10 pitfalls to avoid when choosing a mobile app development services provider
Offering an impressive mobile app will help to boost your organisation’s online presence. As the engagement between people and their smartphones continues to grow, businesses can take advantage of mobile apps to strengthen their online presence and to increase direct engagement with their customers.
Hiring a professional and experienced mobile app development company is essential for any business that needs custom mobile app development, but in many cases organisations choose the wrong mobile app development services provider for their mobile app project. As a result, organisations end up with a mobile app that is not able to attract and retain customers.
With thousands of mobile apps out there, and almost as many mobile app development agencies, your app needs to be simple to use and tailored to your customer’s needs. To achieve these goals, you need a mobile app development services provider that understands your customers as well as your business goals.
To make sure you choose the right mobile app service providers for your organisation’s new mobile app try to avoid these 10 simple pitfalls, especially if your organisation is ordering a mobile app for the first time.
1. Not taking the mobile app company’s history into account
While mobile app development is still a relatively new direction in software development, there are still plenty of experienced mobile app development agencies out there. With this, your organisation shouldn’t commit to the very first mobile app agency that you find. The more your chosen mobile app developers specialise in mobile software development, the higher probability that they will deliver an app helps you to successfully meet your business goals.
When choosing your mobile app development services provider, always ask questions: how long has the company existed on the market? How long have they offered mobile app development services? How many recent project case studies can they show you?
You will find that experienced mobile app companies are as interested in quality and helping clients meet their business goals as you are as an organisation; their reputation is very important to them. Secondly, if they have a lot of experience in developing mobile apps, it means that you are guaranteed a high-class development service.
2. Aiming for the cheapest mobile app solution
Understandably, budgets and costs will be key concerns for any organisation looking for a new mobile app. Nevertheless, you should never compromise your vision for a cheaper price. Opting for the cheapest possible mobile app solution can be an easy road to ruin, and in some worst-case scenarios choosing the cheapest solution can mean that the quality of mobile app development work is sacrificed.
If your organisation is concerned about the budget then try to aim for the most cost-effective solution. While it may be true that experienced mobile app service providers cost more money, the truth is that the quality of the finished product will not only save you money in terms of ongoing maintenance, but it will also help your organisation gain and retain more customers than you originally expected.
3. Looking for the fastest mobile app service provider
Yes, time is money, and you may have needed a mobile app “yesterday”, but always remember: with mobile apps it is not who, but how. Less experienced mobile app companies may be able to promise a deadline three times sooner than a more experienced agency, but this is because in many cases they cannot create a precise mobile software development estimate. When it comes to mobile app development, the best-case scenario is that your organisation’s mobile app takes longer because of the scope of your requirements increases, the worst-case is that you get something different than what you wanted because of cramped development timelines.
To solve this issue, begin with judging how relevant your app is for your market. If you need to get ahead of your competitors, then begin with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) implemented with a more industry-seasoned mobile app development agency. In some cases, if your app concept isn’t new, then it can take longer to develop than a custom mobile application, as functionality will need to be tweaked to make it perfect.
4. Only looking for local mobile app developers
In many cases, organisations prefer mobile app developers that are local. While this may offer your organisation more convenience, it may also limit your access to quality web developers. These days, you don’t necessarily need to be able to meet your app development partner face-to-face, and while choosing a local app developer will offer you more convenience, the truth is Google and other messenger services offer instant communication and project organisation, so local developers are not your only choice.
When choosing a mobile app developer, it pays to expand your horizons. Don’t be afraid of outsourcing your mobile app development to an agency further afield. If you do end up using an agency that is in a different town or city, the expertise will more than often make up for the distance.
5. Not ordering the software requirements specification
Even the brightest mobile app concepts need to be clarified and reviewed to know whether they will work perfectly for an organisation. Without clarifying and reviewing the mobile app concept in detail, you run the risk of getting a mobile app that is nothing like your original idea.
When choosing the agency to bring your mobile app concept to life, always ask for the software requirement specification. If the app development company you are choosing doesn’t supply this, then that is a cause for alarm. All professional mobile app development agencies will start projects from requirement gathering and business analysis.
6. Choosing a mobile app development agency based only on the number of apps that they have made.
While you may think to choose a mobile app developer who has developed a large number of apps is a better option, in truth, quantity doesn’t always correlate with quality. It may be the case that an agency seems more prolific because they have released apps that have been developed quickly and not of a necessarily high quality.
When choosing a mobile app development company for your organisation’s mobile app, you should begin by carefully studying all the apps on show in their online case studies, and then install them on your device and try to use them yourself. In addition, you may also want to ask the mobile app company whether they have had apps refused by the App Store and Google Play. However, app store requirements are subject to change. This can mean in some cases that if an app is simply not updated, it can be subject to refusal.
