Mobile applications have become a crucial part of our lives. We use them to connect with our family and friends, for streaming content, for entertainment, and more. 

The mobile app market is expected to grow by 13.4% with a compound annual growth rate from 2022 to 2030. If you’re a part of this growth and want to reap the benefits that come along with it, there are some basic practices you need to follow. 

In this guide, we’ll go over the best practices for mobile app development. 

What is Mobile Application Development?

Mobile development is a set of steps and processes used to build a mobile application. Mobile app development is similar to web development as it stems from traditional software development. 

Each app has a different set of features, so the app development process varies greatly. 

For example, an exercise mobile app will take advantage of smartphone’s accelerometer and sensors that aren’t available on the PC. 

iOS and Android are the two most used OSs available in the market. Almost all the time, these systems come with pre-loaded and essential apps. Some are just basic browser apps., some are app stores. 

Let’s go over the best practices for mobile application development that everyone should follow. 

Best Practices for Mobile App Development

Similar to any software development process, there are a number of best practices that need to be kept in mind. Let’s go over the best practices everyone should follow:

#1. Build a Solid App Development Strategy

Your mobile app strategy should include all the factors you need to consider while building a mobile app. This includes a thorough understanding of how the app works with your business. 

You need to understand how the app interacts with the users, how it produces income or what the primary purposes are. 

Your mobile app development strategy doesn’t need to be exhaustive, but it should outline all the important steps of mobile app development. While building the strategy, sit down with business analysts, developers, and project managers. Doing so will help you build a roadmap.

#2. Set Goals

To build a mobile app, you need to be clear about what it does. An app is focused on either one of these options:

• User growth
• User engagement
• Brand awareness
• Generating revenue.

You need a mix of all these goals to build your SMART goals. 

SMART goals stand for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timely

SMART goals help you maintain well-defined and achievable standards, making it a good starting point for the actual app development process. 

#3. Identify App’s Value Proposition

Your mobile app’s value proposition has to be a part of your development strategy. Before you get to the development part, you need to brainstorm everything the app will be offering, the ideal target audience, potential customer base, and more.

You should map out a USP that stems from the primary user proposition. 

Make sure you highlight the problem that your app will be solving before you start allocating the resources to build an app. 

#4. Build a Roadmap for Developers

Before you start building the app, you should have all the vital steps mapped out. Without a roadmap, a number of things can go haywire. 

Here’s why you need a roadmap for developers:

• Helps you map out the idea of the app and the business objectives.
• Streamlines communications with investors, stakeholders, and contractors. 
• Serves as the mission statement of the mobile app and provides a clear vision on the development strategy.
• Offers a transparent ladder of progression that quickly becomes a quick cheat sheet for meeting market requirements. 
• Acts as a tool for prioritization, which shows which activities need to be finished first. 

#5. Focus on User Experience

If your app design is poor, you’re just inviting users to leave the app. Always keep UX at the center stage while building a mobile app. 

To be able to come up with a user-friendly mobile app, you need to understand a couple of things:

• User behavior
• User needs
• User pain points 
• User motivations

You need to gather and analyze all these data points and build your app. Your aim should be to offer a UX that’s easy to follow, memorable, and familiar. 

#6. Test Till It’s Perfect

Before launching your app, every app developer needs to make sure its bug free. You can break down mobile testing into 3 categories:

• Functional Testing - Functional testing means checking if your app is performing the intended function. 
• Performance Testing - In this type of testing you check parts of the app that aren’t required to function, such as - security, accessibility, performance & uptime, testing of relevant programming interfaces.
• Manual Testing - Manual testing requires you to check on real environmental app conditions.

#7. Consider Using Automation Tools

Automation in testing mobile apps offers the same benefits as using automation in any other industry. With automation, you can include quicker testing, less manual input and error, scalability, and repeatability. 

Automated testing is the need of the hour for mobile apps. If you need help getting started, some of the most famous automation tools include Kobiton, Appium, and Zaptest. 

#8. Plan for Updates and Accessibility Features

To provide the ideal UX, you need to uphold the accessibility standards that let you avoid excluding users with specific disabilities. Around 15% of the global population has some kind of disability, so you should plan ahead.

Making your app accessible to all is a great way to build brand loyalty. 

Also, make sure you stay on top of all necessary app updates. If your app is of high-use variety, you will need to roll out frequent updates. If you’re a low-use business, then you’d need to roll out fewer updates. 

#9. Define Operating Systems for Your App

Define which OS for your app you want to use? The OS you choose will decide the considerations you need to make while building the app. 

Once you decide the app OS, it will also dictate the sort of developers you hire. For example you can code on React Native to develop an app that works on both iOS and Android. 

#10. Define In-App Purchase Options

According to Statista, mobile apps generate more than $613 billion in revenue by 2025. The most common monetization strategies are in-app advertising, and subscriptions. 

Make sure you clarify how your app is going to generate revenue. It makes it easier for users to clarify for users on what to expect inside the app.