In the past few years, the mobile app development industry has experienced acute growth. With the growing number of people accessing the internet through their smartphones, it has now become crucial for business owners to have a mobile app to engage consumers more. This particular market alone is expected to generate a revenue of over $935 billion in the next two years only. A mobile app offers countless benefits to a business.
The present world is a mobile-first world and almost half of internet users purchase their mobile phones. Mobile phones hence are a crucial priority for organizations to engage, attract and delight their consumers.
The Cost of Getting Mobile App Developed
The task of calculating the cost of getting an application developed is perplexing. We have done the hard work for you and today, we will talk about everything that you need to consider to calculate the cost of making an app.
Cost of Mobile App Development According to Its Types
1. Hybrid Apps
Hybrid Apps refers to cross-platform mobile app development that is the perfect solution for businesses that want to reach a bigger audience. The cost of development and maintenance goes down for such apps since a single code is used to build apps that work for all platforms.
2. Database Driven Apps
Such apps refer to the ones that are a bit complex and have bulk data for the operation. To make the app work as required, some additional features like internet connection, camera or access to the phone may be necessary.
3. Basic Functionality App
Such apps don’t require much development time and usually include no or very few features. People develop them for personal use and such apps are not found in the app store for public use.
4. Hardware/Firmware Dependent Apps
Such apps are used to access mobile devices and have the objective of enhancing the functionalities. Such functionalities include flashlights, cameras, alarms, etc. For instance, there is an app named Alarmmon that enables users to customize their apps.
5. Mobile/Gaming Apps
Features of a mobile app are taken into account to calculate the cost of getting it developed. There are two types of games, simple and advanced. Some of them include various features like global ratings, 3D graphics and physics, social media integration, and AR support.
What Factors Affect the Cost of Mobile App Development?
1. App Features and Their Complexity
As mentioned above, app features play a major role in determining the cost of getting an app developed. Implementing some features is an easy task, whereas, the integration of other tasks is more challenging. Based on the complexity of the features, the app development team may either choose to use ready-made solutions or can also write code from scratch.
2. Team Setup
The cost of developing an app depends on the structure of your team. The size of your team depends on the specific needs and can be adjusted accordingly. You can decide the positions, whom you want in the team to work on your project.
3. Number of Platforms
Another factor that impacts the cost of building an app is the platform you choose. Also, whether you want to work on one platform or more than one. If you want to get an app developed for a single platform you will not see a significant difference between the apps for iOS and Android. However, if you want to build an app for both iOS and Android, then the development cost will increase.
4. Native or Cross-platform App Development
If you are looking to get an app developed for both iOS and Android then, you will have to consider the platform on which you want to get your app developed. You can choose between a cross-platform solution or Flutter. This way, the time to market gets reduced and also the cost of app development.
5. App Maintenance Cost
Many app owners forget about the ongoing cost associated with the development of a mobile app. Don’t think that app development costs run only till the app is ready. Market and consumer trends change constantly hence your app needs to stay updated with these changes to stay competitive. Hence, updates and maintenance are crucial aspects of the app development process.
How to Reduce the Costs of App Development?
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Prioritize Features Early On
You need to prioritize the features of your app correctly before you begin the development process. If you are not able to build a perfect software solution for your business right now, it doesn’t mean you will have to give up on your dream. If you shortlist a few features during the early development stage, getting them integrated later will be easy.
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Involve Quality Assurance Early On
Bugs and errors can get accumulated in your app during the design phase as well, hence, you need to address them at the earliest. If not taken care of, the risk may spread to the entire project. If you involve QA professionals from the beginning, identifying serious problems will be easy and you can do so before getting started with the development. This will help you save redesign costs that may shoot up in the middle of the project.
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Plan for the Future
Keep in mind that the cost of getting an app developed extends beyond its development and release phase. When your application is up and running, it can still generate expenses.
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Hire an Outsourced Development Team
Outsourcing your software development project will bring in several cost-saving opportunities for your business, throughout the project. You will not have to worry about the high overhead and salary costs associated with hiring in-house developers.
Moreover, you will not have to pay taxes, salaries, perks, hardware, software, workspace and several other costs. When outsourcing app development needs, you can hire teams from any part of the world you wish to, and obtain advantages of the cost-effective development services offered.
Final Thoughts
Now that we are aware of the factors that affect the cost of mobile app development, you can calculate an estimate that you will have to incur to get an app development. To lower the costs involved, we recommend you outsource mobile app development. It will help you ensure that your digital product complies with global tech standards.
An efficient mobile app development team will advise you on ways in which you can reduce the overall cost of your mobile app. At the same time, they ensure faster time-to-market so that it starts generating value at the earliest.