hiring an app developer
Creative & Design

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Hiring an App Developer

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In 1997, Nokia’s mobile app developers launched a game that would change the world forever. Though they probably didn’t expect it then, the ‘Snake’ game on the Nokia 6110 is considered the first mobile application, and hiring an app developer became a new thing.

Of course, at the time, no phones had access to the internet. Snake was a simple, built-in mobile application that didn’t offer much. However, it was the start of a revolution for app developers. In due time, the iPod came out, also with built-in games.

Time passed, Apple released the iPhone, and along with it came the App Store. While it’s incorrectly referred to as the first mobile app distribution service, the spark lit the fuse.

The release of the App Store launched other app development agencies into a frenzy of developments and releases. The constant competition and striving have brought us the marvelous free app market we see today.

Let’s investigate the consequences of these software development events today. We’ll take a closer look at two things. Firstly, the importance of being available on mobile. Secondly, there are advantages to having mobile app developers on staff.

Key Takeaways

App Development Landscape:

  • Mobile apps have become vital for businesses to reach audiences, enhance brand awareness, and drive sales.
  • Deciding between building an in-house development team or hiring an external app developer requires careful consideration.

Advantages of Hiring an App Developer:

  • Cost-effectiveness: Outsourcing often saves costs compared to building and maintaining an internal team, especially for short-term or specialized projects.
  • Expertise and Experience: Access a pool of experienced developers with diverse skillsets and knowledge of the latest technologies.
  • Faster Time to Market: Leverage established processes and resources of the developer to launch your app quicker.
  • Reduced Risk: Minimize risks associated with hiring, training, and managing in-house staff.

Disadvantages of Hiring an App Developer:

  • Potential communication challenges: Ensure clear communication and alignment with the developer to avoid misunderstandings and delays.
  • Loss of control over the development process: You relinquish some control over the project compared to an internal team.
  • Intellectual property concerns: Securely define ownership rights and data protection measures in your contract.

Conclusion:

Hiring an app developer can be a strategic decision for businesses, offering access to talent, cost savings, and faster development. However, carefully evaluate your needs, budget, and project requirements to ensure a successful partnership.

Additional Points:

  • The article provides further details on types of app developers, factors to consider when hiring, and tips for finding the right partner.
  • Consider your app’s complexity, budget, and long-term vision when making a decision.

The Importance of Having a Mobile App

While we’re all aware that mobile has taken a lot of ground recently, very few of us know how much ground. Let’s look at how many users prefer mobile and how it affects us as consumers and the mobile app development industry.

Mobile Usage

hiring app developers

In 2020, 3,600,000,000 people had an iOS, Android, or another smartphone device, and that number increases daily. By the end of the same year, over 4,000,000,000 unique users accessed the internet from a mobile device in the United Kingdom and worldwide.

Furthermore, mobile application downloads have been increasing rapidly. Without counting repeat downloads or app updates, 204,000,000,000 app downloads occurred in 2019. That’s a 45% increase from 2018, and 2020 promises an even greater increase.

Many businesses have mobile web-optimized sites. They allow users to access desktop functions from phone browsers. Let’s take a closer look at how the two options compare.

Free-Standing Apps vs Mobile-Optimized Sites

In our mobile-driven times, most companies aim to be available on mobile. Typically, they accomplish this in one of two ways.

A mobile-optimized site is essentially a version of the desktop site but repackaged for mobile. It’s generally inexpensive, straightforward, and easy to come by.

The advantage of a browser-based site, rather than an application, is that it takes up no additional space on your phone. The disadvantage is that 10% or less of mobile use occurs on browser sites. 90% of all mobile activity takes place via an application.

On the other hand, a free-standing application is something we’ve all come to know and love. A lovely logo on your app list or home screen launches you straight to where you want to go.

In contrast with the browser app, a free-standing application requires phone space to function. Additionally, the phone must have a certain amount of processing power to carry most applications.

However, a talented mobile app development agency can create a helpful, efficient and compact application. Since most users get drawn towards iOS and Android applications, you’d do better to create an app than a browser site.

hiring app developers

Pre-Packaged Software vs Custom-Made

Perhaps you’re looking for an application for in-house use rather than to release to the public. In this case, you don’t necessarily need to be hiring an app development agency.

Many development services and companies try to take advantage of the niches in the technology market. The chances are that you’ll find shelf software to meet your needs.

However, once again, both of these options have pros and cons. Shelf software has the advantage of time constraints and ease of purchase.

