Tuesday, March 31, 2015

How Analytics Can Help You Build a Successful Mobile App?

With more and more businesses investing in mobile app development, apps can today be used as a medium to assess user experience. The performance and usage of mobile apps therefore needs to be constantly monitored to meet consumer expectations. In addition to Google Analytics, we now have a variety of paid tools like Adobe Analytics, Localytics, and Playtomic etc. This article looks at how Analytics play an important role in determining the success of your app and how you can leverage them to increase app visibility.


What can Analytics do for your mobile app?

Check the Actual Usage of Your Mobile App:

Downloads alone are not the right indicator of your app’s reach. It is important to know if your app is actually being used by customers. This is where analytic tools come in, as they help you analyse usage, the nature of usage as well as the uninstall rate. This data helps you engage users, and improve downloads in your target market.

Optimize the Mobile app marketing strategy

You choose the features of your app based on the latest trends. But there could always be some features that need to be improved upon for better UX. Mobile app analytics help you identify those features (that help your app become more popular). Analytics also help identify the bottlenecks that stop a user from downloading it. This can greatly aid you in your app marketing strategy.

Identify the Features that Keep the Users Engaged

As a business you need to know what features or functionalities will have a great impact on users. Analytics help you in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your app, so that you can explore options to deliver improved user experience.

Keep Track of Your Competitors

Market data provided by analytics tools make it easier for the end-user to know the performance of similar applications in the app store (in terms of number of downloads, price, etc). A business can further analyze the market data to identify the positives and negatives of its competitors' marketing strategies. This way it can beat competition by capitalizing on where its competitors fail.

Calculating Return on Your Investment (ROI)


Every enterprise needs to track the ROI, and explore options to garner higher returns. App analytic tools help you make informed decisions based on a finer reading of your mobile application's performance. Apart from measuring the performance of your app, analytics data can also be used to efficiently manage the application. 

Top Features of iOS 8 that Stand Out


It’s been quite some time since iOS 8 hit the market. Since then, it has generated lots of excitement among the users and rightly so. But there are some features in iOS 8 that stand out from the rest and make it special. We look at some of them in this article.


Response to Notifications

Responding to notifications has been made easy too as one can reply to messages without opening the messaging app. The same feature is added to calendar notifications and FaceBook too.

Developers can now build widgets for notifications where real time updates can be flashed consistently on just about any topic.

SIRI is More Responsive

SIRI has now become more useful while driving with better hands-free use. SIRI with Shazam can now recognize songs and also buy tracks through Amazon.

Touch ID for all

Third-party apps can now use the Touch ID feature with fingerprint data. So mobile payments become easier and so does social sharing.

Mail Navigation with a Swipe

With the mail app you can just swipe to flag and delete messages. Swiping down minimizes the draft for accessing other mails while a tap at the bottom will reopen the draft.

Spotlight Finds More

Similar to OS X Yosemite, Spotlight here too, will aid you in searching apps within the device as well as web locations outside. Spotlight throws up results from the music library and iTunes.

Keyboard Gets Smarter

Predictive typing finally comes to the iOS, in the form of QuickType which suggests words and phrases 
depending on the app. Apple now supports third-party keyboards too, including Swype.

Advanced Photos and Camera Options

iOS 8 provides the Photos app with smart editing tools along with individual tools available to fine tune the images. You can now adjust the brightness, exposure, contrast, shadows etc. The framework will be available to third-party developers too.

Unifying Medical Data through Health Kit 

Health kit combines all your health related in a centralized place. You can share information received from medics and if your health indicators are not optimal, the app can even contact the hospital and doctor.

Family Sharing Lets You Spread Media Around

With the family sharing feature, you can share photos and event calendars within the family including share iTunes and app Store purchases with up to six people. In addition, parents will be notified if their children try to buy something online.

Developing Mobile Apps – Basic Skills that You Need

To succeed in developing mobile apps, you basically need two skills that are essential. Regardless of whether you develop applications to land a mobile app development job or plan to sell these apps directly.

To ensure success in the field of mobile app development, it is important that you have what is known as object-oriented programming skills. Most languages are based on the OOP concept; Java being the most popular among them.



