How Much Does It Cost to Develop an App Like HEHA Trip Planner

If you plan to develop a mobile application like HEHA trip planner, you must first analyze the complexity of a possible cross-platform. Android and Apple do not have the same development technologies. To sum up, there are two options:

• Create a code for each platform
• Create a common code (cross-platform) and adapt some specific details to Android and Apple

To develop a cross-platform application, we recommend Flutter, Google’s technology.

How to determine the cost of a mobile application

After an in-depth analysis, the project manager will segment the application project into a “sprint”. Sprints are development phases with sub-objectives, the idea being to sequence the development phases in order to organize the general work and to respect the timing constraints.

The project manager also defines the duration of the sprints and the number of development days per sprint (example: 2-week sprint with 9 development days). From all this information, the Project Manager can then define the duration and the cost of the development of the application.

How to organize the distribution of mobile development costs for an agency?

• The developer / Project manager works between 7 and 8 hours per day (in practice it is often more)
• The developer and the project manager have a daily rate
• The time devoted to the project leadership is determined according to the development time, often between 10-15%.
• The first sprint of a project is always dedicated to Design
• The designer price is not daily but fixed depending on the service
• Very often the price is decreasing according to the duration of the project
• A flat rate is often applied for the test / debug of the application

What factors affect the cost of mobile development?

It is clear that the complexity of the application and the different functionalities and resources required are important factors that influence the final price of the development of the application. But they are far from the only ones. Different nuances of the market, such as the constantly evolving technology landscape and the varying skill sets of developers across regions, also significantly impact the mobile app development cost.

Mobile functionalities and their complexity

As stated earlier, before launching a collaboration, your development team will estimate the time needed to implement your specifications. This step is a key point in the preparation of your project.

The major factors which influence the development costs are the functionalities of the application, the adaptability of different platforms like Android and Apple, the design and the personalized effects, the complexity of the back- end and API development (we’ll cover that later).

The complexity of the functionalities to be implemented in the application project is the major factor that will influence the total cost. This represents the amount of business logic needed to translate into the application software , the number of screens, buttons and services to use.

Here are some examples of features that significantly affect development costs.

Manage user roles and engagement

The creation of user roles, the tree structure and content management according to the account editing role can sometimes be complex, it represents in particular:

Account management: Adding features such as password storage and encryption, password recovery, social login (“connect with Google – Facebook”), data and data editing affiliated with accounts (example: the evolution of weight for a Fitness application).

Social interactions: Social sharing (internal or external to the application), the creation of a Feed, the addition of a tagging plan for push and in-app notifications, comments.

The integration of libraries or third-party data, linked to an external database.

In-app purchases

The integration of the purchase into the application requires special management, in addition to synchronizing the store with a back office or third-party management software, payment and delivery tracking functionalities must be added. The most popular in-app payment methods are credit cards, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and PayPal. Each payment method will require additional development time.

Location-based services

If you want to implement innovative technology with a location service (or even more complex, position tracking like a GPS), development times can be extended. This is also one of the most complex features. In particular, you have to think about:

Request user permission to use their GPS data

Manage calls to the device’s GPS data

Ensure lasting and precise monitoring according to the position of the device, with a good and a bad connection to the network

Functionalities

An application can call on the functionalities of the smartphone used, such as the camera, NFC recharging, payment systems, speakers, etc. Developers often have to use APIs to be able to do this.

The geographic location of the development team

The price of a developer is strongly impacted by his environment, his language and his skills. On a large scale, an Indian developer will be nearly five times less than a French developer. On a smaller scale, an American developer can be twice as expensive as a provincial developer (with equivalent skills). Here are some things that you should know:

• The legislation (in particular concerning the respect of data confidentiality), is not equivalent from one country to another
• The language barrier can be complex when dealing with a technical subject
• The “cleanliness” of the code
• Proximity to manage emergencies and improve communication
• The same time zone for better project management
• The choice of the agency and the development team

An agency specializing in mobile development will always be more competent than an internal developer. The agency will be able to respond to the problems of its client, it has the experience of all these projects and the necessary skills internally.

It also has many tools adapted to project development: Such as management, development and communication tools (videoconferencing, messaging tool, ticket management, etc.).

In addition, the cost of development will also depend on the structure of the team. The size of the team should be adjusted as needed. A typical development team is made up of: