The Mobile App Market Is Earning Millions. How Much Does Mobile App Development Cost?

Though mobile app development is a complicated and long process, the industry is booming and it is expected to generate at least $935 billion in revenue by 2023. Software developers are also topping the list of the highest-paying careers these days so a lot of people are really considering learning about the whole development process to start a business in developing applications.

The average income of a top Apple application is at least $3,500 per day. The top 200 apps earn an estimate of $82,500 each day. This is in the paid category. Free apps earn through advertising which ranges from $1-$10. However, it does not mean that they do not realize profits as high as the paid ones. Flappy bird, a free Android app, earned an average $50,000 back in 2014.

All in all, revenue per app in the mobile app development industry ranges from $0.60 - $1.20. These numbers really tell that mobile app development is a lucrative activity.

Career-wise, app or software developers are making it to the top lists of the highest paying jobs around the world. In terms of mobile app development, we have to differentiate between an iOS app developer and an Android app developer. Here’s a summary of their highest salary based on Business of Apps:

US mobile app developer = around $120,000 per year

Android mobile app developer = around 121,000 per year. 

Though this is not much of a difference, it is reported that iOS apps earn more revenue than Android apps. However, in terms of the most number of downloads, Android apps top the list. If you are planning to go into mobile app development, this is something that might be useful to you. 

Mobile app development can take an average of 3 to 9 months from start to finish. Let’s take a look at the mobile app development process:

1. Initial stages / Planning / Discussion

2. Research / Tech Exploration

3. App Design

4. Development / Prototyping

5. Testing

6. Deployment

7. Improvement

8. Support

The stages of app design and development take the most amount of time. The process depends on the complexity of the application. App developers also take time on the business research to fully understand and meet their client’s expectations on the project.

Students who are looking to go into the mobile app development field for their career track take a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. This college course teaches them computer-programming languages such as Java, HTML, and C++ to build software and digital systems. 

However, if going to college to earn another Bachelor’s degree is not to your liking, you can resort to online courses to learn about mobile app development. Udemy, Coursera, and EDX are some of the online educational platforms that offer courses in this industry.

The mobile app development industry is expected to grow by $188 billion this year, making it a profitable market to focus on. The good thing about this is the fact that you don’t really need a college degree to start this venture. Learning about it may take time, effort, and money, but the profitability and revenue, in the long run, are definitely worth all of it.