Since off-the-shelf software is for the general market, it’s usually readily available. You can save the time of waiting for an app developer to code the new application. However, you may also pay for features you don’t need and never want.

On the other hand, when you pay for custom software development to create an application, you get what you want and need. If you hire an award-winning designer, the costs will be high. It may be considerably more than off-the-shelf designs because you’re not sharing the price with the free market.

However, if you’re willing to settle for relatively new mobile app developers who have just completed university, you can strike a bargain. New app developers are often willing to work for less in return for the ability to build a reputation, and you’ll often end up with a high-quality product.

You can also try working through an app development agency that pays developers a set monthly amount in return for constant employment. Such companies often offer much better prices for the same type of work.

Hiring the Right Developers for Your Company

What Is an App Developer?

Before we delve into which developer is the right one, we must ask a question. What are app developers?

Simply put, app developers are individuals who can construct and code mobile apps. Not all such individuals have necessarily gone to university for this purpose. There are many excellent self-training tools available online.

Many of the most successful developers in the industry taught themselves as a hobby or a secondary income stream. Nevertheless, a vast amount of accredited developers are available across the world.

The Preliminaries

Before you embark on a journey of finding and hiring app developers, you need to take the time to lay some preliminary groundwork for your mobile app development project. We’ve constructed a list of questions to help you figure out what you need before you start looking.

Question One: What Is the Purpose of the Application?

You first need to ask yourself what you want the app to do. If you want an application that you can sell to the general public, your requirements will differ from when you’re making an in-house application or for the requirements of iOS and Android.

We’ll look at the target audience’s impact in a moment. However, at this impasse, let’s discuss the importance of the app’s purpose and product design.

If you require an intensely statistical app with many formulae, you should consider a designer or team with expertise in that field. If you’re looking to design a basic data entry program to consolidate information from various employees, that’s different.

The type of designer and price of the app development services vary significantly based on what you intend to do. If you need your app to have multiple layers of encryption, you need an employee with skills in that direction.

Almost all developers have at least a basic knowledge of how to encrypt. However, if your in-house app will be transporting clients’ personal details, simple encryption isn’t enough – you need a cutting-edge product.

On the other hand, if you’re creating an app for the general public to track weight loss, little encryption is required. However, you probably want the skills of a mobile app development company with high-quality design abilities.

Question Two: Who Is the Target Audience?

If the target audience is a specific team within your company, then you must plan your mobile apps accordingly.

Let’s say you’re creating an application for your tech team to log issues while they’re doing customer repairs. You’ll get an unhappy tech team if you give technologically-minded people a clunky, archaic app with too much red tape.

You require a sleek, streamlined, and functional app for that type of project. However, since you’re working with the technologically savvy, it’s probably best to have an encrypted app and website.

Let’s look at a contrasting example. Let’s say you create a program that allows your technologically challenged admins to report earnings.

In this case, you want an essential app. The tech team would probably want some excellent functions. You’d have had your designer add some bells and whistles.

However, when you’re working with a team that isn’t comfortable with technology, you want the reverse. An app for this target market should allow users to get in, input data, and submit.

At the same time, however, you probably don’t want the app to look like the dog’s breakfast. Nothing upsets someone who isn’t technologically savvy as much as the implication of that fact. You’ll want the designer to make something essential with a good user experience but still beautiful.

Let’s, just for a moment, assume that you’re designing the program for use by the general public. If so, things are a bit different.

When creating an application for sale on the open market, it must have much more finesse than an in-house app. While a simple open-and-shut app will probably please most employees, it’s unlikely to do the same for customers.

When your target market is public, you need a bug-free, beautiful application. However, it would help if you still considered the age of your intended audience and do market research.

If your target is the elderly, you don’t want anything flashy or overly complicated. But again, don’t make it seem like you’re dumbing it down.

On the contrary, if you’re marketing for children, you want bright colors and many effects.

Question 3: How Much Would You Be Able to Pay?

With the design of every application, budget is an essential element. However, this is perhaps especially true when you plan to release mobile apps for commercial use.

When you produce something for the market economy, you cannot guarantee its success. However, at the same time, you also need to create a much more finished product.

The more you invest, the better your chances of a higher ROI. But, for this to be a reality, you must ensure your investments are made in the right place.

hugo walker
Hugo Walker from Gravitywell

“Our projects sit somewhere in between the 50 to 80 or 50 to 100 K pound sterling range. That’s probably pretty typical of our projects.

It’s interesting. Founders are sometimes shocked when they hear the costs, but the reality is that if this is your platform, if this is where your ideas are sitting, then actually, most investors are kind of onboard with that kind of figure. But yeah, that’s probably, I’d say, the range. But we’ve done work for less than that, and we’ve done work for more than that.”

