May 2021 - Page 3 of 7

As Clients’ Extended Distributed Team, Here’s How We Run Agile Projects!

Posted on 18/05/202103/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

A recent report by Computereconomics found that in the 2018/19 period, the application development process has emerged as the one witnessing maximum outsourcing opportunity – with 56% of the organizations around the world outsourcing their development requirements.

The reason behind this heightened demand for outsourcing the mobile app development needs has been the same as always – Lower cost than what would have to be shelled out if employing own country developers, allowing greater focus on the main business, and better service quality.

However, even with outsourcing taking a central place in the application development industry, we have found that there are some common concerns that the clients show when they plan to outsource their software development project outside their geographical nation.

In this article, we will look into how Appinventiv works with offshore clients using the distributed agile development cycle allowing a more connected working process with aligned risk and remuneration model across all.

But before we get on to the part where we tell how we operate as the distributed team of our clients and work so seamlessly that we become their extended in-house tech team, it is important to know what Distributed Agile Team even means.

What Do We Mean by Distributed Agile Team

A distributed team is a concept used to explain the event where two or more team function across multiple geographical locations instead of one office space or even two office spaces in one city. The distributed agile team relies on digital technologies to interact seamlessly and work together toward the same goal – Timely project delivery.

Why do Businesses Invest in a Mobile App Development Distributed Team?

There are a number of reasons that drive businesses to invest in distributed teams, reasons ranging from:

The scarcity of skilled developers in their nation
The need to test the market before an investment is made towards team buildup
To avail the benefit of the flexible team which can be increased at the time of scaling the app and dissolved when the need ends.

With the definition and the need now attended to, let us now look at how Appinventiv team works as a distributed team of our clients. But before we jump there, let us quickly look at what our typical distributed agile team structure looks like –

Appinventiv Approach to Distributed Agile Development

Many a time we get a project where the requirement entails us to work in close connection with the clients’ FTEs. In such instances, it becomes very important that we don’t let the distance in thousand miles come between work and that we are able to make changes and take action on developmental process in real time.

How we ensure timely delivery without zero scopes of communication lag and misunderstanding is a question whose answer lies in Distributed Agile Methodology.

Fit with both small-scale and large-scale businesses, following distributed agile best practices comes in very handy when we have to work alongside a team that is sitting in some other geographical location with an absolutely different time zone.

Let us look at the Distributed Agile Development Method we apply in our mobile app development process.

After we have introduced all the team members with each other and have collaborated the project management software, the actual work starts.

We formulate the process of daily agile scrum methodology. While in its traditional sense, Scrum requires face to face standup meeting of 15 mins where every participant shares the status of their tasks and informs the team of the tasks they will be taking up next, it is nearly impossible to follow the same process when half of the team is sitting in some other geographical nation in some other time zone.

What we do to keep the essence of face to face interaction alive in the scrum, is we hold a video call on one decided time, which is suited for everyone in the team working on the project. With the help of screen sharing our Agile Scrum Master runs through virtual sprint backlog with the help of tools like Trello or Jira, enabling every team member to give an update on where the project is headed.

What we have experienced is that it is very important to give all the team members an access to a task tracking platform that is easily accessible and updatable. We also emphasize using a communication platform like Skype or Slack for everyone to share updates or ask their doubts between the two scrum time periods.

Another approach that we follow for daily agile and scrum process is that for every different scrum, we appoint one scrum master. So, every individual teamwork as a separate scrum team with a scrum master and product owner – A process which is also known as Scrum of Scrums.

In this, all the scrum representatives provide an answer to the following questions in the scrum –

The work that team has completed since last Scrum of Scrums
The work team is planning to do before the next Scrum of Scrums meeting
The present blocker that the team is facing
The blocker that can lead to another Scrum team.

The method enables all the main individuals working on the project to interact with each other directly, something that always results in dedication from the initiation stage to launch period. This ensures an open, clear, and transparent communication between all the teams, where everyone is given a voice. The process apart from scrum of scrums is the same as what we follow under the typical Agile methodology. But the mere fact that the distance between our team and our clients’ team is miles apart and yet we have to work as seamlessly as possible, has brought a series of learnings that we have driven by the adoption of Distributed Agile. Let us look at what those learnings are –

The Learnings That we Drew by Working on Distributed Agile Development Process

1. Creation of Distributed team is about Building a Culture and Not a Process

What defines the success of a project working under the agile for distributed teams approach is not dependent on how well skilled the team members are, but on how well they are able to work together, the sense of ownership with which they work, and ultimately how closely aligned they are with the goal of the project – something that comes with culture and not a process formation.

2.Only SMART Projects Succeed

When a project has to be completed by a team that is not even in the same country let alone office, it is very important that the goals that you have set for the project follow the SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-framed, concept to the t.

3. There is no Alternate to Online Collaboration Tools

No matter how much it costs you, you will have to rely on online collaboration tools that are real-time and have minimal to zero lags. In terms of finalizing the online project management and communication platforms, you can not in anyway cut slack. You will have to ensure that they are technically capable of handling your requirements.

Now that we have seen the learnings that we have drawn from our extensive working experience as a distributed team, it is time to look at some of the challenges that we came across during the process and how we solved them to become a trusted Distributed Agile App Development Company.

Challenges with Distributed Agile Development Approach and How we Solve Them

1. Difference in Culture

Usually distributed agile software development approach ask for working with teams coming from different cultural backgrounds. This difference causes friction because of different values and figure of speech. Our Solution: We work very closely with the client’s team in the initial few days so that we get accustomed to their between the lines and contexts.

2. A Difference in Time Zones

The crux of distributed agile methodology is teams working out of different geographical nations. In a situation like this, the occurrence of a communication gap emerging because of the time difference is very common. Our Solution: We follow the concept of agile for a distributed team to its core. We fix a time when the teams from all the nations are present and active. To achieve full focus and attention, we ask our teammates to change their office timing on the scrum day, so that they are well slept and attentive.

3. Lack of a Common Idea of ‘Big Picture’

Because of a difference in geographical location, working structure, and policies, there can be a discrepancy in the idea of the Big Picture – the end aim of the mobile app. This difference might cause a lack of interest from some team members and a heightened interest from others. Our Solution: A visioning meeting at the start of the project initiation and a reminder in every scrum, so that everyone is working towards the same goal.

4. An absence of Code Ownership

The absence of collective code ownership means that no one person owns the code, it is owned by the whole team and so when something goes wrong, the blame game starts. Our Solution: We apply a version control system to check who is working on a code and when and the effect of it. This way, there is complete transparency and honesty in the picture.

What Does It Take To Create A Billion-Dollar Application?

Posted on 18/05/202103/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

The world of smartphones is pretty exciting with constant changes in their landscape. With the arrival of a new device every week, the scope of these life-changing devices seems to be never-ending. Along with the evolving changes in smartphones, we’re also bombarded with several applications. Whether you want to book a taxi or purchase a rug, there’s a mobile application available for every purpose.

If you’re a budding entrepreneur with an innovative and developing app idea and are looking to make billions, you’ve surely found a sweet spot. Let’s take a look at the detailed guide to build a billion-dollar application.

How to Build a Billion Dollar App?

1. Building a team and raising funds

If you have a revolutionary idea to build next million dollar app that you believe will be loved by millions of people, the first thing you should do is test your great idea for an app by stating it on a paper and getting feedback from the public. Figure out a problem, a solution, and translate it into an application.

Whether you use paper or photoshop, make sure your billion dollar business idea can be easily communicated and explained to others. Once you’ve made a great design, make a prototype out of it. As soon as your app gets into users’ hands, you can start getting feedback.

To start building a team, all you need to do is find people who share the same vision as you and have the required skills to make your dream achievable. Recruitment will be a game-changing task, and you must do everything to get skilled and enjoyable people on board.

Ask your friends, family, and even your enemies to download and use your app – and provide brutally honest feedback. Analyze your targeted audience and brainstorm different routes to reach them and use your application.

