Our article aims to save you time by figuring out how to hire an app developer you will enjoy working. Here we provide tips and procedures to detect a perfect candidate while avoiding common mistakes.
5 Options to Hire a Developer
- Hiring an in-house team
An app development team usually consists of 5–7 professionals. Hence, this is the most expensive and time-consuming variant.
2. Hiring a local boutique team
This option costs slightly less, but still requires large investments. The average rate to hire a developer in the US ranges from $100-$150 per hour making a total of around $100,000+ per app project.
3. Hiring an app developer on a freelance website
Please note these weak points when hiring a freelance app developer:
- Freelancers are not likely to provide a turnkey app solution, as they concentrate mostly on technically performing tasks
- Freelancers do not follow app development methodologies or use project management tools
- Freelancers may not keep track of your app project deadlines
- Freelancers should be trustworthy to ensure that they do not use your app’s code, distribute materials, or perform other inappropriate actions
4. Check up on body shop companies
The majority of these companies underpay their employees and use amateur or recent graduates as cheap app developers for their coding services. Thus, do not be surprised if your project ends up having deplorable code quality and performance.
5. Services of dedicated mobile app development agencies
These teams can have a very good correlation between price and quality. Europe is well-known for its highly capable mobile app developers. An hourly rate to hire a developer, let’s say in Ukraine, is approximately $30-$50 per hour, meaning that the average price per app project is about $50,000.
Benefits of Hiring App Developers as a Dedicated Team
The advantages include:
- Allocation of app developers with necessary tech capabilities
- Allocation of tech specialists with expertise in a particular field
- Great quality-cost ratio
- Time savings
- Business support
- Understanding user experience
- Risk management
- Project timeline management
- Post-launch app support and maintenance
- Fair app development estimate
- Financial and legal support
- Elimination of the hiring process & taxes on the client side
Bottom line: the company is working on your project’s success and looking toward a long-term commitment.
Hire App Developers Wisely: Key Criteria
The next illustration represents all the points to consider when hiring an app developer.
How to Hire an App Developer: Tips & Questions
Check out the following aspects during the interview:
- seniority level and years in the profession
- technical proficiency and specialization (e.g. iOS developer)
- number of successfully completed app projects
- number of acquired achievements, awards, technical certifications
- participation in specialized conferences, hackathons, meetups
- deliverables provided (e.g. code sample)
- experience working under pressure and with tough deadlines
- interpersonal and communication skills
- contribution to your project concept during the interview
iOS Developer
A good iOS developer should possess tech capabilities and perform tasks like:
- Solid knowledge of iOS programming languages (Swift, Objective-C)
- Ability to develop an app for different devices: smartphones, tablets, etc.
- Work with most frequently used APIs and open-source libraries
- Knowledge of IDE, REST/JSON/XML standards; MVP, MVVM architecture patterns
- Familiarity with iOS app publishing to Apple Store
- Good testing and debugging skills
- Application of KISS and SOLID principles in software engineering
- Business and user experience knowledge is a plus
Alternatively, you can also study the presence of iOS developers on tech communities like:
- iPhoneDevSDK hosts
- MacRumors iOS programming forum
- Cocos2d for iPhone
- Stack Overflow (search with tag- iOS)
- iOS Developer Forums
During the interview process, you can check the following points:
- Study their shared code contributions on GitHub
- Ask for libraries, third-party frameworks, and other components that should be used to build your project
- Inquire about how the developer sees the project’s implementation and its further evolution
Android App Developer
Great Android app developers are highly skilled in the following aspects:
- Have a practical knowledge in Android programming languages (Kotlin, Java)
- Operate in open-source ecosystems and libraries
- Knowledge of Android NDK and architectural patterns — MVP, MVVM
- Manage and work with Android version updates and their APIs
- Application of KISS and SOLID principles in software engineering
- Understand the app publishing on the Google Play
- Good testing and debugging skills
Similar to iOS, you may check the following forums once you decide to hire an Android app developer:
- Google developer groups
- Android Development Community
- Android Forums
- AndroidPit
Questions to Ask When Hiring an App Developer
Company-related questions
- Where is your company located? Do you have a local representative?
- What is your tech stack and specialization?
- For which operating systems are you able to build apps?
- In what industries do you have the most experience?
- Where can I check your completed app projects? Can you provide me with links to app stores?
Team-related questions
- How many in-house employees do you have?
- What is your company structure?
- Do you have enough iOS/Android developers to complete my project?
- Do your app developers have specific awards or accomplishments? What are they?
- How do you allocate suitable app developers for projects?
- Are a designer, project manager, and business analyst part of the team?
- What are your design and user experience capabilities?
Client-related questions
- Who are your key clients?
- Can you give a list of current and past clients?
- How did you add value to their project concepts?
- Can you relate to the clients from a similar business sphere?
- What level of involvement do you require from your clients?
Communication-related questions
- What level of English do you and your team have? Can app developers speak fluently?
- Is (particular time) suitable for our communication?
- How will you communicate during the development process?
- How will you keep me updated about progress and issues?
- What communication tools do you use?
App development-related questions
- What app development methodologies and frameworks are applied by the company?
- Which programming standards and guidelines do you follow?
- What are your design principles; how do you create an app design?
- How do you see the monetization of my app concept?
- What would you advise regarding my app concept monetization?
- What core functionality would you extract in my project?
- What additional features do you recommend that I include?
- What complex app functionality have you implemented already?
- How do you conduct app testing?
- How do you react to and fix issues on the project?
- How will you manage the project’s security?
- Do you help with app submission to the app store?
- How do you provide post-launch support?
Agreements-related questions
- Who owns the project materials (code, design, etc.)?
- Can we sign the NDA before we proceed with project details?
- What are your payment terms and processes?
- Can I check the draft of the agreement beforehand?
Common Mistakes When Hiring an App Developer
- Decision to proceed with the cheapest option
- Taking only price into consideration when hiring app developers
- Lack of experience and no understanding of your business
- Apps are not completed and delivered to the app store
- Start coding without proper project evaluation
- Project budget and timeline are not established
- Not taking into consideration the post-launch app phase
How to Choose an App Developer: Summary
- Understand your app project’s needs, requirements, and priorities
- Check out the portfolio and other related information about the app developer
- Collect references and feedback from top clients
- Evaluate the team and each separate developer’s input to your project idea
- Involve app developers during project discussions
- Assess the whole SDLC, including support & maintenance stages
- Determine security matters during the app project development
- Analyze the preliminary developer’s proposal with the project budget and timeline
- Agree upon the pricing terms and agreements
- Find a reliable partner interested in a long-term commitment
This is a brief summary of an article published on MLSDev blog. If you would like to learn all the details about the process of hiring an app developer wisely, read the full article.
