Planning to build your app? Then you're in the right place; in this blog, we will discuss the steps to build a mobile app from scratch. Developing a mobile app requires a systematic approach and attention to detail. If you know what you want to do and in what order, half of your work is done. In this blog, we are going to discuss the steps to build a successful mobile app:

Plan Your App and Find an Idea - Planning is the key to every work you do daily. Before you get your hand in the app development process, you need to plan it. The more thorough you are at this stage, the easier it is to scale on to another function of development. Besides the planning, the idea is the core of everything. It comes from your likes and hobbies. We all have a load of ideas, but we should start with a clear specification, then write down the pros and cons of each possible option and narrow it down to the most viable idea.

Know Your Audience and Competitors - You need to understand who and what the application is developed for clearly. Who will be the target audience? What will your applications be used for? How is your application better than your competitors? Conduct market research to know what the consumers are looking for? If you come across a good idea, start looking for ways to capitalize on that. People often get worried about the competition, but the competition is a good thing. It gives you insight into the market, identifies consumers' problems, and tries to solve them through your application. Try to make an app that:

• Offers better and faster experience than your competitors
• Offers additional functionalities that are not available in your competitors' products.

Cost of App Development - Building an app is quite an expensive thing to do. This is the important thing to look forward to. Beforehand decide your budget so that you don't end up spending way more. You begin by calculating the entire development cost, and you will see an estimate of how much it will cost to build your app based on the features you're planning to include. Also, one thing to note here is that once the app has been developed, you have to spend on its update at regular intervals. You have to add extra functionalities within the app.

Features & Functionality You Need - It is very important to understand what functionalities and features you need in your application. Suppose you have a list of necessary functions. In that case, it will greatly simplify the project development process that involves choosing technology, planning the workflow, and many other important steps. The other important aspect is to consider the function list that includes the following:

• Do you need authorization with social networks?
• Do you need cloud server data synchronization?
• What sort of payment options that you need?
• Do you need to record user activity stats?
• Do you need geolocation access?
• Do you need push notification, calendar, chat features in your app?

Mapping Your Flow and Prototyping - Once you know what you are building and for whom you are building its time to map your flow and build your prototypes. Mapping flow refers to the flow of actions taken by your users. Actions taken by a user:

• User will open the app
• The user browses the app
• The user opens a particular product or service in the app
• User no wish to buy that product/service
• He adds the preferred item to the cart
• The user may buy the goods and services
• The user offers his billing address and makes a payment

By looking out at each step, you can see clearly what you need to build. This helps you to build a prototype for different screens. When building a prototype, you can use pen and paper or build a prototype. Building a prototype is the best way to proceed, but it is expensive.

Keep it Simple & Secure - Adding lots of functionalities is great, but often the user gets confused. Try to make an easy-to-navigate UI, allowing your audience to access your app's core elements easily. The user interface is the key. Try to keep it simple at every step. The audience likes easy stuff. The other aspect to focus on is security. Mobile apps remain the prime target for hackers, so you need to work on the app's safety to keep your consumer data safe. Primary things to safeguard your app are as follows:

• Include Strong Authentication in your app
• Encrypt your source code
• Hire people to do penetration Testing
• Prevent Data Leaks and work on optimizing Data Caching

Build MVP - Before finalizing your application, try to build a minimum viable product with a minimal version of the app with its main features. Building an MVP is to see how the market perceives your app and how it stands in the market. It is one of the best ways if you want to gather user feedback and integrate all that into the final product. Listening to your consumer is always a great way to improve and succeed in the crowded apps market. Also, MVP is a prototype to show how the app will look to the management and stakeholders

Testing the App - Even if you have full faith in your app, you must try the app thoroughly before deploying it. Testing is very important to ensure its stability, security, and functionality. Testing eliminates the chances of any issues and bugs and facilitates a sense of confidence in you that the app is ready to be deployed. Your testing must include the following testing:

• UX testing and Feature testing
• Performance testing and Safety testing
• Device testing and security testing

Pick An App Store - Once you have created the final app, its time to make it public. To begin with the app launch, you have to pick a store, primarily there are two major app stores available, Apple and Android market/ play store. Before making your app public, you have to thoroughly test the app and make sure that the app fulfills all the requirements of the respective stores. Don't mess up here because your app doesn't get verified by the system of Apple and Google you are doomed.

Ask for Feedback - The best way to make an app successful is to look for constant feedback from the user try to listen to them. Please find time to interact with your audience and listen to their demands. Try to integrate the most demanded features and offer them promo codes and other promotional offers. Focus on the user experience, and customers will come to you.

Closing Lines - Undoubtedly, app development is a daunting task that involves critical planning and thorough research beforehand. This blog must have helped you understand the processes involved in creating a great app.