How do you find and hire good Mobile App Developers?

foozball3000

foozball3000

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So how do I find a company that I can outsource the development and maintenance of the apps to? If I ask around everyone and their grandmother will bombard me with "I can develop apps!"
If my Web Development experience is anything to go by, 90% of those would be people who just want to take the money and leave you with useless garbage.
Good code matters here. It's not complex, but reliability is very important.

I built the working prototype MVP software built in OutSystems. But for the launch, we're skipping this version and going straight to a dedicated Mobile App version.

Due to the nature of the business, it's important that the app work on a very wide range of devices, and that the back end can handle a lot of micro transactions.
 
Answer:
1. You're going to pay. Being a cheapskate here is not going to help.
2. Consider that most really skilled people have left SA, maybe that said, you ought to look overseas ne.

Good code aka (design patterns and mathematician crap). Reliable code is often written by highly skilled people so see point 1 above.
 
Your expectation that folks provide contacts for the right people is unrealistic given the amount of information you have provided.

You have stated that the app "isn't complex" but then go on to say that "it's important that the app work on a very wide range of devices, and that the back end can handle a lot of micro transactions".

Its one or the other. Not both. I suspect you don't understand what complexity may be involved in building your app. The "isn't complex" bit was thrown in I suspect because you want the development to be inexpensive because you don't have much money to spend.

Start your search with the average salary of a reasonable senior software dev. (Since what you need requires at least one)

www.offerzen.com

State of South Africa's Software Developer Nation 2025 -- OfferZen

South Africa's largest data report on developer careers dives into the skills, salaries, and job search experiences of 3400+ surveyed software engineershttps://www.offerzen.com/reports/software-developer-south-africa #SADevNationreport #OfferZenDeveloperReport
www.offerzen.com www.offerzen.com

Once you have a realistic view of what one developer might cost , try and work out how many man days/months/years the project is expected to take and use that as a proportion of the average salary. Add on overheads and profit for a contracting company and you'll come out at a bad figure of what you need to pay them.

Then, take your MVP to a couple of established firms (Google these) and see what they quote or how they approach money. DVT and Dariel may be a good start.

The above post BTW is correct. Being a cheapskate is not going to help. A classic mistake is to "try and do it cheaper". If you don't pay above market for this development project (cash or kind) it will most likely fail. I don't know what your funding is like. Have you raised enough capital to do this?
 
retromodcoza said:
Your expectation that folks provide contacts for the right people is unrealistic given the amount of information you have provided.

You have stated that the app "isn't complex" but then go on to say that "it's important that the app work on a very wide range of devices, and that the back end can handle a lot of micro transactions".

Its one or the other. Not both. I suspect you don't understand what complexity may be involved in building your app. The "isn't complex" bit was thrown in I suspect because you want the development to be inexpensive because you don't have much money to spend.

Start your search with the average salary of a reasonable senior software dev. (Since what you need requires at least one)

www.offerzen.com

State of South Africa's Software Developer Nation 2025 -- OfferZen

South Africa's largest data report on developer careers dives into the skills, salaries, and job search experiences of 3400+ surveyed software engineershttps://www.offerzen.com/reports/software-developer-south-africa #SADevNationreport #OfferZenDeveloperReport
www.offerzen.com www.offerzen.com

Once you have a realistic view of what one developer might cost , try and work out how many man days/months/years the project is expected to take and use that as a proportion of the average salary. Add on overheads and profit for a contracting company and you'll come out at a bad figure of what you need to pay them.

Then, take your MVP to a couple of established firms (Google these) and see what they quote or how they approach money. DVT and Dariel may be a good start.

The above post BTW is correct. Being a cheapskate is not going to help. A classic mistake is to "try and do it cheaper". If you don't pay above market for this development project (cash or kind) it will most likely fail. I don't know what your funding is like. Have you raised enough capital to do this?
Click to expand...
Thank you for the feedback. :)

Well, it's hard to know how descriptive to be. So I'm skipping some details like the server setup and such.
My intent wasn't to come across as someone trying to do this for R10. I didn't say anywhere anything about being a cheapskate or how much money there is. My fear is simply figuring out how to find the good ones and avoiding the terrible ones who has a 'meh, good enough' mentality.

And yes, it isn't complex on the Business Logic Side, since I wrote the prototype myself I'm well aware of the inner workings. It's also designed that way. The commissioned version will simply be a rebuild of it to accommodate proper security, optimization, API Services and such.
But what is important is the technical nuance that it works smoothly on a wide variety of devices and conditions. Call it robust if you will, with redundancies where needed.


Your suggestion on starting with their salaries is a very good one, thank you. That gives me a great starting point for wrapping up the budget planning
And it makes me think that given the constraints on the older tech, experience might be vital too.

To give some context, it's my experience in Software Development that has made me cautious. Because most of the Software Developers I've met, I wouldn't commission to write a calculator. Most drag and drop without ever understanding the client's need. And about 1 in 5 is actually any good with a deep interest in computers and how the technology behind it works.
So I'm thinking that with Mobile Development, this might be even worse. And very few new businesses can afford to have a bad developer / company ruin the first version.
 
PaulMurkin said:
Answer:
1. You're going to pay. Being a cheapskate here is not going to help.
2. Consider that most really skilled people have left SA, maybe that said, you ought to look overseas ne.

Good code aka (design patterns and mathematician crap). Reliable code is often written by highly skilled people so see point 1 above.
Click to expand...

You might well be right about the SA thing. I'll look into it. Thank you :)
 
foozball3000 said:
So how do I find a company that I can outsource the development and maintenance of the apps to? If I ask around everyone and their grandmother will bombard me with "I can develop apps!"
If my Web Development experience is anything to go by, 90% of those would be people who just want to take the money and leave you with useless garbage.
Good code matters here. It's not complex, but reliability is very important.

I built the working prototype MVP software built in OutSystems. But for the launch, we're skipping this version and going straight to a dedicated Mobile App version.

Due to the nature of the business, it's important that the app work on a very wide range of devices, and that the back end can handle a lot of micro transactions.
Click to expand...

Hey,

So, you could reach out to DVT (https://www.dvt.co.za) - I used to work for them as a Senior Mobile developer (Since moved on)

Their whole business is designing, building and maintaining software (Mobile apps being a big part of that)
 
Ok - if you have the budget or can get it then the argument here is different.

The unemployment rate for software developers is 2%. Most of that is cyclical. So the dev you want :

1. Is going to be employed already
2. Is going to be BUSY
3. Is going to need a reason to do your project over what he/she currently has going on

So look for someone who seems hesitant to take your calls, responds with short answers or otherwise seems slightly disinterested.
 
I tried to put together a mobile team is SA a few times but it hasnt been possible with a tight budget. There doesn't seem to be many middle ground devs that are good so you either have people you have to constantly micro manage or have to spend serious money to get one of the really good ones.

Our team is in Europe now and we are really happy with them. .NET, Java and JS still seem manageable here but the others are a real struggle.
 
foozball3000 said:
You might well be right about the SA thing. I'll look into it. Thank you :)
Click to expand...
No he's not, there are still plenty of brilliant developers in South Africa. Paul is just a sour **** is all. The fact he says good code (design patterns, mathematician crap) speaks volumes about his knowledge and skill in the field.
 
semaphore said:
No he's not, there are still plenty of brilliant developers in South Africa. Paul is just a sour **** is all. The fact he says good code (design patterns, mathematician crap) speaks volumes about his knowledge and skill in the field.
Click to expand...

Yup, but those being in short supply, I'm guessing they're up to their necks in work anyway.

It's also a risk thing. You know as well as I do that there's also a lot of incompetent developers that will happily burn through your entire budget.
With normal Software and Web Development, I know at least what to ask and how to go about it to weed those out. But I'm in the deep end when it gets to Mobile.

Either way, I'm looking at both options :)
 
foozball3000 said:
Yup, but those being in short supply, I'm guessing they're up to their necks in work anyway.

It's also a risk thing. You know as well as I do that there's also a lot of incompetent developers that will happily burn through your entire budget.
With normal Software and Web Development, I know at least what to ask and how to go about it to weed those out. But I'm in the deep end when it gets to Mobile.

Either way, I'm looking at both options :)
Click to expand...
What is your budget?
 
Honestly IMO the time of mobile apps has gone. Unless its a game or something resource intensive rather just make a robust mobile app.
 
foozball3000 said:
What's the difference?
Click to expand...
a mobile app runs in a browser. You can make a wrapper for it if you want, but the functionality should be the same either way. Compatibility is only an issue between brwosers and not a million different devices.

I'm more likely to use an app if I don't have to download it and give it a million permissions before I start.
Especially loyalty and shopping apps. There is no benefit for me to download your app and I just don't trust every random company with my privacy anymore.
Besides the fact that I already have a **** ton of apps on my phone and when I want to use it, instead of a bookmark I need to scroll through pages of apps and try and remember what your icon looks like.
If you really want it on your home screen then you can add the bookmark and it looks like an app.
 
Mars said:
a mobile app runs in a browser. You can make a wrapper for it if you want, but the functionality should be the same either way. Compatibility is only an issue between brwosers and not a million different devices.

I'm more likely to use an app if I don't have to download it and give it a million permissions before I start.
Especially loyalty and shopping apps. There is no benefit for me to download your app and I just don't trust every random company with my privacy anymore.
Besides the fact that I already have a **** ton of apps on my phone and when I want to use it, instead of a bookmark I need to scroll through pages of apps and try and remember what your icon looks like.
If you really want it on your home screen then you can add the bookmark and it looks like an app.
Click to expand...
A mobile app runs on a phone natively on the phone's OS (android/iOS/Windows mobile).
A web app, such as an SPA (Single Page Application) runs in a browser. Either on a phone or a PC or whatever can run a browser. In this case for mobile purposes the phone/tablet browser is the mobile app.
 
Mars said:
a mobile app runs in a browser. You can make a wrapper for it if you want, but the functionality should be the same either way. Compatibility is only an issue between brwosers and not a million different devices.

I'm more likely to use an app if I don't have to download it and give it a million permissions before I start.
Especially loyalty and shopping apps. There is no benefit for me to download your app and I just don't trust every random company with my privacy anymore.
Besides the fact that I already have a **** ton of apps on my phone and when I want to use it, instead of a bookmark I need to scroll through pages of apps and try and remember what your icon looks like.
If you really want it on your home screen then you can add the bookmark and it looks like an app.
Click to expand...
I believe the term is App fatigue. With a web app you get cross platform and the "buy-in" is less. Assuming his app can work in that context.
 
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