But this is quite a steep learning curve. Complete grasp of object oriented programming concepts is a must if you want to start creating mobile applications. It’s not that only Java or Java-based programming languages are used. But no matter what language is used, you need to possess the basic skills.

The second competency that you need to have, to succeed in mobile development is solid graphic design skills. Coding skills are necessary but not sufficient. Even if you are not a talented graphic design artist, you must have some sense of images and their placement. Mobile application development would most likely to turn into a really hard job if you do not have possess the required graphic sense at all, even if you have the necessary skills in programming the functionality.

People with ample object oriented programming skills and solid graphic design skills are in a much better position to build successful applications developed for mobile platforms. Apart from these two, there are other skills which you need like Marketing skills, for instance, that are highly important when the time comes for you to start selling the mobile applications you have developed. If you don’t have an idea as to what app to develop, you can begin by looking at your target audience and figure out what they need or look for.


For this, you need to be skilled at gathering market data. True, these skills are not technical or even the core skills that one needs to develop mobile apps. But, they play an equally important role at the juncture you need them. So finally, graphic design that aids in enhancing the UI of the application, as well as the programming model and programming language used, are the ones that make up the core technical skills required for developers. That is why we say OOP skills and graphic design capability are considered to be the fundamental, important skills that anyone who wishes to succeed in developing applications for mobile platforms should have.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Dos and Don’ts in Making Android Apps

Everyone loves a good Android app. So you want to make it. But what is that you must keep in mind when you develop it? And what should you avoid or rather keep away from? These are some of the questions that we seek to an in this article. So, here are the Android app developer tips:


•DO keep the user in mind when you design your app. Most developers make the mistake of developing their apps solely based on what they think would work and not how others will actually use it. And it's not hard to find out what the end user would feel. You can conduct surveys for instance, do beta testing or have your app checked by an app review blog. 

• DO incorporate integration and scalability in your app. Extensibility must necessarily be taken into consideration in the app's design, particularly if you’re making the first version. Unfortunately, this is often overlooked since many mobile apps nowadays are developed under a short time period to take advantage of a current trends or preferences. But shorn of scalability, this could lead too much re-configuring if a new functionality were released.

• DO take care when you make colour choices. Android phones are today capable of displaying a wide variety of colours, but this doesn’t mean that you choose any colour. Remember that Android phones are designed to be used just about anywhere, so your app's design should incorporate colours that work in environments with different lighting and displays.

• DON'T stick to a single screen size. It’s not advisable. Android platform is used in different types of mobile devices, so designing your app around a specific screen size will not properly scale in other screen sizes. Therefore make sure you have given some thought on your app’s look on different Android devices.

• DON'T design with a specific form factor. An Android developer who designs an app that is touch screen-specific , for example, will have a tough time integrating it to Android phones which use navigation controls rather than a touch screen. You need to visualize how your app would work across different Android devices and ensure you leave enough room for other form factors.

• DON'T do too much. You should give up trying to make your app do everything. Instead, concentrate on specific uses and match those with an intuitive user interface. You will find many success stories in the Android developer community who built apps with a specific focus. And they succeeded because they were good at doing just that one thing. 

5 Questions You Should Ask Your Mobile App Development Company

Companies jump into the mobile arena to attract more customers, and to ensure greater visibility for their companies. Most companies hire a mobile app development company for this purpose. But just as deciding upon a business venture requires careful analysis, it's important for you to ask the right questions before committing to a mobile development company. Here are the five questions that you must ask: 


1. where are your developers and engineers located?
One common trait among mobile development firms is to place a liaison to the development team in a particular market to claim the company is "local". But in reality, the designers and developers would be based in another country. So be sure the company which claims it is "local" actually is.



2. What are the project costs, as well as future updates?


Obviously, you'll want to have a clear idea as to the total project will cost. Mobile app developers might not be able to give you an exact figure before they start to work on the app, but they should be able to quote reasonably based on their experience. Also, make sure the developers provide you with updates, as apps can become obsolete within a matter of months.

3. The platforms and the company’s experience?


You'll have to determine if your app will be available for Android, iPhone, Windows, and/or Blackberry devices. If you want your app to be multi-platform, get the cost estimates beforehand. And make detailed enquiries regarding them before you commit yourself.

4. How will users be able to download my app?


Beyond building a user-friendly website, you must also know which third-party sites will sell your app to the end users. Also, if you want your app available on iTunes, and the mobile development firm can’t give you a reasonable guarantee that it will be approved, then that is not a company worth its name. Just move on.

5. of all the company’s previous projects, which one(s) are you most proud of and why?

Mobile app development companies, like everybody else, will want to showcase their strengths, so they will show you what (they think) their best work is. If what is shown doesn't seem very appealing to you, then you should think long before signing them. This is because it's often more easier to design a goody-goody app than to create an effective, functional, user-centric app. A good thumb rule for an effective app is that it should be easy for your mom to use. 

Monday, March 23, 2015

8 Mistakes Startups Should Avoid In Mobile App Development

Mobile app figures for the year gone by are dizzying. So many apps have been created and many people have used them. But how many of them stayed? And how many went out within a week of going live? These are very pertinent questions whose answer lies in the common mistakes that developers overlook when they build apps. In this article, we take a look at what they are, and how you should avoid them.





1.       Creating an app coz your competitor has one – Before you hire a mobile app company, you must know how it’s going to help you and what purpose your app will serve.
2.       Failing to identify devices of your audience – You must know your user’s devices. Say you hire an iOS app development firm when your target market primarily owns Android, your money along with your app will go to waste.
3.       Not understanding costs – Speak to your mobile app developer and find out about the costs involved. Some of the costs include app development and UI design, app marketing, and app maintenance. You can estimate your spending accurately with this.
4.       Adding all features at a stretch – Some people add all the features in the first release leaving little else to build on in the future. This in turn, will repel your app users as they always pine for something different every once in a while.
5.       Cutting the wrong corners – Do not try to reduce your costs by hiring cheap, new mobile application developers and compromise on functionality or design. Always remember that if you save $1 on these fronts, you’ll have to pay 10 times more on the marketing front. Let your app sell on its strengths.
6.       Failing to integrate Social media – FaceBook, Twitter and other social media are quintessential for marketing your app, reaching users, and saving your marketing expenses. So don’t underestimate the power of social media.
7.       Not testing the app – In addition to design and development, the developer or firm that you choose should test the app to make sure no bugs reach the user and ruin their experience.

Not testing usability – Your app has to be simple enough for the dumb and appealing enough for the techie. If the simple guy can’t do it, chances are you’re in trouble. You might have to tweak your app a little.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

8 Unmissable Benefits of Mobile Commerce Apps

Ecommerce has witnessed a massive growth over the last few years and mobile commerce is steadily stepping into its shoes now. It’s offered through apps instead of websites, and it is being quickly embraced by businesses of all sizes. If you’re not fully aware of the benefits that accrue from mobile commerce, they’re here for you:





1.       Mcommerce apps bring more sales – Javelin Strategy and Research statistics show that sales through mobile devices came close to $60 billion last year, which is a 300% increase from the previous year. This in turn means more revenue and more power to the consumer.
2.       Mobile apps get you more customers – Mobile commerce apps, particularly those with built-in virality, can bring in new customers. EBay proved this with 40% of its new customers being via mobile, contributing around $35 billion to its sales.
3.       App users grow more connected to brands – Customers become loyal to brands that ensure higher mobility. Adobe reports that 42% of Smartphone shoppers say their brand connection grew after they used the service provider’s mobile app.
4.       Keep customers engaged – Customer engagement matters a great deal in the industry to keep loyal customers from straying away. Research shows that 67% of dedicated customers want apps from their favourite stores. Better cater to this need right away.
5.       Mcommerce is more in demand than ecommerce – Statistics from Adobe also show that 49% of shoppers wanted to use apps than a mobile browser not to mention a web browser.
6.       Smartphone’s make mobile shopping easier – Majority of shoppers have gone mobile, especially since they can shop easily, compare and read reviews through their mobiles.
7.       Mobile saves you money – According to Nielsen, more than 30% of Smartphone users their devices to avail mobile coupons. As shoppers believe in their knack of saving money, they are likely to buy more from you and spread the word about your business.

8.       The Social connections paradigm – By integrating social media into your app, you can let your clients discuss the product or service that you offer and suggest it to others. Statistics show that 20% use their mobile devices to comment through social media about their experiences.

