The Complete Mobile App Development Checklist For Every Business owner

The Optimum way of using this mobile app development Checklist 

Before we proceed further with the checklist, you should know what’s the actual purpose of creating this mobile app development checklist. Not only this, but you should be aware of how to use this checklist optimally. 

First and foremost, you should be aware of what phase your app is at with respect to the mobile app development process. After you gather the insight for the same, all you gotta do is cross off the points we have mentioned step-by-step. This process will help you get insight on how prepared your app is. 

Just a quick highlight – 

This mobile app development guide will not only help you begin with the process of mobile app development from the ideation but will also guide you step-by-step through the entire mobile app development process. This mobile app development checklist will also help you through the process of finalizing the mobile app development consultant or company. 

Let’s Begin The Mobile App Development Checklist - 

Below is the complete checklist that every beginner in mobile app development can use. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get right to it!

The Ideation Phase

This phase is also known as the discovery phase. This is the stage when the app idea is generated and validated or simply discussed and checked. This phase includes market analysis. In this phase, you should actually research your present competitors. 

Here are some cool tips that you can use to validate your mobile app idea. 

Now, if you have hired a mobile app development company, this is the phase in which they are responsible to present to you the scope of ideas that they gathered by analysis of their competition. 

The checklist for this phase is as follows ~ 

• Which group of the audience are you planning to target? 
• What kind of solution is your app providing to the set target audience? 
• Are there any mobile app players already in the same industry? 
• Have you figured out what features will your mobile app entail? 
• Did you analyze the performance of your competitor? 
• Do you have any ideas of app monetization for the same? 

Also Read:  How Can You Monetize Your Mobile App?

Technical Requirements For Your Mobile App

After the ideation phase, comes the step of understanding the basic features of your app. This step will set up the foundation of what your mobile app will feature and offer to their target audience. In this step, it’s apt that you answer the following questions to understand as we said, the basic foundation of your app ~ 

• Do you want your app to work on Android? 
• Do you want your app to be launched on iOS? 
• Or will it be both – android and iOS? 
• Are you planning the app to be native or hybrid? 
• Will your mobile application need cloud infrastructure? 

Remember, Android and iOS both come with different advantages and disadvantages. This is the reason why we have mentioned them both separately in the above checklist. In a recent survey, the research has shown that most of the mobile apps are turning to the android platform. But remember, it is completely on you to decide which platforms will your app be launched or not. 

But before you come to the conclusion, we have listed some of the differences between iOS and Android. To Find out more read the article – iOS vs Android User Experience.

The decision on the UI [User Interface]

Once you are done with deciding which platform your app is going to be launched on, it’s time to work on the user interface. This the most important and fun part of the entire mobile app development process. This is the step where you decide what your app will look like. It is the UI that will impact the success of your app among users the most, making it one of the most crucial of all the steps. 

Below are a few questions, answering to which will help you design your mobile app. 

• Have you decided on the mobile app’s wireframe? 
• Have you made the decision on your mobile app’s orientation? 
• Is your app adaptive, that is does your app transition from one to another orientation easily? 
• Did you decide on your benchmark? 
• Have you thought of the CTA buttons and how will they stand out? 
• Are all the elements of your mobile app design-oriented with the culture and region the app is being launched in? 

After answering all the questions, we are sure you are very clear on your app’s appearance. Now, all the conceptualization of a mobile app development process is done. Now, all the next steps are for the conversion of the idea into a fully functional mobile application. 

So, let’s continue ~

Let’s Begin With Mobile App Development Process

By now, you have envisioned your mobile app completely and we assume you are all set to pump life into it. This step and all the steps from here on are dedicated to shaping your vision into reality. So, to make this happen below is the checklist that you need to consider ~

• Have you made the decision on whether you will be making an app in the house or hire a mobile app development company? 
• In case if you are hiring a mobile app development company, have you decided where will it be based? Or do you have a list of companies to profile through? 
• If going with an in-house option, have you hired a team or an expert? 
• What is your budget? Also, check out how much will the mobile app will cost?
• How much time do you have for mobile app development?  
• Have you decided on the mobile app development process- Waterfall, Iterative or Agile? 

