Cost and volume when developing a typical iphone application
I have been tasked with developing an application that will basically show lists of information like accommodation, restaurants ... about 8-9 different types. Drilling on one would reveal details. They come dynamically from the db (via an XML feed) that the existing website uses.
Also, users should be able to save their favorites, as well as an interactive Google map showing the locations of these places.
Just wondering how long such an iphone application will take to develop and what it will cost. As iam, new to iphone dev, I don't know how big the volume is, any complications to predict, area creep issues and how much to charge. Want to give a reasonable estimate so I don't overcharge.
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So you are a developer who is new to iPhone and needs to come up with an estimate and how much charge?
Software development is inherently unpredictable, but there are many techniques for dealing with unpredictability. It is impossible to predict the outcome with great certainty for any given project, but you can combine many iPhone projects and calculate some averages.
What I've heard is a prototype or a wireframe, it's between $ 10,000 and $ 15,000 and about a month full time. For a simple application, about $ 30,000 to complete. And for more complex applications, it ranges from $ 50,000 to $ 80,000.
I have heard that hourly rates range from $ 50 to $ 200 while in New York. The rates vary greatly because the quality of the programmers varies greatly. Even the most conservative estimates put good programmers five times the productivity of poor programmers.
You will probably spend many hours learning how to design an iPhone, and hours of hours will be long because you are about to make a lot of mistakes. My advice is to learn iPhone-dev with your own project, because you can learn at your own pace without a client and get it right. Set yourself a deadline, etc.
But if you decide to go with your project, the above chalet numbers begin.
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The problem is you are new to iphone development. So if you are a quick learner and want to make an app that fits with Apple's way of building an app, I would assume you need 4 to 6 weeks to get it done.
Since the learning curve is quite steep in ObjC and the iPhone SDK, future applications will be faster to implement.
By the way: you should be looking for someone who has experience with iphone applications (not necessarily ObjC) and who will look over your GUI and handle your application (not code). Otherwise, you risk getting a brick.
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