How to Create an App from Scratch in 2023 [Follow These 8 Steps]

Have an idea for an app but don’t know how to create one? If you’ve googled “I want to develop an app” or “What do I need to build an app” and found us, you’ve landed in the right place.

To be a leading mobile app development company in Canada , many of our customers ask the same question; how to build an app from scratch.

In fact, if you have an awesome app idea and want to know how to make an app, you might have these questions too.

We decided to write and share everything we know about the process of creating mobile applications; from validating your mobile app idea to starting to make money from it.

Before we delve into the app development process, let’s quickly understand the market scenario.

According to According to the report published by Statista, mobile applications are growing by leaps and bounds.

Google Play Store has 3.55 million applications. The Apple App Store has 1.66 million iOS apps.

Here’s a graph showing the total number of apps in Q3 2022.

mobile apps are growing stats

Image source: Statista

So now is the right time to invest money to create a mobile app. Therefore, you need to make sure you have all the information to streamline your mobile app development process.

Let’s understand the process of building an app from scratch

How to build an app for your Business in 8 Easy Steps

Let’s take an in-depth look at how to create an app for your business in 8 steps.

  1. Validate your mobile app idea

shape your idea

Every successful app starts with an idea. Applications with original concepts have a better chance of success than existing ideas. Your app idea should solve a problem or offer unique value to customers.

To shape your idea, you should answer the following questions:

  • What are the weak points? and challenges in existing applications from your competitors? As you identify areas that are lacking in current apps, you have the opportunity to provide solutions to these issues and provide a better customer experience for your users.
  • What purpose do you want to achieve with the mobile app? The purpose of your app can be anything from identifying the specific problems of your end users to offering a new platform to your end users. As you become clear about the purpose of your app, it will help you through the development process and meet your requirements.
  • What is your mobile app’s unique selling proposition (USP)? Your app’s USP could be from the technology stack to any unique point that differentiates your app from other apps available on the market. So you can easily promote your mobile app in the market.
  • What is the expected result of the app? The expected outcome of your app could be increased revenue, user engagement, increased user satisfaction, or having a larger audience.

Once you get the answers to your questions, questions above, do market research to understand your competitors.

Research your competitors’ market

Market research on your competitors

Once you have identified the rationale for your idea, you have one question: how do you make an app unique from the competition? So before you start building an app from scratch for your business, make sure you know:

  • What is the unique selling point of your app?
  • Who Are your competitors?
  • What strategies do your competitors use?

2.1. Who are your competitors?

Check the marketplace for existing or similar apps from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Just because similar apps are available, don’t give up on your idea. Finding similar apps means you have a market for your own app idea; you have an existing audience interested in your app idea and are more likely to use your app’s services.

Existing competition is not bad because:

  1. Users they may be interested in trying other alternatives when provided with great services and offers.
  2. Existing applications may not have a fair share of the entire potential market. You may have an opportunity to expand your business or target those customers.

2.2. Conduct Competitive Analysis

As you research competitors, evaluate the features and benefits of the competitor’s product. To evaluate, you can download a competitor’s app to check the user interface, talk to the competitor’s customer, identify the strengths and weaknesses of your competitor’s app, and find the challenges facing app users.

List the pros and cons of your competitor’s app.Be sure to consider:

  1. Features that have been implemented
  2. UI/UX of the competitor’s app
  3. Your competitor’s target audience; what country they are targeting, age group and other demographics
  4. How does a competitor’s app solve the problem?

Once you have all this information, you will know how to shape your app in terms of UX/UI and functionalities.

Think about the problem you want to solve through your app and how users will benefit from it.

2.3 . Identify your app’s unique selling point/competitive advantage

Your app should have a differentiating factor that sets it apart from the competition. Without differentiating features or extraordinary services, users won’t look for alternatives.

Having even a unique selling point can change the perspective of your audience. Also, this could be a game changer for your app to be successful in the long run.

For example: Skip The Dishes, UberEats, and DoorDash, all three. are the most popular food delivery apps in Canada that bring local restaurant food right to your door. But its USP is different loyalty programs; different business models to attract customers.

Here is the table that differentiates the three.

