If you’re having an app built for the first time, you rarely know what to expect. That’s normal: the path from idea to App Store has steps you can’t see from the outside. In this post I walk through them in order, the way I go through them on client projects.

1. Cutting the idea down to a first version

There’s no code at the start, just a question: what does the app have to do to serve its purpose, and what can wait? Most ideas are too big for a first version. It helps to reduce them to a single flow that a user can go through from start to finish.

That’s why I offer the first conversation for free. I ask questions, you tell me about your idea. At the end there’s a list: this goes into the first version, this comes later.

2. The quote

The list becomes a written quote: what will be built, what it costs, when it will be done. With me, that’s a fixed price. What determines the price, I’ve written down in the cost guide.

What matters is that the quote says what will be built. A price without a scope isn’t a commitment.

3. Development in small steps

I don’t build in secret and then present the result at the end. Every week I deliver a new build to your iPhone via TestFlight. TestFlight is Apple’s way of distributing test versions of an app before it’s in the store.

That way you see early on whether the app feels the way you imagined it. If it doesn’t, we notice after one week and not after three months.

4. What Apple requires for release

For an app to be allowed into the store, it takes more than the app itself:

I build the pages and texts with you. The developer account as well as domain and web hosting run in your name: I set them up for you and take care of it, while you cover the ongoing costs. That way, everything belongs to you later.

5. Apple’s review

Before an app appears, Apple reviews it. That usually doesn’t take long, but it can bring questions or a rejection, for example when something in the information isn’t right. A rejection is no drama, but it costs time. That’s why I build in a buffer and settle beforehand who submits what.

6. Release and handover

The app is published in your App Store account. You get the source code and a description of how everything fits together. That way you’re not dependent on me if something changes later.

7. Collecting feedback from your users

Once the app is out, wishes and bug reports come in. So that they don’t get lost in emails and messages, there’s Roadlight: a board where your users submit ideas and vote on them, plus a public roadmap and a changelog. I built it myself and use it to collect feedback on my own apps.

If you have an app built by me, you can use Roadlight for free if you like, at no extra charge.

8. It continues afterwards

The app isn’t finished with its release. Every year a new iOS comes out, users report bugs and ask for features. That’s what ongoing development is for: fixed days each month, cancellable monthly.

What you need to get started

You don’t need a specification or any technical knowledge. A few sentences are enough: what should the app do, who is it for, by when do you need it? We’ll sort out the rest in the conversation.

You can find more about how I work and what the first version costs on the page Hire an app developer.