Author: Writer

Social media marketing is something that seems to have gone beyond being a simple alternative form of marketing and now feels like it’s in a category of its own. It is a technique that almost all businesses like to partake in due to the sheer number of people on the various platforms available. 

However, while it’s something that seems so inviting due to the low-cost nature of it and the precedent that has been set by those before you, it’s still something that has its own myriad of pros and cons. It will do you well to be aware of what these are before you plunge in with two feet, knowledge is power, after all, and in business, it’s all about being in as advantageous a position as possible.

The Cons

It’s best to get the bad news out of the way; being aware of what the potential cons are first can help avoid nasty surprises further down the road. First of all, due to the public forum type of format that social media tends to function around, it is possible for your business to develop some bad press through unfortunate interactions with users of the platform. This might be due to something out of your control that they’re saying or something that your business has posted that has been interpreted in a way that you didn’t intend. Either way, as easy and casual as social media can feel, it’s important that you’re careful when writing your posts and ensure that you read them thoroughly before committing. 

There are more specific problems that you might encounter as well, from a range of sources that you might not expect. For example, while the social media platforms are what you’ll be working with, your prospective customers and audiences might be viewing these via use of their smartphones, which have their own issues to contend with. You might find, for example, that your social media advertising is affected by iOS 14 updates, so it’s important that you’re once again as informed as possible before you begin. 

The Pros

However, as you’ve undoubtedly heard, there are a huge plethora of positives that you can enjoy through the use of these platforms for marketing your business. As stated before, the large user count and low cost of entry already provide you with a worthwhile incentive to get on board, and seeing how so many businesses are already established on social media surely shows that there’s something to be gained there. 

It might be worth focusing your efforts on a particular social media platform, as you might find that each platform available has a different type of audience which might mean that your business is more suited to one than another. Doing ample research can help you to make the strongest debut possible, keeping your expectations in check, and knowing how you’ll use the platforms in such a way to maximize their potential can help to give you the edge that you need to succeed and stand among your peers.

Are you someone who is thinking of building a mobile application development? Do you want to know about mobile app development estimation? Keep scrolling to find out how to estimate mobile app development cost and what you’ll need before hiring an app developer.

Requirements

If you are planning to build a mobile app development, you must have a fair idea about the estimated cost that will be required for the project. You would also need to know how much time it will take to bring the project to life. If all of these questions are thought through beforehand then there is a high chance that you might not face as many problems as you would otherwise without considering these factors.

What affects the cost?

The estimated cost of the mobile app development can vary, depending on various features. The overall price of the entire project relies on how well it will function. One more thing that needs to be taken into account is the wages of those people who are involved in the building process of mobile app development. There are different features of an app that need to be taken into consideration.

Features

A mobile app development cost depends on the different types of features that are required in the application. Each feature has its own fixed cost. The cost of the features depends on the time that is required to build those products in the mobile app development.

Here is a list of how much different features can cost:

• If you are looking to build push notifications then it might cost you something from $1,000 to 1,500. It takes around 25 to 30 hours to build this feature.
• Building a text messenger feature would cost you something between$6,500 to 7,000. It takes approximately 160 to 170 hours to build this feature.
• Integration with Apple Pay and Google Pay would cost you something from $1,000 to 3,200. It takes around 25 to 80 hours to build this feature.

Supported platforms

If you plan to develop an app specifically for one platform, native development (Kotin for Android and Swift for iOS) is the best choice in terms of performance, stability and price. However, if you want your app to be present in both Google Play and Apple Store, consider building the app with a cross-platform framework such as Flutter, React Native, Xamarin and others. Building a cross-platform app costs slightly higher than a native one. For instance, in the United States, a cross-platform developer earns about 10% more than their colleague working with native languages.

Maintenance

Every mobile app requires an update to maintain its complete compatibility with any new device. Usually, these expenses amount to about 15% of the initial development cost/year. 

Also, since almost every mobile app store uses data, you will have to rent a secure server or cloud storage. The annual bill on renting a server’s space starts at $1500, depending on the amount of data and number of users.

Development team size

How many people develop your app should be determined according to the project’s complexity. You can find out more about who you will need in your development team once you do your proper research.

Generally, the following setup is included:

• Two developers: iOS, Android or cross-platform.
• Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer: A QA Engineer reviews all specifications and technical documents, as well as creates and plans all testing activities for the mobile app development.
• Backend developer oversees data storage, payment systems and logic of app operation.
• UX/UI Designer creates a user-friendly interface for the mobile app.
• Project-manager manages the development process and communicates directly with the client.

