Introduction
Software companies in Singapore usually divide the development phase of their application into a few major milestones. This is the same for app development in Singapore too. As a business owner, you should know about these stages and what they represent in the software industry. Most companies divide the release of their software or app into these stages:
- Alpha
- Beta
- Production
In this article, we will be discussing these stages and what they mean for you. These stages are simply called build in the development cycle. A build is a software version that happens when you compile the source code together into an executable format recognized by your mobile phone. The build version is important to understand as it can represent your current position in the entire development cycle. Some app development companies in Singapore usually bill by stages and may use build as the milestone marker in invoicing.
Alpha Build
The Alpha version represents the first version of your application which usually contains a lot of issues or bugs. Most Alpha development builds are proof of concept and a sign of work in progress. In this cycle, the core functionality of the app may work but clients should not expect a lot in the early stages of the alpha build.
This stage is important as it allows developers to debug and solve any bugs or issues found. As the development progress further into incremental alpha versions, more functionality may be added depending on the project specifications and requirement. When most bugs are addressed and the app is functioning with little to no major crash, the alpha phase in the software development is considered complete.
Most alpha builds are tested internally with a quality control (QC) team. The QC team will actively test the app to record down any irregularities, functional issues, and error codes. From these records, the app development team will work on debugging and fixing the reported issues.
Beta Build
Mobile apps naturally progress to beta build when they have completed the alpha phase. In this stage, the beta version of the application is released to a group of external users for testing. It is the first milestone of the application leaving the internal software development cycle. Priority is given to address issues reported and improve the general user experience of app users.
There can be several reiterations of the beta build depending on the reports and feedback gathered from the app users. At the end of the day, the objective of the beta phase is to get to gold release, where the application is considered stable and acceptable for day to day use.
You might ask if businesses want to add extra functionality, at which stage should it be added then? In this case, when the app gets released, the next version usually goes through the same cycle again. In the later version of the app, additional functionalities are added to the Alpha base of the later version.
Production Build
Production builds are considered to be the final version of the application before they are made available to the general public. In this stage, no bugs or issues should be addressed, with exception to minor issues. When these are addressed, the app then goes into distribution to end-users, also known as general availability or gold release.
Conclusion
These are the general phases of the app development cycle. Most app development company in Singapore follows the standard software development cycle. Hence, don’t be surprised if you get a half functional app during the alpha stage as it’s the general norm to release and test the application. As the development progress further, you should expect fewer bugs or issues until the release of the application to the general public.
