Custom App Development Process - The Complete Guide

Whether big or small, businesses from different industries and start-up founders are taking charge of the digital transformation for efficient management, high productivity, great returns, and scalability.

Yes, we know that every business is different, but you can't run off from this high competition world where only a unique digital strategy can make a difference.

Nothing is better than customizing your business functionalities as per your business goals.

Custom app development plays a significant role by entitling your business to a competitive advantage over other merchants.

During a pandemic, turning up to mobile app development has helped companies big time. Not only tech but companies hailing from sectors like manufacturing, food, textile, healthcare, finance, transportation, etc., expressed interest in custom app development for their business. With such demand, it becomes vital to know how to develop an app or, essentially, the steps of app development?

Addressing the same, we share the convenient mobile app development process and the advantages of custom app development—moreover, the best frameworks to work on front-end and back-end development and the app development process steps. So, let's get started.

Advantages of Developing a Custom Mobile App

Suppose you want to stand out in a crowd. In that case, you need to deliver something extra that adds value - not necessarily an added feature but an upgrade of the existing feature that no other company in your industry is offering. A tailor-made app solution can empower your enterprise by outsmarting the functionalities provided by other industry players.

Exclusive user experience where users will involve in exclusive features of your mobile business app. Here, developers, right after determining the fundamental elements of the business, start to work on the process of designing the UX/UI of the mobile app.

Provide a scalable opportunity to any business. In the custom-made mobile app development process, developers can help scale your app's functionality to unbelievable heights. So scalability is never a concern, and you can keep up with the hike of traffic or immense database.

Integration of third-party apps is not troublesome and fast with the existing software of your business. So instead of using multiple applications to meet your business needs, you can use just one with different types of integrations. Customization is done considering the current functionalities of your existing business software, and therefore, they are guaranteed to integrate well and function without any issues.

Higher ROI is always a considering factor of any business. The app tailored to meet your business goals increases users' engagement and employee productivity, resulting in high value to any organization.

Security: Every business owner is highly concerned about the security of their user information. Our mobile app developers analyze every possible risk regarding security breaches and take the necessary steps during the mobile app development process.

Platform independence: Another advantage of custom app development is that the client can ensure their solution is accessible and responsive on all screens of all sizes, platforms, and browsers.

Custom Mobile App Development Process

Custom app development is nothing but a tailor-made solution for your business. The sole objective of custom mobile app development is to customize the app according to your business needs and bring the best functionalities into action.

1. Business requirements

The first step to start the process of custom mobile app development is to understand the specific needs of an organization before developers delve into creating a tailor-made app. At this formation stage, app developers thoroughly research the client's business and outline the app accordingly, covering the necessary functionalities and documentation.

The app architects study the given requirements, time frame, and budget to build a roadmap to complete the project with minimum or no issues.

2. Designing

Once said by Steve Jobs, "Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works".

Developers at Closeloop have a creative mindset to develop seamless and effortless User Interface(UI) and User Experience(UX) by the exhilarating design of the mobile app.

Designing always starts with a strategy that necessitates a unique shape to the app features.

Our developers set designing strategy first in the mobile app designing process as it set forth different goals of enterprises from their competitors.

3. Technologies, Frameworks & Platforms

Developers decide the mobile app development process and which framework best fits the functionalities into business needs.

a. Platform selection based on your target audience

After analyzing the market and competition, you need to select a suitable platform where your target audience exists. The most popular ones are iOS and Android, out of which Android has the larger market share.

You can either opt for native mobile app development targeting a single platform (either iOS or Android users) or build a hybrid app that runs on both platforms with a single codebase.

By building a hybrid or cross-platform app, you can simultaneously target iOS and Android users. Additionally, you spend comparatively less.

b. Back-end development

At this step of the app development process, developers implement the application's functionalities. Moreover, they choose a static or dynamic language that matches the server-side framework.

There are numerous back-end frameworks.

• Ruby on rails is a web-app development program for tailor-made applications written in Ruby Programming language. It incorporates HTML, Ruby, Javascript, and CSS for building dynamic apps. This framework utilize MVC (Model View Controller) and DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) patterns to implement functions.

• Django is the topmost Python-based web framework. It combines XML, JSON, and HTML formats for developing applications.

• Express.js is entitled to be an acceptable Node.js web-app framework. States of Stackoverflow Developer show that Express was rated one of the most used web frameworks in 2021 by 23.82% of users.

• Flask is one of the best Python-based frameworks to develop modern web applications.

• Laravel Laravel is an open-source PHP framework that helps create Symfony-based web apps by following the MVC approach.

c. Front-end development

Front-end development is all about the UX of applications that give an adherence experience to the customers. It is the client-side framework that helps in implementing the user interface.

SPAs (Single-page Applications) and front-end development frameworks can create many features per defined app functionalities and uses for custom app development.

Following front-end frameworks that work tremendously on the interface side of the application:

• React - It is an informative, efficient, and responsive Javascript Library. Our developers can do wonders using React to create user interfaces. The best part about React is that it answers technologies, such as Web Animations WebGL or SVG, thereby bringing you a vital element compared to other frameworks out there.

• Angular - Angular is a modern Typescript-based open-source framework for developing highly efficient, scalable single-page applications.

• Vue.js - Companies that choose Vue.js can benefit from its small size compared to React or other frameworks.

• Semantic-UI - It is less complicated and rich in UI, although this framework is not best suited for customizations in the application without depending on the ready-made functions. It uses natural language to form codes without hassle to be self-explanatory.

• Ember - Ember is a modern desktop, web, and mobile application user interface used to build a large-scale project.

4. Development and implementation

Coding magic happens from ideation to producing an actual product. Our developers are highly proficient and experienced in developing custom-made mobile applications. There are two types of methodologies used to create the application: agile and waterfall.

Agile is considered the best solution for custom mobile application development for organizations. The agile approach addresses all the complex functionalities while delivering productivity through every step. It focuses on the cycle of understanding new client's requirements requests while everything else on received experience via users.

On the other hand, waterfall is a linear approach to developing projects. You need to move phase by phase to accomplish goals, and in the process, neither you can skip a step nor go back to previous stages. The only way to visit back is to start over. It is tedious to proceed with waterfall methodology as it requires comprehensive planning.

We follow the agile method for developing new projects.

5. Testing and integration

Testing and developing a mobile app is crucial in the custom app development process. Developers examine an app's front-end and back-end performance to mark your custom app's quality, efficiency, and effectiveness. Developers with the mindset of considering every single risk section while testing custom mobile apps on a decided platform are rare to have.

This stage involves the cross-functional team building an app from beginning to end, i.e., project managers, designers, developers, and delivery managers.

Following are the types of testing app developers always ponder upon:

• Unit Testing

• System Testing

• A/B Testing

• Split Testing

• Integration Testing

• Beta Testing

• User Acceptance Testing

• Functionality Testing

To get the perfect testing result before deploying it to KPIs of the client's existing software, developers perform the manual testing possibilities and check on various automated testing software and checkers.

6. Training, deployment, and maintenance

When the developers thump up about the bug-free mobile application, the immediate step is to release it on the platform where clients can find and use it.

The mobile app development team checks the deployment process to eliminate possible issues.

What is essential after deploying the application is support and necessary maintenance of the mobile application. At Closeloop, we have a determined process of providing care, including ensuring bug fixing, code defining, reporting, and quick resolution of maintenance requests.

Conclusion to the App Development Process

The development of custom mobile apps is a complex process compared to off-shelf applications. There's more going into building a full-fledged tailor-made business app than you see on the front-end side. However, a mobile app development company like ours makes it simple to deliver the same on time within the budget.