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Mobile app development trends in 2022
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Andrew Douglas

The main word of the early 2020s is “pandemic”, a phenomenon that turned the lives of many and influenced literally all areas of business. This concerns mobile development to the greatest extent, because due to the fact that people are switching to a remote work format, observing the self-isolation regime, leaving home less often, the time they spend online has increased. Despite the softening of the covid restrictions, according to the e-marketer forecast, in 2022, on average, people will spend on mobile applications 90% of their daily time spent on the Internet – this will amount to almost 4 hours. The development industry should respond to this with a corresponding growth, because the statistics of demand for applications is as follows: according to a study by the Statista.com portal, in the first half of 2021 alone, the number of downloads of various applications in the Apple App Store and Google Play reached 72.5 billion.

We thought about what areas of mobile app development will be relevant in 2022, what trends await us and what features will be in the top. We do not expect innovative solutions in the coming year, it is worth focusing on what is already in demand in the market, or on those trends that are just beginning to appear in the industry, but show their promise.

1. Low-Code and No-Code Development

NCDP and LCDP platforms are gaining popularity due to the growing popularity of the mobile application development industry itself. These solutions allow even companies with limited resources to create new products. No- and low-code technologies are also good for testing a hypothesis – whether an idea will enter the market or not. The development process is greatly simplified with a variety of drag-and-drop tools, flowcharts, user-friendly visual interface. According to forecasts, revenues of the low-code development market by 2030 will reach $ 187 billion and will demonstrate more than 15 times growth in 10 years. 45% of customers already give preference to low-code development due to the fact that this solution reduces dependence on highly qualified specialists.

2. Cross-platform applications

We’ve already written about the benefits of both native and cross-platform development and which industries are suitable for both technologies. Many representatives of the global mobile development industry argue that it is cross-platform applications that will be trending in 2022, and that Flutter is the future of application development. This allows you to reach a large audience of users, optimizes the costs of launching a product, and shortens the time for its creation. And since the winner in the market is sometimes determined by the time of appearance on it, cross-platform development is increasingly chosen for developing MVP and testing hypotheses for its flexibility and compatibility. Such a giant in the market as Alibaba is also being developed using Flutter, without losing either the quality of the interface or the set of available functions.

3. PWA applications

Progressive Web Application is a technology that allows a user to install your site as an application. It has a lot of advantages – at least a significant reduction in development and support costs, the application is very small, works faster than the site and can work offline. PWA works well for brand memorability – if the application is left on the user’s device, then he will regularly see an icon with your logo. Push notifications will help you keep in touch with the customer – notifications about the status of orders or any promotions that can stimulate repeat sales. In addition, according to the study, the conversion rate thanks to PWA increases by 36%.

4. Super-appa.

This is a trend that is likely to come to the fore – multipurpose services that combine the maximum of functions. Traditionally, an application is developed to meet a specific user need: logistics, pastime, communication, education, etc. Now mega-applications are gaining popularity, covering a much wider range of tasks. Here we are talking about an environment in which all the needs of the user will be met. After all, it is much more convenient to use one application for a dozen of your tasks than to install one for each specific task.

In general, this phenomenon is not new at all, the term first sounded in 2010 from the founder of Blackberry Mike Lazaridis, who called the ecosystem of many applications a superappa. However, the new phenomenon gained popularity later, with the arrival of the Chinese WeChat on the market: the service replaced other applications from smartphones of Chinese residents. Using just one system, they were able to communicate, pay bills, order a taxi and delivery, read and watch films, and from February 2020, they could even see cities infected with coronavirus. Billions of monthly transactions conducted through WeChat and other Asian supers have pushed the trend of supers to the west.

An example of the development of such a superapp in Russia is Yandex.Go, which combines the functionality of ordering a taxi, delivering food and groceries, shopping on the marketplace, information on public transport and car sharing. However, this is still not the level of WeChat, but VKontakte is trying to get closer to it, which almost monthly adds new functions, giving its users more and more opportunities to perform actions without leaving the service. In addition, the social network is an open superapp, in which some small function (mini-app) can be launched by any developer (which, for example, Yandex does not have).

And the trend is that superapps will develop and occupy more and more market shares. Of course, it will take a long time and costly for small and medium-sized businesses to create and develop such a service in terms of financial and labor resources. However, it will be possible to adapt to the trend by integrating its services into the super-app of giant corporations, which, for example, Tinkoff said in the release of his application.

5. 3D graphics in applications

This tool will also not be innovative, it has been used for a long time in many areas of design, it is rather worth noting that in 2022 3D graphics will become even more diverse and inclusive. But the trend prioritizes the functional role of 3D and only then – the decorative one. Three-dimensional images have become much more accessible for use due to the fact that the download speed of frameworks is growing every year, and this allows the implementation of complex visual solutions. And 3D illustrations demonstrate the object much deeper and more informative, at least because they are closer to human perception than flat images. Combined with quality animation, this can be a win-win for a memorable interface.

6. Dark theme

After the appearance of dark Instagram, and after it a number of applications in development, they began to pay special attention to this, and now even the operating systems themselves have found dark mode. Someone just likes this theme more, someone it reduces the burden on the eyes, someone is comfortable to “switch to the dark side” when they use a smartphone in an unlit space, and more and more developers are introducing this mode into their products – this is almost a must-have element in 2022.

7. Voice control

In a world where people are faced with the need to do several things at the same time, voice commands are becoming indispensable, so more and more applications give the user this opportunity. Integration is possible with the voice assistant of the operating system itself or with Google voice search, for example. The advent of Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri has revolutionized user interface design. Even just taking notes using voice commands can sometimes be necessary. Moreover, voice control will be important for those who have vision problems.

8. Gestures and swipes

And this is a tool that distinguishes a mobile device from a personal computer, on which it is simply not available. Daily scrolling, scrolling of pages has already become a habit, and the less additional actions need to be performed, the more the user likes it. Some app developers even advocate not using buttons, as if they create a mess, take up a lot of screen space, and suggest replacing their functions with swipes (for example on Dribble), adding good animation. Many are well aware of this action for the most ordinary readers. And on some Honor models, the entire interface for navigating between applications is built on swipes, there are simply no “back” buttons and go to the open applications panel, and this is another trend that will only gain momentum in 2022.

9. Virtual and augmented reality

These two technologies open up very cool sales opportunities. Many brands are already using AR (augmented reality) in their virtual fitting apps (like Lamoda). And facial recognition technology lets you try makeup or accessory options from the comfort of your home. So, for example, Sephora in their application presented a virtual artist who helps to scan a face and demonstrate different images on it. IKEA has also long ago embraced augmented reality by launching an app that shows how furniture will look in different places in the home. Moreover, statistics say that 66% of shoppers will be very interested in using AR technology in online shopping.

IKEA Place im Test: Nur wenige Geräte unterstützen die App

10.5G is coming

By the end of 2021, about 692 million 5G connections are projected worldwide. The launch of 5G networks in Russia is supposed to be done only in 2024, however, in the global mobile development industry, it is assumed that next year this technology will be a new industry standard.

