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Why Should Startups focus on Android Application Development?

Online businesses are moving their website based business to mobile applications. And why not? Today most of the mobile users have smart phones and like to have all the information on their handset. Not just this, there are other advantageous factors of having a mobile app. For e.g. it is easy to navigate, uses less storage space on servers, faster to operate, stronger enough to handle web traffic, etc. If we check worldwide statistics, smartphone market grew 13.0% every year, whereas Android dominates the smartphone market with a share of 84.7% giving tough competition to other OS based smartphones to survive. During last year’s Google Nexus press event, the company announced that there are 1.4 billion active Android devices worldwide. Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated during the press event that Android devices has doubled in the last year in India and Vietnam. Presently Android has become a market leader in smartphones, and businesses are making huge chunk of revenues by shifting their online business through android mobile apps. The startup mobile app development companies must target android application development for faster growth and success. Why Android App Development is The Right Choice for Startups Here are some business advantages that startups can get through android app development: Ample of Opportunities Everyday millions of android apps are downloaded by smartphone users globally from google play store. This indicates that users are looking for more innovative apps that can fulfil their requirements in easier and faster ways. Most of the companies are hiring android developers to create apps specific to their business. If startup companies focus on android app development by establishing correct resources in place, and showcase their capability of innovating using android, then there are ample of opportunities in the market to be catered to. Higher Returns on Investments Since Android is an open source platform, the development costs incurred are very low as developers can access to the SDK and development tools for free. Not just this, there is large pool of android developers available in the market with updated skills. The investment that a startup needs to do is in experienced resource and app marketing. In return, the app stands a big chance to yield profits. Higher Productivity The app developers can save their efforts by using Android Development platform, as there is a large number of code libraries that are available for use. Such readily available scripts just required to be run, which in turn saves huge amount of time in developing a particular feature from scratch. Therefore, developers can achieve higher productivity and launch app faster in the market which improves time to market the product. Open App Distribution Globally Android apps are sold and distributed over the world biggest open market that is Google Play. More than 11.1 billion apps downloaded in Q1 2016 from Google Play. It allows you to control how to publish the app, publish whenever you want to and as often as you want to. You can decide whether to publish an app to specific targeted segments or to worldwide. It lets you decide whether the app to be sold at a price or for free. Since you have all the controls to market your app, you can drive your business at your own ways. Feature Rich Applications Android app development platform offers easy in-house customization to make your app more dynamic to fulfill the business requirements. The set of development tools and open source code libraries available, an application can be made interactive and feature rich. The more features an app offers along with a user friendly design, the more customers prefer to download the same. Interoperability Every business has different processes for managing the operations. To manage various operations simultaneously, there are many systems working hand-in-hand and there is requirement of developing an enterprise mobile apps that are compatible and inter-operable with third party apps running on cross-platforms. And android is has successfully proven to be the platform to develop such enterprise mobile app that can inter-operate with apps on cross platforms. Easily Available Resources Not just the android development SDK is available easily, but even getting experienced android app developers is easy nowadays. Which helps startup companies to recruit the required skillset in a less time and start working. Even in case of attrition, the startups can easily find the replacement. Hence, human resource skills requirements can be fulfilled easily if you select android app development platform. Publicity and Customer Reach This is one of the prominent business benefit of an android application is that you can get open publicity on Google Play. There are millions of people visiting Google Play every day, which gives your application to get noticed. You can also opt for marketing plans on play store to promote your app and get higher downloads. Mobile app startups are having limited budget and resources, which is required to be used strategically to gain optimum output. Hence, Android platform suits the best development platform to develop and maintain the mobile apps. Moreover, the android app market is booming at rapid speed, which makes android even more preferred platform to launch your app in the market. Having your app made on android platform also gives you wider reach to customers around the world. So if you have a mobile app startup then focusing on Android can be your profit yielding tool. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/why-should-startups-focus-on-android-application-development/

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5 Things to Keep in Mind Before You Update Your Mobile App

