Ask HN: Metrics to estimate app development?

Roughly a few-several months on average to develop, I suppose, but it depends on the app.<p>Estimate the tasks that are involved in the development yourself (a wild guess on the large side). Do the development. Measure the differences in the tasks as a multiplier.<p>Now, throw out all of that.<p>Repeat, but this time whenever you repeat the same process, determine the multiplier average across your tasks. It will almost always take N times more than you think it will after you have some level of confidence with it, and if you keep estimating the same way, you can always multiple your first estimate with the 2-3 times (or whatever your N is).<p>Note: I've seen that for iOS apps, it will require a lot of overhead including memory debugging and getting through Apple's approval process, so it's not just about development tasks. The cycle of having to go through the approval process can be weeks or a few months (or more/or never!) the first time, depending on your app.