App Development cost?

2casual

Hi I am currently drawing up a business plan for developing a new App for either Iphones or andriod. Without giving too much away the idea is an information database for sports. Since I am new to the smart phone app business I was hoping somebody could help me with an estimation on the costs involved; software development etc. Any advice is greatly appreciated, Thanks.

Random

hi 2casual, i've moved your thread to the mobile application forum where it'll be more targeted to the right audience.

thanks

KrisW

Software development costs, around €300/day to €600/day depending on complexity.

Graphic design, €150/day.

Every project is different, but a typical "small" app could be between €500 and €2000, but you'll need to talk to a dev and get a quote. Expect to be asked a lot of questions like "and what do you want it to do when X, or Y?", so have a think what you want. If they don't ask you questions, don't take them on, or it'll end in tears later.

Always ask to see a portfolio of previous work, there are a lot of chancers out there. If you're serious, and you want to talk to someone about iPhone, PM me with details, and I can refer you.

Don't discount Nokia/Symbian either - it's the silent majority of application-capable phones, although only the latest handsets provide the same experience as iPhone or Android.

One last thing: If your idea involves taking data from an existing website or websites, be aware that you probably do not have the right to re-use that data for commercial gain without the site's permission, and they will be within their rights to a. block your application and b. sue you for damages.

jimmycrackcorm

KrisW wrote: »

Don't discount Nokia/Symbian either - it's the silent majority of application-capable phones, although only the latest handsets provide the same experience as iPhone or Android.

I'd totally ignore Symbian unless your app was already successful on either Android or IOS and you wanted to expand.

As for costs, the only answer you can get here is how long is a peice of string....

Depending on complexity, you could do up a sample proposal and post it on rentacoder for example to get an idea.

tomED

Jimmy hit the nail on the head - it's so hard to establish the cost of developing a mobile application as it all comes down to what you want it to do.

A simple mobile website (or app), we're currently doing them from around €300 - just to get people aware of the possibilities.

With an application however, there is no way of being definitive on price as it could take from a few days to a few months to develop one.

For example, a very simple NCT Centre Finder app for Android took us no more than a couple of days to do. Most of the work was collating the data!!

p

KrisW wrote: »

Software development costs, around €300/day to €600/day depending on complexity.

Graphic design, €150/day.

Professional design would be about the same cost as development, more or less. Certainly noone good would be charging 150 for freelance stuff.

KrisW

Professional design would be about the same cost as development, more or less.

Cost, maybe, Rate? no. A lot of phone apps are glorified brochures, so yes, the majority spend is on graphics, but (within the same market) the hourly rates will be much higher for development.

Certainly noone good would be charging 150 for freelance stuff.

Should have said "from 150" - it depends on what you're looking for. Not every project needs a top creative designer, but every project needs some kind of polish.

Pixelcraft

Have to disagree completely KrisW, the app store is incredibly competitive, and a well designed UI and icon are a huge advantage

futonic

Pixelcraft wrote: »

Have to disagree completely KrisW, the app store is incredibly competitive, and a well designed UI and icon are a huge advantage

:-) Username might indicate a slight bias! Graphic design is very important, but probably not as demanding or well rewarded as development work tbh.

ianhobo

You have many many options and costs, and like any business or project proposal, you have to decide on what you feel is the right balance between quality, time, cost, and what you identify as blocking and problem areas. There is no one answer.

For example, you could go with a local developer who may charge 100EUR an hour (random cost). You get a high hourly rate, but you also likely get high quality, ease of contact and communication, someone likely experienced with the demographic you want to target (invaluable).

Alternatively you could farm it (or parts) out on rentacoder.com or similar and get someone for 10EUR an hour. Massive cost savings, but you deal with someone most likely in a different time zone, communication difficulties, not familiar with your target audience, bugs.......

It's a balance, and you have to decide.

Do you have a requirements yet, or your own (GUI) storyboard done?

duffyshuffle

KrisW wrote: »

One last thing: If your idea involves taking data from an existing website or websites, be aware that you probably do not have the right to re-use that data for commercial gain without the site's permission, and they will be within their rights to a. block your application and b. sue you for damages.

What if it is things like scores in matches that isn't directly from any particular source, or other things that make the news like share prices etc? any idea?

professore

I have no experience of android/iPhone dev but have lots of experience in other types of development and it is relevant here.

You need an reasonably detailed spec of how it would work before anyone can give you a price. A good dev would help you putting this together. Imagine going to a builder and saying "I need a house built, what will it cost?"

Hourly or daily rates mean very little as a good developer is at least 10 times more productive than a bad one, and will produce far less buggy code. Doesn't mean if you pay top dollar you will get a top dev of course. You will also need to test every aspect of the app yourself after the first cut - there should be something factored in for this in the price.

so it's like this:

initial spec -> prototype -> testing -> final version -> bugfixing

KrisW

duffyshuffle wrote: »

What if it is things like scores in matches that isn't directly from any particular source, or other things that make the news like share prices etc? any idea?

I'm not a lawyer, but if another party has gone to the effort to gather and present information, they are entirely within their rights to prevent you siphoning that information off their site for your personal gain.

Some sites allow unrestricted use of the information, but even still, it's always unacceptable to directly scrape it off their site from each of your clients: if you're going to take their data, make a copy of it on your server, and let your clients take it from there.

The exception to this rule is Google, who have made so much money stealing other people's content that I'd have no qualm about lifting their bandwidth too.

--

I have no experience of android/iPhone dev but have lots of experience in other types of development and it is relevant here.

You need an reasonably detailed spec of how it would work before anyone can give you a price. A good dev would help you putting this together. Imagine going to a builder and saying "I need a house built, what will it cost?"

100% agree with this. Most small clients are unable to give a spec, because they don't know what to put in it. Bigger clients tend to offload it to their advertising people, so you get a lot of branding info, with very little functional info. Either way, put a little time into doing some of this work for them. Mock up some screens, show how they'd flow together (you can do this with PowerPoint, or just pen and paper with arrows). When you've done the mockup, sit down with the client and walk them through your mockup.

They'll usually say "oh, but I was hoping it'd do [something they didn't mention at all]".

Only when you've got this information can you get going. It's worthwhile to produce a Statement of Work - a page or so that describes exactly what you're going to deliver. This is the client's chance to realise that they forgot to ask you something.

BrianD

The other question is - do you actually need an app or would a good mobile version of your site suffice?

A lot of people rushing out to make apps that have only a perceived use by the maker.

ronanl

i might fall in to this catogrey as im looking for someone to design a way for my business to sing up customer contracts/applications on an ipad rather than on conventional paper contracts. i would imagine that my needs are more enterprise rather than a full app as it will only be used by me and two or three sales staff. If anyone can advise where i can get this done and the costs involved i would appriciate it.
Ro