During the last decade, mobile app use has increased and they have become an important part of everybody’s life. Even our everyday chores like booking an appointment with the doctor, shopping, online classes, and a lot more are available at just a click. Innovative mobile app ideas for 2021 that offer people the ideal solution to their requirements have a solid possibility of succeeding.
TOP 10 INNOVATIVE MOBILE APP IDEAS TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS IN 2021:
Lyrics Tracker App
There are times when we hear some songs, we like them as well, but, we don’t remember their lyrics. All that we have is a fragment of a song or its humming part. And there are times when lyrics come to us and we do not know the song. In both these cases, we work hard to find its music. This gives us an outstanding idea for an app. A lyrics tracker app to find the song from the humming or some lyrics. What can be better is you just sing the part that you know and the mobile app finds the song and its singer.
Language Translation App
While travelling to foreign countries, most of us find us difficult to connect with the natives of the country because we don’t know their language. So, a language translation mobile app can be helpful. Its feature goes beyond basic translation like its ability to interpret a conversation immediately which can be very helpful for travellers. The right language translation app should be available in all languages, should be simple to understand and use, and have the most relevant features.
Remote Healthcare Service App
Considering the pandemic situation, it can be a good idea to create a healthcare mobile app. Making healthcare reach everyone is an excellent app idea. If you launch a healthcare app, it is sure to succeed in the present scenario. Build an app that offers the facility to get any doctor at your doorsteps so that people can get video consultations. You can also add the feature of making automatic appointments after a specific time. With advanced features like predictive analytics and artificial intelligence, the app should allow doctors to diagnose as well as treat diseases.
Travel Plan App
All of them plan dreamy trips. However, when the right time comes, we get stuck. However, a smart travel planner can be beneficial. A Travel Plan app can give a new aspect to the older traveller apps. It allows the users to synchronize their office schedules with this app. The app should be able to collect data inputs of your favourite destinations. The travel app should also use your preference and schedule to meet your common trips to offer the best trip dates.
Scan And Shop App
These apps have become quite famous in the eCommerce industry. This kind of app will let you search for the product you like and find out about them at online stores or a closet alternative to them to help you buy them immediately. They let users communicate and interact flawlessly with print marketing, catalogues, items, or in-shop signage, offering them helpful experiences and content.
Restaurant Booking App
All of us enjoy arranging family get-togethers and dining out. It can be very helpful to make a reservation by phone or online between the daily hustle and busy lives. With a restaurant booking app, guests can make a reservation in advance to confirm a table at the restaurant at a specific time. By simply filtering your cuisine options by showing locations on the map, prices, and more, you will be able to check different restaurants.
Productivity App
This app can make your work as well as your personal tasks more efficient and simpler to complete. A productivity app is available in various categories like individual productivity apps, office, and business apps, and collaboration apps. In today’s world, most people use some kind of productivity apps to track their productivity. So, it is one of the topmost ideas for mobile app development.
Pregnancy Helper App
Nowadays, people focus more on wellness and health. The pregnancy helper apps help pregnant women and their families with helpful information during the different stages of pregnancy. They give information on what they should do, what should they eat, how should they complete care of themselves, what should they do and not do, and more. The information must be from qualified and authentic medical experts only.
Karaoke App
Even non-singers can now turn into singers with karaoke apps. Karaoke apps will not just offer the ability to sing for background music but will also include many enhancements that will sound similar to your singing idols. This idea can offer you a spark of creativity to make an app with creative functionalities that will offer the targeted audience exceptional value-added services and assist you to earn healthy profits.
A Wish Fulfiller App
It’s an era where individuals make many new year resolutions, but don’t follow them. They make decisions like reading books, learning new things, staying healthy, and travelling around. But such decisions do not last for a month. However, things can become different if you keep getting continuous motivation for fulfilling your wishes. It’s human nature to become inspired when somebody motivates you every day. In this case, an app is a perfect option. If the app reminds you continuously about your targets, you will put in the effort. It would be excellent if there are a few appreciation messages as well once people reach their goals.
The world of mobile applications is in the state of constant competition. With the increasing competition, you need to look for someone who can actually keep you ahead of all the other. That is where this article might help you, we have shortlisted the best android app development companies of Delhi for you to choose from:
Anteelo
Best in the business and one of the most promising companies of all times, Anteelo has paved its way to the top agencies providing a range of services ranging from: social media marketing, e-commerce development, technology consulting, UI Mobile/web and many more. Having worked with several reputed brands like Toyota, TCS, Subway and others, their professionals know just the exact recipe to smooth experience and outstanding work.
