Out of the 5 hours that UK adults spend per day with the digital media, 2 hours and 40 minutes is spent with mobile apps alone. The stats are enough to the reason why businesses in the UK are eager to get mobile apps built. Citing the growing popularity of apps, they consider apps as a growth driver. And, they are not wrong. However, only 5% of businesses are able to reap dividend of their mobile app development strategy in the long run as most of the apps get abandoned by users due to different flaws. Hence, it's a must to pay subtle attention while hiring app developers in UK for your project. So what are the determinants of a reliable app developer? Root Info Solutions has got the answer.
#1. Where Are Your Audiences
Know the type of devices and operating systems your target audiences have. Insights offered by Statista, eMarketer, IDC, and comScore, to name a few, can be helpful in this decision-making process. Now, based on the priorities lying ahead, search for the potential app development company or app developer in theUK who can build an app in sync with the objectives you want to achieve.
#2. Is Outsourcing the Only Option
Think, think and think. If you own multiple apps or want to get built not just one but more apps to manage different operations, your software development budget will obviously go up manifolds. Their update and upgrade cost, which is certain to come in the picture later or sooner, will ask you to shell out more money. And needless to say, if you are liaising with different app development companies, collaborating with them will also be a key challenge. Hence, you can think of hiring an in-house team of developers who work for you. This will ensure timely product development. However, there can be challenges regarding getting the right talent. If you are able to do so, managing them, in the long run, is a task easier said than done.
#3. What Kind of Projects Have They Got Completed
Seeing is believing. Take a walk through of the portfolio of different developers with a special focus on projects similar to yours. Learn the objectives of the app development, including the challenges that the client wanted to address with the app, the methodology used by the app development company or developer, customer or user reviews of the app surfacing across authentic platforms including Google Play, App Store, etc., the name of the current and existing clients.
#4. How Will You Communicate with Hired App Developers
Effective communication is a must if you want to get the right job done from your software outsourcing partner. Consultants, team lead and app developers responsible for completing the project must stay in touch with you or your IT team overseeing the development, deployment, and integration. Be vocal about what you want from the beginning. Don't shy away from asking repeated questions regarding the status updates you receive. The same is true for those who are sitting on the other side. Hence, maintain a comfort level harnessing all sorts of communication from phone to email to skype or video conferencing.
#5. What Types of App Testing is Performed
1. Interrupt conditions
Keeping in mind the multi-tasking mobile culture, we closely observe the interference caused to the app owing to incoming/outgoing calls, pop-up alerts and notifications and the device's power cycle.
2. Installation conditions
We install and uninstall the mobile app on all targeted devices running on varying Android and iOS versions to check whether the processes are smooth for the end users.
3. Network conditions
We perform installation and uninstallation and observed the performance of the app across a device connected with different types of Internet connections.
4. Performance conditions
With a bid to build a light-weight mobile app, we estimate the hardware resource consumption (CPU, RAM, graphic, network, battery, etc.), across different mobile devices.
5. Device integration conditions
We monitor the interaction of the app with hardware components like GPS, video and camera to ensure uninterrupted integration and end-user experience.
6. App Distribution & Marketing
Once the app has been built and tested, the next big thing is to make it accessible to your users. Does the company you are hiring hold app distribution and marketing expertise? The best way to make it happen is to make it available through Google Play, App Store, or other related places where your audiences flock together to get apps. You can also make it available through your own website or can provide a link to the noted stores on it. Your technology partner should be acquainted with the guidelines of app submission. For the promotion part, you can approach some digital marketing agency with a proven track record.
7. Budget
Based on the target platform, in-features and level of complexity involved in the process, an app development company in UK can quote a budget between $10, 000 and $ 25, 000. Hiring an individual freelance app developer for the job, you can save handsomely, but that invites some risks regarding delivery and quality of deliverables both. Check the developer's background across marketplaces like Upwork, oDesk, Freelancer and Guru. Here is a glimpse at the average app developer salary or hourly rate in London.
- Android App Developer Salary/Year: ?57,240. It's 15.9% higher than the national average.
- Android App Developer Salary/Week: ?350 - ?400
- iOS App Developer Salary/Year: ?56,169. It's 16.3% higher than the national average.
- iOS App Developer/Week: ?350 - ?450
In 2016, the salary and hourly rate of Android app developer have witnessed an increase of 10% while that of iOS developer by 12% as compared to that of the previous year.
8. Post Development Service
New features, enhancements to the previous ones, and fixes to bugs are quite common in the realm of the mobile operating system. So your app should be ready to cope with all and deliver an advanced level of experience to the users. This will help you to retain existing users and gain more. If you want your previously built app to stay relevant with iOS 10, make sure that users are able to benefit from the new capabilities of Siri, Messages, Maps, and Phone. The same stays true for Android Nougat and others. Remember, change is the only constant. So is your UK-based app developer or company ready to cooperate with you in future as well?
9. Terms and Conditions
Get to know about the payment and refund along with other terms and conditions associated with the contract before giving it a go. Some developers, as we also do, offer offshore as well as onshore app development services. If that is the case, choose the right plan as per your convenience and budget. Some may ask for a one-time fee upfront, some may ask for the payment of the hourly rate, while others may ask you to deposit half of the agreed budget as a token money. Some developers may ask additional charges for specific functionalities like the integration of database, payment gateway, mobile analytics, etc. Identifying and assessing the pros and cons of the terms choose the right app developer.
10. User Experience
In the beginning, we mentioned: only 5% businesses are truly able to monetize their app or get substantial benefits from it. Why? Well, the reason lies in the quality of User Experience. UX has become a key battleground in today/s competitive world. We discussed this in one of our previous blog posts. Hence, you need to consistently monitor users and their activities across your app. Is your app developer competent in integrating your app with the right mobile analytics tool? Once you are satisfied with the answer, go with it.
