Today, our world revolves around mobile apps. This form of technology has successfully infiltrated every aspect of our lives and for the most part, we’re grateful. With the increasing demand for new and creative applications to simplify our day-to-day lives, there is also an increase in demand for mobile developers who can take on this role.
If you’re considering becoming a mobile developer and are wondering whether this role offers job satisfaction, this article is for you. In it, we discuss mobile developer job satisfaction in-depth, including satisfaction rates, the stress and rewards inherent to the role, as well as job growth, salaries, and opportunities for career growth for these professionals.
What Is a Mobile Developer?
A mobile developer is a software development professional who designs, creates, tests, implements, and maintains mobile device technologies, particularly software applications for different mobile operating systems. They work on mobile platforms such as Apple’s IOS, Google’s Android, Samsung’s Bada, and Microsoft’s Windows.
A mobile app developer possesses a wide range of technical skills, especially skills in programming. They are knowledgeable about front end development as well as backend development, particularly in building APIs that facilitate the functioning of mobile applications.
Is Mobile Development a Good Career?
A career in mobile development is a wise investment for several reasons. Professionals in mobile app development find it easy to secure good jobs, whether as full-time employees or independent contractors and with high salaries to boot. In addition, mobile app developers find it easy to switch between careers related to their niche.
Although this field is still at its growth stage, it’s clear that it will remain relevant for years to come. If you’re interested in a career path that challenges your intellect both creatively and analytically, then this is a good career path for you.
Mobile Developer Satisfaction Rates
According to an Indeed job satisfaction survey, 57 percent of mobile application developers in the US say their salary is satisfactory, mainly because it sufficiently covers their living expenses. This data shows that the job satisfaction rating for mobile developers in the United States is above average.
A job satisfaction survey of professional developers conducted in 2020 by the online developer community StackOverflow, particularly full stack developers and mobile developers, found that 63.1 percent of the 65,000 developers surveyed said they were satisfied with their jobs. The percentage of developers who expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs was less than 25 percent.
What Makes Mobile Development Jobs Satisfying?
Several factors give mobile development jobs a high satisfaction rating. An obvious one is that it is a very easy field to break into. To become a mobile developer, you can attend a mobile bootcamp, learn from available online resources, or study a computer science-related discipline at university. Below are some of the reasons this profession is satisfying.
High Annual Salary
One of the factors that contribute to the high job satisfaction of mobile developers is the fact that they get to earn high annual salaries. Based on data from ZipRecruiter, the median salary for mobile developers is as high as $105,037. This figure is considerably higher than many other fields within and outside the tech sphere.
Mobile app developers’ salaries are dependent on their level of experience, education, and required job functions. Because of this attractive salary, most professional developers seem to favor mobile development jobs.
Engaging Work
The work of mobile developers is not only relevant, it is stimulating. Most mobile developers find it satisfying to solve problems under the pressure of strict deadlines, limited resources, and the need for innovation. Also, the fact that their projects are constantly changing allows them to tackle new challenges and work in different development environments.
The mobile development process involves collaboration and communication. Mobile developers working on the same project get the opportunity to engage in meaningful social interactions, exchange project ideas, and improve their skillset.
Flexible Schedule
Mobile developers working for large-sized technology companies have the opportunity to share responsibilities with cross-functional teams, thereby cutting down on the number of hours or days per week they work.
In addition, the fact that most of your tasks can be done remotely contributes to the flexibility of your job. In this way, you can exercise your autonomy in defining your work hours and schedule. This can contribute to a high job satisfaction rate.
Ease of Building Other Sources of Income
A mobile app developer working as an independent contractor can take on as many projects as they wish. This way, they can build multiple sources of income, depending on the number of projects they can work on simultaneously.
In addition, mobile developers can go on to own startups become trainers, consultants, or even inventors of profitable commercial apps that can turn into effective sources of income. Over the years, many mobile developers have gone on to become millionaires as a result of their development efforts.
Ease of Career Switch
If for some reason you decide that a career in mobile development is no longer fulfilling, you can easily make a career switch. Mobile development enables you to build transferable skills that can be readily applied to several other tech jobs. You can easily become a machine learning engineer, a quality analyst, software engineer, a DevOps engineer, or even a sales engineer.
