When one wants to decide on a platform to develop apps, they have two options: Android, and iOS. 86% of the OS market is in Android’s command, while only 14% belong to iOS, but still, there has been a higher demand for iOS devices and apps.
Statistics prove that the iOS market has a higher revenue ($33.2 billion in 2018) compared to the Android market ($21.5 billion in 2018). Apple store has 1.85 billion apps, while Android has 2.56 billion apps. There has been an increase in the competition among the developers of Android apps and iOS apps each wanting to make more advanced and user-friendly apps. Hence there is a need to find the best app developer we can.
We all know that searching for an iOS app developer is difficult but not impossible. One should hire an iOS developer keeping few things in mind. Once all the requirements and skills match a candidate, you are all set to go.
Here we bring a small guide to the once who are struggling to find an iOS app developer for their company. I hope this article can help guide you in choosing a suitable developer.
iOS Developer Roles And Responsibilities
Many of us think that coding and designing are the only work of an iOS developer but let me tell you, they work beyond those margins.
An iOS developer plans and designs an app according to the requirements and also tests it and publishes it. He/she makes sure the app they created is working and user-friendly. They ensure the quality of the app and also fix bugs, maintain the code, and implements time-to-time updates to the app. Besides, he/ she does all the work from a creator to the publisher. A developer should also be familiar with most of the iOS apps.
Hence, this builds a whole lot of responsibility on the shoulders of a developer, making us necessary to choose the perfect fit for this role. While hiring a developer one should also look for design awareness in them as it transfers an excellent experience to final users. You should also make sure they are good at programming in Swift or other languages.
A developer’s efficiency to develop an app depends on the working experience; one having more experience can solve complex and diverse tech problems in a quick and better way.
There Are Some of The Key Responsibilities To Be Kept In Mind While Hiring an iOS Developer:
- Design and build applications on the iOS platform.
- Maintain code quality, organization, and atomization
- Collaborating with a team to define, design, and ship new features.
- Identifying and correcting bottlenecks and fixing bugs.
- Ensure app performance.
- Help to maintain the quality and standards of the product.
- Have an experience in both UI/UX.
- I should be working in collaboration with other developers for the benefit of the company.
The level of the developers’ efficiency can significantly change the results. The IT industry divides the experience of a developer into three levels: Junior, Middle, and Senior –least experienced to most, respectively.
Junior iOS Developer
Entry-level freshers that learn alongside their other experienced colleagues are considered junior iOS developers. It usually takes them a year or two to gain the experience and skills to level up.
Middle iOS Developer
A developer advances to a middle iOS developer-level after working on numerous projects and gaining 2-5 years’ worth of experience and skills.
Senior iOS Developer
Senior iOS developers have 5 or more years of experience. Their responsibility does not only include coding and designing but also mentoring less experienced developers.
iOS Developer Skills Set
The skillset varies from app to app. Listed below are the necessary skills needed in an iOS developer:
- Proficient with Swift or Objective-C programming language;
- Should be familiar with iOS frameworks such as Core Data, Core Animation, etc.
- To connect iOS applications to back-end services, the candidate should know about RESTful APIs.
- Should know the UI/UX standards design standards.
- The iOS app developer should be aware of Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines.
- Have experience in performance and memory tuning.
- Should be familiar with cloud message APIs and push notifications and also continuous integration.
- Should be able to optimize.
- Should be able to perform with code versioning tools like Git.
- It can operate with Metal or OpenGL.
- Has experience offline storage, threading, and performance tuning.
Available Hiring Options For an iOS App Developer
Once you are clear about the responsibilities and roles along with the skills set you should look for, you should start to think about the hiring options. You have 3 ways of hiring an iOS developer, and they are as follows:
- A freelancer iOS developer;
- An in-house iOS developer team;
- A software outsourcing company.
Freelancer iOS Developer
Freelancers for iOS development are usually hired for bug fixing bugs or for adding features to a ready-made app. You can get freelancers on various websites available on the net like Upwork, LinkedlnProfinder, etc.
An In-House iOS Developer Team
If you need a constant iOS app developer, then you should hire an in-house iOS development team. It helps them to communicate clearly and quickly with the other employees, making it to develop a better app.
Software Outsourcing Company
Software outsourcing companies can be hired to work if you are planning for a cost-effective and fast way to develop iOS apps. They offer 2 cooperation models:
- Pay them according to the per hour rate, also known as out staffing.
- The app is built according to your requirements.
When to Hire a Freelancer iOS Developer?
Freelancers are usually hired to fix bugs or add features to a ready-made app. The reason behind this is freelancers are not the best option if you are looking for app developers.
Freelancers are widespread and are available all over the internet on sites like Upwork or LinkedIn. You can also make use of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to hire freelancers.
Hiring freelancers has its pros and cons that you should know.
Pros of Hiring a Freelancer:
- The freelance market is full of iOS developers, which makes it easy to select them and decreased the chances of facing problems with finding the right developer for your project.
- Hiring freelancers is cheaper.
- There isn’t a need to pay the freelancers when they are not working on your project. This saves the company money.
- As freelancers usually have their own working place, there isn’t a need to worry about taxes, office space, etc.
Cons of Hiring a Freelancer:
- Since freelancers work from their comfort place, it becomes difficult for them to coordinate with the other developers.
- There is always a minimal chance that a freelancer hired would leave the project half done if he is not signed with any such condition.
- With freelancers, it becomes an issue of keeping up with the deadline.
- You might sometimes come across language and cultural barriers.
- A freelancer is not always expected to be being loyal to your company; he may be working on other side projects too.
- The project assigned to a freelancer needs many changes sometimes, but if your freelancer finds it annoying or irritating, they may just quit their project.
Hence, while appointing a freelancer iOS developers once should always keep these cons in mind to make sure you find the best iOS app developers for your project. One can always take the help of an iOS developer portfolio to make sure the developer has the required expertise.
When to Hire an In-House Development Team?
Several startup companies after the successful launch of their products in the market think of forming an in-house software. Amazon, PayPal, and many other giant companies are among them.
If you’re a startup company and your product is launched in the market, and many users or investors are interested in your product, then you can allocate your resources to hire iOS app developers along with technical staff to work in – house.
Other middle-sized companies who develop such products that require cooperation between developers and departments, should hire in–house technical staff to help them in this issue.
Advantages of Forming In–House Development Team
- Whenever you need to, you can easily contact your employees regarding work 24/7.
- There will be no problems with communication and distance.
- As developers will not work on any other project, so they will get in-depth knowledge of your product.
- The in-house seniors can easily transfer their practical experience to juniors.
- It is quite easy to manage the development team.
- iOS developers will 100% benefit your project.
- iOS developers can also support your project after its release as they are experts in their field.
Disadvantages of Forming an In –House Development Team
- You have to pay your in–house development team.
- You have even to pay them fully – time salary also if there are not enough tasks for them.
- Hiring them is quite challenging.
- You have to pay for their taxes and office space rents.
- You even have to pay your developers when they are on sick leave or are on vacation.
When to Hire an Outsourcing Company?
Now arises the question of when should you hire the outsourcing company. You should hire a software outsourcing company if you want to employ cost-effective iOS app developers. These software companies offer two cooperation models:
You can appoint as many iOS developers as you want and have to pay at a per hour rate to the company for each individual. This type of appointment is known as our staffing or dedicated team appointment.
Once you pick a developer, then all the management activities are on you, you can ask the developer to work with your existing team or can assign new work to him that is completely your wish.
If you want an iOS app, you can contact the company’s representative and tell them all the requirements you want. In this scenario, all the responsibilities are on the company how they will fulfill your needs and how they will make an app from scratch for you.
You can easily find such outsourcing companies on Google. You can check their reviews and then can appoint the best company.
