5 Steps to Scale Your Android Development

As Android developers, you must have thought a lot about how to scale your Android development processes to ensure that our code is clean and bug-free. While there are no perfect solutions as to how to scale your Android practice, there are general standards that can help you greatly.

1. Keep Things Modular

Keep Objects and classes on tasks they were designed for. For instance, don’t try and perform network tasks in a Datastore class, and the like. The more you separate your logic, the easier it will be to update individual classes later. A good rule of thumb is to keep your method sizes less than 50 lines and your classes less than a few hundred lines.

2. Implement a Consistent Code Formatter

On Android Studio; you can set up your preferred format style under Preferences/Code Style/Java. You can export it and share it across your team once you have a custom template. Any team member can then apply it to a project, and your code will be automatically rearranged. This will save you hours of time and improve readability.
3. Test your code throughout your Android development project

Unit tests are a key part of implementing a test-driven development strategy (TDD). This is absolute necessary to ensure that your code performs the way you expect it to. There’s a minefield of useful information regarding unit testing on Google’s Android Developer site.

4. Add Automated Code Checking.

There are several tools out there to help you code and make sure that you are following the industry’s best practices. The most common ones are PMD, FindBugs, and Checkstyle. You could learn from GitHub repo of as to how to implement FindBugs, Checkstyle, and PMD checks in your app.

5. Go With an MVP Approach.

Using an MVP method in development means separating the Model, View, and Presenter in your code (not to be confused with ‘Minimum viable product’). This is similar to the MVC pattern that’s talked about in iOS.
The fundamental idea is that the View layer should never contact the Model layer directly — because that’s what the Presenter is for. In dissecting the presentation layer from the logic, the way you layout the data on screen becomes modularized and separated from how you pull the data from a server or a database. This style lends itself to easier testing, higher readability, and more seamless collaboration overall.

7 Tips for a Successful Mobile App

Creating a successful mobile app is on everyone’s mind. So much so that almost every business has one on either of the mobile platforms these days. But how do you ensure that your app is successful? That’s the question we’ll look to answer in this article. The ingredients of a successful app are:

1.       Emotional connect with end-users

You can’t create an app with a rich user experience by simply replicating the desktop content on a touch screen. So you need to optimize the performance, look and feel of the application according to the mobile device. In short, your app needs to touch an emotional chord with the users.

2.       Compatibility

Most apps target a particular mobile OS. But the user may access the app on a variety of devices like tablets, Smartphone’s, etc. This is why it is necessary for businesses to ensure compatibility and optimization across devices.

3.       Make the app customizable

It is now common experience that customized apps achieve greater popularity as users love to change the app’s colour, font, outlines, and privacy settings according to their preferences. This delivers a user-centric experience.

4.        Make the app work offline

All the users may not have unlimited access to the internet and they will look for apps that can work even in the absence of an internet connection. So, make sure your app works in both the online and offline modes.

5.        Focus on end user-experience

Your app might be simple and easy-to-use. But does it serve the purpose it was designed for? The app must deliver on this count. Optimized and hassle-free user experience is a necessity for a successful app.

6.        Monitor app usage

An app can be used in a number of ways. So you need to understand how your app is exactly being used. Track users using engagement analytics and identify features and functionality that need to be improved in the app.

7.        Focus on high LTV

As a business, you need to focus on the high lifetime value (LTV) of your application. Your advertising revenue directly depends on your LTV. For your app to be successful in the longer run, you need to focus on higher returns on investment (ROI) and average revenue per user (ARPU) to build a solid base of users.

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.

The Amazing Journey of Android

The Android egg hatched on October 22nd, 2008. Initially, many features that we couldn’t live without today were missing- an on-screen keyboard, multi-touch capability, and paid apps for instance- but the foundation was in place. This article looks at the evolution of Android app development and its improvements over the years from Cupcake to Kitkat.

Android 1.5 Cupcake

Android 1.5 Cupcake featured video recording and upload to Youtube, APIs for creating home screen widgets, support for an on-screen soft keyboard and Android virtual devices (AVDs).

Android 1.6 Donut

Android 1.6 Donut bought new user features: Quick search box, new interface for camera and galleries, battery usage indicator and Google Play updates. Text-to-speech engine was introduced along with expanded support for screen densities and resolutions.

Android 2.0/2.1 Eclairs

The new features in Eclairs were multiple accounts that could be added to a device for email and contact synchronization, including Exchange accounts. Search functionality for all saved SMS and MMS messages. Other upgrades included Android virtual keyboard, refreshed UI with actionable browse and calendar updates.

Android 2.2 Froyo

The main feature of Android 2.2 Froyo was the just-in-time compiler which boosted the speed of the applications over three times. Other features include automatic app updates for both application developers and users, FM Radio and OpenGL improvements.

