FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW & ALLOW US TO TAKE YOUR APP DEVELOPMENT SERVICES TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!
By 2020, mobile app development was projected to generate $188.9 billion in revenue through in-app purchases and in-app advertising. Additionally, the global business travel market is expected to reach $510.39 billion by 2022.
While many companies attempt to capitalize on this growth, a large number are unaware of how to make their applications truly effective. Achieving success in such a highly competitive environment is possible, but only when supported by a well-structured and carefully planned mobile app development process.
The mobile application development lifecycle consists of more than six core phases. In this article, we will explore each phase in detail.
Regardless of your project’s size or complexity, following this process will help ensure the success of your mobile app development initiative.
1. Strategy
The first phase of the mobile application development process describes a strategy to turn your vision into a successful app. This strategy should align closely with your overall business plan. Since application goals vary from one project to another, the development approach must be tailored accordingly.
During this phase, you will:
- Identify your target app users
- Analyze competitors and market trends
- Define the goals and objectives of the application
- Choose the appropriate mobile platform(s) for your app
2. Analysis and Planning
At this stage, your app idea begins to take shape and evolve into a tangible project. Analysis and planning involve defining use cases and outlining detailed functional requirements.
Once the requirements are clearly identified, a development roadmap is created. This includes prioritizing app features and setting delivery milestones. If constraints such as time, budget, or resources arise, defining a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) becomes essential. The MVP should focus on core features for the initial release.
This phase also involves identifying the technical skills required for development. For instance, iOS and Android platforms rely on different technologies. If your goal is to launch on both platforms simultaneously, your development team must include both iOS and Android specialists.
Have you selected a name for your app yet? App names function much like domain names and must be unique within each app store. Be sure to research app stores to confirm that your chosen name is available.
3. UI / UX design
The goal of app design is to deliver a smooth, intuitive user experience paired with an appealing visual design.
A mobile app’s success depends largely on how users interact with it and how much value they gain from its features. UI/UX design focuses on creating an experience that is engaging, intuitive, accurate, and easy to navigate. While attractive visuals can encourage initial downloads, a well-designed user experience is what keeps users engaged over time.
4. Information Architecture and Workflow
The first step in this phase is defining what data the app will display, what data it will collect, how users will interact with the app, and how they will navigate through it.Companies, mobile app development company solutions have users with different roles and responsibilities, and it is important to incorporate these rules as part of building your app’s information. Workflow diagrams help visualize all possible user interactions and define the app’s navigation flow clearly and efficiently.
5. Wireframes
Mobile app development often begins with basic sketches, which are then transformed into digital wireframes. Wireframes are low-fidelity visual representations that outline the app’s structure and functionality.
At this stage, the focus is on usability and user flow rather than colors or visual styling. Wireframes provide a fast and cost-effective way to validate app architecture and gather feedback early in the design process. Device-specific considerations are also essential, ensuring a consistent experience across iPhones, iPads, Android phones, and tablets.
6. Style Guide
A style guide serves as the “living document” that defines your app’s visual identity—from branding elements to navigation icons.
Style guides typically address:
- Font families used throughout the app
- Color palettes and visual themes
- Representation of your company’s brand within the app
Establishing a style guide early improves efficiency and consistency throughout the development process. It ensures a unified look and feel while streamlining collaboration. Designers should also adhere to Apple’s iOS design guidelines and Google’s Android design standards when creating app visuals.
7. Mockups
Mockups, also known as high-fidelity designs, represent the final visual appearance of your application. These designs apply the style guide to wireframes, resulting in a polished and realistic preview.
As the design nears completion, minor changes in layout, functionality, or aesthetics may occur. Tools like Adobe Photoshop are commonly used to create high-quality mockups that closely resemble the final product.
8. Prototype
Unlike static mockups, prototypes allow users to interact with the app through clickable elements. Tools such as InVision and Figma help simulate real user experiences and workflows.
