Mobile App Development

The importance of mobile marketing has skyrocketed over the past couple of years as consumers are spending more and more time on their smartphones. Therefore, it is a great time to think about introducing an app into your mobile marketing strategy. If you are thinking “we don’t have the budget” or “we don’t have the resources” for an app, stop right there. Mobile app development is changing, and with the new technology that is available, anyone can build an app!

Thanks to low code and no code app development technology, anyone can now build an app, even if you have never coded before. These platforms are designed so an entire app can be built without needing a single line of code. All you need is a mobile app project plan, a good mobile application development environment, and to understand how a mobile app works. When it comes to app development, you have a few options regarding what kind of app you’re going to build. The most common ones include native mobile apps, web apps, and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).

Native mobile apps are probably the ones that you are most familiar with. They are downloaded from the app store onto your homescreen. These apps are developed in the native environment designated by the operating system publisher. The big takeaway is Java and Swift are not interchangeable, meaning you will have to build separate apps for different operating systems. A web app is an app that is hosted through the web, like Google Docs. The biggest difference between a native mobile app and a web app is where the work is done. With a web app, the app is rendered through a server that sends information to the device. With a native mobile app the phone’s operating system does the work. PWAs are like the best of both worlds between web and native. They are still hosted through the web, but can be saved to your homescreen and perform the same functions that a native mobile app can. PWAs have become much more popular over the past few years because of the rich functionality, while still maintaining a lightweight shell that is faster and less expensive to build. In fact, many people believe that PWAs are the future of mobile. However, each of these apps have different use cases they are best for. Before committing to one app you should consider what your marketing goals are and what app will best help you achieve them. Using resources like a professional mobile application development pdf or Lumavate’s Mobile Champion resources can help you make this decision.

Introduction to Mobile Application Development

Before jumping head first into building an app, it is best you get an introduction to mobile app development. Understanding the basics of mobile app development and what options you have are key to building a successful app. There are three main steps you need to take before starting your app development process. First, you have to decide if you are going to build or buy. This essentially means that you can either choose to build your app by coding it or you can use a no code or low code app builder. There are pros and cons to both of these options, but if you have no coding experience and don’t have a team of internal developers, using an app builder will be a faster and less expensive way to create an app. Second, you need to decide what type of app you want to build. As mentioned before, there are three types of apps you can choose from: native mobile apps, web apps, or PWAs. All of these types of apps have their benefits, but if you are looking to build an app quickly and not have it break your marketing budget, then a PWA will be your best bet. Finally, you need to set your budget. Your budget will depend on how you are deciding to build your app, what kind of app you are building, and what functionality you are looking for it to have. Keep in mind that with low code and no code app development platforms, app building really doesn’t have to break the bank. Lumavate, for example, allows users to start building apps on a free plan, and then you can upgrade to build more apps and access more functionality. Once you have completed these three steps, you can create a mobile app development proposal pdf if necessary, and then you are ready to start building an app.

The Mobile App Development Process

Once you have given some thought to what your mobile app development process will look like, you can get started building your app. The app making process will look different depending on if you are building the app internally or using an app builder. If you are building the app internally, it is important to have a technical design document for mobile application to keep the app design specialist team on track and on scope. Understanding what the app development process looks like is important for keeping the project on track, therefore, resources like the basics of mobile application development pdf, mobile app development process pdf, and mobile app development process steps ppt are helpful to review before getting started.

At a high level, the mobile app development process steps include:

• Research
• Wireframing
• Technical Feasibility Assessment
• Prototype
• Design
• Development
• Testing
• Deployment

All of these app development process steps are important to create a well-functioning app, but one of the most crucial steps is wireframing. Wireframing is where you will work on the  mobile application development process flow. Creating a sensible flow of mobile applications is an important feature of building an app with a good user experience. Design is another step that is very important to creating a successful app. When designing an app you should always use a mobile first mindset. This means that you are thinking about how your app will look and function specifically on mobile. It is also a good idea to review mobile design best practices.

It is also important to note that if you are building a native mobile app,  building an app for iOS will look different than building an app for an Android device. These different operating systems require different code languages and specifications. Therefore, it is important to decide what type of app you are building before you start the development process. Then you can either follow Android app development process step by step instructions and a “how to create an Android app step by step pdf” or iOS app development steps and an iOS mobile application development pdf.

Mobile App Development Lifecycle

The mobile app development lifecycle outlines the process of how an app comes to life. Understanding this process is crucial because it will help your team stay on track with the project, and will help set expectations. Additionally, having an app development schedule in place that has various milestones for mobile app development will help the team stay on track as well. This can all be brought together in a mobile application development process document. Documenting your timeline, process, and goals is the best way to make sure app development stays on track and you build an app that meets your expectations within a specific time frame. Within this document you want to schedule time for the discovery and research phase of app development, wireframing and design stage, and development and deployment stage. It is also important to acknowledge that after your app is released, you will still need to maintain the app. Maintaining the app includes troubleshooting any problems that arise, making fixes, and updating the app to continuously give users the best user experience possible.

Enterprise Mobile App Development Process

The app development process for a consumer facing app will look a little different from the development process of mobile applications in the business world. The enterprise mobile app development process will focus less on creating a visually pleasing app. The objective of an enterprise app is typically to simplify business operations and are used internally, unlike a consumer facing app that strives to connect with consumers and offer them some sort of value. Therefore, the app development process flow for an enterprise app will not spend as much time designing and branding their app.

However, it is still important for the enterprise app development process to distinguish between iOS and the Android app development process because they will still have to be built differently. If you need your app to be built for both operating systems it can get very costly. One way to avoid running into this problem is to consider building a PWA. The PWA will have very similar functionality to a native mobile app, and works across all operating systems.

Mobile App Release Management

Having mobile app release management in place is necessary to make sure your app is working probably and is up to users standards. The typical mobile app release process goes through a variety of testing steps like quality assurance and beta testing. Having a mobile app release plan in place before the release happens is vital to ensure nothing goes wrong during the release. It is best to have multiple people working on the release management team to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. The typical release process will start with doing a quality insurance check on the app to ensure that everything works the way it is supposed to, beta testing as an opportunity to get feedback from a smaller group of users before releasing the app to the public, and then deployment of mobile app. However, just because your app is deployed doesn’t mean it’s finished. You should constantly be working to improve and update your app. When this happens, you will go back into that mobile release cycle or mobile release train, and go through the testing steps again. When adding features or updating your app, it is important that you do it in multiple versions, and make sure that all the versions are recoverable. If you don’t do this you risk losing all the work you have put into your mobile app if something goes wrong. A great benefit of Lumavate’s PWA platform is that you can push changes out in real time and users will instantly receive the update. This makes the release management process much simpler.

Mobile Application Development Course

If you are interested in learning more about mobile app development, there are many resources out there that can teach you more about the process. Udemy is a great resource where you can access a mobile application development course for a reasonable price. You can also access mobile application development lecture notes pdf here. Using a mobile application development notes pdf will help you learn from the experiences of others and will provide more insight into the process than simply researching online. Some other resources out there include a mobile application development tutorial pdf or a mobile application journal. If you are ready to start building your own mobile app, you can get started building an app with Lumavate for free!