Friday, March 20, 2015

The Benefits iOS Apps Bring to Your Business

IOS apps are loved by everyone.IOS Apps present a great opportunity for the growth of your business. This article looks at how iOS apps can help increase your business prospects and help you achieve greater visibility in this world of constant change.


You can benefit from iOS apps by enabling them to give your employees relevant data anytime they need, wherever they may be. Business intelligence apps not only provide sales statistics, but also generate reports on the spot doing away with the need to rush to your office computers to do the same. Audit apps help accountants and others come up with quality audit reports.

There are iOS apps specifically for managers, executives and businessmen to help them gather and organize information that guides important business decisions. Presentation and graph apps are also available to aid them in communicating their ideas to their peers.

By far the most effective use of iOS apps is that they help reach customers by providing enhanced versions of their existing services. Unique apps like medical or doctor's consultation apps, for instance, provide ready answers to common medical questions such as giving temporary or emergency remedies, disease symptoms and various other treatments.


Events ticketing companies make it easier for their customers to book seats via apps they are enabled with interactive seating maps to make booking easier. Customers can send a message to the help desk right away if they have questions without having to leave the app.

Games too, are now available on most iOS devices, particularly the iPad, turning it into a stiff competitor in game console wars. Talking of games, there are those information-rich, highly interactive, and visually exhaustive educational games that serve as study aides for students.

Yet another kind of iOS app helps service-oriented businesses help their own customers. Medical professionals, for example, reach for their iPads or iPhone’s to find information that helps them treat their patients better. These apps give critical data, such as drug dosage and concentration, for many kinds of diseases. Some apps also update doctors about the latest medical technologies and treatments.

Lastly, sales representatives too use certain iPad apps, like product catalog apps, to show visual aids when they make their case before their customers. Other apps compile important sales and customer information to make neat CRM tools.



Thursday, March 19, 2015

How to Develop a Successful IPhone Application?


http://www.openwavecomp.com/

Thousands of people create iPhone apps every day. But only a few among those become successful in the market. This article lists out some of the things that you need for your iPhone app to be successful.

Do not develop an app just for the sake of it. Look at how the app could help shore up your communication with your current clients and prospects. Remember that people love mobile applications because they get quick and easy interaction from a product or service company. So, you need to determine apps that are user-friendly and practical. Doing so will also enhance your company's brand ultimately. 


You might want to offer a productivity app or an entertainment app (or both) based on the type of business you have. Most companies prefer utility apps, since they are more useful at interacting with your business and getting extra information about your products/services.



You’d have to hire an app maker or get a white label mobile app package unless you're tech-savvy. This can be done in a number of ways. You could ask for referrals from others or outsource the job. You can create and customize your own mobile application for an affordable price, by hiring an app reseller company.

Do a little research to find out what mobile devices your clients use and decide whether or not your app will work on the iPhone or Android system as well. Of course, it's highly recommendable that your app works on different platforms like iOS (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) and Android.

Last but not least, never release your app until it's ready. With all the social media hype, you want to avoid bad feedback from your clients due to a buggy application. Supposing it's an iPhone app, consumers can rate it 1 to 5 stars on the iStore. A bad rating means you wasted your time, money, and effort in something that people are not interested to use.

With all the current mobile trends, the future looks bright for the mobile app industry. This will no doubt continue as people rely on mobile apps to get the information and services that they require. By making sure you follow the app maker tips above and you ensure that you’d certainly be successful in offering not only iPhone apps, but just any mobile app in any category.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

The Battle for the Mobile Payments Space – QR Vs NFC

We have heard of the race between NFC and QR to replace our credit cards. But, what exactly are they? And who uses them and how? In this article, we look at what QR code and NFC are, and how the mobile world intends to leverage them in different ways.



QR Code (Quick response codes)

Mobile devices’ cameras scan a code to unlock the user’s payment information and complete the transaction. The process can be used on any device running Apple iOS OR Google’s Android software.

QR can be displayed on phone and scanned by POS or other Smartphone tablet.

è QR Codes can be display at registers in stores
è Codes can be printed on restaurant bills
è Cash and credit cards never change hands

NFC (Near field communication)

It enables radio connection from one device to another, similar to Bluetooth technology. It is a secure element for storing sensitive data that is separated from the rest of the system. It provides for two-way communication (real-time) between devices, payment and acceptance.

