Software

Understanding Mobile Application Development – The Basics

efg3rtgtgtThere is a lot of misconception behind the phrase “mobile app development,” and I just want to state that a mobile app is not a desktop app shrunk down to fit on a smaller screen. A mobile device and a desktop device are different technologies altogether and should be treated as such. Therefore, based on this statement, it stands to reason that specialist software developers should be used to develop apps (or software) for each platform.

Being able to program mobile applications or apps is a unique skill nowadays as many programmers are going back to school to learn how to code the different mobile platforms.

Few people actually know that you require different coding platforms and languages to create mobile applications for both Android and iOS.

Now that being said it is very common to find programmers that are in this case bilingual and able to program and create applications for both iOS and Android systems.

What are the fundamental differences between iOS and Android Systems?

Without going into too much detail, the main difference that iOS and Android have in common is that they are both programmed in different languages, meaning that it is impossible to run the same versions of applications on the two devices.

In essence, Android and iOS are different operating systems, which is why you will find in many cases that an application will be on the both the App Store and the Play Store.

How does an app get created?

A mobile application’s development life cycle is created is the same way that a normal software development application project is created within the business sector.

A mobile app development company will decide on an idea to create an application due to the results of a survey or a request of a client whom would like an app developed. The first step is to conceptualize the app and draw up Use Cases for the app.

Once the concept has been created, the next step is to develop the User Experience, and the User Interface. In most cases, the Android and iOS prototypes are similar, if not the same.

Depending on what device the intended target market uses the most a team of developers and programmers will be selected on their programming language and their skills which can benefit the project.

It is common to find that companies will choose to deploy two teams, one programming Android, and the other programming iOS.

This creates a friendly competition between the teams, which often results in the applications being finished at a faster pace and at a higher quality, there is nothing better than a good old fashioned competition between two teams to see who can get their app to market first.

Once the main coding has been completed, it is on to the app testers. The role of a tester is to try and “break” the application in order to iron out all the bugs and issues that the application may have. App testers are specialists who test all aspects of the application, from the design, the user experience, user interface, as well as its functionality.

If an error is found a detailed report is sent to the programmers, in order for them to fix the error.

Lastly, once all of the errors have been ironed out and the client is happy with the end product the application is released within its relevant application market and the average mobile user now has access to the application.

Conclusion

The way mobile app companies create applications follows a similar project process as other companies.

With the introduction of mobile platforms, programmers have been required to learn additional programming languages to program mobile applications as not all of the mobile devices to have the same code or do they understand the same code. The reason why this is done is to ensure that the mobile platforms are unique from each other.

If you have any questions, please ask below!