2. Capturing the product market

As of now, you should have a prototype ready and used by people. If you have a simple business model such as gaming, you may consider releasing the first version of your app startup idea on the app stores. Otherwise, for a complicated model, you need investment for further development.

At this point, the only thing you should care about is achieving a solid product-market fit and making sure people love your app up to an extent where they’re willing to pay for it. Keep developing a reliable user acquisition strategy.

You also need to determine the cost of acquiring a user and how you can make it profitable. The billion dollar app idea that started as a basic model will evolve quickly now, and you need to keep validating it by testing, measuring, and analyzing with users.

Although it may be hard to make an app that people love and pay for, you must keep patience and perseverance. Once you’ve gone through this stage of hardship, the valuation of your app should be on an average near $10 million.

3. Generating revenue streams

Now when you’ve achieved product-market fit and have an app ready that users love, your aim should be to keep growing and achieving traction by improving all the aspects of your app and figuring out how to monetize it and generate revenue.

If you have a gaming, eCommerce, or marketplace business model, you’ve already convinced users to pay for your app. All you need to do now is improve the lifetime value of your app by holding and retaining users along with keen increments in your margins.

In addition to providing a satisfying user experience, you also need to work your way to optimize the price points and lower the cost of customer acquisition. Keep adding new features and revenue streams to your app without compromising on usability.

By this time, you should also land your first investor, and finally join the big bulls. This also means you should have at least a million dollars or more in your bank account, depending on your negotiation skills and traction.

4. Scaling like crazy

After signing your first investor, you continue gaining great reviews about your app and have a clear process to address user feedback. Your team also continues to grow at an enormous rate, and you may even hit a hundred people or even more.

Moreover, your user base should also be growing steadily and the user-retention strategy should be in place. As you reach this stage, you’ll notice that user acquisition has become predictable and systematic, along with the drowning cost of acquiring new users.

Your company is also becoming increasingly profitable and revenues are growing at an exponential rate. This calls for the need to constantly look for product innovations and introduce more revenue streams in your business.

Talking about the valuation of your app, everything seems to be different and you’ll no longer be treated as a startup. You’re now an established company with a very complex valuation based on your financial performance and uniqueness.

5. The big billions

While you keep making constant progressions in the app and follow the momentum, you also need to have a clearly defined vision for your product with practical and systematic steps to realize it. The core mantra is to keep your users happy and satisfied with your app.

The business model at this point also requires to be tuned constantly, and even small fractional improvements can yield big profits. The valuations will still be complex and you must keep a keen eye on your profits, growth, and products.

How Much Does It Cost To Build An App?

Prior to leaping directly into the cost, first of all else, you need to choose the niche of the application and its features. The prerequisite of the overall population or the demand of the user ought to be profoundly understood, and a thorough thought should be given to respond to various inquiries.

Features and functionality

Knowing the cost of development is an ideal opportunity to find what features impact the intricacy of the entire application. Execution of certain features can be a lengthy process, while others are moderately short and simple. Based upon the complexity of solutions, mobile app developers need to utilize third-party API or code from the scratch. Less complex solutions, thus, require standard instruments and connect with native features.

Product design

Making a special UI design is a complicated process that produces extra cost to your task. The less expensive variation suggests utilizing OS-provided things and building screens of standard components. The quantity of screen is likewise a deciding variable. Thus, cost strategies and models need to be decided before implementing any decision.

Number of platforms

It is obvious that you need to make a decision on which platform to begin from. Making a decision for the platform is the most significant and difference making character for creating mobile applications. These platforms take over various programming languages, have diverse SDKs and use distinctive development tools. Thus, the cost varies differently if one has to develop on iOS or Android.

Backend infrastructure

When it comes to mobile app development, backend is normally an OS that provides developers with APIs to have a data trade between an application and a database. To follow user activity and access the performance of your consumer application, it is outfitted with examination. Depending on the quantity of parameters you will track and how detailed and specific the tracking will be, expenses vary.

App administration

The organization board is unquestionably an extremely helpful tool for dealing with application content, customers, and statistics. There are alternatives to adopt existing admin panel formats for your necessities, yet tracking down a good one is an issue. So it makes sense to create a satisfactory board to meet your business prerequisites.

Location and structure of team

The location of your application development team is a crucial factor affecting the product’s last cost. The expense of making an application in the US will contrast from the expense of mobile app development services in Europe or other different areas. If you want, you can opt for companies in your area like mobile app development company in USA if you live in the US or any other area where you reside. But you have to be careful while choosing a company or developer to get quality results.

Summing Up

Today, billions of people across the world are using smartphones and their applications daily. Moreover, in a few years, the figures will simply multiply themselves, and that’s because technology has never been so accessible and powerful before. People are making the most to develop a billion dollar app and get the best idea to satisfy customers.

Impact of Android 11 Features on your Mobile Application

Posted on 17/05/202103/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

Android 10 was a big shift for Google in the Operating System environment. We did not just finally get to work around the long-awaited Dark mode and saw several important changes happening on the app permission front, we also saw the end of an era.

With Android 10, Google brought its tradition to name operating systems behind desserts to a halt.

Android 10 was a testament to the growth and maturity graph that Google has taken. The same principles are being carried over by Android 11 developer preview now. While we are some months away from playing around the final build, the recent developer preview is a sufficient peek into where Google wants to take the operating system.

With every new update, it is not just the Android app developers who get excited. The stakeholders on the other side of the coin – the app owners – also sit on the edge of their seats everytime around the mid of May when a new version is announced at the Google I/O events.

Before we look into the ways Android 11 changes the app domain for the entrepreneurs who own Android apps, let us look into the new android features that have been introduced with the Android 11 highlights.

Android 11 Features Set

1. Multiple Improvements for Messaging

Going by the Android latest version features, a lot is being done to improve the users’ messaging experience on Android. Here are the upgrades that have been introduced:

Chat bubbles – Android 11 chat bubbles hide all the ongoing conversations in little bubbles on the side of the screen. You can move the bubbles around and tap them to reveal the specific conversations.
To make the process of getting messages real-time, Android 11 has introduced a dedicated conversation section in the notification shade, offering instant access to all the ongoing conversations you are having.
With the Android 11 concept it will now be possible to send images when replying to a message from notifications.

2. One-Time Permission

If you look back at Android 10, one of the ebay things about it was how app permissions was handled. Android 10 gave the users a lot more control over the apps and what they could access. Android 11 keeps the train rolling.

Now, when the app asks for permission to use intricate features, the users can grant access on a one-time basis. The application will use the permission during the time you use the application. And the moment you quit the app, the permission will be revoked.

3. Built-in Screen Recorder

Since the past few releases, the Android users have been desperately waiting for Google to incorporate a built-in screen recorder. Although the chances anyone would need it on an everyday basis is very slim but the function is pretty basic, so the wait for it to get integrated was annoying.

Android 11 update will change this. Developer Preview 2 showed a screen recorder which was accompanied by an extremely polished UI and toggle for recording the audio and showing the touches in the recording.

4. Adaptation on Different Screen Types

If there is one space where we can say that true advancements have happened in the Android ecosystem, it is in terms of foldable devices. 2020 is going to witness a lot of new additions in the foldable smartphone market – all running at different screen sizes and resolutions.

The OS 11 has been developed to run on the foldable devices effortlessly. Thus marketing the time to start working on foldable smartphones app development.

5. Preparations for 5G

5G started making news by the second half of the last year and what has gone off in 2020, with coronavirus pandemic affecting a number of industries and technologies, the need for 5G adoption has only grown in the world.

To help the smooth processing, Android 11 has added a very important “Dynamic Meterdness API”. One that would allow smartphones to take the complete advantage set that 5G brings.

Once the API detects that you are connected to unlimited 5G, you will be able to access the highest possible graphics and videos quality and other intricacies that come adorned with the 5G technology.

