Before venturing into building a mobile application for your business, it is critical to know the whole mobile app development process to know whether it will be consistent with your marketing goals. Having a good knowledge about the entire process will also ensure that you don’t waste your time and effort.

Phases of Mobile App Development Lifecycle

1. Initiation and Requirement Analysis

The first step requires a thorough study about your idea, your current requirements, competitiveness as well as the profitability of it. Conduct a detailed market research to ensure if your idea is worth converting to a business or not.

If possible ask yourself the following question

What are the features that makes your app stand out from the rest?

Is there any requirement for such an app? If yes, how will it solve the existing problems? 

On which mobile technology will be best suited for your app?

What will be the amount of investment required?

Among which demographic do you intend to market your app?

Answering the above questions will give you a thorough idea of your objectives and ways to improve them.

2. Execution

Once you have a clear vision for your app, you need to put pen to paper the ways that will help you achieve it. If possible discuss it with your target audience to collect feedback. If you find gaps in your action plan rectify it as soon as possible.

All basic operation are to be carried out at this phase. Foolproof planning will help mitigate risks associated with your project as well as help you understand the needs of your end-users. 

Use case diagrams can also be of use to you. Use case diagrams are graphical representations of the interactions between the user and the system elements through various scenarios called ‘Use Cases’.

UML diagrams will also help you to determine the functionality of your project. Also, it will help you in understanding the technical specifications and complexity involved in your task. 

3. Technical Specifications

Before initiating the design of the mobile application with your mobile app development company in UAE, make sure that your app is technically feasible. The back-end system should be in sync with your application.

This can be done by getting hold of public data by sourcing Public API’s.

The different mobile platforms (Android, iOS and Windows) have varying technical specifications and guidelines. Having an in-depth knowledge about the technical feasibility of your application will help you save time in designing a prototype of your app.

Moreover, wireframes and storyboard will act as a guide for the back-end components you will need to support your app such as APIs, data diagrams, servers, data integration, and push notification services. 

4. Designing the App

In reality, app development involves a number of steps and processes. If you choose to forego the use of an app development platform the developer providing enterprise application services will have to use other storage solutions, databases, API’s and servers for the backend of your app.

Also, remember to set up developer accounts for the app store. This might take a couple of days to complete and is most likely to be overlooked. In addition, go through the app store guidelines to avoid being rejected during the review process.

The next step involves programming and coding phase. If you intend to develop your app with the help of an external developer be sure to sign a non-disclosure agreement with him. If he/she doesn’t meet your expectation don’t hesitate to fire them immediately.

During development your developer will create the app screen to be used in your application. These high resolution visualizations of your wireframes depicts the final user interface, so assure your designs incorporate all the ideas and feedback gathered during the earlier testing phase.  

5. Testing

Within this stage you will have your desired end product. Now you need to verify how your application performs in different real-world scenarios to understand the technical flaws.  Revise your original design and planning documents and go through every feature. Never be in the false hope that what worked in the development phase will also work in the final stage.

Also, it will be good to observe other users while testing the application as this may provide insights that you have not thought about during the inception.

You can also use one of the online mobile UX testing tools that provides real time feedback and analytics. In addition, test for cross platform compatibility of images, graphics, and user experience.

If you are confident that your applications is working perfectly in all scenarios and you are content with the appearance and usability of the interface, then it is time for the final launch.

6. Launch

There are two ways of launching your application

i) Deploying on a Web Server

Back-end server is critical for the functioning of an app because it acts as a conduit for data transfer to and from the app. The app will break down when the back-end server is overloaded or is malfunctioning. Thus, a server should be set up effectively to meet the requirements of your application.

ii) Deploying Your App on the App Store

Once your application is completed you can release it on the app store-Google Play store or Apple Store. You may have to fill out different forms and submit a short description along with screen shots of the app.   

As per the guidelines given by each app store, you may have to make necessary changes to your application to meet your guidelines. Generally Google play store will live your app the same day whereas Apple within a few days.

7. Monitoring

Mobile application development doesn’t end once you have released it on the play store you have to follow it up with regular updates. Moreover, adding new features, improving performance, and dealing with addressing the issues behind crashes are some of the processes that should be done.