How Much Does It Cost To Build An App In 2022?
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in a world without mobile phones? Of course, when I ask this question, it is implied for today’s generation and not the senile class who has seen the world come along. But, even to them, we pose the question, how would it feel about going back in time or more like, if such time does come back?
We all have a straight answer to that question unequivocally. We neither wish to head to such a future nor do we want to go back in time. It is because mobile phones have become an indispensable part of our life. It influences everything that we do, the way we communicate, the way we think, what we see, how we see, how we make a living, from influencing to getting influenced, from doing business to being a customer, mobile phones have brought the world to our fingertips. Mobile phones are as revolutionary as the Big Bang exaggeratedly, not just in the commercial scape, but in daily life. In this narrative of mobile phones, digitalization, and commerce, we understand why it is essential for every business establishment to buckle up and make an everlasting presence on everyone’s mobile screen through a mobile application.
Why are mobile applications important for a business?
If you are asking this question for your establishment, you need to know the story of time. There was a time when mobile applications were a thing of big elitist corporates and conglomerates. But then times changed, and today, the majority of the smaller and medium scale companies are making mobile applications to serve their clients in a more personalized manner, and they are seeing significant ROIs. Long gone are the days when handling leaflets, printing advertisements, hanging billboards and a group of technicians answering customer queries was the only way you could reach out to your target market. Instead, the world went mobile, in the true essence of the literal meaning. So think of it like this, is there a better way to provide user experience than being able to serve your customers 24/7 at their fingertips?
Suppose you are convincing yourself by saying, “why would I need mobile apps to sell my products to my loyal customers when I can always retain them with or without a mobile app?”. In that case, you are blindsiding the future, which is as erroneous as ever for your business.
A mobile application offers the following salient features to your business entity:
Customer value
It is undisputed that business is about how well you engage with your customers when they come across you for products and services. In that pursuit, you make several strategies like increasing interaction to better promote sales. However, a customer will be retained only when you provide specific value to them, distinguishing you from others. A mobile application helps you in this aspect vigorously.
For example, we helped an entity based in UAE in the FMCG industry, to develop an intuitive mobile application using the React Native Technology. Through the application, they are catering groceries and daily essentials across Dubai as FMCG BASKET. They offer discounts and vouchers on their products. Furthermore, to make shopping effortless, they have a bestsellers section so that users can shop for the best item in the best deals without the hassle of browsing much. They also allow users to pay directly from the app, which speeds up the entire process resulting in a better customer experience. Now through the mobile application, they make their customers feel valued and unique since they get some reward that no other online shopping hubs provide them.
Brand building
Going back to our story of time, there was a time when advertisements were acutely inclined on refrigerator magnets, calendars, posters, and billboards; every company would make such momentos for advertising their products and services. That time is called history now. Because today in the times of mobile applications, it enhances communication by offering awareness and recognition of your brand to the customers. It facilitates regular interaction with the target market that germinates trust and belief between you and your clients. Therefore, mobile applications strengthen and educate the customer about your brand. As a result of such a solidifying relationship, the customer believes in you more, listens to you more, and focuses on your sales pitches more, eventually committing to your brand.
Customer connection
Let’s talk about the devil and the sea. Would you like to cater solely to customers with whom you can personally interact in your office? Or rather, would you cater to customers across the world but never personally connect with them? In the former, you limit your business to local or physical limitations of accessibility, and the latter alternative is depressing. You do have clients worldwide, but you are not connected with them. It is plausible that even they would discontinue associating with you since you have no rapport with them. Customer service has grown beyond the brick mortar shop, beyond the four walls of head offices, and today it is boundless. On the digital or virtual scape, as you wish to call it, there are limitations of accessibility; therefore, even if the entity is based in Africa, it can serve clients worldwide, from Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. As we said, the world is now under your fingertips. Therefore you must offer customer service at a few clicks away. Look at it like this, you are based in UAE, while your customer in the USA has a query in the middle of the night. Now would you have an application that is available to resort to their queries at all times or a human being who is available strictly at business hours? Remember that you will have to have specific human resources to cover that gash in the time zone.
The mobile application interface then seamlessly serves the customer given their products and services. The mobile application ensures that you are with your customer all the time.
Profitability
We have said this a hundred times, and we know you have heard it a thousand times. The simpler you make availing your services for the customer, the more they will opt you over everyone. It is the game of user experience.
For example, Discounter is an application that helps people save through thousands of redeemable offers in food and beverages, entertainment, beauty, leisure, etc., with features like live tracking, coupon redemption functionality, location-based offer filtration, and more. After the application was launched, in just 6 months, it has acquired more than 10 k customers, more than 5k downloads of the app on the google play store and apple store with 30% growth in revenue.
Hence, it is safe to infer that a mobile application is essential for your business. It encourages and excites your customers about your product or service, which builds brand loyalty in the long run.
Now that we have understood how vital mobile application is for a business and you are looking forward to designing a mobile application for your business check our other blog, The Comprehensive Mobile App Design Guide, to understand mobile application designing. Now let’s get down to assessing the cost.
What is the cost of developing a mobile application in 2022?