Mobile Developer Stress and Rewards
Working as a mobile developer comes with a lot of advantages as well as some disadvantages. Even though the job is mostly satisfactory, there are times when you will experience some dissatisfaction with this chosen path. Below is a quick run-down of the stress and rewards associated with this career path.
Mobile Developer Stress
- Stress from supervisors. For professional developers working with cross-functional teams or in large organizations with defined hierarchical structures, pressures can come from superiors and team leads. Mobile developers may be hassled about errors discovered in the source code or the inability of the application to meet the defined scalability requirements.
- Stress from strict deadlines. With the widespread adoption of DevOps best practices in most technology companies, the emphasis on shorter production cycles may be a source of stress for mobile developers. This is more significant if meeting deadlines attracts some sort of consequence for the client.
- Stress from the production process. The application software production process can be a very complex one and is subject to constant review and subsequent changes, especially during the code review and testing stages. This can cause stress to the mobile developer when he or she has to repeat the same process over and over again.
- Stress involved in troubleshooting. More often than not, errors and bugs will be discovered during the production process. And if you work for a smaller company you might be tasked with troubleshooting along with your other functions. To avoid the consequences associated with delaying troubleshooting, this task has to be tackled immediately regardless of the time of day.
- Stress with working long hours. If you’re an independent contractor or you work for a smaller tech company, you might have to work for long hours to ensure you meet the project requirements. Working long hours can take a toll on the productivity of a mobile developer. This can extend beyond work stress and cause health complications.
Mobile Developer Rewards
- Long-term industry relevance. Even with the stress associated with the profession, there is still a high influx of professionals in this field because of the positive career outlook. The mobile development field will stay relevant for years to come.
- Attribution for app creations. When a mobile developer develops a program or designs the prototype for an innovative app, he or she gets the credit. Mobile developers are creators and, as such, they are entitled to intellectual property rights for their creations.
- Entitled to benefits and perks. Professional developers working as employees enjoy compensation benefits and perks apart from their salaries. They are usually entitled to essential insurance packages, particularly for vision, dental, and medical coverage.
- Ease in securing mobile developer jobs. Several job platforms help professional developers find job openings for well-paying mobile app developer jobs. Securing a good job isn’t as complicated either, as employers are constantly looking for innovative web developers to help them increase their market share.
- Job security. Because of how in-demand this profession is, most mobile developers enjoy job security. As long as you can keep updating your skills and knowledge about application development and technology in general, the chances of you losing your job are pretty slim.
Life as a Mobile Developer
The major task of a mobile developer is creating interactive and functional mobile applications that provide an optimal user experience. However, their job description extends beyond this. The rest of this article explores important details about their work and career prospects.
Mobile Developer Work Environment
Most mobile developers have the opportunity to decide their work environment. Many organizations allow developers to work from home. Mobile developers working on collaborative projects do so within a defined production environment.
For instance, professional developers working for a software development company using the DevOps production process or Agile framework are integrated into the software development process. Their functions include participating in the project planning, coding, building, testing, and monitoring of applications. They share responsibilities and collaborate with the other cross-functional teams throughout the production process.
Mobile Developer Benefits
Mobile developers who work as employees are entitled to several benefits, which tend to depend on the company or the standard benefits in the industry. While some mobile technology jobs offer several benefits and perks to their employees, others offer the standard requirements. Some of the most common benefits awarded to mobile developers include medical and vision insurance, relocation and commute assistance, 401(K), and paid time off.
Other perks of working as a mobile developer include food provisions, gym provisions, cash rewards, paid professional certifications, stock options, and the opportunity to work remotely from any part of the world. These perks are usually offered by large technology companies.
Mobile Developer Career Growth
As a mobile application developer, there are several opportunities for career advancement. You can advance your professional development through online app development classes or courses, or by obtaining certifications. You can choose to specialize in any of the operating platforms and become an Android developer, iOS developer, or Java developer. Junior mobile developers can rise through the ranks to become senior mobile developers within five years.
