What All Do you Need to Set Up a Mobile App Development Business

Starting your own app development company? As much as you may need the skills to run a successful business, app development requires a supportive technology that assists in running the app development business smoothly. Along with asking yourself few questions before launching an app, what are the right hardware and software for the business is another thing that demands your attention.

If you are looking to buy new technology, it can be a bit of a daunting task especially if you don’t know what you should be looking for. From the hardware to software for desk machines and mobile testing devices, everything should be perfect and run as expected otherwise it isn’t going to be worth it

.

So what should you look for?

When buying a Laptop/PC

  1. Operating System

Picking an operating system is no easy task especially if you aren’t familiar with each system, whether it be Windows, Mac or Chrome OS.

Once you have made your choice, the one key point to look for is making sure that the operating system is up to date and will be compatible with what you are buying the laptop/PC for, if you buy it for game development then an outdated system would be a stupid choice.

For any business, I would avoid older operating systems, especially for larger scale businesses.

Believe it or not, some people still sell devices with Windows XP on them which these days is ridiculous in my opinion when we have so many good updated versions of Windows.

  1. Size

The size of the laptop depends on what you need it for, if you need it to be portable then a smaller notebook that has a smaller sized screen and light weight is best for you.

PC’s are pretty much a no-go for being portable, though you can purchase smaller PC’s today than ever before, portability is still never a priority with a PC.

Unlike a laptop, there are too many external devices and peripherals that come along with a PC that you have to take into consideration- monitors, keyboard, mouse, speakers etc., not to mention microphones, graphics tablets if you use them. Carrying all of these devices are just simply a hassle whereas a laptop is easily portable.

  1. Screen Quality

For a small scale business, I wouldn’t say screen quality matters too much but for larger scale businesses I would say it definitely plays a factor. Screen quality comes into play when a business is conducting video conferences or talking to clients via video.

For App development companies then, a high-quality screen is a must! Especially if app testing happens via the PC/laptop.

Having a high-quality screen is also great for visuals, for example, App store feature images. On different screens, the images will look different, on a higher quality screen you can always be assured the image looks good.

  1. Memory

Laptops and PC’s use RAM (random access memory) to store data and it is critical for the device to run efficiently and smoothly, so in sense, the more memory the better.

When RAM isn’t available it will start using your hard drive space which slows down processing so this needs to be taken into consideration when buying.

Having a device with 1TB RAM for general browsing is pointless, higher RAM is more useful for businesses who store a lot of programs, presentations and use their device for conferences etc.

It is also very rare to find a laptop with ram that is in Terabytes, it’s more likely to find them with Gigabytes.

  1. Price

What price you pay depends on the quality of the laptop/PC you decide to buy, higher quality devices can run up into the thousands and even more whereas the lower quality ones are from the hundreds upwards.

Larger scale businesses can definitely run into the thousands for a good quality PC/laptop whereas smaller scale businesses can manage with lower quality PC’s/laptops.

Mobile Phones

  1. Affordability

Pricing on mobile phones isn’t exactly everything but if you want a top of the range phone then expect to have a pretty significant dent in your bank account.

What do you want a phone for? The answer to that question determines the price range in which you will find a suitable phone for you.

  • Everyday tasks: calls/texting/browsing – £50-200
  • Good screen/good battery/camera/moderate apps – £200-£400
  • Good screen/good battery/camera/high apps/extras – £400+

If you want a phone that is truly affordable and can manage general tasks, it is recommended to spend around £100 to avoid getting ripped off.

You can sometimes, if you are lucky, grab a top of the range phone for less than £400 from a second-hand seller but be careful with buying from unknown sellers.

  1. Phone Size

Lately, phones have been getting bigger and the top of the range ones have screen sizes of 5.5 inches and higher.

Screen size doesn’t really matter unless you make a lot of conference/video calls then I would definitely say to go for a bigger screen! The phones with bigger screens are amazing for video calls.  

However, for app development then screen size is very important for testing purposes.

  1. Brand/Operating System

There are 3 main operating systems, currently ruling the market landscape:

  • iOS – Apple
  • Android – Google
  • Windows – Microsoft

Which one you chose is entirely up to you. Each system has their pro’s and con’s and I can’t decide for you which one would be best.

As for brand, well some people actually think iPhone and Samsung are the only ones available and that isn’t true.

An app development company needs multiple devices for testing. Checking the quality and responsiveness of your app over different qualities of phones is important.

A QA team needs to be sure that an app undergoes cross-device testing, so you need different devices, different operating systems, screen sizes and different brands. This ensures that the app caters to a wider and more diverse audience.

Available brands:

  • iPhone
  • Samsung
  • Blackberry
  • HTC
  • LG
  • Nokia
  • Vodafone
  • Motorola
  • Huawei
  • Alcatel

These are just some of the brands but there are many others to choose from.

  1. Pay monthly or Pay as you go

If you are going to be making a lot of calls, travelling, conducting business, using internet based apps etc then pay monthly is the better option. The pay monthly option is best as you will never have to worry about being cut off or limited.

Some providers do give better pay as you go deals now than pay monthly! Just shop around and see which is the best deal.

Below you can find some of the available deals from the network provider Vodafone!

Conclusion

Whether buying a laptop/PC or a phone you need to be sure of what you are getting and the quality is good for the price. Everything needs to suit you and still be affordable and work for what you need it to do.

Fueled by coffee!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *