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How to Make a Mobile App and Publish It to the Stores
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1. Pin down the idea
Who is the app for, what problem does it solve and which features are essential in the first version? Keeping the first version small, doing only the most important job, cuts both time and cost.
2. Design the screens
Each screen is drawn first, then tried out with a clickable prototype. Button sizes, text size and one-handed use on a small phone screen should be thought through from the start.
3. Choose the technology
Writing separately in Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android (native development) gives the highest performance. Building for both platforms from a single codebase with Flutter or React Native is enough for most jobs and is more economical.
4. Do you need a server?
If there are user accounts, stored data, notifications or content management, a server is written behind the app. Apps that run only on the phone skip this step; their data stays on the phone.
5. Testing
The app is tested on different screen sizes and operating system versions. TestFlight on iOS and Google Play's closed testing tracks on Android let you try the app with real users before release.
6. Publishing on Google Play
A Google Play developer account is a one-off $25. New personal accounts must run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days before releasing the app to everyone (at the time of writing). A privacy policy link and the data safety form are also required for the store listing.
7. Publishing on the App Store
The Apple Developer Program is $99 a year. The app goes through Apple's review before release; missing information, a broken button or a gap in the privacy details can be a reason for rejection. You must declare the data the app collects on the store page.
8. After launch
User reviews and crash reports are watched, and the app is updated as phone operating systems change. With us, fixes in the first month after launch are free.
If you would rather have it built
A mobile app starts from $360 with us. We covered what sets the price in our post "Mobile App Development Prices".
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