Top App Developers Interview: App Knit

Sumit Bedi is the CEO and Founder of the App Knit. The company, founded in 2017 in India, currently has 12 employees. Mr. Bedi has been fascinated with the world of technology from the day Instagram was bought by Facebook and he realised the power of mobile and apps to change the world. Here's what he had to say about the industry and his firm.

What does your mobile app development company do?

App Knit is a full service, design and development company offering end to end technology solutions for mobile and web platforms. We specialise in providing technical and UI/UX consultancy including prototyping product development, QA, launch and maintenance of the apps.

App Knit acts as a end to end strategic Outsourcing Partner for all our clients. We not only help our clients just build mobiles apps, but we help them with their business strategy as well.

Now, I will give you a small example of our value add to clients strategy. One of our client wanted to build a peer to peer marketplace for courier delivery. He wanted to build both Android and iOS apps for the Indian market. We told him that it is a waste of resources to develop a Truck app for iOS in India because 90% of the truck operators in India will have Android device only. Very few people in India can afford a $500+ iPhone.

Now, if you think about it, it was a revenue loss for us. We almost lost 35% of the total TCV by reducing our work. But we still did it and we will gladly do it again because that is right for the client. Client was able to save the upfront cost on development and was able to invest the money in marketing to grow the business.

What clients have you worked for?

We have worked with Urban Kiddie, Rvaanaa Inc., Faraya, Just Innovate Ltd. and many more startups

If you had to choose one category, what kind of app do you think is your mobile app development company’s specialty?

We have done extensive work across multiple various verticals. You talk about transportation, health care, education, social media, productivity, we have worked with clients in diverse fiends. If we have to choose one category that we have done most work in is education.

We have worked on various platforms that help connect students and teachers and give access to quality education to all kids around the globe.

What is the average budget of the mobile apps you develop?

Our client base includes startups and mid size companies. The budgets normally depends on the scope and complexity of project. It varies from less than 5K USD for simple apps to 30K USD for complex platforms. However, the average budget range is around 5K-15K USD.

Do you develop all mobile apps in-house or do you outsource some parts of the process?

I believe the company culture plays a very important role in development of the app. Any app is an entire system that is living, breathing and will evolve over the next 10 to 15 years. Now, an entire app system is always greater than the sum of its parts. Hence, synergy and team work are really crucial to build a scalable system. So, that is why we develop all parts of the app in house, where we have a real control over the culture and energy of the team which develops the app.

Which would you say are the best mobile apps that your company has developed and why?

So, the technology landscape keeps on evolving pretty quickly. Especially in our Mobile App Development World the support libraries and products are updated every 3 to 6 months. Hence, this gives us new tools to make the app faster ,smaller and much more energy efficient every 6 months. Also, as part of our company culture we are always up to date with the latest technology trend and try to include the best technology practices out there in our apps. Hence, I believe the latest app by the name of tiktik that we developed is the best mobile app that we have developed till date. It is a social media application that helps users share images on the platform, follow their friends and connect.

Do you prefer to build mobile apps with native, hybrid or web languages?

I tell this to all the clients that we engage with “If you want to bet your life on this app and try to make it a billion $ business tomorrow, go with native.” Native platforms are really evolved and have full support of Google and Apple. This gives developers full access to the right tools that are needed to build a system and also a vibrant community that will help them out if they run into trouble tomorrow. Also, over the last 10 years we have seen many successful native apps, so we know for sure that native technology scales well.

Also, in my experience normally clients want to choose hybrid apps because it is presumed that cost of development of hybrid is lower than that of native apps. However, probably for an MVP the cost of a Hybrid app maybe lower but in the long run the Hybrid app will always be more expensive than native apps. Hence, its is advisable to not be penny wise and pound foolish and make native apps.

Let’s focus on iOS and Android mobile app development. Which are the Pros and Cons of each platform?

I think both Android and iOS platforms are really evolved and mature and none of them have any significant advantage over the other. Some people might say, that android OS hardware is a little more fragmented, and you need to take care of battery issues and some small stuff like that but all these are manageable.

The only thing that clients should consider while choosing between platforms is the target market audience and what is the platform that they are using. For example if a client wants to launch the app in North America and they have limited budget, it makes perfect sense for them to choose iOS platform first. However, if they want to target India, then it makes more sense to go with Android first.

Which one will evolve more within the next 5 years?

Both Android and iOS platforms are solid, mature and pretty stable. In the last couple of years both platforms have made significant improvements in the tools that they offer for AI and AR. However, I think Android being an open source platform might have an edge in the next few years.

Which device is the best in the market right now?

I am a big fan of Apple Products. The synergy between Hardware and Software that they have is unparalleled. These days I am really fascinated with the Apple Card that they have just launched, so I am eagerly waiting for Apple Card to come in India so that I can have one and get rid of all the hidden credit card fee that we have to pay.

And which device do you feel more comfortable developing an app for?

Again, we are pretty comfortable in developing apps for both Android and iOS. What matters is what device is being used by the target set of users of our clients. When you are making business strategy you always have to think about your customers and what will they prefer.

At the end of the day, if you want a product for a global audience you need to be on both platforms but its wise to choose 1 platform first to save cost upfront target larger group of customers where you can test your idea.

Why is AppFutura useful to you?

AppFutura hosts alot of top clients who are searching for great app development partners. We have been working with clients from other platforms in the last 2 years and we hope to partner with many more clients and give them amazing experience through the AppFutura Platform as well.

Check the profile of App Knit at AppFutura.