2.4. What can be the unique selling point?

Here are some examples of different verticals that you can refer to and find the unique selling point. Just in case, if you are developing a mobile app for any of these verticals, you can get an idea from the following points.

  1. A travel app that allows customers to compare hotel rates and get the best value for money
  2. A restaurant application that allows you to reserve the table or even order the food with a single click or even before visiting the place, saving you time.
  3. An e-commerce app that notifies you of the best deals and gives you automatic discounts on the latest products.
  4. A shopping app with AR/VR features that help you see how the item fits you sooner to buy it .

2.5. Decide what features you want to include in your app

Once you’ve analyzed your competitors, you can have a basic idea of ​​what kind of features you want to include in your app. Then, to check the user’s personality, you can create a survey asking about the various items you plan to include. Finally, when you have enough responses and feedback, you can have a general idea about what services users want.

Here are some questions to think about before deciding on features

  • Does this feature resolve the user’s critical issue?
  • Can this be a premium feature that can help monetize the app?
  • Is this feature compatible with the core purpose of the application?
  • Are there non-essential features that can cause your application to crash?
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2.6. Think about monetization strategy

If you want to make money from your app, you need to think about monetization strategies. You need to find a sustainable revenue model to keep your app running.

Here are the different methods of app monetization:

Choose an app builder or build a custom app

Choose an app builder or build a custom app

Once you’ve researched the audience, features, and competitors, you can choose app builders like Appypie, Shoutem, Swiftic , GoodBarber, and BuildFire to create an app or choose a custom mobile app development company to customize an app to your needs.

Let’s quickly see which option is best for you:

to. Develop the application with the help of the mobile application generator b. Opt for a custom application development company

3.1. App Development with the Help of App Builder

With the help of app builders, businesses can create apps with minimal or zero coding. There are many low-code or no-code tools available on the market. It uses a visual development environment and reduces the time and cost of mobile app development. Also, since it includes features such as workflow design, hardware compatibility, data synchronization, analytics, integrations, and other applications through APIs, it becomes easy to develop a mobile application.

However, Even the app development method depends on your choice whether you want to go for a mobile app building platform that is suitable for building apps or a custom mobile app development approach. So, if you are looking to build complex apps with advanced features, app builders might not be a preferable option. Additionally, when you use an app builder, you are entitled to the source code of your app, which restricts your ability to update it in the future.

Benefits and Limitations of Using Mobile App Builder< /strong

3.2.Developing a Custom Mobile App

You need to hire a mobile app development company or hire a mobile app development team to create an app based on your custom requirements and budget.

Developers Mobile app developers or mobile app development companies help you build apps with the latest technology, advanced tools and plugins. Since your mobile app is handled by the company, you can spend your time on core business operations.

By selecting the right app development partner, you can be sure of getting the best results as development companies of mobile applications. have experience developing apps regardless of the complexities of the app.

Also, when you build a mobile app with the help of an app development agency, you don’t worry about the source code. Since most companies write code on your IP and deliver it to you after project completion.

Advantages and limitations of custom mobile app development

But how to choose the right app development company.

Use the following list of questions. Save it. Be sure to ask these questions as you select your development partner to build an app with.

Here is a list of questions to ask to get a clear picture of the app build process.

By asking these questions, you will have a complete understanding of the mobile app development process of the company you plan to choose.

Following this process, and with our experience, we have developed some of the popular mobile app solutions. Enterprise web applications, such as meat processing and packaging software, and solutions for aviation companies.

3.3. App Builders or Custom App Development: Which Solution to Choose?

Deciding between App Builders or Custom App Development depends on business requirements, budget, and goals.

1. Choose a custom app development platform if:

  • You need customization and have complex features to integrate.
  • You want your app to be protected and up-to-date with high security standards level.
  • You want to scale your application in the future.
  • You want to create UX/UI according to your requirements with the latest design standards.
  • You want back-end infrastructure and support.
  • You are in no rush to market the application and want to take the time to offer the best solution.

2. Choose App-builder if:

  • You don’t have a complex design or extensive features and don’t need a lot of customization.
  • You have a limited budget and are looking for a no-coding solution.
  • You are looking for faster time to market.

