{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "Trends on Tuesday: How Much Does It Cost to Go Mobile? |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Trends on Tuesday: How Much Does It Cost to Go Mobile?",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/09/29/trends-on-tuesday-how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-mobile/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Trends on Tuesday: How Much Does It Cost to Go Mobile?","summary" : "A penny saved is a penny earned. But spending your pennies on mobile development is necessary to meet 21st century needs.","date" : "2015-09-29T01:00:08-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"awichman" : "Ashley Wichman"},"topics" : {
        
            "emerging-tech" : "Emerging tech",
            "mobile" : "Mobile",
            "terms-of-service" : "Terms of service"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2015-09-29-trends-on-tuesday-how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-mobile.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/09/2015-09-29-trends-on-tuesday-how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-mobile.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/09/2015-09-29-trends-on-tuesday-how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-mobile.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/09/2015-09-29-trends-on-tuesday-how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-mobile.md","slug" : "trends-on-tuesday-how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-mobile","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/09/29/trends-on-tuesday-how-much-does-it-cost-to-go-mobile/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eA penny saved is a penny earned. But spending your pennies on \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/09/15/trends-on-tuesday-the-mobile-internet-is-dead-long-live-the-mobile-internet/\"\u003emobile development is necessary to meet 21st century needs\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/09/600-x-400-Mobile-phone-and-airplanes-made-of-dollars-fruttipics-iStock-Thinkstock-458847825.jpg\"\n    alt=\"A formation of paper airplanes made of American dollars flies into a mobile phone.\"/\u003e\u003cp\u003efruttipics/iStock/Thinkstock\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eRegardless of how you plan to create that awesome anytime, anywhere mobile experience, it’s going to cost you. While the most obvious parts of the mobile price tag for native app development are initial development and launch, the long term maintenance of the app must also be considered. And you aren’t always penny pinching with \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2014/03/24/why-go-responsive-heres-what-feds-are-saying/\"\u003eresponsive website redesigns\u003c/a\u003e—they can also come with a hefty price tag. We asked some \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/communities/\"\u003eMobileGov Community of Practice\u003c/a\u003e members to tell us about their experiences.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image image-right image-right-legacy\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/09/250-x-225-Mobile-Development-neyro2008-iStock-Thinkstock-504857917.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Mobile Development\"/\u003e\u003cp\u003eneyro2008/iStock/Thinkstock\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"initial-development\"\u003eInitial Development\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are many factors that influence the cost of native app development: functionality, integration with existing databases, contracting, and the unique requirements your agency may have (creating new content, for example).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMobileGov CoP members reported that app development costs for \u003ca href=\"https://www.usa.gov/mobile-apps\"\u003efederal apps\u003c/a\u003e ranged between $50,000 and $300,000.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor app development more broadly, Comentum released a \u003ca href=\"http://www.comentum.com/mobile-app-development-cost.html\"\u003edetailed report about average app development costs\u003c/a\u003e and factors that influence the price tag.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"getting-your-app-on-the-apple-store-and-google-play\"\u003eGetting Your App on the Apple Store and Google Play\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are small but potentially on-going monetary costs associated with posting apps on the Apple and Google Play stores. Access to \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2013/05/30/apples-ios-terms-of-service-developer-program-license-agreement/\"\u003eApple developer tools\u003c/a\u003e costs $99 annually, and Google Play developer tool access has a one-time cost of $25. You’ll also need to \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/09/25/negotiating-a-mobile-terms-of-service-agreement/\"\u003enegotiate a mobile Terms of Service\u003c/a\u003e to get your apps added.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/04/600-x-250-Apple-App-Store-and-Android-Google-Play-icons.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Apple App Store and Android Google Play icons\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"maintenance\"\u003eMaintenance\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMobileGov CoP members reported annual maintenance costs of $10,000 to $12,000 per app. This cost only includes operating system updates and minor tweaks to content. If your agency decides to change major parts of the apps functionality, the costs will increase.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"going-responsive\"\u003eGoing Responsive\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAgencies that do a \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/02/12/building-brick-by-brick-ed-govs-website-redesign-and-mobile-implementation/\"\u003ewebsite redesign to go responsive\u003c/a\u003e must also contend with costs. For one agency we talked to, a fixed cost contract for a Web redesign with 6 templates cost $85,000, not including in-house development over a period of 9 months.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs the world becomes \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/05/05/trends-on-tuesday-u-s-mobile-only-internet-users-now-outnumber-desktop-only-users/\"\u003eincreasingly mobile first\u003c/a\u003e, agencies must meet the rising demand for mobile friendly products, information, and services, while also keeping an eye on both short and long term expenses.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/09/600-x-400-Notebook-tablet-pc-mobile-phone-and-computer-Nik_Merkulov-iStock-Thinkstock-186322788.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Notebook, tablet pc, mobile phone and computer with a pile of hundred dollar bills on the screens\"/\u003e\u003cp\u003eNik_Merkulov/iStock/Thinkstock\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eWant to read more great content like this? Sign up for our \u003ca href=\"https://digital.gov/subscribe/\"\u003eDigitalGov newsletter\u003c/a\u003e!\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}