A Detailed Guide to Mobile App Backend Development

Being an entrepreneur, you understand how a powerful backend influences the performance of an app.

There is no extra logic; if you don’t build a robust backend, your app simply might not function appropriately and can actually impact the app’s performance.

When already the competition is fierce and millions of apps are available for download, you need to stand out with your app. If you are someone who really believes in offering the best services or performance to the app users, then you need a strong backend for your app.

The backend works exactly the same as powerful engines for a rocket. Being a top mobile app development company, we have gathered all of this information after discussing it with our experienced app development team. If you are looking for a complete mobile app backend development guide, then refer to this guide. This blog talks about the various ins and outs of backend development. Let’s get started.

What is Backend in Mobile App Development?

Mobile backend development is responsible for processing data, business logic, and security of an application. Backend development includes servers, middleware, and databases and it is accessible via an API (application programming interface).

A backend of a mobile app takes care of:

Being a backend developer, you may question yourself, how to create an app from scratch? To understand the entire app development process, you need to have knowledge of backend development as well.

The mobile backend runs on a remote server and is used for communication between the machines and servers. An app’s mobile backend processes certain tasks to improve your front-end experience and is easily accessed via APIs (application programming interface).

With this example, we are also going to discuss a few types of apps that require backend support to get operated. Check the next section for this.

What are the Types of Mobile App Backends?

Now you are aware of the functioning of the mobile backend, check the various types of app backends. All the mobile backend solutions serve different mobile app development demands and offer business logic.

In this section, we are going to discuss the three types of mobile app backends in detail.

1. Third-Party SaaS

   

   The solution you want to build might already be launched in the market. That means they have already built a backend from scratch for their apps.

   Some apps or platforms offer you to connect your front end to their backend on a subscription fee model, where you will charge to pay on a monthly or yearly basis.

   This method plays a role as a plug-and-play solution, where you plug in your front-end part of the mobile app to their backend on a subscription fee model and release your app. Such solutions are known as third-party mobile app backend or SaaS solutions.

2. MBaaS Solutions

   You need strong backend solutions that help you store user data and offer advanced features like login/registration, authentication, and push notifications.

   All you can do is either develop an app to use as a backend or use existing MBaaS (Mobile Backend as a Service). This not only saves you time but also helps you reduce mobile app development costs to an extent.

   MBaaS offers you pre-developed components with a backend that you can use to implement all the advanced features. In fact, you are allowed to have your own custom code functionalities outside the available libraries and components.

   With this, backend developers don’t need to create a backend from scratch but leverage reusable components and pre-populated libraries. In this solution, app owners need to pay a monthly fee for the usage of services, such as notifications sent and an increasing number of users.

3. Custom Backend

   You need a custom backend if you want full flexibility and customization in your mobile app. You will require to build the backend from scratch so that you can offer custom features to your app users.

   However, when it comes to customizing a backend, you might need to pay a huge price to the developers or invest in underlying infrastructure. But the custom backend is worth the cost if you are building an app that has to offer high performance and security to the app users.

   If the performance and security of the app are in your mind, then you need to build a custom backend using the right tech stack. Also, you can go for a hybrid approach with a mix of SaaS, MBaaS, and custom backend solutions.

If you are now looking for the best backend tech stacks, then go ahead reading the next section. In the following section, we have discussed the top technology stacks for the iOS and Android backends.

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How Does the Mobile App Back-end Work?

If the front end of an app that you see in your app is a body, then the back end is the soul of the mobile application. The backend app communicates with the front end to answer a user’s requests.

Without the backend, the front end will not function.

And without the front end, a user won’t be able to understand the functionalities of an app.

Whenever a user taps on their app screen, the front end understands the request and sends it to the backend. On the other hand, the backend of the app retrieves the information which was requested to perform via an API and sends it back to the front end to display the information.

Let’s understand this with an easy example:

You are purchasing a dress online, and you have finalized it, and now you want to make a payment for it. Supposedly, you will click on the ‘Buy Now’ button and get redirected to the checkout page to choose one payment option.

Now the front end of the app will send a request to the backend servers to connect with an external payment gateway. If successfully done, you instantly see a banking page that will ask you to enter your credential details, such as card number, name, and CVV, for secured payment.

This communication is done by the API, which connects the front end and the back end of the mobile application to the external service (payment provider) to help you view the payment page.

The communication between both the front end and the back end ensures that the app functions seamlessly and is able to offer the expected solution to the users. In this case, you are able to purchase a dress while making an online payment.

What Type of Apps Require Backend Development?

Mobile apps that store user data allow for login/registration features, and authentication, and offer login/registration features that require a backend.

Let’s quickly discuss such apps to find out why they need backend support.

1. Netflix

   Netflix is a streaming service provider for watching and downloading movies and TV series. Netflix has an admin panel (backend), allowing admins to manage videos available to users. It also requires the backend to allow app users to sign into their accounts. Here are the programming languages used by Netflix.

   Programming Languages	Platform and Storage
   Java	AWS S3
   Python	AWS EC2
   Nodejs	AWS Lamda
   React	–
   RxJS	–

2. Amazon

   Amazon is an eCommerce site that also needs a backend to manage information on several products that get uploaded on a regular basis. With the help of the backend, this great online marketplace gets the ability to add, remove, and refresh the product list in order to give the best shopping experience to the users. The following table includes the programming languages, platform, and storage Amazon uses to power its mobile app.

   Programming Languages	Platform and Storage
   React	Amazon S3
   Java	Amazon EC2
   AngularJS	Amazon CloudFront
   –	Amazon DynamoDB
   –	MySQL

3. Uber

   Uber is an on-demand taxi booking service app that also needs a backend to help app users find a nearby car. It is easy for you to find a car and reserve it to take wherever you like. Hence, the app needs a backend for this to help you place a ride or cancel it. Here are the programming languages, platforms, and storage Uber uses.