Squareboat is a leading IT services provider which has established a name in the industry by delivering great bespoke web and mobile applications. With a google rating of 4.5 starts and positive reviews of various google users, Squareboat has also bagged a few well reputed works like that of PVR cinema, Max estates, Oxfordcaps and many more. They use latest technologies and promise to deliver the best to their clients.
Logic clump is a team of developers working passionately to tun the visions of their clients into reality by providing with some of the most interactive and attractive layouts for their apps and websites. They have worked upon several apps of different jargons. They believe in working to the best of their abilities and deliver amazing outcomes.
Established in 2014, with 65 members of professional in their team and a splendid record of 99% of satisfied client, /NetScape India is also worth a mentioning in the list. They provide world-class web designing, web development, E commerce websites and Internet marketing services to clients from across the globe. Innovation and creativity are their A1s.
Established in 2006, Techmagnate provides marketing services like Web Design, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Pay-Per-Click Advertising, and Application Development. They believe in completely re-designing and working with their best of abilities with a team that has mad love for their profession, to serve the best to their clients. They promise to take the clients’ inputs and implement them into the bigger plan.
Oodles studio has an expertise in user experience and design and branding. They have been working with several reputed b rands and have a team of enthusiast who have always served excellence in the field. They build responsive digital designs for websites, mobile sites, and mobile applications with interactive and engaging user interfaces using the right mix of colors, graphics, and functionalities.
Serving brilliant craft, Designoxy, visualizes the perfect outcomes that are filled with creativity and help their clients’ websites to stand out. They have worked with several brands like Freewill, Honda, CEAT and others.
A website is a need for today business owners who have not website are losing their valuable leads because at the same time your competitor is fetching all your leads or sales using website. Maybe you are now aware of website benefits that’s why you are here. Here we’ve talked about how you can find best custom web development services.We know picking the best custom web development services is not an easy task but with this post, we help you to decide to choose the best one. Make sure you read the full article and then apply the points while looking for custom web development services. It will really help you to find what you are looking for so best of luck.
1. Experience
You need to look for a company who has a decent year of experience. In this age of competition, many companies open and shut down every day. Now the company which stands for years means they have good knowledge and knows every in and out in the industry. They obviously stay up to date with latest technologies and latest trends. If you choose a company which has years of experience in custom web development services then it is sure that you will get an awesome output.
2. Previous Work
Now if the company has years of experience then it really doesn’t mean that the particular company will give you the best result. Actually, you need to check the company’s previous work and if possible contact the client which they mentioned on their website. Company’s previous work will tell you more about the company without even contacting them. Check their previous websites or work and check the functionality, design etc. If they are creative in their work then no doubt you will also get something out of the box.
3. Dedicated Team
There are many processes involved in custom web development services. It is not a one-man task, it requires a full dedicated team. Generally, web development starts with a plan, after that how it will look, what functionality needs, framework, testing, finding bugs and more. Each single task needs to be handled by professionals so he/she can eliminate all errors or flaws.
4.Content and SEO
If you want to up in the game then you need fresh and unique content anyhow. Content is king and you can’t ignore it. Apart from that second most important thing is SEO. If you neglect the SEO of your website then you will be out of the game and your competitor will overtake you. Well writing fresh content and keep an eagle eye on your website SEO can be a pain for you, so if you have a budget then it is a good idea to outsource the task to the company. You can ask the same company which is providing the custom web development services definitely they have professionals for it if not then you can look for other company but it is better if you pick the same company for all task.
5. Budget
This is obviously the first thing pops up in mind when you start reading about Custom web development services in india. Well, all companies have a different price. Some may provide the same service at a lower price or vice versa. Here you need to be very careful because when you see services with low price obviously you will prefer it first but you will get good service it is not a guarantee. Actually, you need to consider all the factors mentioned here to before taking any decision. At the end, if you decide you pick the custom web development services which charge bit high then feel free to go with it.
6. Maintenance and Support
When your website grows definitely it need be updated time to time because you need to update your website according to your visitors, add new achievements, functions and more. Moreover, you also need some security features in future so you need to be prepared for it. Many custom web development services offer full support which means whenever you face any problem in your website they help you to resolve it free of cost. Now it really doesn’t count any website update but yes you can expect some small favors.
Hope you find this article useful. Here at RichestSoft you will find the best custom web development services and apart from it, we are into mobile app development, SEO, SMO, content writing, SalesFOrce and other IT solutions. Feel free to contact us and get a quote on your website.
Taxi booking service is mushrooming everywhere and has emerged as one of the reliable way to commute within or outside the city. When we talk about taxi service, Uber is one of the name that has become synonymous with it. Since it’s inception, Uber is pleasing users across the globe and the only point of contact between passengers and Uber is mobile app. Although there are hundreds of taxi booking mobile apps but what has evolved over a period of time, since the inception of Uber, is technology development on the booking front.
