App Development
Approaching app development
It's no secret that the app development industry is booming. With over two billion active app users, businesses are turning to app development to reach new consumers and boost their bottom line. But what does it take to create a successful app?
We’ll let you know how we approach Android and iOS development and the process of building a mobile app from start to finish. We'll also look at why a good app drives business success, how to build an app that aligns with your brand and other digital experiences, and the importance of maintaining consistency across different channels. By the end of this blog, you'll have a good understanding of the app development process, as well as tips on how to create your own successful mobile app.
There’s a lot to take in when exploring Android and iOS development and the process of building a mobile app from start to finish. Great apps can drive business success and align with your brand and other digital experiences. maintaining consistency across different channels. Having a good understanding of the app development process helps greatly with creating your own successful mobile apps.
Our approach to app development
We operate in a very down-to-earth way, cutting out the jargon, ironing out any bugs and going live on the day you expect. This approach ensures we deliver world class apps you and your audience will love.
We use our 5-step development process in order to deliver apps that are not only functional, but also engaging for your users.
This process involves the following steps:
1. Discover - we'll work with you to understand your goals, target audience and what you want to achieve with your app.
2. Define - Our multidisciplinary team will take what we uncovered during the discovery phase and create a detailed plan for your app's development.
3. Create - Here, we'll design robust information architecture that meets your users' needs and a UI/UX that is consistent with the overall look and feel of your brand.
4. Deliver - We'll deliver a high-quality, stable app that is ready for launch.
5. Support - After your app goes live, we'll provide ongoing support and maintenance to ensure that it continues to perform well.
We deliver seamless end-to-end development and take care of everything from start to finish, so you can focus on your business goals. All of our developers are experts in their field, with years of experience in app development. We put your needs first and work closely with you throughout the development process to ensure that you're happy with the end product.
Developing for Android and developing for iOS
There are many different frameworks and programming languages that can be used to build an app, depending on your platform and development goals.
Android development is based on Kotlin, which is a popular choice for developers due to its flexibility and readability. Android apps are also built using the Android SDK, which includes a set of tools and libraries that allow developers to create high-quality apps.
iOS development is based on Objective-C or Swift, two powerful programming languages that are designed specifically for Apple products. The iOS SDK also provides a set of tools and libraries that help developers create high-quality apps.
While there are many similarities between developing for Android and iOS, there are also some key differences that you should be aware of when choosing a platform. For example, Android development often requires more testing and debugging to ensure compatibility across different devices and screen sizes, whereas iOS is known for its ease of use and stability.
So, which one is best for your app?
The answer depends on your development goals and your target audience. Generally, Android is best for apps that require more customization or are designed for a global audience, while iOS is better for apps that need to be highly stable and user-friendly.
We helped Forsyth Barr with their app
The process of building a mobile app
Once you have a solid understanding of your app's purpose and core functionality, you'll begin the design process. This is where you'll create wireframes and mock-ups of your app's user interface and user experience. The design process is important because it helps you determine how users will interact with your app and what features are most important.
Once the design stage is complete, it's time to begin coding. This involves transforming your mock-ups into a working mobile app, often using frameworks like Flutter. Depending on the complexity of your app, this stage can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months.
Finally, once your app is complete, it's time to test and launch. Testing ensures that all of your code works as expected and that there are no bugs or performance issues in your final product. And finally, launching your app allows you to reach new customers and build a user base.
Why a good app drives business success
One of the key benefits of building a mobile app is that it can help drive business success by attracting new customers, improving engagement and driving revenue.
This is because an effective app can be a powerful marketing tool, enabling businesses to reach consumers in a more personal and engaging way. For example, businesses can use push notifications to send targeted messages and offers to their app users, or they can use in-app purchases to drive revenue.
There are many different factors that contribute to the success of an app, including its design, functionality, and performance. But perhaps the most important factor is how well it aligns with your brand and other digital experiences.
You want to do this because it's important to maintain consistency across different channels, as this will help create a cohesive and seamless customer experience.
To create a successful app that drives business results, you need to start by clearly defining your goals and developing a detailed strategy for achieving them. You should also build your app with consistency in mind, ensuring that everything aligns.
We helped ANZ goMoney with their app
Combining design, UX and development
Clearly, it's important to work with a design and development team that can do it all. They should have experience across both iOS and Android, as well as the ability to create apps using popular frameworks like Flutter.
Flutter, for example allows you to create apps for both iOS and Android using a single codebase, saving time and ensuring consistency across devices. Its 'hot reload' feature accelerates development, enabling quick updates, fixes and prototyping. With a wide range of customisable widgets and high performance, Flutter simplifies cross-platform app development while reducing time spent and costs. This can save businesses time and money, as you don't have to develop two separate apps. Although we would still recommend developing natively for iOS and Android as it is often considered the gold standard due to it delivering the best user performance and optimisation for mobile apps.
Developers need to build apps that are responsive, navigation-friendly and visually appealing in order to create a positive user experience. They should also have a deep understanding of how users interact with mobile apps and be able to design user flows that are both intuitive and efficient.
Branding and your mobile app
Your app should also be consistent with your overall branding, as this will help create a cohesive customer experience across different channels.
This means using the same colours, fonts, and logo in your app as you do on your website and other marketing materials.
Why? Because customers expect a consistent experience, and if they can't find it, they're likely to go elsewhere. In fact, over 60% of consumers say they would not recommend a brand that delivers a poor mobile experience.
It's also important to consider how your app will fit into the larger ecosystem of your digital experiences. For example, you need to be able to integrate your mobile app with other technologies, like your CRM system and marketing automation platform.
Creating a successful mobile app takes time and effort, but it can deliver valuable benefits for businesses if done properly. By focusing on key factors like design, functionality, and performance, as well as integrating consistency across all channels, you can create an app that will help you achieve your business goals.