Educational apps are gaining prominence day by day, and a lot of schools are now seriously into developing kids educational apps.
Before moving directly into the cost estimate of an average educational app, it is important to get acquainted with the factors that affect cost of a project.
Is Every App Educational as it is Claimed?
Not really. Educational apps are not meant to be just a showy display or a mere kid’s mobile game with a lot of entertainment extravaganza. Though the fun element is something crucial to the success of an kids educational apps the people behind its development should know where exactly they should draw the line. The objective of the app should not be obscured by the overflow of non educational stuffs that go into the app.
An ideal educational app for kids will be a balanced amalgam of fun with education, a treat to the kids hiding the learning burden.
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Educational app should contribute to all areas of a child’s development including creative, analytical, physical, social, and emotional development. All the phases in the app’s development should be continued taking advice from specialists such as a child psychologist, a child interaction specialist, a creative designer, a teacher and so on, when necessary. Each of the app elements should be designed taking into consideration the psychology of how kids learn.
Important Features of a Good Educational App
All beneficial educational app for kids will have several indispensable characters. Some are:
- Short and simple apps.
- No unnecessary distractions such as ads, pop-ups, links, social media, etc.
- Adults control the levels in the app/ Locked menus and settings.
- Speech included in aid of kids who are not yet fluent readers.
- Music with a mute button.
- Minimum number of buttons to reduce unintended actions.
- Advancement should be flowing and mostly linear. It shouldn’t require kids to jump to and fro between pages. If that’s the case, they may lose focus easier.
- Appropriate feedback should be given. Proper encouragement for incorrect answers is as important as positive feedbacks for achievements.
Importance of UX in a Kid’s App
When making an kids educational app, it is not enough that you focus on the graphics, sounds, and story. The picture is a whole lot bigger.
Designing a kid-friendly user interface that will not distract the kid’s attention, but keep them interested in the app is of prime importance. As it is mentioned earlier, the number of buttons made available on the screen should be limited and distraction elements such as social plugin, banners etc. should be avoided. This is because generally, kid’s are of the habit of touching everywhere on the screen. Accessibility of the buttons that are not strictly part of the app can be restricted to adults alone, by using specific unlock gestures or the double-tap-unlock method.
The Cost Factor
The cost of developing any kind of mobile app is just the same as developing for the web. There is nothing easy or cost saving about building a mobile app as some may believe.
The most basic apps with standard UI components and custom graphics such as a calculator or a small utility app can cost you between $ 1K to 10K.
What determines the cost factor greatly is the amount of time and effort that is invested in building the app.
If you want the same app to be attractive and more functional with interactive design, innovative methods of task completion, cloud services and customization features, the cost could shoot up to $2K to $25K. This means, the more complex the app is, the more you will be required to invest.
Other than complexity and app design, three important aspects that may affect the overall cost of production are the following:
- Platform: Cost can vary depending on the platform you choose to use i.e., whether you want single platform (iOS, Android, Windows) or cross-platform app development.
- The app development company or individual developer (Freelancer) whom you choose to work with: Based on this aspect, the costs may vary widely. So it is important to choose the right application development company for your development needs. The problem with hiring freelance service is that you should have a decent knowledge about the technology used and the workflow. Otherwise, you will be risking the success of your project.
- Geography of your app development partner: The location of the developing company/developer has a dramatic effect on the cost of your project. Outsourcing is a common strategy taken in countries of the first world to drop app development expenditure. In hourly rates, development cost in a country like India or Pakistan can be $10-20/hour, whereas the US development companies charge between 120 to 160 dollars per hour. In the case of freelancing, cost in India and Pakistan usually range between $5 to $15 per hour and US at $150 per hour.