App development is an integral part of any business. Businesses that do not focus on app updates eventually trickle into anonymity. It is an established fact that most apps go through a life cycle that involves numerous updates. While popular mobile apps need to be updated more regularly, apps that haven’t been very successful at capturing the attention of a large audience can easily make do with monthly updates. The process of app update is a challenging one. Fixing bugs, making changes in design, checking app functionality, updating codes — these are tasks that require both time and dedication. Businesses and app developers, in particular, should give due consideration to app updates. In this article, we will try to answer the bigger question that is, how to approach app updates? Does frequency matter? Yes, the frequency at which you update your app actually matters. Updating your app regularly will help both your team as well as your users. As mentioned before, a well-performing app must be updated at least once a week. However, if you already have a lot on your platter and are unable to squeeze an app update, you must try to update the app at least once every month. There are various parameters businesses must keep in mind while they are undergoing this process. If you have a business that is affected by seasonal changes, your app must reflect this. Similarly, before beginning with the process of an app update, businesses must ensure that they have enough content to feed to their users. Most businesses underestimate the value of content. Good content enhances both engagement and retention. If you wish to make your app successful, you must find new ways to make your app more interesting and user-friendly. Should you work out a balance? Yes, it is extremely important for businesses to wok out a balance between smaller and larger updates. App updates are most often driven by feature releases. Businesses might choose to do an app update when they either have a large update or a smaller one. Larger updates are slightly more difficult to handle. Sometimes, these may even involve months of work. In such a case, the question is — how should businesses achieve a balance? The answer is simple — try to fit in features that can be accommodated in a two-week development cycle. Features that take about two weeks of development actually take about a month to go live. This is essentially because the process of app updates does not only involve development but also testing. However, in some cases, businesses may feel compelled to induce features that are quite complex. When this happens, businesses can tackle the problem at hand by first doing smaller updates and planning for the larger one in advance. While some app developers are working on the smaller update, businesses should allocate more resources to the larger update. This way, an app update would undergo two releases — first, a smaller one followed by the larger one for which work has been going on for months. Understanding release cycles is important Every mobile app undergoes different kinds of release cycles. Businesses can benefit greatly by understanding these release cycles. After an app is released, the first update should focus solely on fixing bugs. Even though you have devoted hours to testing the app, it is quite likely that there will be certain bugs that bypassed your scanner system. By making bug fixing the agenda of their first update, businesses can make their apps more user-friendly. This will also increase your app store ratings. The next release should also focus on fixing bugs and making your app look more refined and user-friendly. The idea is to do app updates that do not require complicated tasks and hence, can be done at short intervals. Once your app has become fairly popular, reviews and feedback will start to drop in through various channels such as social media, app store, etc. The release that an app developer makes now would depend on the kind of feedback received from users. It would involve working on design, fixing bugs, releasing new features, etc. From here on, businesses must start to achieve a balance between smaller and larger updates. Keep the competition in mind While it is a good idea to create an internal schedule and mechanism about how you want to do things, it is also important to keep an eye on your competition. As a business, you should see the kind of changes your competitors are coming up with and try to make your own app better than everyone else’s. Try to compete with the very best — let your benchmarks be those who are already at the top of their game. This will not be easy. As your app grows older and as the frequency and complexity of updates increases, you may feel the need to hire more resources. This would involve hiring more product managers, quality assurance experts, designers and developers. However, the important thing to remember is — do not do bad updates after coming in pressure. In this day and age, when users have become tech experts, businesses have more to loose on account of a bad update than a late update. Your app update should target your user base If you want your app to do well, you must do app updates that target your core market and user base. Your development methodology should align with the market expectation of the industry in which you operate. For instance, users who use mobile apps prefer their apps to be updated regularly. On the contrary, enterprise marketing apps, do not need to be updated so often. Take a cue from what your users are saying about your app, what they need and what they seek from a good app and try to give them just that. Conclusion Apps should be updated at regular intervals. If you have a small team, you should aim for monthly updates. On the

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Must Have Builds and Needs for An Enterprise Mobile Application

Regular mobile users are looking for mobile applications that are useful, easy to use and fun, and developers are defining target audience depending on user’s needs and preferences. But there’s another category of premium users and they work for organizations with hundreds or thousands of employees who are accessing company information on the go, instantly and without any inconveniences. They do their job more efficiently, if they’re offered a consumer-like user experience and if their needs are identified, developers will know what type of enterprise mobile app to build and what features to add. If you’re an app developer who wants to try his luck in this domain and needs guidance to build a enterprise mobile app, you should take into considerations these tips: Employees Need To Sync And Share Files People working in offices are dealing with many documents and they store a lot of information on their mobile devices, which is then added to the company’s database and accessed by other employees, who use it to carry out daily tasks. Files are synced with other devices, then other employees edit or make changes to them and the update will be reflected across all devices that belong to the company and have that certain business application installed on them. Improve Collaboration Between Employees A strong business is run by a person with a practical mind and has a team of professionals, who collaborate among themselves and keep all departments updated. An application that would make employee’s job easier would allow them to access files via a virtual chat tool, so they will no longer need to enable Bluetooth every time they have a file to share. And they will no longer need to leave their offices, to establish a connection with another device and transfer files. Centralized Control Sharing is caring, but when it comes to businesses, everything has to be limited to appropriate content, and in sales, clients are convinced to buy products after seeing good presentations. When establishing a meeting with a potential buyer, the salesperson must bring all the aces up his sleeve and this means that he will be the image of the company, and will represent it to the highest level. The new technology saves employees from carrying laptops with them to show a presentation of a product, as everything can be done from the screen of a tablet or smartphone. But the content that will be showed to the client must be carefully selected by a certain group of people who work for the same company. Contact Information Accessed Alongside Calendar Events The invention of the email service was one of the best things that could happen to humanity, as it replaced the traditional letter sent through post offices, sparing company representatives from wasting their time in the town. Nowadays, with a few clicks, the information reaches the recipient almost instantly, and it’s much easier to keep in touch with customers, partners and team members. By adding the option to access contact information along with calendar events, busy employees will save a lot of time. Web Conferencing To Receive Information In Real-time In big cities are regularly organized events dedicated to business development, but if something comes up and the company representative can’t attend the meeting, the company will suffer. That’s why online workshops, webinars and web conferences are better solutions and they’re helping businessmen who are traveling and want to receive information in real-time. Browsers And The Eternal Security Problem People search for information on the internet all the time and end up on dangerous websites that infect their devices with malware. If you’re not ready to build a more efficient antivirus program, then maybe you can think of a more secure browser that employees will use to make internet searches. A Business App Should Utilize The Device’s Technical Capabilities Before the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, applications were using the device’s GPS, microphone, camera etc. without the user’s approval. App permissions allowed users to have more control over which applications handle certain domains, but that doesn’t mean this feature is scaring off mobile app developers who build applications that utilize the technical capabilities of the device. Beauty And A Beast We can all agree that applications must look good, because users are feeling a higher degree of pleasure, but beauty isn’t everything. An application that becomes unresponsive and crashes will trigger frustration and will prevent users from finishing their job. Therefore, a successful business app is definitely good-looking and stable. Also, it should work offline. Business Apps Should Work On Multiple Platforms iOS, Android and Windows are the three most popular and used operating systems, and lately, organizations have implemented a BYOD policy which allows employees to use their own devices and work on them, although there were some reports about consumer file transfer applications that caused data leakage incidents. Either way, if you’re decided to go all the way and bring an application that will help connect people despite their technological preferences, then make sure your application will not be easy to hack and attackers won’t be able to steal data. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/must-have-builds-and-needs-for-an-enterprise-mobile-app/

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Improve Your Business ROI with iBeacon Apps

iBeacon was developed by Apple and it’s a technology that uses Bluetooth low-energy proximity sensing to transmit signals which mobile software use to trigger their own push notifications. Basically, information is transferred at per location, after the signal is picked up from devices that are in the close vicinity and support the sharing of data using low energy Bluetooth. The application is alerted by the device when it reaches the range or it drifts away from the other beacon device, and sometimes, the signal is lost because it meets obstacles such as thick walls, metal doors or other objects. This new technology is a breath of fresh air for businesses, as it can shake up m-commerce, travel, retail and many more. This protocol was created to bring a new way of offering location-based information and services to Apple’s devices that run on iOS, including iPad, which are capable of emitting and receiving iBeacon signal. However, the beacons aren’t made by Apple, but by third-party manufacturers (BlueCats, BlueSense, Estimote, Qualcomm and others) who must have a license for building them under the MFi Program. The iBeacon app will pick up signals beamed from iPhones supporting sharing data with Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and it will even understand ibeacon distancing. How Can It Be Implemented In The Real World? iBeacon was brought alongside iOS 7 and the compatible devices are iPhone 4S and later, iPad 3, iPad mini and iPod touch (5th gen. and later), but the same BLE technology is also supported by Android 4.3 and later and since 2014, it started being used in the US retail stores, airports and many more. So, if you own a business and you’re thinking about taking advantage of the iBeacon technology, here are some ideas that will help you improve your return on investment: iBeacon for Retail Stores iBeacon applications are being implemented in more and more retail organizations because it allows users to check out product information, or details about special deals or sales events. When customers enter the store, the app will detect their devices and it will even ask users if they are interested in buying the latest models. Integrated Into LED Lights General Electric and Philips started introducing LED lights with Bluetooth LE and it seems that retailers are enjoying these new lower-energy lights because they can cut costs. And shoppers who open a companion app while visiting stores will no longer have to ask around where they can find a specific product, because thanks to the beacons’ communication with their phone, they will know exactly where the item is located on the map of the store. iBeacon For Travel Travelers who are using an iOS or Android device will receive relevant notifications depending on their location, such as information about places they can visit, restaurants, where they can eat, or cheap hotels where they can sleep overnight. Also, after checking in at the hotel, customers will start receiving alerts for special offers. Many low-cost companies are using iBeacon to reach the customers in airports and to remind them to present their passport or to follow other rules imposed by the airport management. iBeacon For Entertainment Industry If customers play their favorite games within a shop, they receive virtual rewards. Also, when passing by a cinema, mobile users can get information about what’s playing and if they’re in lucky, maybe they can even receive vouchers. Other partnerships can be made between music companies or magazines and public or private transportations, so before customers will board a train or plane, they will receive notifications on what artist to listen to or what articles they should read. iBeacon For Automotive Using beacons, users are getting better traffic estimation and forecasts or they are able to unlock their cars and perform similar actions using an additional application such as Silvercar. iBeacon For Personal Use Some people “forget” to take out the trash and they need “someone” to remind them to do that. By adding a beacon to the trash can and setting an appointment to “take out the trash” daily, at a specific hour, food debris will no longer sit for days and rot in the trash can. iBeacon will also inform users to take their umbrella if it will rain in that day, and while they’re at home, they will no longer have to manually turn on the lights, as beacons will activate appliances. This means that when heading to the kitchen with the phone in the pocket, beacons will turn on the lights in the room. If you are looking for professional iBeacon app development, look no further than our portfolio. We have qualified, experienced and talented iBeacon developers capable of developing iBeacon apps for businesses of all sizes and industries. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/improve-your-business-roi-with-ibeacon-apps/

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Best Tips and Practices for Mobile Application Development

Building a mobile app is not only about learning frameworks, languages, APIs and SDKs, it requires a lot more outside work, such as knowing the audience, planning ahead and obtaining the best performance. There are over 5 billion people on this planet who own a mobile device and the number of users who downloaded applications from the internet was doubled in the past five years. The more people will afford to buy a smartphone, the more applications will be released, bringing a nice income to their creators. In order to become a productive venture, an application must be built with passion and sweat, by a brilliant mind who has vision and a strategy, so if you’re prepared to go down this road, we’ll help you with some tips and practices for mobile app development. Web, Native or Hybrid App? So, after making sure that you have development resources, you will need to get familiarized with mobile technology and choose wisely a route that will evolve your app into a money monster. If you’re building an app for web mobile, you’ll finish it in a short time and you won’t invest too much money in it. Plus, the app will support a wide range of mobile devices, compared to a native app, which is developed specifically for a certain platform and it’s downloaded from the official store. On the other hand, a hybrid app combines native and HTML5/ CSS/JavaScript worlds, and the result is either amazing or a total failure. The difference between a native and a hybrid app is that the former is hosted inside a native application that uses a mobile platform’s WebView and it has access to device components such as camera, microphone, accelerometer etc. Mobile JavaScript Frameworks There are many challenges when choosing to build a mobile web app, mostly related to inconsistent HTML and CSS in mobile browsers or cross-browser compatibility. In order to address these issues, developers have created frameworks based on HTML5 and CSS3 and they work on a variety of smartphones and tablets. A great JavaScript framework that will convert semantic markup into a gesture-friendly format for touchscreens is jQuery Mobile and if you’ll use the latest version, you’ll see that it’s packed with many graphical elements that will help improve the user interface of your app. Another good example of JavaScript framework is Sencha Touch, which makes mobile web user interface look like a native one. Free, Open-Source Frameworks Bootstrap and Foundation and two of the most responsive frameworks that emerged in the past years. Like many other frameworks, they’re based on CSS and JavaScript and they reduce the efforts to design an app, but if you’re undecided which one to choose, you should learn the differences between them. So, Bootstrap supports smartphones, tablets, computers and it’s oriented toward desktop use. It’s compatible with IE7 or higher, it offers a large collection of UI elements and it supports a pre-defined set of grid sizes. Foundation, on the other hand, supports all screen sizes and types, its grid adapts to the browser height and width, it’s compatible with IE9 or higher, but it has fewer UI elements than Bootstrap. Security No matter what type of mobile app you’re developing, you should understand the importance of security, to be able to protect user’s data, and this can be done by incorporating encryption. By encrypting an application, it becomes impossible to be understood by unauthorized people. For example, WhatsApp and other instant messaging client have encrypted chats so that only the sender and the recipient have access to messages. Another way to protect data is by introducing programming backup capabilities, to archive data on the cloud on a periodic basis and in case the device gets stolen, an app should have a “wipe” capability that will erase the disk when the authorized user reports that the device is lost. Testing and User Experience An objective opinion from a mobile user who tests your app can help you fix potential glitches and bugs. Find someone who is willing to install and test your application for usability and power consumption, to make sure that it’s not a battery killer. If the app accommodates both online and offline usage and it behaves normally on multiple carrier connections, then you’re ready to release your project for the public. Conclusion It’s easy to turn challenges into opportunities, if you know which steps you need to take to build a high quality mobile application that will guarantee you popularity and a good income. All you need is: development skills, knowledge about design, API Management, Security and positive feedback. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/best-tips-and-practices-for-mobile-application-development/

