9 Tips to Decrease Mobile App Development Cost

Nowadays, many businesses are using their own mobile app to attract more customers to buy their products and provide them highly customized services that will improve their experience. However, it is not a cheap proposition to build a mobile app for your business.

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Therefore, if you are in the process to hire an Android developer to build a mobile app for your company, you should look at these points carefully to reduce the overall cost of mobile app development. The points mentioned here are a small but important part which will help you to keep the cost of app development to a minimum.

1). Plan well

This is one of the most important lessons while embarking on any undertakings and is also true when you want to hire an Android developer to build a mobile app for your business. It would be helpful if you brainstorm with your other teammates to thrash out different ideas and finally choose those that you believe will provide the customer with the best experience while using your app.

The Mobile app development is a complex process and it requires time and resources to get completed perfectly. Planning in advance will help you thrash out different ideas on the drawing board itself and you do not have to make the expensive proposition of trying to add something more to an already developed app.

Besides brainstorming with your teammates will help you in many ways:

• You get to know a lot more ideas as two head is always better than one
• You get another person’s perspective about your own ideas
• You get more data to arrive at an optimal decision

2). Sketch the design of the final product

Developing a mobile app requires a lot of code writing and it makes sense to first try to make a sketch of what the app and its interface will look like and present it to the developer. This will give him a broad idea of what you are looking for in an app and what kind of interface you want to provide the customer.

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These markers will help him in designing an app and its workflow in such a way that it will satisfy all your points. As you have given him a rough sketch of what is expected from him, he will take less time to complete the job thereby reducing the cost of developing the app significantly.

3). Choose the platform for your app

Mobile app development is a very expensive exercise and if you are a startup and are looking to cut costs, then make sure that you choose the right platform for your app. Companies make apps for iOS, Android and Windows. However, if you are short on cash and are looking to cut some in the app development process then we suggest that instead of targeting all the three platforms try one only.

Making apps for three platforms will cost you thrice as much as developing it for one platform. Therefore, first try to find out which platform is preferred by your targeted customers. Once that is identified then you have to build an app for that platform to maximize the ROI.

4). Outsource the app development process

While it seems like a good idea to build your app in-house as you will have more control over the development and design process, it can turn very costly. When you outsource the app development process to a third party then you have to pay them by the hour while they are developing your app, whereas if you are building the app in-house then you have to pay them a fixed salary irrespective of the hours they have used to develop your app.

Besides, outsourcing the app development process also has several advantages:

• You get to work with experienced app developers
• Your cost is reduced as you don’t have to pay regular salary to an expert (in-house) for developing one app for your business
• You get to choose from a great many design options

5). Integrate plugins to improve functionality

If you already have some pre-existing design template of plugins, then integrating them with the app you are developing will reduce the cost significantly. When you integrate the existing plugins with your new app you not only reduce the cost but also able to find the personalizes settings that you have so thoughtfully provided in the templates.

Integrating the pre-existing plugins help the developer to develop the app in a shorter period of time with all the main features that you have asked him to do. He can do that because he does not have to worry about the extra features that the plugins will help him deliver.

6). Making optimum use of the existing technologies

When you outsource the app development process for your business to an expert, then you have the option of choosing from a wide range of template and existing framework the developer has already used in the past. Tweaking these for your needs will not only make the developmental process faster but will also reduce the cost.

7). Testing the framework

It is important to know about the flaws about the app that you have developed before you have launched it in the market. This will not only save your reputation but will also cut down on the cost of redesigning and developing the app. To do this you can test the framework to find out which elements of the app is not working perfectly and then find out the problem and fix it.

8). Do not try to make a complex app

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Do not get carried away and try to do many things with your app. The more things you include in your app, the more cost you have to pay in the developmental process. Besides, it may make the app slow. Only try to focus on those points that are important to promote your business.

9). Look for an agency that does everything in-house

Mobile app development requires multiple experts working together to build an app. There are many agencies that only do a part of the process and you have to go to another agency to complete the project (like designing an app, developing an app and marketing it). You should look for one agency that does all of these things under one roof. This will reduce the developmental cost significantly.