Short Answer: The average time it takes to build an app is 7 months, however, if your app developers are excellent in coding they may be able to complete it in 5 months, but this is a rare case. Ideally, you should have a 7 month timeframe in mind for mobile application development.
Detailed Answer: If you have an app idea in mind but aren’t sure how long it will take for an app to build, don’t worry. We have done our research and have a step-by-step guide for you to understand app development time requirements. It is important to note that your app’s functionality and the way you choose to go about the whole mobile application development process will heavily influence the time it takes to develop an app.
Here’s a breakdown based on app complexity and the estimated time required for app development based on complexity.
| App Complexity | Time Required |
|---|---|
| Low Complexity App (Cannabis App, Event App ) | 5 – 7 Months |
| Medium Complexity App ( Music App, Dating App) | 7 – 8 Months |
| Highly Complex App (Sports App, Social Network App) | 12 – 24 Months |
All Stages
Idea to Fluidity
The first step is to test the idea of the app in the market and determine if there is a need for it. Analyzing potential customers and their behaviors can be done by conducting interviews with them. The research and validation will approximately take one to three weeks, depending on the size and functions of your app. If in-depth research is conducted beforehand and you already have the statistics, this step can be skipped in the app development process. However, minimal research should be done anyway to keep up with changes in the industry and technology.
App Strategy
Now that the information from potential customers is gathered, it is time to strategize and lay out the mobile application development plan, technical ways to be taken, and cost estimates. Additionally, come up with a potential timeline for the whole app development process. This can take about one to two weeks.
Prototype
You have to be very smart when building a prototype and be careful with what you choose to include or exclude from it. Our advice would be to save time and effort and only include one to two user roles specific to your app idea. A minimum of one week is estimated to make a clickable prototype. Then, we advise you to test the prototype by forwarding it to a couple of end-users to test the validity of the app and gather real-time feedback. This too will take a week or so depending on the round of feedback you gather.
App Design & Development
Now that all the research and testing are done, we get to the designing and coding of our final application. This is a very crucial stage if not the most in the developmental process. Hence, we advise you to try to keep up-to-date with the technological changes, user feedback, and the idea you started with. The designing phase can go up to two to three months. Then comes the longest phase of app development- coding. Although the time consumed here depends on the complexity of the app and functions offered, however, it is estimated to be completed in four to six months.
Launch
And finally, comes the launch, which is divided into two steps. First is the Alpha launch, tested in-house among the testers only, whereas the Beta launch is conducted with end-users on TestFlight for iOS apps and Google Play Console for Android. It can take up to two weeks to a month, as Apple and Android both work uniquely and might take longer to get approval. Lastly, it can take a minimum of 28 weeks to develop a fully functional app. However, it might take less or more time depending on the complexity and rigidity of your app and developmental plan.