Wireframing a mobile app

Wireframing of a Mobile App

Wireframing is a visual representation of an app that illustrates how an app works. With this, it provides the idea of ​​key screens and interface elements. With the help of a wireframe, you can quickly determine the structure, hierarchy, flow, and relationship between content and application pages.

balsamiq wireframe academy

Image source: Balsamiq Wireframe Academy

If you choose an app building approach to developing an app, you must create a wireframe. This can be time consuming and error prone.

However, you can create a wireframe in two ways:

  • Offline: just use pencil and paper or a printable sketch template to draw a wireframe.
  • Online – You can even use wireframe tools like Invision, Sketch, Adobe Suite, Mockflow and Balsamiq to design the wireframe.

If you are considering an app development company to develop a custom app, the business analyst team drafts a wireframe for you based on your business requirements . Since expert business analysts have experience working with the most complex and simple applications, they can quickly design a schema based on your requirements.

4.1. What is the importance of Wireframe in application development?

  • It allows design, content creation and development to happen simultaneously
  • It clarifies the functions of the application before integrating them into your app
  • Helps refine navigation
  • Saves time on an entire mobile app development project

4.2. How long does it take to develop a wireframe?

Wireframing mobile apps depends on requirements, number of screens, features, and complexity. Take a look at the table to understand how long it takes Space-O to design simple, medium and complex apps.

Designing the UX/UI of mobile apps

Design the UX_UI of mobile apps

Both UI and UX have separate deliverables, which serve different purposes.

For example, the UI is the general style of the application (colors, fonts, buttons, controls), while the UX designs for ease of use and simplicity.

The The goal of UX/UI design is to provide a great user experience that makes your app intuitive and easy to use. UI/UX has a lasting impact on the mind of the user, resulting in increased customer engagement and increased productivity.

app design

If you choose to customize your app UX/UI design , you must hire a UI/UX Designer or UI/UX design company to design your mobile app. An experienced app designer can translate your requirements into compelling user interfaces and style guides.

In addition, your app enhances the user experience when UI/UX designers create original graphic designs, strategically place aesthetic elements and identify UX troubleshooting.

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Here’s a Lyft case study showing how they added simplicity, accessibility, transparency, and scalability through UX/UI design in support of chat. So if you too are looking to embrace a design-driven user experience, you can hire our team of UX/UI designers. We have experience designing user interfaces in different industry verticals, including healthcare, sports, fitness, and education, regardless of the complexities of the application.

If you choose to build an application With an app builder, you need to take care of the logo, fonts, color palettes, text and modify it according to your business requirements. However, designing a mobile app builder is useful if you don’t have a lot of features and complex business requirements.

5.1. How important is UX/UI for your app to be successful?

  • Provide a positive experience that stays true to the brand
  • Increase customer satisfaction, ending happy customers
  • Perfect products don’t need frequent updates, saving you time and money
  • Intuitively communicates all the information your visitor needs to know
  • Allows you to move from one page to another seamlessly

For example: Dribbble uses cards to display creative projects that allow users to get a colorful view. You have taken an innovative approach to presenting your work and capturing the user’s attention.

5.2. What tools do graphic designers use to create UX/UI designs?

Here is a list of UX/UI design tools.

  • AdobeXD
  • UXPin
  • Figma
  • FlowMapp
  • Marvel
  • Axure

In Space- Or, as of now, we are using AdobeXD in most cases. If necessary, we also work on Figma.

mobile application design

5.3. How long does it take to design the UI/UX of an app?

UI/UX design of mobile apps depends on the requirements, number of screens, features, and complexity.

Take a look at the table to understand how long it takes us to design simple, medium and complex applications. This schedule includes client approval in most cases.

Develop Your Mobile App

Develop mobile app

Once you have your app layouts and structure ready, start the process of application development. This is the phase where you are bringing your app to life. Throughout the development process, your app goes through multiple changes until the expected result is not delivered.

While working with an app development company, you need to connect with a mobile app consultant or hire developers of dedicated apps to make an app according to your goals. Before starting with the app development, the mobile app experts divide your project into smaller milestones and set the results.

For your mobile app development, the app developers choose the programming languages appropriate and start coding. Once the milestone is reached, you can review it to make sure it meets your business requirements, and if the change exists, you can suggest a change request.

