – differences in iOS and Android mobile app design, slow app updates, and lack of proper app quality.

The only way to ensure that your app is high on advantages and low on disadvantages is to make a wise decision regarding the selection of framework and iOS or Android library. For that, you can either go with the top frameworks that companies offering dedicated mobile app development for businesses are relying on or consult your partnered app development agency to get insights on which iOS or Android development framework would best suit your needs.

Progressive Web Apps

Apart from the native and cross-platform app development, this is another option that is marking itself as one of the best options for businesses looking to increase their reach while eliminating the restrictions coming in from the Play Store & App Store.

Here are a few advantages of progressive web apps:

• Progressive enhancement
• Mobile app-like experience
• Progressive web design
• Re-engagement at its best
• Work offline
• Feature-rich

Also, progressive web app development has established itself as the future of mobile apps by giving the end-users exactly what they want – Quick in and out time and saving the device memory size.

Hybrid Mobile Apps

A hybrid mobile app is based on the web view which runs on a web application in a native browser. These are viewed in UIWebView and WebView for iOS and Android, respectively. These types of apps are built using app development languages such as CSS, HTML, and Javascript, and then Cordona is used for wrapping them into native apps.

Hybrid app development is more cost-effective as compared to native apps. You just need to write the code once and then use it for multiple platforms. It renders user experience and performance close to native apps.

[Also Read: Native vs Hybrid: The Better Choice for App Development]

Comparison of different types of app development

How Appinventiv Helped KFC Launch 7 Mobile Apps in a Single Year Leading to Massive Results?

As a dedicated mobile app development firm, Appinventiv played a pivotal role in transforming the fast food giant KFC’s digital strategy by successfully launching seven distinct mobile apps within a single year. This strategic collaboration focused on enhancing KFC’s customer engagement, operational efficiency, and overall brand presence.

From intuitive user interfaces designed for quick food ordering to specialized apps for managing loyalty programs, every application was crafted with precision and care. The apps further featured real-time tracking, personalized recommendations, and interactive elements like gamification to boost user retention.

The results of this massive undertaking were remarkable, with KFC experiencing significant improvements. Here are some of the outcomes of our collaboration with KFC:

• 22% increase in overall conversion rate.
• 4.5 average rating across locations on both the Play Store and App Store.
• Over 50% of total orders coming through the app.
• Over 60% increase in repeat purchases across channels.
• Increased ‘stickiness’ among customers ordering from the app.
• Highest Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) across all order modes.

Now that we have witnessed how Appinventiv and KFC’s collaboration resulted in the brand’s massive digital transformation, it’s time to look into the latest mobile app development trends that you must know in 2024.

Mobile Application Development Trends Businesses Need To Look Out For

In this section, we will highlight the key tech trends in the app development industry and how they are playing a huge role in customer retention and enhancing customer experience.

Generative AI

Generative AI is rapidly becoming a transformative force in the mobile app development ecosystem, redefining how apps are designed, developed, and interacted with by users. By using advanced machine learning algorithms, the disruptive technology allows the users to generate content while enhancing the app’s functionality and user engagement. For example, in content creation, Generative AI enables apps to automatically produce personalized text, graphics, and videos, making each user’s experience unique and deeply engaging.

According to a Bloomberg report, the overall market size of generative AI could surpass $1.3 trillion by 2032, signifying the vast potential and wide impact this technology is expected to have across various industries.

As businesses increasingly adopt generative AI, they can expect not only to streamline operations but also to offer more creative and customized user experiences, driving greater user satisfaction and loyalty.

Considering the increasing market size of the technology, it is vital for businesses to integrate generative AI into their offerings, ensuring they remain competitive and relevant in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The IoT refers to the growing network of devices connected to the internet, providing automated control and convenience to the users. Smart home technology is the perfect example of the rise in IoT in mobile application development.

Mobile apps can be used to connect to home security systems, adjust the thermostat in a house from a remote location, and lock or unlock a front door.

According to Statista, the global IoT market is expected to reach $2,227 billion by 2028 from $1,387 billion in 2024, witnessing a CAGR of 12.57% from 2024 to 2018. Furthermore, as of 2023, more than $805 billion were spent on IoT technology across the globe. These stats indicate the steady rise and usage of IoT in mobile app development for businesses.

