In layman’s terms, mobile application development means creating software that operates exclusively on mobile devices. This is the most precise and understandable definition ever. But it doesn’t mean mobile app development is just limited to building software.
Mobile application development is a long down-out and cumbersome process that can only be performed by skillful and competent mobile app developers. That being said, mobile app development is not everyone’s job.
Is Mobile App Development A Good Career? What Skills Are Needed To Become A Mobile App Developer?
To become a professional mobile app developer, you must need to learn some skills and technical understanding. Aside from technical understanding like programming language skills, back-end computing, user interface (UI) design, and QA.
You must have a few analytical skills like communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, etc. As a newbie, you might be wondering if that’s too much if you start today.
Well, certainly it is! But once you become a mobile application developer, you can surely enjoy a handsome salary and benefits. Besides that, by becoming a freelancer, you can generate a full-time passive income.
According to Indeed, a mobile app developer makes $91,360 per year in the US. That’s almost 32% more than the median U.S. income.
And if you choose to become a freelancer and work 36 hours a week, you can earn $114k-$168k/year.
Do you know how many app developers there are in the US?
According to the report, there are 362,190 people employed in the Smartphone App Developers industry in the US as of 2023. And the numbers are increasing tremendously with each passing day due to the excess demand.
To manifest our statement, here are the official figures. The demand for the number of developers is expected to increase from 17% to 24% by the year 2026. So if you’re in a skeptical situation and wondering if mobile app developers are in demand or have a good future or not, then the figures above tell you all.
Is Mobile App Development The Future?
The industry of mobile application development has already touched its sky limit. But unlike other industries that descend after being fully exploited, mobile app development will continue to thrive and prosper.
Estimated growth trajectories predict that mobile application development will yield over $600 billion in revenue by 2025.
Below, we’ve jotted down 3 reasons why mobile app development is the future.
- The advancement in existing technology and the introduction of modern-day innovation will keep mobile app development alive.
- A lot of small businesses don’t have a mobile app yet. But they are looking forward to getting a mobile app. The increasing demand for mobile apps opens the opportunity for mobile app developers.
- Mobile app development has come as a blessing for startups and small businesses, helping them to stand out and capture users’ attention.
What is Mobile App Development?
Mobile app development or mobile application development both indicate the same development process. It’s an umbrella term that covers the development process, including planning, design, coding, testing, and deployment.
Mobile app development focuses on developing software that works solely on smartphones, tablets, and mobile devices. The complete development consists of 7 practices, including strategy, planning, design, development, testing, deployment, and release.
We’ll discuss the seven development processes later in this blog.
The idea of developing a mobile app was to get the most mileage out of the unique features of a specific device. The website and web application failed to fully exploit the mobile devices. Therefore, the concept of mobile apps was rolled out to satisfy this need.
To comprehend how mobile apps make full use of device features. We’ve jotted down two real-life examples below.
- Mobile apps utilize features like GPS, Bluetooth, camera, and microphone to offer an exceptional user experience.
- The fastest and easiest method to reach a business or company.
Read More: Mobile App Vs. Mobile Website: Which Is The Better Option?
Now, as you get a fair idea of mobile app development, let’s move forward to explore more.
What Are the Major Mobile App Development Platforms?
A mobile development platform is like a playground for developers to build, test, and launch their mobile apps. While there used to be a variety of options out there, these days, it’s all about the big two: Android and iOS. These giants dominate the market, each offering unique advantages for creating the next must-have app. Ready to dive into the world of mobile app development? Let’s explore which platform could be the perfect fit for your next project!
Android
Android, made by Google, is the big player in mobile app development. It’s an open-source platform, which means that developers have a lot of freedom. But its drawback is that it runs on many different devices, which can make it challenging for apps to work well on them.
Apps for Android are mostly found on the Google Play Store. Developers mainly use Java or Kotlin to make Android apps, with Kotlin becoming more popular lately. Overall, Android offers lots of chances for developers, but it has its challenges too, like making sure your app works on all kinds of devices.
iOS
iOS holds a smaller market share of around 18% but stands out as a dominant force in the mobile app landscape. It is owned and operated by Apple, it is the backbone of iPhone and iPad technologies, which have changed the game in mobile computing. Unlike Android, iOS is not open source and runs only on Apple devices. This exclusivity means better performance, stability, and user experience.
However, Apple’s strict control over iOS means that developers face challenges in creating fully customized apps. They have to go through review and approval by Apple before being published on the App Store. While this process ensures quality and security, it can also prolong the app development timeline.
Other platforms
The other mobile development platforms, such as Windows and Blackberry, share the remaining 2% of the market share. Because of this, all mobile developers choose to focus their efforts on Android, iOS, or both.
Read More: Benefits of Cross-Platform Mobile App Development
Types of Mobile Apps
There are various types of apps available for mobile phones, such as for Android and iPhone.If you want to create an iOS app for the Apple Store or an Android app for the Google Play Store, you need to code two different versions for both platforms.
Here is a brief overview of different types of apps and what makes them unique for development.
Native Mobile Applications
Native apps are made specifically for a certain type of device or platform, such as Android or iOS. These apps work directly on the operating system of the platform and use the language and framework the platform provides. They can fully access the features and hardware of the devices they run on. Plus, you can install these apps directly on your mobile devices.
Cross-platform Apps
In cross-platform app development, a single code is used for both platforms. So, developers need to write the code just once, and their app is good to go on both iOS and Android. As far as the user perspective is concerned, there is no difference between native and cross-platform mobile apps. From a development point of view, cross-platform app development is more affordable than native mobile applications.
Hybrid Mobile Applications
Just like cross-platform, hybrid apps can be written once and work on both platforms. However, hybrid app development is less technical and more user-friendly and can be developed with basic web development knowledge compared to cross-platform development, which is highly technical.