Mobile developers who have a high experience level in using multiple development frameworks can take on leadership opportunities like becoming a team lead. Other advanced roles for mobile developers include mobile architect and mobile development managers. Some mobile developers go on to become contract mobile developers or launch their development startups. With each advancement level you attain, your job opportunities increase.
Mobile Developer Job Outlook, Salaries, and Career Growth
Whether you’re a beginner or a professional developer looking to specialize in this field, you might be curious about the job outlook and salaries in this field. We’ve listed all of these details below.
Is Mobile Development In Demand?
Yes. According to the last annual survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2020, mobile developers have a positive growth rate of about 22 percent for the next 10 years and up to 409,500 new job opportunities being created within the same period. This data shows that software developers have long-term relevance and are highly sought after in the industry.
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Mobile Developer Salaries
According to ZipRecruiter, the average mobile app developer salary in the United States is $105,037. Mobile developers who specialize in Android development earn an average of as much as $112,647. Mobile iOS developers earn a median base salary of $114,614. This salary average is very competitive and considerably higher than that of other tech positions.
High-Paying Mobile Development Jobs
| Job Title | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| Mobile Architect | $147,850 |
| iOS Developer | $114,614 |
| Mobility Engineer | $114,405 |
| Android App Developer | $113,166 |
| Full Stack Software Developer | $106,539 |
Mobile Architect
- Average Salary: $147,850
Mobile architects are usually the leaders of the technical unit of a mobile development team. Their job requirements involve designing mobile system architecture for mobile devices, collaborating with other functional teams to ensure technical efficiency of mobile apps and conducting unit testing and quality analysis for mobile devices.
iOS Developer
- Average Salary: $114,614
An iOS developer specializes in designing, creating, testing, and maintaining mobile software applications in the iOS platform owned by Apple Technology. They are skilled in the use of Swift and Objective-C programming, and in designing software applications in the Xcode integrated development environment (IDE).
Mobility Engineer
- Average Salary: $114,405
Mobility engineers are systems engineers who provide mobility support and updates for mobile devices. Mobility engineers are knowledgeable about mobile technologies. They build servers and work on mobile device management (MDM) platforms. They troubleshoot problems related to mobile performance, including areas such as synchronization and messaging.
Android App Developer
- Average Salary: $113,166
Android developers make use of programming languages such as Java, Kotlin, C/C++, and Python in designing interactive and functional applications for mobile devices using the Android operating system. Android developers work on numerous integrated development environments (IDEs) such as Android Studio, IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, and Visual Studio.
Full Stack Software Developer
- Average Salary: $106,539
Full stack developers are professional developers who are skilled in both the front end and backend development of software applications. They write the APIs to boost the mobile device functionality. Full stack developers specialize in server and database creation for mobile systems and design the graphical user interface for the client-side of the application. Full stack developers also test and resolve bugs and other performance issues for mobile applications,
Should I Become a Mobile Developer?
You should become a mobile developer if you’re passionate about providing solutions for software-based problems not necessarily because it pays well. Although, the pay should factor into your decision. Mobile development is a field that has high growth prospects so choosing a career here is a long-term investment. Also, the job can be both challenging and fun so the chances of you experiencing high levels of job satisfaction are, strong.
Mobile Developer Career Change FAQ
No, it’s not. Mobile development has been described as challenging and stressful but not difficult. As long as you like the idea of providing practical and creative solutions to real-world problems, you can fit into this field. To get started in this career path, you would need to be knowledgeable about programming and graphic design.
On average, app developers earn substantially more than web developers. While web developers are concerned with creating web applications with responsive design, app developers write and test codes for software applications. According to ZipRecruiter, a web developer earns an average annual salary of about $75,073, while an app developer earns a median base salary of $93,825.
Mobile developers make use of several programming languages when designing applications for mobile devices depending on the operating system and integrated development environment. Some of the programming languages used by mobile developers include Kotlin, Java, Swift, JavaScript, C/C++, Objective-C, PHP, HTML, CSS, and Ruby.
Front end development is an aspect of mobile development. Front end development is concerned with designing the client-side of the mobile application. Front end developers create the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of mobile applications. They work with front end languages such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS in writing the codes for the GUIs.
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