In the age of technology development, it is simply impossible to imagine a resting or working process without the use of gadgets. Thanks to mobile devices, users can, at any time, regardless of their location, perform a variety of operations using the World Wide Web. Internet applications are designed in such a way as to provide the user with easy access to the materials that are needed to build a business or other tools that can be used in the everyday life.
Stable internet access, a wide range of services and ease of use - these are the criteria that attract even the most selective users of iOS or Android devices. Custom thematic applications are commonly engineered in such a way as to meet the expectations of users of different age categories. The simpler the program, the more accessible it is for children or novices who are just beginning to understand specific features of their gadgets.
The interface plays a significant role here. Every day, developers of mobile applications are engaged in the improvement of their products. This helps not only to increase the quality and smoothness of the program’s operation, but also allows for increased the competition in the market of modern technologies. The balance between quality and cost of production creates the main demand in the market.
Features of Culinary Applications
A significant niche in the daily life of each person is present when it comes to the process of eating. Everyone determines for themselves the main purpose of adherence to certain types of nutrition; however, it is worth remembering that we are what we eat. It is this factor that forms the desire to maintain certain physical forms: the desire to be slim while leading a healthy lifestyle.
To create a recipe app for cooking means, first of all, you’ll need to allow each user to choose recipes and methods of preparation at their own discretion.
Culinary applications can perform a number of functions:
- Allow users to create custom recipes;
- Serve as a personal cookbook;
- Perform the role of navigator to specific culinary styles or ingredient trading establishments, due to pre-defined conditions;
- Allow photo sharing, for images of your own dishes, as well as personal recipes, with friends and family; and,
- Allow calculating and tracking the individual calorie intake.
Each user has the opportunity to individually compose a recipe with those ingredients they prefer eating. Some cooking apps even allow users to check ingredients for compatibility.
An application’s database can contain thousands of recipes from all over the globe. You can easily find a recipe with the appropriate ingredients or make your own ideas come true. Using the application as a cookbook allows bookmarking favorite recipes for later use. Calorie calculation is also no problem. Typical recipe applications are designed in such a way that the user can see the number of calories in the products used to prepare the meal, as well as in the final dish.
Culinary applications allow for note taking depending on the user's location, taking into account the nature of the ingredients that prevail in the local region. Location data plays a significant role in the journey when there are no acceptable conditions for storing food for a long time. The application provides the best options for using those foods that the client has readily available. The culinary program can also provide a list of dishes that are characteristic of the relevant region and are considered local specialties.
Another great tool would be storing notes during visits to certain restaurants and shops, at specific time intervals. The application can propose similar places in accordance with user tastes. Another advantage of such applications is the ability to memorize the cost of food in different institutions. You can also indicate the amount of tips left in a particular establishment. The custom of leaving a tip after a meal is observed in many countries around the world. This data would allow users to select places of interest, taking into account the specifics of the dishes on the menu of each institution, and the suitable price policy.
Creators of mobile information portal, SkyHook Wireless, distinguished three main functionalities of culinary applications:
- Shopping assistance;
- Planning assistance; and,
- Cooking assistance.
Due to everyday concerns, most people prefer to plan their purchases when they are in the grocery store or supermarket. If you build a mobile app with a grocery list when the user is, for example, in the dairy department, the application can issue a list of relevant products located there and store all your purchases and prices for future use.
Planning assistance assumes drawing up a list of the produce required by the user or their family for a certain period of time.
Most culinary applications are equipped with cooking assist mode. This function can be set within a certain period of time. For example, the user always starts preparing dinner at noon. The application adjusts for this period of time, and then provides a list of the most relevant recipes, according to user tastes. During the cooking process, the software sets the sequence for adding ingredients with a detailed description of the dish structure. This assistance is, rightfully, an integral part of life for lovers of both home cooking and those who prefer to contribute to their diet variety.
There are also auxiliary functions, thanks to which the application would be able to notify the user about evening or morning snacks, offering the most simple, affordable recipes. Another useful feature of culinary applications is the ability to get recommendations about dishes and ingredients, taking into account those products that the user has already used this week.
To make a mobile app for meal planning, developers must collect information on the tastes of potential customers. This information helps when adjusting the work of application to make it as interesting and diverse as possible.
Recipe Application Development
Before determining the stages to develop a cooking recipe app for Android, a question should be answered: How can you build a recipe app in the best possible way? What points should be considered during the creation of the application? What risks can shortcomings in the design bear?
First of all, it is worth reviewing the types of existing culinary applications. There are five types of applications for cooking:
- Recipe collections;
- Manually customizable culinary programs;
- Social media apps;
- Ingredient reference books;
- Measurement tools.
Recipe Collections
Embedded recipe applications are one of the most common types when you build a cooking applications. These are, in a way, recipe libraries, which are formed in such a way that the user has the opportunity to search by a number of criteria such as ingredients, countries, etc. Information is divided into categories. Programs of this type are also usually equipped with the function of food planning, which allows users to make lists of ingredients that are specific to a particular season. Video lessons and instructions from expert chefs are another integral part of such apps. The user can add notes and comments to already existing recipes, and then share them with other users.
When you build a cooking app, special attention should be paid to such nuances as:
- Storage and playback of video tutorials;
- Regular updates to content and related information;
- Seasonal dish menus;
- Integration with calendar applications for planning.
Personal Cookbooks
Customizable cooking apps are characterized by the fact that they do not have a significant library of recipes. Instead, they provide an opportunity for the user to independently make and adjust recipes and create their own collection. This type of program typically provides step-by-step cooking manuals, and the culinary guide informs the user in stages. These applications are equipped with the option of recognizing recipes on the Internet, followed by the possibility of adding recipes to the user's library. The convenience of working with this type of application is also that the user has the ability to lock the screen while cooking. This feature saves the user from any inconvenience caused by the need to constantly turn the phone back on when it has fallen into "sleep mode".