5G

5G technology is bound to have a major impact on mobile app development trends. In 2023, the use of 5G technology continued to grow impressively. A total of 582 operators worldwide invested in 5G networks, with 294 of these launching commercial 5G services. The market also witnesses over 2,700 5G devices announcements, with at least 1,886 of these becoming commercially available.

But, how is 5G technology affecting mobile app development? The simple answer is that 5G is drastically improving overall speed and efficiency. In fact, this technology is delivering a 10x decrease in latency while boosting traffic capacity and network efficiency. As compared to 4G, 5G is up to 100 times faster, depending on the mobile network operator you choose.

The penetration of 5G has ultimately improved the functionality of mobile applications. This allows the developers to add new features and functionalities to apps without negatively affecting their performance.

Developers can also use 5G network speed during the testing and development stages of building an app.

[Also Read: 5G and IoT: Emerging Technologies with Endless Use Cases]

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

Augmented reality is another crucial mobile app development trend to look out for in 2024. Mobile apps can make use of AR features for a wide range of use cases. Pokemon Go is one of the best examples that paved the way for AR in mobile app gaming. But today, the applications of AR have become more practical for other apps as well.

For instance, L’Oreal Paris is using AR for their Style My Hair app. With the help of AR technology, the app showcases different hair colors and styles directly on the user.

Google Maps also rolled out a feature called ‘Live View’ where users can see turn-by-turn directions on real-world imagery in real-time. By pointing the device’s camera at street signs and buildings, the app can tell the current location of the user.

Virtual reality is also shaking things up in the world of mobile app development for businesses.  The application of VR is majorly seen in gaming apps currently. VR technology can be connected with apps, smartphones, and wearables to enhance the gaming experience in mobile apps.

[Also Read: AR/VR Trends and Predictions For The Upcoming Years]

Predictive Analytics

By leveraging technologies like machine learning and AI, predictive analytics can forecast events using collected data. Tech giants have been leveraging predictive analytics for years now.

For instance, Netflix makes use of predictive analytics to show movie recommendations based on what users have watched in the past.

In 2024 and beyond, predictive analytics will be implemented for a wide range of mobile apps on a more mainstream level. The primary objective will be to enhance the UI/UX with an app. This will ultimately lead to increased customer retention and engagement.

Edge Computing

Edge Computing enhances mobile app performance by processing data closer to where it’s generated, reducing latency and improving speed. This is crucial for apps requiring real-time operations, making services more reliable and efficient.

For instance, Amazon has successfully incorporated edge computing into its warehouse robotics systems, enabling real-time data processing at the edge. This integration has significantly reduced delays and sped up order processing times within their operations.

[Also Read: Demystifying Mobile Edge Computing: How It Revolutionizes Mobile Networks]

Blockchain

Integrating Blockchain technology into mobile applications offers enhanced security measures, guarantees data integrity, and fosters user trust through a transparent transaction ledger system. This integration proves particularly advantageous for apps handling financial transactions or requiring top-notch data security.

For example, Walmart uses blockchain to enhance transparency and efficiency in its supply chain management. This technology helps track the moving of goods from source to store, ensuring product authenticity and improving safety standards

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Both AI and ML penetrated the mobile app development industry years ago. But we’re still lagging behind in utilizing these technologies to their maximum potential.

When we first think about AI, virtual assistants like Alexa or Siri come to our minds. However, the use cases go far and beyond this for mobile application development.

Apple’s Core ML 3 is an iOS machine learning framework that allows developers to integrate AI technology into their apps. Moreover, the latest advancements in conversational AI have further penetrated app development, enhancing how apps understand and interact with users through more natural and responsive communications, enhancing the overall engagement and app functionality.

A few examples of AI features that can be implemented into a mobile app include

• Image recognition
• Face detection
• Text and image classification
• Sentiment recognition and classification
• Speech recognition
• Predictive maintenance

Artificial intelligence can make apps smarter and improve their performance at every level. From front-end user experience to backend development, AI can change the way apps are developed.

Mistakes to Avoid When Developing Mobile Applications

Now that we have looked into the different platform options that you can choose when developing mobile applications and the latest technology trends, it’s time to dive into the different issues or mobile application development mistakes that come attached to the mobile app development process, which can negatively affect your future in the mobile domain.

