How to Hire a Mobile App Developer Share: Redbytes UK Date Published 8 August 2019 Categories Blog Reading Time 7-Minute Read You want to build a mobile application. Where do you start? If you don’t know how to code, you’re going to need to hire someone to do it for you. In 2019, having a mobile app is as obvious as breathing or eating to a business. Every local business has started having its own customer-friendly app to interact with and engage their traffic. However, the idea of hiring the best mobile app developer can disturb the entrepreneur if they are not informed of the process involved. Any great app requires massive knowledge and professional resources. So if you have a business concept, you might be concerned about where to find and hire app developers. The decision of choosing a freelancer, offshore development partner or local app maker may confuse you. This is where this article will help. It will walk you through general practices and clever considerations you need to hire an app developer for your next app project. General Rules for Finding an App Developer Millions of people come up with an app idea and search the online market for the top qualified app developers who can fulfill their dream. Google can present you with lots of options including local and offshore developers. The popular online directories and forums where you can find refined list of independent app developers are: TheyMakeApps co Mobyaffiliates iPhoneDevSDK AndroidPit Android Forums Appdevelopermagazine Online web services like LinkedIn, Indeed, Reddit, Quora, Upwork, Guru, Fiverr, ProFinder are also some of the famous online platforms for finding world-class app development resources in a freelance model. Freelance Developer Selection Process After you have found a list of options, you must filter them all through the qualifying process to scoop up the most suitable, deserving and promising candidate for your app project. You can go through the following list of considerations to make the selection easier: Know the cost logic: You need to learn a few things about available platforms, frameworks, and languages used for making an app. Find out the usual cost of building a simple app by partnering with an app developer and your target users. Relevant experience: Fresh graduates are not the best resource for making an app with great usability and unique features. Hire a developer (or a team of developers) who knows all about technologies used for an app and has a sample portfolio to prove their past mobile app success. Reviews and clients: The developer you are about to hire must show the list of his clients who have worked with them and left remarks on their website. Check their recently built apps for its UI/UX as it speaks most of the app’s success. Rapport and communication: since you are going to work for a long time on an app, you should seek an app developer who shows true interest in your business and gets along with you instantly. Building a warm rapport makes the interactions easy and seamless. Also, discuss the tools for business communication so that any barrier can be eliminated in time. Stay clear about the budget: Discuss upfront the developer’s charges and ask if there are any hidden costs or additional fees. This does not mean choosing the cheapest option, but it is about being clear about the prices from the start. Online Reputation: Now that the world is going online, one of the ways to trust the credentials of a freelance app developer is to keep an eye on their online activities. Ask if they have blog posts or a positive Twitter image, or if they use specific libraries and components to build apps. Questions to ask to choose a freelance app developer: Are you a certified app developer? Have your app even been featured in an app store? Can you show the list of satisfied customers? Can I see samples of your most brilliant apps? What technologies are you most familiar with? What platform are you most comfortable working on? Are you able to work on latest Android versions and APIs? Do you know the process of getting an app published? Can you help market and promote the app? Can you think of features that can generate significant revenues? What kind of tests you do for quality assurance? How do you charge for developing a mobile app for both iOS and Android? These are just a few of the most preferable questions you can toss at freelance candidates. Definitely, you can think of more queries depending on the type of project, target market and business strategy. App Development Companies Hiring an app development company is altogether a different deal. With app development companies, you can expect more efficiency, mature resources, and skilled talent. Whether you need a team of iOS app developers or Android app developers, you can take advantage of their immense exposure in creating unique mobile apps. Here is the checklist to hire an established mobile app development company: Strong portfolio: This is the most significant factor to check before making the right choice from the list of companies. Explore their online presence and find out about their success stories, past projects, outstanding capabilities, and products relevant to your project. In case you are still not satisfied with their public portfolio, you may also ask them to show you some more examples or develop a small feature or plugin to ensure they have what you are looking for. Talent pool and team efforts: Many app development companies display their team members and leaders on their online pages. If you want to build an app for both iOS and Android, you must check how many iOS experts and Android masters they have, including UX/UI designers, project managers, and tech partners. Technical resources: What is software without technology? This is another crucial point that helps qualify the best app development company. Make a list of technologies they have mastered. PHP, Codeigniter, Java, C#, HTML5? Compare these technologies and evaluate their suitability for your project. All-round services: This may look optional, but sometimes it relieves you from lots of burdens that come after deploying an app. Building an app is more than just coding. Hence, you can expect those highly experienced companies to help you grow your business, too. Some of the additional non-technical services app development companies can provide are a marketing strategy, successful app publishing, ASO, reputation building, monetization features, etc. Reviews and feedback: Reviews and positive comments also give you a good idea of what company to trust more than others. App development companies have pages filled with details on their years of experience, happy customers, video credentials, recommendations, and working developers. You can even check their universal reviews on Google, Yelp, and other online directories who list top app building companies. Pricing and contract: Usually, the price of an entire mobile app development project is subject to the app’s scope, complexity, features and scalability. It also includes the amount and type of resources to go into building an app. However, this doesn’t mean you should hire the one that offers low-price commitments. Also when you sign a contract or agreement with an app development company, you should see if it is inclusive of provisions, payment structure, NDA terms, the promise of protection, etc. The contract should offer simplicity to understand all the conditions and compliance terms. Final Remarks Before you set eyes on the app developer or an app development company that suits your needs, do in-depth research. Have a candid conversation with your candidates about their app successes and portfolio that supports their claims. Your app is the representative of your business and helps you engage with your prospects. So you don’t want to risk giving the project to just anybody. Above all, your app developer must understand your vision and discuss app features, functionality and UX that align with your business requirements.