On both iOS and Android app stores, you can find over 5 million apps ready for download. Moreover, over 3700 apps are added to the Play Store daily! With such fierce competition, how can you ensure your new app will be found and used regularly? It takes a lot of time and money to develop a new mobile app from scratch, so you wouldn’t want all that work to be wasted if no one wants to download the app.
Going with an MVP (Minimum viable product) development for building apps is an ideal option here, as you can get a functional app for test release on app stores and then gauge the audience’s reaction to it. And Flutter can help you build an MVP app much faster – and with native-like design and performance.
What are the benefits of building an MVP before the main app, and why should you use Flutter for the task?
What is a Minimum Viable Product?
The MVP stands for “minimum viable product” and refers to building a ready app with only the core features included, which you can later use to see if there is any interest in your app idea or not really. In simpler words, you are first creating a mobile app that has only the essential features it needs to function as intended and then release it for your target audience to test it out. The early users will then send you feedback on how they like the app, so you can shape the final app the way they want it.
That way, you can both learn a great deal about your target users’ needs and expectations but also know whether it even makes sense to spend more time or budget on the project.
Benefits of building an MVP first
It allows companies to validate their app idea early:
Before moving forward with the full development of your new mobile app, you should validate your idea first to ensure it is something your target users will definitely find useful. Otherwise, you can end up spending large amounts of money and time on a product nobody needs.
By crafting and releasing MVP first, you can analyze whether there’s any interest in your new app and how your target users feel about using your new app. If most of the comments are positive, then you can start the actual development process with more confidence. If there’s little to no interest in the app, then it means there’s no point in spending any more of your time or budget on it.
It helps to reduce the risk of project failure and financial loss
Now here’s something that can get you to doubt whether it’s even worth it to develop a mobile app – only around 0.5% of mobile apps are successful. That, unfortunately means that the vast majority of companies who developed their mobile apps have to deal with launch failure and financial losses.
Developing a MVP first can prevent this grim scenario from happening though. As MVP apps take far less time and resources to develop than full-featured apps, businesses can use them to “test the waters” if they’re not sure if they’ll find enough users for their app. If the MVP version fails, then companies can just end the project on the MVP and minimize their losses that way.
Can be developed far faster than full apps
Building a full-fledged mobile application takes time – sometimes even over a year. MVP applications can be delivered far faster though – in just a few months. Since the MVP only has a few core features, then designing, developing, and launching it takes far less time and effort than creating a complete app.
Helps to clarify the app requirements
Designing an MVP app first also has the benefit of helping you find out what exact features your new app should have to be successful. Then, after collecting and analyzing the feedback from the early adopters, you’ll know what your target audience expects from the app and how you should build the final app to meet their needs.
For example, early adopters might tell you what issues they have while using the app, what features they are missing or how you should improve the app design.
Makes securing investor funds easier
MVP apps also work exceptionally well when it comes to convincing investors to greenlight the development project.
First, you can use the MVP version to present the app’s functionality and value to your investors. The more they know about the app and how it might be helpful for future users, the easier it will be for the investors to fund further development. The data you gain from the MVP launch can also be used to show the investors that there’s already an interest in the MVP app, and so there’s a high chance that the final app will be popular as well. As a bonus, using an MVP also shows investors that you understand the market and the target audience and have data to back up that knowledge – which might help you to gain investors’ trust.
How can Flutter app development help with designing MVP apps?
As you can see, developing a “bare-bones” version of your mobile before investing time, effort, and money into a complete development process is a very smart idea.
One, you’ll have enough data to figure out how you should build the final version of the app to attract more users and how you can keep them using the applications for longer.
Two, you can boost the chances of investors supporting the project if you provide them with an initial version of the application, together with plenty of data showing there’s indeed a need for such a product.
And three, going with MVP development first can save you from a very costly app launch failure. In case it turns out there’s little to no interest in the app or that it is uninstalled shortly after download, you’ll lose far less money if you release an MVP first instead of investing in a fully-grown app.
Plus, you’ll get a lot of data showing you where the project might have gone wrong.
If your project is a short and simple one, then you might not need an MVP. But if you want to test the waters with your new app first or gather user data to know how you should build the full version, then MVP development will be ideal here.
If you come to a mobile development company asking for an MVP app, there’s a good chance they will recommend building the app using the Flutter framework. Why? There are a couple of reasons here.
The main one is that Flutter apps combine the best of both native and cross-platform app development worlds – native-like performance and functionality and supporting multiple platforms. Using the framework’s own rendering engine and extensive widget library, Flutter developers can build beautiful and fully-responsive UIs that also include native icons and functionality.
Moreover, the Flutter widgets library also allows them to add various native features to the apps that were earlier available only on native apps – such as Face ID for iOS apps or gestures.
