View
213
Download
1
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
(/) mobile (/mobile)
HowLongDoesItTakeToBuildANativeMobileApp?[Infographic]DanRowinski(http://readwrite.com/author/dan-rowinski#_tid=article-header-primary-meta-author&_tact=click+%3A+A&_tval=1&_tlbl=Position%3A+1)· January9th, 2013
Popular now
(http://readwrite.com/2013/02/08/12-really-
good-reasons-to-jailbreak-ios-6)
8512 Really Good Reasons To Jailbreak iOS 6Right Now
Fri, 8 Feb 2013
(/2013/02/08/spacex-software-engineers-reddit-ama)SOCIAL
(http://readwrite.com/social#_tid=article-
smartfeed-panel-
content&_tact=click+%3A+article-
smartfeed-hub-
internal&_tval=1&_tlbl=Position%3A+1)
· 1:55 PM
SpaceX Team Tells
Us To Learn C++,
Says They'll Take Us
To Mars In 5 Years
(/2013/02/08/spacex-
software-engineers-
reddit-ama)
(/2013/02/08/hp-set-factory-rules-to-avoid-chinese-labor-abuse)ENTERPRISE
(http://readwrite.com/enterprise#_tid=article-
smartfeed-panel-
content&_tact=click+%3A+article-smartfeed-
hub-internal&_tval=2&_tlbl=Position%3A+2)
· 11:11 AM
HP Sets Factory
Rules To Combat
Chinese Labor Abuse
(/2013/02/08/hp-set-
factory-rules-to-avoid-
chinese-labor-abuse)
All Articles
(/) Sections Search (/search/)
Follow us (/page/follow) Share
60
TweetTweet 772
The last
several
years have
seen an
explosion in
mobile
applications.
By the end
of 2013,
both
Android’s
Google Play
and the
Apple iOS
App Store
will be
hosting a
million apps
(http://readwrite.com/2013/01/08/google-
play-to-hit-1-
million-apps-
before-
apple-app-
store#feed=/author/dan-
rowinski) -
and we have
only seen
minor signs
of slowing
growth.
Where the
heck are all
Share
208
Like 294
(http://readwrite.com/2013/02/08/after-
living-with-blackberry-10-i-went-back-to-
android)
(http://readwrite.com/2013/02/04/ios-6-
jailbreak-iphone-5-ipad-evasi0n)
Sites We Love
Techdirt.
Connecting With Fans In Unique Ways: BandSets Up Treasure Hunt To Find...(http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130208/02171021916/connecting-with-fans-unique-ways-band-sets-up-treasure-hunt-to-find-fan-submitted-sounds-new-album.shtml)
42 MINUTES AGO
DailyDirt: Hamburgers Gone Wild(http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101104/03570811720/dailydirt-hamburgers-gone-wild.shtml)AN HOUR AGO
FBI 'Stops' Yet Another Of Its Own TerroristThreats(http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130208/12264121921/fbi-stops-yet-another-its-own-terrorist-threats.shtml)
2 HOURS AGO
Android and Me
HTC M7 rumor roundup: new name, retail priceand a re-confirmed launch date(http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidandme/~3/95DTjwIBGOE/)AN HOUR AGO
76After Living With BlackBerry 10, I Went BackTo Android
20Jailbreak Your iPhone 5 (And Other iOS 6Devices) - Finally!
these apps
coming
from?
Thousands
upon
thousands of
developers
are working
hard to
pump out
games,
social
networks,
utility and
productivity
apps, news
readers… if
you can
dream it,
someone is
building an
app for it.
So, how
much time
and effort is
going into
feeding this
beast?
Exactly how
long does it
take to build
a quality
native
mobile app
(not a
mobile Web,
HTML5
app)?
Boston-
based
Backend-as-
a-Service
T-Mobile cuts Nexus 4 price to $50, salesestimates inch past 1 million units(http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidandme/~3/t6r4mIh_ZPE/)7 HOURS AGO
Galaxy S IV rumor roundup: specs,announcement date, release window and more(http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidandme/~3/m-0fxJM7vlU/)A DAY AGO
SplatF
AOL Dialup Dashboard: Hanging In There With2.8 Million Subscribers(http://feeds.splatf.com/~r/splatf/~3/r6yxivb2Ybg/)3 HOURS AGO
Foursquare Dream Date(http://feeds.splatf.com/~r/splatf/~3/jyTNsN_ubX4/)9 HOURS AGO
Saying Something Nice About Dell(http://feeds.splatf.com/~r/splatf/~3/w704r-1mqfg/)3 DAYS AGO
Technology on HuffingtonPost.com
Shocking: Supporters Speak Out In Defense OfCop Killer(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/08/christopher-dorner-fans-facebook-twitter_n_2647754.html?utm_hp_ref=technology&ir=Technology)
4 HOURS AGO
Courtney C. Radsch: Twitter vs. the Emir:Tweeting in Kuwait Becoming a Dangerous...(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/courtney-c-radsch/twitter-vs-the-emir-tweet_b_2620792.html?utm_hp_ref=technology&ir=Technology)
4 HOURS AGO
Historic Blizzard Tests Wireless Flaws ExposedBy Sandy(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/08/blizzard-cell-service_n_2646494.html?utm_hp_ref=technology)
4 HOURS AGO
GeekSugar
A Resolutionary New Year: Geek Goals For2013 (http://www.geeksugar.com/Tech-Resolutions-2013-27870924)4 HOURS AGO
Inspiration For Adorably Geeky EngagementPhotos (http://www.geeksugar.com/Geeky-Engagement-Pictures-22828681)7 HOURS AGO
Daily Tech: The True Stories BehindUnbelievable Photographs(http://www.geeksugar.com/True-Stories-Behind-Cool-Pictures-27870196)8 HOURS AGO
About (/page/about/)
Contact (/page/contact/) · Advertise
(http://www.saymedia.com/advertisingcontact.php) ·
Privacy (/page/privacy-policy) · © 2013 SAY Media, Inc.
(BaaS)
mobile-
cloud-
platform
vendor
Kinvey
(http://www.kinvey.com/)
set out to
answer just
that
question.
MoreThan 4Months!?
In a survey of
100 native
mobile
developers,
Kinvey
determined
that creating
a fully
functional
and polished
app takes a
team about
18 weeks
from start to
finish. That
includes
both front-
end design
and user
interface as
well as
back-end
integration
like push
notifications,
user
management
and
authentication,
caching and
sharing
through
social
channels.
I know what
many app
developers
are thinking
when they
hear that:
“18 weeks?!
Who the hell
are these
turtle-slow
developers?”
On the other
hand,
enterprise
developers
are probably
saying: “18
weeks?! We
are only
halfway
through by
that point.”
Given the
sheer
volume of
apps
published on
a monthly
basis (the
App Store
averaged
641 new
apps a day
from
September
2012 to
January
2013
(http://readwrite.com/2013/01/07/apple-
app-store-
growing-
by)), taking
4.5 months
for one app
does seem
like a long
development
cycle. But as
many
smartphone
users
already
know, not all
of those
apps
(probably
not the vast
majority of
them) are
any good.
Some apps
are naturally
easier to
make than
others, like
reverse-
engineered
“copycat”
apps or
feature
functions like
Android
wallpaper
apps. For
instance, it
was
rumored that
it took
engineers
only a matter
of days to
clone
Snapchat
with its
similar Poke
app
(http://readwrite.com/2012/12/21/test-
driving-
poke-
facebooks-
new-safer-
sexting-app-
for-tweens).
Androidvs. iOS:WhichTakesLonger?
What if you
are
developing
specifically
for iOS or
Android?
Does one
take longer
than
another?
The answer
used to be a
definite Yes,
Android took
longer
because of
the
fragmentation
issues of
developing
an app for a
wide variety
of
smartphones.
That is not
quite as true
as it used to
be though.
spent a
good portion
of 2012
updating
and
streamlining
the Android
Software
Developers
Kit (SDK) to
better
handle
varying
screen
sizes, pixel
densities
and
operating
system
versions.
Many
improvements
came to
Android app
development
processes
with both the
Ice Cream
Sandwich
and Jelly
Bean
releases.
“Assuming
equal skill
level on the
part of the
developer, it
shouldn't
take longer
to build an
app on one
platform or
the other,"
said Joe
Chernov, VP
of marketing
on behalf of
Kinvey’s
engineering
team. "In the
fairly recent
past,
Android took
longer
because of
the
complexity
of multiple
device form
factors.
However
Android's
vastly
improved
developer
tools and
SDK has
removed
that
complexity.
Now a
developer
can use a
designer
tool to
instantly see
what the UI
will look like
on multiple
devices. Yet
while
building the
app might
take the
same
amount of
time on each
platform,
what does
take longer
is the
approval
process. For
Android,
approval
takes hours
(and there's
a self-
service
option that
removes
approval
entirely),
while Apple
can take
weeks.”
The
infographic
below is the
result of
Kinvey’s
developer
survey,
conducted in
partnership
with AYTM
(http://aytm.com/)
(Ask Your
Target
Market). The
infographic
itself was
created by
Visual.ly
(http://visual.ly/).
Developers
were asked
12 questions
on how long
it would take
to perform a
variety of
functions
such as
integrating
server-side
data storage
or design
work.
Respondents
varied from
different
aspects of
Web and
mobile
development,
with 30
identifying
themselves
as mobile
Web (but not
native)
developers,
27 as strictly
native
developers
and 43 as
enterprise-
level
developers.
The 18-
week-
development-
cycle
conclusion
was reached
by adding up
how long
developers
said it would
take to
perform
certain
actions. The
data seems
to show a
standard
deviation of
about two
weeks in
either
direction.
So, how long
will it take
you to
develop
your native
mobile app,
start to
finish?
Really, there
is no easy
answer to
that
question.
Dave
Bisceglia,
founder and
CEO of
Boston-
based iOS
game
development
studio The
Tap Lab
(http://thetaplab.com/)
sums it up
nicely:
“The less
exciting but
entirely true
answer is, ‘It
depends,’ "
Bisceglia
said. “I've
seen very
talented
teams crank
out high-
quality apps
in just a few
weeks.
However,
the demand
for higher
production
quality in
apps has
certainly
risen in
recent years.
Accordingly,
app dev
cycles have
extended
and we're
seeing folks
spend
anywhere
60
TweetTweet 772
from 6 to 12
months on
more
complex
projects.”
(http://www.kinvey.com/blog/2086/how-
long-does-it-
take-to-
build-a-
mobile-app)
Note: Click
the
infographic
to see the
full-size
version.
Top image
courtesy of
Shutterstock
(http://www.shutterstock.com).
Tags: App
Development
(/tag/App+Development/)
Share
208
Like 294
15 comments
Leave a
message.
..
DiscussionDiscussion
##ShareShare
jenni • a
month ago
maybe on a
non-client
app.. It takes
longer when
you have to
deal with
client
approval
0★
@Dan_Rowinski
(http://twitter.com/Dan_Rowinski)
Dan Rowinski+
(http://plus.google.com/104861455140173164919/)
(mailto:dan@readwriteweb.com)
DanRowinski(http://readwrite.com/author/dan-rowinski#_tid=article-author&_tact=click+%3A+A&_tval=1&_tlbl=Position%3A+1)
Dan
Rowinski is
a senior
writer at
ReadWrite.
He lives in
Boston.
•
Reply •
and
changes.
1 △ ▽
•
Reply •
M. Edward
(Ed)
Boras ky • a
month ago
18
weeks?
Twice as
long as a
litter of
kittens!
#caturday
#early
1 △ ▽
•
Reply •
longbeachcom puters ho
• 15 days ago
Nice article!
Most people
are apps
crazy but
nobody
really knows
these kind of
stuffs. It's
nice to know
at least. So
it's longer
than 18
weeks? Lots
of hard
work!
0 △ ▽
Ryan Wi ls on
• a month ago
Thanks for
posting this
type of blog.
such a nice
question
Share ›
Share ›
Share ›
•
Reply •
question
kept ahead
in the public.
Its really
very nice
idea.
Thanks for
sharing this
nice one...
0 △ ▽
•
Reply •
zhengs huang
• a month ago
http://simurl.com/dudmun
.
0 △ ▽
jd rch • a
month ago
Thanks for
writing this. I
once worked
with an
organization
in which
leadership
Share ›
Share ›
Recommended