Altamira

Why Build an App for Parents to Raise Their Kids?

Digitalization entered every sphere of our life. Due to quarantine that happened last year not only huge corporations transferred to remote work, but also schools and universities offered new ways of studying. And the popularity of digitalization is expected to grow and influence us even more in the upcoming years. 

Gadgets and applications can be used not only for doing business or learning, but also for raising your kids. Parenting applications are the new black. They transform the traditional process of raising children and make it more adapted to the new reality, when we all lack time but still need to take care of a lot of things at the same time. 

Raising children implies multitasking. But is it possible to arrange everything correct and end up having enough time for work, rest and effective communication with your kids? The answer is – yes! But only if you have a digital helper and necessary app on it. 

So in this article we will share with you how parenting apps can help you, what types of them exist on the market and how to develop your own app and make it effective.  

Why should you invest in parenting apps development? 

If you have a great app idea in mind, you may be wondering if it is worth your money, time and effort. After all, before investing in something you need to be sure that the market needs this and your solution will be of use to many people. So we have explored the most up-to-date statistics and trends, and collected some interesting figures for you. 

According to the report provided by the specialists from the University of Calgary on Researchgate there are more than 4,300 free mobile parenting-related solutions available in the Play Market. All those solutions can be found if you search by such words as mother, father, baby, child, parent, family, and so on. 

We have also looked through SensorTower and discovered that as of January 2021, there are more free parenting apps than paid ones on the market. And the data shows that most of them are either family ones used for entertainment and planning or the ones that are downloaded for monitoring kids. There are also a couple of apps for parenting control and not so much for home learning or pre-school preparation. 

So taking into account the small number of existing solutions and their narrow specifics, we can point out the main reasons why it is reasonable to invest in your own parenting solution. 


Small competition
If you build a unique solution for parenting, you have all chances to reach the top in the mobile markets and attract numerous users in no time. There aren’t so many competitors to beat and also there is a possibility to choose a narrow niche and make the app with the fullest range of features for it.
Hight demand
According to the parenting apps survey more than 60% of people claimed that they are likely to install and use a parenting application if there will be one meeting their needs. This shows that parenting apps are demanded and people still lack high-quality solutions for raising kids.  
Additional service promotion
Healthcare institution, pre-school organizations, development centres and many more businesses can make use of parenting apps. Such solutions can help to get in touch with potential clients and offer some helpful materials. Mobile apps can be used to connect parents with specialists, to educate them and help with kids care.

Types and examples of parenting solutions

Speaking about parenting applications, it is possible to divide them all into several groups depending on the main purpose they serve. So among such apps you will see: 

  • Apps for women preparing for childbirth;
  • Solutions for monitoring and taking care of babies;
  • Apps that connect parents with specialists (psychologists or therapists);
  • Apps for raising, entertaining and developing children;
  • Apps for fun learning with tips for parents;
  • Apps for monitoring the location of children;
  • Co-parenting solutions.
  • Various art and game related apps.

apps for kids

Taking into account this huge variety of app types, you can build a solution that will meet your needs perfectly. On top of that, your app can become a source of regular additional income or a tool able to boost your business.

For example, if you own a clinic, children development center, or if you are a couch or childcare specialist, you can develop a solution to complement your range of services. This can be a great way to attract new clients, raise awareness of your services and business. Your parenting application may even become your fresh standalone business, like it already happened with Uber for Kids.

Parenting apps can be called a unique category of solutions due to their extreme multifuntionality. It is possible to do a control dozens of things with the help of one single application. Kids can be educated, entertained, controlled and taken care of by remote specialists. What can be greater than this? It is literally hard to imagine how our parents coped with us without various digital helpers that now became irreplaceable. The niche of the parenting apps is a developing one, so if you enter it you have all chances to become a leading app provider. 

To help you get even more inspired to build your own app, we have surfed the Internet looking for the most interesting and successful parenting applications of different categories. And without further ado, let’s speak about them. 

Cloud Baby Monitor 

Image source: Cloud Baby Monitor

This application is appreciated and used by parents all over the world. It is available not only for iOS and Android devices, but also for Apple TV and Apple Watch which makes it extremely convenient. The app is full of various useful options among which you can see:

  • Night clock and night light;
  • Noise and motion alerts;
  • Option to monitor a child from multiple devices or to monitor multiple child from one;
  • Live video and audio of a baby;
  • Collection of white noises and lullabies and ability to create your own playlist.

So basically Cloud Baby Monitor is a secure video monitoring solution that helps parents stay busy with their things while the baby is resting in its room. The parents will not miss a thing and will hear everything that is happening. The solution works either over Wi-Fi or 3G. It is protected by encryption, so parents can be sure that the video and audio is received only by their devices.

The technologies used by the app: voice recognition, live video streaming, IoT for adjusting the light without disturbing the sleeping baby. 

Photomath 

Image source: Photomath

To teach children is hard, that is why all moms and dads will appreciate a solution like Photomath. This is a real life savior when you try to teach your child math. You can scan any equation by taking a picture of it and get an answer with instructions on how to solve it. The app even can recognize handwritten text which is extremely great. On top of that, it has some extra features like:

  • Animated instructions;
  • Smart calculator with intuitive keyboard;
  • Graphs for visualizing math problems;
  • Step-by-step explanations.

Photomath is extremely smart and fast, it has interesting design and advanced set of options. It is available for use on iOS and Android devices.

Technologies used by Photomath: text recognition, picture recognition, AI and machine learning. 

Cozi Family Organizer

Image source: Cozi Family Organizer

Sometimes it is hard to keep everything in synch and under control. Parents have their own list of tasks and they need to take care of kids lists too. That is why there should be more such apps as Cozi Family Organizer! This is a very convenient and visually pleasing scheduler where you can keep all your to-dos and appointments in perfect order. You can even write a list and share it with other family member in a blink of an eye.

This is a real must have for every family – no matter big or small. It is connected with your calendar and available on both mobile stores + it offers a web version. Cozi Family Organizer was approved by numerous parenting centers.

How to develop an app for parenting: Altamira Tips

Based on our experience, we can say that the development of a mobile application is a complex procedure that requires numerous specialists and steps. So it is crucial to get prepared and understand what tech takes you need to hire and what processes will be completed during the development. 

For example, here at Altamira we have a range of  specialists who are responsible for your parenting app creation. The list of our tech takes includes:

  • Business Analyst who will help you shape your idea, make market research, identify technology stack and write specifications for your future app. 
  • Mobile developers who will write high-quality code. You may need either Android or iOS developers (or even both) depending on the operating system you will build your app for. 
  • UI/UX designer who is going to be responsible for the look of your solution. Every element starting with the app buttons and ending with the loaders will be created by this professional.
  • QA engineer who will perform various tests to check the quality of code, the presence of bugs and errors, the connectivity and compatibility of services and many more. 
  • Scrum Master under whose supervision the development will be performed. This specialist will take care of all organizational moments, make sure that everything is done in time and no deadline is missed.   

Now when you know what specialist you should cooperate with, let’s clear out how to proceed with the development of your parenting app. 

PRO TIP
If you still doubt whether outsourcing project development is for you, feel free to read a blog post written by our Business Leader Alexandra, who explains how you can save at least 50% of costs spent on development by hiring a team of outsource developers like Altamira.

Perform pre-development stage 

Once you’ve hired a team like Altamira, you need to proceed to the pre-development stage and prepare for the app creation. On this stage you and our Business Analyst will do a research of your competitors, define the main feature set of your app, select the most suitable technology, think about the design concept and many more. 

In the process of the discovery phase you will formulate your project vision and get:

Also the Business Analyst will perform the detailed estimation of your project and identify all possible development risks. So if something will go wrong, it will be possible to quickly fix it and perform an app release on time. Risks mitigation is crucial and we take good care about it. So if you cooperate with Altamira you can be sure that your project will be released on time and within the set budget.  

Good to know
To find out all crucial steps of the discovery phase and why it is so important for every project, read our article. It will help you to understand what real benefits you will get and why it is preferable not to skip this stage.

Let our team take care of coding 

High-quality errorless code is what makes a perfect parenting app. If you are planning to build your solution for both iOS and Android devices, then you will need two separate developers who will perform coding, integration of third-party services, etc. 

Also you need to understand that it may take longer to build an Android app since there are a variety of devices, screen sizes and operating systems. And it will require more effort to build an app that will look and perform well on them. 

You may also consider developing a cross platform app that will perform like a native on both iOS and Android operating systems. For example, here at Altamira we offer Flutter app development services. Such a solution will cost you less than a native one but will be no worse. 

Think about the design

An app design is no less important than high-quality code. Because if your app is not convenient or some elements are not visible or readable, then you’ll probably lose some part of your potential audience. Therefore you need a professional designer who will take good care of the app color scheme, its elements and logic. 

An experienced UI/UX designer like ones we have in our team can make your app exquisite, presentable and also user friendly. Speaking about parenting apps it is crucial to remember that the parents do not have much time to play with an app and figure out how it works. They need it to be intuitive and easy to use. And that is exactly what user experience is for. And we know how to make your solution be user friendly and yet have a trendy design. As a proof of our expertise, we’d like to share with you our Awwwards page with honorable mentions and examples of our great designs. 

Check everything before release

Testing (automatic and manual) is an important step of app development and it is performed by professional QA engineers. If your solution has any issues, chances are that it will not even be accepted by the mobile stores like Google Play or App Store. 

So everything should be carefully checked – starting with the app performance and ending with checks related to power consumption of the device while using your app.

Nice advice
We know that submission of the app to the mobile stores can be challenging. Here at Altamira we help our clients to place their mobile apps to the App Store and Play Market. We prepare all necessary information, screenshots and documentation. If you are interested in the procedure, then check out our article.

Improve and maintain 

To keep your app users interested and to stay competitive on the market, it is crucial to constantly improve your parenting app and make it better. While maintenance will allow you keep your solution running stable and timely resolve any issues, the improvement of the app will help you encourage users loyalty and engagement.

To understand what your app users would like to see in new versions of the app, you may monitor comments in stores, or add feedback options to receive people’s reviews. 

How can parenting apps earn money? 

Taking into account the wide variety of parenting apps that you can build, it is reasonable to think about the monetization strategy beforehand. We would not recommend you developing a fully paid solution because it is harder to gain a user audience with it. Not so many people are ready to pay for something unknown that they barely tried using in practice. 

So among the most popular app monetization strategies, we’d advise you to pay attention to the following:


Paid options
If your app is related to healthcare or learning, then it would be perfect to offer some additional features or services for a payment. Let’s say you have an app for monitoring the kids’ development and health condition. This app may have an option to contact the doctor and discuss some matters. And while the app is free, the consultation will be paid one.
Advertising
You can leave in your app a place for ads – banners, interactive videos, or else. Advertise the goods and services that can be of interest to your end users – parents. You can advertise toys, development centres, parenting guides or coaches, and many more.
Subscription
If your parenting app is related to kids learning, development, entertainment or else then subscription would be a perfect strategy. App users will pay a certain amount of money on a monthly basis to access the most interesting options of the app and to get fresh content able to help them in parenting.

Necessary info
If you are interested in all ways that help mobile applications earn money, then you can take a closer look at our article dedicated to this topic. We have shared some professional tips, covered the most popular and effective monetization strategies, and how to apply them.

FAQ

Considering the variety of parenting solutions, we can say that the price will depend on the app type, operating system for which you are going to build it and overall feature set. In general the price may start with $35,000 for one platform – iOS or Android. IF your budget is limited you can build an MVP first, and then keep investing in your app and expanding the feature set.
The development term depends directly on the app complexity and the feature set that you want to implement in it. On average it takes 3-6 months to develop a parenting app from scratch and submit it to the mobile stores.
Parenting applications should be as helpful and convenient as possible. So when it comes to technologies we would suggest considering AI and machine learning for apps that are related to learning and entertaining kids, geolocation tracking for solutions like Uber for Kids, voice recognition for quick commands and for babies monitoring, image recognition for parenting apps with gamification elements.

To wrap it up

Parenting apps only start getting popular and there are a lot of aspects that they still don’t fully cover. Therefore such solutions can be a great niche to invest in. There are not so many of them in both markets (iOS and Android one), and there are some types of these apps that only started emerging. And while the competition is not so tough, you have all chances to enter the market and become the leader.

Parenting apps are good not only for a start-up business model, they can complement your existing successful business. Healthcare, teaching, development centers and many more institutions can make such solutions a real source of closer connection with clients and make it an additional money maker. 

Speaking about the development of such solutions, it is necessary to mention that outsourcing would be the best choice from financial prospective. The development team will offer you a full range of app building services and make sure that the solution meets all your needs and expectations.

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