Prototypes are invaluable for identifying usability issues, performance gaps, and design improvements before development begins. Although creating prototypes can be time-intensive, the insights gained significantly reduce risks later in the development cycle.
Some organizations prefer to prototype during the wireframing stage—especially when requirements are unclear or when validating functionality through focus group testing is necessary.
9. Application Development
Editing is always an important part of this phase in the mobile app development process. Before the start of a development program, you will need to:
- explain the construction of technology,
- select the stack of technology, too
- explain the stages of development.
A typical mobile application project comprises three interconnected components: back-end/server technology, API (s) and front-end mobile application.
10. Back-End / Server Technology
This section includes the backup and backup server resources needed to support your mobile app activities. If you are using an existing backup platform, adjustments may be needed to support the desired mobile performance.
API
Application Programming Interface (API) is a way of communicating between an application and a back-end server/database.
Front-End mobile app
Front-end is a traditional mobile app that the end-user will use. In most cases, mobile apps have an interactive user experience using the API and back up data management. In some cases, when the app needs to allow users to work without internet access, the app may use local data storage.
You can use almost any web programming language and information details at the end. For native mobile applications, you must select the technical stack required for each mobile OS platform. IOS apps can be built using Objective-C or Swift objective language. Android apps are built primarily using Java or Kotlin.
More than one stack of language and technology for building mobile apps is key to choosing a technology stack that best suits your mobile app.
Mobile technology is advancing rapidly with newer versions of mobile platforms. In addition, new mobile devices are released every few months. As platforms and devices change rapidly, sharpness is important in building mobile applications within times and budgets. If marketing time is a priority, use a faster development approach. This method supports standard software releases for completed operations. Defining development phases as part of an agile development program supports your mobile application in iteration.
When each development milestone is completed, it is forwarded to the app review team for verification.
11. Testing
Performing a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) during the mobile app development process makes the applications stable, usable and secure. To ensure a complete QA test for your application, you must first prepare test cases that address all aspects of the app testing.
Similar to how the use cases test the mobile app development process, test cases run the mobile app test. Test cases are designed to perform test steps, record software quality test results, and correct retest follow-up tests. Best practice puts your QA team in the Analysis and Design stages. Familiarity with the application requirements and objectives of your application will help to generate accurate test cases.
Your app should have the following test methods to deliver a quality mobility solution.
User Experience Testing
A critical step in mobile app testing is to ensure that end-use is similar to the user experience created by the app build team. The visuals, workflow, and interaction of your app will give your users a real view of your app. Make sure your app uses compatible fonts, style treatments, colour scheme, data attachment, thumbnail creation, and navigation. Ensuring that your app complies with the original build guidelines will directly impact its user capture!
Practical Testing
The accuracy of your mobile app performance is critical to its effectiveness. It is difficult to predict all end-user situations and usage conditions.
Multiple users should test your app’s performance to cover as many possible test scenarios as possible. You may be surprised to catch bugs when two different users test the same feature but get different results. For example, both users can fill out the same form, but both can enter different data, leading to error detection.
The purpose of performance testing is to ensure that users can use the features and functionality of your app without any problems. It can be categorized according to system tests (the app works in full) and unit tests (each app works well).
If you are building an iOS and Android mobile platforms application, your performance test should include feature comparisons between both versions of your mobile app.
Performance Testing
There are many rating criteria you can use to measure the performance of your app.
- How well does your app respond to user requests?
- How fast do the app screens load?
- Does your app remove the phone battery or cause memory loss?
- Does your app make good use of network bandwidth?
- Is your app size more than you should be?
Even if your application exceeds the basic operating conditions, check the application, API, and back up load by imitating a higher number of identical users. Your app must be able to manage load and perform well even with spikes of use.
Security Testing
Security is a major concern for mobile business applications. Any potential risk can lead to intrusion. Many companies hire outside agencies to conduct a thorough evaluation of their applications. Your QA and development teams can take a few simple steps to make your app secure.
