Introduction
Mobile phones have become an inseparable part of our lives. From education to shopping, from entertainment to socializing, people prefer doing everything over their smartphones. The number of smartphone users has tremendously increased in the past few years. According to a leading source, more than 45% of the world total population owns a smartphone. It has also been observed that more than websites, mobile apps are being used to find products and services online. They make our lives a lot simpler, as while using these mobile apps, users are not required to remember those long URLs, which they have to while browsing a website.
These days, businesses are also utilizing the full potential of mobile apps for their marketing. They are launching interactive and innovative apps, to increase their reach to a large number of users. For businesses, mobile apps have become a vital tool for improving their brand identity and building their brand image.
Whether you are a small-scale or a large scale business, having a mobile app would help you, to stand out from the crowd. Its amazing front-end design makes your brand look impressive to users. For e-commerce sellers, mobile apps can be a great medium to increase user engagement rates, which will eventually result in lead generation. Apart from these, there are various other reasons as to why an e-commerce business needs a mobile app.
Importance of Android Apps
Mobile apps are a great way for branding and making your brand popular among users. Both users and organizations are using Android applications for a variety of purposes. With Android apps, businesses can reach out to a large number of people. They can send push notifications about an upcoming sale, discounts, promo codes, and a lot more, which will help increase their sales.
Android apps are high in demand, as the number of people using Android smartphones is quite high as compared to iPhone users. As per Statcounter, more than 70 percent of the world’s market is dominated by Android smartphones, whereas, around 29 percent of the market is captured by iOS. Android apps hold an important place in the market and most businesses either prefer getting an Android app developed first, or they choose cross-platform app development.
Also, the Android app offers a customizable user interface. So, businesses can get the interface designed as per their requirements and in sync with their brand theme. This will help people recognize their brand easily. Also, a good and interactive interface is the key to attract and retain more and more users. This opens up a lot many opportunities for an Android application development company, as getting Android apps developed is high in demand and most people want to get creative, interactive, and engaging apps for their businesses.
Android App Development Cost
The cost to develop an android app is based on several factors like hourly rates of an android developer, app design, features of an app, etc. The cost can be as low as $10,000 and can go as high to $1 million+. However, the more complex your app is, the more time developers will require to develop it, and this will increase your Android app development cost.
Also, the geographical location where your app is being developed plays a major role in determining the cost. Developers based out of the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, usually charge more than the developers in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. So, based on your project’s requirements and budget, you can choose the developer that is best suited for your project.
Generally, for a team developing and Android app, there is a project manager, UI/UX designers, graphic designers, developers (the number depends on the project size), and quality analysts. They all play an important part, and work together on your project, for the successful development of your app. Android app development cost is usually based on the total of the average hourly rates of both the development and designing team. Hourly rate is mostly dependent on the experience of the expert. The more the experience of an expert, usually, the more will be his hourly rate.
Tips to Hire Android App Developers
A developer is the one who is responsible for everything related to your project. A front-end developer is responsible for designing an interactive and engaging user interface, which is seen by the users. Whereas, a back-end developer is responsible for the smooth functioning of your app. So, hiring a good developer, that can work dedicatedly on our project, can sometimes be a tedious task.
It is not just about the experience, but there are a lot of other things which you should consider before you go on to hire Android programmer. A developer should be innovative enough to turn your idea into reality. He should be able to explore all the possible options that can make your app look beautiful and engaging.
Quality is one of the most important factors which you must look for. There are a lot of developers in the market, but there are very few of them that focus on quality. You must hire Android programmer that fits your budget and can deliver the quality that you require.
Also, you must look for the previous work record. This will give you clarity about the type of projects on which the developer has previously worked. The portfolio also helps you to get an actual idea of the capability of the developer.
These were the few tips to hire Android app developers which will help you find the best-suited match for your project.
Best Practices of Android App Development
App development is a complicated task. There are several stages involved and each stage has to be perfect for an app to work smoothly and without any error.
Here are some of the best practices which a top-rated Android application development company follows:
1. Keep app usability in mind
This is one of the main facets on which the success of an app is determined. Before going ahead with the app development, a developer should keep app usability in mind. It helps them to create an interactive and engaging application that offers a great user experience.
While developing an app, experts should keep in mind that the developed app should suffice its purpose. The app developed should be desirable and useful to users using it. There are various factors like easy navigation, overall consistency, visual clarity, efficiency, etc. which, in a way, determines the usability of an app.
2. Interactive designing elements
To make users like any application, developers must use interactive designing elements. An experienced developer will always use the best UI/UX designing elements to make your app look attractive and captivating. Both UI and UX are two different terms but, are highly interdependent and are equally important for the success of your Android app.
User experience (UX) design mainly focuses on the usability and functionality of an app. Developers try to make the app as simple as possible, without compromising on the creativity and designing elements. Whereas, using the best practices of User Interface (UI) design, an interactive interface is created which helps connect users with the brand.
An application, with innovative and appealing UI/UX design elements, not only attracts users but also, helps them recognize your brand. A proficient mobile app development company understands the importance of UI/UX design and ensures to deliver an app that is both innovative and interactive.
3. Choosing the right development tools
A developer needs to choose the right development tools to create a fully-functional and feature-rich app. Also, choosing the right framework for mobile app development is very important.
Java and Kotlin are the two most popular programming languages for Android app development. However, Kotlin is a modern language that offers a few added advantages over Java. Based on your project requirement, a developer should be able to decide the best language and framework, to create an app that takes your business to new heights.
4. Quality check
Before making the app available for users, the development team runs a comprehensive quality check. Every aspect of an app is checked to ensure that there are no potential errors, and the app runs smoothly across devices.
Most companies have a separate QA and Testing department, that is responsible for checking all the errors and ensure that all the applications delivered, are bug-free. Testers and quality analysts have their own guidelines and pre-set standards to follow. They strive to deliver an efficient app at the first time only. Doing a quality check not only saves Android app development cost but also, makes the development process agile.
5. Security check
The security of a mobile app is one of the major concerns for all businesses. You must hire Android programmers who take this concern seriously. The best practices of Android app development include creating highly scalable, robust, and secure apps that can be used and enjoyed by both, users and businesses.
Creating a secure app is very much important as this will ensure that all information of a user, using this app, is safe and protected. Developers take various measures to ensure safety and security at various stages of app development.
6. Effective communication and updates
Effective communication is very much important between an entrepreneur and the development team. An entrepreneur should be able to explain all the requirements clearly. Also, developers should share the timely updates, regarding the project, to the businesses. Due to various complexities involved, businesses tend to hire mobile app development services from an expert. And choosing the best practices, developers are the ones who can either make or break an application.
Also, before launching any major update, the app should be thoroughly checked and tested. A/B testing should be done among a few users first and, if successful, only then that update should be rolled out. This way neither your users will be affected, nor your business will get hampered. Developers should always plan things for the future and make sure, that not many errors happen.
Conclusion
Creating an Android app is not just about creating attractive apps. Businesses should focus more on getting, interactive and feature-rich apps, that users find functional and usable. They should also focus on creating apps that are loved by users, and in return, are capable of bringing revenue to businesses. Apps should be developed keeping in mind the usability and functionality. Also, developers should create easy to navigate mobile apps, as they allow users to navigate through one page to another effortlessly.
Choosing the right app development company or the developer is very much important, as they are the ones responsible for your Android app development. Also, choosing the right tools and following the best practices are very much important for developing and deploying a flawless app. Using the right tools and best practices, the developers can not only create efficient and fully-functional apps but, can create apps that are error-free, secure, and are loved by users.
