Mobile App Development Process [10 Steps Detailed Guide]

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As mobile app revenue nears the 1 trillion annual revenue mark, more businesses are looking to develop and launch their own enterprise app. Business apps increase the productivity of employees, by reducing paperwork and improving internal communication. They also enable workers to access important functionalities from a central place. When apps are built for customers, they improve the customers’ experience of the brand’s services. They can quickly request a service, follow up on progress, and request support in case of an issue.

The mobile development landscape, however, can prove quite a challenge for many businesses. The budget can be quite a constraint. Determining what constitutes the Minimum Viable Product requires an exhaustive analysis of organizational workflow. Another challenge lies in getting together the right development team. Before getting started, it’s important to understand the mobile app development steps. This step-by-step guide can help understand why most apps take at least four months to develop and launch.

1. Business Strategy Discussion

All app development processes begin with ideation. This is a discussion of why the business needs to develop an app. The users must be identified. If there are other apps already in the market, the business must identify how the new app will differentiate itself from the others. If the app is expected to bring in revenue, the business model should be discussed. The business has a chance to differentiate itself from the competition by charging different prices by applying a freemium model. The first step is important in deciding whether a gap exists in the market. If not, there is no need to commit resources to the project.

2. Analysis and Discussion of MVP

If indeed a gap exists in the market, a discussion about the Minimum Viable Product will happen. What should the app be able to do? How many users should it support? What should the User Interface look like? Some of these requirements can be pegged against competitor apps. At this point, the business must have an internal lead for the project.

If the business has brand colors used on other company assets (business cards, books, websites), then these should be used to develop a style guide for the app. Does the company have fonts? If yes, then these also go into the app.

3. Estimate Cost and Time

The third step in mobile app development is getting an estimation of how much the project will cost and the time to complete. A business consultant familiar with the app development landscape can help with this process. The business can invite several software developments teams to put together proposals based on the requirements agreed in step 2. Costs will vary depending mainly on the location of the software development team. Software developers in North America charge five times what developers in Asia do. The time will depend on the complexity of the project.

4. UI/UX Design

The first thing the development team will seek to understand is how users of the app will interact with it. What will the app display to users? What data will users provide? This will inform the different screens the mobile app will have. All these are then drawn on paper as sketches then digitally as wireframes. Wireframes should include styling from the style guide given so that they are as realistic as possible.

The design team can also prepare clickable mockups on Figma or Invision to simulate the user experience. The business’s project team can then provide better feedback.

5. App Development

Software developers will now begin to code the functionality of the app. The architecture of the app includes a server, APIs, and the front-end. Developers will pick an appropriate technology stack depending on the different platforms the app will launch on (iOS, Android, Windows). The coding process can take weeks or months. Therefore, there should be milestones where meetings will occur for updates purposes. It’s important that the business’s internal lead can understand the significance of these milestones. If not, the business might need an external project manager.

6. Functional and Performance Testing

Once the coding is done, testing begins. The first tests will mostly be visual to find whether the app looks like what was in the mockups. The workflow should match clickable wireframes on Figma of Invisio. The app should use the style guide fonts and colors consistently. The navigation should also work properly. The next step should be functional testing, to ensure users can access all the app’s functions. Testing should happen on all operating systems.

Once all features are tested, the app’s performance should also be tested. Performance testing involves checking screen load times, bandwidth consumption, app size, effects on phone battery, incidences of memory leaks, and so on.

7. Quality Assurance and Security Testing

The next step will be testing the ability of the app to withstand security threats. The development team will most likely have standard security testing procedures for the app. For instance, the app should be able to terminate user sessions if a user stays too long without activity. In some cases, the app will require to store user credentials for easy login. Data leaks should not happen in such instances.

8. Deployment of the Mobile App

Once issues detected in the testing phase have been fixed, the app is now ready for launch. The app will be submitted to the major stores and subjected to a review process. Clearance might take a few days or weeks. It’s important to write the app’s metadata correctly during the submission process. This metadata includes the app’s name, description, category, icon, and screenshots. Make sure to include the important keywords in the description for App Store Optimization.

9. Publicity

Apps are either meant for the mass market or a certain specific niche. Businesses, therefore, need to get word out to their target market that their app is available. One way to do so is to invite journalists and industry thought leaders to try out the app and review it for their audiences. This will help to not only get feedback but also publicity. The company should also use its other avenues such as social media to generate a buzz for the app. In most cases, they will release trailers, explainer videos, and a blog forum for discussion.

10 . Feedback and Improvement

As people download the app and start using it, it’s important to keep track of certain metrics. The most obvious will be the app’s average rating on the different stores. Are the specific issues that people are complaining about? Is there a feature that’s not working? There are deeper and more indicative metrics, though, such as the retention rate- the number of users using the app after their first experience. It’s indicative of the fact that they find the app useful. The company will also want to see how the Daily Active Users number is growing over time.

Getting Mobile App Development Right

The best way to approach mobile app development is to understand the intricacies of every step. The right software development partner will explain each step in detail. The business must not rush. The business model must be clear. The app must offer something different from the competition. Only when this happens should the actual app development proceed.

If your organization needs help with mobile app development, get in touch with NS804 for a comprehensive package. We help businesses build apps for both iOS and Android platforms. Get in touch with us today.

How Much Does it Cost to Make a Restaurant App

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Making an app for a restaurant unlocks numerous opportunities. The average person spends more than 4 hours each day on their phone. Having your app installed on their phone increases the number of times they will interact with your brand. On the app, you can send customers push notifications for offers, new items on the menus, and other important communication. The app will also enable them to place orders, even when in other cities where your brand is available. Customers can also give honest feedback about their experiences with your brand. Though daunting, investing in a restaurant app can help create a legion of loyal clients.

If you are thinking of investing in an app, here is a breakdown of how much it is likely to cost you.

Hiring the Right Development Team

The biggest determinant of your restaurant app development costs will be the location of the team you pick. Hiring a software developer in North America will cost upwards of $105 an hour. The project could take 3 months to complete, test, and launch. Hiring a software developer in Europe costs about $75 an hour, while one in India could cost $25 an hour. The difference is quite staggering. Taking time to find an experienced development team outside North America could slash your costs by more than 50%.

The Features

The number and complexity of the features on the restaurant app will affect the timeframe of the project, hence the costs. In an agile development approach, the development team will charge an hourly rate, then bill a certain number of hours for each feature.

A simple restaurant app will have a menu. The menu must have the proper product descriptions, quality images, and categorization. It could also allow users to customize their orders. In that case, it has to be responsive so that users see how customization affects their order total. The app should obviously allow online ordering instead of having to call in for delivery. A payment process integration is also a basic requirement. Most apps have online banking, Apple Pay, and PayPal payment options.

If your restaurant hosts eat-in clients, the app could allow people to book tables to save on waiting time when they come in. Push notifications are also a basic requirement for marketing reasons nowadays. Such a basic app could take 3 to 4 months to build until completion. Assuming 4 months or 16 weeks of work, it could cost around $64000 when working with a developer in North America. If working with a team in Asia, the cost could reduce to around $20000.

More Complex Apps

More complex apps have more advanced features that rack up development time and costs. For instance, being able to track the status of an order is a complex feature. Having non-conventional payment methods, such as accepting cryptocurrencies is another feature on quite several new restaurant apps. Most apps will have a customer interface as well as the backend where orders are accepted, and progress updated. However, it is possible to have an interface for waiters where they can see the tables they should serve, the status of a customer’s bill and so on.

Making the Right Choice

Before beginning the development purpose, it’s important to have a rough figure of the amount of money you are willing to put into the app. You can consult with a software development project manager to help you put together a team that can deliver your app within the budget. There are a lot of talented developers out there, however, you will need the help of a project manager to identify the team and track the project to completion.

To find out more on developing your restaurant app, check out NS804 service offerings.

Is It Time To Launch a Custom Enterprise App?

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The Rise of The Custom Enterprise App

Organizations all over the globe adjusted operations over the past year in order to meet the needs of the market. Specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic completely altered the economy as we knew it. As a result, many companies began developing custom enterprise applications. These applications have a wide range of features and capabilities and vary significantly from business to business. However, despite the large variance in design and function, there is no denying that a custom enterprise app is perfectly capable of elevating your organization to the next level.

Finding the right time to invest in custom enterprise app development is sometimes crucial to successful implementation. Therefore, it’s vital to do your due diligence before pulling the trigger on custom enterprise app development to make sure that you’re setting yourself up for success.

Conducting an Internal Analysis

One of the very first steps to take in considering the development of a custom enterprise application is; conducting a thorough internal analysis. Performing an internal analysis is a vital process because it yields a waterfall of helpful insights and data that inform decision-making in the context of custom enterprise app development. For instance, by conducting an internal analysis you’ll gain impactful insights into the types of functions and capabilities to be sure to include.

Be sure to take note of your staff’s input when conducting your internal analysis. Staff will often provide deep insights into the exact functionalities that would benefit them the most. Then, by including those features in specific, you’re well on your way to a successful custom enterprise app design.

Another major area to pay attention to throughout the course of your internal analysis is your financial standing. This is arguably the most significant indicator to determine whether or not your firm is in need of a custom enterprise application. Furthermore, this data will allow you to know what sort of budget you would be able to invest in enterprise application development.

Developing Custom Enterprise Applications

As mentioned above, finances are an extremely significant determinant of when to develop a custom enterprise app. However, there is still more than one avenue through which appreneur’s and app developers can pursue custom enterprise app development. There are really three options when it comes to recruiting the programming team. First, you can look in-house if you have a few talented programmers, developers, and designers on staff already. This is arguably the most cost-effective as all of the development processes remain in-house and self-contained. Not to mention, when working with staff and employees, there’s a stronger internal sense of communication that already innately exists.

For those that aren’t lucky enough to have their own suite of developers in-house, there are still two other options. Organizations and decision-makers can look to agency developers, or they can seek help from a freelance developer. As you can imagine, each of these options comes with its own series of pros and cons. For instance, with freelance programmers, there is generally a higher risk associated with the quality of the end result, as well as timing, and other factors that could throw off your project. While some freelancers are more than worth their weight in salt, so to speak, there’s a wide market percentage of freelance developers that are under-trained and under-experienced whose work ends up being subpar. This can range from issues like bug-ridden applications full of faults; all the way to incomplete code, or a final design that feels clunky and unprofessional.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin, if fishing for a freelancer isn’t your game; you can trust the development of your custom enterprise application to an agency developer.

Choosing Your Developer

By far one of the most enticing benefits of choosing agency developers to take on your custom enterprise application project is the guarantees that come with. Agency developers and programmers are often part of entire project teams. In other words, they’re pieces of the whole or cogs in the machine, if you will. As such, your app has more people working on it from a variety of angles. With design specialists to UX experts, and everything in between, by choosing an agency developer, you can rest assured your application is in good hands.

There is, however, a common misconception with the agency development avenue. Since agencies come with quality guarantees on design, user experience, and delivery, they too bring with them a slightly heftier price-point. Consider this, though; when it comes to application development costs, the true lifetime value of the development process is presented in the final application. In other words, while agencies may require a bit more capital; there is a lot less risk when it comes to the end result.

The Benefits To Employees

Committing the time and capital necessary to develop a custom enterprise application, though, will go miles. In the new economy that is nearly fully virtual and with the world quickly accelerating toward an entirely digital social experience, consumers are hungry for instant gratification. As well as instant results. Beyond the growing expectation for instant results in the consumer base, however; is the fact that a large majority of the corporate workforce now operates remotely. To accommodate the remote workforce, more and more companies are buying into custom enterprise solutions for their organization.