The Team’s location

One factor that plays an important role in determining the mobile app development cost is the location of the team. Yes, you read that correctly. If we take into account the price of the mobile app developers based in North America, they are mostly over $100/hour. Mobile app developers based in Western Europe provide the services but at half price. Yes, it is that much of a difference.

Mobile Application Specifications

It is important that you first go through all the mobile app development specifications before estimating the cost of the project. You cannot reach any technical specifications before reviewing the concepts.

Overview

To give you a better overview of how to calculate the mobile app development cost, you must realize all that you have to do at first. Make sure that you have a list ready of all the application features. This list will include the type of users, the roles they play and the different classes that they cater to. In the overview, there will be ample information about the hardware and software details of the mobile app. Apart from all this, there will be a detailed overview of the design and the constraints that might arise at a later stage of the project. A list of user documentation is also required.

Functional requirements

Certain functional requirements are needed during software in-app breakdown development.

They are as follows:

1. Purpose of building the mobile app development 
2. The detailed information about a feature
3. What a feature does
4. Implementation priorities 
5. Use cases

External interfaces

Here is a list of all the external interfaces of the mobile app development:

• Screens

As the user interface, prototype and description of each app screen are shared.

• Software Interface

It includes the specification of the APIs, the operating system, the database and the third-party software.

• Hardware interface

The hardware interface includes the various technical features of how the mobile app development works with the hardware of the device.

• Communication interface

The communication interface describes the features of the mobile app development such as the email, the different browsers and the messaging.

• Other parameters 

The other external interfaces include but are not limited to the use of geographic data, push notifications, in-app purchases, data security and the various performance measurements of the mobile app development.

Estimation process

After the technical aspects of the mobile app development are sorted, it is time to estimate the cost of the entire project. After all, there is nothing in the world like a free lunch. The mobile app development cost is estimated based on the various steps and specifications required in the entire process.

Here is a list of the different steps that help in the mobile app development cost:

• Breakdown

It is important to first start with the breakdown of the technical requirements and specifications of the mobile app development cost. It could be easily done with the help of decomposing the cost into small parts of the application.

Here is how you can do a breakdown of the mobile app development cost:

• By screens

To be able to break down by screens, a wireframe of each of the screens must be analysed first. This could be easily done with the help of the present features such as the login or the audio recording options.

• By function

To be able to break down the mobile app development cost by function, all the functions of the application must be analyzed. Make sure you are well aware of how a certain function works and why it is there.

• Developer estimation

After the breakdown of the mobile app development cost is done, you need to estimate a cost for the developer that would do all the leg work. The developer will closely monitor how long it will take to program every feature in the mobile app. They will give you a fair idea about the time that it will take you during this process.

• Project manager’s cost

Usually what mobile app developers do is overestimate the time which is required in the entire process. This kind of makes the job of a project manager tough.

In a sense, it is upon the project manager to strike the right balance and manage the time accordingly. The project manager should also be able to balance out the estimated cost and make sure that there is quality work. Another thing that the project manager needs to do is to make sure that the entire project has a code merge amongst the developers; factorization and the release are taken care of.

• Final estimation

At this stage, the project manager gives the final estimations of the mobile app project. This step also includes everything else from other team members. If any corrections are required, they are taken care of at this final stage.

Price models

Two reliable price models are used in the mobile app development cost.

Here they are:

• Fixed-price

The fixed price model has a specific list of the different features of mobile app development. It also has what the features will be used for once the mobile app development is built. Not to forget, the mobile app development cost is also determined through this price model. So, just in case, if any other work occurs during the mobile app development stage, there is an additional cost that needs to be added to the estimation. It requires an agreement with the client to avoid any issues at a later stage. 

• Time and material

The second type of price model is the time and material model. This is a pretty flexible price model as compared to the fixed price model.

Here are some of the key features of the time and material price model:

1. The developer provides a rough estimation of the mobile app development cost that will be required in the different stages of the project.
2. The developers start with the mobile app development process and present the outcome to the client at the end of each stage to make sure that there is no ambiguity regarding the money.
3. If there is any need for any additional work, the developers let the client know and the client then pays for the additional mobile app development cost.

Conclusion

Mobile app development cost is not an easy game. The entire process takes into account the various aspects of the mobile app development based on the technical requirements that you have.

Summary

Once you start working on mobile app development, it is important that you first sort out the mobile app development estimation and cost to avoid any issues at a later stage. Make sure that you have clarified everything with the developers and the project manager beforehand. You can follow the two price models listed in this article for your mobile app development cost. The two models can be quite beneficial for you during the entire project, depending on your individual needs and requirements.

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