How Long Does it Take to Develop a Mobile App?

5 min readNov 24, 2022

Whenever you are planning to build an app, the first and foremost question that comes to mind is the time it takes to build an app. A lot gets into the app development basket — timeline glitches, project intricacies, last-minute add-ons, and more.

So, there is no black-and-white answer to how long does it take to build a mobile app. You will find some apps getting completed in 3 months, whereas some take as much as 8 to 12 weeks.

The app development timeline is affected by several factors such as the type of app or experience of a development company.

In this blog, we will demystify the mobile app development timeline and touch upon how long it takes to build an Android or iOS app.

The estimated timeline for developing an app for Android and iOS

In this section, let’s look at each phase in the app development process to understand what it includes and how long does it take to make a mobile app?

Stage 1 — Research and ideation [Time: Several weeks]

When you are searching for how to make a mobile app, you should base your app on excellent research to create a brilliant vision. You must research your competitors, target audience, the tech stack required, and more. When ideating or planning to make an app, it’s crucial to keep your target audience at the heart of development. It would be good to conduct extensive research on market demands and customer needs. The insights will help you with -

Estimating your market size
Validating your product idea
Identifying the pain points of customers

Doing research when planning to make an app will help you identify your competitors, potential threats, and challenges. This would help you come up with excellent app strategies to cater to your defined target audience.

Stage 2 — The Discovery Phase [ Avg. Time: 2 to 4 weeks]

Once thorough research is done, your app development partner can generate a detailed brief about your mobile app idea. It helps them understand your vision, target audience, your business goals, and app’s requirements. Some of the questions that need to be answered at this stage include -

How do you want to develop the app?
What features should be included in the app?
The preferred choice of platform (Android, iOS, or both)
How will the user experience flow?
How long do apps take to develop?

It is important to get this planning stage right, as it has ripple effects on all other stages. For a seamless mobile app development experience, you can contact a top-notch iOS/Android applications development company that can guide you directly.

Typically, at the end of this stage, you would know whether you want to go for a minimum viable product (MVP) or a more extensive app. You will understand what exactly needs to be designed and developed with detailed project requirements, a timeframe, and the cost generated by your development partner.

Stage 3 — Design [Avg. time: 1–4 months]

In this stage, designers put their design hats on and work on -

Designing the interface to create an app
Making raw designs using tools such as Adobe XD and Sketch
Completing wireframing, prototypes, and mockups

Designers work on each and every aspect of the app such as icons, logos, and backgrounds. Designers also need to collaborate with developers to check the practicality of their designs. This will help you save time and money that you would have otherwise spent on redesigning.

Stage 4 — Development [Avg. time: 12 months or more]

When planning to create an app, the development phase is the most time-consuming. Developers work towards flawless and error-free coding. When it comes to development, it basically includes front-end development and back-end development.

Frontend development

When planning to build an app from scratch, frontend development offers a real prototype, where one can get prompt user feedback. Programmers typically utilize frameworks Swift, Objective-C, and Java to create separate versions for the Play Store and App Store. At this stage, developers work on caching for temporary data storage.

So, the app’s data is stored in the caching to reduce the app’s loading time, reducing the requirement of calling the server. The front-end development usually takes from 5 to 10 weeks.

Backend development

When planning to invent an app, at this stage, developers need to plan on aspects like -

User management — Dealing with authenticating users and password management
Data storage — Storing files that are meant for the app through internal, external, or shared storage
Data integration — Setting up of processes to distribute and extract data across multiple data locations
Push notifications — Sending notifications to the user’s device from the server
Server-side logic — Mapping requests of users from a UI and flows implemented by the application server

Backend development can take around an estimated ten weeks. Developers usually start the front-end development before back-end development, which reduces the overall timeline for the mobile app development process.

Stage 5 — Testing [Avg. time 3–5 weeks]

Once the development is done, the testing phase commences. It is one of the most significant elements that make sure your app is performing well. Testers/quality analysts work at identifying glitches and bugs that could otherwise jeopardize your app.

Some of the areas for testing mobile applications include a user interface, security, compatibility, and functionality, among other checkpoints. After the initial testing (Alpha testing), the app moves onto the next level of testing, including beta testing, until it finally hits the virtual market shelves without any flaws.

Stage 6 — Deployment [Avg. time: App store — 24–48 hours, Play Store — 2–72 hours]

Once your app is tested and ready to go live, it’s time to launch your app on the app stores. App Store and Google Play Store have guidelines that you need to follow to publish your app on these platforms.

Apple App Store — Apple has stricter submission policies and wouldn’t allow low-quality or unsecured apps. Apps usually take 2 days or a little longer for approval. 50% of mobile apps get review feedback in 24 hours and over 90% get review feedback in 48 hours.

Google Play Store — Google has some strict quality guidelines and you’d want to follow them strictly. For a first-timer, it would take a minimum of three days to submit your app and go live.

Stage 7: Maintenance and Support

The last and most crucial stage that helps in determining how long does it take to make an app, is maintenance and support. This stage will play a critical role if you want to take care of updates and upgrades, backups, server monitoring, troubleshooting, and continuous bug fixing.

Wrapping up!

So, while there is no single answer to the question — How long does it take to develop a mobile app, the average time to develop an app with discovery, design and development, and pre-launch stages are around 7 to 12 months. But you also need to take into account some extra development time to incorporate design improvements or additional features.

In case you still have questions about how to make an app or how long does it take to make a mobile app, you can contact reputable app development companies.