One of the most common areas that these custom enterprise applications address is internal communication. While there are plenty of options in the enterprise app market that already target communication, employees show a significant uptick in productivity and efficiency with custom solutions.

Communication Solutions

In today’s day, communication is being recognized as one of the most valuable elements in any context. This extends from business settings to emotional life situations, and every and any type of relationship in between. As such, business leaders and decision-makers have put a much stronger emphasis and priority on developing strong avenues of communication, both internally and externally.

Developing a well-connected and interlaced internal network through strong communication channels elevates business operations, efficiency, and employee productivity. By creating strong channels through which team members can communicate swiftly and seamlessly, you’ll be providing them the suite of tools that they need to conduct and complete their daily activities from wherever they may be stationed.

Equip Your Staff For Success

Following suit, by investing in a custom enterprise application; your company can create a unique suite of enterprise solutions that is specific to your organization. This is a major benefit. It’s a major benefit because it offers you and your team the opportunity to elevate and optimize the processes that are specific to your firm.

Wrapping Up On The Custom Enterprise App

Many companies are trusting custom enterprise applications with the bulk of their internal communications. Not to mention, firms are finding more and more uses for their custom enterprise apps each and every year. This is another benefit of investing in a custom enterprise application. Once your enterprise app is launched, it always has the ability to grow, scale, and adjust itself to the needs that are most pressing in your organization.

For more information on custom enterprise app development, or anything else related to application development, keep browsing NS804. NS804 is the proud development agency for the everyday appreneur.

Boost Enterprise App Productivity With Offline Access

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Building a compelling enterprise app can be tricky. It should run well under a wide range of scenarios, even when Internet access isn’t a given. Nowadays, company employees require a seamless online and offline experience in their apps to retain a productive workflow. That’s why every good developer should rise to the occasion by creating applications that have useful offline modes. Below, we provide several pointers on how you should implement offline access for your upcoming app.

1. Using An Enterprise App Anywhere

Developers go out of their way to support as many platforms as possible. Without a doubt, this is a smart move, as it maximizes the reach of their applications. Some users access apps via their desktops, while others prefer to use their mobile devices. But it doesn’t end there, as there’s a growing number of applications developed for the web.

If you’re embarking on enterprise app development, then you’ll want to follow a multiplatform strategy. After all, a company’s employees utilize a plethora of devices during their day-to-day work. But it’s vital to take things a step further by allowing for offline access. There’s nothing worse than for employees to have their work interrupted while the Internet’s down or when encountering connectivity issues.

2. Offline Access Is A Necessity

Even if your app’s online features are indispensable, always have a backup plan for when Internet access is unavailable. Furthermore, design your app to function when the Internet’s slow or when users experience connectivity issues.

Your enterprise app development strategy should encompass what apps company employees use throughout their day and how they use them. For example, some employees may need to make changes to data when offline. Developing the enterprise app with an offline-first design methodology means that it won’t need to access the backend server to implement these data changes.

Also, consider the many benefits that building an offline app brings to the table. Users prefer to retain apps on their mobile phones that have offline functionality. Offline apps load faster and use less battery than their online counterparts, which most millennials appreciate. Furthermore, users located in regions with slow or no access to the Internet can actually use your offline apps, giving you an edge over competitors that don’t have this feature.

3. Choosing Which Features To Offer Offline

During the enterprise app development process, you’ll need to prioritize certain features over others. And this is especially true when deciding what features must run consistently during your app’s offline mode. Making the correct design decisions can make or break your app, so choose wisely. Focus on mission-critical features essential to the smooth operation of the enterprise. Furthermore, study employee workflows carefully to determine what features serve them best.

If you’re developing e-commerce, file upload, money transfer, news, and on-demand delivery apps, then you should implement robust offline modes. When users lose Internet access, allow your apps to store mission-critical data offline. And when they gain access again, the apps will automatically complete or queue up all transactions and file transfers.

4. Handling A Push Notification App With Offline Use

When mobile users are offline, they won’t receive your push notifications. And this is unfortunate, as these notifications can help retain your existing app users. That’s why you’ll need to develop your push notification app with offline use in mind. Utilize a versatile analytics platform, such as Kumalos, which allows you to analyze how users engage with your app. By studying user data, you can carefully craft and schedule your push notifications so that they’re engaging and meaningful.

Alternatively, save user device information and whether or not they’re online in a server-side database. Detect when users get back online and run an automated request on your server to deliver the relevant push notifications they missed while offline.

5. Reduce Enterprise App Frustrations

Users expect apps to run flawlessly, especially in an enterprise environment. While they can put up with the odd bug that will be fixed in the next update, they don’t like dealing with apps that break entirely or slow them down. Don’t allow company employees to miss important deadlines because your app can’t perform specific tasks offline.

Communicate what features users can access while offline through the User Interface (UI). Moreover, make it easy for users to quickly see what functionality they have available without breaking their workflow. Apart from updates, ensure that your push notification app delivers the latest notifications that users missed out on earlier.

6. Decide How Much Users Can Store Locally

Nowadays, most smartphones come with a generous amount of storage space. But this doesn’t mean that all that space is available for your enterprise app development projects. Most users store documents, music, and videos that eat up much of their smartphones’ available storage.

When building your upcoming app with offline functionality, ensure that you only store essential data locally. If you’re developing an e-commerce app, store the most popular products offline for users to peruse. And if you’re creating a money transfer app, keep details of the recipient on the phone until completion of the transaction.

7. Saving The Current State When Suddenly Going Offline

Internet outages often happen when you least expect them. So make sure that your enterprise app saves the current state during such a scenario. Implement a dynamic or static cache, or even both, depending on the type of data your app handles. Data that’s updated regularly is stored in the dynamic cache, while data that doesn’t change often gets stored in the static cache.

