What is a publishing app?
A publishing application is a web, mobile, or desktop application that enables users to publish content. Publishing apps typically include interfaces for managing the content that they wish to publish and sharing that published content with their readers.
Publishing apps are also related to the file sharing and document editing app types, as well as the presentation app type. Popular publishing apps include Medium, Tumblr, and WordPress.
Examples of publishing apps built with Crowdbotics:
- The app is simple to build and allows you to create a “book” and share it with other users, as well as recording voiceovers for each of the pages.
What is the typical cost to build a publishing app?
A publishing app usually costs about $37,500 to build. However, the total cost can be as low as $25,000 or as high as $50,000. A publishing app with a low number of features (also known as a minimum viable product, or MVP) will be more affordable than an app that includes all intended functionality.
For example, here are some previous publishing app price quotes from Crowdbotics:
How long does it take to build a publishing app?
A publishing app usually takes 167 hours to build. However, a publishing app can be built in as few as 133 hours, or in as many as 200 hours. The exact timeline mostly depends on how complicated your specific app is. As a general rule, it will take longer if you require highly custom designs, niche features, complex logic, or non-standard release platforms.
For example, some previous publishing apps build with Crowdbotics received the following hourly estimates:
Not seeing what you’re looking for?
Crowdbotics has quoted and built hundreds of applications for teams of all sizes. Browse our historical estimates by industry and app type to understand possible costs and considerations.
How to successfully grow your publishing application
When developing a publishing app, it’s essential to create a platform that allows for the creation of high-quality content. The challenge is to identify the types of content that users want, and to make sure that they are getting it. Publishing apps can also take advantage of the viral nature of their products by creating incentives like free premium content for referring new users to the app.
Risks and challenges of building a publishing application
Publishing apps can face legal challenges related to defamation, the posting of copyrighted content, and the violation of privacy and other rights. Before launching your app, you will want to ensure that it is protected against copyright infringement claims and will likely need legal counsel to conduct a review of your publishing app to ensure compliance with relevant laws. You should also take steps to educate yourself about users’ privacy rights related to content posted on your platform by reading any privacy policies associated with the third-party services that you incorporate into your app.