How Long Does it Take to Build a Magento Mobile Application?

Whenever you’re about to build an app for your online business, the primary and the foremost question that might come to your mind is that the time it takes to create a Magento mobile app. It’s not only because you can plan marketing strategies, but also because the total cost depends upon the time required for the development.

So, in order to determine the exact time required for the app development, you wish to understand what you want your app to look like and what features you want to integrate to make stand out of the crowd. The period may vary based mostly upon the scope of the project and also the method your development partner follows. A basic app with a few features may take shorter time compared to an even bigger app.

To understand how long it takes to build an online shopping platform app, let’s take a more detailed look at the production process from start to finish:

The Mobile App Production Process

Envisioning (2-4 Weeks) – It is the process of defining a clear vision of the clients’ requirements, objectives for the solution. It is the most critical stages in the lifecycle of any project. During this process, the technical team ensures a comprehensive understanding of the client’s requirements, vision, and design, required for the final product. Additionally, this phase includes creating design concepts and wireframes.

Iterative Development & Testing (6-8 Weeks) – Once the requirement-gathering process is done, the project team begins the development process and testing of the mobile app. A team consisting multiple minds of analysts, designers, developers, and testers work in time boxed iterations to implement a subset of the overall requirements.

Stabilization (1-2 Weeks) – This process is focused at stabilizing the Magento mobile app. Changes are made during this step based on client feedback and ensure the compatibility with mobile devices.

Release (2 Weeks) – The development team now prepares the app for publishing on the app store (s). The Apple App Store may take up to two weeks before it approves your application for public download.

Factors That Affect Mobile App Development Time

In addition to the production, testing and releasing process, there are many other factors that determine the time required to build an app. These factors include the following:

Features – This is one of the primary determinants of how long it takes to build a mobile app. Features, also known as functionalities, make the app coding process simpler or a complex one. A feature in the app, such as the ability to buy an item, payment gateways, send a Tweet to Twitter, or scan a barcode to look up a product’s price. The more feature you put in the app, the more time it takes to develop and test.

Complexity – It usually goes along with the features as more functionalities mean more complex coding. For example, a feature that allows a user to make a purchase with just one-step checkout is likely less complex then using the default Magento multi-step checkout process. The first one may provide a better user experience but might take longer to build.

iOS, Android – Or Both – To reach the widest possible audience, it is important to consider developing apps for both the Android and iOS platforms. While it may seem a great deal to build a hybrid app that works on both platforms, but the performance is affected. So, developing a native app for iOS and Android makes a better decision. But, developing apps on both apps surely takes more time than developing for the simple platform.

Resource Availability – When you are hiring a freelancer or a small company with a limited number of developers in the team, you are likely to end up waiting for a longer time than hiring a professional company with multiple experts for all the tasks of Magento app development process. Therefore, there may be a delay in starting a mobile app project until team members are available.

Client Availability – This is another great factor that makes a great difference in time required for the app development process. Communication should be real-time or as better as possible as it can take a lot of time away from the overall development process. By being available for a few hours a week for the queries, the time it takes to build a mobile app can often be decreased.

While we all are excited to release mobile apps to generate more revenue and brand presence, as you can see there are a variety of factors involved in determining the time required for development. If you have still the same query in mind, contact us today.