Advantages of Hiring an Outsourcing Company
- Outsourcing companies keep their employee’s skills and training up to the mark so that they can fit into high industry standards.
- If you are looking for an experienced iOS developer, then coming to the outsourcing company is best.
- If you urgently need an iOS developer, then only an outsourcing company can provide you with the developer in no time.
- The process of hiring an outsourcing company is cheaper than hiring an in-house developer.
- The management process is on the company so you don’t have to worry as you will receive feedback from time to time.
- You don’t have to worry about vacations and recruitment.
- iOS developers can share their work experience. Thus juniors can learn from their seniors.
Disadvantages of Hiring an Outsourcing Company.
- You can face a communication problem if you hire an outsourcing company that is situated in another country.
- You can face cultural and language barriers if you hire an outsourcing company that is situated in another country.
Factors to Consider Before Hiring an iOS Developer
Once you select the most suitable hiring option, now comes the factor which should be considered before hiring an iOS developer:
Experience
If you want a developer for a software development service, always choose a developer who is having the experience. As mentioned before, it is categorized into levels according to their work experience.
- Senior – 5 years or more.
- Middle – from 2 to 5 years
- Junior – up to 2 years;
Don’t focus on the work experience too much. Check the number of projects that are done by the developer.
Expertise
Expertise, along with experience is significant, so while hiring an iOS developer, do check his expertise like on what kinds of projects he has worked on.
To know what is the expertise of a developer do check his portfolio, or you can simply ask him about his expertise. While appointing a company, you can check online about all the projects of the company to know about its expertise.
Portfolio
You can check the portfolio of the developer or the company, and from that, you can know everything about them, their experience, expertise, and what apps they have developed.
Communication
If you are hiring an iOS developer or software company situated in another country, then you have to set suitable timings when you and your developer can talk and share feedback.
You need to have stable communication with your developer.
Set-up Your iOS Developer Requirements
According to your project requirements, you have to hire an iOS app developer or iOS app development company. Here are several tips that will help you approach this process:
- Note down the overall idea of your iOS app and see how can this benefit you.
- Note down your goals.
- By setting your goals, you will know how this iOS app can solve your problems and how this app can further develop.
- Think and list all the features that you want in your iOS app this way, and you will provide a clear picture to the developer.
- You can prioritize features that what features you want should come first and what should come after them.
- This way, developers will know where they should put more attention.
iOS Developer Salary Rate
Mostly iOS developers are paid on the basis of hourly rates. The rates of an iOS developer depend on his country and your hiring options.
Average iOS Developer Salary
The salary of experienced developers is quite high. If you want developers to work full time with your team, then you have to give them handsome pay for their work.
In India, the average salary of an iOS developer is about 5,40,119 rupees. In the USA, the average salary of an iOS developer is about $108k.
Freelance iOS Developer Salary
This way, in a month, a freelance iOS developer can earn $12,800.
However, this depends entirely on iOS specialists. The experienced developers want more salary, so accordingly you can appoint freelance iOS developers.
Average Cost of Hiring an Outsourced iOS Developer
The average cost to hire an iOS app developer who is working for a company depends on the region.
The salaries of iOS developers are quite high in North America, Australia, and Western Europe. Asia is quite cheap in this field.
However, you will face language and cultural barriers while working with the developers situated in another country.
Eastern Europe and Ukraine are a perfect choice as they do not make much money and they are very experienced, that is why many technical giants opened their office in Ukraine.
Conclusion
This article covers the basic idea of who an iOS app developer is and what are the points to keep in mind while hiring a developer.
We expect that the given requirements have provided with you a clear idea of an idle iOS app developer.
I hope we have fulfilled your queries and we wish that this article proves an ultimate guide for hiring an iOS developer for your company. If you still have any questions regarding the topic, feel free to contact us, we will be please to help you.
Bhavesh Kachhadiya
Bhavesh Kachhadiya is Sr. iOS Application Developer at USS LLC. He likes to share iOS app development tips & tricks.