All great mobile applications (apps) start by being an idea. Just like how diamonds are formed by processes in heat and pressure, your app idea is also perfected through various phases into becoming an actual app.

However, no matter how excellent your mobile app idea is, don’t rush into the decision to build it. You have to know each of the different phases your concept has to go through before seeing it published in an app store.

Building a successful mobile app takes lots of refining to do. If this is all new to you, you have to make sure that you understand fully what it means to develop a mobile app. 

The following are the different phases of the mobile app development life cycle that you need to know.

Research Phase

The first step in building your app is researching.

Just like in any other business, you have to do as much research as you can. 

First, know who your prospective users are – demographics, behavior patterns, and pain points. During the development process, always keep the needs of end-users in mind. Understand how your customers will use your app and why they will continue to use it. 

Being customer-centric in this fast-paced world should be a priority. Shortened attention span seems to be becoming a norm nowadays because of the numerous choices in the market.

Then, identify your competitors. Learn from the right things they did and the mistakes they’ve made.

Do brainstorming sessions with your team. Or, if you are working on your idea by yourself, you can ask for your family or friends’ views related to your app idea and utilize this to further improve.

With the first phase, you will learn more about the app you want to build and your purpose of making it. 

Feasibility Assessment Phase

The next phase is to check the feasibility of your app. You have to consider if systems in the back-end can support the functionality that your app needs. 

Doing this is much needed to evaluate if building the app is achievable. After all, there are different requirements needed for each app, depending on its format and OS platform.

Wireframing Phase

Data that you got from the first phase will assist you in wireframing. Wireframing your app is the next step to be able to understand the app’s functionalities better. It lets you improve your approach for the app and come up with solutions to problems that may arise. In this phase, the placement of the content should be agreed upon before building with the code.

Wireframes will provide an overview of your app’s important features such as layout, function, app structure, and user flow.

Prototype Phase

Building an interactive mockup or a prototype of your app idea is the next phase. 

When you have a working prototype, you would know if your idea is feasible. A prototype will let you find potential issues with the design early that may occur in the latter part of development. You can also share this first look with stakeholders to get feedback and adjust if needed. The information you gather from this phase will be used in the next stage.

Designing Phase

Here comes the importance of the app design. With the design phase, you should get blueprints and create different variations of your screens. This would help your engineers get a clear direction of how the final product should look and feel like. Go over the navigation layout and other elements in your app. 

The result you’ll get in the designing stage will help you polish the direction you want to take for your app.

Development then Testing Phase

Once the design is done, the next phase is THE development process, where it goes on the iterative cycle. It’s time for the software development team to show what they got.

The core functionality of the app is done in the initial development. There is no testing yet, so there will be lots of bugs. On the next step, testing begins, and the team fixes the bugs. At this point, the app is released for testing to other users for further testing. This part is vital to the success of your app.

Quality assurance (QA) testing should be performed during this phase to ensure that the app is secure, stable, and user-friendly. Effective testing methods include testing the following:

• User Experience
• Function
• Performance
• Security
• Device
• Platform

Once bugs are fixed and everyone’s (almost) happy, you are now ready for deployment. 

Deployment Phase

After the meticulous development and testing your app went through, your app is now ready to be reviewed and released! Submit your mobile app to app stores, App Store for Apple and Google Play for Android. Make sure that you prepare the right requirements for these app stores since they have different policies.

Once you got the approval from any of the mobile app stores, congratulations! Your mobile app is now out in the world. Don’t forget to promote what you and your team have worked hard for.

Do I need to maintain my app?

Of course. App development does not end when your app is released. Once your app is available for end-users, you have to do monitoring and maintenance. Get feedback from actual users and incorporate those to patch releases in the future. Developing an app is not a short-term commitment; it’s a long-term dedication.

Do you need a mobile app development team that can help you in developing your app?

At GADAI, we would love to discuss your app idea and how our experienced team can turn it into reality. 

Contact us to schedule an appointment.