How to Make an App
From small business apps to ecommerce apps, fitness apps, internal employee communication apps, religious apps, and more—there’s an app for anything you can imagine.
Apps can be developed as an extension of your existing business or used to create new business from scratch.
How to Create an App: Introduction
Before we dive into the step-by-step process for building an app, let’s quickly cover some of the most common questions about mobile app development. These answers will give you the preliminary insights required to get started.
What’s the Best Way to Build an App?
Generally speaking, there is no single app development method that’s best for everyone. It all depends on your needs, budget, app type, industry, and lots of other factors.
If you’re building a gaming app or something along those lines, native development will be your best option. If you’re making an app as a hobby or just doing it for personal use, you can probably get away with a cookie-cutter app.
How Long Does it Take to Build a Mobile App?
The time it takes to build an app is based on a wide range of factors. The type of app you’re making, the complexity of its features, and the development method are three of the most critical elements in estimating your timeline.
Some apps can be built in a few months, while others can take years.
Generally speaking, the majority of mobile apps can be developed in about 6-12 months.
How Much Does it Cost to Make an App?
You can build an app for $2,000, $20,000, $200,000, or upwards of $2 million.
The cost to create a mobile app is based on multiple factors. The type of app you’re building, the features you’re implementing, and the development method will have the most significant impact on the price.
Is it Better to Build iOS Apps or Android Apps?
The quick answer—it’s best to build an app for both platforms. If you create an app for one and not the other, you’re neglecting a significant part of the population.
How to Create an App in 11 Steps
While it’s tempting to start building right away, there are certain steps you need to take before development begins. These steps are critical to the success of your app, so don’t skip over them.
Step #0 — Coming Up With an Idea For Your App
Before you get started, you need to make sure you have a viable app idea.
When you think about the millions of apps on the market, this step could feel a bit intimidating. But you don’t actually need the idea to be 100% original. Lots of great apps are variations of existing ideas.
Step #1 — Define Your Goals
The app development process must start with clearly defined goals.
What are you setting out to achieve? What problems are you trying to solve?
Your goals will ultimately establish your entire development process. If these aren’t clearly defined from the beginning, it’s easy to get lost along the way once you start developing your own app.
Step #2 — Conduct Market Research
Once you’ve established your goals, you need to make sure that there’s a market need for your app. Every app idea sounds good in theory, but you need to validate your idea before you proceed.
Creating an app without market research could result in a valuable waste of your time, money, and resources.
Step #3 — Decide Your App Features
Think about your app’s core functionality. That’s where the features should be focused.
Lots of people are tempted to add extra and unnecessary features to an app. But some features take away from your app’s primary purpose. Each feature add-on also adds to the cost and development timeline.
Step #4 — Create a Wireframe
A wireframe is essentially a rough layout of your mobile app. It doesn’t have to be too formal either, and you don’t need to worry about your app’s graphic design just yet. You can create a wireframe on a piece of paper, a whiteboard, napkin, or use a digital wireframing too
Step #5 — Choose Your Development Method
There are lots of different ways to build an app. Before you start to create an app, you’ll need to determine which method is the best for your unique situation.
The best option for me might not be the best option for you.
Step #6 — Research Existing Solutions
The final step you need to take in the pre-development process is researching existing solutions. Before you waste valuable time and resources figuring out how to build an app and other components from scratch, it’s always a great idea check to see if that solution is already available on the market.
Step #7 — Technical Specification
Take the wireframes that you created during the pre-development process and use them to create a “tech spec.”
These are the inner workings behind the scenes of your app that nobody sees. Sometimes, it makes sense to logistically change things around because it will save you lots of time and money.
Step #8 — Set Measurable Milestones
Setting milestones will help keep you and your team on track during