Particular attention during the creation of such applications should be given to algorithms responsible for:
- The creation of nutrition plans;
- Capturing recipes from the internet;
- Text recognition while reading data from internet pages.
Social Networking Apps
Social culinary applications are created for active users of social media. They assume an internet space where users can share photos of their culinary achievements and discuss interesting recipes. Programs that are of a social nature offer users an opportunity to create from scratch their own archives of interesting dishes, and discuss all the advantages and disadvantages of foods and ingredients. Photos of ready-made dishes are accompanied by recipes shared by customers. The user has the opportunity to watch the process of cooking the dishes online and also bookmark favorite recipes. When creating an application of this type, an important role should be given to the integration and synchronization of photos from user devices.
Reference Apps
Applications that are supplied with a wide range of information starting from the simplest ingredients and ending with exotic, rare components, serve as a kind of culinary guide. This is a convenient dictionary of ingredients, which can be useful not only to professionals but also to simple cuisine lovers. The data is given in the form of characteristics indicating the specifics of components (vegetables, fruits, spices, sauces, etc.). Nuances of taste, methods of preparation and history of origin are indicated. The user, choosing a particular component for the dish, can review the library of recipes that contain this ingredient. This kind of program typically also contains a built-in heuristic analyzer that can advise the user on the nutritional value of the ingredient.
The creator of this type of application should pay attention to two criteria:
- Supplying the information in the most attractive and useful manner;
- Providing regular content updates.
Measurement Apps
The fifth and final type of culinary programs are applications with improvised tools for making measurements during cooking. In fact, kitchen tools are the simplest of all existing cooking apps. Such software is designed to calculate the volume, temperature or weight of the ingredients in accordance with the recipes. The application can also be used as a portable timer, if the user decides to employ the oven or microwave. This type of application is the most common and suitable for everyone, without exception. It is available both to beginners who study culinary skills, starting with the basics, as well as to professionals who want to make calculations of ingredients as quickly as possible.
So, imagine the perfect culinary application What should it look like? Exactly: it should combine, in varying degrees, all of the above-mentioned criteria:
- Contain a variety of built-in tools for measuring volume, mass and nutritional values of ingredients;
- The interface should be convenient for both iPhone users and gadgets based on Android;
- The program must support the fast and stable internet connection to find and download new recipes;
- The program must support access to social networks where users can share recipes and discuss achievements.
Culinary applications, to become a significant competitor in the market, must be easy to use and have a stylish interface that will be equally supported by all available gadgets.
Cost to Develop a Cooking App
How do you start cooking app development and choose the right development company?
To estimate the cost to make a mobile app for meal planning, you need to consider a number of factors. Pricing policies of the exact outsource development company depends on the following:
- Specifics of the region;
- Uniqueness of the project;
- Complexity of the business logic and type of app;
- Time period allocated for the development;
- Expertise required to solve the task;
- Uniqueness of elements (for example, animations);
- Amount of targeted platforms;
- After-release maintenance costs.
The fee that companies charge for providing application engineering services is charged per hour and can range from $50 to $250 in the United States, for instance. The services of Australian companies ranges from $50 to $150 per hour. The hourly cost of services in European companies is $20 to $120. The rates of Indian companies are considered to be the lowest and range from $10 to $80 per hour of active work.
The development of a relatively simple program takes 600-650 hours of working time. Therefore, the minimum amount that will be needed to create the most simple application will range from $10,000-$25,000. Planning and creating an average project will take from 600 to 800 hours of working time, and the cost will vary between $35,000 and $55,000. The time it will take to implement a complex project is 700-1,250 hours and the price, in this case, would range from $40,000 to $150,000.
Among the complex tasks that can arise in connection with the development of a new application, the most common ones would be:It is necessary to take into account the individuality of each application’s functionality, in general. There are a huge number of functions that increase the time and complexity of development. As a consequence, the process to create a menu planner app can be delayed.
- The process of integration with existing resources;
- Development of the administrative panel (allows simplifying work with users and the program’s management);
- The possibility of making purchases inside the system.
Timing is the criterion that directly affects the cost of the production process. The shorter the terms set for the creation of the program, the higher the cost.
In accordance with the complexity of the task, a team of developers is formed. The team can be standard (5-6 people) or extended (from 8 people). For each assumed platform, experienced software development companies create respective task teams, taking into account the specificity of the Android and iOS systems.
In the case of iOS, it is important to remember that the program must successfully interact with existing and subsequent versions of the iPhone. The emergence of new gadget models and the development of iOS and Android elements also affect the timing of adaptation.
There are also costs that arise after the release. These costs are associated with the advertising campaign of the product, the operation of the application's support services, and also tregular updates and software maintenance.
Final Thoughts
The unique design of cooking apps and the abundance of opportunities for creating a wide variety of dishes will attract the attention of amateurs and professional chefs from all corners of the globe. A convenient interface for finding little-known ingredients will make it possible to create a true culinary masterpiece in the shortest possible time. The built-in browser allows users to save links to favorite dishes and share impressions with family, friends or colleagues. Thanks to the planning function, the user can easily develop a useful menu for the whole family, as well as create seasonal culinary works of art. The recipe book, along with the notes, will give users the opportunity to gradually move to new professional levels.
The production of each dish will turn into a real event, thanks to an app by Applikey experts, who have, for years, provided a significant contribution to the development of programs on Android and iOS platforms for startups and corporations, alike. Qualitative culinary apps with creative and modern designs will make it possible to achieve popularity on the market in the shortest time. Employees of the company will gladly answer all your questions, help to create an individual project and work with the most diverse wishes of the client.