New speeds will provide an increase in the functionality of applications – new features will be added without sacrificing performance. Users expect fewer disconnections due to lower network latency (17-26 milliseconds versus 36 + 48 milliseconds for 4G). In addition, the 5G standard will be distinguished by more accurate geolocation, which is also important for many functions of the application.

What follows from all this?

The direction in which the industry is developing is definitely worth paying attention to. However, this is not the ultimate truth, and when developing your product, the most important thing is to offer a working solution to your user’s problem, think over how your idea will differ from others on the market, and choose a team with a sufficient set of competencies to implement it. It is quite possible that testing your hypothesis does not require virtual reality technology or voice control at all: the performer’s experience can help to determine which trend features should be present in the application: the Appcraft studio has developed and successfully launched more than 200 client applications and is actively developing 4 of its own projects. … We discuss each project individually, share with our customers insights concerning not only the technical implementation or design, but also the features of user behavior and various business models.

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Creation of mobile applications for banks: functions, development stages and trends 2021
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Andrew Douglas

The development of mobile applications in the financial sector is one of the most popular directions in 2021. According to Insider Intelligence, 89% of banking users use mobile banking – mostly Millennials and Generation X between 20 and 55. The mobile application allows you to completely replace or reduce the load on bank branches, reduce the cost of renting premises and staff, and increase customer loyalty.

What tasks does the banking application solve?

Automates processes and saves budget. With the help of the online service, a person can apply for a loan or receive a debit card, download the necessary certificates or ask a question to the chat bot without the participation of bank employees. Thus, the application avoids the factor of human error and saves money on training and maintenance of employees.

Increases loyalty. The opportunity to get any banking service at any time without leaving home gives a good competitive advantage and keeps customers among regular users.

Provides an additional platform for marketing and analytics. In the application, you can inform about new services and changes in work, hold promotions and contests, create a separate loyalty program and send push notifications with an individual offer to each client. The service also provides detailed analytics of user actions: what channels they come from, what functions they use most often, what they spend money on, etc.

Mobile Banking Features

In the process of creating mobile applications for a bank, basic functions with basic banking services are added to the basis and, depending on the preferences of the target audience, additional options are introduced.

The main

  • user authentication and authorization
  • setting up a personal account
  • support chat
  • linking bank cards
  • viewing card and account balances, expense history
  • setting a limit on spending
  • contactless payment
  • money transfers to other cards and accounts
  • replenishment of a mobile phone and housing and communal services
  • currency exchange
  • purchase and sale of securities
  • issuance of account statements, bank details
  • card blocking and unblocking
  • push notifications

Additional

  • budget statistics
  • system of bonuses and cashback for purchases through the application
  • payment by QR code
  • voice menu
  • creating a family account

Trends in the banking application market

Big data

Big Data is a large amount of data that is processed by automated tools and used to collect statistics, make predictions, and make decisions. With Big Data, the bank can analyze customer behavior, create personalized offers and make decisions on loan applications. Companies that learn how to properly sort and manage data will be able to offer better solutions to users.

Complete ecosystems

In recent years, large banks have begun to concentrate entire ecosystems around themselves with proven consumer services. For example, in the Tinkoff bank application, in addition to basic functions, you can buy movie tickets, book a hotel or sign up for an excursion and get cashback. A person does not need to additionally register on each site and fill in the card number: the data is automatically transmitted through the application.

Voice control

The function is actively moving from everyday tasks to banking products. Otkritie Bank and Citibank were the first to add voice control to the application, the rest of the companies are only developing their voice direction. In the future, this will allow you to find the necessary documents in the service, determine the nearest ATM, answer customers’ frequently asked questions and set up regular payments.

Family Products

Opening an account for several people in Russia was legally allowed only in 2018, so products for each family member are just beginning to develop. For example, Tinkoff, Raiffeisenbank and Alfa-Bank have family accounts in applications. Now the market lacks a separate application for children with an educational approach and a separate set of services.

Augmented reality

The technology is still used in a targeted manner and mainly for marketing, but it has a good perspective. For example, VTB mortgage lending clients are offered a virtual tour of a property, and a virtual consultant explains the basics of investing in an app.

Development stages

The AppCraft development studio is attentive to every step: it helps us to accurately determine the client’s needs and create the desired application functionality.

Consulting and analytics

Before starting the development, we conduct interviews with a client, immerse ourselves in business goals, study the audience and communication channels, analyze competitors – this will help to correctly position ourselves with clients.

Preparation of technical specifications

We write down the project goals, interface and security requirements, functionality, development stages, team composition and budget. We sign a contract and start development.

Prototyping

We reproduce the basic logic, structure and functionality of the future application. Typically, the prototype is created in the form of screens at each stage of the user journey. It is not yet a finished product, but it helps to test its functionality in order to fix bugs and improve the user experience at the initial stage.

UX / UI design development

The UX designer builds the logic of interaction between the pages: registration and authorization screens, filling in data, personal account, shopping cart, purchase payment, order tracking, etc.

The UI designer develops the appearance of the future service in accordance with the terms of reference and the client’s corporate style. He selects a color scheme, fonts, renders icons, buttons, push notifications, sliders, etc. After approval, the prototype is sent back for review to correct the shortcomings.

Backend and frontend development

Front-end programmers develop the client interface and platform logic, and back-end developers create a server for storing and exchanging information.

Testing

To test the features, people who have not participated in other stages of development are involved – they must be impartial and with a fresh eye to evaluate every page, button and push notification. To do this, you can involve a professional QA team with their own test plan, list of features and desired behavior. In the process, they test functionality, performance and design. For additional confidence, a focus group is attracted with people who use the application for the first time.

Publication and revision

After launching in the marketplace in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, you will have access to detailed statistics: which sections are the most popular and which ones are not very popular, how many people completed targeted actions, which pages should be modified, etc. code revision and technical support.

Order the development of an application for a bank can be in AppCraft. We are ready to turn your idea into a full-fledged product that will help maintain communication with customers and increase profits. We deal with all stages of development from analytics to release, help with promotion and provide prompt technical support. For 10 years, we have created several of our own projects and more than 200 mobile applications – banking systems, instant messengers, corporate solutions, e-commerce and social networks.

Contact us via the form to discuss the details and find out the exact price.

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Application development for startups
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Andrew Douglas

Content

  1. Distribution of the budget when creating a mobile application
  2. How we help launch a mobile product
  3. Possible scenarios

Any startup has little time, money and no proven hypothesis, which is why it is called a startup.

