One of the most obvious trends in the current web usage is delivering services and processes for mobile-ready devices such as smartphones and tablets. This increase the demand for mobile application developers responsible for creating consistent iOS and Android apps, which allow being in touch with a higher number of internet customers.
We offer you to try Staff Augmentation with Orange Sputnik. It comes to the rescue since this approach of on-boarding Mobile Developers is faster, cheaper, and more reliable compared to other remote approaches.
An entrepreneur receive a Totally Dedicated Mobile Developer of the required professional level and avoids distracting aspects like providing the specialist with a working station or retention practices.
Mobile Applications Developers:
What these developers do, Why they are needed, and Where them to find?
- What are the responsibilities of Mobile Coders?
Mobile application designing usually includes the creation of both User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) sides of the project. The two primary directions are iOS, and Android, while their job duties can vary significantly. - Why are Mobile Application Developers currently in high demand?
Recent trends show that mobile usage is rising influence in online spheres of life and business, which creates a growing need for suchlike programmers.* According to the data from Statista.com, there were 5,19 billion internet users worldwide as of July 2023, which amounted to 64.6 percent of the global population. It means that people connected to the internet use their smartphones to feel the benefits of being online. In some countries like Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates this number skyrocketing to 99 percent of the population used the internet (as of April 2023). Not all the time, not for every digital action like buying or checking email, but still this number is significant. The numbers alike even forced Google to change web pages SEO preferences and switch them towards “mobile-first indexing” since middle 2019. Retail business also faced mobile usage phenomenon as about half of all internet sales come via smartphones and the mobile-made purchase share continue to increase. - Is it true that Eastern Europe is the best place to employ a Dedicated Remote Mobile Developer in terms of quality/cost ratio?
It is not a secret that Eastern Europe is an attractive place to seek for software developers in general, and mobiles ones in particular. Wages for programmers in this region are much lower compared to the rest of the EU, while the quality is a high level.
With Ukraine in the heart
Staying with Ukraine in the heart and having over 10 years of experience in Staff Augmentation, Orange Sputnik creates the most suitable conditions to hire developers for companies relying on IT technology.
As you might know, the core disparity lays in the rendering engines that are used to transforming a source code. For a hybrid technology, it's a browser-based method, which adjusts the code for a needed platform, while the file with app stays the same. The cross-platform approach uses native rendering engine and transforms the original code into separate files for every needed mobile platform, which exist independently.
Another core difference is related to the knowledge and preferences of a particular programmer. Even though both methods can use JavaScript for dealing with the code, some developers still prefer Xamarin, React Native, or Flutter to work with, while others feel more confident with Cordova, Ionic, or VueJS. What is more, choosing one of these methods may also depend on the programming specifics of the app and the existence of ready solutions or frameworks to deal with the particular challenges and issues.
One has to take into consideration that those terms often used interchangeably as they both lead to time and cost reduction due to writing a single code with further operations. Moreover, plenty of internet sources even add such terms as “web app” and “progressive app” development, which are no more than variations of hybrid or cross-platform approaches. So, all the variety of terms that are used in mobile development can be simplified to only two: native vs hybrid/cross-platform, or expanded up to five methods.
It depends… There is no definite and undeniable answer on this question as many variables exist. The list of the most important aspects that may influence the choice looks like the following:
- budget
- time-to-market
- UI/UX requirements
- technical specifics
- target platform user behavior
- other preferences
Traditionally, different businesses have diverse conditions and opportunities, which led to the appearance of all the approaches. Thus, Native is the most reliable and safe method, but also the most time and cost consuming one. Cross-platform and hybrid are cheaper and faster while they are putting limitations, restricting functionality, speed, and UI/UX features. Furthermore, the decision between the last ones can be made even on the already presence of the specific developer in the team who can promptly adjust the app code to the market needs.
The situation with choosing the best programming language is traditionally hard, and mobile development is not an exclusion. Thus, different coding is used for diverse mobile development approaches, so most hiring preferences depend more on the type of creating an app but not on the specific language.
