As with any project, there are many factors that influence the time and cost of the endeavour.
The following list outlines the main points that inform the price of developing an app:
- Development time
- The number of features
- The number of screens
- The complexity of the functionality
- Which platform(s) it is built for
- Adding the app to the store
- The level of design
- The number of animations
- If users require personal accounts
- The login options required
- The requirement of backend development
- Integration with other apps
- Integration with in-built phone functions (EG: GPS)
- How many languages are required
- Thorough testing
- Is there offline or online functionality
- Cost of experienced designers and developers
FOR EXAMPLE…
Features you might not have considered will affect the cost of development.
For example, how you will allow users to log in. Will you use a simple email login, or will they be able to log in via google or Facebook?
The more ways of logging in and more integration required, the more complex, and so the more time needed.
As you can see, there are levels of complexity for even the features we take for granted in apps.
Whilst the ease of clicking a button to sign in using Facebook makes life easier for the user, it is itself further time and detail required to create the app.
Of course, this single feature would represent only a few hours of work on the code and testing, but if you think of how many complex features could be simplified, you soon realise there is a good amount of time you can reclaim.
Even adding your new app to the app or google play store has an associated cost.
There is a literal cost to upload an app to these stores, not to mention the time taken to complete the required documentation.
The cost of uploading an app to each store is different. For example, Apple charges annually and far more than any other platform.
However, the main influence over cost, much like with any project, is time.
The more time dedicated, the higher the cost. And app development takes significant man-hours and is usually the work of a whole team.