Throughout the existence of the AppCraft mobile application development studio, we tried to launch our own projects, and we do it now. And from our own experience, we have made sure that the following strategy is optimal:

  1. Think over the idea that has arisen, look at existing examples, and pay special attention to closed mobile applications. Very important do not forget about the survivor bias.
  2. List everything that can be done in the project.
  3. Spend no less time to throw away everything without which the product can exist… If the main goal of the application, that is, the solution to a specific user problem, is achieved without this feature, it should be thrown away without hesitation.
  4. Draw up a marketing plan, at least an approximate one. If you do not think it over from the beginning, then at the start of an advertising campaign you will have to redo and add many things.
  5. Write a detailed technical assignment. For a startup, it should be detailed in comparison with mobile applications for already established business processes. If there, in case of questions, the answers are easily found among the established rules, then revisions of entire sections are possible here. Writing technical specifications is the creation of a product.
  6. Start a marketing campaign in accordance with a previously developed plan immediately, without even waiting for the first version of the product. Recruiting an audience and establishing close cooperation with it is a very difficult task, in fact, this is what you are doing by creating a mobile product. Therefore, you need to start doing this as early as possible.
  7. Develop the first version of the product, test it in focus groups. Complete 3-4 processing cycles and improvements based on the information collected.
  8. Carry out a soft start on the formed cohorts of the intended target audience. Cut off non-working cohorts and focus on the most alive.
  9. Move fastfocusing on early adopters. You need to communicate with them, their loyalty needs to be appreciated.
Mobile application development stages

The way to launch your own project cannot be called easy – there is really a lot of work, especially in establishing productive communication with users, and since resources are limited, first of all they need to be properly allocated.

Distribution of the budget when creating a mobile application

The bulk of the resources, about 60-70%, should be spent on gathering the audience. This includes direct advertising, and the formation of groups on social networks, and the purchase of articles, and partnerships, and many other methods.

Completely viral products that have grown without a single advertising penny are extremely rare. If this happens to your product, that’s fine, but it’s better to be able to fire multiple shots and hit the target without relying on one powerful shot in the top ten.

Of the remaining small part, 25% are for creating MVP and project management, and 50% for revisions based on the results of testing cycles.

It all looks something like this:

Distribution of money at the start of the mobile application
Distribution of finances at the start of a mobile application

First – MVP, then several quick cycles of improvement and refinement on test cohorts, then transition to large service cycles.

It is important to understand that modern IT products are services. They are not written once and for all, they are constantly changing, adapting both to the surrounding reality and to the changing needs of users.

How we help launch a mobile product

At first, we protect your idea the signing of an NDA – a non-disclosure agreement. Each specialist in our team working on your project has a similar signed agreement with the studio.

Yes, in the modern world, patenting is not as important as the speed of building business processes and the ability to form a product audience. Nevertheless, a successfully launched product is a lot of capital, and you need to work with it very carefully. Therefore, the protection of your right to your mobile application is at the forefront.

Further on the stages of development and development:

1. We carry out market analysis and write a detailed analytical report indicating the history of experiments in this niche, current competitors, links to research from global consulting companies and recommendation conclusions.

2. We help in formation of a marketing strategy…

3. We draw up technical specifications together with you, we make a clickable prototype and organize the collection of focus group information.

4. We develop MVP, preparing for a soft launch, organizing the collection and processing of statistical information. In the article about launching a mobile application we wrote about this in more detail.

5. We help in launching: we monitor the technical condition of the product, provide support, set up A / B testing of key functionality.

6. If necessary – we organize communication with investors and help in negotiations on technical issues.

A large number of developed mobile applications have formed our understanding of how it is worth and how not to do each stage. Of course, each product is different, but there are common features of the technological process that increase the chances of success.

On the blog, you can read our article on the cost of developing an app for android and iOS…

Possible scenarios

Yes, the first version of the developed product may not work. As a rule, it does not work. Everything we do the first time rarely works well.

Therefore, the startup process does not at all assume that this will happen:

1. After the development of the technical specification, the clickable prototype is shown to the target audience. We ask potential users to rate from 0 to 10 – how likely it is that they will install such a mobile application for themselves. Almost everyone puts 7-9 – this is politeness, no one will use the product. 10 – most likely yes. Success is measured in tens. If there are not enough of them, the product needs to be redone.

2. Developed MVP is launched on test cohorts. Here the statistics are analyzed in detail and, again, rotations of individual functions or even the entire product are possible.

3. During soft start, the groping process continues, some functions are amorphous and can be changed at any time, some are removed, and some are added.

4. If, after many attempts, it is still not possible to reach profitability, a more radical change in the business model is considered: partnerships, creation of a product for a specific client, barter cooperation and other options.

It happens that the result is not quite what was intended, even in its essence, but if it works, solves people’s problems and allows you to earn money, that’s great.

We will help you at every stage of this difficult path and will be happy to share our experience. Doing something big together is always very interesting and exciting.

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Cross-platform development: for or against?
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Andrew Douglas

Whether it is worth choosing cross-platform development for your product or preferring native development is not an easy question, since each business has its own goals and expectations from the product that is planned to be developed. But today we will definitely figure out which development is right for you.

What are cross-platform apps?

Cross-platform applications are applications that are developed and then run immediately on both Android and iOS. The essence of the development is that the source code of the application is translated into native, that is, understandable for a specific mobile device. As a result, the program can interact with the operating system installed on it.

Recall: native applications, as opposed to cross-platform, are written initially for a specific OS.

Pros of cross-platform development

  • expanding the user base due to the appearance of the application simultaneously in several stores;
  • single source code saves you the hassle of hiring multiple developers for each platform;
  • 75% of the codebase of a cross-platform application can be reused, adapting it for new projects.

Cons of cross-platform development

1. High dependence on a mobile device

Cross-platform apps usually don’t work offline. Therefore, their capabilities are highly dependent on the presence of a stable Internet connection. The operating system version and model of the device are also important. A cross-platform application is almost guaranteed to degrade the performance of a device older than one to two years. While the native application will work stably even on an ancient gadget with outdated firmware. So if you don’t want your customers to read angry reviews about how your application finally “finished off” someone’s smartphone, choose native development.

2. Unfriendly user interface

Users get so used to the look and functionality of their gadgets that they expect maximum responsiveness from the applications installed on them. They want to be sure that each button will be in its rightful place, that the page scrolls at the speed that is optimal for them, and that any action they take will be followed by an immediate reaction. Cross-platform applications usually have difficulty adapting to the device, and they cannot boast of high-speed performance.

The problem is that there are no guidelines for cross-platform development – development standards from the creators of the OS. Therefore, cross-platform development of mobile applications for android will not be convenient for the iOS user, and vice versa. You can, of course, create separate designs for each platform, but in terms of labor costs, this will be equal to creating two different applications, albeit in the same language.

3. Struggle for primacy among development tools

In the market for cross-platform development solutions, competition is getting tougher every day. So far, the most popular among developers are React Native and Xamarin, but they may well be outstripped, for example, by Vue Native. In this case, the ex-leaders of the race will lose their most important advantage – the operational support of the code. And this can happen with any cross-platform tool.

A specialist develops an application for several OS

This is not a problem for native development. The introduction of new tools occurs gradually, and knowledge of several programming languages, which is mandatory for a narrow specialist, will allow him to quickly deal with all the innovations. In addition, there are huge professional communities around each operating system, as a result of which any difficulty that arises is solved by searching for a similar problem on the forums, where thousands of people are ready to suggest and help solve it.

Which app is right for your business?

Before answering this question, it is imperative to analyze your business. Customer segments, the value of time and money resources, the desired depth of application integration with user devices, plus well-defined long-term goals – the minimum on which your choice will depend. But we will make it easier if you answer the relevant questions right now.

1. What is your audience using?

If you know that your client base is close to 50-50 for iOS to Android users, choose native development. This will show that you respect the needs of all your customers equally, regardless of their income level.

$ 100 App Store & iTunes payment card

The relationship between the choice of a mobile device and the level of solvency was once again confirmed by App Annie. A study of the number of downloads and sales of mobile applications in Google Play and the App Store in the first quarter of 2018 revealed that Android smartphone users downloaded 135% more applications than visitors to the iOS store. At the same time, the App Store brought its owners 85% more revenue than Google Play. A reason to think about the separate development of the ios mobile application.

The path to success is clear: play on two fields at once. More precisely, at two stores. Just calculate in which one the application should appear first. Unless of course the simultaneous release is part of your digital strategy.

2. How much time do you have for development?

The financial costs of the project depend on the answer to this question. The fact is that in terms of the time spent on development, a cross-platform application only seems to be a more profitable solution. In fact, adapting it to platforms can take almost as long as creating two native applications, since developers have to write additional pieces of code for problem areas.

With a native application, there will definitely not be such problems, which is very important for retaining an audience that is extremely intolerant to errors and bugs. According to statistics from Compuware, 79% of users are ready to restart the application if it did not work correctly during the first launch, but only 16% agree to give it another chance. The rest will most likely just uninstall the program.

3. What features of the device do you plan to use?

We have already talked about the fact that only native applications are able to reproduce heavy graphics quickly and without loss of quality. But the technical advantages of native development don’t stop there. Take the Facebook app as an example. With the release of separate versions for Android and iOS, scrolling has become smoother, image loading times have been reduced and all cache issues have been resolved.

What’s more, native apps get direct access to all services on the device, which allows you to get information about a user’s location or contact list. Cross-platform applications have to use special native plugins, which negatively affects the data transfer speed and overloads the device’s RAM.

4. What results are you striving for?

A digital strategy is a list of goals that your company can achieve using digital tools. The choice of the latter largely depends on the benefits that you want to get in the end.

Break down the process from idea to result point by point, taking into account all available resources. Discoveries can be the most unexpected.

For example, you may find that translating your responsive site with many features and interactivity into a cross-platform application, as you originally intended, is too expensive a task. Or finally make sure that a mobile site always loses to a mobile application – how cross-platform development loses to a native one. And among the reasons, find those that we described above.

Conclusion: a cross-platform application is beneficial only in one case – you create a demo version of the application, limited in time, money and narrow-profile specialists. In all other cases, a native application will give you many times more advantages, since this is a qualitatively different level of development.

In our blog, you can always read about the price for developing applications for ios and android and have time to leave an application for developing a mobile application in 2020.

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Application development cost calculator
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Andrew Douglas

The methodology for calculating the timing and cost of developing applications is given below. A more detailed description of pricing in the IT development market is in this article.

Calculating the cost of a mobile application

The calculation of the cost of developing a mobile application is based on the amount of labor – time. They are precisely the main difficulty in understanding this market.: Someone promises to complete the task in two weeks, while others claim that it is impossible to voice less than three months in sound mind and memory.

We analyzed a large number of reports from various organizations and mobile development studios, which, in turn, are based on the study of project evaluations by performers on Clutch, UpWork and other sites. There are many of them, for example:

These data give an understanding of the average time estimate for the development of typical mobile applications: social networks, instant messengers, utilities, and others.

Of course, the average price implies a fairly large range even in each segment. For example, the implementation of chat in applications can vary greatly:

  1. Should there be statuses about delivery and reading of messages?
    •
  2. Are there group chats?
    •
  3. Ability to send images, video and audio messages?
    •
  4. Is it possible to delete messages, including those of interlocutors?
    •
  5. Should dialogues be archived?
    •
  6. Is the encryption algorithm required and which one?
    •
  7. In which country will it work: what local legal requirements must be met?
    •
  8. Should there be stickers?
    •
  9. If so, is it possible to upload my own kits?
    •
  10. Should it be possible to reply to messages via push notifications?

And these are just the main questions, not affecting design, animation elements, support for various devices, and so on.

However, the average estimate provides a guideline for the order of labor. If it is a month and a half, then in fact it can be plus or minus two weeks, but not six months.

The resulting estimate of the scope of work is distributed among the number of specialists in the team. If a mobile application is being developed simultaneously for two platforms, iOS and Android, then the work is being carried out in parallel. The design also partially overlaps: the development of promotional materials, for example, can be carried out in parallel with the direct development of the product.

The calculation of the cost of a mobile application is based on the average cost of an hour of work of our Appcraft studio specialists. It is average for the market: the development office is located in Ryazan, which allows us to reduce the cost of maintaining the workspace.

In this article, we described the principle of cost formation for the development of a mobile application in more detail, gave a number of examples and described our vision of the algorithm for selecting a contractor.

And in this – the results of a survey of customers regarding their opinion on the timing and cost of developing mobile applications in Russia.

Next article

Mobile app launch

The release of a mobile app is not a one-time event. There will always be room for improvements that make release a cyclical process that needs to be reassessed.

Read more

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Application development timeline
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Andrew Douglas

About 1 million applications are published in stores every year. In 2017, the number of app downloads was 197 billion, with a forecast of 352 billion by 2021. This whole celebration of life will generate about two hundred billion dollars in revenue according to the same forecast. All these big and beautiful numbers only mean that a lot of applications are being developed, and more will be developed.

World experience in development gives a certain understanding of various aspects of creating mobile applications, including the main ones: cost and development time. In this article, we consider the issue of timing: how long does it take to develop a mobile application?

Research

Kinvey surveyed 100 UI / UX professionals in mobile app development with a single question: “How long do you think it will take to create an MVP (first working prototype) of a mobile app?”

The average of all responses was 18 weeks
(about 4.5 months)

This estimate implies costs of approximately 10 weeks for the backend and 8 weeks for the frontend…

Kinvey also made this beautiful infographic:

Mobile app development timeline infographics

Estimated stages include:

  1. Storage design
  2. Thinking about caching
  3. Data Synchronization Issues
  4. Prototyping
  5. UI / UX design, development
  6. UI / UX design polishing on a prototype
  7. User account management
  8. Server logic
  9. Integration with external services
  10. Implementation of push notifications, onboarding
  11. Version compatibility support

During the same time, it is possible to assemble 1.3 Boeing 777s and launch the Apollo mission to the Moon 40 times.

The second study was conducted in 2017 by GoodFirms. They approached the matter more thoroughly, interviewing various experts in the industry to estimate the time and cost of developing specific examples of mobile applications (Instagram, Tinder, Uber, etc.). The results are as follows:

1. Complex applications like Instagram or Uber, which include large functionality, are estimated by the development time 4.5 to 5.5 months…

2. Development of an application for iphone and other smartphones, medium in complexity (WhatsApp) require about 4.5 months working time of the team.