However, we can mention two related charts (see below) given by CodinGame 2020 Developer Survey Report. Questions like “Which Programming Languages do Developers Know Best?” and “Developers’ Most-loved Programming Languages” can help to define overall trends and make a choice for mobile apps designing.
| Answer Choices | Responces |
|---|---|
| JavaScript | 65.46% |
| Java | 62.74% |
| Python | 57.13% |
| C++ | 51.73% |
| C | 49.58% |
| C# | 42.92% |
| PHP | 39.10% |
| Bash | 26.73% |
| VB.NET | 11.54% |
| Other | 10.33% |
| Pascal/Delphi | 8.62% |
| Ruby | 7.81% |
| Go | 7.02% |
| Lua | 6.85% |
| Kotlin | 6.82% |
| Answer Choices | Responces |
|---|---|
| Python | 35.97% |
| JavaScript | 29.48% |
| Java | 29.10% |
| C# | 24.98% |
| C++ | 24.26% |
| C | 13.15% |
| PHP | 11.47% |
| Other | 4.96% |
| Bash | 4.12% |
| Kotlin | 3.94% |
| Go | 3.87% |
| Rust | 3.25% |
| Ruby | 2.87% |
| Swift | 2.30% |
| Haskell | 1.92% |
There are three major types of creating applications that can be available on smartphones and tablets: native, cross-platform, and hybrid. What is interesting, the two last approaches confuse inexperienced readers as they have many common elements. In contrast, the native method has plenty of differences compared to both hybrid and cross-platform designing.
Let’s firstly look at the table below to get acquainted with basic elements that diverge:
| Type of dev. method / criterions | Native | Cross-platform | Hybrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rendering engine | Native | Native | Browser |
| App file | Separate for every platform | Separate for every platform | Single for all platforms |
| Team size | Big | Small | Small |
| Cost | The highest | Cheap | The cheapest |
| Ease of use: | |||
|
|
|
|
| Time to launch | Medium | Fast | Fast |
| Access to the device’s features | Full and smooth | Limited | Limited |
| Performance: | |||
|
|
|
|
| Interaction with other Apps | Full and smooth | Poor | Poor |
| Required programming language |
For iOS: Swift, Objective-C, C++ For Android: Kotlin, Java |
JavaScript, C#, C/C++, Python, Dart | HTML, CSS, JavaScript |
| Tools needed for developing |
For iOS: Xcode, AppCode, Atom For Android: Android Studio, Android IDE, Intellij IDEA |
React Native Xamarin Flutter PhoneGap |
Ionic Apache Cordova Visual Studio |
Even though the first step towards understanding the difference between the approaches was made above, still some explanations should be made.
Thus, Native application developing is the most reliable method to make the best product for the needed mobile platform due to high specifics and using the original engine for coding. Usually, Swift, Objective-C, and C++ Developers create an iOS app, while Kotlin or Java coders are employed for creating an Android application.
However, it is the most expensive method as it requires two almost separate teams to cover both the iOS and Android market, and due to the biggest time length on the way to release.
Examples: Garage Band, Pokemon Go, LinkedIn, Telegram.
In order to simplify and accelerate the designing process, cross-platform method appeared, which allows creating one app source code and then render it for different platforms. It means that a developer with knowledge of JavaScript or C++ can create an application and adjust it for the work on various mobile platforms.
Cost reduction is achieved via smaller teams for hiring and less time to launching a project, but one has to be ready for a decreased functionality of the app and limited UI/UX possibilities.
Examples: Facebook, Bloomberg, Skype, Tesla, Walmart.
The hybrid approach of building Mobile Apps seems to be a golden mean as it shows median results both in performance and cost. The core difference to cross-platform relies in the way of rendering: the hybrid approach uses a browser to render the code of an app, which means that WebView makes all the dirty work of adjusting code to a needed platform.
In practice, it leads to cheaper apps via employing smaller teams and time reduction, while possibilities of suchlike programmers are also limited alike in the cross-platform method.
Examples: Uber, Gmail, Instagram, Twitter.
