In the chart above we’ve listed  many features provided by conference app providers. Before you go any further, determine which of these features are a must-have for you in order to create an engaging conference experience without distracting or overwhelming your attendees. Choose your must-have features based on what will help you enhance the conference experience for your attendees. If you want to cut cost on print, a documents library will be a huge help. If you want attendees to interact with each other an in-app community and photo upload are key.

Pro Tip: Stay away from trendy features that can cause attendee confusion, technical difficulties day of the conference and a steep price hike for your conference. Gamification is one such feature that is suited for only specific conferences with young, tech-savvy attendees.

Conference apps can cost upwards of $20,000. You do not need to spend that much. The price of a conference app is often determined by the features you want to include, how customized the app is, and the number of installs. If you’re looking for certain trendy features such as gamification or want a stand-alone white label conference app, then expect to pay tens of thousands of dollars. For a conference app that has all the key features such as schedules, documents, in-app networking, push notifications and analytics, you can expect to pay less than $500 with providers like Yapp. 

Pro Tip: Certain conference apps will charge by feature so the price of your conference app can add up quickly. Find out how much your specific feature choices will cost.

Conference planning is stressful, time-consuming and time-sensitive. If your conference tends to come together last-minute, you may miss deadlines for your conference app to be created in time. Instead, opt for a solution that boosts two features: 

1) User-friendly full self-service app creation platform: An easy-to-use and simple app creation platform will ensure your app is ready in minutes while keeping you in full control of your app! The best way to confirm? Try out the conference app platform first-hand to create and edit apps. 

2) Instant publishing: Choose a conference app that doesn’t require any lead time (yes, that’s possible) to publish your app to iOS and Android devices. Certain providers such as Yapp, allow you to publish changes to your app instantly without the need to lean on any customer service staff or app store approvals from Apple or Google. 

Pro Tip: Don’t settle for a demo of the conference app. Test drive the conference app platform personally to confirm it’s truly easy to use and flexible. If your vendor doesn’t offer a free trial, beware!

Choose a conference app that has the level of customer service you desire. Same as with any other vendor, you want the customer service team to be an extension of your internal team. The best way to find out about the provider’s customer service is to contact them directly. The turnaround time, friendliness and knowledge-level of the responses will be a good gauge of the service you can expect when you’re a paying customer. 

Pro Tip: Ask them the turnaround time if a software glitch is found in your conference app. Do they need to fix the bug and re-submit to the app stores? If so, you could be looking at weeks of delay especially if the vendor has to submit each app individually.

This one might seem obvious but it’s the one that causes conference planners the most amount of stress and panic. No amount of time and money invested in a conference app will be worth it if the attendees are unable to access your app. Conference venues are notorious for having poor and/or expensive internet connection so confirm your conference app works offline. Also confirm if your app is going to be available on iOS and Android devices - the two most popular platforms for mobile devices. For those attendees who prefer to view your app on other types of devices or with their computer, the app provider should also provide a web view option. 

Pro Tip: Test out some demo apps by conference providers on your own devices. Ask a colleague with a different type of device to test the app as well.