How to Hire An iOS App Development Company
When it comes to mobile app development, two platforms are most prevalent: Android and iOS. Among these two, Android covers a substantial part of the mobile world. So, it might raise a question about the significance of iOS app development. Well, a large audience still uses Apple devices, so it’s necessary to reach them.
Moreover, despite the relatively small number of users, iPhone applications still generate thrice more revenue than Android. This indicates how important it is to build an iOS app for your business. And to build an iOS app, you will need to hire an iOS developer. Now, there are so many options to acquire the right talent. However, hiring an outsourcing company is the most fruitful of all.
In this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of all the hiring options and why you should consider choosing an iOS app development company.
Different options for hiring iOS app developers
Option #1: Freelancers
Freelancers are a very cost-effective option for iOS app development and are hence widely popular across the industry. There are numerous platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer to search for and hire skilled freelancers to work on your project. With this option, you can access the global talent pool instead of getting restricted to local developers only. However, there are some pros and cons of freelancers which you should keep in mind before hiring them.
Pros
- You can access talented programmers from across the globe.
- Freelancers are less costly than in-house or outsourced developers’ teams.
- Saves your cost of offering developers necessary facilities like hardware, desk, electricity, internet connection, etc.
- Since freelancers are paid hourly, you only have to pay them for the time you need them.
Cons
- Since only a single person works on your project, chances are high for missed deadlines and delayed project delivery.
- You might experience poor communication as the developer is at a remote location
- Time zone, location, or language can be a barrier and hamper communication.
- Freelancers often juggle between multiple projects, which may affect your project’s quality.
Option #2: In-house teams
You can also hire an iOS developer as part of your in-house team. If you choose to hire an iOS app developer as your employee, you have to pay them a full-time salary or part-time if you have similar agreements. Moreover, you will have to provide them with essentials like an office desk, hardware system, internet connection, and other in-house employee necessities. Furthermore, you may have to pay them full salaries when you don’t have much work to fill their schedules.
Pros
- In-house employees have more time to focus on the product and delve deeper to become experts.
- As an in-house developer works in your office, communicating with them in person is easier and faster.
- Unlike freelancers, they exclusively work and focus on your project during their working hours.
- In-house employees are also easier to manage and more flexible to work with than freelancers.
Cons
- You have to pay them a full-time salary even if you don’t have much work to give them.
- The hiring process of in-house employees takes so much time and effort.
- You will have to provide them with the necessary tools and facilities, which adds additional expenses besides their salary.
- You will also have to pay salaries to your employees even while they are on vacation or on sick leaves.
Option #3: Outsourcing company
An outsourcing company could be the best option for your iOS app development if your project is more complex. For example, a company often has a team of designers, developers, and testers, which allows them to provide complete iPhone app development services. When you hire a remote development team, you don’t have to assign them tasks, manage their work, and monitor the project progress. Instead, the companies have project managers to handle all these things so you can focus on your other aspects of the business.
Pros
- Outsourcing companies are easier to find since many outsourcing companies have multiple specialists to handle the project.
- You don’t need to deal with various operational problems, saving your time and cost.
- You can expand or contract the development team or change the developer assigned to you.
- You can assess a company’s working quality by reading reviews of previous clients.
Cons
- More complex projects may take time to build, so in that case, you have to extend deadlines.
- When hiring offshore outsourcing teams, you might experience communication as timezone, language, and culture may affect it.
- The project documentation and collaboration terms must be clear and comprehensive.
Things to remember when outsourcing iOS app development teams
Excellent technical knowledge
For a company to provide excellent quality iPhone application development services company, it should possess an extensive technical flair and domain knowledge. They must know various technologies and tools, such as Objective-C Swift, Xcode IDE, and Cocoa framework, which is vital to building an iOS app. Moreover, developers you outsource from an app development company should also be familiar with the latest development tools and trends. Furthermore, they should be able to offer comprehensive knowledge of iOS development, which means they should also know about iPad app development services.
Strong reputation in the market
The company you are hiring should have a strong reputation in the market. It is a vital consideration and for an apparent reason. You obviously don’t want to work with a company that hasn’t a proven track record of their work and satisfied clientele. Hence, research a company a little bit before approaching them. Try to find out its origin and its work culture. The company you will approach should have extensive experience working in the industry and offering quality work. Moreover, it should have good client reviews and ratings across various firm listing websites to ensure the company is reputable and seem credible.
Location of the company
Location is the most important factor to remember when hiring an iOS developer. A company’s location strongly influences the cost of development they take, and it also might affect communication. So, acquire this necessary information beforehand. It will give you a much clearer picture of how the iPhone or iPad application development services would take place regarding your project.
Agile development process
Many mobile development firms follow Agile methodology to offer clients complete satisfaction. The approach is ideal for clients who want their projects to be developed on time despite the multiple and changing project requirements. Furthermore, the agile process allows changes to be made in the initial project development stage or near the end.
Provides quotes in advance
Cost is one of the important factors in iOS app development or in any IT service for that matter. Hence you should ask companies for a free quote for the development cost before hiring them. Some companies have cost calculators that provide a lump-sum cost of developing an app per your requirements. This can help you make better decisions according to budget and might help you make changes in your app’s requirements.
Use of the right tools
App development can be done using a variety of tools and frameworks. There are primarily two programming languages through which iOS app development can be done – Objective C and Swift. Swift is quite the latest language and more simple than Objective-C. So I prefer hiring a company that uses the latest language to build apps. They should also be aware of the latest tools supporting various development aspects. Such tools include UI/UX design tools, programming technologies, third-party services, testing environments, and cloud platforms.
Wrapping Up
iOS is one of the most significant mobile app development platforms and requires thorough thought when hiring an iOS app development company. The guide here helped shed some light on the different developers hiring options and what things you should keep in mind if you choose to go with an outsourcing company.