Many apps utilize real-time data synchronization, which works well when online but not ideal when offline. However, there are workarounds, such as implementing modern synchronization protocols that facilitate specific data updates during offline mode. Do keep in mind that data synchronization comes with its own set of challenges. Too much syncing will drain a device’s battery quickly, whereas too little syncing increases the risk of losing data and missing important updates.

8. Create A Seamless Online And Offline Enterprise App Experience

Take a look at some of the best and most-used apps, and ask yourself what they have in common? Whether it’s Google Maps, Netflix, or Spotify, all these applications provide users with excellent offline modes. Users feel confident using these apps because they offer a stable and seamless experience both online and offline.

Focus your efforts on unifying both the online and offline aspects of your app. And don’t skimp on the User Interface (UI) & User Experience (UX) either, as you’ll need a consistent look and feel for its entirety. Your users should never feel like they’re using a completely different application when they go offline. Instead, they should enjoy using your app both online and offline regularly.

Final Thoughts

Several of the most successful and widely-used applications function flawlessly when online and offline. While there are many challenges in developing apps that provide a seamless experience, it’s worth the effort to meet and surpass user expectations. Contact us today to find out how NS804 can help you develop engaging apps with powerful offline features.

The Secrets Of Successful Appreneurs

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If you’re an aspiring appreneur, you’ve probably pondered on what it takes to launch successful apps. And if you’re an experienced developer with several releases under your belt, then you understand what it takes to succeed in such a competitive market. The process is fairly involved with many steps that you need to take to release a compelling app. Below, we reveal several valuable tips to make your upcoming app release truly special.

1. What Makes An Appreneur Different

While the business world does change, it usually transforms at a gradual pace. It’s common for many CEOs and entrepreneurs to play it safe, favoring stability instead of taking bold steps. However, the emergence of the appreneur has changed the game by being a disruptive and innovative force.

Today’s forward-thinking entrepreneurs have embraced current trends in mobile app development, allowing them to enhance business processes. And they no longer wait around for someone else to provide solutions. Instead, they seize the opportunity to design and create powerful apps that solve existing problems efficiently and smartly.

2. Know The Current Trends In Mobile App Development

The mobile app market is in constant flux, so take the time to investigate it further. For example, there was a period when native app development was the norm, but hybrid development has become more common in recent years.

In 2020, we’re witnessing the gradual adoption of 5G technology and foldable devices. But existing technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), chatbots, digital wallets, instant apps, on-demand apps, predictive analytics, and wearable devices have been trending upwards. If you’re planning on releasing your app in the immediate future, make sure to take advantage of these trends.

3. Finding Inspiration From App Stores

It’s seldom easy coming up with new app ideas that show potential. You may even start feeling burnt out as you peruse all your sticky notes and diagrams on the drawing board. Truth be told, that killer idea won’t always come from the isolated environment of your office, even if you’re consulting with talented individuals. Thus, it’s a good idea to regularly browse both the App Store and Google Play to find out which apps are setting the world on fire.

4. Understanding What Users Truly Want

Every competent appreneur places the user at the forefront of their mobile app development endeavors. One of the most important things you can do is understand what your users truly want. Regularly conduct user reviews and surveys, asking your users what their expectations, experiences, and frustrations are about your solutions and those from rivals.

Furthermore, conduct behavioral research focusing on users’ emotions, feelings, barriers, and motivators. Collect and analyze this data, and design your app in a way that fits your users’ psychological profiles.

5. Remember The KISS Method

Let’s face the facts; developing apps is hard work. That’s why smart developers apply the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. It’s a process of simplifying the design of applications by reducing code complexity and the number of interconnected parts. There are many benefits to this, such as easier collaboration among older and newer team members, a more straightforward debugging and testing process, and it’s just easier to add new functionality and implement changes.

6. Come Up With Innovative Ideas Quickly

The app marketplace is always evolving, which means that developers need to come up with innovative ideas quickly. Appreneurs never stay still and are continuously brainstorming new ideas for their upcoming apps.

So how do you come up with these valuable ideas in record time? Firstly, you should be asking if current apps are solving business or day-to-day problems effectively. Secondly, keep your ear to the ground by regularly perusing app stores, mobile app and tech blogs, and social media sites. Thirdly, build small prototypes regularly, and show these to team members and ask them for feedback or to iterate further on the more promising ideas.

7. Master App Store Optimization (ASO)

You’ve worked hard on your app and don’t want it to languish in obscurity upon release. An effective way to boost its visibility on digital storefronts is by mastering App Store Optimization (ASO). By successfully implementing ASO, you’ll be able to drive installs organically and gradually increase your app’s store rank.

But what does ASO involve? There are several things that you’ll need to do, such as using keywords in your app’s title and description, categorizing your app correctly, inserting all relevant screenshots and other assets, and localizing your content. Furthermore, you can research how your competitors are implementing ASO and make the necessary adjustments to improve your app’s rank.

8. Look At Appreneur System Reviews

Everyone learns differently. Some folks need to read books, while others prefer to view videos or purchase courseware to internalize those valuable app development skills. Several notable appreneurs have developed their own methodologies and systems to help you find success in the app stores. Read appreneur system reviews online to find out which method works for you. Amazon, LinkedIn, and dedicated mobile app development sites are all excellent resources.

9. Start Marketing Pre-Launch

Even if you find the marketing process intimidating, we recommend that you don’t leave it until the last minute. Start your marketing endeavors as early as possible, and follow a carefully planned and robust strategy.

Define your target audience by building buyer personas that serve as a representation of your customer base. These buyer personas will contain demographic and psychographic data of your potential customers. Then, reach out to influencers that your target audience follows. You’ll need to contact these influencers on their preferred social media channels and run incentivized campaigns. Furthermore, foment a community on social media and engage with them regularly, and gradually ramp up interest in your upcoming app.

Don’t forget to build a landing page and drive traffic to this page via advertising, email campaigns, influencer marketing, and social media. Your landing page should feature videos and screenshots of your mobile app and provide visitors a brief description of its key features. Moreover, make it easy for visitors to join your mailing list via a secure signup form.

10. Work With A Trusted Developer

Developing high-quality apps is a team effort. That’s why you need to work with a developer that you can trust. The right partner will be able to meet expectations, stay within budget and time constraints, and deliver your app according to spec for either Android, iOS, or both.

Unfortunately, It’s often difficult finding a reliable partner via Google, as many fly-by-night and inexperienced developers turn up on searches. We recommend using authoritative sites such as Clutch and The Manifest to track down leading developers such as NS804.

Final Thoughts

Appreneurs have risen in prominence in recent years due to the growing popularity of mobile apps. Current trends in mobile app development have enhanced and streamlined the creation of applications, which has further bolstered the market. Therefore, many opportunities abound for resourceful appreneurs that want to disrupt the marketplace moving forward. Contact us today to find out how NS804 can turn your unique ideas into engaging apps.

How Many Enterprise Apps Does Your Company Need?

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While apps have become ambiguous in today’s digital landscape, this doesn’t mean that business leaders should become complacent. After all, every well-conceived enterprise app boosts productivity, creates new opportunities, empowers employees, improves customer satisfaction, and increases competitiveness. And these are only a few of the benefits that apply to companies, big and small, in general.

But as we all know, every company is unique with specific requirements that can’t always be fulfilled by general-purpose solutions. Quite often, it’s necessary to develop custom apps that match a company’s needs, goals, and growth trajectory.

However, it can be tricky to determine the exact number of apps required to achieve the desired outcome. That’s why we’re providing these handy pointers to take away some of the guesswork and help you make an informed decision.

1. Consider Your Enterprise Mobile App Strategy

Most, if not all, your clients, business partners, and employees own or have access to smartphones. In many cases, the smartphone is their primary or even sole communication device. Therefore, it’s essential to determine the best way to connect with them by planning out your enterprise mobile app strategy carefully.

Always take into account what type of app will be useful for a particular target audience. Your sales staff may require a robust CRM, whereas your management team welcomes a handy analytics app to view KPIs on the go.

2. Why A General Enterprise App May Not Be Enough

Apps such as Microsoft’s Office 365 handle many essential business functions effortlessly. Staff can easily author and share Excel, PowerPoint, and Word documents quickly while working on various devices at multiple locations due to its cloud service. It’s also capable of further functionality, which largely depends on the preferred price plan and add-ins installed.

But should your logistics staff need an efficient, precise, and streamlined solution that monitors inventory throughout the entire supply chain, then a custom app is the more suitable choice.

3. Think About Individual Department Needs

Your enterprise mobile app strategy relies heavily on what each department of your company needs. Prepare to expend time and effort to determine what type of app will benefit individual departments, especially if current solutions aren’t addressing business problems adequately.

Are your HR managers satisfied with the company’s recruiting and onboarding apps? How are your customer service apps performing under heavy load? And are your financial apps compliant with the latest legislation in your region? These are just a few of the questions you should be asking before forging ahead.

4. Using Company-Wide Plus General Employee Apps

Speed, scalability, and easy integration with a company’s ecosystem are what makes for an ideal enterprise app. And like a well-oiled machine, your company-wide apps should work flawlessly with your general employee apps. Your company may hire both desktop and non-desktop bound employees. Thus, your apps should be useful to all employees, regardless of their screen time and choice of device.

5. Investing In Multiple Apps May Increase Productivity

To boost productivity, you’ll need to empower your employees by providing them with the right tools. And with the growing importance of mobile apps, there’s never been a better time to consider investing in multiple apps.

These apps should augment existing business processes by ensuring that employees always have access to the necessary functionality to complete their work on time. Furthermore, these should engage employees and offer a positive user experience that it inevitably elevates the company’s brand.

Conclusion

Companies are constantly evolving, and so are their technology needs. A well designed and developed enterprise app can be a game-changer. And a carefully orchestrated enterprise mobile app strategy can radically transform individual departments for the better. With our years of experience in developing apps that improve business processes, NS804 is ready to help fulfill all your development needs.

How to Plan a Mobile App Budget

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Creating a budget for your mobile app is important because it helps you and your business stay on track. Not every app developer can evaluate each aspect of the app, especially the cost involved. This post gives you a brief overview of how you can prepare a proper budget for your app.

How to Identify the Purpose of the App?

One of the best places to plan the budget is to first identify the main purpose of your app. Let’s analyze some of the more obvious ones.

  1. You want to help your customers place an order at your store/website with an app. A good example of this would be Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Etsy.
  2. You have identified a unique money-making opportunity and you need an app to cash in on it. Examples include Uber, Airbnb, and Doordash.
  3. You want your clients to easily engage your customer service team members via an app. Examples include the McDonald’s App.

If you need a rough estimate on the development costs, talk to a professional app developer. You can also use our online calculator to get an idea about the costs.

How to Choose the Right Platform for App Development?

As a general rule, the more platforms you develop your app for, the costlier it will get. You can save costs by targeting the most relevant platforms for your target audience. For instance, there’s no use building an app on Android if your customers primarily use iOS. Moreover, it’s more complicated to develop on Android due to the level of optimization needed for each device.

If you’re running out of ideas, survey your customers to identify the devices they commonly use. It is also worth your while to check in with your competitors to see their target platforms.

Which is Better: In-House Development or Outsourcing?

The answer to this dilemma depends on your goals and specific circumstances. Outsourcing and in-house app development have their own pros and cons. For the most part, you should choose them based on your own unique requirements. In-house development makes it easier to closely coordinate with your team and give them instructions. Additionally, you can directly instruct your team about new features in real time.

It is worth noting that in-house development involves software licenses, salaries, employee benefits, and more. Your next best option is to hire an app development team on a project-by-project basis. This is an economical move since you won’t have to deal with salaries anymore, and finding appropriate software is no longer your hassle.

Of course, you won’t be able to closely coordinate every step of the development process and this is where project questionnaires come in. They let you quickly fill your new team in on project briefs. In fact, experienced app development teams like the one at NS804 will work closely with you to build your app. It helps to think of us as an extension of your in-house team.

How Costly Are the App’s Features?

It’s time to identify which features have to stay and which need to go. Run a comprehensive market survey of your potential customers along with their needs and pain points. You should have a list of features that are must-haves and nice-to-haves. For starters, most apps should cover the basics such as integration with third-party platforms, social networks, and in-app purchases.

Create an MVP to Cut Costs and Estimate Future Profits

If you’re working on a shoestring budget, consider building a minimum viable product (MVP) instead. There is no need to go into in-depth animation and complex UI/UX design. For now, it is important to get the app off the ground to gauge demand for it. Don’t sacrifice user experience! You’ll also get an idea about your projected profit and estimated income.

Building an app is an on-going process that requires a lot of time, energy, and effort. There’s usually no cookie-cutter approach to app building and no cut-and-paste template to work with. You’ll also need to set aside some budget for maintenance and regular updates.

If you’ve decided to build an app, then get in touch with the professionals at NS804.

 

Benefits of Agency App Development vs. Freelancers

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If you’re reading this blog, you probably typed “app development: agency vs. freelancer” on a search engine.

You’ve got a brilliant idea for an app and are now dealing with the most frustrating conundrum ever: who should I even hire? Putting together the right team is the first step towards bringing your idea to life.

This can be done in three ways:

  • Hiring an in-house developer
  • Hiring a freelancer on a project-by-project basis
  • Partnering with an app development agency

As for the first option, you will have to probably teach the new recruit a thing or two before expecting them to deliver results. Hiring a person is much more expensive in the long run due to salary, employee benefits, and software licenses, besides.

The second option, freelances, can be a hit and miss. There are literally hundreds of thousands of freelancers you can choose from. This means you’ll frequently run into quality issues before settling with a good freelancer who meets your goals.

Agencies, for the most part, are well equipped with equal amounts of talent and equal amounts of tools. They have all the experience and expertise needed to work on a large scale project. But not all agencies are built equal, those raving reviews you see on BBB can be faked.

In this blog, we’ve conducted an in-depth comparison of agencies with freelancers, so you can make a more informed decision.

1) Commitment

Freelancers: They Won’t Stick Around Long

Our biggest pet peeve with freelancers is that they’re like bunnies, always hopping from one project to another. They are not legally bound to live up to their end of the bargain which allows them to refund your money and bail. This is definitely the case with freelancers who are just starting out and don’t have a reputation to manage.

Freelance mobile developers often get bored easy, find a better paying client, or go on a holiday. You leaving a 1 star review on their Upwork profile isn’t cause for worry to most freelancers. We’re not saying all of the freelancers are like this, but there’s enough out there to cause a major source of frustration.

Agency

Agencies are far less agile than freelancers since they actually have a reputation to stick to. Agencies are held accountable by regulatory bodies and laws more strictly than freelancers. They’re held to a high standard. This means they cannot skip your project, put it on hold, or ignore it after taking your money. Violating contractual obligations can have potential legal ramifications that could prove to be both damaging to their reputation and expensive.

2) Time

Freelancers

Hiring a freelancer is easier said than done. There are thousands of freelancers out there, each boasting having a long list of credentials and satisfied clients. When you do post a job requirement on Upwork or Guru, you will get bombarded with thousands of resume submissions. The worst part is that they’re all automatic, which means that their requests will keep on piling one after another.

Agency

Agencies are much easier to look up and maintain a more considerable profile on social media and search engines. The best part is that you can easily talk to them over different media, including phone, email, and live chat without wasting time.

Speaking of time, agencies stick to their committed deadlines from the start of the project to the end. They will make sure not to miss their project deadlines because it gives you the perfect excuse to ask in for refunds.

Being professionals at what they do, agencies know their strengths and weaknesses, which means they won’t take your project if they know they don’t have the expertise. Freelancers on the other hand will probably take on your project even if they don’t have the necessary tools and skills.

3) Cost of Development

Freelancers

When it comes to app development, there is a rule of thumb you would do best to learn: you get what you pay for. Most freelancers are looking for opportunity and as such, they will charge you much lower than an agency would. Paying less doesn’t mean your project is going to cost you less. If anything, a single freelancer will take more time to manage your project than if you had an entire team of developers working for you.

Think of it this way, a single freelance has to work on thousands of lines of code, constantly communicate back and forth with you, and make prompt revisions when asked to do so. This ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach means that your project will take a lot of time, and we’re not even discussing the errors and potential mishaps that will lead to additional costs on your end.

Agency

Agencies that specialize in app development will have more tools and robust team members who will stay focused on your task. They will not get distracted and usually have someone else to do the communication for them. Organizations have different experts at various departments to execute tasks in parallel, which reduces the development time.

When it comes to app development, time is money. The sooner you can get your app pushed into the market, the better for you.

If you ask them to speed up the development process, it’s easier for organizations to put one more member to speed things up. Asking a single freelancer to speed things up is a bad idea because this will usually come at the cost of too many errors and quality issues.

4) Maintenance and Support

Freelancers

As we mentioned earlier in the blog, freelancers simply do not have the incentive to stick around for the long haul. They’re like nomads – always on the move. This means that once your project is complete, it’s on its own. And we all know that even the most carefully optimized apps will run into the occasional performance-breaking bug that needs fixing.

