How long does it take to build a custom app?

If ouve ever had to ask a developer about the time it would

take to uild a o ile app ou e pro a l heard the lassi
Oh I do t k o , it depe ds o a lot of thi gs response.
It can be an infinitely frustrating conversation.
But the good news is this its 2016. Now, app development can
be done through a process as simple as drag and drop.

The recent technology advances in app-building technology

have created a cheap production process, a quicker back end
build cycle, and more streamlined testing and deployment
platform. So what does this mean? App development has come
a lo g a a d theres a e ti eli e to ho thi gs get done.
Heres the lo g a d short of it:

Modern Production Process of Mobile Apps

This is how the majority of apps are produced in 2016.

Planning and strategizing stage: (2-5 Weeks): Gaining a
r stal lear pi ture of the lie ts o je ti es for the app
and the different stages of production. Multiple meetings
ea t to dis o er e a tl the lie ts isio a d
requirements is the only way to have complete success
when building an app. During this stage, the app
wireframe is build and design concepts are looked through
by the developer and client.
Agile Development and App Testing (6-9 Weeks): After
the vision is ironed out, development and testing is begun.
If oure orki g ith a age , a full tea of
developers, testers, analysts, and designers work in sprints
through the agile development process.

 Compatibility testing and final changes (1-3 Weeks): This

stage functions to make sure the app works perfectly on
all the target mobile devices. Additionally, if the client has
any last minute changes they need to make to the app it
will be done in this phase.
Market release (2 Weeks): With a completely prepared
app, the development team then works to get the
different App stores to position their app properly. It takes
just around two weeks before app stores approve apps for
public download.

As this breakdown demonstrates and as CIO.com verifies, 52%

of mobile apps take less than three months to complete.
Because this process is done with agile development, there are
ertai e efits that lie ts also re ei e alo g ith the apps
basic development such as the ability to work side by side with
the developers throughout the project, see the value of the app
go up as the sprints are completed, and react to and make
specific change to the app as time goes by.

Highly complex apps the state of development

Remember that there are still a ton of highly complex apps
ei g de eloped that are t our a erage a era filter app.
Some apps can take upwards of 2000 total hours and cost
hundreds of thousands of dollars. These apps most definitely

are t as o
o ut the are still
development agencies.

ade

large

But since the app development process has become so

streamlined and efficient, many are saying that developers will
ha e less usi ess o erall. But ere foreseei g de elopers
taking on more projects with the new technology 2016 has to
offer.

This is amplified by the fact that the demand for apps is

growing massively at the moment. In a Forrester study we saw
that developers in the United States will not be able to fill the
demand for application development requests. Additionally,
many companies will see an increase in the complexity of the
apps the re de elopi g.

Now that more complex apps are to be developed by some

companies, the use of cross-development platforms is
becoming ever more popular due to their time saving abilities.

We use cross development platforms and have been

developing apps and mobile apps since the beginning. Find
more about what we create here.
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/en/cellphone-glasses-phone-mobile-1149165/