Five Key Factors To The Mobile App Development Platform

The span of time will it decide to try to develop an app? The response to this question value the popular response: How long is some string? There are several aspects involved in the app development process and while a minimum of three months is required for the most basic of apps, extremely seldom do app projects prolong up to a year. The general consensus for an affordable duration of build time is anywhere between 4-6 months.

To understand better, let’s first have a look at the factors that influence the production timeline for apps:

1. Functions and difficulty
2. Quality and development
3. Proposed platform
4. Budget
5. Assets

1. Functions and difficulty
The range and category of the app determines the project timelines for most part. The more detailed and complex the performance of the app, the higher it takes to build. Thus for gaming apps that necessitate high definition graphics and design, the development time would be considerably higher. So the more features an app possesses, the longer it takes to design, develop, and test. For those making a foray within the apps market, it is a good idea to first develop a small viable product (MVP), that has just the right number of features and functionality and no more. This allows you to move out v1 faster and reduces the time to market. You can include advanced features and layers of functions in subsequent releases as you recognize user feedback and requirements better.

2. Quality and development
Rome wasn’t built in per day. The total app quality determines its success in various app stores. From a seamless UI and perfect user experience, to fast and robust performance, every small and big aspect of performance matters. It would be foolhardy not to allocate ample time and resources for quality assurance and testing. Based on the kind of manual or automated testing required, the QA versus development ratio for apps could range from 1:8 to 4:1.

3.Proposed platform
It is rarely that apps are launched simultaneously to all platforms. The timelines will vary based on the platform selected for initial launch. Some businesses prefer to launch for the Android market first, owing to its mass appeal, while some prefer to launch the iOS version first. But ideally with advanced cross-platform capabilities of technologies such as Xamarin, you could aim for a universal launch. Xamarin app development services empower users to ship fully native mobile apps for multiple platforms on a shared C# codebase using the same IDE, language and APIs. It could possibly also shorten the project cycle considerably.

4. Budget
In any business, budget is the defining factor for the project viability. Time is equal to money and software development projects can’t afford to forget this. As discussed earlier, building an MVP enables a faster launch and helps to allocate resources optimally. An MVP also allows you to seek more a budget or attract investors if needed.

5. Assets
Project timelines rely very heavily on the finest of resources and also their availability. So both the deadlines and the quality of the project rely greatly on the development group you hire. Experienced development companies or teams with vast domain knowledge and strong techniques work with a first-time right approach, reducing the number of iterations and amends. Although even simple tasks may take weeks to develop if you hire amateurs.
Ensure that you hire the most appropriate resources for your financial allowance, both in terms of quality and variety of developers. A freelancer alone may take much longer to complete your project as opposed to a dedicated dev team.

There is no exact science for calculating the app development time but with the factors listed above you can get a ballpark estimate of the project’s implementation schedule and budget. If you are considering to venture into the app market and would like to get a professional estimation, please feel free to get in touch or raise your queries in the feedback part below.