Regardless of whether you are creating a new business or growing an existing business, a frequently asked question is “how long does it take to create an application?”
The reality is that there is no single answer to this question. There are many aspects that will affect how long it takes to develop an application, including the type of application you are building, how polished/finished you want your application to look, and the experience you want to provide users with when they use your application.
Understanding the Timeline
Coding is not the only part of app development; Apps go through an organised series of steps when built beginning from that initial idea to completion. Building a simple app usually takes just a few weeks to complete, while building a full-featured or more sophisticated application could take many months to develop and complete.
With a simple app or simple features, the time it takes to code them would typically be less than 1 month. For a moderately complex application requiring more development and integrating additional services to provide desired functionality, it is possible to complete in 2-6 months.
For a highly complex application, it usually requires customising and scaling up and will generally require the most time from start to launch because of the extra time involved with designing, optimising performance and other modifications. The more complexity that is built into an app the longer your application will take to build.
What Really Impacts Development Time?
Complexity Defines Everything
Every aspect of your application will determine its overall complexity. Simple, single-purpose applications are faster to build than complex ones; e.g., applications requiring several different user flows, dashboards, or real-time functions as opposed to one simple flow.
Features Add Layers
Any additional feature will add time to your build process. In other words, you are not only building a feature itself; you now have to Incorporate that feature into the application where it works seamlessly.
Design Matters More Than You Think
App design will require more time than any of the above. A premium, clean finish will be achieved through a focus on user experience, navigation and visual appearance – all of which require time to deliver a polished final product.
Platform Choice
If you build for only one platform, your overall development time will be reduced. However, if you decide to develop for multiple platforms (especially if natively), your total development time will increase due to the additional resources required.
Team & Execution Speed
A group of experienced individuals will have the ability to make good use of time and minimise expensive costs as a result of not only creating a well-defined process for development but also providing guidelines on how to communicate, establish goals, and collaborate throughout every phase of the project.
Testing is Non-Negotiable
To create an application that performs well; has no bugs; and provides an enjoyable user experience, the application must first go through testing. If a project does not go through this stage, bug fixing and improving the user experience that occurs after the application has been launched will be more challenging.
The Process of Development
Before an application is given to a user, it goes through several steps to get there. Some of the steps include:
- Plan/Strategy: has goals, features, or how the app will work for the user;
- Design: create the look and feel of the app;
- Develop: BUILD the functionality for the application itself.
- Test/Refine: make sure it works properly & accurately;
- Launch: distribute the application to a user(s);
Each step depends on the previous one and if any step rushes through the process, the end result of what you planned, did, tested, and gave will be affected.
Quality vs speed
People can create fast apps, but developing an app quickly usually means cutting corners. Many companies choose to create a minimal viable product (MVP) first before adding more features in later releases.
By starting this way, you can:
- Get to market faster
- Test your product with real users
- Make changes based on user feedback
Final Perspective
The speed of launching an app is not nearly as important as how well the app will work when it’s live and has users using the app. If the app has been properly planned and designed, it should be able to capture users and keep them engaged.
When you create something that has a meaningful impact on society (especially when developing a product in a very competitive market such as real estate or high-end services), the amount of time you invest in making it right will be the differentiator.
