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Mobile Application Development 10 min read
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Home Blog Mobile Application DevelopmentFreelance Mobile App Developer vs Agency – Knowing the Pros and Cons
Mobile Application Development
Can’t seem to choose between a freelance mobile app developer and an agency to build your brand hub? This guide may be of help.
So you’ve already fixed your budget and have drawn up your growth plan for the app. Now it’s time to choose who you’ll partner with to build it. Easy, right? No.
Because if it were, you wouldn’t be here trying to learn about and weigh your options. And these days, there are a lot of them. From smaller niche agencies to the big ones, and project-based freelancers to those with retainers, there is no lack of options.
But because of the wealth of choices, choosing one isn’t as straightforward. Freelancers offer a lot of flexibility with payment, but their expertise is more niche and limited. Meanwhile, agencies have the capacity to offer diversity, albeit at a bit of a premium.
Depending on your mobile app development needs and capacity for investment as a business, either could be a good choice. Arriving at a decision you can be happy with just takes looking at a list of criteria and seeing who best fits the bill.
We provide those criteria, below.
Freelancers, simply put, are free agents that you can hire to build your mobile applications. They can work on a per-project or retainer basis; often for a smaller or similar rate as mobile app development companies.
Below are the pros and cons of working with them in detail.
Hiring a top mobile app development company can help you to manage your business with ease. This is because they are experienced, organized, and established. However, working with them also has its drawbacks.
Let’s dissect the pros and cons below.
Disadvantages and advantages aside, there are non-negotiable skills for a mobile app development partner. These are the bare minimum requirements that any professional developer or development agency should have.
If they’re not equipped with one ore more of these skills, then that can be a major red flag.
The mobile app developer you will work with must know how to deliver a project on time. This entails knowledge of project management, regardless of the frameworks.
This is because outsourcing your app development takes away direct control and supervision from you. Hence, due project management skills and reporting are important in assuring you of timely delivery.
A mobile app developer that is skilled in project management and is knowledgeable in best practices for mobile app development, you can rest assured that the project is in good hands.
This skill is important because it deals with how you can develop and market a solution that is truly resonant with your market.
A mobile app development company or freelancer that doesn’t know how to read analytics can’t conduct accurate market research. Investigations that are necessary not just in the crafting of the app but in marketing it as well.
Keep in mind that without this, the mobile app developer can end up with implementations without any data supporting it. Another, and perhaps, most important benefit of a background in analytics is that you can continually scale up your products to keep it relevant to your users.
The UX and UI design is an important aspect of mobile app development as it directly impacts conversions.
Ideally, your mobile app developers should have a UX/UI designer on board so that they can design interfaces and experiences that make it easy for users to accomplish goals. Apart from the basic functions, the interface and interactions should also be intuitive and user-friendly.
If a mobile app development team doesn’t have a UX or UI in the group, it’s likely that they create products that are barely functional.
This shouldn’t have gone without saying. But the reality is that there are developers who choose to specialize in just one or the other.
When you invest in a mobile app developer, it’s ideal that they know the ins and outs of of both. Being the two most popular operating systems, it would be remiss if you choose to just develop on one.
Nothing makes you lose customers faster than with an insecure app. This is truer than ever as users and online audiences grow more wary of their privacy and security while navigating the digital space.
Apart from keeping your customers, it is your inherent duty to safeguard your customer’s privacy online. Not only will it keep your customers staying, but it will attract more people to do business with you as you show people that you are a trust-worthy establishment.
For these reasons and more, this skill is, perhaps, the most non-negotiable one.
There are a lot of mobile app developers present in the market that you can work with. However, they are not all cut from the same cloth.
Where one partner can prove to be a strong asset, another can just as easily tank your business goals. In choosing a partner, remember to:
If you have questions about mobile applications we can assist you with that, send us an email, or leave a comment, or reach out to our Facebook, X, or LinkedIn accounts.
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