Last updated on April 26th, 2023
Mobile devices have surpassed desktops in recent years as the most popular form of software. According to the most recent data, the Google Play Store* offers almost 2.8 million apps for download. This number is only expected to increase in the future. If you want to create the next big hit app, it’s not too late – hold on. In the beginning, you need to identify someone who can write the code for you. However, it might not be easy. How can you choose the best mobile app development company that has the right skills?
If you cannot find an external team, you will have to look for internal resources.
What is a mobile application development company?
The companies build a wide variety of apps for mobile platforms, including games, business apps, and mobile websites. Mobile app spending is growing every year, and there are more than 6 billion smartphones worldwide.Â
Research from Finbold found that consumers spent $41.5 billion during 2021’s first six months on Apple apps. That’s almost twice as much as Android users spend using their apps!
Consumer spending on mobile apps is expected to surpass $156 billion in 2022. If we look at those statistics, should we even be surprised that so many businesses are committed to creating their own mobile applications?
Building your own app isn’t the easiest thing, but choosing the right mobile application development company can help. You now have the option of working with companies and developers from all over the globe, making it easier to find a team with the exact skills and experience you need for your app, not just those in San Francisco or New York.
You will have to comb through a vast array of websites in order to find those exceptional developers. Can there be anything you can do to avoid being overwhelmed by options and make wise decisions?
Tips To Choose The Best Mobile App Development Company
We provide a detailed guide on finding the best mobile app development company that will translate your idea into a functional app.
1. Try to make your RFP detailed enough so you can ask for an accurate estimate
It is imperative to know what we need, so we can exactly let the other party know without any misunderstanding, and hence we do not end up comparing apples with oranges. For example, if you are a construction company and a customer asks you the cost of building a house without telling you anything, i.e., what materials to use, what type of design they need, etc.
To avoid this problem, describe your product in-depth in your RFP so that your potential vender can give you an accurate cost estimate. By receiving a fair estimate from all the potential vendors, you can compare apples with apples and not the other way around. Try to go into as much detail about the app as possible.
2. Make a list of companies based on the preference of location, review, and reputation
In today’s day and age, we have a plethora of options for app development companies. It becomes a bothersome task to pick the right company. Here are some effective filters that can be used.
Based on the company’s location, location becomes a significant factor in deciding on an app development company. In most cases, the app development companies located close to you may charge more but are a safer option when compared with companies residing in other countries or continents may be cheaper.
Based on the review and reputation of the company:- the reputation of the app-building company is one of, if not the essential factor in deciding on a company. Some companies may show reviews while others don’t. It becomes essential to know the past customer experiences, as company reviews can not be trusted. So we can use other websites to check the reviews.
Also, ask for references of past clients from the company and connect with them on LinkedIn.
3. Check the functionality and aesthetics of the website of the company
The website of a company can tell us how competent the company is. This step takes very little time but will help you separate the weed from the shaft. A website has two components: the front end and the back end. The front end deals with how the website looks, and the back end deals with how smoothly the website functions.
From a layman’s perspective, if the website is working smoothly and not getting stuck, it can be assumed that its back end is working well, but its aesthetics is different. As a potential client, you have to see whether the design of the website is up to your standard.
4. Check the portfolio of the company’s
The portfolio of a company is a window to the company’s past performance. One should check at least two to three portfolios of the company. If possible, we should check the customer-side experience. We can do this by using the apps. When using the app, one should check for the smoothness of the app and its design.
5. Security of the App Idea
Leaking of the app idea and concept is the biggest threat to companies and entrepreneurs today. The renowned inventor Thomas Edison famously declared that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Your app idea can be threatened in two ways, either a cheap copy may hit the play store before your app is launched or a big company that can reverse engineer your app. A lot of attention is needed to be paid if you want to launch a new type of app and don’t want someone else profiting on your idea.
Before you consider making a new type of app, you must have a patent for your idea. Now the idea is yours, and you can have a copyright on the app it and then proceed and contact an app-making company.
If you can’t have the patent for some reason, use an ironclad contract with the app company to protect your idea until your app launches.
