As a software company, we hear a lot of myths about custom app development every day. Some of them are pretty near the truth, but the majority of them are 100% wrong. Dev Myth Busters is a series of short articles describing defenses to the most popular app development myths. Hope you'll find it helpful!
It's time to face first of them.
App development timeline initiates a lot of questions. Can we develop a fully functional app in a week? Or in 2-3 weeks?
It's nearly impossible to create an app in such a short time. Why is that? Many factors impact the custom app development timeline. The speed of web/mobile app development is related to the project's scope, implemented technology, integrations, platforms, and the number of specialists who participate in it.
So how long usually does it take to create an app from scratch?
The average time of building an application's MVP is about 3-4 months. To create a basic app for one platform with a basic UI (without custom elements) with up to 5 screens, we will need two developers, one QA Specialist, and one U X/UI designer. Creating the application will take about 350-650 hours (4-9 weeks).
Take a look at the example from our portfolio.
Akuarella is a mobile app (both for Android and iOS devices) that helps parents spontaneously capture the smiles and joy of their babies and children. In this case, the whole app development process took around 800 hours. Our development team made this app from A to Z. They prepared the entire UX/UI Design side (graphic materials, user stories, and more), back end, and provided Project Management services. As a result, we delivered two separate native mobile apps (iOS and Android) to the client.
In general, 15 people from our company were somehow engaged in this mobile app development project when there was a need for their services. So, at first sight, 800 hours might look like a lot - but if you count how many experts are engaged in the project at the same time, the whole development time wraps around 3 months.
Conclusion
Building an app from scratch within just 3-4 weeks would require engaging many resources and ultra-smooth communication between software house and client. At Railwaymen, we estimate that our team can build a basic version of the app within 3 months. But, keep in mind that only reliable estimation prepared by IT experts will give you a clear answer to the question about your project timeline.
Wondering how the process of estimation looks like? Check the article written by our Project Manager:
APP DEVELOPMENT COST ESTIMATE: HOW DOES IT LOOK LIKE IN RAILWAYMEN?