With the current scenario in the market, Uber is boosting more and more entrepreneurs with the idea to repeat its feet and create something similar. However, developing aTaxi mobile app like Uber and going live on app store and play store is just not that easy and two separate application with different functionality:
Passenger app – for those who looks to book taxi
Driver app – Get orders and they ride passenger to their destination
Its features plays vital role; let’s zero down some of the basic ones:
Basic features of passenger app:
Register/login: You can provide varied options to register like social media integration, e-mail etc.
Booking Interface: Here customer needs to add address, select a cab type and set the pickup location
Tracking: Track driver’s location, status updation during or after a ride
Fare calculator: Calculates the estimated cost from source to destination before booking
Payments: Cashless, plain cash , can pay automatically via plastic money and invoice is received to phone or e-mail
Push Notifications: Keeps the user updated on order status, estimated time, taxi arrival, car model, driver’s contact number, car number and much more
Messaging, ratings and reviews, booking history: Messaging driver for the perfect pick up, feedback and ratings given by the customer for the service provided, displays the details of previous booking
Basic features of driver app:
Register/profile/status: Required to provide extra verification details like taxi number, licence during registration, status functionality helping them to adjust the schedule and availability
Booking: Options to accept or reject the incoming order, information of customer location, booking history etc.
Push Notifications: For order alerts, taxi booking data, for order updates and completion of ride
Navigation: Google Maps integration to get optimal direction of customer’s destination
Cost estimation and reports: Provides the estimated cost with discounts and offer the insights of trip status, payroll, history etc.
Furthermore, to streamline process and driver from the central point, a web app is required to manage and review all in-app activity like interactions, ride routes, payments and much more.
How Uber Works?
Passengers let the Uber know that they need a ride; Uber asks you about the location; finds the nearby driver and notifies the duration of driver’s arrival. After completion of ride, cost is automatically charged from your card and then passenger needs to provide feedback about the ride.
So to build such paradigm, what technology stack does Uber rely on?
It relies on some giant foundations like:-
Geo-location: The cab providing service like UBER depends on GPS (Global positioning system) technology to track the current position of the customer. When Uber started its venture, the technology wasn’t that progressive, but today the things have become easier. The geo-location depends on:-
Identifying a device’s location: To identify the location of the customer, Uber app for iOS uses CoreLocation framework which provides classes and protocols to configure and schedule delivery and send location event to the server. This framework also enables the Uber to define geographic region and track the device moments as it crosses the boundary.
The Uber app for Android uses Google’s Location API which can manage underlying location technology meeting all the needs to tailor the app when integrating location-based features.
Providing the right direction: For developing iOS app, MapKit is used to display point-to-point directions on map. It registers the app as routing app then makes direction available to the Map apps and other mapping software.
For developing on Google, Google Maps Android API is used to make routes and directions possible.
Integration with mapping software: Uber implemented Google Maps for both iOS and Android version and to avoid paying Google for access of their solutions, Uber opt for mapping technology companies to solve the logistic issues.
Messaging or Notification: After you order a ride, Uber sends you a couple of notifications like when driver accepts the request, driver is few miles away, cancellation of ride etc. Uber text messages are powered by the Twilio telecommunications provider and you may choose to receive these messages either via SMS or through the push notifications. To implement push notifications in the iOS app, Uber uses Apple Push Notifications Service, and for the Android app Uber uses Google Cloud Messaging (GCM).
Payment Integration: For calculating fare, Uber looks for the factors like base fare, cost/mile and cost/min. Uber promotes a cashless system which means you can pay via plastic card, e-wallets or use a promo code which removes error prone human-to-human cash transfers. Uber chose to partner with Braintree, one of the leaders in the mobile payment market, to accept card payments and also uses PayPal’s Card.io service for credit card scanning on iOS.
The iOS users can make of the Apple Pay for making the payment and the Android users can use the Google Wallet for the same purpose. It is better to collaborate with some online payment company to make the experiences better and faster.
Advantages Of Uber Like App
Reduce the number of drunk drivers
Saves your money for commuting
Provides opportunity to make extra cash for the driver
Makes the way to the customer’s destination really beautiful
Advantages Of Having Mobile App
Having a white label mobile app gives your taxi business a broad visibility and an automatic customer boost.
Reduces the overhead costs generated by managing everything manually and connecting passengers to the drivers in real-time enables the business to grow smartly in autopilot mode.
Leads to the higher profit as the taxi service provider can develop their own app and save on the commission paid to the cab platform.
