An Unrevealed Guide to iOS App Development- A Developer’s Guide
App development has never been easy. Developing an application is a complex process consisting of too many processes. It becomes even more inflexible when it comes to creating applications for an organization, business, or large-scale enterprise. However, the entire iPhone app development process looks easier once you figure out what’s important and what to do.
Since its inception in 2007, iPhone applications are known for high quality, advanced security, and ingenious features. iPhone users expect to see better features and functionalities in applications, so it becomes crucial to pay close attention to the app development process.
In this blog, you will get detailed information about the process, the things to consider, and the cost associated with iOS app development. But before I start, let me know your ideas for your business’s app by clicking on the link below.
What is iOS App Development?
In the simplest term, iOS app development is the process of creating a mobile application for Apple hardware, including iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
Once you deploy your application to the App store, it is made visible to your audience after getting approved by Apple’s executive review board.
Meet iOS App Developer’s Requirements:
Before you write a single piece of code in the process of iOS app development, you need to access:
a. An Apple Mac computer possessing the latest macOS version.
b. Xcode, an IDE for macOS.
c. An active Apple developer account.
These three requirements collaborate with each other to build a successful application. Only the active members of the Apple developer program can deploy an application signed and published by Xcode to the App store. Xcode runs only on macOS which is an Apple computer.
Things to Consider Before You Start Your Way to iOS App Development
If you are a newbie to developing an iOS app or you are creating an application for your business, you need to prioritize the following things at any cost. Though, if you have hired any iOS app development company for your project/business, the experts at their side already know what’s important but you should also check a few parameters on your side.
1. Adaptive Design:
When you are working on developing an iOS application, make sure that you are incorporating an adaptive design. What I mean by adaptive design is that the design should always look flexible irrespective of the screen size. The design should consider screen size, screen orientation, and rounded corners to create an adaptive design for all conditions.
2. Compatible with Other iOS Devices:
When you kick start the iOS app development process, ensure that the app you are building should be compatible with other iOS devices and iOS versions. This would expand the audience for your application.
3. Icons do the Business:
A unique and impressive icon conveys the purpose and the personality of your idea, experience, or business and helps people perceive your applications at a glance. Creating an attractive app icon is an integral part of the user experience on all Apple platforms.
4. High-Performance:
Customers expect your application to perform well. They need an app that runs smoothly and flawlessly, not an app that takes a long time to launch, or an app that drains the battery by making large network requests. Just make the application to be highly performative.
5. Exceptional User Interface:
The user interface is something that will make your users stick to the application. You need to build something that can hold onto users for hours. That active and binding user interface needs to be generated by your iOS app developers.
6. Market Research:
Statistical market research is always beneficial for a business. When you work and talk on numbers, the results hit differently. You actually know the value of the changes in an idea that already exists in the market. Pre-launch market research is what makes you understand your audience.
7. Traffic Management:
An impressive and functional mobile application is a way to skyrocket your business value. Proportionately, your application should be practical enough to respond to traffic immediately. It should not crash out of the sudden increment in traffic.
8. Price and Promotion:
The cost of an application is dependent on various factors including your team, where it is getting developed, etc. An iOS app development company in USA can offer a different budget than an iPhone app development company in Berlin. Also, the promotion of an app is as crucial as other things.
9. Social Media Integration:
An application has to be useful and engaging. Social media integration is one of the key things that you can introduce in your application in order to keep users aligned with your business. Ask your iOS app developer to integrate your social presence into the application.
iOS App Development Process That You Should Follow
Are you aware of ins-and-outs of the iOS app development process? Do you know what basically happens in each step? Don’t worry. I’ve got you. I will be explaining every single detail about each step shortly.
But first, it is necessary to understand if you have to follow the entire process step by step.
Certainly yes. This is a practical approach and needs to be done steadily. If any step is missed out or you try to perform after another step, you may not get the desired results.
So, let’s get started with the first step.
1. Planning:
Planning is the first and most crucial part of any app development process. You are basically supposed to understand your ideas properly and what you want as the end product. You need to clearly identify the audience that you are targeting. And most importantly, how your product is different from others that already exist in the market. Focus and clearly highlight the functionalities of your application. You also need to perform a deep market analysis to unquestionably understand your competitors. Statistics always help in planning an idea. Here are the featured actions that take place in this step:
a. Requirement analysis
b. Scoping
c. Project & resource programme
d. Market research
e. Brainstorming ideas
2. Design:
The next step is to design the pages of the product. UI/UX design is the main part of the designing process where you can actually see how your application will look like. Probably, you may not like the application at first glance, but you can gradually make changes to the look & feel part of the application. With thorough research and creative ideas, you can lay out a design that can rock in the App store market.
