Thursday 14 March 2019

5 of the Biggest Factors Affecting Your Mobile App Development Costs

Sophina Dillard 04:02 , , , No comments :
Developing a mobile app used to be reserved for those who could afford to do so. It was an indulgence that not many took, and those who did spent a lot of money doing so. Then technology improved and the cost to develop a mobile app dropped. This meant that mobile apps were no longer a bonus that looked and sounded cool; they turned into a business advantage that can give you the boost you need to surpass your competition. 

Even though you won’t break the bank developing a mobile app today, it can still be a costly endeavor. That’s why today, we’re going to be discussing five of the biggest factors affecting your mobile app development costs and how to reduce them.

1. External Mobile App Development Resources

As you might expect, one of the most obvious factors affecting your mobile app development cost relates to external resources, i.e. whether or not you turn to an outside source for help. To simplify things, let’s break down mobile app development factors into two areas: strategy and development. Whereas strategy relates to everything pertaining to the app’s function and features, development has to do with the actual engineering work that gets the app built. With this in mind, your company may have a well-defined strategy and design in place, but lacks the expertise to follow through with the development. Then again, the opposite may be true and you have a team of developers, but no real solution to implement. In both of these instances, you would need to go to someone else for help, which equates to a higher development cost.

Low cost mobile app development solution: If you have the capability, keep everything in-house. Keep in mind that outside resources often have the experience and expertise to deliver a beautiful app, so weigh this against your own resources. You could also opt for an app template that simplifies everything and reduces your overall costs.

2. Mobile App Platform(s)

Another factor that affects your mobile app development cost is your app’s platform(s). In other words, whether you choose a cross-platform approach or design it for a specific operating system like iOS or Android. Because each mobile platform is different and requires its own app-building approach, you can’t simply copy and paste the code for one platform and use it for another. If you want your app to work on all operating systems, you’ll have to invest more money and use a cross-platform approach that ensures this happens. 

Low cost mobile app development solution: Stick to the platform your users use the most in the beginning, and once your app has gained traction, venture out into different operating systems.

3. Integrations

You want your mobile app to be the best, so you get the best, right? Unfortunately, the more you add to your app, the more you end up paying for it. For example, consider features that can be integrated from the phone itself, such as GPS, camera, flashlight, etc. Each additional integration to your app equates to an additional fee. 

Low cost mobile app development solution: Keep integrations to a minimum, especially in the beginning. If you build too many into the first release, you can end up paying more for something that you’re not even sure you truly want later on, and may also face additional costs in the beginning if there are bugs that need to be fixed.

4. Bonus Features

Similar to integrations, you may want to include bonus features on your app to make it even more attractive for your users. For example, to convince your users to stick with the app even though it takes a while to load, you may choose to include an animated splash screen to keep them entertained. You may also want to include virtual assistant functionality to make it more appealing to tech-savvy users (e.g. allowing them to interact with Siri, Alexa, or another crowd-favorite assistant). No matter what additional features you choose to include, all of them will inevitably increase your costs.
Low cost mobile app development solution: Also similar to the point above, keep bonus features to a minimum.

5. Localization

Localization is the process whereby you make something unique for a particular place, and the final factor affecting your mobile app development costs we’ll cover today. For example, a basic consideration here is your app’s main language. You may want to expand its borders and include other languages, which will lead to more costs. Likewise, you have to think about customer support. Will you be able to handle requests coming from people who don’t speak the main language, but rather one of the additional ones? If you can’t, you’ll have to hire someone who can, which, again, means more money spent. And then there’s your market. Each region your app is available in may have different requirements to appear in an app store, meaning more boxes to check and more money to spend.

Low cost mobile app development solution: At least in the beginning (and if you can), keep things simple and stick with one language and one market. Like we talked about with platforms, once your app has gained traction, expand both your app and its user base.

Let’s Take a Second Look

No matter your industry, chances are good that a mobile app can be an excellent tool you can use to propel your business forward. Unfortunately, development is not cheap; thankfully, there are some things you can do to alleviate your concerns and mitigate costs. For instance, the five solutions we covered today relating to the five biggest factors affecting your development costs:

1. External Mobile App Development Resources
2. Mobile App Platform(s)
3. Integrations
4. Bonus Features
5. Localization

Best of luck!

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