3. High-quality applications with little functionality will require from 3.8 to 4.1 months…

The average estimates of the cost (in million rubles, two platforms: iOS and Android, the server side) and the terms of application development were as follows:

Evaluating mobile app development by budget and timeline

A total of 55 mobile application development companies from 15 countries were surveyed. At the same time, the scatter of estimates turned out to be quite large:

Evaluation of the development of a mobile application in terms of time and cost

Some companies estimated the volume of work to be no more than a month, some – no less than eight. Someone gave an estimate of 300 million rubles, someone – at 13 million.

results

Based on the combined results of both studies the average development time for a mobile application is 4-5 months… We are talking about a full cycle: from thinking through an idea to launching, which includes many stages.

If you are planning to create an android application from scratch or develop a relatively small iOS application, expect a period of 3 to 4 months. Complex application – about 6.

At AppCraft MVP studio is done quickly: we understand that in 4-6 months the state of the market and the needs of customers can change significantly. Therefore, preference is given to the ability to test the product as quickly as possible on real users instead of implementing additional functionality.

On our website you can fill out an application for the development of a mobile application to order, and in the blog you can read about the cost of developing a mobile application.

Subscribe to our Telegram channel: every day we publish interesting materials about creating a business and developing mobile applications.

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Next article

5 main metrics to control the quality of a mobile application

What should a mobile startup measure? How do you differentiate actionable, evidence-based mobile app metrics from “vanity metrics” that can only please a developer?

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Business Application Development
0
Andrew Douglas

Content

  1. Do you need a mobile application
  2. How we help you find the optimal solution
  3. How to work further

If you have a desire to competently develop your business, then the development of a mobile application should be treated as a tool for achieving specific goals. Attracting an additional audience, increasing the loyalty of an existing one, creating a platform for selling additional services – there can be many tasks. But first of all, it is important to understand whether a mobile application is the best way to achieve your goal.

Every entrepreneur is an expert in his field and knows better than others how to create his own goods and services and sell them. We know the strengths and weaknesses of IT products. Establish a dialogue at the initial stage for a comprehensive analysis of the proposed product – our initial joint task.

Do you need a mobile app?

Creating a mobile app is an expensive and slow process. We analyzed this issue in detail in the article on development cost – usually worth it from 500 thousand to 1 million rubles and takes 2-3 months busy working hours.

There are always several options for solving the problem.

As a consequence, you need to make sure that the means to achieve the goal is chosen correctly. You can develop a mobile version of the site, you can create a chat bot, you can solve a problem through social networks or integrate into existing products. It will be both cheaper and faster, and the payback period, accordingly, is significantly shorter.

So that we can offer different options, describe in detail their positive and negative sides, we need to understand the specifics of your business and the details of the hypothesis that led you to the idea of ​​developing a mobile application. Most likely, we have already come across similar solutions or some of their elements, and our experience can help to shorten the path.

How we help you find the optimal solution

The typical sequence of cooperation is as follows:

  1. We dive into specifics your work and the task at hand.
  2. Analyzing the market and offer several options for solving the problem with different costs, a description of their strengths and weaknesses.
  3. Together choose the optimal path, we draw up a technical task.
  4. Together think over the design, testing prototypes on target audience groups.
  5. We develop a mobile application short sprints – iterations that allow tracking the quality and speed of passing the stages.
  6. We integrate the necessary tools into the product: analytical and accounting systems, split testing services, quality control and customer support services. We have experience in integrating with 1C systems, Bitrix, R-Keeper, Iiko, various payment solutions and banks.
  7. Together launching the mobile application…
  8. We regularly generate analytical reports about the current state of the key indicators of the product.

If you already have a detailed technical specification and a clear understanding of the strategy after the conducted and deliberate testing, we will move in the already developed direction.

If, nevertheless, there are doubts at some stages, it is always better to weigh the available arguments of different positions and move forward in a more balanced way.

How to work further

Every product we develop is covered by performance guarantee: if an error suddenly occurs, the built-in monitoring systems will recognize it and we will correct it as a matter of priority.

AppCraft warranty support and maintenance
This is how we help products develop

In addition, we can conclude an SLA agreement on technical support, under which we will help in solving more complex product problems and provide technical support for the product. For example, the load on the server may be too large and it needs to be expanded, it is necessary to replace certificates for the payment system to work, etc.

We can also periodically generate a statistical report based on the collected data of analytical systems and send our recommendations for further actions, if necessary.

Our main task is jointly make a workable and effective productwho is able to achieve the set goal. We discuss different forms of cooperation and support for each product, they always have their own specifics, but always the same task.

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Next article

Main programming languages ​​for mobile app development

Knowing the languages ​​for creating mobile applications is useful not only for developers, but also for customers who want to better understand the project processes and know which language to choose for their application. In this article, we will talk about the main programming languages ​​for iOS and Android mobile development.

Read more

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Development of mobile applications for iOS
0
Andrew Douglas

According to the App Annie platform, iOS app users spend almost twice as much on the Apple App Store as Android users on the Google Play Store – in the last quarter of 2020, the Apple App Store earned $ 19 billion, and Google Play $ 10.3 billion. …

Apple owners are more solvent, which means that an application on IOS can bring more profit. If you want to attract new customers and make the buying process more convenient, the AppCraft team will develop a product from scratch that will take your business to the next level.

Development of a turnkey IOS mobile application – from 600 thousand rubles to several million rubles.

Who needs IOS app development?

Big business

It systematizes the work of all structures within the company and branches, automates interaction with customers and helps to quickly receive feedback, analyze the effectiveness of employees and eliminate costs.

Online stores

The application will attract buyers and increase the number of repeat sales, allow you to set up individual Push notifications for each user and create an effective loyalty system. The application can be integrated with CRM, enterprise management and accounting systems.

Startups

It will help you quickly attract the target audience and get the first profit, bypass competitors with the help of modern technologies and present your product to potential investors.

Why do you need to develop an application?

  • App Store users download more paid apps than Google Play, so a product with a paid download or in-software purchase will be a profitable investment in your project.
  • The target audience of IOS applications is people with above-average income who are actively buying new solutions on the market.
  • IOS applications allow you to implement a large number of useful functions for different requests.
  • Fast product development time: Apple devices are unified and have fewer versions than Android, so they take less time to build.

Appcraft studio has been developing applications for companies for more than 9 years, their further support and promotion in the App Store. We have assembled an experienced team of developers and marketers who will take into account the specifics of your business and make it convenient for your audience. We are based in Moscow and work with companies throughout Russia.

Order the development of a mobile application for IOS to increase the profit of your business.

Specificity of mobile applications on iOS

The first and main distinguishing feature of ios applications is that the number of devices is much smaller than the number of Android smartphones. This means that it should be easier to adapt the appearance of a mobile application to the current iPhones on the market.

At the same time, with the release of each new device and the update of the operating system, the vast majority of mobile applications need to be adapted to new conditions. App Store statistics show that iPhone users are eager to update to the latest version of the OS. Therefore, applications must comply with its requirements, for example, support the dark theme introduced in devices in 2019.

