In this article, we will talk about the stages of mobile applications development in AppSoft.

If to describe the development process shortly, you will get the following list:

  • Collection of application requirements.
  • Preliminary estimation of development cost.
  • Prototype design.
  • Creation of technical specifications.
  • Development of the first product release.
  • Testing.
  • Publishing.
  • Technical support.

When you contact us, you will know how all the work will look like, as well we will provide more details at each stage.

Collection of application requirements

You call us or leave a request on the site. The sales manager collects information in the form of a telephone interview: which kind of mobile application you want to make, what it should be made for, who will use it, which functions it will have, if you have a website, if you need a server, if there will be an integration with any software products, for example, with 1C. After collecting of such information, the manager gives the completed brief for evaluation to the development department. If you are worried about the safety and exclusivity of the idea, we will sign a confidential agreement before discussing the project.

Preliminary estimation of development cost

The development department estimates how long it takes to create the application and which specialists will be involved. You will receive an answer about the preliminary cost of the application within 1-3 days.

Important! The preliminary cost of a mobile application may differ from the total cost, both: up and down. The exact amount of the cost of the application developing can be only calculated after confirmation of the terms of reference.

After signing the contract, the project is assigned to a personal manager who will monitor the progress of work, communicate with you and answer all the questions. Our team uses JIRA – a system for monitoring the implementation of tasks, tracking errors and checking the time spent for work.

Prototype design

To show you how the application will work, you need a prototype – the layout of the future application. The prototype can be static or interactive – with buttons and transitions. Then comes the work of analyst. He thinks out the logic of the application and the user path in it – user story. At this stage, the marketing department can offer you to correct the idea, according to the target audience and the tasks that you want to solve using the mobile application.

When everything is ready, the analyst agrees with you prototypes, if necessary, makes corrections and passes to the designer. The designer determines the style of the application and the main direction, using the concept of Material design guidelines and iOS Human Interface Guidelines with recommendations for sizes, indents, visual effects, animations. Programmers also focus on guides for developing mobile applications from Apple and Google.

Creation of technical specifications

The terms of reference are prepared by the analyst based on approved prototypes. The terms of reference describe in detail: the functionality of the mobile application, transitions, business processes, main scenarios, methods of receiving and transmitting data. When the technical task is ready, you can accurately estimate the cost of the project.

Development of the first product release

Based on technical task, programmers create the first release of a mobile application. For complex projects, we recommend creating MVP, the smallest viable version of the product, in order to test the reaction of users to the application. Our analyst is always ready to help you to determine the functionality, which is necessary for MVP. If necessary, we develop a server for managing a mobile application and an API – a service for transferring data between the server and the application.

Testing

Applications are checked for errors by using the Smoke Test, manual functional testing, automatic functional testing and “Monkey” for Android. If there are errors, we correct and transfer the finished application to you. For statistics of downloads and analysis of user behavior in the application, we install Firebase Analytics.

Publishing

We publish the application on the Google Play Market and the App Store. We have our own developer account. Most customers prefer to publish applications in it. If you want to create your account on the Google Play Market, you must pay a one-time registration fee of $ 25. To register in the App Store you need to pay $ 99 and wait 2 weeks for confirmation. A fee for the App Store is paid annually.

Technical support

AppSoft gives you a 3-month warranty on the application, if you wish, you can make a technical support agreement with us.

The main tasks of mobile application technical support:

  • receiving feedback from users, resolving their difficulties;
  • checking the health of the application;
  • update for new devices and operating system versions.

If you have questions about the development of mobile applications or you want to order own one, write to us: [email protected]. We will be glad to be part of your project!