How long app development takes, phase by phase

A realistic timeline for a custom mobile app, from kickoff to store release.

Weeks 1–2: strategy

Outcomes, constraints, integration discovery and a scoped first release. This is where most schedule risk gets removed.

Weeks 3–6: design

Flows, interaction design and a working prototype you can put in front of users before engineering commits.

Weeks 6–16: engineering

Two-week increments with working builds in TestFlight and internal testing from the first increment.

Release and after

Store review, staged rollout, crash and analytics monitoring, then an iteration cadence. The first four weeks post-launch usually produce the highest-value changes.

Next step

Wve Labs is a digital product company: product strategy, design and engineering, with over ten years of deep mobile expertise. business@wvelabs.com · (800) 588-9094.