Learn Everything About Mobile Application Development.

When we have an idea for an android app development project, we often have the impression that the realization will be simple, but as we progress in the process, we realize that it is not that easy. By knowing what to expect in advance and knowing the delicate points for which you must be vigilant, you will put all the chances on your side for your project to be crowned with success.

This short guide explains everything you need to know about mobile development, all the steps that will take you from the initial idea to an application downloadable from the App Store and/or Google Play.

What is a mobile application?

Mobile app

A mobile application is software specifically developed to run on a ios mobile app development device with a touch interface. This broad definition includes tablets and smart watches. But if we don't provide additional clarification, everyone understands that you are talking about an application developed for smartphones.

In many cases, a mobile application developed for phones can also work on tablets, since the latter generally use operating systems derived from those of phones. In the Apple world, it is even possible to run an iOS application on a Macintosh computer (if it is equipped with at least version 11 of macOS). But this remains “experimental” and the interfaces provided for the telephone are often unsuitable for operation in a non-touch environment.

What applications for mobile?

There is a myriad of mobile applications, both for Android phones and iPhones. The operating system that comes with the phone already has an assortment of basic applications, such as a web browser, email software, calendar manager, contact manager, camera application for using the or cameras, etc. You can then complete this collection of applications according to your needs with others, to download from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store (formerly the Android Market). Some apps are free, others must be purchased.

Applications are classified into 3 main categories depending on the technological choices made to produce them: native applications, cross-platform applications and web applications.

Native apps

Applications developed specifically for a particular mobile platform are known as native applications. They use all the technologies offered by the operating system (Android or iOS) and by the hardware platform. They therefore theoretically offer the best possible performance and the most possibilities in terms of functionality. Native iOS apps are typically written in Swift or Objective-C and native Android apps are written in Java or Kotlin. The downside of the purely native application is that a native application intended for an Apple device will not be able to work on an Android device, and vice versa.

Cross-platform apps

If you want to offer the same application on iOS as on Android, there are alternatives to developing two technically entirely separate applications. Development teams have the more cost-effective option of using a common code base to produce the two necessary versions, which can be done using tools like Xamarin and Flutter. Upon arrival, there will still be two applications produced (each is compiled for its platform), but it will have taken less time to develop them. However, these applications have certain limitations and are often more demanding in terms of storage, computing power and RAM than purely native applications.

Web applications

A web application is implemented with web technologies, i.e., native APIs, i.e., device functionalities). Their main advantage, often put forward, is a lower development cost compared to native and cross-platform apps, but this is not systematic.

There are different formats of web applications. Among the most common are hybrid applications which are encapsulated in a native web visualization application (UI WebView on iOS and WebView on Android) and Progressive Web Apps which are an online application format pushed by Google. Learn more!