However, before you make any efforts of programming:

  • Determine the technical architecture of your mobile application
  • Decide the technology stack that can be used for your project

6.1. Choose the development approach: native or cross-platform

If you want to know how to create your own app from scratch, you need to decide the development platform of the app, i.e., native or cross-platform.</p

Native App – Native apps are developed exclusively for specific platforms. These applications are developed in a language that is compatible with the platform.

For example: iOS applications are developed with the Swift and Objective C programming languages.

Android applications are They are developed with the Java or Kotlin programming languages.

A native application developed on iOS does not work on the Android platform and vice versa.

native mobile apps

Cross-platform app: Developing a Hybrid mobile app or platform is developing a single app that runs on both the iOS and Android platforms.

hybrid-apps

Want to know more? This is a comprehensive guide to cross-platform app development.

Let’s go Quickly through when you should choose native or cross-platform apps.

The choice of native or cross-platform apps depends on the business requirements and technical aspects of your mobile app.

However, If you choose an app builder to develop an iOS app or an Android app, you need to select the color, template, fonts, theme, and logo.You should also know that the builder platforms Application builders charge you a monthly fee to keep your application up and running, and you do not own the ownership/rights to your own code. This is why you chose app development. ent is the right choice.

Try the mobile app

Test the mobile app

You should test your mobile app repeatedly and not just after the development stage to resolve the first few bugs early on. phase. Users uninstall the app if the app has UI/UX issues, crash reports, or security breaches.

Publish development though, we recommend testing iOS app and Android apps with different types of testing approaches, such as usability, security, function, etc.

Aspects to consider before testing the mobile application

  1. Testing the application on various smartphone configurations
  2. Testing the application on various networks
  3. Testing the application solution for multiple users at the same time
  4. Test the application in various dimensions and screen specifications
  5. Run automated test or manual test
  6. Test the application by enabling/disabling GPS
  7. Test of the application considering the type of mobile application

Why test mobile applications?

  1. Allows the QA team to assess the entire app experience from the user’s perspective.
  2. Ensures that iOS and Android apps run smoothly and quality standards are adhered to. they maintain a d meet for better performance and results.
  3. Since QA professionals use real devices to test an application, you can bring a fully functional product to market.
  4. Reduces the chances of rejection from app stores.

Which testing tools are preferred for testing mobile apps?

These are the top five mobile app testing tools.

  1. Selenium
  2. Appium
  3. Apache Jmeter
  4. Load Runner
  5. Soap User Interface

Publish your app to app stores

Publish your app to the app stores

Once the app is tested, it’s time to deploy it to the iOS or Play app store Store. Whether you’re deploying to the iOS App Store or the Play Store, you need to adhere to app store guidelines to avoid rejections.

Here’s a quick checklist of what you need to get an app uploaded to Google and Apple app stores.

8.1. How much do the App Store and the Google Play Store charge?

To maintain accounts at both stores, you must pay an annual fee.

The Play Store cuts 30% of purchases made through the app once it is available. On the other hand, the App Store charges an annual fee of $99, whether the app is free or paid.

It goes through a rigorous approval process when it is active in the stores.

8.2. Tips to Avoid Getting Rejected on the App Store and Play Store

  1. Please read the store’s guidelines carefully before you start designing an app. If you don’t want to be penalized, you need to have a clear idea of ​​what to include or avoid.
  2. Before submitting your application, make sure it is free of errors. Test your app repeatedly to resolve any errors.
  3. Add relevant data and meta descriptions and make sure all links are working properly.
  4. If you need users’ personal information, don’t forget to add a privacy policy. Link it to the App Store listing to get it accepted.
  5. Creating an app with a similar app icon may result in rejection. So even if you have similar features in the app store, choose a relevant name and icon.
  6. Simplify the user interface and streamline your code to run faster.
  7. If your app enables in-app purchases, then these must be processed using Apple or Google Play. It is recommended to use a different payment provider such as Stripe to avoid Apple and Google’s 30% payment fees.
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8.3. How long does it take to publish your app?

Apple App Store: Once you’ve submitted your app for review, you can check the status on App Store Connect or the App App Store Connect for iPhone and iPad.Once the app is submitted, review times may vary by app.

Google Play Store: If you are publishing the app for the first time or performing an update, the status Your app’s publication date helps you understand availability on Google Play. You can even check the publishing status on Play Console.

So, you have successfully created a mobile app.

If you want to know how to develop an iPhone or Android app, you should follow these 7 steps.

Now what? How will you increase your visibility?

Creating an app from scratch does not mean that it will get the number of downloads. You need to market it, collect user feedback, and maintain it to keep your users coming.

Let’s quickly go over the post-launch steps.

Post-launch steps to consider after Creating an App

Even though you’ve built the best app, what if no one uses it? What happens if you don’t get the expected number of downloads?

To create awareness among app users about your app, you need to promote it.

  1. Marketing Your Mobile App

Create a Mobile App Marketing Plan

In most cases, you should market your app to increase awareness among users. Spend time getting to know the channels your users are using. Then build awareness on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Depending on your user’s age group, you can even market your app on YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok.

1.1. Strategies for Marketing Your Mobile App

  1. Create an app landing page so users can learn more about your app on the web.
  2. Consider App Store Optimization (ASO) to improve visibility on the App Store and Play Store.
  3. Influencer marketing to reach new users.
  4. Run paid campaigns to get downloads.

Gather user feedback

Once you market your app, you may have real customers using it. You can take feedback on what they like and don’t like about the app.

Add or remove features in your app based on your audience’s demand. Integrating required features increases engagement and revenue for your app.

2.1. How to collect user feedback?

  1. Communicate directly with your customers and ask specific questions.
  2. Take short surveys and ask about user experience of your own app.
  3. Leverage social media platforms to reach users.
  4. Send emails asking users for feedback on the design and overall experience of the app. user.
  5. Establish a user forum, where users can ask you and other users how to deal with application problems.

Maintain and update your mobile app

At this stage, you may have collected enough feedback to develop the new version of your app. When you implement new features, you may start to see bugs.

Resolve them and keep your app up to date. Also, when you deploy a new version, you even need to make sure that your app is compatible with the latest version of Android and iOS.

3.1. Why maintain and update a mobile app?

  1. Bug issues are quite common, so to avoid uninstalls, you should fix the bug as soon as possible.
  2. Most mobile apps use APIs to connect to third-party databases. So you have to update your app with new APIs; otherwise third-party services will not work.
  3. Updating applications regularly improves performance and ensures the security and stability of the application.
  4. If you update the application regularly , users of the app receive a notification, which draws their attention and makes them realize that they still have the app on their device.
  5. When Android and iOS release new features, the apps must be updated to access to new features introduced by the owners.
  6. Constant improvement increases the rating, user reviews and user experience of mobile applications. This leads to an increase in the number of downloads.

As you now know the complete process of mobile app development, you may want to learn about the development timeline. See the next section for information on the schedule and cost of developing an app.

How long does it take to build an app?

The average time to build an app ranges from 6 to 8 months. Certainly, the timeline to develop an application depends on several factors that directly impact it. These factors are as follows.

  • Features
  • Complexity
  • Design
  • Integration with third-party tools
  • Functions
  • No. Software Developers
  • Advanced Features

Now let’s look at the cost of application development.

If you want to get an estimate of the cost of your idea of the app, you can use our app cost calculator. To get a cost estimate, you can answer the questions and get your personalized quote from our application consultants.

How much does it cost to create an app?

The cost of developing an app starts at $10,000 and $1,00,000. Certainly, the cost of an application can be even higher depending on the complexity. There are several factors that affect the cost of custom app development which are as follows.

These are the main factors that directly affect the cost of mobile app development.

  • Mobile app type
  • Complexity
  • Application platform
  • Features and functionality
  • UI/UX design
  • The size of the app development team
  • Location of developers you hire

Want to know about the process or steps to create an app ? Let’s answer some of the frequently asked questions while creating your own mobile app.

Let’s turn your mobile app idea into a successful app

In the above app creation process, we have provided the full guide on the different steps (from ideation to execution) you should look for to build your app.

Have an idea? Do you want to make it a successful app and want to make money from it? You’re not sure where to start? Let us guide you. Contact us. Book your free consultation today with our mobile application solutions consultant. Fill in the following form.

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