If your app requires users to sign in, these login times should be tracked on the device and in the background. User times should be terminated by a system where the user stays idle for a long time (ten minutes or less in the mobile app). If your app stores user information on a device to make it easier for them to sign in again, you’ll need to make sure you’re using a trusted app. For example, iOS provides a Keychain feature that can be used to store user account information for a specific application.
Data entry forms within your mobile application should be checked to ensure that there are no data leaks.
Device and Platform Testing
On average, new mobile devices enter the market every 12 months with new hardware, firmware, and design. Mobile applications are updated every few months.
Many mobile devices such as Samsung, LG, HTC, Motorola use the Android platform, but they customize the platform for their mobile devices (because Android is open-source). Devices come in different sizes and shapes.
Compare that to Apple, which has a much more controlled environment, because it controls both hardware and OS. However, there are many iPhone and iPad (Apple iOS) devices on the market.
This is where testing during the mobile app development process is very different from web application testing. You can escape by checking your web application in the Chrome browser instead of Windows. But your mobile app should be tested on most mobile devices or device simulators to ensure the best performance of your app for all users.
The complexity of mobile app testing on all mobile devices, ongoing support costs, and mobile device management headaches are the main reasons why companies often build single-platform business applications (and often provide mobile devices to their users). In our experience, many companies tend to improve their initial business plan with Apple’s mobile platform; only when they need to build an Android platform app.
Testing is essential for the app’s future success; it includes a large part of our entire mobile app development process. Having a complete cell phone testing strategy is a must for bringing a high-quality mobile app.
During the testing phase, there are many ways to spread your app development to testers. The most common method for iOS apps uses Testflight and Android apps via email or Over The Air (OTA) installation.
12. Support And Deployment
Releasing a traditional mobile app requires moving your app to app stores, Apple App Store for iOS apps and Google Play for Android apps. However, you will need a developer account with Apple App Store and Google Play Store before launching your mobile app.
An app released in the app store requires preparation for metadata, including:
- The title of your app
- Description
- Category
- Keywords
- Generate launch icon
- Screenshots of the app store
Once submitted to the Apple App Store, iOS apps go through a review process that can take from a few days to a few weeks depending on the quality of your app and how closely it follows Apple’s Apple development guidelines. If your app requires users to sign in, you will need to provide Apple with a test user account as part of the uninstall process.
There is no review process with Android apps, and they are available in the App Store within a few hours of shipping.
After your app is available in app stores, monitor its usage on mobile statistics platforms and track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure your app’s success. Always check crash reports or other reported user issues.
Encourage users to provide your company with feedback for your application. Immediate support for end-users and regular wrapping of the app in progress will be essential for keeping users engaged. Unlike web applications where patch extensions are available for instant application users, mobile app updates will need to go through the same upload and update process as initial deployment. In addition, with traditional mobile app development, you should always stay abreast of technological advances and update your app to new mobile devices and OS platforms.
Web App Development Services
ThatWare delivers robust web app development services designed to enhance your credibility, improve business performance, and strengthen communication with your customers. Whether you require a basic web application or a large-scale, complex solution, we serve as a trusted technology partner for businesses of all sizes.
We build web applications for core business functions such as inventory management, sales, invoicing, and other centralized business operations. Our experience spans multiple industries and platforms, demonstrating a proven track record in designing, developing, and deploying scalable web applications.
Below are the various web application services we offer:
- Business Sites – Development of custom intranet portals that support collaboration, communication, and internal operations.
- E-commerce Sites – End-to-end e-commerce solutions are one of ThatWare’s key strengths. We provide seamless integration with third-party services such as payment gateways, shipping providers, and customer management systems.
- Web App Design – We design and develop web applications that allow your business to expand its offerings and deliver richer experiences to your customers.
Our app differentiator includes the different features below:
Fully functional web applications – Our web application solutions are tailored precisely to your business needs. Whether it’s a full-featured online store, third-party integrations, social media platforms, corporate portals, or business websites, ThatWare has proven expertise in delivering high-quality software solutions.