Android 2.3 Gingerbread

Support for Gyroscope, rotation vector, linear acceleration, gravity, and barometer sensors were the major additions in this update for gaming applications. New UI and keyboard interface was introduced. Other features included near-field communications, front-faced camera support, app manager, copy & paste, better audio for apps, and extra large screen support.

Android 3.0 Honeycomb

New UI designed from the ground-up for tablets. System bar for global status and notifications was introduced. Customizable home screens with recent apps, for easy visual multi-tasking interface was introduced. Improved text selection, with copy and paste with new updates for standard phone apps.

Android 4.0 Icecream Sandwich

Icecream Sandwich was the step into the next gen for Android. It had a much refined and evolved UI, Home screen folders and favourites tray, resizable widgets, New lock screen actions, quick responses for incoming calls, Swipe to dismiss notifications, tasks, and browser tabs.

Android 4.1 Jellybean

Gesture mode for blind, transfer over Android beam, and text traversal in accessibility were some of the feature updates in Jellybean. More improvements were in store for browser, calendar, camera and gallery. Faster, smoother, more responsive with refined UI was another feature.

Android 4.4 Kitkat


4.4 was in a league of its own with its Cloud system, lightweight RAM, Pallet colour, remarkable CPU management, good multi cores and screen orientation. It also came in for much praise for reducing battery consumption.

Why Small Biz are Heading to Android App Development

As Google Play is flooding bloating with millions of Android apps new ideas are flourishing in recent and futuristic contexts. There are more than 2 millions apps registered in the various market places serving a vast audience across the globe where Android OS based devices ruling in numbers and now in quality.

But this isn’t at all. Start-ups prey on Android apps for so many other reasons. Of which a few important ones are jotted down to give you a picture of why this way?

I’m an Open Source Platform

For expanding your products and services Android app development provides a wide open platform from phones and tablets to set-top boxes, refrigerator displays, and much more. This isn’t ends here. Google ensures their operating system is open to developers with the limits of Android’s capabilities, and the flexibility to cater to your needs.

I’ll Fit Your Budget

Google and the developer community has fairly streamlined the entire process making houses for varied features and functions, while custom coding and designing in order to create the app’s unique aspects. If you have a look it, the results are not only faster but affordable development cycle than most other software can offer. For startups, being short on cash is the status quo, and that’s why any business can consider it.

I Let You Dream Massive

With each release, the operating-system becomes hardly any bigger additional well-loved and extra effective which is influencing 1000′s of recent customers active their products. Whilst permitting little companies to offer what their audience desire, these applications furthermore enhance the complete whole visibility of the choices.

I Promise Stable Customer Relationship

A mobile app provides accessibility to your customers instantly with no regards to time and place. With smart phones adoption is in skyrockets, developing mobile apps on Android is the most reliable and widespread methods of maintaining strong customer relations on behalf of your business.

All these above mentioned points emboldens both small and medium businesses alike to rapidly implement Android platform for acquiring their business applications developed.

4 Best Practices to Successfully Launch and Monetize a New App

In the past 5 years, the app economy has grown exponentially seeking new methods to improve their app monetization. Say for instance, back in January 2012, only 46% of revenue was generated from in-app purchases but this January 2014 has showed a revenue share boomed to 79%. Which means generating significant revenue simply having a great idea is no longer good enough. Success needs a comprehensive strategy.

Here are four mobile app monetization tips to help you on your way.

User-Centric App

Yes, obviously you need a large user base to bring in enough revenue.

Even though you have the best idea in the world, it can’t profit you unless users like it. From colour choice and button size to screen layout and navigation- it is important to think through every choice and use extensive testing to see how a broad audience responds to the interface. This is one of the assured ways your mobile app monetization efforts are not wasted.

A Thin Line between Uniqueness

This thought is something in common that you need to do something that no one else has ever done.

But let’s be honest. This doesn’t work. Look at the most successful new products, programs, or apps, are innovations and all these aren’t de-novo inventions. Yes, creating something completely unique is exciting, but do you think users are patient enough to learn how to use it and waste time on one app when they have a pretty much choices out there.

So, here the success formula is instead of reinventing the wheel, take something people like and turn it into something they love.

Know Your Distribution Channels

Today, there are endless ways to expose potential users to your app, starting from PR and ”buying users” to social media and word of mouth but understanding the mobile app monetization ecosystem is very important.

Some best practices to improve your discoverability are: knowing how much a potential user is worth, the time you utilize to bring in new users, and how to turn current users into brand ambassadors.

Analyze, Research and Optimize

Measuring what really makes your app work helps you improve in areas that need some extra attention, say ultimately its user satisfaction and user engagement.