The diagrams below show that in one month since the presentation of iOS 13, 50% of users have updated to it… This looks especially interesting in comparison with the statistics that we provide in the article on development for Android.

Operating system update statistics on iOS devices as of October 15, 2019

At the same time, the screens of modern iOS devices have a good resolution. This allows the use of thin fonts: they are not distorted, as is the case on low quality displays.

Also, the device architecture of the same type allows not to carry out additional checks at the start of the application: there is no need to check the presence of a camera, GPS sensor or accelerometer.

Features of development and creation of applications for IOS (iphone)

And yet, despite the fact that the base of devices on the iOS platform is much smaller than on Android, there are a lot of nuances of creating and developing applications for the iphone. Design, up-to-date code, and the use of smartphone features in the creation and development of applications for the iphone can greatly increase user loyalty, which will lead to an increase in the rating of the application in the store. But first things first:

When developing applications for ios, it is necessary to take into account not only screen sizes, which is important when designing an application, but also hardware differences of each device…

In our studio, applications are developed in a native way – this is writing a program in the base language for the iOS platform – Swift. Apple strongly recommends using native technologies for the fastest, most intuitive app and the latest operating system features.

Let’s return to the diagrams with update statistics: it turns out that when a new version of the operating system is released, most users are almost immediately updated to it. But the new version may be very different from the previous one, and some functions of the application may not work correctly or not work at all.

Respectively the code needs to be kept up to date, while Apple does not provide a complete list of all the innovations in advance, giving access only to beta versions with unfinished functionality, the implementation of which may differ in the end. Therefore, within a few weeks after the release of the final version of the new OS, you need to test the mobile application and quickly adapt it to the new conditions, if necessary.

Dark Theme Presentation at 2019 Apple WWDC

The addition of new features in the latest versions can be attributed to the same topic, since progress does not stand still, and Apple tries to be in trend, introducing the top inventions of the technology world into its product. For example, in iOS 13, it became possible to forget about entering different applications by phone number or social network account, not to mention the long-forgotten username and password: now you can simply click the “sign in with Apple ID” button and, without filling out anything extra, get into the application. Moreover, the user can choose the option to hide his Apple ID, and no one will get access to his e-mail.

It is important to take this nuance into account not only when developing applications for ios, but also in a marketing strategy, since collecting such data for their further use is a frequent practice in promoting applications. You can send a letter to the pseudo-address generated by Apple for the user through a specialized channel, but mass mailings will not work this way, at least until popular mailing services provide this feature.

Another block of features of developing ios applications from scratch is design… The visual component has always been a priority for Apple, so the audience of users is used to stylish interfaces, intuitive application controls and an obvious layout of sections. Moreover, there is a strict guideline, which must be adhered to in order to successfully pass the verification for publishing an application in the App Store.

Sometimes, when creating a new product, customers ask us to make as many unique icons, buttons and fonts as possible, while the platform requirements are the opposite. But the most important thing here is user experience, and practice shows that the user can get to the profile faster if he is uniquely identified by the icon.

What icons shouldn’t be used in the iOS interface

Another feature of the development of mobile applications for iOS is the implementation of the dynamic size of the system font. IOS device users can change the OS-wide default font size. If your application does not dynamically change the font and displays it at a fixed size all the time, it will be perceived as a low-quality product for this segment of the audience.

When developing a design, it is also important to consider that some users open the application in the mode tablet compatibility… On some iPad models, the resolution of the work area becomes the same as on older iPhone models: 4 and 4s. Apple’s App Review Service often does just that: even iPhone-only apps are checked on the iPad.

This means that you need to consider the layout of the interface of applications and on screen sizes of 960 × 640 pixels, not just on the iPhone 6 and above. Many elements may overlap each other, text will not wrap correctly, etc.

Apple’s App Store Publishing Policy

After you have developed the application yourself or ordered the development of an ios application, the moment of publication comes. The App Store has stringent requirements that must be followed when publishing an app. It is important not only to comply with all style guides when developing a design, but also to ensure the confidentiality of the user’s personal data, the stability of the application during operation and, most importantly, its usefulness.

One of the reasons for the refusal to publish may be that the reviewer considers the application useless, or not useful enough against the background of many similar applications in the App Store. In this case, the functionality of the application should be revised, adding to it, among other things, elements affecting the innovations of the operating system. Such applications are readily passed on, encouraging developers to continue to support the latest OS features.

It is worth noting a number of formal points that are very important to take into account when creating a mobile application for iOS:

  1. To place a product in the App Store, you need to register as a developer, pay a fee of $ 99 per year and correctly fill in all the data about yourself. If you plan to release a product as a legal entity, the registration procedure will take longer, and you need to lay down on this process from a week to a month. Therefore, we advise you to create a developer account as soon as development has started – this will help to place it in the store without unnecessary delays by the time the application is ready for launch.
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  2. It is necessary to prepare materials for the application page: screenshots of a strictly specified format and size (even 1 extra pixel plays a role and pictures will not be accepted), advertising and general description of the application, keywords, privacy policy (write and place the file so that it is accessible by link). And you also need to provide for an easy entrance to the application for verifiers, since if it is necessary to register with a phone number with SMS confirmation, they will not be able to get inside and check the application, and they will immediately reject it. Usually we generate a given phone number and a code by which you can enter the application, bypassing the receipt of SMS.
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  3. The application itself can be validated from one day to a week. In exceptional cases, this period may be longer, but, as a rule, the application is verified within a few days. This is also worth considering when planning a marketing campaign – it is worth leaving a margin between the day of sending for verification and the start of advertising at least a few days.

Apple’s requirements are not limited to the side, for example, placing the button “Download on the App Store” on your landing page is also regulated by the rules, so it will not be possible to paint it in the colors of the product.

Although there are many rules and conditions for placement, you just need to act according to a verified plan and follow the recommendations, then the risk of encountering problems will be reduced to a minimum.

conclusions

When developing ios applications from scratch, it is important to consider the following features:

  1. The device park is relatively small and they have the same architecture – this is good.
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  2. At the same time you need to ensure comfortable work with the interface and on small screens, in compatibility mode with which applications open on tablets.
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  3. Devices are updated to the latest version of the operating system quickly – this is wonderful.
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  4. All current devices use high-resolution Retina display… You can use thin fonts and elements, and not be afraid of their incorrect color or outline display.
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  5. When designing an interface must follow Apple Human Interface Guidelines…
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  6. When publishing an app all requirements of the App Store Review Guidelines must be considered, there are many of them and they are very diverse.
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  7. You need to prepare for publication in advance: it may take 3-4 weeks to get the required DUNS number, check the documents and the application itself.

The list of requirements is quite extensive, in addition, for each type of application it expands into its own specifics, but following these development principles allows us to make really high-quality products. In our studio you can always order the development of ios applications in Moscow and Russia.

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Mobile app development technology: native or cross-platform development
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Andrew Douglas

What is native and cross-platform development

Native development (from English native – native) means the use of original languages ​​and tools for developing a mobile operating system.