Lack of Proper Targeting

If your app doesn’t reach the target audience, it does not stand the chance of being downloaded. This is one of the biggest reasons why mobile apps fail. Therefore, it’s crucial to question and implement strategies rather than rush into mobile app development.

First thing is to understand the target market, the trends, and the usage statistics of your target audience. Second thing is to find out what your competitors are doing better and what they are lacking at. This helps increase the retention and installation rate of your application and interaction with the target audience.

Building a Poor UI

Another common mistake to avoid when developing an app is not paying close attention to the UI of your app. UI or user interface is the face of your app which is responsible for the very first impression.

Since there are a number of apps available on the app stores, users are highly impatient when making a decision about keeping an app on their mobile devices.

In other words, a good UI is the key to user retention, which cannot be ignored. The mobile design process is a vital step in building an app that the users will embrace.

Following are some of the points to take care of while designing the app UI:

• Never start designing without an app flowchart.
• Always pay attention to the resolution – Avoid design for low resolutions.
• Consider minimizing or avoiding animations in the app’s intro. Users often prefer to access the main features quickly, and an unskippable intro may lead to frustration and possibly cause them to uninstall the app.
• Take extra care of the animations used to indicate loading time. Use things that will keep the users engaged.
• One of the advanced features to add to the UI is the gesture-based interface.

Lack of Monetization Strategy

During mobile app development for businesses like yours, there will be costs incurred right from production to outsourcing a team and post-deployment. To make up for these expenses and generate profit in the long run, it is vital to choose the right monetization model. There are plenty of ways to monetize your application which include paid ads, in-app purchases, subscriptions, and more. Regardless of the monetization model you choose, ensure that it is profitable in the long run.

Adding Too Many Features

If you think that adding too many features will make your app more appealing to users, well, you might be wrong. Having too many features within the app makes it cumbersome and bulky in size without adding much value to the overall user experience.

In contrast, having few targeted and important features makes a mobile app easy to understand and useful.

In addition, having too many features increases the load time and makes the app slower. And not to mention the resources, time, and efforts that go into making those extra features. The best thing to do is include the main feature and other supporting features that make the purpose of the app complete.

Not Considering Making an MVP

An MVP presents you with a chance to test your product in real market conditions and get user feedback that helps improve your app’s performance. Developing an MVP as a preliminary product reduces the overall development time and costs. You can also receive valuable feedback from the market, make the required changes to your app’s model, and improvise the final product. Hence, it’s advisable to build an MVP for the success of your application.

Who Should You Entrust Your App Development Process to?

When it comes to getting an app developed, you will have three viable options -.

• Develop the app in-house
• Invest in an offshore agency
• Invest in a freelancer developer

Out of all the three options, outsourcing the service to an offshore mobile app development company is the most common one. It is estimated that around 47% of companies around the world outsource their software development services from offshore companies.

Outsourcing your app development project is one of the sure-shot ways for cost optimization, allowing you to leverage specialized skills and advanced technology within your desired budget. This approach not only enhances efficiency but also provides access to a wider talent pool, enabling rapid scaling and adaptation to market needs without the need to hire, train, and maintain a rather highly expensive in-house team.

Furthermore, with the rapid increase in the offshoring culture, outsourcing partners are also capable of bridging additional resources and compliance knowledge to the table, paving the way for your app’s success.

Let us now look into the details of hiring a mobile app development company before we move on to looking into the hiring requirements for mobile app developers.

How to Hire a Mobile App Development Company?

The outsourcing industry is filled with several horror stories of how companies shut down the project in the middle or how they fail to understand the project requirement and keep robbing you off in the name of developing a quality product. In situations like these, it is necessary to have the right set of questions that would help judge the quality of the app development agency.

Here are the five main questions that would help you gauge the authenticity of the mobile app development agency you are planning to partner with –

• How did the agency start? Who is the executive team and what is their background? What is the mission of the agency?
• Summary of the design engagement from start to finish and a list of deliverables.
• Summary of the project approach – What the app development agency thinks the major variables/risks driving success/failure, would be. What will drive consumer adoption and use? How would those risks be managed on your side?
• Summary of the QA process from start to end.
• How do they ensure best-in-class technical documentation?

The questions that you just read above would not just come in handy for the selection of a mobile app development company but also when you are aiming to hire an Android developer or an iOS developer on a freelance basis. In addition to these questions above, you will also have to ask the mobile app developer how they will handle the different mobile app development processes as a one-man team.

Lastly, whether you are looking to hire a mobile app development company, it is of utmost importance that you look into their portfolio and talk to some of their past clients.

Once you have made your decision, you officially enter the circle of the mobile app development process.

Now that you are going to be a part of the mobile app development process, here are two things that you can expect (if you have invested in a reputed mobile app development agency)

Also read: How much does it cost to build Mobile Banking app like starling bank

A. They will follow an Agile app development process for the creation of your app

While some mobile app development companies might still use the traditional Waterfall model, Agile is more prevalent and often preferred for its speed and quality. Agile supported by DevOps practices, makes way for a flexible and iterative development process that quickly adapts to the changes. Here is a guide to Agile methodology in mobile app development backdrop, which would give you an idea of how the process works.

B. The first deliverable will be an MVP

As revealed earlier, MVPs are the initial version of the app with basic features. It will help determine whether your app will succeed or not. For a successful MVP development, your hired company will identify key USPs and must-have features and then develop mobile apps accordingly. MVP development also allows users to share their feedback, telling what functionality they would like to add to your application.

Understanding Cost of Mobile App Development

The last but most crucial part on which the entire mobile journey of a business is based is how much does it cost to make an app. In a nutshell, the mobile application development cost can range somewhere from $25,000 to $300,000+.

This is a rough estimate because custom mobile app development cost for business depends on several factors such as the purpose of the app, mobile application development platform it is based on, level of complexity, size of the app development agency, and even the geographical location where the agency is based, among other factors.

Here is the exact cost breakdown structure of how much it costs to develop and maintain a mobile app. In the article, we have looked at the cost estimates that come tagged with the different process and app categories. It will give you an idea of the amount that you need to keep handy in the name of startup business mobile app development and post-launch maintenance.

[Also Read: How much does it cost to build a mobile app in the UAE]

How Appinventiv Can Help in Your App Development Journey

We hope our mobile app development guide has offered you a deep insight into the world of app development for businesses and how it can prove beneficial for your overall success. With over nine years of experience and having delivered more than 3000 successful projects, our experts are adept at transforming innovative ideas into successful mobile apps across various industries.

Our mobile app development services are backed by deep industry knowledge and cutting-edge technology, capable of meeting your specific business requirements. In addition to this, our customized solutions guarantee increased user engagement and scalability, while at the same time, adheres to stringent quality and security standards.

Additionally, we developed an AI-based budget management app, Mudra, that allows users to manage their daily spending effectively. The chatbot-centric app is capable of notifying the users when the budget gets out of hand, allowing them to make better financial decisions. The app is all set to be launched across 12+ countries globally.

Furthermore, our AI-powered recruitment app JobGet was able to bag a series B funding of $52 million. The app simplifies job searching, application, and interviewing processes, making it quicker for blue-collar workers to find the right jobs by connecting with the right resources.

Get in touch with our mobile app development experts if you are looking to enhance customer interaction, streamline operations, or simply capture new markets with a robust mobile app.

FAQs

Q. Why is mobile app development crucial for businesses in today’s digital era?

A. In today’s digital landscape, mobile app development offers businesses a direct communication channel to reach and interact with their target customers, streamline operations, and drive innovation. These apps play a crucial role in elevating customer satisfaction, generating essential data analytics, boosting brand recognition, and creating additional revenue streams.

Q. How long does it take to build an app?

A. To give you a rough estimate, the overall time frame of developing a mobile app is directly proportional to the overall app complexity. For instance, a highly complex app with an extensive feature set can take around 12+ months. On the other hand, a simple app with minimal features can take around 4 to 6 months, depending on the project goals. Connect with a mobile app development company in Brisbane to know more about the app development timeline.

Q. What are the common mistakes to avoid when building a mobile app?

A. Here are a few common mistakes one should avoid when creating an app:

• Not paying attention to UI
• Not concentrating on building an MVP
• Lack of proper targeting
• Lack of monetization strategy
• Adding too many features

Q. What is the cost of developing a mobile app?

A. The average mobile application development cost ranges from $25,000 to $300,000+. This is a rough estimate because custom mobile app development cost depends on several factors such as the complexity of the app, features and functionalities, and more.

THE AUTHOR

Sudeep Srivastava

DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER