Mobile App Myths Debunked

There are popular beliefs around mobile app development that range from the high costs involved to the difficulty of making a return on your investment. Some are valid concerns, but they don’t apply when you rely on a mobile app service like ours.

We often discuss these with customers, with many comparing our services to having a developer build an app for them or building it in house. So I thought it would be worth going through the most popular ones in this post for everyone’s benefit.

If you ever thought apps are too expensive or hard to maintain, keep reading…

Myth 1: Mobile apps are expensive to create.

When it comes to developing a mobile app, most business owners will first think of having a custom app designed and developed by an agency or freelancer (a team is generally better than a freelancer, as different skills are required to address multiple platforms).

Hiring an agency to create an app from scratch can get heavy on your wallet fast– budgets range from $5,000 to $50,000 even for a relatively simple app – costs will be directly increasing with the number of features you want to include, multiplied by the number of platforms you want to reach.

This is definitely still true when you’re building a native app for which there’s no existing web counterpart. Building an app from scratch is still very expensive, even though hybrid solutions like Cordova and Ionic are making cross-platform development cheaper and quicker.

It’s not true anymore though if you have an existing website with the functionality and content your app needs.

With the increase in mobile adoption, mobile app builder services have emerged that enable website owners to dip their toes in the mobile app waters without breaking the bank. There’s no shortage of app builders on the market, ranging from low cost solutions to higher end services that include customizations and that will take care of publishing and updating your app on the stores for you.

Our own MobiLoud is a complete service focused on converting WordPress websites into native apps.

We started with blogs and news sites with our main News software platform, but with our latest Canvas service, we now build apps for social media, ecommerce and any custom WordPress site, from as little as $69 per month.

If you have a content site with the information you need to make available in the app, then chances are our software and services will be a good fit, making apps very cost effective for you.

Unlike competitors, MobiLoud handles the app build and submission process for you, so there’s no extra cost to get the app published (some competitors will charge $500 extra just to cover the store submission work).

Myth 2: Once you’ve created the app, maintaining is expensive and time consuming.

True, maintaining an app takes a lot of effort if you want to make sure your app is up to date with the latest versions of iOS and Android (a new one is released every year), runs smoothly and bug-free (if you built an app from scratch, you’ll soon realize there’s many more edge cases and issues you couldn’t anticipate when you first designed it).

A freelancer or agency will charge for regular updates after the app is launched. Publishing the updated app is also more work, for you or the agency, considering you’ll need to built it, test it thoroughly, take new screenshots and submit the new version to the stores.

While this is common and necessary for most apps you’ll custom develop, our MobiLoud service includes all updates required to fix any bugs or for any compatibility issues with the latest versions of Android or iOS.

It’s also the only app solution on the market with a deep integration with WordPress, allowing you to keep your app automatically updated with changes on your site or preferences for your app. So many less updates required compared to a custom app where most of the styling and content is hardcoded in the app.

Myth 3: App development is slow and expensive.

Generally speaking, you can’t expect to conceive an idea for your app and expect to launch in a matter of days. Native app development takes a lot of time, effort, and careful planning. Expect to spend 2-3 months to get a first, basic version of your app out the door, more if you need to cover two platforms.

Having said that, publishing your app doesn’t need to be that expensive or take all that time with if you rely on an app building service like MobiLoud.

If you work with us, our team takes care of all the app building and publishing work for you so you don’t have to familiarize yourself with any of the SDKs and tools normally required. You can simply sign up for MobiLoud, sit back, and relax, as we work to build and publish your app for you. It generally takes 5-7 days for the app to go live on App Store and Google Play, given approval times are now much shorter than they used to be.

If you ever want to make customizations then our WordPress plugin allows you to customize and manage your app from a familiar interface without requiring an update of the app.

Myth 4: Making money with apps is hard.

Studies show that mobile developers often fail to monetize their apps due to the lack of a monetization strategy, the wrong expectations or simply failing to make the changes required to support multiple ad networks.

With MobiLoud, your app is all yours and you’re free to monetize it as much as you want. You can charge for downloads and collect the entire revenue. All you need to do is publish it through your own iOS Developer account or Google Play account and you’re good to go.

You can also very easily add advertisements using the most popular mobile advertising solutions on the market: Admob, for easy monetization, Google DFP, to sell your own inventory, Mopub, for advanced monetization using multiple ad networks and your own inventory.

This sums up the most common concerns we regularly discuss with our customers. Almost every major growing industry has the tendency to gather a few myths that get stuck with it and this is no different. But as you’ve seen, they’re not always true when you can outsource nearly all the work required to build your app to a service like ours.