   Programming Languages	Platform and Storage
   Python	Amazon EC2
   Node.js	Amazon S3
   Go	–
   Java	–
   C & C++ to Write Tools	–

Even though the mobile app backend plays a crucial role in operating an app, there are a few types of applications that don’t require a backend at all.

Yes, you heard it right. We will discuss such types of apps in the following section.

Using the top mobile app technologies, one of our clients wanted to develop a VPN app that allows him to access restricted websites from across the globe. The client contacted our mobile app development team and discussed his requirements with us. Here is how the TOR VPN works.

What Type of Apps Doesn’t Require a Backend?

There are a few app types that function without a backend.

However, let’s quickly find some of the apps that you use in your daily lives that don’t need a backend at all.

1. Calculator

   The Calculator app is already pre-installed on your mobile device; you don’t need to install it via the app store. You easily use the Calculator app to perform basic mathematical operations with no involvement of any backend.

2. Voice Recorder

   Just like the Calculator app, Voice Recorder is also pre-installed on your mobile device to use as a dictaphone. This app functions to record your voice note using the microphone and stores the recording on your device’s local storage. So again, you don’t need a backend to operate the Voice Recorder app.

3. Measure

   This Measure app is already pre-installed on iOS devices. Hence, you easily measure the dimension of any object using your phone’s camera without installing them via the Apple App Store. For this, too, you don’t need a backend.

4. Camera

   The Camera app is already installed by default on all smartphones. You use it to capture pictures and record videos. Therefore, it doesn’t require a backend to operate. However, there are some of the latest camera apps which use backends to open GPS while using the camera or to store backups of taken photos to prevent losing data.

Now, you know which apps require a mobile backend and which apps don’t. You must be curious to know how a backend functions. So without any delay, let’s discover how a backend works in a mobile app.

Backend Technology Stack

To build a strong backend, you need the best app development languages. Therefore, let’s check the top technology stack for the Android backend.

Android Backend Technology Stack

While learning how to build an Android app, it is essential for you to finalize the Android app tech stack. The following table includes the list of Android tech stacks, along with their features and top app examples.

This was all about the tech stacks for the Android applications. We will now discuss the tech stacks you can use for the iOS backend.

iOS Backend Technology Stack

If you are building an iOS app, you need to use the best iOS app development software to build a powerful iOS app. In the following table, we discussed the top tech stacks, their descriptions, features, and examples. Find out the top tech stacks now.

Apart from the tech stacks, there are specific tools that help you with the development of mobile app backends. The next section is all about the tools that you can integrate into your app to develop a strong backend.

Tools Used in Mobile App Backend Development

We have listed the top mobile app development tools for back-end development and compared them based on their functionalities, features, and ratings. To successfully perform mobile app backend services, these tools are applied.

Logo	Backend Development Tools	Features	Reviews (G2)
	Apache Tomcat	Use nonce to prevent cross-site request forgery attacks Detection and prevention of a memory leak Aliases for storing static content outside the war file Get the support for servlet 3.0, JSP 2.2, and JSP-EL 2.2 Asynchronous logging	4.4 104 Reviews
	NGINX	Reverse proxy with caching IPv6 and load balancing FastCGI support with caching WebSockets TLS/SSL with SNI	4.6 94 Reviews
	NodeJS	Asynchronous and event-driven Single-threaded but highly scalable No buffering when using Node Licensed	4.6 14 Reviews
	Oracle RDBMS	SQL and PL/SQL support Heterogeneous replication Result set support Data dictionary translations Date-time data types Two-phase commit protocol	4.6 378 Reviews
	IBM DB2	Advanced protection for the app Continuous availability Automated administration and tuning Multiple data types and languages	4.0 597 Reviews
	MySQL	Open-source, so it is easy to download and use Stores data efficiently in the memory Work efficiently with small amounts of data Support large databases, which contain 40 to 50 million records Secure interface and password encrypted	4.4 1575 Reviews
	Microsoft Access	Easier to understand and use Easy to import and export data to other Microsoft Office Readymade templates to create and publish data Allows publishing web databases effortlessly	4.0 804 Reviews
	PostgreSQL	Supports data types like integer, numeric, string, boolean Compatibility with data integrity Highly extensible Internationalization text search	4.4 550 Reviews
	MongoDB	Ad-hoc queries for real-time analytics Proper indexing for better query executions Replication is done for better data availability and stability Sharding and load balancing	4.5 461 Reviews
	Apache JMeter	Result analysis and caches Highly extensible core Pluggable samplers Multithreading framework Data analysis and visualization	4.3 124 Reviews

This list of tools will surely help you to choose the perfect tool for your mobile app backend development based on your project requirements. However, apart from the tools part, you also need to know various app functions that are offered with the backend development. So let’s discuss that in the following section.

Mobile App Functions That are Provided with Backend Development

You need to take care of various things while integrating the backend in the app development. Here are the basic functions that you utilize while developing a mobile app.

Still, looking to find the backend APIs and mobile app development process of the backend with the mobile? Then, check the below FAQ section where we have answered these questions.

Implement a Strong Backend in Your App

Through this blog, you get to learn the various ins and outs of backend development for mobile apps. Now, you know what backend development is, the tools and tech stacks needed to build a strong backend, and how the backend functions.

If you are looking to build an app with a strong backend, then this guide will help you. Also, you can consult with the top mobile app development companies in the USA to build an intuitive frontend and powerful backend for your app.

In fact, at Space-O, we have helped several clients to build powerful backends for their mobile apps. Our experienced app developers will choose the best backend app solution for your mobile app development project. Contact us today to discuss your app ideas.