Progressive Web Applications
Progressive web apps can run in your mobile browsers just like regular web applications. They are built using Javascript, CSS, and HTML 5. These apps offer amazing features such as push notifications, better touch gestures, and hardware interaction using advanced browser capabilities.
The Mobile Application Development Process
There are a series of steps to create and launch mobile applications. Following are the steps/phases of the mobile app development process:
- Strategy
- Planning
- Design
- Development
- Testing
- Deployment
- Release
Strategy
Strategy is the first step of mobile application development that involves understanding how your mobile app might be a solution to a problem. Then you need to decide what and how to build. In this phase, organizations establish the app’s objectives and measurements of success. In this stage, you need to analyze the market and the competition, research customer needs, and find out which users and use cases the app will serve.
In this phase, organizations might also begin to explore which mobile app development platforms would work best with their goals and requirements. In this phase, organizations also begin to consider the marketing around the app’s release.
Planning
In this phase, organizations need to focus on teams, tools, technologies, and timeliness. This is the stage where they should know what kind of app they want, who will create it, and which platforms it will be for. This is the planning stage in which a roadmap is created for the product, deciding which features will be completed first. They must know the resources, skills, and chosen technology stack to set a realistic goal and timeline to complete it.
Design
The designing phase includes the look, features, and how it works together. This phase focuses on how users will interact with the app and how it will be shown on the screen. Developers and engineers must make sure that the design matches the app’s requirements and works perfectly on the chosen platforms.
Development
In this phase, the development team establishes the technical architecture and technological stack, including front-end, back-end, and APIs. This phase also involves setting development milestones and determinin, the development lifecycle for the app and the code of the app.
Testing
Testing is the most important phase of the mobile application development process. In this phase, the teams provide quality assurance by testing the apps from all angles. It is done to assess the usability, performance, stability, and security of the app on all the devices the app is supposed to run on.
Deployment
Deployment is an important step in making your app available to users. This stage is all about setting up the servers, databases, and other technical stuff needed to run the app smoothly. After development, the app is made live for people to download and use. Overall, deployment is all about getting your app ready for the world to use.
Release
The release is the final stage in the mobile app development process. After deploying the app, organizations launch it to the public and provide support to help customers use it. They also continue to monitor and maintain the app to ensure it remains available and performs well.
Cost of Developing a Mobile App
The cost of developing a mobile app depends on the type of the app and how it is intended to be used.
App With Basic Features
If the app has basic feature requirements, then developers do not have to know how to code. Today, many free tools are available that help developers to create apps without learning the programming languages. These tools include Appery.io, Good Barber, Buildfire, and Appypie. However, these tools are limited in their functionality and can’t be used to create games with no-code apps, although the no-code approach will meet most organizations’ needs. The minimum app development cost may range from $5000 to $10,000, depending on the features and the developers’ budget.
Complex Apps
An app that needs advanced features such as 3D, gaming, or Artificial intelligence (AI). The cost for complex apps may be $25,000 or more. The price, however, is directly related to the availability of the developers
What Are The Challenges of Mobile App Development?
It doesn’t really matter how much experience you have or how strong your programming skills are; challenges and complications do exist, and they will make things harder.
Well, for an experienced developer, getting rid of issues might be easy.
But, there’s one common challenge that most app developers currently face: getting their app recognized and enough downloads.
There are currently 1.96 million apps available for download from the Apple app store and 3.55 million apps from the Google Play store.
Publishing your app and getting it recognized by such huge figures seems very impractical.
Do you know that 99.5% of apps fail due to various reasons?
Among them, the biggest reason is a failed marketing strategy – this is also the biggest challenge in mobile application development.
Read More: 7 Crazy Benefits Of Custom Mobile Apps For Business
FAQs
What is mobile application development?
Mobile application development is the process of making software for smartphones, tablets, and digital assistants, most commonly for Android and iOS.
What is the app development process?
The phases of the app development process are strategy, planning, design, development, testing, and release.
How long does it take to make an app?
Developers may take anywhere from 3 months to 9 months or longer, depending on the requirements.
What are the three types of mobile applications?
From a development perspective, the three types of mobile applications are native, hybrid, and web apps.
What is a mobile application developer?
A mobile application developer is a software engineer who designs, builds, and maintains mobile apps for platforms like Android and iOS. They use programming languages such as Swift, Kotlin, and Java.
What are mobile application development platforms?
Mobile app development platforms are tools and environments that allow developers to create apps for mobile devices. Popular ones include Android Studio, Xcode, and cross-platform solutions like Flutter and React Native.
What is a mobile application development framework?
A mobile app development framework is a set of tools, libraries, and best practices that help developers build mobile apps efficiently. Examples include Flutter, React Native, and Xamarin.
Which platform is best for mobile application development?
The best platform depends on your needs. Android has a larger user base, while iOS offers higher revenue potential. For cross-platform development, Flutter and React Native are the top choices.
What is the future of mobile application development?
The future includes AI-driven apps, 5G-enhanced experiences, AR/VR applications, and progressive web apps (PWAs) offering seamless cross-device functionality.
Why is mobile application development important?
Mobile apps drive user engagement, improve customer experience, and increase business revenue by providing on-the-go accessibility to services and products.
Why learn mobile application development?
Learning mobile app development opens up high-demand career opportunities, allows for creative problem-solving, and provides a chance to build innovative digital solutions.
What technologies are used for mobile application development?
Technologies include programming languages (Swift, Kotlin, Java), frameworks (Flutter, React Native), databases (Firebase, SQLite), and cloud services (AWS, Google Cloud).
What are the risks in the mobile application development industry?
Risks include security vulnerabilities, high competition, changing user expectations, app store rejections, and the need for continuous updates and maintenance.
