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How to Manage the Cost of a Mobile App Development Project

A single mobile app development project may cost anywhere between $8,000 to several hundred thousand dollars and may take from two months to more than a year to be completed.

Managing the cost of a mobile app development project can be difficult enough with so many resources involved.

Every mobile app development project is broken down into phases, each of which consumes a portion of the money.

App Development Process

Research & Design phase

It is vital to examine your app idea and run a market analysis before you begin working on it. It is a very important phase because the data collected here will be utilised in all the subsequent stages of the project till the very end.

A good practice is to find similar apps and investigate all features carefully. However, you should be clear about how the functionalities of your app will differ from your competitors’ apps because that can’t be just a copy of that.

It’s time to start creating your app’s user interface after analysing the idea and completing market research.

In most cases, the design phase accounts for 10-15% of the total app development cost. If your app has some unique requirements, the budget for this phase may need to be raised. At Appello Software, we provide app design with full UI/UX perspective included.

Development phase

The next phase after designing is the development phase of coding. Coding is the most important step of app development, and as a result, it requires the majority of the development budget.

This phase usually requires at least 2-4 developers, depending on the complexity of the app, as well as a Project Manager and QA assistant. You should choose the developers carefully before you start the coding phase because you will have some difficulties for sure if you change a developer or team member during the project development life cycle.

As a result, working with an established app development company with a strong, skilled team rather than individual developers is a wise choice.

Testing & Maintenance phase

After developing your app, testing should be done on multiple mobile devices or device simulators to ensure smooth performance and whether it’s ready to be published on the app stores. This is a critical app development phase because it ensures that the final product does not have any glitches or bugs which could have a great impact on user experience.

Most people forget the fact that the development stage is merely the top of the iceberg when developing an app.

They concentrate primarily on the initial stages of the app development cycle, thus the expense of maintenance typically comes as a shock.

To work on a variety of mobile devices and operating systems, each app requires ongoing maintenance and upgrades. According to industry research, the average cost for maintenance, for a medium-sized enterprise app, ranges between $6,000 and $12,000 per month.

How to manage the cost of a mobile app development project?

The tips to manage and reduce the cost of your app development project can be learned now that you are aware of the phases.

It is a good idea to think about the features that will be included within your app before you start working on it. List the features you want to include in the app and understand the problems that you want to fix.

While some of the features and functionalities are easy to build, others will take a significant amount of time and money.

So, in order to design your app without blowing your budget, you need to add only the features that are crucial to the app’s functionality.

Once you’ve created a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with only the most important functionality, you can test it and then add more features as an update once you’ve earned some revenue from the live MVP version.

You can use pre-built features to cut development costs. Rather than spending time and money on developing your own push notification function, you can choose a third-party plug-in. The same about payments, video streams, etc.These pre-built solutions are available from a variety of service providers at a low cost.

You should also think about where the app developer is located. Although each company charges differently, the pricing of their services is heavily influenced by their location.

If the app development team uses the agile framework, they go through a process of planning, development, and testing in iterative cycles called sprints. Projects are better handled this manner, and each stage is efficiently done and tested. This significantly reduces app development costs too.

Summing Up

Managing the mobile app development cost of a  project can be a tough task, as it involves extensive collaboration and repetitive testing.

Before you begin the mobile app development process, make sure you have a clear understanding of the project and the app’s goal. The techniques and strategies listed above will secure project deliverables and assist you in effectively managing app development costs.

Appello Software is Australia’s leading app and web development company. Contact us to get a consultation and a quote for your next project.

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