Development of applications for ios takes place in the Xcode development environment in the Swift language (and earlier – in Objective-C).

When using the technology for developing mobile applications on the Android platform, the Android Studio environment and the Kotlin language are used (until 2018, the main language was Java).

An article on building android apps.

Each development environment contains a whole set of utilities for writing code, interface design, debugging, profiling (monitoring) and building applications. Both the environment and the corresponding set of utilities are created specifically for each mobile operating system, and are the most convenient and powerful tools for developing mobile applications.

Cross-platform mobile application development technology implies the use of special frameworks to create an application based on the JavaScript family of languages. All the structure and logic of the application is created using such tools (React Native, Flutter, Ionic, Xamarin, PhoneGap, etc.) in JavaScript, and then wrapped in a native trigger, i.e. integrates into base project for XCode or Android Studio. This allows you to create project assemblies with the same logic for several operating systems at once.

A simple analogy can be seen in the case of personal computers: MS Word, Skype, mail agents, calendars – these are natively developed applications for the desktop operating system. Everything that happens in the browser (websites, online text and graphics editors, social networks, chats, forums) is cross-platform technologies.

Xcode and Android Studio logos

Pros of native mobile app development technology

The development of a mobile application in native technologies and languages ​​for iOS and Android has the following positive aspects:

1. Application speed

Since the application is created using the original development tools (Xcode, Android Studio), the resulting compilation of the project code is optimal for this platform.

The application receives full hardware support for the device (the processing of the same images is carried out by a separate processor specially designed for this – the GPU), multithreading is used to implement complex tasks and load content in the background.

During the development process, programmers can measure the speed of work of all sections of the code and, if necessary, optimize them. They also have tools at their disposal to monitor the use of RAM, search for possible leaks, etc.

2. Flexibility in implementation

In contrast to the limitations in the construction of the interface and the complexity of visual effects imposed by frameworks for cross-platform project assembly, in the native technology for developing mobile applications, you can implement everything that the technologies of a particular mobile operating system are capable of.

3. Use of the latest technologies and dependence on cross-platform frameworks

New software and hardware functionality provided by the device and operating system manufacturers becomes available for implementation immediately after the release of the corresponding updates.

For example, iOS 9 includes the ability to search within apps. Each of them must implement a special method that returns results for a specific search query. As a result, for those native iOS applications in which this functionality is implemented, the ability to search for content through the system search section in iOS is available. In the same place where the search for applications, contacts, events and other information is carried out.

In the case of cross-platform technology for developing mobile applications, to implement such functionality, you will have to wait not only for the release of iOS 9, but also for the update of the corresponding framework, and it is impossible to predict when support for certain new features will appear and whether it will appear at all.

4. Ease and quality of testing

In addition to the toolkit mentioned in clause 1 for monitoring the use of the device’s hardware resources by the application, developers and testers have a whole range of technologies at their disposal.

Firstly, all system parameters are controlled automatically during the operation of the application. If an application uses more memory than expected, or more CPU resources, it will not go unnoticed.

Secondly, the possibilities in the widespread use of unit tests – automatic testing of almost every method in the application. If some part of the application stops working correctly due to any code changes, the new version will simply not be compiled, and the programmer will immediately see the reason.

Thirdly, there are ample opportunities for integrating remote error monitoring systems. In each native project, the corresponding functionality is built in, which allows you to see the error and its cause that arose on the device of any user.

5. Full support from App Store and Google Play

Both companies are committed to ensuring that users get the most positive experience possible when using applications on their respective platforms.

This means that the application should look as high quality as possible (if the screen has a high resolution and the images are blurry, the App Store will simply not let the application pass), work as fast as possible (if the application displays a small list of items in 20-30 seconds, it they will not miss it), and in general everything should be nice and comfortable.

If any of these parameters are too low or not met at all, the application will not be allowed to enter the store. If they are not up to par, which is extremely difficult to achieve with cross-platform technologies for creating mobile applications, and often impossible in principle, your application will never be considered by the relevant companies for placement in special advertising sections (Featured).

Among the applications in Featured sections of both the App Store and Google Play, there are none made using cross-platform technologies. Except for game projects in which the interface is not systemic.

Pros of cross-platform mobile app development technology

The cross-platform development environment has the following positive aspects:

  1. Less resources are required to implement an application for several platforms at once. This, in fact, is the essence of the cross-platform technology for developing mobile applications on the android and iOS platforms – the same code runs on both platforms. There are exactly half the number of programmers involved in the project. The designer only makes one set of graphics. All this reduces the number of working hours and the project budget.
  2. Less development time. Due to the lack of unique interface elements and simpler technologies for developing cross-platform applications, the time for creating simple products is usually less.
  3. Simplified product update cycle. If you need to add something to the project or fix some mistake, this is done immediately for all platforms to which the project applies.
  4. The ability to use the mobile version of the site. In most cases, languages ​​for cross-platform technology for mobile application development are part of the JavaScript family of languages. Therefore, if you already have a mobile version of the site, a significant part of the code and materials can be used in the application without changes.
  5. Using a single application logic. The logic behind the application will work in the same way for all platforms. Quite often, this can be a disadvantage due to the different architecture of operating systems.

    A prime example is the Back button in navigation between screens. Android has a hardware Back button for this. On iOS – swiping your finger from the left side of the screen, or having a button on the left side of the navigation bar. If you don’t do the button at all, iOS users won’t be able to go back. If done, but in the wrong place and looking out of the box, iOS users will be unusual and inconvenient; and if done as in iOS, it will be unusual for Android users.

    However, once written and debugged, the logic contains potentially fewer errors and discrepancies in its work. Therefore, you do not have to do the double and triple work of finding problems on each platform.

conclusions

From a technical point of view and from the point of view of the quality of the interface being created, the native technology for developing mobile applications has much more advantages. However, there are areas in which cross-platform technologies are justified: the gaming sector and test projects.

Most modern games are written on cross-platform technologies. This greatly speeds up development without sacrificing quality. in this case, special graphics frameworks are used (the most popular is Unity 3D).

If a project needs to be done quickly to conduct any tests, and the situation requires the project to work on several platforms at the same time, a cross-platform implementation may be the best solution.

If the project is not a game project, aimed at long-term development and requires a positive user experience, then it would be more rational to create a mobile application in a native way. Once the development method has been chosen, it is time to discuss the cost of developing the application.

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Development of mobile applications for medical centers, medical clinics
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Andrew Douglas

According to a Ricoh Research study, 79% of patients prefer clinics with user-friendly websites and applications – they inspire confidence and help reduce the time to make appointments with doctors and fill out documents. The Russian market for medical IT solutions is just beginning to grow, so a proprietary mobile application will help you differentiate yourself from competitors and increase patient loyalty.

Why does the medical center need an application

Loyalty. A person will more willingly return to places where there is an opportunity to sign up in one click, avoid bureaucracy, chat with a doctor and receive individual discounts.

Analytics. You can upload information for each patient and get statistics on user activity, behavior and service ratings. This will allow you to timely adjust the promotion strategy and service.