Well It Depends! There Are Several Factors Affecting The Total Cost
Your budget
Number of features
Design of UI/UX
Backend development
Web development
Security
If you wish to develop a basic taxi service app then it will cost around $15,000 USD to $20,000 USD; Uber like app $20,000 USD to $35,000 USD. It takes 2 to 3 weeks approximately to design the app and 10 to 12 weeks approximately for development process. Lastly, the cost varies according toapp development company you hire to get your job done.
People are assessing React Native as the best way to get their app on both iOS and Android devices in the least time, money and efforts. But is it really effective? Should one choose React Native over Native (iOS & Android) platforms? Switching app development platform involves higher setup cost and can bring a great impact on your daily processes. It won’t be wrong to say that it can be the costliest decision to undo when something considerable has been developed.To assist you in clearing the doubts and come up with a better choice, we are sharing our thoughts about React Native app development in this blog.
React Native
React Native is one of the most emerging, open- source application development frameworks. It was developed by Facebook with the motive to bring the concepts from web development into mobile development. In this framework, development is done in JavaScript. However, the app appearance seems to be like a native app.
“More than 1000 mobile apps use React Native technology, including the Facebook app, Instagram app, Airbnb app, UberEats and Walmart app.”
Pros of React Native App Development
Cross Platform Compatibility
The biggest advantage of building applications with this technology is that majority of React Native APIs are cross platform. That means, you need to write just one component and it will work flawlessly on both iOS and Android. On top of it, the React Native provides the facility to write platform-specific code so as to give the ‘look and feel’ of the native apps. In other words, one need not learn two different languages to launch an application on two distinct platforms.
“According to the top mobile app development companies, 85% of the code written for React Native development is similar for both iOS and Android, which represents the business logic. The rest 15% is different as it is associated with the app layout and user experience.”
Live Updates and CodePush
React native allows the mobile app developers to push any update to the user’s phone without going through the app store update cycle. And this all is possible because of considerable use of Javascript and integration of Microsoft’s live update service CodePush SDK with React native application.
Enhanced Development Environment
Features like hot reloading refresh the UI instantaneously, whenever a change is made to the file. This gives the mobile app developers an escape from the monotonous process of rebuilding and deploying from the iteration cycle. Besides this, React Native development involves usage of the Flexbox layout engine for both iOS and Android platforms. This means you need not learn about two different layout engines for app development process.
Cons of React Native App Development
Poor Documentation
Whenever a new platform comes into existence, we explore the available documentation from the official sources as well as communities. If you consider this for React Native, you would find it hard to gather enough information.
Though Facebook is leaving no stone unturned, a lot many components of React native development are not well documented. This is even more evident in case of community-created articles, as no progress is being observed after a few releases of this framework.
Native SDK Update
The React Native has not thoroughly integrated the latest iOS and Android updates into its core library. Because of this, you might lag behind others in using the latest features into your mobile application.
“As per our experts, the updations in the React Native depends on the requests app developers send for a particular API. This means, it is possible that some new features might get included in the next React Native release, while some might get missed.”
Third Party Components
When compared to community-generated libraries for iOS and Android, we still have limited number of third-party components for app development using React Native. This is primarily because this framework does not provide a diverse range of possible features that developers wish to implement in their apps. Moreover, the compatibility and support of these components are not assured with future React Native releases.
Interaction with Other Native Apps
It is much easier to get an access to native applications such as camera through native frameworks than React Native. Thus, you have to write the access code in native modules or via a third party library.
Long-Term Support
There is no certainty of the long-term support for React Native. The Google and Apple do not support this framework, and Facebook might also decide to stop updating it one day.
Final Thoughts
From our experience, we can say that no doubt React Native is a great platform for mobile app development, it is not mature or stable yet. Moreover, it is uncertain. So, it is better to adopt this framework only when you want to build applications for both platforms but have a tight time and budget. In addition to this, React Native app development is also a great choice when you have a strong experience in web development or your application is simple, short-term & has no complex functionality. For all other cases, we strongly recommend the Native approach.
Has it ever happened to you that you try to achieve something but the end result was totally unanticipated? Sometimes good things are an accident – Electricity, Discovery of America, Gravity, and PHP.
Wait, what?
Actually, PHP was never intentionally designed. Rasmus Lerdorf, a Danish software engineer attempted to design an easy common gateway interface by using the C language that would help him track views on his CV. Little did he know what he had created for such a menial task is going to change the face of web applications.
As for Python, the language has its own fan following spread worldwide.
What is there to see is how these two fare when put under juxtaposition. Yes! We are talking about the popular battle of PHP vs Python.
So, why don’t we begin the first round by discussing what they are, individually?
What is Python?
Well, of course, it’s not a snake (pun intended).
For real, Python is one of the few best web programming languages for web development that is winning the hearts of many around the world. It is a non-complex object-oriented, high-level, interpreted language, possessing amazing built-in data structures connected with dynamic typing and binding. It is features such as these that make developers choose this language for efficient and effective app development.
What is more, it is a scripting language that is proficient in binding and combining numerous components together. To add another jewel to its crown, it favors cross-platform development, making it ideal for web and mobile app development.
In fact, Python had recently won second place as the most popular language on Github, beating Java to dust and is one of the most loved languages.
Features of Python programming language
Fast in nature
There is no compiling in Python, for the programs are added to the interpreter which runs them directly. This is something that happens for the rest of the programming languages. It is very easy and quick to get access to the feedback on your Python code like recognizing errors, etc. Due to reasons like this, Python has the ability to execute and finish the programs speedily in comparison to other languages.
Supports test-driven development
With Python app development, coding and testing go hand-in-hand, something that is a tried and tested way to the efficacious development process. Developers are able to develop prototypes of the applications as Python allows them to refactor the code.
Amazing standard library
Another probable feature of Python programming language that enabled it to beat Java on Github, is its collection of impeccable libraries. Python’s robust standard library supports the programmers in choosing modules as per the requirements demand. Here every module allows developers to add other multiple functionalities even when the process is about to complete and that too without any additional coding.
{Bonus- Java vs Python: Who is Winning the Coding Battle?}
Support for Big Data
If you have been looking forward to working on the Big Data technology but aren’t sure what should be in your tool set, then trust me, Python will be all you need to start with. This programming language is being used extensively in Big Data development; simply because it is faster and has a lot of libraries in store, that are in harmony with Big Data.
Highly compatible
Python is the first choice of developers who want to do away with the recompilation process. It is because along with supporting numerous OS like iOS, Android, Windows, etc., it allows developers to use Python interpreters to run the same code on all platforms and even modify it without performing recompilation. And on top of it, it allows programmers to check the code almost instantly when the changes are made.
Advantages of Python
Object-oriented and cross-platform programming language
Portable in nature due to WORA functionality
Highly readable, making it easy for beginners
It is open-source, a feature which makes it easily accessible
It is a constantly evolving language
Disadvantages of Python
Slightly in-effective in mobile computing and browsers
Design restrictions: Duck-typing may cause run-time errors
Delayed testing of web applications
A little too simple for certain tasks
Popular apps made with Python
Being a trusted programming language, there are many popular use cases of Python you must be knowing already.
What is PHP?
Speaking of the name itself, it has a little kick to it. The acronym does not fully describes its full form which is Hypertext Preprocessor. It is also an open-source scripting language (means a script-based program) that is server-side in nature facilitating development for every web app development company.
Additionally, it is possible to embed PHP in HTML to create dynamic web pages for web applications, database apps, and E-Commerce apps. In fact, developers consider it to be a pretty friendly language as it can connect with databases like Oracle, MySQL, etc.
Features of PHP
Highly flexible and scalable
To be successful, a language should be flexible and scalable enough to give a wiggle room to programmers to have fun, something which PHP clearly offers. It can be easily integrated with other programming languages, namely, Java and others. The components built with this language are reusable.
There are many extensions available to enable different functionalities, that help in defining many kinds of project requirements.
Fast loading speed
Speed plays a crucial role in making any programming language a favorite of developers. PHP is considered to be a high-speed rendering language as it easily establishes a connection with the database to fetch the requested data in less time as compared to many languages out there in the market.
Supports Cross-platform development
PHP is no way behind Python in catering multiple platforms, i.e, it is also a cross-platform language that helps developers in creating web applications for operating systems such as UNIX, LINUX, Windows, and more. What is more, it also supports Apache and MySQL database.
Loosely typed language
PHP is denoted as a loosely typed language as it supports variable usage without even declaring its data type. It will be taken at the time of the execution based on the kind of data it has on its value.
Error Reporting
One of the amazing features of PHP is that it has a function that generates a warning notice when something is wrong, allowing the developers to address the issues in real-time.
Advantages of PHP
Has an enormous ecosystem
Object-oriented and open-source language with an active community
Interoperability- has numerous pluggable frameworks
Now, let’s see how Python Compares to PHP and vice versa.
1. Performance and speed
Speed is often synonymous with great performance in web applications. And in the case of PHP vs Python performance for web applications, it is no different. It is crucial for web apps to perform error-free while processing millions of requests at a time. PHP is considered to be much more effective at speed. Though PHP 5.x was fast, PHP 7.x broke its own records, leaving average Python programs to dust. It completes the tasks almost 3 times faster.
2. Syntax and code readability
Syntax plays a prominent part as a point of difference between PHP and Python. To be brief, the syntax of PHP kind of resembles that of the C language. The programmers have to be careful and need to use curly brackets, operators, and additional characters. What is more, developers can also ignore the white spaces while the compilation is on-going, bringing the additional usability that will assist in structuring the code into logical components.
As of Python, the syntax is made on the separation of codes with spaces and tabs, expediting the process of coding to a great extent. Moreover, Python’s syntax is readable which makes it easy for beginners to learn it effectively.
3. Price
It is a good thing that both languages are open-source which means nothing but that they are free to use. In fact, developers have advocated that these even though free in nature, maybe better than some of the paid frameworks.
4. Library Support
What gives Python an edge in the battle of PHP vs Python 2020 is that it has exceptionally extensive and well-developed library support for all types of applications developed using Python. Some of the most preferred libraries that developers use in Machine learning development along with others are TensorFlow, Theano, Scikit, etc.
Though PHP is lagging behind, it also has packages repository “Packagist” that is pretty popular among the developers.
5. Web frameworks
Both PHP and Python have loads of responsive and incredible web frameworks to start with. For Python-based web frameworks, some that stand out the most are Django, Bottle, CherryPy, Pyramid, and more.
As for PHP-based web frameworks, we have Laravel, Codeigniter, Zend, Symphony, and so on. As both Python and PHP programming languages provide a pretty good variety of choices to the developers, beginners are still a little bit more inclined towards Python’s Django framework because it is mighty fast.
{Bonus Read: Django vs Ruby on Rails}
6. Debugging
To give you the verdict on this point of comparison of PHP and Python before even diving deep into it, we have to say that it is a draw.
You ask why? Well, if Python has “Python Debugger” (PDB), a well-documented and facile debugger, then PHP has its “XDebug” package; both offering the most basic debug features – stacks, path mapping, breakpoints, and more.
7. Front-end feasibility
Web programmers also look forward to developing the layout or the front-end of their websites and portals using numerous effective tools along with languages like Bootstrap, CS, Angular, etc. Python here provides numerous opportunities for the developers to adopt the same techniques and later combine it with Python code by employing frameworks.
This way, designers can easily design websites, whereas the backend developers find it easy to use via a much subtle and understandable language like Python. So, definitely, Python here wins over the PHP.
8. Usability
It is prominent to consider the architecture of the languages before we conjecture anything in favor of either language.
The fact that both Python and PHP are object-oriented translate into that they compress code modules containing some functions and data in objects. So, any developer who is even a little bit familiar with object-oriented programming can use either of the languages.
9. Maturity
On the grounds of maturity, Python is inevitably the winner since it was first introduced in 1989 by Guido van Rossum and released in 1991. Its latest update 3.8.0 was released recently on 14 October 2019. It is the most mature and secure among the technologies which make the fundamental building blocks of the intricate mosaic that is the IT industry.
As for PHP, it was created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf. Though not as mature as Python, it still has created a still in the market with its features. The very first manifestation of PHP was a simplistic set of Common Gateway Interface (CGI) binaries that were written in the C language. The latest version of PHP is 7.2.7.
10. Package Management
Speaking of Python, its package managers are effective in organizing the code and keeping the backups along with the version numbers. It helps the developers track their progress while helping businesses perform regular updates on the activities.
As of PHP, though is package management, however, it doesn’t match up to the PIP, a tool to manage and install Python packages. It allows developers to install, upgrade, and even uninstall while using a wide range of sources for external as well as internal libraries.
11. Market Popularity
If you want to judge or compare two things, market popularity tops the list of points of comparison, because it indicates why developers and programmers love something.
Looking at this graph above we can surmise that Python is the most searched on the web in the US as compared to PHP.
It has been observed that 7,212,664 websites have been developed using PHP, and as for Python, the number amounts to be 146,702. What is more, PHP is leading in countries like the US, Japan, Germany, and other 150+ countries. In a survey by w3techs.com, as you can see in the graph, it is evident that as of May 29, 2019, PHP was the most popular language based on traffic.
12. Versatility
Python in comparison to PHP is evidently versatile in nature as it is an ideal choice for developing websites integrated with Machine Learning and AI. It comes with an abundance of libraries that support these technologies and facilitate their integration into the web apps.
13. Well-thought-out design
While comparing PHP vs Python for backend, we found that Python, as compared to PHP, is fairly easy to grasp. Python has a well-thought-out-design (refers to the method used to insert code) than PHP. This means that developers find it easy to program for backend with Python than they do with PHP. It is simply because Python is a flexible yet robust programming language, something that PHP lacks.
14. Documentation
Well, it is a draw. Both languages have an abundance of documentation spread across the internet. Any beginner can easily find resources and documents related to any aspect of these languages and can get answers to even the most complicated queries- All thanks to their communities.