Now, the one thing here you need to focus on is the designer that you hire. You have plenty of options from which you can get your work done. This includes:
a. Hiring in-house designers to work on your app directly.
b. Hiring freelance app designers to work on your app remotely.
c. Hiring a design agency to take care of the entire design process.
d. Hiring a mobile app development company to design and build the app for you.
The main tasks that you will be performing in the design step are wireframing, visual prototype, and specification documentation. Remember, your aim is to create an application that is easy to navigate and appealing to look at.
Furthermore, this guide on Design concepts can help you amazingly. Do read it out loud.
3. Software Architecture:
Software architecture is the word that we use to narrate how major components of the app work together. It usually saves you time, money, and effort.
How? So, basically, the design and structure of modern software are too complex to take into consideration. You do invest your time in planning the architecture of your application. A well-planned architecture allows you to share a good understanding of the application with the iOS app developers. Your app developers are supposed to build what you think of, not what you are not clear about. If you do not know what you actually want to see in an application, you will be wasting time and money with the developers trying out new designs and user interfaces. That’s where a planned software architecture saves you time and money.
iOS mobile architecture is suggested to use the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architectural pattern.
This MVC pattern includes-
a. The Model: It’s a layer where the domain logic is implemented. The data like parsers, networking code, model objects, and managers reside in the Model.
b. The View: This layer visually represents your application. It’s a place where a user performs any action with the user interface.
c. The Controller: It’s a mediatory layer between the model and the view. It tends to control the application logic. It pulls, modifies, and provides the data to the user. Primarily, it acts like a coordinator between view and model layers.
4. Development & Integration:
The development is the phase where your approach for an iOS application comes into operation. The app development team works with three critical parts of the project- the frontend, the backend, and the API. Incorporating best practices of iOS app development, an iOS app developer needs to deliver a private, secure, and smooth user experience. If I talk about the tech stack it needs, you just need to excel in (at least) either of the one programming language – Swift or objective C.
Also, you get different options to set up an iOS app development team.
a. You can hire an in-house iOS app development team.
b. You can hire freelance iOS app developers.
c. You can hire an iOS app development company in USA to do everything for you.
5. Quality Assurance:
That’s the thing that Apple is fond of. Testing an application, be it Android, iOS, Hybrid, or cross-platform, is a crucial part of any app development process. And when we are talking about iOS apps, it becomes a more serious activity. Your application can get a rejection note from the Apple store if it does not match their quality standards. The iOS app developers need to review the app’s optimal performance, ideal memory usage, flawless user experience, debugging, and privacy. Besides every performance metric, iOS applications must comply with all Apple guidelines.
6. Deployment:
Once you are sure that the application is finished to set a good image in the App store, you can submit the application for further review and approval. It may take a few days to a couple of weeks for Apple to approve your application.
7. Maintenance & Upgrades:
The process of iOS app development doesn’t end with the successful deployment of the application on the App store. A continuous process of app maintenance starts with the launch of an app. This may include but is not limited to accessing the performance through KPIs, tracking usage of devices, and fixing any technical or security bug. At times, you may also have to launch any update of the application. It may be the slightest change in the User interface or you might have introduced a new feature. Whatever it is, to secure a demanding position in the App store, maintenance and upgrade are mandatory processes for an iOS application.
Cost Associated with Developing an iOS App
If I do tell you an estimated cost to develop an iPhone application, it runs somewhere around $40,000 to $150,000. This is the amount that you can invest for your business to be digitized in the Apple store.
Well, I am clearly telling you here that this price can go up and down based on the features and functionalities you try to incorporate into the application. If you need an exact cost estimation, you can connect with our iOS app developers. Based on certain parameters like resources needed, time to accomplish the project, features, and functionalities, our developers will calculate the fund you need.
Wrapping Up:
In this blog, I’ve tried to cover almost everything that you can use as help for creating an iOS application. But still, if anything is left, do let me know in the comments.
Also, if you have got any ideas for your iOS application, do share them with our representatives at info@chawtechsolutions.com. Being a dominant iOS app development company in USA, and other countries, we are bound to deliver the best app development services