When developing an app, you may face many challenges during the app development process. These problems may be related financially or technically. If you are going to create an app, you might have made up your mind to manage all the expenses in the app development process.
According to Statista, the average hourly rates of mobile app development cost goes up to $168/hour.
Thus, it is always recommended to have good knowledge about the app development cost and avoid financial crisis later on.
In this blog post, we will be discussing the hidden costs of mobile app development.
Types Of Hidden Costs
Types of hidden cost of mobile app development can be categorized into four parts:
i) Functional Cost
In functional cost, the cost of the app’s calculation based on the functionality. To make certain functionality work, you might have to subscribe to a service that provides a delivery mechanism. It depends upon apps to apps and the services they use. Sometimes it is countable, and sometimes it goes countless.
Here are a few examples of the paid list:
- SMS Notifications: To integrate mobile SMS into devices, you can use services like Twilio.
- Push Notifications: Push notifications have become popular nowadays. It increases user interactions with your app and helps users to decide to take desired actions.
- Social Media: Social media is a core element of every business. Thus, social media integration is important. If you want social integration in your app, you need to avail some paid services like one-to-one chat, group chat, and bot integration. You need to avail services by Applozic and SendBird.
- Email: Mailgun and SendGrid are the two best email services you can integrate into your app.
ii) Administrative Cost
Availing administrative service can provide you with constant access to data so that you can update your app’s content and manage your users without contacting the IT department. These administrative services are hard to predict and depend upon the app type you are developing.
Here are a few examples of paid administrative services:
- Content Management Tool
- Dashboard Emulators
- Functional Services Management
- Dynamic Updates
- Access Control
- Data Segmentation
iii) Infrastructure Cost
Infrastructure cost includes all the expenses for app hosting, data storage, and data delivery. This led to adding complexity and cost to the project.
Example of Infrastructure cost items:
- Server
- Content Delivery Networks
- Data Storage
- Image Data
- Development Tools, Libraries, and Support
iv) IT Support Cost
Developing an app without IT support and service is impossible. The only problem is the cash that increases over time.
Examples of IT support and services include:
- App Update Submission
- OS Updates (Android & iOS)
- API maintenance
- Bug Fixing
7 Hidden Costs Of Developing An App
i) Releasing the App to The App Stores
When developers develop mobile apps, they keep in mind app store requirements. Not all companies do that, but you can approach the development company to handle the pricing of the app. You need to take an active subscription to publish the app in the app stores.
ii) Marketing
Developing an app can take some time, then comes the final release. Users wait long to see the product live and see it succeed. After a successful launch of an app, it needs to get promoted.
Planning quality marketing strategies and campaigns are vital for providing word about your app and increasing sales. But when it comes to price, basic PR and support will cost you around $5,000 to $10,000. For a free marketing approach, you should go with app store optimization (ASO).
iii) Maintenance
Whether a mobile web app or even a website, it needs regular updates, maintenance, and technical support. Make a note that not all mobile app development services provide maintenance support. Before signing a contract, make sure that the app development company you are choosing should provide maintenance and support after its launch.
iv) App Security
App security is a major concern among all. Users must be confident in using your app. Thus, you should have a proper security plan.
Here is the list of things that you should consider before making a security plan with your development team:
- Ensure to check the security with the development team that wants to use third-party frameworks and libraries.
- Get the code tested by the development team
- Reduce access permissions in your app or keep it limited.
- Ensure your development team performs regular code reviews.
If you add all these activities, your development process will take longer than you expect.
v) Hosting & Servers
Once your app is ready, you need to store and process your data somewhere. All your data get store on servers. The software runs with the help of a server. It takes requests, processes them, and returns a response. Almost every mobile application has a back-end server. The cost of hosting and servers depends upon the space you are using.
vi) Software Licenses
Developing a mobile application is not an easy task. Developing an app may require different SDKs and libraries. Most of them are free and open-source. But some are paid or offer paid upgrades from the free version. By the help of these features, developers can now decrease the time using these software packages.
vii) Multiple Platforms
Developing an app for different platforms requires different programming languages. A native iOS app won’t work on Android and vice-versa. Hybrid apps are build using web technologies and run on multiple platforms.
According to clutch, the mobile app development cost may vary on choosing different platforms and developing them on an hourly basis.
The cost of reaching all platforms with a native app depends on the type of app and the features desired.
Conclusion
Now, you might have got an idea of app development costs. It is true that developing a mobile app is expensive and time-consuming. The cost of a mobile app depends upon its features, design, and project size.
So, as you have got an idea about mobile app development cost, you can hire developers to develop your app.
About Author:-
Jacob is an app developer at AppsChopper, with in-depth expertise in the app development process. He knows how to bring app ideas into reality with flawless UI/UX and keeps himself updated with the ongoing app trends.