What is mobile app development: all you need to know
Evgeniy Sihai
Head of Mobile Department
Everyone wants to build an app. Okay – maybe not everyone, but way more than you’d think. And most of them? They’re asking the same questions.
What does it actually take?
How much of this can I DIY?
Where do things usually go wrong?
I’m a lead engineer with 10+ years in mobile application development. I’ve seen great ideas crash, boring ideas win, and simple apps carry entire businesses.
So, I wrote this – not to sell you a dream, but to lay out what building an app really involves. From the first sketch to something people actually use – and keep using.
Let’s start with the obvious question.
What is mobile application development – really?
At its core, mobile app development is the process of creating software specifically designed to run on mobile devices – phones, tablets, sometimes even wearables or TVs. But here’s the part people usually miss: it’s not just about writing code.
If you’re serious about mobile application development, you need to think beyond features and buttons. You’re building a product – one that has to solve a real problem, feel intuitive, scale with your business, and stay stable on devices you’ve never even held in your hands.
Good app starts with questions:
Who is it for?
What problem does it solve?
What will make users come back?
Got your “why”? Good – that means you’re already ahead of most. Now comes the part where most ideas fall apart: building the thing.
The mobile app development process
The moment you move from idea to action, things can get messy – fast. Deadlines, budgets, “simple” features that aren’t, and pressure to deliver now. What follows isn’t a checklist. It’s a set of real-world decisions – and they shape everything.
The classic mobile app development flow
1. First: anchor in reality
Kicking off mobile applications development doesn’t mean you stop asking questions. But now they are about:
What can we build now, and what can wait?
What’s technically risky?
What needs to scale?
What’s a nice-to-have that’s quietly eating 40% of the budget?
You don’t plan this once and walk away. You start with a solid direction – and adjust as you learn more.
(We call it lean development – a fancy name for “let’s not waste time building the wrong thing.” But I promised myself to keep it simple, so moving on.)
2. Design and development are not separate worlds
In theory, design hands off to dev. In practice, they overlap – challenge each other, adjust, improve. Constantly. A lot.
Sometimes the design doesn’t fit the platform. Sometimes a new feature breaks the UX. Sometimes a user test on day 5 makes you rethink the thing you scoped on day 1.
That’s not a failure. That’s mobile app development experts – doing their job the way it should.
3. Infrastructure is your foundation – don’t fake it
People love to talk about features. Few talk about:
Authentication flows
Backend APIs
Cloud scaling
CI/CD
Error tracking
Offline mode
But ignore these things, and you’ll feel it – in your reviews, your crash reports, and your customer churn.
4. Shipping isn’t the end. It’s the start of the next sprint
You don’t launch a mobile app and walk away. You monitor, you adapt, you listen.
Real users are always smarter (and messier) than your assumptions. The best teams treat launch not as a finish line – but as a learning moment.
We just covered the process – almost. There’s one thing I skipped on purpose. Not because it’s minor, but because it’s that big.
Platform choice.
Native, cross-platform, or low-code mobile app development?
This is usually the first technical fork in the road. And it’s one of the most expensive decisions to get wrong. Here’s how to think it through.
1. Native apps
When you want maximum control, performance, and future-proofing.
You build two separate codebases – but each one is optimized for its platform. That means smoother animations, tighter integration, and fewer platform-specific bugs.
I recommend native when:
You’re building something long-term
Performance really matters (e.g., real-time, media-heavy apps)
You need deep access to device features
You’re okay investing more upfront for stability later
If budget allows, and the product is core to your business – go native. No regrets.
2. Cross-platform
Write once, deploy to both platforms – without starting mobile application software development from scratch.
Modern cross-platform tools have come a long way. With the right team, you can get excellent performance, a polished UI, and faster time to market. You might hit platform quirks, sure – but nothing a good dev team can’t handle.
Consider cross-platform when:
You want to move fast without cutting corners
Your team needs to move lean
You’re building a solid MVP or internal tool
You’re okay accepting ~90% native feel in exchange for speed and flexibility
If done well – and we’ve done it a lot – cross-platform is not a shortcut. It’s a smart choice.
3. Low-code / No-code
Yes, it’s real. And yes, it works – within limits. Specialized tools for mobile apps development now let non-devs build functional apps without writing (much) code. But don’t confuse that with scalability.
Low-code is helpful only when:
You’re testing a simple idea
You need something internal, fast
You have zero dev resources
You fully accept the limitations
You can read more about the pros, cons, and grey areas between custom development and low-code in my colleague’s article.
How to decide between native, cross-platform, and low-code for mobile app development?
Platform type | Native | Cross-platform | Low-code / No-code |
|---|---|---|---|
Technologies / Tools | Swift (iOS), Kotlin (Android) | Flutter, React Native, Kotlin Multiplatform, MAUI | FlutterFlow and others |
Speed to market | Two (separate) | One shared | Visual builder |
Performance | 🟡Good | ✅Fast | ✅✅Fastest |
Scalability | ✅Best | 🟡Near-native | 🟡Basic |
Customization | ✅Strong | ✅Good | ❌Low |
Best for | Long-term products, high-performance apps | Most product-first apps that need to move fast and scale without a full native team | Simple prototypes, no-dev teams |
Sounds heavy? It doesn’t have to be – not with the right team and process.
That’s when application development for mobile stops being a gamble – and starts running like a system.
It’s the foundation. It matters. But... it’s not what users fall in love with.
4. What makes a mobile app actually “good” for user?
It’s not just about looking slick or running bug-free – though that helps. A “good” app is one people come back to. Here’s what we watch for when we’re building something that needs to hold up post-launch.
It solves one clear, valuable problem
Not five. Not “a little bit of everything.”
The best apps are focused – they do one thing really well.
If your pitch sounds like “Uber meets Notion but with NFTs” – that’s a red flag for app development in mobile.
It fits into real life
Good apps are not just usable – they’re useful.
That means:
loading fast on 4G;
not killing battery;
working offline (when it matters);
and being accessible without a 20-minute onboarding.
These details aren’t fluff – they’re the invisible edge in mobile application development.
It earns repeat usage
Push notifications won’t save a dead product. Neither a pair of flashy screens. People come back because:
they trust the app;
it gives them value quickly;
and it remembers who they are and what they need.
It aligns with business goals
This one’s underrated. A good app isn’t just loved by users – it moves the business forward:
reduces support load;
improves retention;
increases LTV;
captures better data;
opens a new revenue stream.
Because in the end, app development for mobile isn’t just about building software – it’s about building outcomes.
So… Should you start that mobile app development?
Maybe. But not just because “everyone has one.” Not because an investor asked. Not because someone said it’ll be “quick.”
You should build an app when:
There’s a real problem worth solving;
A mobile experience is the best way to solve it;
You’re building something to grow, not just to launch.
If that’s the case – we’re in. We’ve done this enough times to know what works, what breaks, and what’s worth fighting for.
And if you’re still not sure? That’s fine too. We’d rather help you ask the right questions now, than fix the wrong answers later. In any case – feel free to reach out, happy to help.
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