What is mobile application development?

Choosing a mobile application platform

There are several important considerations when choosing between the iOS and Android platforms. Android, for instance, has more global market share and is strong in Asia, Africa and South America, while iOS is more prevalent in North America, Europe and Japan. The following are some other considerations:

• iOS app development is faster, in general, than Android; the latter runs on more devices and therefore requires more testing.
• Android design requires more different screen sizes than iOS.
• Apple's Developer Program fee is $99 per year, while Google Play requires only a one-time $25 fee.
• Google Play's approval process is faster and easier than Apple's App Store.

What about programming languages? IOS app development is primary done with Apple's Swift, although its legacy language, Objective-C, is still around. Xcode is Apple's integrated development environment (IDE).

On the Android side, the preferred Google language is Kotlin, although Java is found in many existing apps. The IDE to use is Android Studio.

What about cross-platform development? Facebook's React Native using JavaScript can provide both OSes. Google offers Flutter, which uses the Dart programming language, and Microsoft Xamarin uses .NET and C#. All of these allow a single codebase for use on both the iOS and Android platforms, which can save on development costs.

Types of mobile applications

In the early years of mobile apps, the only way to ensure an app could perform optimally on any device was to develop it natively. This meant that new code had to be written specifically for each device's processor. Today, most mobile applications developed are device-agnostic.

In the past, if an app needed to be cross-platform and run on multiple OSes, there was little, if any, code that could be reused from the initial development project. Essentially, each device required its own mobile app development project with its own code base. Modern cross-platform tools use common languages such as C# and JavaScript to share code across projects; more importantly, they integrate well with application lifecycle management tools, such as Jenkins. This enables developers to use a single codebase for Apple iOS, Google Android and progressive web apps. PWAs are built to take advantage of native mobile device features, without requiring the end user to visit an app store, make a purchase and download software locally. Instead, a PWA can be located with a search engine query and accessed immediately through a browser, thereby eliminating the need for e-commerce merchants to develop native apps for multiple mobile OSes.

Just like YouTube videos, PWA content is downloaded progressively, which provides the end user with a better user experience than a traditional website that uses responsive design. PWAs are also be referred to as instant mobile apps.

Before developing an app, determine which type of app to create. The following highlights several types of mobile app development technologies with information about each:

• Native applications. These applications are built using IDEs and languages for mobile OSes such as Apple iOS or Google Android. Native apps enable the user to customize necessary features, but they can be more costly than other technologies.
• Hybrid apps. These are web apps that act like native apps. They are developed using technologies such as HTML, JavaScript and cascading style sheets. Hybrid apps are more cost-effective to develop than native apps and can be created faster, but they aren't as feature-rich as native applications.
• PWAs. A progressive web app is a website that looks and behaves like a mobile app. These applications are developed using web technologies such as Meta's React.
• Encapsulated apps. An encapsulated app runs within a container app. Products such as the Microsoft Power App drag-and-drop app creation tool enable less experienced developers to build a mobile application rapidly. However, the lack of isolation from the core OS, OS lock-in and relative newness could pose problems.
• Frameworks and libraries. These accelerate the development of mobile apps by using reusable code written by someone else.
• Cross-platform apps. These are like hybrid apps but use frameworks that compile more closely to native code. This enables a single codebase but might limit the use of native features.
• Gaming apps. These can be native, hybrid or cross-platform. Unity and Unreal Engine are popular game engines. Although they are high performance, they can be costly to develop.

Costs of developing a mobile app

The cost of developing an app can range from almost nothing to millions of dollars -- it all depends on the type of app and its intended use. The following is a breakdown of the ranges an organization can expect to pay for building a mobile app:

• No-code app builders. If the app has basic feature requirements, a developer doesn't need to know how to code. Free tools such as Glide, Softr and Thunkable offer developers the freedom to build apps without learning Swift or other programming languages. Tools such as Adalo and Bubble have pricing plans but offer a free option. Although these tools are limited in their functionality and can't be used to create a game with no-code apps, the no-code approach will meet most organizations' needs.
• Enterprise apps. The concept of citizen developer, where anyone can build a mobile app, is exploding with tools such as Amazon Honeycode, Microsoft Power Platform, OutSystems and SAP Build Apps. These devices offer drag-and-drop interfaces that can connect to data sources and manage content flow. The price is typically tied to a monthly subscription of less than $50.
• Mobile-optimized website. Although it's most practical to build websites for both desktop and mobile devices, the website content management tool an organization uses will likely have plugins they can buy for less than $100 to optimize their website for mobile devices.
• Complex apps. An app that requires features such as three-dimensional graphics, gaming or sophisticated AI will likely need to be developed as a native app. The cost for a complex app can typically be $250,000 or more, and it is directly related to the scarcity of mobile developers.

The mobile app development process, step by step

The following steps should help develop the framework for building an app.

1. Define a strategy based on the answers to these questions:

• What is the objective of the app? What problems will it solve?
• Are there existing apps that perform this function? If so, what do they do well? What are they lacking?
• Who is the target audience?
• Will the organization be hiring developers or using an internal team?
• What is the business model?
• How much is the organization willing to invest in developing this app? Will there be investors?
• How long will it take to build this application?
• What is the organization's marketing strategy?
• Is the app being designed for one of the app stores? If so, does the team have the necessary licensing agreements and design and testing criteria?

2. Select the development team. Does the organization need to hire a developer, or will the app be designed in-house? What about a marketing person? If this app is being created for the organization, will stakeholders from several departments be participating in the process -- i.e., C-level, marketing, sales or IT?

3. Brainstorm and sketch. Outline how the mobile app will solve the problems identified and what features and functions to include. Prototyping can be as simple as using a whiteboard or paper to sketch ideas or tools such as Adobe Experience Design, Balsamiq or Invision. When developing the app, keep user experience in mind. This includes design, usability, security and performance.

4. Develop a product roadmap. Using findings from the previous step, create a step-by-step process for assessing priorities and deliverables.

5. Select app development tools based on the organization's requirements.

6. Begin app development. An Agile process is best for building apps. Adopt a DevOps mindset when building the app. DevOps is a modern delivery methodology that uses key functions, such as the following:

• Defining the front-end or client-side. This includes the user interface and navigation.
• Defining the back-end or server-side. This requires application programming interfaces, authentication and data storage.
• Applying automation where possible.
• Using cloud services.
• Working with open source tools.
• Frequently communicating with the team.
• Continuously testing the code.

7. Create a prototype that can be shared with investors or other stakeholders. Use their feedback to refine app development and further testing. This includes testing for functionality, performance and ease of navigation.

8. Roll out the app to users. Once the app passes these tests, it's time to roll it out to users for official beta testing. This process includes multiple rounds of review and incorporating user fixes prior to creating a deployable version of the app.

Once the app has undergone the requisite testing and review, it's ready to deploy. At this point, create a channel for user feedback and provide continuous support.

Following beta testing, the app must be submitted to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for review and approval.

Learn what a no-code platform is and how it can be used to save businesses time and money while being able to deploy more apps at a faster rate.