But the devices must be within range of each other. Across a broader spectrum, it provides for:

è Data transfers
è Keyless door entry
è EMV Compliance- Ensures usability/accessibility for NFC mobile payments

How companies fare on this count:

1. ISIS (Merchants and financial institutions)

A software-based mobile wallet that organizes credit and debit cards, loyalty cards, and special offers in one app. Provides contactless payments through NFC and has NFC enabled terminals.

2. Google Wallet

Users store credit and debit information on the app. Payments are made through NFC technology. Cloud-based version supports credit and debit cards from Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Discover.

3. Level up

It operates on the premise that mobile payments should be easy and free for merchants and consumers. Here, consumers’ credit or debit cards are associated with a unique QR code. It is strictly QR based and works for iPhone, Android and Blackberry.


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Benefits of Cross-Platform Development

There are many things that occupy our mind when we develop an app for our business. Be it Android or iOS, mobile web or mobile browser, we think along the same lines: flexibility, responsive design, security, speed, and performance. But, what plays an overarching role in the success or failure of an app beyond all this is the app’s Cross Browser Capability. This article looks at the benefits of developing apps with Cross-platform-capability and its implications for the end-user.


1) Huge target audience

When you target multiple platforms, it becomes easier to reach more users. Cross platform mobile development strategy can also target mobile platforms on their individual market share. Therefore a company can decide the mobile platforms it wants to target depending on its user demography.

2) Reduced cost of building the app

Cross-platform development allows you to maintain an app and deploy changes easily, as the app runs on multiple operating systems. If the app is updated, the updated version will get synced across the different platforms. Thus, cross platform mobile development reduces the cost of creating and updating the application.

3) Maintain Uniform Look And Feel

Developers often write additional code to maintain the design and feel of the app across different operating systems and devices. While you develop a single app for multiple platforms, a single code runs on those platforms. So, there is no need to deploy multiple teams to maintain the overall design and feel of the app across those platforms.


4) Option to use popular technologies

Technologies like HTML5 has made it easier for developers to build cross platform mobile apps. They can also use specialized tools like Appcelerator to code in HTML5, and then convert the code for other mobile platforms. It becomes easier therefore, for an organization to hire the right programmers for the cross platform mobile application development project.

5) Easy to market the app

When an app does not cater to any particular set of people, no niche message needs to be created. It can be promoted by simply creating generalized messages to target users irrespective of the choice of their mobile platform or device.


The developers, however, must consider some important factors when developing cross platform mobile applications. Apart from choosing the right cross platform mobile framework and tools, they also need to take advantage of the flexibility provided by each mobile platform. 

Monday, March 16, 2015

The Future of the Mobile Wallet!

What does the future hold for the payment industry’s biggest payment revolution in years? We take a look at the good, bad, and the ugly of mobile wallets and how things should change for the better in the coming years.




Mobile Wallets

è The Good
·         Available on almost all mobile phones
·         Near instant payment for users-little waiting around for a payment to confirm
·         Multiple ways to pay for goods- can use NFC, BTLE, QR Code, P2P via e-mail or SMS
·         Secure connection

è The Bad
·         Cumbersome, unintuitive, and not geared towards the user
·         Too disparate a market i.e. too many wallets offering the same thing
·         Little benefit to the user over using a card or cash

The mobile wallet is already changing, but the future will see it become the major payment channel for many people around the world. Here are 5 ways that we think things will change:

1. HCE = Simplicity

Now that MasterCard and Visa have shown support for Host Card Emulation, mobile payments and mobile wallets should become even quicker and simpler to use.
Still, the biggest hurdle for the future of wallets is the time it takes to open a phone app and pay. In the future, it’ll be always ready to go.

2. Wearables

Wearable technology still seems like a gimmick to many- after all, it’s hard to make Google glass look overly appealing to the broad populace. However, payments from a mobile wallet would be vastly improved if all you needed to do was look at an item and tap a button to pay.

3. Biometrics

Apple may have adopted early, but with Samsung having followed, Biometrics could be the key to removing cumbersome security precautions. Place your phone over an NFC pay-point or near a BLTE ‘beacon’ with your thumb on the reader – and voila, automatic authentication and payment confirmation follow.