6. Check the size and the talent of the company
As a rule of thumb, the bigger the company more reliable it is. Try to avoid companies that are not mainly focused on mobile app development. Stay away from companies that claim to be a solution for all web or software needs. At times we prefer price over quality by going to such companies, but they cost more in the long term in terms of lost revenue, time, and company growth.
Ideally, developers will know the required programming languages, SDKs, and the specifics of the mobile platforms you choose (i.e., iOS or Android). Building a good app can’t be a one-person show. To build every aspect of the app decently, we need a specialist. By using specialists to build an app, you could integrate AI & machine learning in the app, which will increase your knowledge of customer behavior by many folds.
Let’s take the example of UBER. Using this app, the company can predict supply and demand in a particular location. In the case of companies like Amazon, they predict customer preferences by using machine learning.
7. Based on your app, RFP asks for a price estimate
At this stage of the process, we have filtered out the bulk of companies, and only a handful of companies remain. so here we are sure about the reputation and quality of the work of the companies. Now the time has come to ask for initial price estimates from the company, but this step’s ease depends upon the quality of the RPF.
After the initial estimates have come, it’s time to bargain. You will send the lowest price estimate that you have received to other companies and ask for a better offer. Repeat this process until you have a good bargain. be very careful about what the other companies say when asking for a counter offer. Sometimes they can tell us a critical technical point in how another company misuses us.
8. Ask for app testing
When we buy a car, we ask for a test drive of the car. The same principle is used when choosing a company to make an app. you can ask the company for access to any app from their portfolio. You can see how smoothly you can run the operations from the back end by doing this. It is advisable to use dummy users when testing the portfolio app.
9. Check the communication skill of the people you will be working with
Though we have the basic structure of the app we need, many things are still yet to be decided. Communication plays a very crucial role in it. If we cannot communicate what we want,
 it becomes useless how talented the app development team is. one should check how easily you can communicate your ideas to the team. If you cannot communicate with the team, a lot of time and resources will be wasted.
Then the question arises how can one check the communication skills of people you will be working with. a good strategy is to communicate about some part of designing the app and then ask for their opinion. Also, ask if they have something to add. you should only be concerned about two things
-> were you able to understand what they were saying
-> were they accurately able to understand what you were describing in the appÂ
10. Start a trial contract
It does not matter how many hours you have spent interviewing the team or how much time you invested in seeing the portfolio. There is no guarantee that both parties are the right match for each other. one needs such a mechanism to test how well the team works with you. Luckily for us, we have a mechanism. It is known as a trial contract.
Start by defining the scope of work in the first one to two months. Watch how the developers work. Our team could, for instance, make the app’s landing page.
It is much easier for you to change your app-making company at this point. Trial contracts come with minimal risks, allowing you to do your due diligence. Because you know how the company works, you’ll know if you feel comfortable working with them long-term after completing a trial.
11. Divide the contract into separate parts
The following advice pertains to the trial contract. Before developing a mobile app from scratch, business analysis and UI/UX must be dealt with before developing a mobile app from scratch. You can use these contracts to test vendors and isolate the tasks into individual contracts.
Upon completing the process, you will receive a specification of requirements and layouts for all the screens in your application. The materials you have gathered will make it a lot easier for you to get in touch with several mobile app development companies with your RFP (which, at this stage, is as detailed as possible). You can now compare your estimates and proposals, as we already know.
12. maintenance and support
For any mobile app to succeed in the long term, it needs support and maintenance services. It is common for the app to have some issues after being live on the Google Play or App Store. When users discover a bug in your app and report it in the store, you should make sure that it is fixed so that your brand’s reputation in the market is maintained and your customers have a hassle-free experience on your app. So, it would help if you had long-term assistance from your mobile app development company.
As for support and maintenance, again, companies have different approaches. Some of them provide, others not. Yet, you should choose one that offers. Once your product is developed and live in the application stores, technical support and maintenance are provided for a lifetime. The company keeps working on new features of your software, handles your questions and emerging issues, and develops and implements improvements.
Check whether the firm provides technical maintenance and support after developing the app. Choose the best mobile app development company that will relaunch the upgraded version of the app and offer maintenance.
Are You Looking for the Best Mobile App Development Company In the USA?
Do not hesitate to contact us if you seek a company with the technical expertise, a proven track record, and good communication skills. Please share your ideas with us so that we can help you turn them into authentic products!