Also Read: Mobile App Development: Your 50-Points Checklist!

The Performance Metrics Of A Mobile App

After the last step, you have decided on whether to hire a mobile app development company or go with the in-house development team. In this step, we will share with you a checklist to measure the performance of an app and get the best results out of them.

Here’s the checklist you need to answer ~ 

• Have you checked how your app behaves during low battery, Airplane mode, fewer network zones, and even on less storage? 
• Is there any web-service that your app is designed to provide?
• Does your app have a server-side component? 
• What’s the scalability of your app – horizontally as well as vertically? 
• Are you notified when your app crashes in real-time?
  

Let’s Talk Security

The security of a mobile app is one of the most crucial components of the entire mobile app development process. In fact, it would be apt that in some cases, the performance and design of an app can be overpowered by the feature of security. Data breaching and security lags are not something new in the mobile app industry, so it is vital that you take care of that part while developing your own mobile app. 

This is where the experience of the developer will come out to play. Also, this is one of the reasons why we would suggest you hire the company instead of the freelancer or in-house expert. 

Note: Before you decide on any mobile app development company, here are some mistakes that you should avoid while selecting a mobile app development company. 

Let’s begin with the checklist ~ 

• Is your socket layer that is incorporated with the project protected? 
• Have you installed the two-point user authentication process in your app? 
• Do you have full control over who can access your app? 
• Are there any sub-admins? 
• Does your app play around the industry security standards and protocols like – HIPAA or PCI DSS.
• In case your mobile app contains a payment gateway – Is it secure?
  

The Final Mobile App Testing Checklist

Now that everything has been put in place, it is time to test all the features incorporated within the mobile app. This is that stage of mobile app development process when you actually put everything together to test the functionality of your app. 

You need to understand if the target audience group is successfully interacting with the app you designed. This is the phase that allows you to find out if there are any bugs and glitches. Below is the complete checklist that you need to go through to get all your answers ~ 

• Is your app working efficiently on all the different devices and operating systems? 
• Are you testing your app on real, non-technical users? 
• Did you go through the localization strategy of your mobile app? 
• Is it time to present your app with the device update? 
• Do you have a plan to perform tests like – QC testing, UA Testing, and Unit Testing? 
• Have you checked the scalability of your app to find out if it needs the next OS update? 

Once you are done with this checklist you will have the fully optimized mobile app up and running. Now, all that is left is to take care of marketing and app branding. 

All this effort will go in vain if you are unable to reach the target audience through your app. Below we have the complete branding checklist designed for all the mobile app owners. So, don’t put pressure on yourself and sit back to follow the following checklist.

App Branding - The Complete Checklist

Following the launch of an app, comes the real challenge. It’s called branding. Yes! What is the use of an app if it is unable to reach the target audience? Below is the checklist that every mobile app owner should go through before they go publish it in the Apple or Google Play Store. 

Let’s dive right into it ~ 

• Is your app following all the set app store guidelines? 
• Are you sure that the app images are clear and contextually accurate? 
• Did you make sure that your app name is unique? 
• Have you checked if the App is Optimized as per the ASO norms? 
• Does your app description contain real screenshots? 
• Does your app have a clear tutorial video for the user? 
• Have you catered to the multilingual aspect of your mobile app? 

Here is the complete guide for a mobile app owner going from acquisition to user retention.

The Conclusion 

By now, we have shared with you everything on the complete mobile app development process. After understanding everything, we are sure that you are all set to launch your own mobile app. Every mobile app owner must go through all the above mentioned 9 phases. We hope that this article was helpful. We hope that this mobile app development checklist was helpful to you.