App Development Questions & Answers

Find answers to all of the most frequently asked app development, design and startup questions.

How much does it cost to make an app?

On average, most of the apps we develop cost in the range of AUD$50,000 – AUD$250,000 but it completely depends on the app. A range of factors affect the time it takes to develop an app and therefor the cost. Factors such as the complexity, platforms supported and the level of polish, all affect the app development cost. Click here for a more in-depth look at the costs involved.

How do I get a quote from DreamWalk?

The first step is a no-obligation chat or discovery call with one of our strategy team. In this conversation we determine if your project is achievable within your budget and if it is a good fit for DreamWalk.

If so, we then move into the app strategy and prototyping phase. This begins with an App Strategy Workshop where we help you fine-tune your concept and roadmap the project. Only by deep-diving into the specific details of the app are we able to estimate the app development cost.

How much does DreamWalk charge for workshops?

We tailor our workshops to suit you and your needs. Based on our competitive research, our App Strategy Workshops are usually not the most expensive, nor the cheapest workshops available on the market.

Our pricing usually sits right in the middle price-wise, but the value you’ll get from one of our workshops will generally be much higher than what you’ll get from one of our competitors, no matter how much they charge you.

Call us for tailored pricing for your project.

How long does it take to develop an app?

This also depends on the app. A simple app might take 4-6 weeks, while a complex game might take years. On average, most of the apps we develop take between 10 and 20 weeks.

Why do I need an "ethical" app developer?

A client once said of the mobile app development industry: “It’s an industry of cowboys and horse s#!@”. In our 10 years in business we would tend to agree with this admittedly generalised observation.

At just 10 years old, it’s a relatively new industry and one that has seen rapid growth in recent times. The high demand for app development services has attracted many inexperienced opportunists who are more concerned about making a quick buck than they are about developing great products for their clients.

A number of Australian app development companies, even some of the biggest ones, actually do very little app development themselves and instead ship the work offshore to third-parties.

At DreamWalk, we get calls daily from people who have invested thousands of dollars with these companies and have had terrible experiences. Their issues range from not hearing back from the developer after they’ve paid a deposit to receiving poorly written code or apps that simply don’t function at all.

Many experience project delays of months or even years and in many cases pushy sales staff, overly keen to send invoices and less concerned about actually delivering a product.

At DreamWalk we aim to be everything the typical app development company is not. We pride ourselves on our ethical and transparent app development process and operate by our unique Ethical App Development Charter.

Does app development cost more for an app that works on iPhone and Android phones?

This used to be the case but not any more. iPhones and Android devices use different operating systems and apps written in different languages (Objective C and Java respectively).

An app that needs to support both platforms must be written in both languages. This used to  effectively mean double the app development  cost and time. That was until React Native came along.

Unlike other cross-platform frameworks, React Native writes completely native code for both iOS and Android. This means apps written with React Native perform exactly the same as native apps but share a single source code base.

For this reason some of the world’s biggest tech companies like Facebook and AirBnb use React Native for their mobile platforms.

DreamWalk recommends React Native for almost all apps we build.

Will my iPhone app work on an iPad?

Yes. An iPhone app will open and function on an iPad. The app will simply be scaled up to fill the larger screen or it will appear in the center of the screen with black borders around it, depending on the user’s preference.

If you want your app to take advantage of the extra screen real estate available on an iPad, we may need to do some additional iPad app development to add extra elements or functionality to take advantage of the extra screen real estate.

An app can usually be optimised for iPad for around 50% of the initial iPhone development cost. Same goes for Android and Android tablets.

Why is app development so expensive?

An app is a piece of software, usually developed by a team of developers over a relatively long period of time. The process involves extensive planning, app design, programming, testing and deployment, all by experts in their given fields. Like any piece of software, it takes time to plan, design, build and test an app. The longer it takes to develop the app, the higher the development cost.

Being that developing an app is an expensive excercise, it is important to make sure your money is being spent wisely. You need to make sure you are receiving a quality product for your investment.

Is DreamWalk a mobile agency?

We are a mobile app development agency, not a mobile or digital marketing agency. However, we do help marketing agencies come up with and prototype innovative mobile marketing ideas for their clients and provide engaging mobile app design expertise.

What about online app builders?

There are a number of online app creation tools, all of which are extremely limited. These may be viable in some extreme cases where very limited functionality is required but we have never had an app project that could be developed using an online app builder.

Still have questions? Ask them here.

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