Communication with patients. The service interface allows you to collect all information about the hospital in one place, provide a round-the-clock online chat for communication and PUSH messages with reminders, news and special offers.

Automation. The chatbot can collect health complaints, medical history and documents, recommend tests and specialists for diagnosis. During the appointment, the doctor will already have all the information about the person, which will shorten the duration of the consultation and make it more useful.

Marketing. You can implement activities to increase sales: hold sweepstakes, organize promotions, give promotional codes and discounts.

Features of medical mobile applications

Registration

It is important to maintain a balance between expertise, legal aspects and usability. Choose a laconic color scheme in soothing colors, replace complex terms with accessible ones, simplify the user path from filling out a questionnaire to purchasing, and support the person at every stage. The functionality should be simple, even for people 40+ years old.

Remember that the main task is not to replace a professional and scare with complex terms, but to build trusting communication and loyalty.

Privacy and security

When working with personal data, you must take into account the laws and regulations for the storage of information. In Russia, this is the Order of the Ministry of Health on the procedure for depersonalizing information – it is mandatory from a legal point of view. Without observing them, you cannot publish in the Google Play Store and Apple Store.

To make people trust you, tell us about the security of personal documents before filling out your personal account and add the ability to hide your data from staff.

Application types

In the service industry, services are often created for two parties: customers and performers.

Healthcare facilities may have separate areas for doctors and patients.

Specialists can see the patient’s medical history and medical record, keep the work schedule, fill out the cards online, chat and follow the medication prescriptions.
Patients – choose specialists, sign up for consultations and procedures, receive reminders, ask questions to the chat bot and earn bonuses for payment.

What functions can be in the application

The main

  • Personal Area. Fill out a profile, upload a photo, medical card and test results.
  • Family account. Add profiles of the child and close relatives.
  • Appointment… Choose a doctor, date and branch, reschedule or cancel the consultation.
  • Home call. Set a date and address, describe the symptoms of the disease.
  • Payment for services. Top up an account, arrange an installment plan, pay by credit card.
  • Ratings and reviews… Leave a comment after visiting the hospital.

Additional

  • Chat bot. Sending appointment reminders, answering common questions, technical support.
  • Maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Diary of nutrition and physical well-being, a list of prescribed medications and advice for the prevention and treatment of diseases.
  • Integration with electronic medical records. The doctor can edit the records online.
  • Chat and video calls with a doctor. Remotely consult with about the results of the examination and current treatment.
  • Scanning drug barcodes. Tracking the treatment process and adjusting doses.
  • Bonus system. Accumulate bonuses and receive discounts for a regular customer.

Development stages

Analytics

Before creating an interface, gather as much information as possible about the company, market, and competitors. Define business goals, create a portrait of a potential user, define an approximate user path and a list of available services.

AppCraft conducts interviews with the customer, his target audience, organizes focus groups and expert assessment in order to obtain as much information as possible in a short time. This will help us develop an understandable and convenient mobile product that will simplify communication between doctors and patients.

Technical task

Determine the composition of the team and requirements for the developers, set goals, deadlines and budget. The more detailed the plan is, the faster it will be possible to get started and bring the first version (MVP) to the market.

The terms of reference may include:

  • Business goals.
  • The project team.
  • Portrait of potential users.
  • The visualized user experience.
  • Mandatory and optional features and services
  • Monetization methods
  • Technical requirements for interface, performance and security.
  • UX / UI design concept.
  • Stages and terms.
  • Budget.

The description of the terms of reference helps to understand what exactly the other party wants and how to implement it. The more detailed the technical assignment, the higher the chance of getting what you really need and avoiding lengthy improvements

At AppCraft studio, we check the technical specification for compliance with the platforms and develop it from scratch.

Marketing strategy

Consider a promotion plan at the beginning to integrate monetization elements organically.

You can tell about the project using targeted advertising, native materials in the media and blogs, affiliate programs and viral techniques. Describe your audience, explore ways to promote your competitors, make your own plan and change it depending on the circumstances.

Team organization

It includes product managers, analysts, marketers, UX / UI designers, developers and testers. The number of people is determined by the scale, complexity of implementation, timing and budget.

At AppCraft we do not involve external specialists – we have a time-tested team and well-tuned communication. Each employee knows his tasks, is focused on the end result and is interested in doing his job with high quality.

Design and prototype

The UX / UI designer works out the appearance: selects corporate colors, fonts, draws push notifications, buttons and pages. After that, he builds the logic of interaction between the pages of the registration and authorization screens, filling out information, profile, shopping cart, schedule of entries and payment.

When the design is agreed upon, a prototype is created – a layout in the form of master page screens. This is not yet a finished product, but it allows you to see features in action, evaluate and fix bugs before launch.

Development of

This is writing code, working out the architecture and logic, client service. Mobile developers need to know the idea, target audience and be involved in each stage in order to assess the viability of ideas and implement all the functionality.

Front-end programmers develop the client interface and platform logic.

There are two methods:

Native. A separate application is developed for each platform. This is the most expensive but reliable way: you will receive full support from marketplaces, and the service will work quickly and seamlessly on every iOS and Android device.

Cross-platform. A universal code is used for all platforms, but the system will run it as native. The best option in terms of “price-quality”.

Backend developers create a server for storing and exchanging data, choosing a programming language, hosting for the server and API, and building a management system.

Testing

After development, the prototype is handed over to testers – they check every button, push, page and form, find bugs and shortcomings. Testing is necessary at every stage.

Testing can take a long time, but it is better to double-check each page and fix the errors found than to get a wave of negativity after the release.

Important: such specialists should not participate in other processes – their view should be fresh and objective.

Publication

Prepare screenshots of the service pages, a promotion plan and a description. If you comply with all Google Play Store and Apple App Store rules, the service will be available on marketplaces in a few days.

At AppCraft, managers help you pass the test the first time and resolve issues related to account registration and site requirements.

Refinement and technical support

In the early days of launch, keep your finger on the pulse: follow reviews, study the number of visits and targeted actions, the most popular features and user experience. At this time, technical support must quickly respond to feedback and fix problems, remove unnecessary functions, optimize and refine.

Appcraft provides 12 months warranty support. We completely transfer the rights to you, but we continue to collect analytics and promptly troubleshoot problems.

The creation process may seem like a complicated and endless process, but in the hands of an experienced team, everything is created quickly without loss of quality and is tested on real users at every stage.

The AppCraft team deals with all stages of development: from analytics to release, provides prompt code improvement and technical support.

In this article, we described the features and steps of developing applications in the field of medicine. We discuss this issue with everyone separately, so that the process is understandable and suitable for the specifics of the business.

Over 10 years of work, we have created several of our own projects and more than 200 mobile applications – messengers, corporate solutions, systems for banks, e-commerce and social networks. If you want to create a simple and popular mobile application for a clinic, dentistry or medical center, we are ready to turn your idea into a product.

The cost of creating an application for the medical sector will depend on the terms of reference, scope of work and functionality. Contact us to discuss the details and find out the exact price.