If you hired a freelancer to work on your app, you will be forced to look for alternatives.

Agency

Professional agencies that specialize in app development provide ‘after-market’ support. This may come at a price depending on the level of support required. For instance, it may be free if you’re asking them to fix bugs in the old software. It may come with a fee included if you want to update the software based on new hardware and OS upgrades.

5) Stayingon Top of New Trends

Freelancers

Freelancers don’t usually have access to too many resources which prevents them from staying on top of technological trends. Android and iOS development is rapidly changing at a fast space and not being abreast of new trends is a surefire way of killing your app dead in the water.

Agencies

Most app development agencies depend on trends to boost their bottom line. Not to mention they usually have dedicated researchers who pick up on the latest trends and can offer contemporary solutions that freelancers can’t match. Agencies have access to advanced tools to keep up with the times.

To conclude, agencies offer far more robust and superior app development capabilities than freelancers can on their own – unless you’re asking them to develop Flappy Bird. But most functional apps aren’t Flappy Bird and require a ton of features with support.

Ready to hire skilled app developers for your new project? Get in touch with experts at NS804 for more information.

 

 

A Brief Look at iOS App Development Costs

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One of the most frequently asked questions by business owners is: how much does it cost to make an iOS app? The answer: it varies from case to case.

Developing a mobile app is a tricky process. Data obtained by Clutch reveals that the average cost of app development in the US is around $75,000. The cost of iOS app development in countries like India and Ukraine is much lower than in the US. The same rule applies to Android app development.

The key deciding factor for app development cost is the size and scope of the project. App development is more than just programming. If you want to go the extra mile, you’ll need to invest in things like:

  • Animations
  • Custom solutions
  • Solving unexpected problems during app development

A properly-functioning iOS app will take two months to develop and cost around $5,000 to $500,000. A complex app with lots of features requires more than two months of development and about $240,000.

Enterprise software will typically fetch a price tag of around $140,000, with typical development times of 26 weeks.

Here’s a rough break down of the timeline:

  • Business analysis: 3 weeks
  • UX Design: 3 weeks
  • UI Design: 4 weeks
  • Back-end: 8 weeks
  • Front-end: 8 weeks
  • Testing and launch: 3 weeks
  • Support and maintenance: ongoing

Total time to launch: 26 weeks

You can get a rough idea about cost estimations with our online calculator here.

What are Marketing Costs for App Development?

Now that you’ve built your app, you need to know how to increase your user base and downloads. This is where app marketing comes in. You can do this bit yourself, but it’s probably better to hire an agency to do heavy lifting for you. The typical cost for marketing agencies goes anywhere from $25k to $50k and beyond, depending on the services they’re offering. For instance, if you want to hire an influencer to speak about your app, consider shelling out an additional $10k for extra exposure.

The marketing budget includes SEO, social media, PPC campaigns, traditional ads, content marketing, and word of mouth advertisement.

How to Hire an App Development Team?

By far the biggest factor that goes into the overall cost is the team you hire. Imagine hiring a contractor to renovate your house that has 10 rooms in it. Different contractors will quote different prices, which means you’ll have to do a fair bit of research along the way to get affordable estimates. It is also worth noting that hiring an offshore team from India or Ukraine is a lot cheaper than hiring a local team.

A typical team structure for app development includes a solution architect, a business analyst, a few developers (depending on the size of the app), a quality assurance specialist, UI and UX designer, and a project manager. And even if you do decide to skimp out on the budget for the user interface (such as animations and fancy colors), you must provide good user experience for success on the App Store.

Why is Backend Development Important for App Design?

You’ll need considerable backend development if you plan on launching a dynamic app with a market for millions of users who will exchange huge amounts of data in real-time. More so if the data is to be backed up on the cloud and synchronize with other platforms.

Think apps like SoundCloud, Facebook, Quora – all these underwent extensive time spent on designing a complex architecture before they were ready. Furthermore, such an app will require multiple languages for success, which means you’ll have to hire multiple teams of professionals!

Are There In-App Purchases?

Many organizations also include in-app purchases for extra content and features. In this case, many users don’t like escaping the relatively safe ecosystem of your app. This is why in-app purchases are so useful. The application has to be strong enough to store and process sensitive information like credit card numbers, SSN, addresses, etc.

Your costs will also increase depending on each payment option, such as PayPal, Google Pay, Stripe, 2Checkout, and more.

Which Devices Should My App Support?

Compatibility is arguably the most important factor when developing an app. The iOS app should be compatible with both the latest and previous vision of iPhone and iOS alike. This is why you should run an analysis on your target market to gauge demand for the app. An app that is compatible across various platforms will require a greater budget.

Are There Any Extra Costs?

All developers are not necessarily good designers. That is an extra cost that depends on the size of your app. Prepare to spend costs on hidden expenditures such as legal fees, server costs, startup fees, and more when you’re turning the app into a business.

Since running an app is an on-going process, you will need to provide regular updates to fix bugs, security loopholes, and add new features. This means added maintenance costs after development is done. As a general rule, the industry norm is to allocate about 20% of development costs towards maintenance.

So, if your app costs around $100,000 to develop, then you’ll need to pay about $20,000 every year to maintain it. If you’re dealing with legacy costs, then you’re looking at 50% of your original app development costs. This means $50,000 per year of support and maintenance!

If you’re ready to build your iOS app and want to know how much it costs, get in touch with our team ns804!

 

How Much Does it Cost to Build an Event App?

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The event industry is evolving at the speed of light and one of the best ways to capitalize on its explosive growth is building event apps. Building an event app could be a bit expensive depending on the features you add. The typical price for an event app ranges from $5000 to over $500,000 but, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. To make things easier for you, we’re letting you get an estimate on the price of your event app here.

