How to Vet White Label Apps on Behalf of Clients

A white label application is a service that is fairly common for mobile app development companies. It is a common approach for development agencies to choose to purchase a white-label app development from other teams, rebrand it, add custom content to that application according to a client’s requirements and needs, and then deliver them to their clients.

In this post, we are going to discuss some of the best practices that cannot be overlooked by agency directors to ensure that the white label applications they have purchased are of high quality.

How to purchase a white label app

When purchasing a white label app, you should have a clear set of common requirements that can be used to fulfill the needs of various clients. Most applications use the same sets of features, so white label developers mostly differentiate based on service and flexibility.

When searching for a white label app development vendor, make sure that:

• They give rights to own your own intellectual property and code.
• They are flexible enough to work with your in-house development team, or independently.
• They can provide you an estimated cost of new features before you build.
• Modern product development tooling such as Slack, Trello, Jira, and GitHub is supported, such that after purchasing the application from the vendor, you can rely on the same set of tools to avoid setting up or using a product development tool from scratch.
• They use a core set of technologies that are not outdated and rely on open-source technology stacks rather than proprietary ones.
• When purchasing a white label app, ensure that a member of your team is able to conduct a code audit on the final deliverable version of the app. This is one of the ways that you can ensure the white label being purchased is properly customized and deployed (if required) as per the requirement of your client.

Benefits of using a white label app

There are added benefits to using a white label app to fulfill different client requirements. Below is a breakdown of the main benefits of using white label app development:

Reduced costs

Using a white label app development service, you do not need to procure coding resources. Software production costs can mount unpredictably during the development phase by adding functionalities and more features to an app, whether by an in-house development team or an outsourced, third-party team of developers. Apart from building an app from scratch, software development is composed of a design, testing, and analysis phases. With white label development, none of that is initially your concern.

Faster product delivery

Instead of building a mobile application every time to fulfill a client’s requirements, using a white label app, you can leverage the areas where adding custom content and rebranding serves the purpose. It allows you to focus on the features that most need to be developed as per the custom client requirements.

Low commercial risk

Another added benefit of using white label app development is that the application has been tested and is a proven solution. This does not require you to reinvent the wheel. A white label app from a reliable and trusted producer is tried and tested. It has likely already been deployed in numerous similar situations and will thus have proven value.

Professional support and maintenance

The white-label app development partner you work with may offer post-release maintenance that usually consists of updates and bug fixing in the initial version. This makes it easier for you to help your clients provide a good user experience to their customers.

Risks of using white label development

Almost everything in the world of software and application development has its pros and cons. To make the right decisions when growing a business, it is important to measure the shortcomings and potential risks as well. In this section let’s take a look at some of the potential risks that are included with white label app development.

Unable to customize and scale a mobile app

Brand presence is important for white label app development. Less flexible platforms used by white label development vendors may offer limited templates for visual branding. It is therefore important to assess the customizability of any potential white-label service.

Getting rejected from the App store

The app store guidelines for different platforms are formulated in a way to avoid app clones and spam apps. Less customizable white-label apps could get flagged if they aren’t properly customized in terms of branding uniqueness. A white label app is resold many times, thus, to ensure best practices and follow an App Store’s guidelines, you have to be able to adapt them.

Scalability and upgrades

Scalability may become an issue when a customer requirements change or expand depending on the nature of their business. For example, if a customer’s business expands 10 times in a year, some white-label mobile applications might not be built to scale that fast. However, if the white label development service provider uses flexible technology stacks, they will be able to alleviate risks related to scalability. Poorly architected apps will not help you grow your business or be able to fulfill your client’s requirements.

Ownership rights and data distribution

Most effective white label solutions store customer data in the cloud. Depending on the nature of the business, a portion of the data being stored may be sensitive. To provide a great customer experience, taking care of their data privacy and information security is a high priority concern for any business that is looking to grow.

That said, a white-label service provider must be flexible and at the same time reliable in terms of data transmission and security, and it must use appropriate encryption services to ensure consumer privacy. A client purchasing a white label app development service should also be certain that they can export all data from the app at any given time when required.

Best practices for testing white label apps

Testing is a good way to ensure a client’s trust in the product. Robust testing measures can prove that the customized version they are seeking to purchase is of a quality build.

Understanding the following factors will help you make a better assessment when choosing a white label partner to work with.

QA testing your white label app

A thorough evaluation of new features and how they differ from or share similarities with other existing related features can help to execute tests. Test common components across different white-label apps that share the same functionality.

Each customized app needs to be tested on what is specific for that app. This includes branding and styling and the custom functionalities spread across the app.

End-to-end testing of the app

End-to-end testing might be time-consuming but is often efficient for verifying that the changes related to the user interface do not break the functionality of the app or that specific feature.

Communication between QA testers and development team

It is important to have a communication channel between the QA testers and the original team of developers working on a particular app.

Automating tests for out-of-the-box features

Tests for the features that are not specific to the customized app can be automated so you can execute them often. This can reduce the cost of time spent during testing and help you focus on how custom features are maintained.

White label app development at Crowdbotics

The options to purchase a white label app are growing in number. You need to assure a client that the white label app purchased is properly customized in terms of features and functionalities and matches their requirements. This can be done by following many of the best practices and avoiding the risks we discussed in this article.

Most new applications look like applications that have already been built before. This is a leverage point to consider when assessing the frameworks, packages, and libraries used to build an app. Selecting a white-label app that gives you maximum deployment flexibility with no loss in quality is the best way to squeeze value out of the app.

If a client is specific about purchasing a white-label app, you can implement testing practices and analyze the data from it to ensure that its custom features and brand-specific functionality are working as expected.

At Crowdbotics, we offer the fastest and most flexible way to develop cross-platform white-label apps. Our expert developers and product managers are experienced in building apps that agencies can quickly customize and deploy to web, mobile, desktop, or universally. If you are looking for white label apps, we’re glad to offer Custom White Label App Development.

Get in touch with us today to learn about the technologies we use, the process of building a white label app with us, our expertise in your industry, and what other clients have to say about white-label app development with Crowdbotics.