Mobile App Development Guide for Beginners to Advanced Level

Nowadays, Mobile App is a growing industry that attracts businesses from every market. It is no stranger that mobile app revenue is estimated to reach around $ 600 billion in 2020. The growth in popularity and popularity of smartphones and tablets has led to the development of mobile applications becoming an increasingly popular trend among business owners all over the world.

We prepared a guide that answers all these questions and more! To know about mobile, read everything you are interested to know about mobile. All this knowledge comes from our 10+ years of experience which we have achieved as an Android app development and iOS app development company.

1. What is a Mobile App?

A mobile app is also known as mobile application. A mobile app is a type of application under which the app is designed to run on a mobile device, which can also be used in a smartphone or tablet computer. Even though apps are usually small software units with limited functionality, they still manage to provide quality services and experiences to users. 

Mobile applications also designed for desktop computers, mobile applications move away from integrated software systems. Instead, each mobile app provides a separate and limited functionality. For example, it can be a game, calculator, or mobile web browser.

Due to the limited hardware resources of early mobile devices, mobile applications survived multi-functionality. However, even though the devices used today are far more sophisticated, mobile applications remain narrowly functional. This is that mobile application owners allow consumers to perform the functions of their devices properly.

2. Mobile App Development Technologies 

To help you understand the process of building a mobile application, before creating a business one must keep a close eye on all the different technology ideas that business owners should create.

• Native Apps

What is Native Apps? Such types of apps are designed or created for a single mobile operating system. That’s why they are called indigenous people. They are native to a platform or instrument. Most mobile applications today are built for systems such as Android or iOS. Simply put, you can not install and use the Android app on the iPhone, and vice versa.

The main advantage of native apps is that they have a high performance and excellent user experience. Finally, developers who create them use the native device UI to create native apps. Access to a wide range of APIs also plays an important role in accelerating development work and expanding the boundaries of the use of the app. Native apps can only be downloaded from the App Store and installed directly across devices. Therefore they need to pass a strict publication process for the first time.

The most important drawback of native apps is that they cost more. To build, support and maintain a native app for Android and iOS, you may basically need two development teams. As you can imagine there may be a higher price tag on this project ie native apps.

• Web Apps

Web apps are software applications that behave similarly to native mobile apps and are used to work on mobile devices. However, there are significant differences between the native application and the web application. For starters, web applications use browsers to run, and they are usually written to install apps. They simply create a bookmark on their page. Therefore they require minimal device memory.

Since all personal databases will be saved on the server, users can only use the application if they have an internet connection. This is the main drawback of web applications, they always require a good internet connection. Otherwise, you risk giving a sub-user experience.

Furthermore, developers do not have that many APIs, except for the most popular features such as geolocation. The display will also be connected to the browser’s work and network connection.

• Hybrid Apps

This app is built using web technologies such as JavaScript, CSS and HTML5. Why are they called hybrids? Hybrid apps basically work the same way as web apps, reflecting differences in one native wrapper from another. Hybrid apps are very easy to develop and show fast speed, which is a clear advantage. You also get a single codebase for all platforms. This reduces maintenance costs and streamlines the update process. Developers can take advantage of multiple APIs for features such as gyroscope or geolocation.

Contrary to hybrid applications may lack speed and performance. In addition, you may experience some design issues as the app may not look the same on two or more platforms.

3. Types of Mobile Apps 

Mobile applications come in many shapes and sizes. Here are the most popular types of mobile applications to help you understand the current trends in the mobile landscape:

• Gaming Apps

Gaming apps is the most popular as well as most useful category of mobile apps. You will be surprised to know how many users install the game on their phones. Businesses invest an increasing amount of time and resources to create games and mobile versions of well-known stationary games because it is such a profitable business. According to a recent study, mobile games account for 33% of all app downloads, 74% of consumer spending, and 10% of all time spent using apps. The most successful mobile games like Candy Crush Saga or Angry Birds are known all over the world. 

• Business or Productivity Apps

These apps are used for business by a large market share today as people are increasingly growing to use their smartphones and tablets, which have been performing many complex tasks. For example, apps can help them book tickets, send emails or track their work progress. Business applications are able to increase productivity and reduce expenses as they allow users to complete a wide range of tasks, from purchasing new cartridges for office printers to recruiting a new office manager. 

• Education Apps

This category includes mobile apps that help users to acquire new skills and knowledge.For example, language learning apps such as Duolingo are becoming incredibly popular as they demonstrate greater flexibility in learning by users. Educational games apps are an excellent tool for children. Many educational apps are also popular among teachers, who use them to better organize their learning process or to further educate themselves. 

• Lifestyle Apps

This broad range type of apps includes shopping, fashion, virtual fitting rooms, workouts, dating and diet apps etc. These types of apps basically focus on different aspects of personal lifestyles.

• Entertainment Apps

This type of apps allows users to stream video content, search events, chats or watch content online. Social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter are the best examples of these types of apps. Furthermore, video streaming apps such as Netflix or Amazon Prime videos have become incredibly popular with users all over the world. These apps usually increase user engagement by informing members about updates and newly added features. 

• M-Commerce Apps

The most popular shopping apps such as Amazon or eBay provide mobile users with the experience of their desktop versions. Mobile commerce applications help customers have convenient access to products and are one of the easiest payment methods for an optimal shopping experience. You can get more information about mobile commerce definitions and types of mobile commerce through this app.