Question 4: Will it Be Profitable?

Whether you’re making a mobile app for sale or in-house use, you must ask yourself if it’s worthwhile.

Well-designed apps can undoubtedly improve the ability of your workforce to get things done. However, it would help if you considered how long it would take to pay for the design.

Is it worthwhile to design an application that saves ten minutes daily if it takes a year of profits from a certain team? Will the time you’re saving translate into enough value, whether in terms of time or money?

On the other hand, if you’re producing the program for public use, you’re likely to have at least a few sales. Users love to try the latest thing on the market if it catches their attention.

However, you still need to ensure your app is unique enough to warrant attention if you plan on producing a basic.epub reader with no real perks, will it sell? These are difficult questions to answer, but they’ll give you clarity.

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Question 5: Am I Willing to Take a Chance on New Talent?

Question five is possibly the most valuable question on the list before you search. It would be best to decide whether you’re willing to take a chance on someone who isn’t well-established in the app and web development industry.

Many designers out there have the skills and are dying to make a reputation for themselves. If you’re willing to bet on such a one, you can likely get your app done much cheaper.

At the other end of the spectrum, an established designer comes with some degree of certainty. However, that’s not to say that an established developer can’t be terrible at their job.

If you decide that you’re willing to take a risk on someone new to the mobile app development industry, you have something else to consider. Courses on becoming an app developer are run of the mill now and much cheaper than they used to be.

Do you, perhaps, have someone in your company willing to become an in-house developer if you pay for the course? If so, the price of a course may be lower overall than hiring an external app development company.

Consider having your employees sign an agreement that they’ll serve as your developers for a while before they move on. Many companies offer similar agreements in return for paying for workplace improvement.

Constructing an Application Plan

Once you’ve answered all the above questions, you’re almost ready to take to the open market and search for your new mobile app development worker. However, before you even consider engaging someone, you should create an application plan.

app developers

If you’ve decided to go the route of forging your in-house developer, some of this may not apply. However, many of them will be essential.

Your software development and application plan should contain the following:

  • The target market. Specify age groups and technological ability.
  • The application purpose. Give the app developers a detailed outline of what the app should do and how you think it should work.
  • Your budget. Whether taking the risk on a freelancer or hiring someone established, be up-front about what you’re willing to pay.
  • A detailed concept of the type of imagery and design you’d like.
  • What kind of encryption will you be requiring? It’s vital when considering designers, as they know their capabilities.

Be careful not to provide too much personal or company information during this process. You want the prospective employee to know for what they’re signing up for. However, at the same time, you don’t want unnecessary information floating around on the internet.

Conclusion

We’ve looked at so much during this article, and we could have looked at more besides. However, this should be a basic guide in how, and why, to hire app developers.

We’re not endeavoring to offer you a full course on the topic, so let’s recap some of the important aspects.

Firstly, our world is changing, and 90% of all mobile app activity takes place on applications. Therefore, any business wishing to thrive in the world of mobile should have apps. While they give you an edge in reaching out to potential customers, apps can also be useful in-house.

Secondly, there are many choices in mobile service. You can choose to have a browser-based app, but only 10% of all mobile internet activity occurs via the browser. While this option is better than none, it probably won’t give you the reach you want.

Thirdly, if you’re looking for in-house mobile apps, you can often choose off-the-shelf software. However, this often leaves you paying for many tools you don’t need. You’re also likely to end up paying for a subscription of some sort. Custom-built applications offer what you need, and the way you need it.

However, building applications means that you need a reliable web developer. Fortunately, there are many looking for work, and you won’t have to look too hard.

Before you approach any designers, remember to have a plan which details:

  • Your target market
  • The app purpose
  • Your budget
  • Basic design concepts

Once your plan is ready, search for developers that:

  • Fit your budget range.
  • Can communicate with you.
  • Have the necessary skill sets to create the type of app you need.
  • Don’t face challenges with design principles.
  • Don’t try to force you into a quick decision.
  • Are willing to work for a trial period.

If you follow all the hints, tips, and advice that we’ve given you here, you’re likely to have an in-house developer in no time. When you do, you’ll be able to make great strides in many areas.

You can create applications for communicating with your clients more efficiently. You may also design apps through which they can order. Additionally, you could construct a wide array of different apps for your employees. Stay on the lookout for new opportunities.

However you decide to do it, and whomever you choose to work with, you can’t go wrong with hiring App Developers in our current markets.

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