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Like any business project, when you’re in the market for a mobile app development company, it pays to ask some important questions beforehand. Do they have the right tools and experience to meet your needs? Will their process work with your company’s process? How cost-effective and timely are they? Asking the right questions will give you a clear picture of whether the company will work best with your budget, your requirements, and your own team. In order to make the best decision for your company, you should ask these four questions:

1. What are the costs of the project, as well as future updates?

Clearly, it’s imperative that you get a clear idea of how much the entire project will cost. While the development company might not be able to give you an exact number beforehand, they should at least be able to give you some estimates about project costs, licensing expenses, etc. Since the best performing apps require frequent updates, it’s also important to discuss future updates and any extra costs they may incur beforehand.

2. What platforms does the company use for mobile development?

When choosing a mobile app development company, one of the most important questions revolves around their use of development platforms. Ideally, the company should have experience with low-coding platforms, like Appery.io, in order to deliver quality apps while speeding up development times and minimizing costs.

Of course, the company’s choice of platforms will depend on the targeted devices: are you targeting multiple devices (Android, iOS, Windows Phones, etc.) or just one device? Consider selecting a company that supports the development of HTML5 and hybrid apps to give your app the greatest reach across all device types.

Hybrid apps, in conjunction with PhoneGap (Apache Cordova), behave like native apps, but are portable across Android, iOS, and Windows Phones alike. And, since you can deploy the app to all devices from a single code base, you save time and money.

3. Does the company have experience developing responsive apps, and which frameworks do they have experience with?

Responsive apps are the new standard: designing with responsiveness in mind is mandatory in today’s app market. That’s why it’s extremely important to hire a mobile app development company with a lot of experience designing and building responsive apps.

If they do have experience, what JavaScript frameworks do they use? They should ideally be using Bootstrap and AngularJS, the most modern frameworks for creating apps that work well across all screen sizes, including phones, phablets, mini-tablets, tablets, and desktops.

(For an in-depth explanation of using these tools and frameworks to build responsive apps, check out our recent blog post on the subject.)

4. Who is working on my app? Will I have one central point of contact?

When working with a mobile app development company, you definitely want a human being to speak to, not a recording or robot. You should have a clear point of contact. This person should coordinate your requirements, communicate them to the team, and keep you posted as your project moves forward.

Confirm that the company understands your needs and requirements. Make sure the company is available during the same hours you are: choose a team that also keeps those hours, or would be comfortable staying late at least occasionally for phone calls, meetings, or Skype calls.

Ask about the company’s process, and be clear about what you want. Would you rather have daily updates, or maybe weekly? Perhaps you’d like to simply approve a final product.

Discuss these and other considerations with the company. It’s important to begin with a basic understanding of the company. It will cultivate trust between you and them and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

It pays to ask these questions in the beginning of your selection process, allowing you to avoid pitfalls and headaches later on in the development cycle. By choosing the right team the first time, you’ll save time and money, and you’ll deliver a better app to your customers, employees, and partners.