Having a good estimate of exactly how long it will take you to build an app helps you set realistic goals and deadlines, which helps you stay within budget.
In this article, we’ll be discussing how long it takes to make an app in 2022.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE APP DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE
The developer’s programming, problem-solving skills, and the quality of teamwork are common things that can influence how long they would spend in making an app. But the complexity of the project is pretty important too. Simple apps which do not need to exchange data with external databases can be built within 2 – 4 months. Average apps that require additional features like; integrations with external servers, websites, databases, and payment systems (think online stores and similar applications) take an average of about 4 – 6 months to make. Complex apps are those applications that exist in the highest realm of complexity. These advanced babies usually require the synchronization and processing of real-time data obtained from users. They generally take at least 9 months to make, because of how they interact with a lot of servers and external databases (which means that they require a much wider range of integration than any other type of application).
The category an application belongs to can also add to its complexity. For instance, food delivery apps like UberEats usually take 4 – 6 months to make. This is because they involve the use of social media integration, map integration, tracking delivery systems and other add-ins that allow users to order and track their food deliveries. Healthcare apps, on the other hand, can take up to 9 months for a developer to build, because they need to process a lot of data from multiple healthcare experts. Healthcare apps also make use of various integrations that make it possible for them to track important health factors that may be useful in a patient’s medical care (e.g. integrations with digital health records and real-time heart monitoring systems etc).
HOW CAN YOU SHORTEN THE TIME NEEDED TO BUILD AN APP?
Ever hear the phrase, “It’s a great time to be alive?” Well, it certainly applies to app development. The process of building an app is easier now than ever before. These days, developers can spend as little as 2 months to build an application that is completely ready for public use.
This is pretty remarkable considering all the thought and effort that goes into app development, from product design to the development of a complete software infrastructure. It gets even more impressive when you factor in the subtle differences that make each app unique.
No two applications are exactly alike, so the overall time a developer will use to build a particular app ultimately depends on the unique specifications of that app. But there are common features that a lot of applications have, like; user login, user sign-up, push notifications, maps integration, payment integration and so on. And when developers don’t have to build these general features from scratch – alone, might I add – a lot of time can be saved. There are a lot of templates out there that make it possible for you to shorten the time needed to build an app, in many ways.
STOP WRITING YOUR OWN USER AUTHENTICATION CODE
One of the things you can do to save time is to stop writing your own user authentication code. User authentication is an essential feature in most apps. It helps users obtain different levels of access to an app, based on the types of permissions they have been granted. This is why a lot of businesses use it, to give their employees different levels of access, depending on their roles. User authentication codes also play a very vital role in the development of new SaaS apps, where users need to create and manage unique profiles. And it falls to the developer to design proper authentication workflows that are safe and efficient.
As essential as user authentication is, it can be quite repetitive and tiring. Let me explain. To design and build a normal authentication system from scratch, you would have to code: the user signup screen (plus the verification and confirmation systems/screens), login screen, forgot password screen (with the password reset screen and other related features), change password screen and so on. You would also have to code the entire backend infrastructure required to validate the process and handle the integration of all caches, mail servers and databases on your own. Things may get even more complicated when you have to account for GDPR opt-ins for users in the EU, as well. This means that most developers would essentially be repeating the same process for each application.
Dealing with all these details may tack extra time to your app development timeline, especially if you run into any bugs along the way. Yes! Just because you have done it several times does not mean you’re immune to bugs. It can take days, or even weeks, to set up authentication systems by yourself, which is not a great practice for proper time management.
But fear not, this repetitive process can be safely abstracted when you implement a pre-built starter project or third-party authentication managers like AuthX by radius, Cognito or Firebase Auth.
YOU ALMOST NEVER HAVE TO START FROM SCRATCH
Whichever way you decide to go while building your app, it is important for you to know that a lot of web infrastructure comes with prepared solutions; which means that you don’t actually have to start coding a lot of features from scratch. For example, you can use Phoenix framework to generate authentication efficiently instead of using a separate service or library that may not be easily expandable. Firebase can also be used to write user authentication codes for both PHP projects and node/frontend applications. And if you don’t want to use any of those options, you can still use a JWT based session management in Go to implement a password-based signup/login/password reset, as well as an elementary user profile management system with UI and email, from start to finish…within hours.
There are several other options available to choose from when it comes to customizing user authentication codes. Amazingly, most of them are much faster and safer alternatives to writing your own authentication codes.
The process of using templates and frameworks can also be used in building other parts of your application, which will shorten your overall app development schedule considerably and reduce the estimated timeline by weeks, or even months. The key thing to always remember is that you almost never have to start from scratch.
SAY GOODBYE TO REPETITIVE CODE WITH AUTHX
AuthX is an authentication solution that provides developers with easy integratable authentication features. You can add Sign Up / Sign In features to your websites/apps without writing a single line of code.
Here’s the best part. AuthX is customizable, so you’re not just stuck with one boring colour or format. You can specify which fields you want, integrate social media logins and even opt for two-factor authentication (2FA). Sweet right?
Check out AuthX to get started.