App development companies take time, resources, and effort to create an app. Here’s a tentative cost breakdown of ios apps on the basis of complexity and other factors!
iPhone users are likely to spend more on purchasing and maintaining their devices. They are more willing to click on any in-app advertisements and are tempted to click and install the application more often. You need to be aware of various components and how they work in conjunction to determine how an iOS application is built.
There is no direct formula to calculate the cost of an iOS app but it definitely depend upon the features, functionality, and complexity of the app. Also the size of the development team, geographical location of the development team, the demands of the clients, and the availability of skilled iPhone developers should be considered.
The estimated cost to build a basic iOS app with simple features ranges somewhere in between $10,000 – $50,000 and can even go upto $1, 00,000. Let’s discuss more.
Factors on Which the Cost of Developing An iOS App Depend
The cost of developing an iOS app depends on many factors, including:
- The complexity of coding and design animation and the complexity of the app’s functions, features, design, and administration requirements
- Infrastructure costs like web hosting and domain registration fees
- The importance of designing each screen functionally
- The platforms on which the app should be available
- The size of the iOS development team and their location
- The expertise of the developer
- The type of app
- The number of devices, the number of hours required to develop the app, the type of targeted iOS mobile device
- Developers’ hourly rates
- Also consider which operating system to use that can allow developers to access APIs and exchange data between the app and a database
Is There a Particular Way to Develop an iPhone app?
iPhone app developers use Xcode, Apple’s official integrated development environment (IDE). You can download Xcode for free from the Mac App Store.
Here are some steps for developing an iPhone app:
All iPhone application development companies make use of Swift programming language for native mobile app development on iOS. It is a preferred option because its syntax is concise, safe by design, and has modern features that make your code more expressive. Xcode has a built-in interface builder that makes it easy to prototype your design and connect your interface to your source code. You can also debug your app and submit it to the app market. Here are the steps that you should follow to develop an iPhone app:
- Download and install Xcode.
- Launch Xcode and create a new project.
- Get familiar with XCode.
- Write your app in Swift.
- Build and Run your app in Xcode’s built-in iOS Simulator app that’s included in XCode.
- Connect an iPhone to your computer to test it on an actual mobile device.
- Fix any issues or bugs, deploy, and publish to Apple’s app store.
How Should You Start With Your iOS App Development?
To start with iPhone app development, you need a Mac computer, which has latest version of XCode installed. This is Apple’s IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that comes with a graphical interface. As you download and install Xcode, write your app in Swift, run your app in Xcode’s iOS simulator, connect iPhone to computer to test it on an actual mobile device, fix any issues or bugs, deploy, and publish to Apple’s app store
iOS app development has some hidden expenses besides the obvious costs. Firstly, there’s the annual $99 fee imposed by Apple for App Store publishing, regardless of your app’s revenue. App development process should also include quality assurance and accessibility testing. Post-launch, ongoing maintenance, roughly 20% of the total development cost per year, is crucial for compatibility with iOS updates. To accomplish a successful app, some promotion and user acquisition demand investments in growth marketing strategies like social media ads, SEO, and content marketing will also be required.
iOS App Development Costs as per the Complexity (Features/Functionality) of the App
The actual cost of iPhone app development depends upon the complexity of the app development, the number and types of features, the integration of third-party API’s or services, the complexity of the user interface and user experience design, and the need for custom backend development or data storage solutions.
The complexity of the app is directly proportional to the time taken to integrate those features and functionality. It includes user interface (UI), user experience (UX), Brand Identity; besides this the category or the business domain of the app (lifestyle, education, productivity, entertainment, social networking, e-commerce, finance, on-demand, healthcare, augmented reality, virtual reality, enterprise. The cost breakdown may somewhat look like:
- A simple iOS app with basic functionality like login, push notifications, simple UI/UX design, and simple backend, such as a calculator or flashlight app can be developed in $8,000 – $25,000.
- A small-sized app like Airbnb can cost between $25,000 to $50,000.
- A medium app with features like in-app purchases, third party API’s integration (Maps and GPS), custom UI/UX design, in-app messaging and chat functionality, simple or complex backend can be developed within $60,000 – $1,00,000.
- A complex app with features machine learning/AI/AR/VR features, custom animations, real time data processing, advanced analytics, and complex backend like a social media or e-commerce app, can cost upto $100,000 and more.
Where can we go from here?
In India, the cost to develop an iOS app can range from $5,000 to $100,000. The average cost to develop an iOS app is $30,000–$40,000. However, the cost can vary considerably. The average cost of a basic iOS app can range from $5,000 to $50,000, while a more complex app can cost $1, 00,000 or more. The cost of developing an iOS app in the US or the UK can range from $10,000 to $4, 50,000.