How Long Does it Take to Make an App?
It generally takes 4-6 months to build an app but the first version of an app could be built faster or may take a longer time. As with any creative undertaking through, there are many factors that can influence this timeline such as the quality which takes time and the budget which determines the timeline. A team of cross-discipline experts results in a tighter build time. The right skills, mentality, and process translate into a more efficient timeline.
In opposite of the countless apps on the app stores created by amateurs which are frustrating to use likely took weeks or at maximum a couple of months to build, there are wonderous apps which you use every day and make your life better, the fast and beautiful apps and are mosty but free. These apps of the second category likely have hundreds of thousands of hours to approach their stage of quality. These apps have taken years to get where they are today.
Many people or companies do not have the resources to do the work or the money to spend even hundred of thousands of hours on an app. This does not mean that a new app should not be built but it provides the highest persepection for now to approach building a quality, first version of the app. The scope of an app consists of its features like the screen sizes to be supported and the platforms targeted. There are too many features required for v1. app. A long list features increases the timeline dramatically and subsequently the costs. The apps which are more focused do better.
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Knowing how much it costs to build an app helps in two ways. First, based on your budget, you can roughly understood how long that budget will fund your app, the “runway”. Secondly, once you understand what your runway is, you can further scope your feature list and reduce them if your budget is not sufficient to address the full list of features. In the other hand, you should not let the comfort of money or your own skills blind you. There is always a “runway”, it is just how short or long it is.
Tackling parts of an app outside your expertise will cause the app to take much longer. Therefore, an app team which consists of each skill needed to build an app make the app to be typically built better and faster. The longer an app is worked on, the less likely it is being checked out in the market. There is nothing worse than spending time and money on an app that the marketplace does not want. A4-6 months launch target will force you to get the app out into the hands of more users and begin getting feedback on it.
Not following an app development process for building an app will dramatically impact a timeline. Without a process, an app likely will never even make it into an app store. A strong process allows creativity fo flourish and also helps build into the schedule all the time that’s not on paper. That is, the main effort of the app will be the time it takes to build out the scope.