As a cross-platform development method meanwhile, Flutter also allows you to develop apps for several operating systems through a single codebase. Besides designing apps for iOS and Android, you can also use Flutter for Windows, Linux, or macOS desktop apps or web apps.
So if, let’s say, you want to build an app for both Android and iOS platforms without developing two separate apps, or you need a mobile and web app built simultaneously, Flutter development might be precisely the method you need for the task.
What exactly makes Flutter a top choice for MVP mobile app development nowadays?
In addition to its cross-platform support and native design, Flutter SDK also comes with a few extra features that significantly speed up the development process – like hot reload. So is it any surprise that the framework is often mentioned as the best choice when it comes to building an MVP application?
In case you aren’t yet convinced whether Flutter will be a good choice for your new MVP though, we picked a few extra reasons why you should trust Flutter.
Lower development cost of flutter app
Building an MVP app might take less time and budget than a full app, but in case you wanted to test how your native app is received on both Android and iOS, you would need two separate MVP apps. And that would mean double the costs.
How about getting both applications at the same time and for one price? As a cross-platform framework, Flutter allows developers to share most of the code between iOS and Android applications. As a result, with less time spent designing the MVP app, the app is ready faster, and you will also have to pay less for it.
So, for example, for building and testing whether your app will be more popular on iOS or Android, Flutter will be an ideal choice. Rather than paying for two separate native apps, you’ll get an app that works smoothly on both platforms – and for a fraction of the cost.
Much faster app development process
Having a single codebase for creating both mobile apps isn’t the only way in which Flutter can cut down the development time though. Thanks to the hot reload feature, for example, Flutter developers no longer need to recompile the entire code after adding changes to it. The feature injects updated source code files into the Dart VM, which then automatically updates and rebuilds the app, allowing you to see the change effects straight away.
For bug-fixing, adding new features, or even just experimenting with the UI design, hot reload is a massive time saver.
Flutter also comes equipped with dozens of built-in widgets and ready-made components through which developers can quickly add UI elements or any functionality to the app, speeding up the app development process even more.
Scalability
The MVP approach is all about scalability – you build an app with only the most essential features and then add more as you collect user feedback. And Flutter can help you exactly with it – again thanks to the widgets library and hot reload. As a result, app developers can add new features based on users’ demands and then quickly release updated versions.
What if you want to turn your mobile app into a web, desktop, or embedded device application, though? That’s not a problem for Flutter either – you can turn the ready code into code for those applications as well, with only minor modifications needed.
Makes attracting investors easier
We mentioned in the previous part that with an MVP app, you have far better chances of convincing investors to support the development project. How about showing them an app with a fully customized design, exceptional performance, and plenty of positive user reviews? You should have no problem getting investors on board then.
Furthermore, app developers can use the time they saved by using Flutter earlier to refine the features of the new app, which helps ensure its success.
Flexible and native-like design
One of the key things that makes Flutter so popular with developers and companies alike is that crafting a tailored, native-like user interface is no longer an issue. In the past, ensuring that the cross-platform app design was compatible with both Android and iOS meant some design sacrifices had to be made. So companies either had to accept that their new app won’t have native icons or smooth animations or pay the developers extra to code those elements from scratch.
Meanwhile, Flutter comes with built-in Material Design and Cupertino widgets for Android and iOS, which include icons, bars, animations, gestures, and more. With these, Flutter developers can craft apps that look and behave the way they want without making the components themselves. Moreover, thanks to Flutter’s native rendering engine, the apps will also run smoothly even when they have a complex design or lots of animations.
What can our Flutter team at INVO do for you?
Does it sound like turning your app idea into an MVP version first might be precisely what you need to ensure you are going in the right direction but don’t have anyone in your main team who knows Flutter? Then, how about letting us at INVO create the MVP app for you?
Our INVO team has been working with Flutter and Dart programming language since the first version was released, so we definitely know the framework inside and out. Plus, our Flutter mobile application development team is made of 20+ talented developers who know exactly how to build an MVP application that can help you attract users (and investors) to your project. If you need a native MVP version though, we’ll be happy to work together with you as well.
Reach out to our team today, and let’s talk about how we can help you create apps that will be your company’s best asset.
Conclusion
Building an MVP app before going with the complete development process can save you time, budget, and very often nerves as well – especially when it turns out that your new app idea didn’t catch on. And with its features, Flutter is an ideal framework for creating exceptionally looking and smooth-performing MVPs that you can later scale up as you need.
So if you have an app idea ready but aren’t sure it will be popular with your audience, how about starting with an MVP version first? At INVO, we can lend you a hand here – and do our best to ensure your app will be successful.
