With more businesses investing in mobile apps for internal employee use or as a marketing tool to connect with their customers, developing an app is a process that takes thought, planning, and skilled execution. Too often, decision makers don’t understand that designing an app is different from designing a website. So to help clear up any confusion for people looking to enter the mobile space, we are hosting a weekly chat on our Facebook page that answers YOUR questions about developing mobile apps.
We hosted our first App Chat last Wednesday and wanted to share a few of the best questions:
Q: Are there any “pre-made” data bases with multiple users capability to start from with out having to write it from scratch? Kinda like a istockphoto for development?
A: There are tons of existing services that allow you to access a database and create user accounts without building from scratch. When someone calls or comes in, our first question is always “What are you interested in building?” We base our recommendations on what the final product needs to do.
Q: What are the pros and cons of using something like that [pre-built databases] if it does exist?
A: This would really depend on the service you’re using, but in general, the pros are: cheaper startup cost, built-in support, and having access to a company that is knowledgeable in a particular industry or facet of development. Cons are: usually not very flexible to add/remove features as you wish, sometimes support is subpar or nonexistent, and as a database and user accounts are foundational, you can’t really remove the 3rd party service later without scrapping everything you’ve built so far.
Using anything pre-built can come with flexibility issues if you’re looking at making a lot of changes. While it may save money upfront, it could very well cost you more to make changes to fit your needs.
Q: What are the price range for mobile app development from games to educational programs?
A: Good question. Cost really depends on the scope of the project. Mobile app development is a more expensive endeavor than some people realize, with reputable firms charging anywhere from $10,000 for something pretty basic to upwards of $50,000 for a large-scale app including database development, integration of external systems, gaming, or animation. Sole developers are usually less expensive because they have lower overhead, but with an agency you get the benefit of having access to an entire team of professionals.
This is a question that our team receives all the time. It’s a fair question, but it’s not easy to answer. Every project is different, every need is different, every business is different.
Other common questions we receive have been answered in a some of our recent posts. If you want to know what questions to ask your app developer, or tips for businesses looking to launch a mobile app, we’ve got you covered!
As always, if you are interested in keeping touch with us you can sign up for our brand new, shiny mailing list (!!!) or contact us directly. Ain’t technology just the best?
Read our post about 3 Things From Facebook’s F8 Developer Conference You Didn’t Hear
