How To Make Money From Creating An App In South Africa

Overview

Put simply, app development is the process in which developers create an application to be used on smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.

Apps are becoming a part of daily life, with most popular brands having their own mobile app to interact with customers and raise brand awareness.

With the ever-increasing use of smartphones for consumerism, every business could use an app to help boost sales, market its products and improve its brand reputation. Using an app could soon be a normal part of the customer journey and crucial to finalise a sale.

How To Make Money From App Developments In South Africa

While beginning with money-making app development there comes a common question to every mind that should we start developing a free app or a paid app? Even though the free app will get us more downloads, how will it benefit us? Are In-app purchases more beneficial or low-priced mobile apps?

Advertisement Supported Mobile Applications

This is something we all are aware of, in-app ads. Ad networks like AdMob, iAds, are offered by Google and Apple, respectively. But yes, high traffic and a lot of downloads will be required to make a good profit from your free app offering.

Free App OR Paid App

Sometimes mobile apps come in free and premium paired version. To download the premium version of an app a user has to pay a one-time fee to upgrade to the premium app offering for better features. When a free app is created, it contains a link attracting the users to try out added features.

If you click on the link, you will be redirected to the app store where you can purchase the premium app. A lot of free apps are demo apps. The users download the free app, and the application is just enticing enough to get the user to buy the paid version.

This turns out to be a real success when the user decides to pay and download the full version of a free app. The free version should have enough features to make the user believe that they cannot sleep without buying the premium version; therefore, we offer this free and premium deal.

It’s just like a 14 days trial of an online tool. The key here is not to provide all the best features in the free-based offering, give them a chance to explore more by paying some amount for their interest.

Ads can also work better in this case. There are many apps on app store and play store which promise to eliminate the ad support feature on up-gradation of the app. So yes, your free version can earn from ads and users can get rid of those ads by purchasing the premium version.

Pairing up a free and a premium app is one of the marketing strategies where a user can be tempted with freebies. It is like a stepping-stone toward getting the same app users to go premium.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can you make money from app development in South Africa?

Over 18% of android app developers earn over $5,000 per month, and the same amount is earned by 25% of iOS app developers. Video game apps are making money in millions. Now, the growing market of smart TVs and the emerging market in smartwatches will expand the app business in the coming years.

How do apps developers make money in South Africa?

5 Primary Ways How Do App Developers Make Money from Free Apps;
Advertising.
Affiliate income and referral marketing.
In-app purchases.
Subscriptions.
Freemium upsell.

How do developers of free apps make money in South Africa?

Free apps are monetized through various means, including advertising, in-app purchases, sponsorship, and affiliate marketing.

How much do app owners make in South Africa?

It is extremely hard to put a single figure at around how much revenue an app can generate because of the wide range of apps and the disparity of money they produce. For example, the top 200 apps generate on average $82,500 daily, while the top 800 apps generate around $3,500.

What is an application development example in South Africa?

Alternatively, it is also referred to as middleware. Application software addresses the end user and provides features to perform specific tasks and activities. Typical examples are programs for document creation and storage, image processing, movie or music playback, etc.

What is app development and coding?

App development means the process of designing, creating, testing and finally launching an app that is meant to satisfy the need of many users. However, App development does not refer strictly to smartphone mobile applications.

What is needed for app development in South Africa?

The simple tools that you need for Android app development are just a Mac or Windows PC, any type of Linux, and Eclipse, the ADT Plugin, and the Android SDK—all of which are free.

Do free apps make money per download in South Africa?

Neither the Google Play nor Apple App Store pays for app downloads, even there are millions of users who completed this action. Instead, stores take some share from an app’s earnings (30% from in-app purchases). Thus, in order to receive money from a free app it is necessary to set up revenue streams.

How much money do apps make per download in South Africa?

Interestingly, Android is the big winner on downloads for a given app but this is largely offset by substantially lower revenue, with the average app download bringing in around 2 cents to its developer; Apple fairs 5 times better, bringing in a dime for every one of the 40,000 potential app downloads a developer could strive for.

How can I create my own app?
How to create an app for mobile devices

Get your app idea on paper.
Build a Native app or a PWA, based on your needs.
Make your app using the right method for your business.
Create an app with an app builder (no-code option)
Test your app on iOS and Android devices.
Submit and Publish your app on the stores.

Which apps give real money in South Africa?

The most valuable and popular app in South Africa is Swagbucks. You can get up to R70 per day on it. Essentially the same as Swagbucks, Cash Pirate pays users to download videos, watch advertisements, and so on. Quickrewards.

Are apps profitable?

Mobile app development can be profitable, but you need to be willing to invest considerable time and effort upfront. Even then, many factors will determine whether or not your mobile app becomes a financial success.

Why do most apps fail?

But beyond these factors, poor research and poor process execution are common reasons why mobile apps fail when launched. Focusing efforts on market and audience research, following platform-specific best practices, and thorough quality assurance testing can be the difference between failure and success.