Native (iOS or Android) App Development Time

One of the common requirements for anyone getting an app developed is usually “I need it on the app store right away”. Our app design-build-test cycle (regardless of whether it’s an iOS or Android app) is rarely less than 8 weeks, more in the region of 12-14 weeks from initial concept to approval by the target app store (the Apple App Store is currently averaging 640 new app approvals a day). There’s a lot to do, after all: designing the UI, wireframes, developing the server code, synchronisation code, developing the UI, we could go on. All that has to be done, and it has to be done well. Not just to get through the app store, but to make the what’s been conceived a killer app.

Based on a survey of 100 iOS, android and HTML5 developers, the average time to develop a mobile app: 18 weeks. The same time as it takes to build 1.3 Boeing 777’s. Here’s an interesting infographic on what’s involved from the company that did the survey, Kinvey (click the image to go to their website to read more):