Over 85% of event planners will make use of event registration software to facilitate faster registrations. It’s all about giving audiences an unforgettable experience while maximizing the event ROI – the best of both worlds.

At least 75% of event professionals who don’t use event applications plan on adopting them sometime in the future. Your competition as an event professional will increase; the sooner you have an event app ready, the faster you’ll capture your target audience.

And before you get started on Facebook for your event planning needs, take note that it only serves as a valuable promotional tool to create awareness about the event. The actual registration, planning, coordination, and scheduling will be done through the event.

Problem is, it’s not easy to build a fully functioning event app. Even a ‘normal’ business app with fewer endpoints will cost anywhere from $100,000 to $140,000 depending on their features and functions. The risks and variables involved when planning and developing an event app are simply greater. There is a ton of information that has to be managed in real-time, requiring developers to exercise precision and accuracy – both of which take time and money.

Most event planners will incorporate the following set of features in their event app:

  • Information on the list of speakers
  • Constant news updates about the venue, etc
  • Report briefings
  • Accurate event scheduling
  • Interactive maps for the venue
  • In-depth information on event sponsors
  • Integration with social media tools
  • Ratings
  • … And much more

Depending on the event planner’s needs and budget, the event app may also come with messaging capabilities that allow participants to communicate with each other. Some speakers also like having the ability to ask attendees questions for constant feedback, which is best done with polls.

Every extra feature will add to the amount of time spent developing the app which, of course, adds to your total costs. Below are the main factors that will affect the cost of creating an event app.

Which Platform Should I Choose for My App in 2020?

What will you choose? A web-based platform or a mobile app? Or maybe both?

If you plan on porting the event app to various platforms, including iOS and Android, the development cost and time will increase based on your needs. For instance, the Android platform development efforts will take at least 200 to 3,100 hours. This may be expensive for some businesses especially if they plan on adding all the bells and whistles.

For the most part, event planners will likely settle with hybrid application development because it is far more affordable and allows at least 70% of the code to be reused on other platforms once it has been developed for one.

GPS Connectivity

Smartphone users are becoming increasingly dependent on GPS connectivity to guide them through busy roads and streets as they struggle to find their destination. This is why event apps must also incorporate map-based GPS services to help users. While users can just as easily swap out the app with a more dedicated tool like Google Maps or Apple Maps, doing so only adds to the hassle.

The best way to maximize user interactivity is to provide them with GPS connectivity built in the app. This obviously increases the development time needed to implement the new feature in the event app.

Event Agenda

Think of event agendas as the heart and soul of your event app. Event agendas are a great way to help your guests get to the event on time. This is an essential feature that your guests will use and depend on. Most events such as conferences and seminars are characterized by multiple breaks that often occur at the same time. Attendees need to know which ones they can attend and which ones they should cancel in case it conflicts with their schedule.

An event agenda gives your guests the ability to save sessions that they are interested in. It also gives them an easy way to view their favorite schedule. The last thing they want is to revisit an event or session that they already skipped before during their research.

Post-Event Surveys

Surveys help event planners measure the success of their event. Unfortunately, few event planners give due consideration to post-event surveys. In fact, at least 55% of event professionals believe they don’t properly measure the success of their events properly. This is where post-event surveys or feedback forms come in.

59% of event professionals listed down feedback surveys as the most important way to measure the success of their live event. All event planners want to know what features worked, what didn’t, and what went wrong. This is where post-event surveys come in. They let you collect honest feedback from guests who will be more than happy to voice their concerns and complaints if something goes wrong.

Once you have identified which areas of the app need improvement, you can start fixing themes right away. Most event professionals miss out on collecting this information because they send requests for surveys long after the event was held; at this point, fewer guests are willing to share their suggestions and feedback. To make your surveys quick and easy, give your guests the ability to send their reviews in real-time. It should ideally be done with a few taps instead of combing through long and drawn out questionnaires that waste their time. You can always add an optional section for longer reviews to let users share as much or as little of their feedback as they want to.

Social Features

No event app can survive without being well-connected with social media networks. This is the primary way to maximize user engagement and reach a large chunk of your target audience. Once again, users can always open another tab, window, or app to check their social media. But as mentioned above, most smartphone users would rather do this within the app to save time.

The best part about social media is that it is completely free of charge unless you are running ads. Adding social features to your event app will increase development costs and time. But this cost is definitely worth it since users will find it much easier to share information and post what they did at the event.

If possible, try adding support for multimedia features too such as photographs, videos, gifs, and more. Adding support for social media will increase your traffic as more users will download it out of curiosity.

API Interface Integrations

API interface platforms are extremely useful for event-based companies if they plan on selling tickets, merchandise, and collecting donations. APIs are responsible for point-to-point integration for the exchange of data, including payments. Once again, the idea is to provide access to users. This is best done by adding digital payment gateways so guests can purchase tickets without ever having to leave the app.

Adding this feature will obviously drive up the costs because of the extra number of additional hours and resources that your development team will put into API integration. The ideal event app should be compatible with most major payment processors including PayPal, Visa, bank transfers, and even cryptocurrency.

Offers and Discounts

Who doesn’t like having generous discounts that cut down the price by a significant margin? Most users love the instant gratification that comes with small discounts and the potential freebie. Instead of sending offers and promo campaigns into their inbox, you can send notifications directly through the event app. You’ll soon notice that customer loyalty will increase as users utilize more of your event services.

Conclusion

Can you make an event app at an affordable price while getting all your desired features? Yes, you can! The trick, however, is to find the right team to develop your apps at an affordable price that fits your budget.

If you are looking to create an event app for your business and wonder how much it will cost, then get in touch with our development team at NS804. We will offer you the best possible price while delivering superior event applications that will maximize your ROI.