If you are planning to go digital with your business, then we are pretty sure that a mobile app is definitely on the cards. Just like a website, it is the digital representation of your brand. You definitely don’t want it to end up in the dust!
There are a number of factors that will contribute to the success/failure of your application and we all will agree on the fact that application development for mobile is definitely an expensive process.
It is a known fact the time taken by a mobile app development company to develop your application is directly proportional to the cost of the project. The only way to control the project cost is to speed up the mobile app development process. The app development timeline will be one of the major factors to decide the success/failure of your project.
The length of your app development cycle will determine whether your application is the next big thing in the market or simply a rip off of one of the most popular apps.
In this blog, we will discuss some simple app development tips that will help you save time, effort and most importantly your money!
12 Best Way to Speed Up Your Mobile App Development:
1. Don’t Ignore the Cross-Platform Tools
Whenever you hire app developers for your mobile app project, the first question they ask is the platform on which you want to want to launch the application.
If you choose a single platform then you are limiting your potential customers. However, on the other hand, choosing native app development for both the major platforms will probably double or triple your timeline for app development.
Enter – cross-platform frameworks!
Cross-platform frameworks enable you to target multiple platforms with a single codebase saving the time usually spent on translating, rewriting and recompiling the code to work across multiple platforms.
The most popular Cross-platform development tools right now are Xamarin and Flutter. Xamarin is a set of developer tools that allows you to target Android, iOS and Windows platforms using a single C codebase, .NET and Visual Studio IDE. Using Xamarin.Forms give access to Cross-platform UI toolkit making your application look completely native.
On the other hand, Google’s Flutter is comparatively new but its widgets are crafted according to the Cupertino and Material Design guidelines, enabling you to create a single user interface that feels native on both Android and iOS. But Flutter doesn’t support Windows. As it is a comparatively new technology the community support is not as good as the established Cross-platform tools.
Thus, Cross-platform tools not only speed up the mobile app development process but also give you multiple apps in the cost of one.
2. MVP
A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the latest trend in the IT industry. An MVP means the minimum features and not minimum efforts which is the common misconception among people.
Until you are done with the complete project, focus on creating an MVP that includes the core functionalities of your app and release it as soon as it is ready.
As soon as the first MVP of your software is launched in the market, you can have the feedback of your target audience and implement the required changes in further releases. Moreover, with the MVP strategy, you can set frequent deadlines with little additions which will make your development cycle focused and organized.
The MVP strategy is not only a great way to speed up your native mobile app project but it also gives you maximum returns in minimum time.
Let’s tell you the worst-case scenario too. Your MVP may reveal that there is no market for your app idea. In this way, you will save money and time on the product that is not really required in the market.
3. Agile Methodology
Agile methodology tells you to “work smarter, not harder”. The basic principles of agile methodology are short release cycles, the MVP approach to software development and frequent deliveries.
By adopting it, you can receive early feedback from users on your app features giving you a chance to correct your mistakes at a very early stage. Also, it ensures that you are not wasting time on improving/adding features that your users don’t really need.
Thus, helping you to speed up the mobile app development process to a great extent!
4. Delegate Off Core Activities
One of the wisest decisions to speed up the mobile app development process is to offload the additional activities such as improving the app engagement, app analytics measurement and conversion of free subscribers to premium ones.
Such activities take up a lot of time and can be done more efficiently with pre-designed applets. Such applets can be integrated into your ready application with a few lines of code.
5. Visualize Your Ideas Before Coding with Wireframes
In layman terms, a wireframe can be called the blueprint of an app’s UI. By creating various wireframes you can explore multiple design and architecture options for your project and refine your chosen design with follow up wireframes.
Wireframes will help you identify UI/UX issues even before you begin coding so you can make major changes to your app without wasting time in rewriting the code later. Again, wireframes play an integral role to speed up mobile app development projects.
Additionally, if you are working with a team, these wireframes act as a common language ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
6. Try & Choose Native Designs
The importance of native designs cannot be emphasized enough. It doesn’t matter whether you are working on an Android or iOS app development project, the choice between native and hybrid designs can make or break the app.
If you are a startup, then you first need to decide what you want to achieve with the initial version of your application. Is your priority to amaze your users with stunning user experience and animations or you just want to enter the market immediately with an MVP?
If your priority is providing a seamless user experience then choose native designs as they provide a faster interaction and a consistent feel with other apps on the phone.
7. Sprint Planning
When you start with sprints, prepare a plan on what you need to achieve in this particular sprint and follow up with a review of what you achieved in the sprint.
At the end of the sprint, you should have a ready app even if it is partially done. There is always the option of feedback and improvements for everything achieved in the sprint.
Effectively planned sprints can significantly reduce the timeline of mobile apps development without compromising on quality.
8. Consider Using Third-Party Assets
There are plenty of easy mobile app development tools available in the market to just integrate into your mobile app projects including music, graphics, animations, and even code. Few of the high-quality third-party applications can help you craft an enterprise-grade product while allowing you to speed up mobile app development.
9. Create Build Variants
Unnecessary configurations can slow down your app’s incremental builds. It is recommended to keep only those configurations that will be required in the development and release versions. Moreover, don’t spend time in integrating additional resources that hold little or no value.
Some examples include screen density resources and additional local language integration.
Strategic management of your time will enable you to speed up a mobile app development project and hit the market in less turnover time.
10. Automated Testing
App testing can actually be a time-consuming process but as you want to deliver a high-quality app to your users it is necessary that it undergoes rigorous testing.
The automated testing method substantially reduces the total time taken to test an app by running multiple tests at the same time that usually take hours if performed manually.
As it is possible to use multiple testing methods at the same time, you can definitely use automated testing to increase the number of tests you perform on your app and speed up mobile app testing.
The range of automated testing software is available for both platforms.
11. Regular QA & Code Reviews
Delaying the Quality Assurance stage until the completion of a project is not a good idea. We highly recommend you to conduct thorough QA tests after you complete each sprint or achieve a milestone.
By keeping a check on each element of your app as and when it is developed, you can take care of the issues when they arise rather than waiting till the end of the development cycle.
Regular QA and code reviews can be an integral step to speed up mobile app development as well as functioning once deployed.
12. Don’t Shy Away From A Helping Hand
Let’s assume your project needs some inputs on a topic that is not your area of expertise. In such a situation, what do you do? Tell your existing team to try and learn a new development platform or get some expert help?
Of course, the second option! When you look for an expert, you can rest assured of that part of the development and focus on your own core task. This will result in optimum outcomes from both ends.
Conclusion
Starting from the careful selection of your app platform and developing an MVP to never thinking twice before hiring experts for your project – these tips are tried and tested to achieve best in class results for all kinds of applications.
In this blog, we have managed to cover some of the best ways to speed up mobile app development. It doesn’t matter whether you choose iOS or Android app development, these tips will act as your guide to achieve a product that leaves the audience hooked!
Are you already confident about getting your own mobile app developed? Talk to our team at [email protected] to watch your dream come true on mobile screens!
