Author Topic: App development?  (Read 3899 times)

lexde

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App development?
« on: May 25, 2018, 11:46:01 AM »
I want to make a few smartphone apps but have no idea where to start. They would be fairly simple, with a landing page upon opening with a menu, and 5-6 sections with text and images. Almost like an ebook.

What kind of logistics would this entail? I have the content and layout plan, but would need graphics and app development. What are the expected startup expenses for this?

katsiki

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Re: App development?
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2018, 11:47:12 AM »
PTF.  Interested as well.

Have you looked at outsourcing sites like upwork or similar?

coffeesnob

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Re: App development?
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2018, 01:37:28 AM »
I want to make a few smartphone apps but have no idea where to start. They would be fairly simple, with a landing page upon opening with a menu, and 5-6 sections with text and images. Almost like an ebook.

What kind of logistics would this entail? I have the content and layout plan, but would need graphics and app development. What are the expected startup expenses for this?

Something like https://appery.io would work... however, App usage on mobile is in decline unless the App needs to push notifications or run offline or access device hardware... sounds to me like you just need a simple mobile friendly website...

BDWW

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Re: App development?
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2018, 01:46:06 AM »
For such a simple app, PhoneGap would be a decent option. It allows you to develop an HTML5 app and deploy it across multiple platforms. The app itself runs in the embedded browser. So it's essentially like a self contained webpage. The phonegap libraries also allow for javascript access to device features like GPS and camera if you need them.




sokoloff

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Re: App development?
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2018, 05:20:22 AM »
Agree with trying to make mobile friendly websites as the default "do that unless it won't work for your use case".

Past that, consider using Adobe XD (or Balsalmiq or similar) yourself to refine and design your ideas and then decide if you want to do it yourself (mobile web, Cordova, raw code in decreasing order of preference) or use an oursourcing website (upwork or similar) to get the app developed.

Next step that I recommend:
Download and install Adobe XD and play around with their tutorial for 45 minutes.

JamieNewmarket

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Re: App development?
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2018, 06:39:30 AM »
Also agree that mobile friendly (by this I mean mobile FIRST) website is what you likely need unless you are after something with device specific functionality, like the push notifications already mentioned.  A website framework like Bootstrap will make this quite painless. 

Expenses would be hosting ($5-10/month), a domain ($50-100+/year depending on.ca .com .co.uk etc)

One time cost would be for a decent dev to set this up for you with something like bootstrap so you can easily edit it yourself (or you can find a free template using Bootstrap online).  Wordpress or other Content Management Systems would probably be overkill if the core content items are large blocks of text and images.  Once you have a handle on what parts of an HTML file you can edit and which should be left alone, changes are easy. 

everyredpenny

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Re: App development?
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2018, 06:50:31 AM »
I want to make a few smartphone apps but have no idea where to start. They would be fairly simple, with a landing page upon opening with a menu, and 5-6 sections with text and images. Almost like an ebook.

What kind of logistics would this entail? I have the content and layout plan, but would need graphics and app development. What are the expected startup expenses for this?

Without having too many details, probably $5,000 - $10,000 would be the *minimum* you should budget to have a static brochure-ware app with content that does not change developed.  I've worked on some simple apps, and the budgets for those range in the $30,000 - $100,000 range.  That pricing estimate is if you hired a firm to do it.  So as you can see, it gets pretty expensive!  The more complicated a project is, the more likely it is to go over budget.  I'd suggest learning mobile development, or at least getting your feet wet if you're serious about it.  If you know a little, then you can better make an informed decision about who to hire and have better insight into managing a team. 

Software can a tough business.  Like many things, it takes a lot of time and effort to make a great product.  I think it's often underestimated how long it takes to build quality software.  You also have to consider support, maintenance, bug fixes, etc.  Budgeting for ongoing maintenance and updates is one area that is often neglected. If you have a great idea that no one in your niche is doing, it could be a really good idea.  It could also be a bad idea that's been passed up by other entrepreneurs!  On the plus side, you can run and manage a software project from anywhere in the world. 

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!