15. Environment Management
Speaking of environment managers, Python is extremely lucky in this regard. There are some terrific breed applications to manage the environment. One such example is Virtualenv – a system that is used to install and use numerous versions of Python simultaneously and switch them as often as needed with ease.
Though PHP also has an analog for Virtualenv known as VirtPHP. However, it is advised to use containers.
16. Learning Curve
Starting with PHP, being a straightforward language, it has a fairly low learning curve. It is ideal to learn PHP for short-term projects, but if you want to learn something that gives long-term benefits then Python is your match.
Though on its own PHP is easy to learn, however in comparison to Python, PHP has a steep learning curve for Python is the most readable and easily comprehensible language. It is because the language uses a much simpler syntax.
17. Community Support
Both languages enjoy the support of active communities. It is a crucial aspect for a beginner to consider before committing oneself to a particular language, simply because the learning process is full of doubts and queries and having strong support resolves half the issues.
However, we have to admit that community support of PHP is outstanding, given how actively they have been deprecating the language’s outdated aspects.
18. Salary and Job opportunities
While considering the payscale of both languages, we found that Python developers, on average, make somewhere around $120,024 every year in the United States. Whereas, PHP developers make an average of $86,017 per year.
In fact, you can see in the image above that Python developers, globally make nearly $63k, whereas PHP did not even make it to the list accumulated by Stack Flow.
Final Thoughts
To end this discussion, we would state the most obvious – both languages are differently capable in all aspects. One may surpass the other in one aspect and may lose in others. They both have their own set of features and functions to perform.
They are a paradox in themselves; there are many similarities between PHP and Python, and at the same time are dissimilar as well in many aspects.
Nevertheless, Python has emerged to be the winner in most of the comparison points such as documentation, job opportunities, salary, etc. So, it is up to an individual which one they choose based on their requirements.
React Native has established itself as a prime choice of startups and establishments looking for a mode to enter the app domain in a cost and time-efficient manner. And with this establishment, the focus has once again shifted on the incorporation of the platform in the app development process, especially when entrepreneurs are looking to build cross-platform applications. Increasing with this full-grown demand for React Native app development is the pressure on React Native developers to develop high-performing offline first apps that can be scaled whenever required. This, in turn, has led them to look back at the technology stack and choice of platform to build React Native applications off of. Especially the backbone of the application – React Native database. In this article, we are going to look into names that are fit for React Native app development today and are worthy of being in the list of top React Native databases for 2020. Let us start in a full disclosure mode, though.Let’s highlight the factors we looked into when curating the list of the top react native databases for 2020 and for some more years to come.
Table Of Content:
Factors to Consider When Choosing React Native Databases for Your Project
The Best React Native Databases for App Development
Realm
Firebase
SQLite
PouchDB
Async Storage
Watermelon DB
Vasern
BerkeleyDB
Factors to Consider When Choosing React Native Databases for Your Project
Complexity of the Data
A key-value storage is default option for a number of server-side and client-side scripting languages. Mainly, both – values and keys – have to be serialized in strings, either by a React Native developer or through the library itself. Now although necessary, serialization can bring serious halts and issues in how your application performs, especially when it operates in a limited resources environment of smartphones.
So, ideally a react native development company chooses a database which helps you store more complex data compared to the key-value pairs like full documents and objects and comes with complex data types.
Number of Line of Codes
If you take more than 20 lines of code to write a simple CRUD operations, any advanced database should be your last choice. Because, not only an advanced DB would make coding complicated but it would even affect the database performance heavily and the overall React Native app development cost. Additionally, processing of so many code lines would slow down the application greatly.
So do not make use of a database that comes with advanced functionality if it carries the chances to lower your app’s user experience and delay the release speed.
Synching of the Offline Data
If you are developing a low complexity application which does not offer multiple-user collaboration, you can use a simple database that would work well with a simplified synchronization functionality. These app types can sync with server whenever an internet connection is established.
With collaboration being the primal feature of an application, syncing functionality demands the database to be complex. Applications like Trello, which cannot show different versions of a document or project, however, requires a react native app development company to achieve perfect synching even when the network conditions are patchy.
Handling Data Conflicts and Concurrency
The more collaboration related features you add inside your application, the more would be the possibility of data conflicts.
You should look for databases, which share the conflict-handling policies on website or the repository pages. Dig into the database documents to get aware of how they handle syncing and conflicts or look into the trade-offs that are made and the effect it would make on the application.
Memory Management
Inefficient database memory handling practices can lead to app crashes.
Compaction is one of the proactive processes of memory management in which the documents or data that are not going to be of use are deleted from the memory.
The process is like the ‘garbage collection’ part of programming, which ensures there is free memory available at any given point in time.
