The grown ubiquity of mobile devices has resulted in an unexpected rise in mobile app development & demand, and this has forced businesses to adapt to mobile apps to reach and engage with their target audience.

Building the perfect application for your intended audience demands a deeper understanding of the mobile app development life cycle (MADLC). It enables you to recognize what you truly need and what to expect with it.

What is Mobile App Development Life Cycle (MADLC)? 

The core of the mobile app development cycle is almost the same as any other technical development cycle. We can translate it into the following five steps:

Setting Objectives And Market Research

Before initiating the app development, you must have a clear picture of the application and its goal. To determine the nature of the app, start by asking questions and collecting data appropriate to its purpose.

Questions Like:

• What do you want to achieve with the mobile application? 
• What current trends you should take into consideration? 
• How will the app improve your engagement with your target audience? What section of the market do you want to target? 

Have definite answers to these questions. They will frame the cornerstone to your mobile app development process.

With the answer to what you need and why you need it, determine a set of features for your app that makes it suitable for practical use. Naturally, these will be the core features of your app. 

Conceptualization

Develop an App concept that is unique and stimulates the interest of your target group. Explore and analyze the top trending mobile applications. Figure out what they are doing right and how do they function and get answers to the following questions:

App Design

This step involves creating wireframes for various screens of your app. While designing you should be aware of how the details will work and how the visual elements will serve to the overall UX while maintaining the balance between the app features and the aesthetics.

You can then create a prototype app to materialize your concept. 

This prototype can be used to gather suggestions on the feasibility of the app, its shortcomings, and things you can improve.

App Development

Creating the backend with an interface between the APIs, the server, and the database.

Ideally, the App development process has three stages:

Alpha

The first version of the app with all the core features and without the added features. With a very limited or no testing and a lot of bugs.

Beta

The second version of the app with some added features. It has gone through some light testing and is free from major bugs. 

Release Candidate

A ready-for-release mobile application, with zero bugs.

We advise active engagement throughout the three stages of development to avoid delays and roadblocks. 

App Testing

Subjecting your fully functional mobile application to various real-world scenarios, to identify and eliminate its flaws before deployment. 

The aim is to test usability, performance, security, interface, receptiveness, and security.

Deployment And Support

The final deployment of the application involves reaching out to your target user. You need to focus on the following aspects:

• Mobile App Store Optimization
• Search Engine Optimization
• Landing Page
• Social Media Marketing

The developer ought to provide tech support post-deployment, including bug fixes and updates.

Overview

Mobile App Development Life Cycle is a never-ending process. The mobile app requires regular updates and improvements over time to remain functional for its users. The developer receives continuous reviews and insights about what can be done to further improve the mobile app. 

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