• Travel Apps

The main idea behind this category is helping users travel easily. Travel apps turn smartphones or tablets into travel diaries and guides that help users discover everything they want to know about the site they are visiting. Most tourists are digitally savvy travelers who know how to use the app to their advantage.

• Utility Apps

These sorts of apps are so obvious that we barely even realize that we are using them. Infact, utility apps usually have the fewest user sessions, people use them to get things and then move on. The most popular type of utility apps are barcode scanning, trackers, or healthcare apps.

4. Mobile App Statistics 

To give you detailed information about the mobile app scene today, here are some important statistics about mobile apps that show you the current mobile landscape and its future.

• An average mobile app user in the US has more than 100 applications installed on their device.

• A typical mobile user will check their smartphone 63 or more times in a day.

• 79% of users can abandon a digital product after only one day of use.

• 87% of users check their phones at least once an hour before going to sleep. In addition, 69% would check their phones at least five minutes before bedtime.

• Mobile apps today account for 57% of all digital media usage.

• By 2021, approximately 7 billion people worldwide will use mobile devices.

• By 2022, the mobile app download number or year will reach 258 million. This is a huge increase from 2017 when the number reached 168 million.

• By the same year, the App Store would reach $ 157 billion worldwide, with a 92% increase in consumer spending.

5. Mobile App Development 

Mobile app development is a process in the app's formation that progresses a lot from traditional software development. However, it is focused on creating software so the mobile device under development here takes advantage of the unique features of the hardware. The simplest scenario for creating a mobile app is taking a desktop-based application and importing it into a mobile device. Infact, as mobile apps become more robust, this technique can become problematic.

A better approach involves developing specifically for a mobile environment. It is a technology that reaps all the benefits of offering mobile devices. This process takes into account their limitations and helps the business owners in the development of the app, depending on the cost balance as per the functionality.

For example, applications that are built for the use of location-based features such as maps are always built from the ground up keeping the mobile in mind. Location based services offered on desktop apps matter less because desktop users are not rotating. Modern smartphones and tablets are equipped with bluetooth, Near field communication (NFC), GPS, gyroscopic sensors, cameras, and many other features. Developers can use these features to build apps with virtual or augmented reality, barcode scanning, location- based services, and many other technologies. The most successful and popular mobile applications use smartphone features in the best way. 

While developers building applications for iOS can expect to run apps on only two types of devices (iPhones and iPads), Android developers can’t say so. Infact, for them each smartphone and tablet can run on different versions of different hardware and operating systems. 

6. Build a Mobile App

If you are planning to build a mobile app, basically you can choose from three different options for creating a mobile app which are as follows:

• Create an In-House Development Team

For creating a mobile app firstly you can hire the specialized in-house development team or software developers agency, Trust the expertise of freelancers. Here a brief overview of each of the options along with their respective pros and cons helps to make the best decision for your mobile app development project.  

If you decide to form an in-house development team for your project, then you will have complete control over those who take directions in the creation of your mobile app. However, it will come at a higher cost. You will not only have to pay for the salaries of the developers, but also a range of overhead costs such as workspace, benefits and perks, hardware, software licenses, and many more. This can be especially difficult if you are located in an area where it is expensive to hire mobile developers. 

If you choose this option, expect a much higher price tag on your app. The risk of your project will also increase as you will be responsible for the work of your team. 

• Hire a Freelancer

This option is definitely the cheapest option of the three. By hiring a single freelancer to build your mobile app, you can enjoy a simple development process. Communication can be easy, and you will not face any collaboration issues as only one person will be responsible for building the mobile app. But it is a very difficult challenge to find a reliable and reliable freelancer. You will be better at the skill and expertise of a person for the entire success of your project. 

Even if you hire a talented and genius mobile app developer for the creation of mobile apps, they may actually be talented in backend development but have limited knowledge about frontend development. If you build an app that works well, but has an ugly user interface, your product will suffer. Hiring a freelancer is an effective option, but it comes with many different risks that can compromise the process of building your app in every single step.

• Hire a Software Development Company

There are many software development companies that specialize in mobile development today. By teaming up with such companies, you will entrust the task of building your app to a group of professionals who can provide you with comprehensive service such as: 

• UX / UI Design

• Product Development

• Testing 

• Backend & frontend development

• Quality Assurance (QA)

• Project Management

The main advantage of this option is that you can take advantage of collective expertise and the team realize projects that are similar to yours. You can verify their experience and skills through the portfolio as well as ask for customer recommendations.

This option provides an excellent cost and quality balance, especially if you decide to outsource your project to a team located in an area where the growth rate is lower than the local level. You can estimate your project in 2021 with different software houses to compare their proposals and learn mobile app development costs.

Conclusion

We hope that this guide will help you understand what the mobile app development landscape looks like today. In the future, we are going to see even more new mobile applications that take advantage of state of the art technology like Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and many more. Businesses are going to invest more resources in mobile applications as mobile devices outnumber desktop devices when it comes to the number and engagement of users. 

Do you want to create a mobile app or are looking for an experienced mobile application development team for your project? What are you waiting, Join us;

We specialize in mobile development, and our experts know all the latest technologies to help you build a mobile app that provides an excellent user experience and generates a tangible value for your project or business.