Actually, it is more a rhetoric question as there is no single answer on it. There are too many details that should be known before even starting pre-calculations. However, one of the most valuable aspects was explained above as the price for mobile application directly depends on the salary of the specialist who would be doing it.
Global spreading of salaries for Mobile Application Coders
Alike with other Software Developers, Mobile App coders salaries vary significantly according to numerous factors. Experience, place of living, knowledge of related technologies, level of English, success stories, and many more elements are influencing the final wage of a Mobile App Developer.
In general, the global spreading of minimum salaries from the Medior-level to the maximum cost of Seniors in Mobile Development looks like on the following graph:
World salaries distribution for mobile app developers
As a rule, the most expensive programmers are located in the North America and Western Europe, while the most attractive prices for businesses and startups can be found in Eastern Europe.
Moreover, this region has a massive talent pool of developers with appropriate knowledge of English, while having the zero-time gap, especially for Europeans, is also a benefit.
Orange Sputnik run main R&D offices in Ukraine over 10 years and providing Staff Augmentation for abroad businesses, we’ve collected enough data to indicate more in-depth numbers. Thus, one can hire iOS Developers starting with about $15/hour for a junior, about $30/hour for a Medior-level, and pay $40-60/hour for Senior specialist. These numbers include the expenses that our company pays for providing a workplace, dealing with taxes, and other related expenses.
In the table below, data about salaries presented in the monthly rates if someone finds it more suitable for calculations.
Wages for Dedicated Remote iOS Developers in Ukraine ($/month)
The desire to add to your team a Remote Dedicated Android Developer can be easily made with Orange Sputnik, and when it comes to more exact numbers, here what we suggest to our clients. Young and inexperienced Android coders can be hired starting with only $15/hour, those with few years of the experience are available on the market for about $25/hour, while the best ones are ready to work in the range of $40-60/hour. As one can mention, salaries are quite the same to iOS developers rates, which only confirm the world’s trends where the two most popular mobile platforms are fighting in similar conditions.
For those who prefer data in monthly wages instead of hourly payment, we prepared the graph below.
Wages for Dedicated Remote Android Developers in Ukraine ($/month)
There are plenty of details that have to be known as they are influence the final cost:
- The number of platforms that should be covered (iOS, Android)
- Method of developing (Native, hybrid, cross-platform)
- The level of difficulty of the App (number of features, connections to the hardware of the devices)
- Back-end specifics (which databases should be used, what APIs integrations covered)
- Front-end specifics (how many interacting screens expected, the difficulty of displaying effects)
- UI and UX principles
- Salary of the team (including Project Manager, QA specialist, developers, and designers)
According to the Outsystems Survey held in 2019, only 20% of mobile applications were built faster than 3 months, while about 60% of apps were created in less than half a year. It allows assuming that some primitive apps can be built even in a month and can be accomplished by inexperienced developers. More difficult applications can take up to 4 months and require more experienced developers. Complex solutions can grab up to half a year and should be made via pre-senior programmers. And finally, complex app creation including, but not limited to, e-commerce, may take about 9 months and require the best coders.
Taking into account the information from the previous part and applying it for available prices, something like in the following table may arise.
However, one should understand that the price for the final project will be much higher. Thus, presented prices should be multiplied by 3 even for the most straightforward projects as a minimum a few more members should be in the team.
When the talk is about the most challenging applications, one can multiply the number from the table by 5 or even 10 times, as a few developers can be needed for working on the code only, nothing to say about other aspects of the app.
Cost of the developing Mobile App
| Project difficulty | Time (hours) | Cost of the programmer | Price for developing part only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy (calculator) | up to 160 | $15 | $2400 |
| Standard (data-driven) | 250-480 | $25-30 | $6,250-14,400 |
| Difficult (social network) | 500-1000 | $30-40 | $15,000-40,000 |
| Super-complex | 1600 | $40-60 | $52,500-96,000 |
Orange Sputnik is always open to suggest the best Dedicated Developers Teams for your business. The vast talent pool of Remote Developers and our 10+ years experience ensure the best match precisely for your needs.
Today Orange Sputnik headquatered in Prague with main operating R&D offices in Kyiv and Dnipro.
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