Who are the top mobile app development companies in the world?

There’s a pizza restaurant in Stockholm which claims to have the second best pizzas in Sweden. To me this has credibility because it clearly shows that they’ve done their research if they acknowledge that there is one place that is better. We claim to be one of the top 10 mobile app developers in the world today although it’s for others to decide our position on the list.

When customers, investors and partners asked me who our main competitors are a few years ago my answer was that I honestly don’t know. We seldom compete with the same companies more than once or twice as there are so many small development companies and freelance developers.

Today it’s a different story with mobile becoming a business critical channel for most brands. Brands acknowledge that they need to invest in proportion to the expected returns and want to work with partners that have done it before. Therefore we believe that the leaders in the industry have begun to crystallise based on track record, experience and references.

We are of course completely biased but here’s our list of the top mobile app developers in the world 2012 in no particular order. The list is based on our own experience, what our customers and partners are saying, reports in media and other sites such as Quora with a short motivation.
1. AKQA – one of the leading digital agencies in the world with a long history of award winning apps for big brands
2. Y Media Labs – pure mobile app developers based in San Francisco with a great track record
3. Ustwo - London based mobile UX and app development agency specialised in banks and retail
4. Tigerspike – Originally founded in Australia but now has app development offices across the world’
5. MIG (now part of Velti) – London based mobile agency with a smaller team focused on creating high quality apps
6. LBi – Originally a web agency but today has a good portfolio of mobile app development as well
7. Kony Solutions – US and India based with a mix of bespoke mobile development and providing tools to partners
8. Razorfish – One of the pioneers in digital and more recently extending this into mobile for their clients
9. R/GA – Strong NY office with strategy, UX and development capabilities for major clients
10. and of course Golden Gekko

All of these companies have a great reputation of understanding mobile, making honest and fair recommendations based on the clients objectives, great UE/UI teams, quality and reliable solutions.

Update: What is the cost of developing a mobile app?

Of all the blogs we’ve published over the last couple of years the most popular blog by far is What is the cost of developing a mobile app. This shows a clear interest in what budgets are and should be for mobile service development. The BBC has a great article on why brands must invest in mobile apps. The budgets indicated range from 20.000£ (ca. 23.000€) for simple apps to over 100.000£ (ca. 115.000€) for more complex apps per platform.

But the world of mobile application development is changing fast; here are our thoughts on what's changed since.

1. Overall trend

Generally the average cost per application is climbing due to a number of factors:

a.       Complexity of the average project is increasing - more backend communication/integration and more complex features.

b.      Scarcity in experienced iPhone and Android developers - there are lots of app developers available but few with skills and experience we need.

c.       Higher quality expectations - in many cases, applications are becoming critical for success and sales of a business. Requirements on reliability and device testing therefore increased noticeably.

d.      User experience is key to success – brands and agencies are paying a lot more attention to the importance of user experience including user interface design and performance.

2. Middleware to support backend integration

In the past most apps were stand alone pieces of software, such as iPint, Zippo, Barclays Waterslide, Malibu Bowling, etc. However, the majority of new apps require an element of social media, communication with content management systems, integration with m-commerce solutions and other interactions with existing legacy backend services.

Supporting these features often requires a middleware solution which can add considerable cost to development in the short term. Though, In the long run, it will save time, money and headaches as it is easier to maintain and to update. The middleware integrates into one or more backend services and provides a standardized format for the applications to communicate in. The result of which is that changes to existing backend services can easily be accommodated by the middleware without having to update previously released applications.

This is especially helpful in cross-platform projects which could have clients running on iOS, Android, Java and a mobile website. Middleware development can cost anywhere between 10.000€R for a fairly simple service, to hundreds of thousands for complex solutions with multiple backend services to incorporate.

3. Complexity of Android development has gone up slightly

To date over 100 Android devices have been launched. Fragmentation between devices has increased noticeably with developers needing to spend more time fixing and testing small discrepancies. The average cost of an Android project is currently 20-30% higher than that of iOS projects.

4. Automated tools can provide a cheaper alternative

Application development tools such as Tino and Mobile Roadie can provide a fast, low cost solution, but functionality is limited. These tools can be great to get an app up and running quickly but once you reach a certain level of complexity and customisation, these services are usually not sufficient.

5. Time to market continues to be very short

The pressure to deliver new apps and updates quickly means that off-shoring is not really an alternative. Experience shows that off-shoring takes 2-3 times longer due to requirements for more detailed specifications, longer feedback cycles, lack of proactive enhancements and challenges during acceptance.

Read more about the cost of developing mobile apps and mobile websites in our previous blogs:

What is the cost of developing a mobile website?

What is the cost of developing an iPad app or other tablet app?