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Some Questions That Startups Should Answer While Creating an App

There is a saying: “If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more” and it applies perfectly to those who want to enter the mobile app development industry, but they’re too afraid of the failure. It’s true that everyone wants to become popular over night, but the struggle to get into the top 10 percent of app stores is giving them nightmares and sometimes, they even wonder if it was worth the effort to build a great application. Young entrepreneurs are big dreamers and they’re ready to face all challenges, but they want to be sure that they’re heading in the right direction. Some Questions That Startups Need to Answer Before Starting App Development No matter if they’re planning to release an application for Android or iOS, the goal is to reach out to their customers by any means. But first, here are some questions that every startup needs to answer before proceeding with app development. What’s Your Motivation To Build An App? Let’s say that years ago, when you’ve bought your first smartphone, the first thing you did was to download an application or a game that you’ve heard about. It was love at first… use and you decided to learn to code, hoping that one day, your application will be installed on millions of devices. This was your motivation: fame and money and you were ready to do anything to accomplish your goals. How Do You Know Your App Idea Will Not Be Stolen? Some of us can’t help but share our plans. It’s not a big deal when talking to a trustworthy friend, but when it comes to business, it’s better to keep your mouth shut and not give any details about the steps you’re about to take. Especially if you have developer friends who lack inspiration! However, if you still want to ask an opinion on what key features to add, it’s better to make the other person sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement first, just to make sure that your app idea is safe. What Platform To Choose? The Google Play store houses more applications than the Apple’s App store, and most developers prefer to build an Android app because they can add features that are not supported by iOS and because there audience consists of a variety of social classes. iOS apps are created mostly for premium users, who don’t mind spending a few dollars on them. But, it takes more time and it costs more to create an Android app and if it doesn’t generate interest, developers lose their investment and admit defeat. What Makes Your App Special? The market for mobile apps is flooded and your application will compete against other millions of different types of apps. It’s easy to enter the market, but how will you convince strangers to give your app a try, if they don’t know anything about it? It’s very simple! Your app will stand out if it has the right features that help users in their daily lives, no matter if they’re looking for a decent game that will break their routine, or an application that will simply their work. Also, you should take into consideration that target markets differ from one area to another and it’s best to focus on those with a larger number of users. Find out what users want and make their experience as pleasant as possible. Have You Thought About The Price Of Your App? If you’re building an app just for fun and it will be free to download, then you can say good bye to your plans to get rich. Unless you’ll introduce in-app purchases and customers will pay good money to unlock more features. Don’t extort them, don’t get greedy and set a fair price. But, if the price for your app is a one time fee, then depending on how complex your app is, you will charge your customers between a few cents and 100 dollars. How Much Will It Cost You To Build An App? Large app companies invest up to 1 million dollars to create those apps that get into the top 5 of Google’s Play store or Apple’s App store. To build a savvy app, you would spend between $150,000 to $450,000, while small companies with 2 or 3 employees usually invest between $50,000 to $100,000, but these sums depend on each targeted platform. Conclusion There is no way to prevent failure and it’s not sure if your work that took you 4 to 6 months will be in vain or not. The secret is to persevere, collaborate with the greatest minds and wait for the results to appear over time. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/some-questions-that-startups-should-answer-while-creating-an-app/

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Top Things To Consider Before Developing Business Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are becoming vital parts of both personal and professional lives everywhere, so companies need to keep up with the trend. Whether you want to create a messaging app, a task-giving app or anything in between for your employees, as a business CEO you need to take in consideration a few tips & tricks mobile app developers have for you. A study made in 2016 showed that companies worldwide have been turning to mobile apps to communicate better with their employees, with a 52% raise in business mobile apps from quarter to quarter. However, people are expecting more & more from business apps, even though they are usually not very advanced in design. Think about who is using the app – your employees The employees can bring you a lot of insight of what they expect from the app and what they think would work best for their workflow. You could make a questionnaire regarding app features to find out what would be the best app for your users. Identify the problem The questionnaire could be your base in finding the problem that you need to solve by creating app: whether you need to deliver tasks faster, have better communication between departments or have a platform where employees can suggest new projects for your business. After you identify the problem, you can start on creating the solution. Simplify your application People don’t want to spend hours on an app to find out how they can use the features that they need. The solution is to simplify the design, make it simple and elegant, with menus and sub-menus that will help the user identify the right feature they need. If you want to include advanced features, make sure to include a special menu for those, so the employees that need them know exactly where to look. Releasing the app when is not fully finished is not the wrong thing to do If you need to use the app as fast as possible, you can include the main features needed and release it for the employees. If you promise to improve on the app, the people that need to use it will surely not be mad and will use it in the draft form until you can release the final version of the app. It might be even better to release it before it’s done, because employees could help you build it by acknowledging any issues they found with the app. Don’t forget to prioritize As we said before, the draft version of the business application could have imbedded just the main features you need your employees to use. So prioritize! Find out what are the most important features you need, and then add them to the app in time. After all, time is money! Think about what you will need the app to have 10 years from now This app will probably be used for a very long time from now, so think about features that your business will need in the long run. After you identified what these attributes are, include them to the main ones you had set in the previous step. Think about the devices that will download this app If your business doesn’t offer the same work smartphones for everyone, your employees most definitely have different devices that have touch screens with different qualities. Optimize the app for different mobile devices, so users won’t find any difficulties with your app. Get help from companies which develop apps as their main activity In today’s day and age, developing apps from scratch is too much of a headache. Mobile app development companies can help you develop apps from the first state of development, to A/B testing and more. So don’t get your head wrapped in trying to create it yourself, as the people that do this for a living will do a good job creating the app and won’t charge you as much money as it would cost if you do it alone. Take in account your server What we mean by that is that the server needs to be able to receive data in real-time and easily spread it to all of your employees. This will help you increase productivity as well as help you speed up the process of working on a project. The mobile platform used is very important The platform will change the way you communicate with your employees, as well as other companies and even clients. If your app can collaborate with other apps (social media ones, or data transfer ones), the work experience will be optimal. So, take in account these aspects of the app when you choose your platform. Conclusion In conclusion, you shouldn’t try to develop the app from scratch, but employ a specialized mobile app development company to create it for you. Don’t forget to listen to your employees about special features they would like to see on your business app, as well as ask them about bugs and issues they found with it. Optimize your application for different mobile devices, and you should be good to go! Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/top-things-to-consider-before-developing-business-mobile-apps/

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Mobile Application Development Tips To Target Your Audience