Complete testing – Testing is a critical phase of development. Our comprehensive testing process covers security, application performance, UI and UX, browser compatibility, and overall usability to ensure a flawless product.
Smart Development – Our custom web application solutions are not only modern and scalable but also future-ready. They are designed to support long-term business growth and evolving customer demands.
Our Services At Thatware
We are a web application development company backed by a skilled team of software engineers and business professionals. Leveraging our experience across diverse industries, we help clients overcome complex challenges while building next-generation web applications and business software.
- Web App Development
ThatWare provides web application development services for fast-growing companies seeking to build, enhance, or modernize software-based products with advanced functionality and appealing designs.
- SAAS Development Activities
We build powerful systems optimized for the SaaS delivery model. Our core focus is to create web applications that perform consistently across all platforms and browsers while delivering exceptional user experiences.
- Front-End Web Development
First impressions matter. At ThatWare, we create visually appealing and user-friendly front-end interfaces that enhance engagement and boost user retention. Our clean and intuitive designs ensure your customers enjoy using your web applications.
- Back-End Development
Stability and scalability are the foundation of any successful product. Our dedicated development teams ensure your application’s back end is secure, robust, reliable, and easy to maintain.
- Web Applications Modernization
If outdated design or slow performance is affecting customer satisfaction, we can modernize your legacy applications using cutting-edge technologies, giving them renewed functionality and improved performance.
- A2A integration & API Development
We help businesses seamlessly integrate platforms within complex software ecosystems. Our services include advanced API development, middleware solutions, add-ons, and connectivity frameworks that enhance system interoperability.
How Do We Develop Web Applications?
ThatWare is a web app development company based in Kolkata, India, serving a wide range of industries and business requirements. We utilize proven software engineering technologies such as AngularJS, CSS, and ColdFusion to deliver customized web applications.
With a detail-oriented approach and decades of collective experience, our development team leverages the latest tools and frameworks to produce high-quality results. Our QA specialists, UI/UX designers, and developers collaborate to deliver clean, efficient, and scalable code, making future updates faster and more cost-effective.
Planning to Upgrade a Custom Web Application?
A custom web application tailored to your business needs can significantly boost productivity and drive growth. ThatWare helps you modernize, enhance, or rebuild your web applications to meet evolving business goals. Let’s get started and take your custom web app to the next level.
The Process for Creating a Custom Web Application
When you choose ThatWare, you partner with professionals committed to delivering results. While our process is thorough, it ensures no detail is overlooked when addressing your business needs through custom web solutions.
- Analysis and Auditing
What does your business truly need? Our progressive web app development experts collaborate with your team to understand your unique requirements. This insight allows us to craft strategic designs and develop custom solutions that align with your brand and objectives.
- Research and UX Work Flow
We conduct in-depth research to identify the best strategies for improving your custom web system. Although this phase may take time, it plays a crucial role in optimizing user experience and ensuring long-term success.
- Prototyping and Design Testing
There is often more than one solution to a development challenge. Our experts explore multiple approaches, create prototypes, and refine designs to identify the most effective solution. These prototypes provide a clear vision of how your custom web app can support business growth.
- Choosing the right Tech
With a wide range of programming languages, frameworks, and platforms available, selecting the right technology is critical. Our team evaluates all viable options and chooses the most suitable technologies to build secure, scalable, and high-performing web applications.
- Creating Database Architecture
A well-structured database organizes information in a way that makes it easy to query, filter, manage, and retrieve data, resulting in more efficient and sophisticated web applications. Our web application developers carefully design and build database architectures that collect, store, retrieve, and manage your data securely and efficiently throughout your web application.
- Custom Web Development
This is one of the most critical steps in building a new website or web application. During development, we integrate all previous planning and design stages to build a custom web application tailored specifically to your business requirements.
- Application Testing
Before launching your web application, our team performs rigorous testing to ensure a high-quality final product. This includes identifying and fixing errors, verifying data security, ensuring cross-browser compatibility, and confirming the application can handle high data loads and user traffic.
Web Application Development Activities
Our dedicated development team becomes an extension of your technology department, continuously working to maintain, enhance, and scale your web-based business solutions or software products.
We develop:
- Cloud-based ERP, CRM, and BI platforms
- E-commerce solutions
- Business websites
- Cloud healthcare applications
- Finance and banking web applications
Industries
For nearly a decade, we have served clients across a wide range of industries. During this time, we have built deep expertise in domains such as business intelligence, marketing, e-commerce, education, and more. The ThatWare team is prepared to apply this industry knowledge to deliver technically sound and highly customized web solutions—even for the most complex business challenges.
Business Web Portals
Looking for a technology partner to develop a business web portal that streamlines workflows and increases productivity? The ThatWare team has the experience and expertise to deliver efficient and scalable portal solutions.
Business Intelligence
We have developed business intelligence platforms with real-time data processing and advanced reporting for industry leaders. Using modern big data technologies, machine learning tools, and data management techniques, we are ready to build powerful BI solutions for your business.
E-Commerce Platforms
User experience plays a critical role in the success of e-commerce platforms. We help retailers and online businesses improve third-party integrations, customization, security, and scalability through high-quality e-commerce development services.
Education Portals
For over five years, our software engineers and business experts have been developing educational solutions. We use this experience to help clients build custom learning platforms, educational portals, and cloud-based education systems.
Finances & Banking
We collaborate with established enterprises and startups in the financial sector, helping fintech companies grow their market presence with advanced solutions for insurance, lending, trading platforms, and financial management systems.
Healthcare Web Applications
ThatWare has the expertise required to develop secure, reliable, and compliant web applications for healthcare organizations, including electronic health records (EHR), hospital management systems, and medical software solutions.
Why Choose ThatWare?
ThatWare designs and develops business software that enables automation, analytics, and collaboration for organizations of all sizes. We leverage cutting-edge technologies to help businesses increase revenue and build stronger relationships with their customers.
- Full Cycle of Services
We offer a complete range of services to build systems of any complexity, from concept to final product, all under one roof. Our services include requirements analysis, UI/UX design, development, testing, upgrades, post-launch support, and ongoing maintenance.
- High quality at low cost
Eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine, is recognized as a global IT hub. Our development costs are typically at least 30% lower than those in North America or Western Europe, allowing you to allocate savings toward marketing, feature enhancements, or other strategic initiatives.
- Agile Methods
We follow Agile methodologies as our core project management approach. Our experienced project managers and Scrum masters ensure transparency, flexibility, and timely delivery while meeting your exact business goals and requirements.
- Highly Skilled Developers
Our team consists of experienced and certified engineers capable of building secure, scalable, and high-performing applications using clean, maintainable code.
ThatWare is a leading web application development company with a long-standing history of delivering high-quality solutions. Over the years, we have continuously refined our approach to building efficient, user-friendly, and business-driven web applications.
Web application development involves multiple disciplines, including strategic planning, research, business consulting, design, development, testing, and training. By following this comprehensive process, we remain transparent with our clients and deliver solutions that provide immediate business value.
Clean, optimized code is essential for long-term performance and maintainability. Our developers understand the importance of website performance, search engine optimization, and scalable architecture. All our applications are built to meet modern web standards and support effective indexing by major search engines.
As a company committed to long-term partnerships, we document every process thoroughly to ensure smooth future updates and enhancements. Our QA team verifies compliance with the latest web standards, ensuring faster load times, improved usability, and seamless system integrations.
ThatWare operates with a strong work ethic and focuses on long-term client relationships. We never compromise on quality or performance to reduce costs. Our services are designed to deliver measurable business benefits, provide exceptional user experiences, and generate strong returns on investment.
If you are looking for a reliable web application development company, contact us today to learn how we can help bring your web application to life.