4. Parity

While some may not like this feature, many mobile wallets will accept multiple payment providers, but most mobile providers will have joined forces to create stronger offers.

5. Apple


You certainly can’t afford to put all your eggs in one basket, but the likelihood of Apple getting into the payments action is high. And, if it did put its systems together, it ‘the shake up the whole industry boosting mobile payment and wallet use through the roof. Perhaps, it’s down to them to change customer opinion!

Friday, March 13, 2015

Top Android L Features Developers Should Know

It has been some time since Android Lollipop hit the market. With improved functionalities and performance enhancements, Android L has truly shaken the sloth out of its lazy competitors. In this article, we analyse the top features of Lollipop that have made it such a resounding success among users, lay and techie alike.

1. Material design
  • The best Android feature by far has been its Material design, a complete UI overhaul which introduces a lot of new 3D features and textural elements into Android.
  • It’s made to run on different types of devices, from your tablet to Smartphone to your laptop and TV.
2. Improved notifications
  • A new notification style pops up at the top of the screen irrespective of the application you are in, allowing you to respond or dismiss it.
  • Notifications don't clutter your lock screen, and only important ones show up there.
3. New lock screen
  • Part of Android L’s redesign is its new lock screen which shows you notifications.
  • If you do not have a lock pattern or another unlocks method, you’ll need to swipe up to unlock. You can also swipe right to launch the dialer or swipe left to launch the camera.
4. Quick settings
  • There is no need to tap an icon or use two fingers to access your quick settings in Android L. All you need to do is just swipe down from the top of the notification panel.
  • This is a huge improvement that makes it easier to find these settings (especially for casual users).
5. Battery saver 
  • Google’s Project Volta has brought some really good battery improvements to mobile devices.
  • With an in-built battery saver that detects when your handset is low on charge, the battery saver automatically reduces CPU load and display brightness.
6. Recent apps
  • The recent apps menu has also undergone a significant makeover with Android L.
  • The recent apps section now has a Google Now card style layout. The open apps are on a kind of carousel and you can swipe them off to either side to close them.
7. Personal Unlocking
  • This new feature enables users to unlock their Smartphone when they are physically near to a device like an Android SmartWatch.
  • Android L has also officially switched to “ART”, the more efficient compiler that improves battery life and performance.


Thursday, March 12, 2015

What Swift Means For Apple and the Industry?

There’s been a new excitement in the air in iOS developer circles. It is the arrival of Swift that is driving new developers to joy. The onset of Swift has meant that it is finally curtains down for the parent, Objective C. In this article, we look at the motives behind the switch to a new programming language and how it will affect the IT industry as a whole.

For those of you who didn’t know, Objective-C is ridiculously difficult to use. Most beginners who attempted to learn it and even developers familiar with its complexities breathed a huge sigh of relief at the announcement. It is clear that Apple wanted to make iOS accessible to a wider range of developers and it understood that sticking to Objective-C wouldn't work. However, it isn't exactly unfamiliar to existing developers because it uses the same LLVM compiler and runtime which means the code can live side-by-side in the same application. According to Apple, this will "unify the procedural and object-oriented portions of the language."



Apple's free e-book, The Swift Programming Language, offers a guide that goes deeper into the language and acts as a formal reference for any interested developer. Owing to its accessibility and its promise of adopting safe programming patterns and adding modern features to make programming easier, more flexible and fun, businesses looking to develop apps on iOS will soon have a wider pool of iOS and Mac OS X developers to choose from. This will help alleviate the stress of hiring qualified developers in a gradually shrinking talent pool. This increase in talent may also make developers' salaries accelerate at a slower rate.

Additionally, Swift utilizes several time saving features such as displaying outputs in real time and delivering instant feedback on errors. Developers are thus saved from having to create colossal amounts of code before seeing the results. Apple developers can also bid adieu to sifting through code line-by-line to find tiny errors whenever an issue arises. These benefits will result in huge cost reductions for corporations and may sway more of the IT industry's top innovators to developing for Apple.

Although it is too premature to say the effect of these will be seen immediately, the IT industry is certainly abuzz about Swift. It not only begins a new chapter in iOS development, but also makes iOS and Mac OS X development a more viable option in the years to come and its accessibility will most certainly work to Apple's advantage.