Besides, keep an eye on market trends that includes where downloads and revenues are flowing, in which app stores and countries. This is why you require to work with a monetization partner who can provides you with top quality analytics so you can understand which ad formats, creative, etc. works and then optimize for maximum revenue.

Since it’s not a one-size-fits-all method, remember app monetization strategies require experimentation.  

Modern Health Care Apps To Reduce Readmissions In Hospitals

Addressing to various shortcomings in healthcare delivery, mobile technology to impact outcomes in chronic disease management, care coordination and population health. Mobile health applications like Text4baby can give patients extremely easy access to health information, as in like health messages to pregnant women, or women with an infant less than one year old.

The mobile health market reached over $718 million in the United States alone which means beneficial applications already created and in use by the healthcare industry. So, what’s now?

The Problem of Readmissions

One of the widely tapped areas in mobile health market is the widespread issue of preventable readmissions. Not only that it cost so high but with new CMS regulations like the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and the proposed Hospital Value-Based Purchasing program- hospitals are facing a lot of issues. It is believed that high levels of preventable readmission rates could lose a portion of federal payments. On the other hand, many patients miss what is communicated during the discharge process the likelihood of mistakes increases.

How Mobile Apps Can Be a Potential Solution

Smartphones like Android and the iPhone have mobile-based applications that offer providers and patients a method for accessing and sharing health information. More than 17,000 mobile health applications in major app stores can capture treatment instructions and build a HIPAA-compliant personal website where the instructions are easily accessible by the patient.

How the app works

The app works with a camera on the smartphone or tablet to record a provider giving instructions to the patient. Post the recording, all that the user will need to do is to press a button to upload the content and publish the video or audio recording through the mobile app. The provider can even add additional resources and treatment information later on. Currently, there are many mobile health applications use the same techniques to meet HIPAA regulations.

As a bottom line, mobile health can help reduce readmissions, manage chronic diseases and improve accessibility of health information benefitting both providers and patients to become more accountable for health outcomes.

5 Quick Tips to Make an Android App Faster Smoother and More Responsive

We live in a generation where advertisers for applications need to work harder than ever to engage target consumers. Based on which, here are some tips on how to make your Android app faster, smoother and more responsive.

Make Your Android App Faster, Smoother and More Responsive

A smoothly operable interface is a major success factor for apps. While deftly concealing the limits of the technology, making the program responsive to the user is one of the major disciplines. Let’s see what all the factors that affects the speed and performance of an Android app.

·         With the amount of devices and quantity of versions releasing, Android fragmentation really has to be done- not the Android file system.

·         Loading your home screens with live wallpaper and widgets can really slow down your Android, especially an older device. Whereas, in case of having a newer Android mobile device, it is not the widgets but animated wallpaper that lags and mar the battery life despite being quite appealing.

·         Basically, Android does a stellar job in the process management which means there is no use of many task killer applications. You should definitely uninstall any uncooperative applications.

·         The responsiveness of an app plays a vital role. Given that there are tons of photo-shooting apps with a few effects and upload functions out there, why people choose popular apps like Instagram?

·         Android mobile device users who are still using an older version like Gingerbread can install a new browser to see an increase in performance.

Owing to which, the basic trick lies in optimizing the collaboration between development and design and that requires hiring a professional expert in app development. Do you need an Android app build for your business? Openwave Computing LLC offers many types of services in Android Application development that includes Business Applications, Navigation, Social Networking, Lifestyle and Entertainment apps, Multimedia, Education / Learning apps, GPS based applications, Utility Applications, Web Search.

5 Deadly Sins in Android App Development

Android Application development is a professional process which needs a lot of expertise. With the changing trends in business market, there are few key areas where in even expert Android app developers tend to compromise.

This article showcases few deadly mistakes that a developer must be aware of during Android app development.

Compatibility Check: Android has seen frequent updates and there are too many versions of the OS in the market now. If an application is developed with any one specific version of the OS, chances are there that it might even crash when run on earlier versions of Android.  Therefore, proper testing across multiple OS versions is important.

The UI Challenge: User interface design is very crucial in Android application development and also often the most neglected. With a variety of screen sizes, application development for android is a great challenge to ensure that the app looks good in all screen sizes and resolutions.

Battery Life of a Device: Developers just consider the accessory but it is not all that. If your application takes a toll on the phone’s battery life then chances of using the application is very less. Plus, another flaw seen in Android Development is that developers create bulky widget that cause higher load time and also drains the battery faster.

Often Low in Priority: Sometime it might seem awesomely coded applications but might lack a good UI design. If App Developers create apps that are not usable then the possibility of application usage are pretty less which would mean all the hard work go worth less.

No-Proper Memory Resource Management: Most applications don’t effectively use the available memory resources. An android app when running should use as minimum memory as possible as it is can lead to sluggishness in the device and will bring down its efficiency.