Jumpstart Your Business with a Mobile App

Easy Setup, Low Cost Of Entry

Going it alone is time consuming, difficult, and pricey. iPhone apps can only be built on Macs, and an Apple Developer’s Account ($99 per year) is required. Then you’ll need to hire an app developer, which typically costs between $125 to $200 per hour, conservatively speaking. However, mobile app developers such as AppBreeder and iSites are attractive to budget-conscious individuals and small businesses who want to create a presence on mobile devices.

At press time, iSites charged $25 per app (with embedded AdMob ads) that work on the Android and iPhone platforms (BlackBerry, Nokia, and Windows Phone support is in the works, and the base prices will be rising soon). For $99 per year, companies can serve their own AdMob advertisements or stop them altogether. The one drawback to iSite’s methodology is that the software is basically a glorified RSS reader that pulls content from an already existing page. MobileAppLoader is a competing company whose native apps can make use of a handset’s camera, geolocation tools, and other hardware-based features. Its services are pricier than iSite’s (the entry-level Bronze package starts with a $59.99 setup fee plus a monthly $4.95 publishing fee, and pricing can soar above $100 as you move up to Silver and Gold), but it doesn’t include advertisements.

In addition to affordability, iSites and MobileAppLoader can get the work done fast. Both companies tout being able to get an app into the iTunes App Store in anywhere from two days to two weeks, depending on the amount of customization needed and Apple’s approval process.

According to Gurumohan, the process for customers only takes about ten minutes, thanks to the simple, easy-to-tweak templates that iSites offers. After you create an account, you choose a color scheme, select up to 25 categories, insert branded images, and add RSS feeds and description keywords. This assembly line method of app production, however, has received some criticism.

“Companies that build web apps simply build a mobile version of your site that renders within a shell,” said Zvika Ashkenazi, CEO and founder of MobileAppLoader. “When you go into airplane mode, you can’t access the app.” But even those shells can be used intelligently. According to Gurumohan, their shell for each platform reads the incoming content for compatibility and treats it accordingly. So, if a blog post contains Flash, it will not include that post within the iPhone’s app.

All app builders promise to inspect the content coming in from a company for a potential app to make sure images are the correct size and that URLs work. Gurumohan declined to comment on the approval process, but did mention that the Blue Nation Blog app was accepted into the iTunes App Store in just three days (though this was extraordinarily quick for the majority of apps iSites submits to Apple). Android apps, on the other hand, take approximately a day to review, and once submitted to the Market, appear instantaneously (if too many people flag an app, however, it may be pulled).

Should a bug creep into your app, you can get support from the developer—but you may have to wait. When the Blue Nation Blog app suffered from duplicate posts, iSites repaired the flaw in approximately a week, which is a lengthy amount of time to be saddled with a software glitch. Still, UK’s Stephenson told us he would work with iSites in the future should the university desire another app. MobileAppLoader requires that an app be resubmitted to the iTunes App Store (a $49 fee) after it’s fixed. iSite’s web-based nature also allows users to make changes on the fly, such as fixing a misspelled title.

The Wrap On Apps

Smart phone apps have revolutionized the way content is delivered, and can be a vital tool in selling a product or, as with Blue Nation Blog, potentially extending your brand and growing your reach. There’s an axiom that states if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. But when it comes to low-cost, fast-turnaround developers, you can have an app produced cheaply and quickly. Just keep in mind that you’ll sacrifice uniqueness and, depending on how little you want to spend, true user interaction with the app beyond simply reading text and watching video.

Back to Page 1: Is Your Business App Worthy?