The short answer
Plan for three to six months from the first meeting to the app being live in the stores. A simple app with a handful of screens sits near three. Add accounts, payments, messaging or a custom backend and you move toward six. Our first versions usually take 15 to 20 weeks.
Where does the time go?
Most people expect the coding to take the longest, and it does, but the weeks before and after it matter just as much. A typical first version with us runs like this:
- Getting to know the product and agreeing the scope: 1 to 2 weeks
- Design and a clickable prototype: 3 to 4 weeks
- Building the app and its backend: 9 to 11 weeks
- Testing and store review: 2 to 3 weeks
What makes an app take longer?
Anything that touches money, personal data or another system. Each one has edge cases that need thinking through and proper testing. Payments, messaging, offline use and admin panels are the usual reasons a plan stretches.
The other reason is waiting. An app stands still whenever a question sits unanswered for a week, so we agree on one person on your side who can say yes or no quickly.
How can you launch sooner?
Cut the first version down to the one thing people will open the app for. For a fitness app that might be logging a workout and nothing else. Ship that, watch how people use it, then build the rest from what you learn. A focused first version often reaches the stores in about half the time of a full one, and it is usually a better app for it.
How long does store review take?
Apple and Google usually review a new app within one to three days. We still keep a full week in the plan, because a first submission sometimes comes back with questions about privacy, sign in or payments, and you want time to answer them calmly instead of in a rush during launch week.
Planning one?
Mobile apps at Enthros start from $1,500 and take 15 to 20 weeks.
