However, estimation of the cost for developing the app will be their first and foremost task. So, how the young entrepreneur will determine the cost for developing the app?
A clear idea of the app development cost is very essential for the businessman to finalize his budget for the project. The interesting fact in this context is that today app development is not as expensive as it had been in the past. According to the recent survey reports more than 65% of the small businessmen had been successful in developing their mobile apps before the end of 2017.
The better option
The businessman who wants to develop the new mobile app will require the service of an app developer and he will make a thorough search on Google to find out the suitable app developer. At the end of his search he will prepare two separate lists – a list of professional app development companies and another list of freelance app developers.
He will entrust the task of developing the mobile app either with a professional app development firm or with a freelance app developer after going through various aspects of both options.
While he is free to take his own decision the general opinion is favorable to hiring the services of the professional app development firm since the app development companies are providing a lot of additional benefits to their clients when compared to the freelance app developers.
Market research, Project analysis and Planning
Operating System and Platform
The two important decisions regarding the app development are to be taken by the client only – which is the operating system, Android or Apple iOS and on which platform the mobile app should be released, Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
As soon as the final decision is conveyed the app building process will commence. The second stage of planning will be assigning the app development project to the appropriate team. The team will be finalized after knowing the Platform as well as the Operating System.
Selection of the OS
Advantages of Hybrid Platform
While selecting the Platform for the mobile app one has to compare among Hybrid and Native. Both Hybrid and Native Platforms are suitable for building Android as well as iOS. However, the Hybrid apps are less expensive when compared to the Native apps. Moreover, with Hybrid platform we can create cross-platform apps.
Size of the team and Cost of the App
The cost of the new mobile app to be developed also depends on the size of the app development team as well as the country in which the app will be developed. When compared to the development charges levied by the app development companies in USA and Europe, the charges levied by the app development companies in India are considerably less.
Normally, the cost of development of the app is on per hour basis. The size of the app development team also will impact the cost of the app. Each member of the team is to be paid for the work done by him. Usually, an app development team will have a project developer, app developers and designers for UI and UX, developer for backend and frontend and a quality assurance manager.
Technical Specifications of the app
Identification of vital features and not so vital features
For a mobile app, some of the features are vital and the remaining are not so necessary. The client and the app development team should identify the necessary features and the not so necessary features. The features such as third-party integrations, libraries and frameworks are necessary to make the app more functional and also to ensure faster navigation. Hence these features are to be considered as necessary features.
Some of the features like social media sharing, payment gateway and geo-location services are not so necessary and hence they can be added later when required. However for the cab booking apps and the restaurant apps, the above features are vital. Hence, proper identification of the vital features for a particular app is very important. In case the new app is not expected to contain large amount of data the backend feature can be avoided. Backend feature is required when there will be exchange of data among the mobile app and the database.
UI and UX designing
Other factors that are likely to influence the app development cost
Prototyping and Design
In such cases, the client can give up the plan to develop the app instead of wasting time and resources. However, one has to spend certain amount of money for prototyping since the process consists of preparation of the sketch, developing the wire-frames, creation of the app skins and making a clickable model of the app.
App Testing/Quality Assurance
During the Quality Assurance Check, the key inputs of the app testing include testing of the various features and functions of the app, the interfaces, compatibility, security and other aspects. The Quality Assurance Manager will provide a report after completing the app testing.
App Publishing
Publishing the app is the last part of the app development project. The cost of publishing an iOS app in the Apple Store is considerably higher when compared to the cost of publishing an Android App in the Google Play Store. Apple charges around $99 per year for publishing the app and Google charges the one-time fee of around $25 for publishing the app.
Conclusion
It may not be possible to provide the exact and the complete details pertaining to the cost of developing a mobile app without the complete details of the app. The client is required to provide all the details as well as information pertaining to the app to the Mobile app development team prior to working out the cost of developing the app. This is very important because a number of factors will influence the cost of app development and when it is about the various features of the app, the features that are not necessary for the particular app can be omitted after consulting the app development team so as to reduce the cost of app development.
The businessman who wants to develop the mobile app may ensure that each and every aspect of the project is discussed in detail with his app development team so as to execute the project in the proper way within the budget.
Rajeev
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