How to value the cost of mobile app development?
The mobile app development service has been in demand since mobile phones appeared, of course, in a closer sense to the modern one. The development of the mobile operating system took its timeline in 1993, while earlier phones had used embedded systems to control operation. However, cell phones might have had dedicated features or modes (a calculator, for instance), but apps, as we know them, appeared in 1997 and were known everywhere. It was a game app on Nokia 6110 – “Snake.” The history of developing the mobile application industry is rich and bright. Therefore, the total app revenue statistics of $71.3 billion across the iOS App Store and Google Play Store (2018). Moreover, nearly 25% of all mobile apps are game apps, 2.5 times the number of business apps. Mobile app development in the UK is provided by any IT company, and PNN Soft has been operating steadily on the market for more than 15 years.
The first point to pay attention to before you consider app development is the range of factors that are important for app purposes. Outsourcing mobile app development usually includes an IT consulting service. You discuss with the technical and marketing specialists the leading features that your app must include and its realization itself. PNN Soft company attends to technical, design, and marketing things for apps creation.
When you appeal to the application development outsourcing company, you should know the needs that the app will fulfil in the future. Firstly, you must clearly understand what app you need: sport, streaming, social, business, e-learning, retail, game, etc. Secondly, the app must ensure value to the customer experience. Thirdly, estimate the amount of work. You might need to upgrade the old app, convert the website into the app, or build the all-new one.
An app for children might be more graphics-oriented and colourful, while adults may want a cleaner look and feel. Both the application type and the target audience define the UX/UI and marketing or advertising strategies.
Application development includes design – one of the key ingredients for a successful app. Consequently, 80% of users expect personalized experiences with brands they interact with. App users crave personalization, where interactions are tailored to their preferences, location, and usage behaviour. PNN Soft has a highly qualified team that implements user-friendly and effective mobile app design.
It is extremely important for app success that your strategy encompasses the two most popular platforms, iOS and Android. The most effective way to carry out an app is to perform it for cross-platform app development. For example, users spent $25 billion on Google Play purchases in 2018. Actually, this platform suggests over 2.8 million apps. The Apple App Store has 2.2 million apps available for download.
Besides, it might be best to start off with a simple design once you review your app for usability testing. The more diverse the app’s functionality, the higher its cost. In addition, the first release will depend on the type of application, the presence of competitors, and their positions in the market. All these aspects require careful analysis and discussion with the hired team of developers and marketers.
User support and updates are inextricably linked and dependent on each other. When evaluating the mobile app development budget, it is important to take into account its further development and maintenance. After the release, the audience response becomes its driving wheel.
For 2018, revenue from Google Play apps exceeded that of the Apple Store. However, the revenue from iOS mobile games is 67.7% more than the Play Market. The Constant and close competition between these two app stores indicates the interest of users and the demand for the service of mobile app development for iOS and Android.
PNN Soft provides different solutions for various industries like finance and banking, e-learning and media, retail and eCommerce, auto and transport, telecommunication, power supply and healthcare. You can review our portfolio to acquaint yourself with the experience of our programmers.
Software Development Solutions for mobile applications involve several steps, which are similar to any category. The software company determines the app type, hybrid or native. The creation and maintenance costs for cross-platform apps are comparatively low. The native approach in development is destined for custom Android app development or iOS. These apps have different technological built as well as different software to build them. Therefore, the price tag will be higher. We’re seeing growth in app downloads each year. This trend will continue in the coming years as well.
Most popular App Store categories:
Games, business, social networks, education, lifestyle, entertainment, utilities, travel, health and fitness, books, food&drinks, productivity, music, finance, photo&video, reference, sports, news, medical.
Most popular Google Play store app categories:
Tools, communication (social networks), games, video players and editing, travel and local, social media, productivity, music, entertainment, news, photography, books, lifestyle, personalization, business, shopping, weather, sports, education, finance, health.
App development price depends on its complexity. Developers can make technically complex applications, but the user will not want to use, for example, a social network that has some too sophisticated functions. One more thing to mention is that you should know how mobile app development comes true to life. There is a problem of fragmentation on Android. The availability of numerous devices of different brands based on this OS causes this issue. Hence, iPhone app development is less complicated due to the devices’ adaptation. Usually, nothing can be ideal. iOS’s apps have a stricter deployment process plus higher annual fees.
Design is another step in the effectiveness of the application in the market and its competitiveness. The PNN Soft company also focuses its attention on UX and UI. Implementation of the design and development of the application creation process includes the creation of the structure and layout. Thus, the price continues to fluctuate depending on the software and programming language, as well as the type of code used for the development process.
The next stage is QA and testing. The way how the company tests the app and how long it takes to fix possible bugs. Each stage of development is discussed in detail with the customer. Further support and updating of the application aren’t inferior in importance. You can lower the cost of creating an app, for example, on the frequency of updates. And after the application is released on the market, analyse its popularity and profitability.
This paragraph gives more clear insights into hybrid, native application development. A hybrid app is a combination of a native app and a web app. These types of applications are created using HTML, CSS, or JavaScript and technically run in a web view. However, they don’t need a web browser and have access to the device’s internal APIs. Besides, mobile application development often requires only one codebase. Although, the versatility of such applications for the OS leads to the fact that they run slower than native ones and aren’t suitable for all categories of applications. In such cases, hybrid development costs more than native development.
Android app development involves Java or Kotlin languages. Native apps deliver the best performance of all three development approaches. Both Apple and Google provide programmers with their own development tools, interface elements, and SDK. Unlike hybrids, native applications have many more advantages but the same number of disadvantages. For applications with more complex functionality, it is cost-effective to develop them for each OS separately.
Native apps are interactive, intuitive, and run more smoothly in terms of user input and output. Developers have access to the entire set of iOS or Android features. The iOS developer uses Swift and Objective-C for apps on the iPhone or iPad. Furthermore, the issue of implementing the app design is simplified. Thus, the designer creates an interface based on the standards of the selected OS, which ultimately leads to a positive response from the audience. However, if the application is simple, you can save your budget by investing in its hybrid development.
PNN Soft specialists have implemented hundreds of mobile applications. In this article, we described the main aspects on which app development cost depends. To implement an application of any complexity adapted to the leading operating systems, our programmers use mobile app development best practices.
Summing up, we indicate the main points that determine the cost.
To hire an Android developer or a dedicated iOS application development team, feel in the form below.
