How to Develop an IoT App – A Compete Guide
The IoT industry is vast and offers enormous opportunities to help businesses make headway. Given the rapid growth of IoT, we can say that IoT devices will soon be ubiquitous, from smart cities and utilities to people’s homes and cars. Owing to the increasing IoT devices, the IoT development services and solutions are becoming more prevalent than ever, though it may still be hard to find the best IoT app developers.
Herein, we will shed light on consumer IoT because it the sphere that demands mobile apps the most. In other sectors like agriculture and enterprises, IoT devices may not require mobile interface as they can directly connect to the cloud or be controlled using web applications.
However, consumer-oriented IoT devices typically need apps. Smart homes are probably the first that that strikes our mind when we think about IoT for consumers. And the smart home technologies and devices are rapidly gaining momentum with each passing year. Besides smart homes, consumer-based IoT apps are required in healthcare, agriculture, automobiles, and child and pet care.
IoT will change the way we live in our homes, drive cars, work, and entertain ourselves. The number of connected devices and IoT apps are growing quickly in these industries. If you’re also planning to develop an IoT app and disrupt any of these markets, this guide is for you.
Things You Need to Know About IoT App Development
How to develop an IoT app totally depends on your idea. Though feature-set will be different for a connected car app and a smart home app, you need to know some basic things before embarking on your IoT app development journey.
Major IoT Components
An IoT system comprises four components, including hardware, software, cloud, and network.
Hardware has various low-energy sensors that operate over Bluetooth and connect via the internet. To implement your idea, you have to choose whether you need third-party or custom hardware. A mobile device will also serve as hardware in your IoT system.
Software is a cloud-based IoT app – web or mobile – that is used to manage and control IoT devices connected to it. The IoT app also collects real-time data from sensors and shows it to users.
Cloud plays a vital role in IoT as it processes and arranges data. The most significant advantage of this component is that you do not require physical resources for storing data.
Network transfers data from a mobile device to sensors or devices and vice-versa. It links all devices within the IoT ecosystem.
Besides these IoT components, you must also learn critical challenges of IoT implementation that are:
- Delivering Value to Clients/Customers
- Hardware Compatibility Issues
- Data Connectivity Issues
- Inaccurate Data Collection
- Analytics Storage Space
- Data Security Issues
Make sure that the IoT app developers you hire, create a robust solution that overcomes these challenges. Now let’s explore how you can create an IoT app.
How to Develop an IoT Application
Choose a Platform
IoT platforms provide useful toolkits to expedite the IoT app development process. There are currently multiple IoT platforms like Google Cloud, AWS, and Cloud, each having its own features. You can select any of them, but pay heed to the what technologies they support and how much they cost.
Choose the Hardware
If you don’t have your own hardware for your IoT project, you should turn to third-party hardware. But make sure your hardware connects accurately and aligns with your product’s requirements.
Think of Scalability
The relevance of your app depends heavily on scalability. It should be able to manage a massive amount of data, along with multiple devices and processes. Cloud is deemed the best technology for this purpose.
Make Sure Your App Operates Fast
When it comes to transferring data and remotely controlling devices, the app’s speed plays a significant role. Make sure that your IoT app operates faster. Imagine your connected car doesn’t respond quickly when you give a command using your own app. Disappointing, right? This is why you should focus on the app’s speed and performance.
Ensure the Security
Security should be the top priority of your app. Unfortunately, IoT is vulnerable to data infringement when a plethora of devices is connected in one network. And these attacks can expose private and sensitive data when people use IoT for multiple areas like homes, cars, and healthcare devices. So, implement proven strategies to ensure the security of your IoT app and device.
How much IoT App Development Costs
The development cost of an IoT app depends on features, third-party services, technologies, developers’ location, and hourly rate.
To give you estimation, we would say that if IoT app development costs $100,000 in North America, the same app will cost $25,000 if you hire an Indian IoT application development company.
The cost of a basic IoT app ranges from $15,000-$25,000 and a complex projects ranges from $30,000-$50,000, depending on your feature scope.
Final Words
IoT mobile apps are on the rise now. They are becoming a crucial part of our lives by freeing us from daily chores and reminding us things we often forget. By developing a smart IoT app, you can penetrate this ever-growing industry and unleash massive revenue opportunities.
The most important things to consider before developing an IoT app are security, speed, and network stability. Without these features, it would be hard for you to get loyal users who not only use your app but also recommend it to their friends/family. Thus, collaborating with experienced IoT app developers to ensure your app is stable, secure, and lightning-fast would be the best option.
