Hiring app development without knowing how the process works is like building your first house without knowing what an architect does: you end up overpaying or signing whatever's put in front of you. An app is built in six stages: discovery, UX/UI design, development, testing, store publishing and post-launch. For a medium-complexity app, the full process takes between 3 and 5 months, and the client participates actively in every phase: setting priorities, validating designs and testing intermediate versions.
This guide is written for SMB owners and managers who have never hired software development: what happens at each stage, how long it lasts, what you'll be asked for and how to spot in time that something is going wrong.
Stage 1: Discovery — defining what gets built (1-2 weeks)
Before designing a single screen, a serious team needs to understand your business. Discovery defines the scope: what problem the app solves, for whom, and which features make it into version 1.
What you'll be asked for: time. One or two long meetings, access to the people who know the operation (not just the owner) and honesty about the budget. You don't need to show up with mockups or technical documents.
What you get at the end: a scope document with prioritized features, the screen map, the necessary integrations and —most importantly— the explicit list of what does NOT make it into v1. If you want to go deeper on how to trim that first version well, we explain it in what is a mobile MVP.
Red flag: being quoted a fixed price without anyone asking a single uncomfortable question. If nobody challenged the scope, they're quoting you smoke.
Stage 2: UX/UI Design — the app on paper (2-4 weeks)
This is where every screen and every flow gets designed: how a user signs up, how they pay, what happens when something fails. First as wireframes (black-and-white schematics) and then as final visual design.
What you'll be asked for: fast feedback and decisions. Logo, brand colors, examples of apps you like. And that you review the prototypes seriously: changing a flow in Figma costs hours; changing it in code costs weeks.
What you get: a clickable prototype that looks and feels like the final app, before a single line of code is written. You can (and should) show it to 3-5 real customers.
Red flag: jumping straight from the quote to code "to save time." That shortcut is the origin of most apps that have to be rebuilt within a year.
Stage 3: Development — building the app (8-16 weeks)
The longest stage. The team builds the app itself (what you see on the phone) and the backend (servers, database, admin panel), which in medium apps represents 40-50% of the total work. The tech stack choice is made here if it wasn't settled earlier — we compare the two dominant options in React Native vs Flutter.
What you'll be asked for: specific decisions when ambiguities come up (they always do), access to systems to integrate (your billing, your payment gateway) and attendance at the demos.
What you get: a working demo every 2 weeks. Installable versions on your phone from the middle of the project onward, via TestFlight (iOS) or internal testing (Android).
Red flag: silence. If 3-4 weeks go by without a demo of the app actually running, the project is in trouble no matter what they tell you. "We've made a lot of progress under the hood" is not a deliverable.
Have an app idea and don't know where to start? Book an intro meeting and in 30 minutes we'll tell you what process and budget your case needs.
Stage 4: Testing — break the app before your users do (2-3 weeks)
QA (quality assurance) tests the app across different devices, operating system versions and real-world conditions: what happens if the internet drops in the middle of a payment? If the user has a 2019 Android? In LATAM this matters twice as much because the device landscape is highly heterogeneous.
What you'll be asked for: that you and 5-10 trusted people use the beta version with concrete tasks, not just "see what you think."
What you get: reports of errors found and fixed, and a stable app ready to publish.
Red flag: testing that "the programmer does at the end." The person who wrote the code is the worst person to find its bugs.
Stage 5: Publishing to the stores (1-2 weeks)
Getting the app onto Google Play and the App Store comes with its own bureaucracy: developer accounts, store listings (copy, screenshots, video), privacy policies and Apple's review process, which can reject the app and request changes — that's normal, not a crisis.
What you'll be asked for: creating the developer accounts under your company's name (Google Play: USD 25 one-time; App Store: USD 99 per year), tax details and legal copy.
Non-negotiable point: the app gets published in YOUR accounts. If it ends up in the agency's account, your product is held hostage to that relationship.
Stage 6: Post-launch — where apps live or die
A published app is kilometer zero, not the finish line. The first 90 days decide its fate: measuring what real users do, fixing what confuses them, and keeping the app compatible with every iOS and Android update. Budget 15-25% of the development cost per year for maintenance — the full numbers are in how much it costs to develop an app in 2026.
When you DON'T need this full process
To be honest, not every idea justifies 4 months and tens of thousands of dollars:
- If you still haven't validated demand, start with something smaller: a landing page, a manual pilot, or a scoped MVP of 6-10 weeks.
- If the app is basically your website with an icon, a PWA can solve it for a fraction of the cost and without going through the stores.
- If what you need is to organize your internal operation, the answer might be custom software on the web before an app in the stores.
The process in a nutshell
| Stage | Duration | Key deliverable | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery | 1-2 weeks | Scope document | A quote with no questions |
| UX/UI Design | 2-4 weeks | Clickable prototype | Jumping straight to code |
| Development | 8-16 weeks | Biweekly demos | Weeks with nothing to show |
| Testing | 2-3 weeks | Stable multi-device app | "The programmer tests it" |
| Publishing | 1-2 weeks | App in stores, in YOUR accounts | App in the agency's account |
| Post-launch | Ongoing | Metrics + maintenance | Nobody mentioned maintenance |
This is how we work on every mobile app development project at Deepyze: a transparent process, demos every two weeks and everything under your name. If you have an idea and want to know what it takes to turn it into a real app, tell us about your project: within 24 hours you'll get a concrete proposal with a fixed price, clear stages and a team in your own time zone.
Frequently asked questions
What are the stages of building an app?+
Six stages: discovery (defining what gets built), UX/UI design, development, testing, store publishing and post-launch. In total, a medium-complexity app takes between 3 and 5 months from the first meeting to being live on Google Play and the App Store.
What do I need to have ready before hiring app development?+
Three things: clarity about the problem the app solves and for whom, a prioritized list of features (separating must-haves from nice-to-haves), and a realistic budget that includes maintenance. You don't need mockups or technical documents: the agency produces those during discovery.
How long does each stage of app development take?+
For a medium app: discovery 1-2 weeks, UX/UI design 2-4 weeks, development 8-16 weeks, testing 2-3 weeks (in parallel with the end of development), and publishing 1-2 weeks. Development is always the longest stage.
Does the client participate during development or wait until the end?+
They participate the whole way. A healthy process includes demos every 2 weeks where you see the app working and can correct course. If an agency disappears for three months and promises to show you everything at the end, that's the most serious red flag in this industry.
Who publishes the app to the stores, the client or the agency?+
The agency publishes it, but the Google Play (USD 25 one-time) and App Store (USD 99 per year) accounts must be under your company's name. If the app ends up published in the agency's account, your product is held hostage to that business relationship.
Want this working in your company?
At Deepyze we turn manual processes into systems that work on their own: AI automation, web and mobile apps, and custom software. Tell us your case and you will have a concrete proposal within 24 hours.
Sin compromiso · Respuesta en 24 hs · Equipo en tu mismo huso horario