Are you a business owner that wants to develop an app for your target audience? Well, you’ve come to the right place! In this article we’re explaining what are the key considerations you should bear in mind when starting the app development process. Since mobile apps are helping people in different aspects of their life, from communicating with family & friends to even paying for groceries, businesses turn to mobile apps to attract clients and help them in their daily endeavors. So, hop up on the app train and find out exactly how you should foresee the development process to get out a great looking and, most importantly, helpful app for your business. Who are you addressing? Firstly, as most projects designed for clients, you need to figure out the profile of your targeted audience. Knowing who you are addressing helps your company tons: you can figure out what they love to eat, drink, watch on the TV and use that to your advantage. A study made in 2012 by Nielsen showed that people went from an average of 32 apps on their phone in the previous year to 41 apps in 2012. Considering it’s 2016, we can only imagine the number has grown. What does this mean? Smartphone users are experienced in the ‘app world’ and have already developed a sense of what they like and don’t like. They even have a level of performance they require from an app to enjoy using it. Don’t believe us? Maybe you’ll believe Compuware: in one of their surveys, they found out that 79% of users will not give an app more than two chances if it has proven to have a low performance. What should you take away from this? If you want to create a successful app, you need to put your best effort in it. Your app has to run smoothly, because lagging will draw people away. The first reviews might be the most important Of course, every review has an effect on what your ranking will be in the app store. But the first ones are crucial, because it will determine other users to either download the app or completely ignore it. So, obviously, you’re aiming for 5-star reviews from the start. You’ve probably noticed that when a user gives a low rating to an app is because of performance: either the app doesn’t load, lags, or doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do. Studies have shown that a 4.5-star rated app will be downloaded 4 times more than a 3.5-star rated one. So… look out for those first reviews. If you start getting bad reviews in the beginning, reach out to those people and find out as soon as possible what the problem is. You need to fix your issues as soon as possible – or your app will disappear with the other hundreds of failed apps in the App Store. Testing, testing, testing!!! Before releasing the app out into the world, you need to test it, starting from CPU usage, all the way to app calculations. You can talk with your developer and establish what testing you need to do to know that your app will not crash and they will please the user. Even audio and video playback testing is extremely important for the perfect app. You are entitled to know what testing is going on for your app and you should feel free to propose to your developer some testing techniques that you feel will make the app helpful for your users. A very important thing to think about is point of view. Ask your app developer if they can test out the application in a realistic environment that would resemble your target audience’s environment. This sort of testing is very important because it will ensure you find out early on what your user’s problems could be (no internet connection, no GPS on their phone & so on) and you can adapt your app to fit their circumstances. Conclusion An app is very dependent on reviews. People are busier and busier, have a lot of apps on their phone, and they will not look twice at your app if it doesn’t have a decent rating. This means you need to get ahead of bad ratings and do all the necessary testing, but don’t forget about the user experience. After all, a fun, exciting and helpful user experience will make your audience give you 5-star ratings in the app store. So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and develop yourself an app! Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/mobile-app-development-tips-to-target-your-audience/

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Usability Testing During Mobile App Development Cycle – Learn to Be The Best

If you’re developing an app and are reading a lot of articles about how you can do that and what you should keep in mind when entering the mobile field of business – then you most definitely have heard about usability testing. Most people mention it as a key element in mobile app development, but we cannot stress it enough: usability testing is extremely important in the app development process! The testing can be done even before starting to actually work profusely on the app, because it will help determine if the UI (user interface) you choose is the best for your audience and how they respond to your idea. The learnability of your users and even performance preferences can have a huge effect on your app development process, because after all, you’re working to please your targeted audience, not yourself. Do you want to know more about what usability testing is and what are the key parameters you should look out for? Let’s take a closer look at what this type of testing does and how you can use it to benefit your app and your users. The testing finds information in different aspects of the app to help you understand what the user needs and how you can optimize the application for him/her. First of all, the testing provides you with information about how the colors of your app work together – if they’re pleasant to the eye, if they give a good contrast and so on. It can inform you if you’re missing some pop-up messages like notifications or just needed confirmations with some features. It will also help you see if you have all the right menus and submenus as well as if every page of your app is in line with the others. This info is all about the appearance: in today’s world, people see hundreds of apps in front of their eyes, so if one is not pleasant to the eye and isn’t consistent, they will not hesitate to delete the app. We’re sure you can already see how the testing can help you. The last thing you want to do when releasing an app is discriminate. People with eye problems might not be able to read small letters – so be sure your content is written with large characters and is easy to read so everyone can enjoy the app. Don’t forget to check out all of your buttons and be sure people with big fingers and small touchscreens can efficiently use your app. While we’re on the matter of touchscreens, usability testing can also help you see if all the buttons work how they should. Now that you’ve learned what usability testing does, here’s some tips on how and when you should apply usability testing to get the most out of it: 1. Start as soon as you can Most app developers will tell you about black box testing (another name for usability testing) and that it is important to have it done on your app. But they might advise you to do it at the end of the process, because it helps you a whole lot with your marketing strategy. He would be right, usability testing helps you in this department, but it should be done in the first minute of working on the app. This way, you can test out your prototypes and find out what works best for your user. Doing the testing this way will not only please your audience, but it will actually save you money and time. 2. Just because you did it once, it doesn’t mean you have to stop ‘Hey, let’s do some more usability testing! We added this new feature, shouldn’t we test it for usability?’ – this is what you should tell yourself every day. Because, while other testing is extremely important as well, this type of testing is the one that keeps the connection between you, as a business, and your user. When adding more features, the usability testing will answer questions like: ‘Will my user understand how to achieve this thing?’, ‘Does my user understand how this works and what is its role?’ and so on. After results come in, you will probably find yourself with some UI changes that are recommended for a more user-friendly platform – and you will be very pleased you tested the app. Conclusion People are not easily impressed with apps anymore – they already know what’s up and they require performance and a pleasant user experience. So, you cannot slack on usability testing because it will determine what your users will think about your app. Take the time to test your app constantly throughout the development process and you will be very glad that you did. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/usability-testing-during-mobile-app-development-cycle-learn-to-be-the-best/

