Author: Qurat-ul-Ain

Apps are the talk of the world, thanks to smartphones and their efforts at digitalizing every little thing we see, hear or breathe. Apps are indispensable, that is, if truth be told. From helping you spend your time at the hospital with a fascinating game to gabbing away on the phone with your long-distance pen-pal – apps help us to stay busy, informed and on the top of the connectivity radar.

Building an app is considerably not that hard or expensive, experts say. The investment narrows down to the complexity of the design of the app in the end. If you are short on funds, you might have to skip any finer details such as custom or premium features that might actually add complexity to the design and help your app to stand out.

So, here is where we get to the nitty-gritty of building an app – how much does it actually cost and do you have to mortgage your home for that or not? Read on!

Mobile App Development

If you were one of the people who managed to sit through Swiped on Netflix for the sake of watching Noah on the big screen (again), swipe left instantly. From choosing the app’s platform to hiring a developer’s and marketing team for your Big Idea – your app’s success revolves around a number of factors that are putty in your hands. If writing a code and producing an app was that easy, we would have singled out several apps by now – and trust us, we would have

App’s Mode of Functionality

Your app’s mode of functionality decides the outcome of your app amidst competition. If your app runs on an array of complex features, you have to ensure that they are unique enough to give the app the oomph it needs to succeed.

A huge chunk of your app’s seamless mode of functionality depends on how profound its data processing system is. If your app requires you to research a lot on your backend, you might need a lot of funds to back up your entire developing process as well. With a lot of competition in the market already, you might need to put in that extra effort just to break even!

Consider a social networking app and a fitness calculator app as prime examples for you to understand. An app developer might have to tweak several scenarios and functionality options while developing the social networking app in contrast to a fitness calculator that merely keeps track of the steps you took all day. Plus, let us not forget the external devices such as Bluetooth that your application might have to process to issue connectivity on the go.

When was the last time you uninstalled an app the moment you struggled to sign-up with your pre-existing email or Facebook account? If you know us, we would rather log in with our email address rather than to have another password to remember by. Your customers want to stay away from apps that might appear either ‘too busy’ or ‘too slow’.

Complexity and Clarity of UX Design

What does your app’s design offer your consumers? A better user experience, of course? Pop-up menus, single-click icons, vivid and graphic images for accepting requests, and vibrant typography are examples of design solutions that can help users navigate. 

Your app needs recurrent positive feedback from consumers to stay afloat in the market. The only way that this is possible is to offer your customers a simple framework that is not only comprehensible to understand but relatively simpler to follow. Rule of Thumb: Even if your app’s idea is complex, its UX design should be as clear and transparent for the average, layman to understand.

While designing an app, make sure you pay attention to the type of platforms your consumers primarily use. If a fair majority of your product’s users use Apple devices, then it is better to test your app by launching it on iOS initially. You can also release a ‘prototype’ for a limited time to check whether your app checks of all bases of functionality and clarity of design.

Designing a simple app, say a fitness calculator or workout app, you might need an investment of $5,000 or less. But, if your app is complex and includes the implementation of medium-to-high level of functionality, you might need $10,000 – $25,000 to simply ‘start’ off with the pitch and design.

Team of Developers

It’s never a one man’s project, is it? In order to design and recruit your team of developers, you have to come to terms with the complexity of the entire project. As per the app’s size and design’s complexity, you can either recruit a couple of developers or an entire team of developers with different designations. In this case, your app might have a frontend as well as a backend developer to keep the operation up and running all smoothly. In addition, a larger project might benefit from a couple of app designers, analysts, testers and developers who would be responsible for cross-checking the servers and platforms.

But, here is where it gets tough. Recruiting a team of developers is not only the hardest but can also get quite expensive. While you can recruit an app developer UX/UI designer from any part of the world, surveys report those from North America to be the most expensive. A business specialist from North America might charge around $200 hourly as opposed to $42 if you recruit the same from Asia!

Conclusion

According to VDC, the development of a simple mobile app might cost around $140,000 to break even! However, highly functional and feature-rich apps might cost you a maximum of $367,000. Quite honestly, your investment into developing any mobile application might set you back in the savings compartment. But, here is the thing: the more unique your app idea, the more chances of it getting more downloads from your rearing public. So, you would be a millionaire long before you sit down to check your accounts’ sheet.