Detailed Info About Mobile App Development

The major point that people are increasingly addicted to using smartphones and other gadgets is simple and obvious. The importance of mobile application development is, therefore, impossible to ignore.

The expansion of the industry caused users to separate themselves from desktops and laptops. They opt for the immediacy, portability, and ergonomics of mobile appliances.

What Mobile App Development Is?

The sense behind it is building software to run on portable devices. The goal is to create a solution that capitalizes on the distinctive tools and characteristics of handheld gadgets.

These devices are packed with software that serves various purposes. Developers use them to create utility programs to make our lives easier. Their task is to build these applications so that users could get the most out of them. 

Regardless of the chosen course of development, the mobile app must be user-friendly and serve its original purpose.

Why Does Developing a Mobile App Benefit Your Business?

Competently built, user-friendly applications for portable devices are massively advantageous for all types of companies. Here’s why:

• Greater customization possibilities. When it comes to app development, mobile application personalization is about offering specific features to each of your customers based on their interests, location, and usage behavior.
• You can send instant notifications to help you promote your products or services.
• They improve the user experience.
• Mobile applications provide seamless experiences thanks to their ability to work with an Internet connection or without it. This is something web apps can’t provide.
• Users can get your content quickly through a fluid experience by storing data.
• Applications can run faster than web pages.

“The future of mobile is the future of online. It is how people access online content now.” — David Murphy

Mobile Application Development Stages

Let’s say you’ve already mastered one of the necessary languages for writing an app. Now you need to create an independent project. What will your plan look like? The approach to determining the stages of this work must be based on Human-centered design. It means that you should focus on solving users’ problems and rely on the interface during the custom mobile app development.

Defining Goals

What is the major concept of the app? Are you going to build something original or improve software that already exists? At this stage, developers analyze markets and products and do user research.

Defining Basic Functionality

As a rule, developers build mobile applications step-by-step. First, they release a demo version with simplified functionality. Then they gradually release new features in subsequent updates. This approach is often financially justified. Developers collect feedback from users and understand what to prioritize in the future. To facilitate this, they often use a react js development company from New York, such as Dev-3.

Defining the Basic Distribution Model

This is more of a marketing objective, but it’s important because it determines what the application will look like. This step is often used in iOS app development.

Creating UI/UX Design

At this stage, developers start working with specific features with a clear understanding of customer experience. This is when they build the information architecture – the basic structure of the app’s navigation system.

Usability Testing

Basic assessment of mockups and prototypes. Based on the results, developers introduce changes to the design. 

Development

This is the stage when they build the main bulk of the backend code of the application and auxiliary services. During the process, developers continue to test and improve it. 

Re-testing

A new round of functionality testing: searching for bugs, reevaluating the design and technical specification, and creating test documentation. In short, it’s about bringing the software package to the pre-release state.

Release

Once the series of improvements are complete and developers are satisfied with the results, the software can be launched on the app stores.

The work doesn’t end there. The application will require constant technical support, improvements, and functionality expansion. This is a rather long and time-consuming process. There’s no ready-made scenario. The plan can be changed and adjusted depending on the project.

All this goes without saying if you have a dedicated team of expert developers. If that’s not the case, we highly recommend hiring a team of specialists who purpose mobile app development services.

“Tech will transform from something we actively use to a more seamless integrated experience that is ‘on’ all the time.” — Daniel Bæk

Mobile Apps Types

Based on specific points of their operation, these applications can be divided into three main categories. Let’s talk about them in more detail.

Native Apps

These are common and expensive to develop. The reason is each one of these applications is platform-specific. The vast majority of mobile applications on the modern market belong to this category.

For its native software, Apple provides Swift – the programming language for all iOS-based apps. It’s highly efficient but only works for Apple apps development.

Android has its own OS-specific coding language, Kotlin. 

Pros:

• High performance (speed and reliability). Developers create these applications for specific platforms with their native features in mind. As a result, this provides users with a positive interaction experience.
• They have full access to mobile device features (Bluetooth, contact list, camera, NFC, etc.) This simplifies and improves the user experience.
• They are more secure in terms of protecting user data.

Cons:

• It’s expensive.
• Very memory-intensive and can grow even more so with each new update.

iOS and Android app development might be a tricky thing. In this case, hiring professionals might make all the difference. Dev-3 offers high-quality services and trained professionals to create the software you need according to your requirements.

Web-based Apps

These are, in essence, customized websites that users can access by browsers. They don’t require downloading and are not stored on devices. One of the most common subcategories of web-based applications is PWAs. They are essentially native applications within a browser.

Pros:

• They don’t require OS-specific customization, which makes them more cost-efficient.
• No updates are necessary, which makes them easier to maintain.

Cons:

• They are browser-dependent. Some features available in one browser may not be supported in another.
• Can’t be used offline.

Hybrid (Cross-platform) Apps

The name speaks for itself. These applications look like their native counterparts and have attributes such as desktop icons, high performance, and the ability to work offline. Shopify website design is an exact example of what you may get with this type of app.

All instruments that are not Swift or Kotlin, can be considered cross-platform. The most common of them are:

• Ionic. It is probably the most famous cross-platform structure. It creates apps applying HTML, CSS3, and Javascript. Ionic app development allows getting benefit of web design technologies for a high-performing, efficient result.
• Flutter. A Dart-based brainchild of Google developers that was released in 2018. Flutter app development is one of the most fast-growing fields in the industry. Some developers consider using another similar tool from Google – the Angular development framework.
• React Native. An open-source framework developed by Meta (formerly Facebook).
• Xamarin. A Microsoft-owned framework that uses C# and works both for native and cross-platform apps.

Pros:

• Quick to develop and less costly than native apps.
• Fast loading time is a great opportunity to improve user experience.
• They can interact with the device’s OS.

Cons:

• Still not as high-performing as native apps.

For obvious reasons, cross-platform mobile apps development dominates the industry. The majority of businesses prefer increasing the number of their mobile customers by choosing to develop mobile apps cross-platform.

What Kinds of Mobile Apps Are Mentioned Here?

There is a massive number of applications of all forms and sizes. Every piece of software is designed to serve a specific purpose. Here are some of the most common types of applications for portable devices you can find out there.

Business & Productivity Apps

These occupy a large part of the market due to their great utility. They help you book tickets, keep track of your progress at work or your productivity parameters.

Mobile Store Apps

These provide consumers with products and services along with easily accessible payment options. There’s hardly any business that doesn’t have this kind of software to represent their store. For this, they often hire a hybrid app development company in NYC or other locations for the best results.

Entertainment Applications

These allow consumers to share video content and images, chat, search for events, or view content online. 

Utility Apps

Sometimes they go unnoticed, but we use them almost without realizing it. These include barcode readers, for example. Many healthcare mobile app development companies build this type of software as well.

Game Apps

This kind of mobile technology is undoubtedly among the leaders. Companies put massive amounts of funds into games for mobile platforms. No surprise there: this is a very profitable market.

Wrapping Up

Mobile applications are something we can’t imagine our lives without. They fulfill a variety of functions to help us be more productive, healthy, knowledgeable, and sociable. New software for portable devices is getting released on a daily basis.

Leaving tasks that require in-depth knowledge and a high level of competence to incompetent freelancers might hurt your business in the long run. Based in NY, Dev-3 is an agency specializing in web design and software development to meet the specific needs of your sector of activity. Our professionalism, fine analysis skills, and passion for what we do allow us to create and develop solutions that bring you closer to your customers.
We offer affordable, easy-to-use technology accessible to as many people as possible. Entrust your Android app development to our professionals!