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Best Ways to Avoid Security Issues in App Development

In today’s world, we’re no longer safe from identity theft and hacking. When you’re developing an app, you need to be aware of this fact and try to give the best security options there are for your user. They might not appreciate it, but if you would have a security breach you’d definitely hear about it. So, keep on reading on these security problems you need to fix before releasing the app to the world. Do not rely on the operating system’s security Each operating system has its different standards of security, with different values that they like to stick to. For example, Apple likes to give their users only tested applications. They like to give this guaranteed screening of apps to their users, this being a core value in their company. However, you should do the testing yourself, because, even though they’re trying very hard to protect their devices, there is still malware that gets more advanced by each day that passes. If you’re thinking about starting your app on Android, you need to know that they have more of a ‘free will’ sort of value. That means that they allow most apps to get on the Google Play Store, and leave users to decide on their own which app is better than the others. They do that through reviews and they let other users know what they personally think of the app. Anyway, the idea is that you should do your own testing, even though operating systems usually offer you this option as well. You should test out the GPS, the camera or any sensors the user needs when he/she is navigating an app. If you’re releasing the app to Apple’s operating systems, you should turn off the NSLog, so that hackers cannot easily access your app. A bonus for your customers is that it also makes the app work faster. Do not trust in other people when they write code We don’t mean your hired company that is working on the development of the app, but code that is available in the industry so you can build upon it to build the app. A lot of hackers are looking more and more into identity theft, and infiltrating in an app’s security is one great way of stealing info from phones. That’s why they might build code in hope that someone will buy it and they’ll be able to get the info they want. We’re not saying you shouldn’t buy code, but verify the code for phishing schemes as well as do some research on the person you’re buying from. Make sure your server is safe All apps need some sort of info from their users, and all of that data needs to be stored in a safe environment. That’s why most app developers use a server which they connect to. So, connect to a server that is secure via SSL certificates. You can even make sure they use encryption when handling data so that your users feel safe when using your app. You should test out the app with a more advanced When testing your application, you might want to consider an EMM sort of testing (enterprise mobility management) which allows better security that other testing available on the market. They will start the testing by making your app fail proofed for jailbroken or rooted devices. This sort of phones is very dangerous for your application, because it gives easy access to malware. The EMM will help you figure out what you can do when the app gets on this sort of phone and protect it against bugs. This is not the only thing EMM can do for you, it can also help you figure out which server is most fit for you, considering your security needs, as well as figure out what other issues you are vulnerable to. If EMM isn’t the right fit for you, make sure you make your research what is the best fit of security for your app, depending on the features you need to include on it. There are a lot of worthy security testing that will help you get the best out of your app without putting your user’s data in jeopardy. Conclusion Security is a very important issue when developing an app. You should take in account all security testing there is and do the testing yourself. If you use code from other people, make sure you did research on the seller’s past, because they might be a hacker trying to obtain sensitive information. Blog Source- https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/best-ways-to-avoid-security-issues-in-app-development/

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