Now that we have looked into the Android new features & API, let us shift the focus on how these additions would bring a change in the functionality of your existing app.

What Would Migrating Apps to Android 11 Mean for Your Android App?

If you look at the Android 11 developer preview documentation, you will find that it is divided into three categories: Behaviour Changes, Privacy Features, and New Features & APIs. Under all the categories, there are pointers which carry an impact on the application’s performance.

While majorly your partnered android app development company will look into those changes, let us look into the things that you should be on top of.

1. The users can restrict when permission dialog appears

Android 11 will discourage repeated requests for a single permission. If your users click on ‘Deny’ twice for a specific permission, it would imply ‘Don’t ask Again’. What this translates to is that you will have to clearly convey and convince the reason behind asking for permission in your marketing methods or through your MVP features.

2. App usage stats will be kept private

For better protecting the users data, Android 11 will store all the users’ app usage statistics in the credential encrypted storage. Thus, neither the app or any system can access the data unless certain coding work is done. Which, in turn, is dependent on two conditions:

Users unlock their devices the first time after system startup
Users switch to their account on the device.

So, until your developer knows the workaround, you will face issues in viewing the app usage statistics.

3. Lowered data redundancy

In situations that involve media playback or machine learning, the application might want to use the same large dataset on another application. In the earlier versions of Android, your and another app had to download a separate copy of the dataset, each.

To lower the data redundancy on disk and the network, Android 11 allows the large datasets to get cached on devices using shared data blobs.

4. Greater clarity on app process exit reasons

Android 11 has introduced a new feature under which reports carrying the reasons for recent process terminations will be generated. The app owners will not be able to gather data around crash diagnostics in detail – whether a process has been terminated because of memory issues, ANRs or other reasons. It is one of the main advantage of new features introduced by Android 11.

5. Expediting incremental APK installation

Installing the large APKs on devices tend to take a long time, even if you made a small change. Seeing how app updates matter, Google has introduced Incremental APK installation in Android 11. It accelerates the process by installing enough of the APK needed to launch the app while streaming the rest of the data in background.

6. Greater support for neural network applications

If your application is based on Machine Learning and Neural Networks, Android 11 will only make it more beneficial. With its new Neural Networks API 1.3, Android is taking efforts to make your Machine Learning apps run smoothly on devices. It is time to bring your AI project management process in line and develop new use cases around the disruptive technology.

7. An infrastructure to benefit from 5G

There are many benefits that 5G brings to mobile apps. With Android 11 now extending full support to the technology, businesses can now benefit from a greater streaming speed, fast file transfer, zero latency – overall, heightened user experience.

The Countdown for Android 11 is on. Don’t Get Left Behind. Let us Help You.

The time between a new OS launch and the time when companies start preparing their application for the version is wide. And generally, the companies that end up taking a lot of time to get their app ready for the next update tend to suffer from the consequences of cut-throat competition.

Our Android developers have already started perusing the Android 11 developer preview document and experimenting around it on our test applications. This means, we will be ready to bring your application on Android 11 in time of its launch.

Get in touch with our team of Android experts to get your plans of migrating your app on Android 11 moving and take benefit of the first mover advantage. But before you do, get an estimate of your android app development cost.

OWASP Mobile Top 10 Security Risks-Real-world Cases

Posted on 16/05/202102/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

Carrying an industry record of developing 100% hack proof applications come with a responsibility and a baseline guarantee that none of the digital solutions developed under our name would face security breach. As a way to achieve that, Anteelo’s Quality Assurance team are familiar with all the possible security risks which an app can face. Knowing the risks makes it easy to ignore pitfalls and write secure apps. Helping us be on top of the game when it comes to assuring security is having complete knowledge of OWASP secure coding practices (Open Web Application Security Project). It is an online community of security specialists who have developed free documentation, learning materials, and tools for building secure mobile and web applications.

Along with other things, they have also compiled a list of OWASP Mobile Top 10 security threats in mobile applications.

While the OWASP security practices document is fairly clear, it can sometimes be difficult for businesses to connect it from real-world cases.

In this article, we will give you a basic overview of Top 10 mobile security risks and give examples of the real world disclosed vulnerabilities for each of them. It will give you an insight into what we prepare for at Anteelo when we work on your application.

Before looking into the risks, let us look into statistics.

NowSecure looked into the apps on Google Play store and App store identified that over 85% of apps violate one of the risks.

Of these applications, 50% have had insecure data storage and somewhere the same number of apps were working with insecure communication risk. Here’s a graph showcasing the percentage of occurence of the OWASP Mobile Top 10 risks

List of 10 Most Common Threats to Mobile Applications and the Best Practices to Avoid Them

M1: Improper Platform Usage

The category of OWASP security testing consists of the misuse of a device functionality or the instance of failure when using platform’s security controls. It can include platform permissions, Android intents, misuse of the TouchID, Keychain, etc.

Real-World Case:

Three iOS apps: “Fitness Balance app”, “Heart Rate Monitor”, and “Calories Tracker app” came into light for bypassing Apple’s Touch ID. They were asking users to use their fingerprint to get fitness information, while they were using it to charge money from the App Store.

Best Practice to Avoid:

The developer must not allow Keychain encryptions through server route and keep the keys in one device only, so that it’s impossible to get exploited on other servers or devices.
The developer must secure the app through Keychain to store the app’s secret that has a dedicated access control list.
The developer must take permission to limit which apps are allowed to communicate with their application.
The developer must control the first of OWASP Mobile Top 10 list by defining the explicit intents and thus blocking all other components to access information present in the intent.

M2: Insecure Data Storage

OWASP consider it a threat when someone gets access to a lost/stolen mobile device or when malware or another repackaged app starts acting on the adversary’s behalf and executes action on mobile device.

An insecure data storage vulnerability usually lead to these risks:

Fraud
Identity Theft
Material Loss.
Reputation Damage
External Policy Violation (PCI)

Real-World Case:

Dating apps like Tinder, OKCupid, and Bumble have time and again been scrutinized for their insecure data storage practices. The security lapses present on these apps vary according to feasibility and severity and feasibility, can expose users’ name, login details, message history, and even location, in addition to other personal account activity.

Best Practices to Avoid:

For iOS, OWASP security practices recommends using purposely made vulnerable apps like iGoat to threat model their development framework and apps. This will help the ios app developers understand how APIs deal with the app processes and information assets.
The Android app developers can use the Android Debug Bridge shell for checking the file permissions of targeted app and DBMS to check database encryption. They should also use Memory Analysis Tool and Android Device Monitor to ensure device memory doesn’t have unintended data.

M3: Insecure Communication

When devising a mobile app, data is exchanged in client-server model. So, when the data is transmitted, it should first traverse the device’s carrier network and the internet. The threat agents could exploit vulnerabilities and intercept sensitive data while traveling across wire. Here are the different threat agents who exist:

Adversary who shares your local network – a compromised Wi-Fi
Network or Carrier devices – cell towers, proxy, routers, etc.
Malware on the mobile device.

The interception of sensitive data via communication channel would end up in a privacy violation, which can lead to:

Identity theft
Fraud
Reputational Damage.

Real-World Case:

Rapid7 security company disclosed several vulnerabilities attached with kids’ smartwatches. Those watches were marketed as ones used by parents for tracking their children and sending them messages or making calls on their smartwatch.

The watches were supposed to be contacted by approved contact numbers through the mode of a whitelist, but the company found that the filters were not even working. The watches even accepted configuration commands via text messages. It meant that a hacker could change the watch settings and put children at risk.

“You can identify where the phone or the child is, you can gain access to audio, or make phone calls to children,” said Deral Heiland, the IoT research lead at Rapid7.

Best Practices to Avoid:

Developers should not only look for leakages over traffic communicated between app and server but also device that holds the app and other device or local network.
Applying TLS/SSL for transporting channels is also one of the mobile app security best practices to consider when it comes to transmitting sensitive information and other sensitive data.
Use certificates given by trusted SSL chain verifications.
Do not send sensitive data over alternate channels like MMS, SMS, or push notifications.
Apply separate encryption layer to sensitive data before giving to the SSL channel.

M4: Insecure Authentication

The threat agents who exploit authentication vulnerabilities do so via automated attacks which makes use of custom-built or available tools.

The business impact of M4 can be:

Information Theft
Reputational Damage
Unauthorized Access to Data.

Real-World Case:

In 2019, a US bank was hacked by a cyber attacker who took advantage of the bank’s website flaw and circumvented the two-factor authentication that was implemented for protecting accounts.

The attacker logged into the system through stolen victim credentials and upon reaching the page where PIN or security answer had to be entered, the attacker used a manipulated string in the Web URL, which had set the computer as a recognized one. This enabled him to cross the stage and initiate the wire transfers.

Best Practices to Avoid:

The app security team must study the app authentication and test it through binary attacks in offline mode for determining if it can be exploited.
The OWASP web application testing security protocols must match those of mobile apps.
Use online authentication methods as much as possible, just like that in case of web browser.
Do not enable app data loading until the server has authenticated the user sessions.
The places where local data us eventual, ensure that it is encrypted through encrypted key derived from users login credentials.
The persistent authentication request must also be stored on the server.
The security team should be careful with device-centric authorization tokens in the app, since if the device gets stolen, the app can get vulnerable.
Since the unauthorized physical access of devices is common, the security team must enforce regular user credential authentication from server end.

M5: Insufficient Cryptography Risks

The threat agents in this case are the ones who have the physical access of data which was encrypted wrongly. Or where a malware is acting on the behalf of adversary.

Broken cryptography generally result in these cases:

Information Theft
Intellectual Property Theft
Code Theft
Privacy Violations
Reputational Damage.

Real-World Case:

Sometimes ago an alert from DHS Industrial Control Systems’ Cyber Emergency Response Team and the Philips advisory warned users of a possible vulnerability in the Philips HealthSuite Health Android app.

The issue which was tracked back to inadequate encryption strength, opened the app to hackers who could get access to users’ heart rate activity, blood pressure, sleep state, weight and body composition analysis, etc.

Best Practices to Avoid:

To solve this one of the most commonly occuring OWASP Top 10 Mobile risks, developers must choose modern encryption algorithms for encrypting their apps. The choice of algorithm takes care of the vulnerability to a great extent.
If the developer is not a security expert, they must refrain from creating own encryption codes.

M6: Insecure Authorization Risks

In this case, the threat agents are able to access someone else’s application typically via automated attacks which use custom-built or available tools.

It can lead to following issues:

Information Theft
Reputational Damage
Fraud

Real-World Case:

The Information security specialists at Pen Test Partners hacked Pandora, a smart car alarm system. In theory, the application is used to track a car, cut off the engine if stolen and lock it until police arrive.

On the other side of the coin, a hacker can hijack the account and get access to all the data and the smart alarm functionalities. Additionally, they could:

Track vehicle movements
Enable and disable alarm system
Lock and unlock car doors
Cut the engine
In the case of Pandora, hackers got access to everything that was talked about inside the car through the anti theft system’s microphone.

Best Practices to Avoid:

The QA team must regularly test the user privileges by running low privilege session tokens for the sensitive commands.
The developer must note that the user authorization schemes go wrong in the offline mode.
The best way to prevent this risk is to run authorization checks for permissions and roles of an authenticated user at server, instead of the mobile device.

M7: Poor Code Quality Risks

In these cases, untrusted inputs are passed by entities to method calls made in the mobile code. An effect of this can be technical issues which can lead to degradation of performance, heavy memory usage, and poor working front-end architecture.

Real-World Case:

WhatsApp last year patched a vulnerability that hackers were taking advantage of for installing surveillance malware called Pegasus Spyware on smartphones. All they had to do was place a WhatsApp audio call on the targeted phone numbers.

Within a simple few steps, hackers were able to get in the users’ devices and access it remotely.

Best Practices to Avoid:

According to the OWASP secure coding practices, the code should be rewritten in the mobile device instead of fixing them at the server side. The developers must note that bad coding at the server side is very different than poor coding at client level. Meaning, both weak server side controls and client side controls should be given separate attention.
The developer must use third party tools for static analysis to identify buffer overflows and memory leaks.
The team must create a third-party libraries list and check it for newer versions periodically.
Developers should see all the client input as untrusted and validate them irrespective of whether they come from users or the app.

M8: Code Tampering Risks

Usually, in this case, an attacker exploits code modification via malicious forms of the apps hosted in the third-party app stores. They might also trick users into installing an application through phishing attacks.

Best Practices to Avoid:

The developers must make sure that the app is able to detect code changes at runtime.
The build.prop file must be checked for the presence of unofficial ROM in Android and to find out if the device is rooted.
The developer must use checksums and evaluate the digital signatures to see if file tampering has taken place.
The coder can make sure that the app keys, code, and data are removed once tampering is found.

M9: Reverse Engineering Risk

An attacker typically downloads the targeted app from the app store and analyzes it inside their local environment with a suite of different tools. Following which, they are able to change the code and make the app function different.

Real-World Case:

Pokemon Go recently faced the security breach glances when it was found that users had reverse engineered the app to know the vicinity of the Pokemons and catch them in minutes.

Best Practices to Avoid:

The best way to safeguard an app against the risk, according to OWASP mobile security, is to use the same tools as the hackers would use for reverse engineering.
The developer must also obfuscate the source code so that it gets difficult to read and then reverse engineer.

M10: Extraneous Functionality Risk

Usually, a hacker looks at the extraneous functionality inside a mobile app in order for discovering the hidden functionalities in the backend systems. The attacker would exploit extraneous functionality from their own systems without any end-users involvement.

Real-World Case: The idea of Wifi File Transfer app was to open port on Android and allow connections from the computer. The problem? An absence of authentication such as passwords, meaning, anyone could connect to a device and get its full access.

Hey! Avoid these React Native App Development Blunders

Posted on 16/05/202103/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

With over 1.6k active contributors working to make React Native a success, the glitter of a bright framework future has not gone unnoticed by developers looking to make a name in the cross-platform world.

The demand of app development with react native is getting from the developers is not just the doing of the fact that the industry has grown to an extent where it is now comparing Native and React Native modes of development. The demand is also driven by the constant updates that makes the framework advanced.

This demand, though, can only go so far. Ultimately, on a ground level, developers will have to learn their way around the development process. Especially on the front of understanding and avoiding React native app development mistakes which can ruin the users experience and their skills.

We have divided the article into four sections to ease the process of getting accustomed with the errors occured during React Native app development and know what it would take to become a developer that commits minimal mistakes.

Why do Developers Love React Native?

1. Because React Native uses JavaScript

JavaScript is one of the languages which a developer starts their career with. And so they have a very detailed resemblance with the subject matter. The fact that React Native relies heavily on JavaScript brings down the learnability curve to a great extent.

2. They get to build native applications

Even though the developers work on JavaScript, they don’t use web view for rendering React Native components. The one reason why you should choose React Native is because it renders real native elements, giving developers the flexibility to use platform specific components such as activity indicator, which gives very platform a recognizable, native-like* feel.

*It is impossible for a cross-platform developer to build fully native applications. The difference will be extremely visible on the UI and UX front.

3. A straightforward installation process

The installation method must always be direct, i.e. minus any complicated steps. The React Native framework can be installed through the Node Package Manager, which is extremely easy for developers with JavaScript background to follow. And even if you lack the understanding of JS, React Native will prevent you from the hassle of downloading binary from the source.

4. Greater productivity

The key to building app faster lies in the developers’ productivity levels. While the reliability on JavaScript already makes the process easier, it also comes with a live reload feature and the freedom to use any IDE or text editor of their choice.

5. Strong community backing

React Native has gained a lot of popularity ever since its launch in 2015. Developers and businesses from all across the globe and industrial background have chosen to go with React Native at the back of the plethora of benefits it offers.

This high demand has in turn resulted in the creation of a strong widespread community working on adjusting the React Native pros and cons on a daily basis.

6. It is truly cross-platform

When we say React Native is a cross-platform app development framework, we don’t just mean using React Native for mobile app development. Using React Native, developers get to expand their skills to smart TVs, smart watches, Windows devices, and even VR headsets.

Even amidst these and several other un-mentioned benefits of React Native development, there are some challenges that inherently come associated with React Native app development. Challenges that experienced developers have come to accept and work around. To eradicate the challenges, wherever you are located, be it Los Angeles, New York, etc, it is advisable to hire a company with app development with react native in New York to build and develop custom react native apps with the latest features.

The thing to note here is that these challenges that you are going to read next in no way imply that we are against React Native. It simply implies that like any other in the process to be perfect framework, there are some prevalent React Native limitations as well. There are in fact, several considerations to be made when developing React Native apps

Challenges Associated with React Native App Development

1. Dependency on Native app developers

Noting how JavaScript works, developers sometimes have to rely on native developers as well. Especially when you have to put heavy computational operations in the application. These apps type force developers to offload computation to the native part of app, which in turn requires a native developer.

2. Limitations in Abstraction Layer

In order to add more functionality in the React Native apps, an abstraction layer is added on native platform. Abstraction Layer in itself comes with some persistent issues – the issues to avoid in React Native app development – like:

Identifying bugs which gets encountered in the abstraction layer is extremely difficult.
High dependency on third-party services and libraries
Dependency on implementing custom designs

3. Zero support for multiprocessing or parallel threading

React Native comprises of a single Javascript thread because of which developers might observe slow performances when they want to execute any processes in parallel.

4. iOS deployment is particularly difficult

In case of React Native, developers find it particularly annoying when they decide to test their iPhone app on any testing services besides Apple’s Testflight, especially since they will have to deal with issues of obtaining provisioning profiles and necessary certificates.

The process is not very difficult on Android though, as it is very smooth and hassle-free to test and deploy Android apps.

As mentioned before, React Native, like any other framework doesn’t come free of challenges. It ultimately comes down to the experience of the developers. For a newbie or less skilled react native developers these challenges would appear as deal-breakers, while for skilled developers it won’t.

The only difference that stands between a skilled and unskilled React Native developer is the knowledge of mistakes that should be avoided in order to build an error free React Native app.

What makes React Native challenging for some is not just the inherent framework limitations but also the React Native app development mistakes that developers unknowingly commit.

The 7 Common React Native App Development Mistakes

1. Wrong estimation

Layout for iOS and Android version – Yes there will be a number of reusable components, but there could also be different layouts. In fact, the mere structure of an application page can be different on iOS and Android completely.
Forms – you should estimate the validation layout as well. When you create app in React Native, you are supposed to write more codes compared to when you create a Hybrid app on suppose Cordova.
If creating Web app – You should check all the different endpoints which are offered by the backend. And because you will have to handle the logic in the app, it should all be coded correctly. You should understand the database structure, how the entities are connected, etc.

[ALSO READ: Top Local Databases for React Native App Development {A 2020 List} ]

2. Wrong redux store planning

As a developer when we get an innovative project, we focus more on planning the app layout and less on the data handling part of it.

Redux helps in storing the data correctly and managing, debugging app states. When planned right, it can be a powerful tool for managing the app data. When not, it can mess up many things.

Another point to not in case of Redux app development is that is not extremely suited for small projects. Even small changes will ask you to write long lines of codes. So, it’ll be better if you choose to go with it for large scale applications and avoid it when choosing React Native for startups.

3. Not reading external modules’ codes

It is not uncommon for us developers to save time through external modules. It makes things easier and faster, especially since they come with documentation.

But, most often than not, modules break or they might not work as anticipated. This is the reason why developers should read the code and treat the step as one of the React Native best practices. Doing it helps to know what is wrong with the module and even how it can be solved.

4. Mutation of state inside render function

The image above highlights how the Datastore and View are interconnected. The datastore contains all your data in component and the view is rendered on the basis of state. It then consumes new state from data store and shows it on the screen.

In order to achieve that, React has a setState() function where the new object state is taken and compared to the previous state.

Finally, a new state is added after merger with the previous state and sent to the state datastore.

This cycle is available all throughout the lifetime of a component when you develop application in React Native.

Now, if you mutate the state directly, the lifecycle gets messed up and it corrupts all the previous states. This leads to app behaving abnormally or even crash. This will also result in you losing track of the states across component and will lead to you writing custom code in place of React. Additionally, you’ll end up having an unmanageable code and a heavy app.

5. Left “console.log” statements

Console log statements are extremely handy. They even provide help with debugging the app execution. But what happens when you leave the log statements in the app?

This can turn out to be a serious issue if you keep the render methods and logics inside, especially those which are asynchronous for they can lead to a bottleneck in JavaScript thread. All this ultimately leads to the application becoming slower.

6. Using stateless component for gaining React Native performance

Some developers still think that what was true before React 16 is true even now.

Stateless component basically means that the component does not extend any class. It basically takes the argument as display and props in the DOM. It comes with benefits like –

Easy testing ability
Fast implementation
Does not use state or the local variables

With the time changing, it has today become wiser for developers to use pure component when they create React Native apps. Here’s why –

Performs shallow compare – This is a special win for complex UI applications as it lowers the render operations. The reason behind it is that it comes with a life cycle method known as shouldComponentUpdate which automatically does shallow comparison and then check if re-render is needed. In case of stateless component, re-render happens when parent component re-renders. But in the case of pure component, re-render only happens when a change is detected in the states or props.

Performs side effects – Developers can even send AJAX request inside componentDidmount or can perform some other DOM operations.

7. Not optimizing React Native images

Optimizing the images in apps built with React Native should be a high priority task. It helps to resize the images locally and then uploading them to cloud storage like the s3 by server and getting the cdn link which then can be returned using API.

Following this process, helps make the image loading process fast.

While these are only 7, there can be a series of others as well. As a developer, your ultimate aim should be to make as few mistakes as possible.

Let us conclude the article by looking into what it would entail to become a developer who doesn’t commit these React Native app development mistakes.

How to Become a Mistakes-Proof React Native App Developer?

First thing first, there is not even a single developer on planet Earth who doesn’t commit mistakes.

Even developers with 10-15 years of experience commit mistakes. Your aim at the end of this article should not be to become a developers who doesn’t commit mistakes. It should be that you don’t commit the React native app development mistakes mentioned in the article and ones which are generally categorized as common in the mobile app development industry.

There are two ways to do that. Ways to become better React Native app developers –

A. Enroll in courses and keep brushing up your skills

Enrolling in courses at the beginning of your career can be a great starting point on the present and future grounds.

Brushing up on the skill is equally necessary for when you are skilled and have years of experience. What happens is when you expand your career and work on a variety of projects, you most often than not lose sight of the technical understanding that you started with. Thus, it always comes across as a plus point to get back to the basics and revise things from scratch.

B. Associate with a company that focuses on training

This part is more valid for newbie developers compared to their experienced counterparts. When you are just starting your career you should associate yourself with a mid-sized company that has Team Leaders to hand-hold you through the practical application of what you learned on an academic level.

The reason I say mid-sized company is because a small sized company usually operates in a time crunch model, so will be working under the expectation that you will be on your A game since the day one. Considering this, it will always be better if you partner with a mid-size business who will focus on your learning.

Knowing the mistakes that can ruin the users experience can be a good starting point for developers who take their job seriously. And another good starting point would be to get associated with a mobile app development company that understands how mistakes are a part of learning and helps you grow.

If you are searching for a company in app development with react native in NewYork, California, Texas, and so forth, send in your queries to sales@appinventiv.com.

FAQs about React Native App Development Mistakes to Avoid

Q. How do you improve react native performance?

There are multiple ways to improve the performance of your React native application:

Avoid unnecessary renders
Use PureComponent instead of Stateless
Optimize the JSON data
Lower the app size

Q. Why use Redux with react native?

Redux tool helps in storing and managing the data, debugging app states. When planned right, it can be a powerful tool for managing the app data. Although considered beneficial, Redux is best suited for the development of complex applications as compared to simple apps, for the number of codes are higher.

Mobile App Development Guide for the Insurtech Sector

Posted on 15/05/202102/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

The insurance sector is known to maintain multiple touchpoints with its clientele. Thanks to business models that safeguard people from unexpected circumstances, they are detail-oriented and require heavy paperwork at most stages of customer enrollment. But the rapid, and recent, technological advancement has seen the finance sector introduce fleets of new digital solutions that place them right at the fingertips of people. As a result of this wave of digital transformation, pre-existing companies and startups in the insurance sector, are exploring the prospect of mobile applications. Lest we forget to stress, aggressively. The new insurance applications, if we can call them that, would need a touch of finesse considering the diversified nature of operations. So what should software developers concentrate on when it comes to Insurtech app.

It is to answer this throbbing question that we have this mini mobile application guide ready for you to take your first steps towards creating innovation in your insurance business.

Why Does An Insurance Company Need a Mobile App?

Insurance, by tradition, has been powered by middlemen. Although taking them entirely out of the picture may not be plausible, mitigating their involvement will grow profit margins, naturally.

Mobile apps allow real-time B2C interaction, without intermediaries. The positivity also flows down to the customer experience, which can never be exaggerated. And insurtech would be too smart for its own good, not to explore this option.

There are three main components that play a vital role in formulating the proverbial pyramid of an insurance company. The pyramid. which had played a major role in helping Wefox raise $110M in 2019.

This includes first the insurer that incorporates and markets financial products. Second, are the third-party entities that provide the services covered by the insurer. And the third is the end-user, the customer who has opted in to be insured.

Mobile insurance solutions offer the following advantages to insurance companies at the top of the pyramid:

Establish Customer Contact

Buyers are more conscious of spending than before. As per stats, 85% of the customers conduct online research before placing their purchase order. Insurance mobile apps make a fine impression in convincing people of instant support in dire need. A study discovered that up to 63% of its sample population was inclined to communicate with a chatbot. Therefore we have reason to believe registered policy-holders will favor to download and track policies over mobile. Building on this, they can draw a comparison between multiple products and shortlist the ones with better benefits.

Increase User Reach

Provide good customer service and turn clients into business affiliates. Referral programs can get you more buyers to loop in provided your mobile insurance solutions are state of the art. There are dual benefits to this. First, optimizing customer recruitment cycles would free up time for insurance agents to target bigger, better clients. And second, you can advertise your mobile insurance platform in related apps to target more customers with semantics marketing.

Study Customer Data

The insurance industry can tap into mobile analytics which they can analyse to an extent like never before. Insurance applications can easily gather the following types of structured data:

Identity Data – This includes name, D.O.B, physical address, telephone information, email Id, and or links to social media profiles such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Quantitative Data – This is transactional data such as bank account details, credit score, frequency of payments, etc.

Descriptive Data – Insurers may need their customers to disclose property details, car ownerships. professional standing, educational background, along with the family tree.

Qualitative data – This includes subjective/behavioral details such as favorite color, hobbies, etc.

Collecting such vivid information, companies operating in the insurance market can subsequently filter the best-fit prospects for upselling.

Facilitate Convenient Services

One of the most common KRAs of those in the finance-frontline is client visits. This could be either for background checks or personal form submission or a routine update of information. Be that as it may, the current COVID-19 crisis does not permit face-to-face screenings. Moreover, the coronavirus onset has led to a rise in demand for insurance applications. As per a study by Lincoln Financial Group, digital alternatives increase the likelihood of people opting in for life insurance. Make hay while the sun shines.

Universal Features for Insurance Apps

Anteelo, as one of the renowned financial app development company, has appreciable experience in creating cutting edge on-demand digital products. Coupling experience with client feedback, we recommend against loading an app with features just to make it look fab. There has to be synergy between the color palettes, smart use of white spaces, typographic fonts, and strategic positioning of icons and images. Only then does an app have a life of its own. After taking care of such design elements we can refocus our aim towards integrating the right feature sets.

To give you an overview of the Fintech sector that is attracting investors’ attention, there are four categories of apps that can be developed in the insurtech domain:

Life Insurance
Car Insurance
Travel Insurance
Health Insurance

Apps must have a strong backend. They should be able to withstand peak rises in traffic, or if the company decides to implement a new software system without many amendments to the architecture.

Based on our experience, we will first list the mutual features that can be found in all of the above categories. These features formulate the kernel of a general application guide for Fintech app ideas. Barring few niche specifications, the following features remain steady and ever-present especially during a fintech app development of any kind:

1. Admin Panel

This is the introductory page where the basic information about the insured person is displayed. Make sure it is lean, clean along with clear call to action buttons. Take the Geico insurance app for instance. It’s a car insurance app and hence the profile page displays information related to vehicle IDs, roadside assistance, payment buttons and an option to switch policies. Pretty simplistic.

2. Policy Details

This page displays the details of the policy, the manner, and the extent of your benefits. Continuing the same example, since Geico is an auto insurance app, it displays information about several policies that a single user could be enrolled into such as one for the car, the other for a bike, and so on.

3. Quote & Filters

A very useful feature particularly in finance app development. In the previous section, we listed the kind of data that an insurer could collect through a mobile app. The Quote-tab offers a feature where the app can fetch your data from its records and either connect you to an insurance agent or directly state the price of a policy. Assuming the company has the resources to work with Big Data, it can pitch discounted prices or more benefits to customers based on their frequency of asking/exploring new policies.

4. File a Claim

Integrating a claims-filing section remains the most prioritized stage of financial application development. The run-around days to lodge claims are a thing of the past. Submitting proofs should be as simple as clicking a picture, be it from the scanner of the app or the camera of the phone. If the entire process can be concluded on a single page, all the better.

5. Payment Gateway

No points for guessing, integration of payment gateway is super necessary for any form of finance mobile app development. The gateway should accept payments from all major network providers such as Visa, Master Card, etc. In addition to that automated billing for EMIs or a single click payment process should be integrated.

6. Customer Support

Chatbots are not extraordinary anymore. Automated responses act as a quick-fix for run of the mill questions. But what about accidental circumstances. You can’t expect a user who’s stranded with a broken vehicle to rely on pre-feeded answers. As a result, integrate a Request a Call Back or Connect with a Representative option. Such in-app call functionality will serve to make the app what it actually is, a disaster averting, quick response machinery.

7. Push Notifications

Businesses, in general, don’t miss opportunities to enter a new market segment, let alone insurance companies. The latter might even tweak its business models, should the need present itself. Whereas seasonal offers are heard of, the idea of a flash sale was experimented with by Liberty Insurance in the not quite distant past. You need an excuse for giveaways and so do the customers for buying your products. Therefore, send regular push notifications informing people of their outstanding sum and any upcoming policies they can swap their current ones with.

8. Document Upload/Storage

How would the customer upload their documents, let alone a photo, if the Fintech application development did not incorporate it? Not only must the mobile app allow document upload from local file directories but also import, if need be, from third party servers as in the case of emails.

In our lifetime, and we’ve only just begun, Anteelo – the Clutch backed top Fintech app development company – has worked with over 12 Fintech companies whose solutions facilitate a user base of over 5 million people.

Where Does Your Business Go From Here?

To the stratosphere if you shake hands with one of the most promising Fintech app development companies. We don’t like self-glorification. It would suit you more to go through our comprehensive product suit and decide for yourself. But just so we know we did our bit, if there is anything under the sun in Fintech/insurtech, that you’re interested in, we’d be happy to burn our night lamp for you.

App Development for Foldable Smartphones

Posted on 15/05/202102/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

2019 was the landmark year where the talks of foldable smartphones reached a zenith state.

The news of Samsung preparing to launch its innovative foldable offering had already been doing the rounds for several years. But in 2019, with Google announcing its partnership with Samsung on this innovation, the rumours became a reality and a number of device manufacturers soon started doing the homework to enter the space.

This enthusiasm of device manufacturers took very less time to ripple down to the app development economy, which started doing homework of their own: Preparing for the design and technical nitty-gritty needed to deliver a minimal learning curve, impeccable experience to the users in a brand new environment.

Before we head on to the parts where we look into the intricacies of app development for foldable phones and what you can do to prepare your mobile app for foldable smartphones, let us look into its current state.

Table of Content

The State of Foldable Smartphones
How Would Foldable Phones Impact the App Development Process?
How to Prepare Your Mobile App for Foldable Technology?

The State of Foldable Smartphones

Here’s a visual looking into the current state of foldable smartphones –

The numbers that the statistics mentioned above presents highlight that once the foldable phones start flooding in the market, they will not become an instant hit. It will take some time for them to create a position in the smartphone sector. But, like every technological disruption, while the wave may be slow, it will grow massive in no time.

This, in turn would need both device manufacturers and Android app development companies to prepare in advance.

How Would Foldable Smartphones Impact the App Development Process?

While on the surface level it appears that it is only about having flexible UX in mobile apps, but the impact is a lot more massive.

Foldable phones means more space for the developers to create immersive and detailed experiences for all the different types of multi-window.

Video streaming apps can use the increased screen size to show videos in larger orientation or to add extra controls or features in the app.
Calendar apps will be able to open a complete month in place of week
Banking apps will open multiple account information in the multi-window app screen in place of initial one
Business apps will be able to add in more functionalities, like reading emails while perusing a document, etc.
Content creators will be able to bounce around between multiple apps.

Let us look into the different ways foldable smartphones can have an impact on the application development process.

A. Quality Supersedes Everything

Foldable phones will come with multiple orientations, aspect ratios but what will remain the same is the quality expectations. The users will expect you to deliver them the same flawless and glitch free quality and app flow that they are used to.

Considering this, the onus of providing high quality digital products will increase when you venture into the app development for foldable phones space.

B. Greater Test Cases

With a massive number of foldable phones soon to hit the smartphone market, the app development team will have to work around a great number of test cases – all at the back of the complications that come attached with multi-window app configuration.

C. Feedbacks Take a Pivotal Position

An effect of building apps for foldable phones is an extended feedback collection process. Since you will be taking a traditional application to a new space, there will be a lot of feedback coming your way especially on the transition front.

Noting this, it would be necessary that you add room for attending to the changes in your Agile scrum process.

D. Increased App Development Time and Cost

Another crucial impact that the mobile app development economy will face will be in terms of extended app development time and cost estimate.

Optimizing apps for foldables ensuring that it works glitch free in all the different modes will require a lot of design, development, and testing efforts, that in turn will bring in a price hike.

How to Develop Apps for Foldable Smartphones?

Like every mobile app development process, let us divide the process of creating apps for multiple screens in three ways too.

Designing for foldable smartphones

There are primarily four things that you will have to put into consideration when initiating app design for foldables.

A. Two States – There are two states in every foldable smartphone – unfolded and folded screens, aka main display and cover display.

Unfolded state: this is the place where a phone transforms into a tablet, giving space to the companies for enriching experience. This extra space can be used for giving greater context and adding secondary actions or experiences to the apps.

Folded state: in this foldable app design state, the phone looks like your traditional smartphone, which is operated using one hand.

B. One or Two-Handed App Design

States change the whole experience – even the one of how the device is held. Presently, people operate smart phones with one hand, but in the unfolded state, they will have to use both their hands. This will change the design dynamics in a way that the important UI and UX elements will have to be kept within the thumb and other fingers’ area.

C. Multi Window

Because the real estate in case of foldable smartphones is much greater, multitasking should always be considered. Meaning, as designers, you will have to prepare for the time where another application with its own set of design and functionality will be sharing the screen with your app and look into your multi-window life cycle as well.

D. Screen Continuity

The user experience must seamlessly move from the folded to the unfolded state and then back to the folded state. There should be minimal to zero change happening in the layout, which would increase the app flow ambiguity.

Technical preparations for foldable phones

Like in the case of designing, the developers’ work will also be segregated into four parts of app development for foldable phones processes. While with Android 11, Google will be extending support to foldables, for now, let us look into all of them in detail.

A. Screen/ App Continuity

As mentioned in the last section, app screen continuity means that when an app runs on a foldable smartphone should transition from an screen state to another automatically and seamlessly. The app must always resume in the same location and state.

What you’ll have to do is make resizable app through dynamic resizing. It is done by setting resizeableActivity=true. It offers maximum compatibility with whatever environments and factors your application encounters.

In case you forget this step, the system might automatically resize your app without the guarantee of the right size, configuration and aspect ratio. Like shown below.

B. New Screen Ratios

Android 10 and higher would support a wide range of aspect ratios. In foldables, the form factors would vary from a super high long and thin screen to 1:1 ratio. For being compatible with the devices, you must test the apps for as many screen ratios as possible.

If you are not able to support a few of these ratios, you must use the maxAspectRatio and minAspectRatio for indicating the high and low ratios that the app can handle.

C. Multi-Window

Having two apps run side-by-side has been made common by Google since some time. What the foldable technology introduces is that it allows three or even more apps to run at the same time. Moreover, the technology gives them the capability to share content with each other.

In case of Android 9 what used to happen was that only the application in focus used to be the resumed state and all the other visible activities were paused. In the case of Android 10, it changed. The activities remained in resumed state even when in the multi-window mode. This is known as multi-resume.

In order to opt-in the multi-resume feature, following manifest meta-data has to be added –

D. Multi-Display

The tenth OS version and higher supports multi screen Android display. If an app is running on a device with multiple displays, the users can easily move them from one display to another. These multi-resume applies to the multi-screen scenarios also.

An app is able to specify which display must run when it is launched, or when another activity is created. The behavior is dependent on activity launch mode which is defined in manifest file, and in the intent flags and the options set by people who launch the activity.

An activity must check the present display in onCreate and onConfigurationChanged when handled. Android app developers must update the layouts and resources when there is a change in displays.

Additionally, there are these things that a developer must take care of –

Activity vs app context
Display cutouts
Use of secondary screen

App Testing for Foldable Devices

When it comes to testing the application, the Android QA team will have to ensure that the app reacts to the – Multi-window and multi-resume functionality, Resizing & new screen ratios, and Configuration changes.

Role of Technology in Real State during Pandemic

Posted on 15/05/202103/06/2021 by Anteelo Master

For a few years now technology has been a driving force behind innovations in the real estate sector. But when it comes to complete digitalization, real estate tech has not been one of the pacesetters.

A situation that the industry was forced to correct in 2020.

COVID-19 driven traveling restrictions and the fact that it brought open houses to a halt brought the usage of technology to the forefront, marking a new beginning for several real estate tech firms on the way.

As the present situation stands, the longer the pandemic stays, the greater will be the chances of digitalization efforts sticking with the real estate software development process in the long run. For an industry whose technology adoption spotlight was substituting home viewing with a video, the technological advancements in store will be nothing less than a true revolution.

When you look at these forced real estate technology advancements from a real estate tech firm front, will be nothing less than good news. By using next-gen technologies like Blockchain, AI, AR/VR, etc. the proptech industry will be able to keep its growth momentum intact.

Let us, deep-dive, into the state of real estate and technology combination and how it is setting a new trend for the real estate technology startups – one that would continue post-pandemic.

The pandemic has dramatically expedited the merger of real estate and technology in a way that the sector is on the path of becoming contactless and technologically rich. With a plethora of new efficiencies been brought about by technological innovations, the functioning of property management stands to change for the good.

Here are some of the most glaring technologies which are helping the sector sail through the coronavirus crisis:

1. Automation of business practices

One of the most important and yet common examples of technology in the real estate industry has been the arrival of automation. Touted as the by-product of artificial intelligence in real estate, automation can be seen across marketing, engagement practices, and business processes. Here are a few automation areas that have risen in popularity during the pandemic:

Lead generation through website forms
Omni-channel syncing of leads
Lead nurturing through drip emails or automated workflows
Transaction and tasks management
Financial and accounts automation
Property inspection automation through Spectora

2. Virtual home tours

By far one of the most loved pandemic-driven technology in real estate industry is the virtual home tour. Going by an AppFolio survey, “71% of property management companies said their priority of virtual showings has increased,” and “64% believe they’re here to stay.”

The technology going beyond 2D photographs, video conferencing tools, and interactive 3D models pose to be a tool that makes COVID showing process an unprecedented success.

Virtual showings come with the value of extending beyond the current climate. It offers prospects greater flexibility in the apartment hunting process. With conveniences ranging from easing schedules, visiting houses in far-away areas virtually, etc. virtual property showing is something that is going to stay.

3. Cloud adoption

The one issue that real estate technology ventures have been trying to solve across the years is the reliance on papers. Streamlining of real estate procedures keeping digital platforms at the center is a grand step businesses could take for continuing to serve buyers/sellers through the stay-at-home orders.

The benefits of this disruptive technology in real estate can be seen in:

Reliable security and storage
Reduction of operational costs
Gives real-time sharing and accessibility feasibility

4. Streamline paperwork with Blockchain

In a traditional real estate economy, the property management process is considered to be highly complex, especially since multiple stakeholders are a part of it.

Property management can either be done offline through manual paperwork or through independent software. A result of this is that information remains confined to a database – a problem that property technology startups aim to solve.

However, with the increasing role of blockchain for property transactions, the future of real estate can be changed.

Real estate mobile app development done on the premise of a blockchain-based property management system uses smart contracts that can ease the process surrounding signing the lease agreements to complying with filing maintenance requests and cash flow.

A secondary field where a real estate software development company can see Blockchain impacting the real estate apps sector is deed management.

Defect in deed paperwork can make it illegal to proceed with deed management process until the issue is resolved. In case an issue emerges, property owners are liable to pay heavy legal fees ensuring the accuracy of property titles. The application of Blockchain in real estate can be applied here to make the paperwork secure and transparent.

Parting Words

Looking at the future of the real estate sector, technology inclusion would continue to grow and restructure how transactions are conducted, thanks to COVID-19. One key factor that pandemic won’t change however is the need for personal relationships. Property agents, investors, brokers, and lenders must continue to develop their influence sphere. When you partner with a real estate app development company you must keep the human part of the process into consideration.

Boost Development: Custom Android Templates

Posted on 14/05/202117/05/2021 by Anteelo Master

Every time when we work on a new project, we have to write a lot of code repeatedly and over a period of time, it becomes very tedious. I experienced it while creating an Android Application where I had to write too much boilerplate code whenever I created an Activity or Fragment. Not only it takes time, but also causes frustration to the developer.To overcome that, Android Studio has some inbuilt templates which are also helpful when we start working on any application. For example, when we create Activity or Fragment, we just need to write the name of the class and that’s it. Android Studio will write some necessary snippets for us.The solution to this problem is provided by the Android Studio, i.e Custom Templates. In this blog, we will take the example of the RecyclerView adapter and will create a template. Next time when we will create RecyclerView and want to create an adapter, we don’t need to write the boilerplate code again. This will surely help us in speeding up our development.

So what is a Template?

Templates are the files that have some boilerplate code. For example, when we create Activity, Service, Fragment from the list of predefined options, we see a lot of boilerplate code already written from the predefined templates.

Let’s create our own live template of creating RecyclerView adapter with inner ViewHolder class with the below mentioned steps-

1. 1. Right click on the package folder and then select New->Edit File Templates
  2. Click + button to create a new template. You can name this template as you like.
  3. Paste the following code in this file.
  4. ${<VARIABLE_NAME>} is used to create variables in the templates. When you use this template, there will be a prompt asking to enter values for them to create code.
  5. The #if directive is used to check that package is empty or not. It adds the name passed as the ${PACKAGE_NAME} variable for the non-empty package.
  6. The #parse directive is used to insert the contents of another template.
  7. Now again click on package folder and then select New and you will be able to see your template there. Clicking on that template will open a prompt box to fill the values defined in the above variable.
Isn’t that cool? We can also create similar templates and can use anywhere in the project to avoid the boilerplate code. Android Studio is a very powerful tool and features like templates are really helpful in speeding up the development process. These templates are really helpful if you’re working with other team members so that all of them can use it to their advantage.

Andriod’s in-app update API

Posted on 14/05/2021 by Anteelo Master

We all use a lot of apps on our devices these days. One for shopping, one for banking, others for ordering food, booking tickets, buying groceries and what not. But the moment the app shows “a new update is pending” notification, we mostly ignore it. As a result, we miss downloading the latest and important feature which can further improve the experience of the app. That’s the story from a user’s end.But on the developer’s side, the story is a bit different. We want all our users to stay updated with the latest version of the app. We imagine users clicking on the “update now” button and start using the new feature almost instantly. But the harsh truth is that only a few users keep their apps updated with new versions.The reason is because most of the times, users don’t bother about opening play store to update their apps. In other words, they don’t have the interest or the time to open and update the app until the app stops doing certain tasks which they want to accomplish.

Google has come up with the solution to this problem. It offers an in-app update feature to update the app without interacting/opening the play store. With this feature, a user can download the latest features while using the app. So let’s dive in to see how we can use this feature.

The in-app update is available in Android Play Core library, that shows prompt to the user for an in-app update. There are two different ways in which we can prompt our users that an update is available.

Flexible Flow

If the core functionality of the app doesn’t get affected by the released features then you can use the Flexible Update flow. It allows user to download the update in the background. Once downloading is done, user will be asked to restart the app. Doing so will update the app during the restart process. The benefit of using this Flexible flow is that a user can use the app until the download process is finished. So there is no block time while using the app. User can still use the features as the downloading process is being done in the background.

Immediate Flow

If the core functionality of the app is highly dependent on the released features then you can use the Immediate Update flow. In this feature, a dialog will be prompted to ask the user for downloading and installing updates. The user can’t use the app until the downloading, installing and restarting the app.

Checking if an update is available or not –

For a good user experience, we should always ask the user to update the app only if updates are available. We can check if an update is available or not from the backend.

For that you can use the AppUpdateManager, which will give the AppUpdateInfo object that contains the information about if we need to show the update dialog or not. The updateAvailability method returns these values for the update state :

UNKNOWN

UPDATE_AVAILABLE

UPDATE_IN_PROGRESS

DEVELOPER_TRIGGERED_UPDATE_IN_PROGRESS

Start an update –

Once you have checked for the updates and in case of updates are available then you can use

startUpdateFlowForResults() to update the app.

We will get the following request codes in onActivityResult.

RESULT_CANCELED : This will indicate that user has denied/canceled for the update.

RESULT_OK : This will indicate that user has accepted the update.

RESULT_IN_APP_UPDATE_FAILED : This will indicate that there is some problems occurred during the update.

So now we know how to use in-app update feature to update the app. It’s a good practice to use the Flexible Flow to update the app when there are very few updates and it doesn’t affect the core functionality of your app. However, you have to make a decision on which flow to use as per your requirements and the kind of app you are making. I hope I was clear and concise in my blog and I hope now you have an understanding of how in-app update API work in Android.