Before we answer that question, we must reflect on the underlying basic questions such as,
What are the factors affecting the cost of developing a mobile application?
Following are the factors that you must consider while understanding mobile app development costs in UAE:
Application functionality and purpose
This part defines the application price as it deals with its industry, market, type, platforms, and most significant aspects.
Low Level of Complexity
An application with a low level of complexity has essential features like login/signup, profile management, search filter, notifications, instant messaging, an admin dashboard. It will also have low-tech screens and necessary UI solutions. A classic example of such an application is an appointment booking solution. It takes not more than 3 months to develop such an app.
Medium Level of Complexity
An application with a medium level of complexity carried different integrations with API and more screens and custom UI. It will also constitute specific features like live-tracking, real-time notifications, etc. General features like geolocation, multiple payments, optimized routes, delivery proofs, and features encumbered in a low-level complexity app. An excellent example of such an app is a food delivery app. Building an app like Zomato takes 3 to 6 months.
Higher Level of Complexity
An application with a higher level of complexity has complicated features like 1:1 video calling, a BMI calculator, support data synchronization with more than two devices, native features, online streaming, video/audio calling, voice instructions, etc. For example, an OTT platform, advanced telemedicine app, social media app, etc., developing such an application takes over 9 months to even a year.
Mobile platforms and device support:-
● Native Application Development
An application that runs only on either platform like iOS or Android is known as a native application. This is because they are developed and optimized as per that platform only, offering a high level of performance, but they are comparatively complicated. Moreover, if you plan to develop an application for both platforms, you will bring two separate teams of developers for each, multiplying the cost. Hence, it is safe to conclude that native apps are expensive.
● Hybrid/Cross-Platform Development
These applications are developed using native technologies, making the application open to a more extensive audience base. In addition, the development and maintenance cost of cross-platform applications is also comparatively lower than native apps.
You also have to decide what versions of these platforms the app will work on before a mobile application development company based in UAE puts a price tag on the project. In addition to that, to help you decide which platform you should choose for your app, you have to consider factors like device fragmentation, market share, and prevalence.
Designing:-
(1) User Experience
In general terms, UX is how your application works on the user’s end, where factors like working on the color psychology, placement of buttons, or even following the user’s eye pattern are considered. In the end, the goal of every application is to be the easiest to use. For attaining this, you have to have a deep understanding of your market, audience, goals, objectives, and more so that the engagement level fluctuates the cost to build an app.
(2) User Interface
The user interface is the appeal of your app for your users, where visual elements play an essential role. While one can customize it to varying levels, the essential foreplay remains the same involving layout, screen, typography, colors, shapes, elements, items, etc.
Other Integrations:-
If you envision a complex mobile application, you must know that the app may require integration with third-party applications, and each integration will add up to the development cost.
● Using visible objects
Other objects such as Graphics, sliders, headers, motions, etc., play a crucial role in deciding the price of the application.
- Using smartphone hardware features
Suppose your business is such that the application will need features like GPS navigation, motion coprocessor, NFC technology, Augmented Reality tech, etc. In that case, you must make up your mind to spend extra.
Maintenance
Post-development, you also have to incur costs in maintaining its proper functionalities and doing regular updates, for which you will also have to opt for a maintenance plan. However, it is lower than the cumulative cost of development. When deciding app maintenance costs, such as hosting, monitoring, and updating, a few other factors come into play.
Other hidden costs
A few additional costs that you must know are:
Functional cost – to be paid for third-party integrations like payment gateways, push notifications, geolocation, etc.
Support cost – to be paid to keep the app updated, fix bugs, and improve future improvisation, generally 20% of the original development cost per year.
Admin cost – chargeable by some Web Development Companies in UAE for the content manager’s bit.
Infrastructural cost – it is paid for the server, CDN, etc.
Different Application Development Solutions:-
Different app development solutions also influence the development cost, and they can be categorized as the following,
SaaS-Based solution
Also known as the ‘ready to use solution, they are preferable when you wish your application to go live in a few weeks, with negligible development cost.
Custom-Build solution
This is for the applications built from scratch and caters to unique business ideas with specific requirements. However, it is a time-consuming process, and it might take a year to build a highly customized and complex app like this. In that precept, the development cost will depend on the time taken for development and the hourly rate of a Mobile App Developer in Dubai.
A web development company comprises mobile app developers, back-end developers, front-end developers, QA specialists, and project managers.
White-Label, customizable solution
This approach is a mix of both of the above solutions. These ‘ready to use’ core engines come with greater flexibility for customization. So they are 80% built as per what you need, and the rest 20% can be customized to meet the specific needs of your industry or project so that your application is built faster, negating significant expense.
Summing up!
Therefore, the cost of building an application in 2022 depends on several elemental factors which you have to discern at every point, like, application functionality, platform, designing, integrations maintenance, etc. In that pursuance, a minor basic application development costs between AED 15,000 – AED 20,000. Further, a semi-complex multi-feature mobile app costs around AED 20,000 – AED 50,000. Meanwhile, a fully-functional complex mobile app development would cost cumulatively more than AED 50,000.