On the basis of these five factors we have identified the local React Native database options which would be best suited for your react native application development process.
The Realm database has been brought into existence for development of real-time and offline applications which run on both wearable and mobile devices. The database has proved to be equally beneficial when you create React Native mobile apps for iOS and Android. It is not built on ORM or on top of SQLite, so it comes with own database engine and does not rely on the key value stores.
This is one of the reasons why React native developers use Realm as one of the chosen local react native database options to handle large data or for the development of high performance applications.
While there are other databases for simple apps, the combination of Realm and React native is best suited for large sized apps.
Benefits of Realm and React Native:
Realm Sync – the sync services operate in the background and records, saves all the user interactions and the service requests locally.
Offline friendliness through Redux Offline – for those looking for a solution to implement offline-first architecture through Realm for React native apps, Redux offline can be a great option.
Security – It uses multiple encryption standard for every different mobile platform.
Pricing:The Realm is a local database in react native app that is completely open-source and free. The pro version, though comes with a cost. But if you purchase the platform for creating react native apps it would cost $1750 per month.
Firebase
Firebase supports the real-time NoSQL database for the development of react native applications. It is chosen mainly for its offline data change and data synchronization practices. The reason why Firebase for Startups is such an in thing is because it is completely capable of handling the requirements of the M and C of the MVC needed for react native based applications.
Benefits of Firebase for React Native App Development
Real-time syncing of data – with Firebase for React Native, the data is synced in real time for all clients, at the same time. This becomes very important for when an app goes offline unannounced because of the unavailability of internet connection.
Low setup efforts – Firebase offers a cross-platform API which calls for minimal setup when it is being used inside an application. Additionally, you won’t need an application server for accessing the data as it can directly be accessed through a mobile phone.
Offline persistence – the combination of Firebase and React Native gives the developers an ability to develop real-time apps with offline persistence capabilities. This consists of marking users’ presence online or offline and storing timestamp whenever users get disconnected.
Firebase is free to upto 1GB data storage. However, it does offer a $25 for 2.5 GB data storage minimal price in addition to a pay as you use package.
SQLite
It was designed to offer local storage to mobile applications. The prominence of the word Lite in the database name implies that it is a lightweight library and that it requires minimal setup. It can also be directly integrated within the mobile application for directly accessing the database.
Benefits of SQLite for React Native based Application Development
ACID compliance – it is an ACID compliant database which implements SQL standards with some omissions. The architecture of the library is file-based and there are some tools that can handle all the data types with simplicity and ease.
Offline persistence – In order to enable the offline persistence via SQLite, developers can use a react-native-SQLite-storage plugin for managing data within application.
Pricing:
SQLite, being in the public domain is free to use and open source. However, if you want to obtain license for copyright infringement, you would have to pay one time fees of $6000.
PouchDB
PouchDB is an open source Javascript database that stores data in JSON format and enables developers to take advantage of using React Native in the easiest manner: by developing, reading, updating, querying, and deleting queries with a single JavaScript API. The database is compatible with MySQL, CouchDB, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB.
Benefits of PouchDB for React Native App Development
Because the PouchDB stays inside a browser, the need to perform queries over network is not there. This, as a whole, leads to faster queries’ execution.
Developers can sync data with any supported server and thus can run the applications both offline and online.
Async Storage
Async storage is a local storage system that gives developers the capability to store data locally and persist data between the app reboots. The database comes in-built with React native so it can be used without any additional deployment.
Benefit of Async Storage for React Native Apps:
It comes in handy when you have to save the data which the app need to use even after the user has closed the app or the device.
Watermelon DB
Built on SQLite, it is a high-performance reactive database for React Native which comes with the potential of scaling hundreds to thousands of records without losing its speed. The database has been well optimized for building complex applications in React Native with a focus on real-world performance.
Benefits of Watermelon DB for React Native App Development:
In addition to scaling over 100 – 10000 records, Watermelon DB also supports developers to take full advantage of using react native through:
Offline first system
Static typing with Flow
Building apps on SQLite foundation
Vasern
It is one of the most lightweight, fast, and open-source databases for app development using react native. The Vasern API is used not just for local data storage but also for cloud storage and syncing across the app’s clients. Vasern’s design and structures are inspired by various open source databases.
The Benefits of this Inspiration from Multiple Open Source Database Include:
It is open source
Developer friendly end-to-end database syncing
Focus on consistency and performance
Fast operation
BerkeleyDB
Berkeley DB is an open source, high performance backend for React Native which allows developers to handle data in multiple ways. It offers an API for multiple languages which includes iOS and Android.
It can handle data in multiple ways: a relational way like how SQLite does or through the Key/Value pair data as byte arrays and supports multiple data items for a single key.
While these are the top React native databases of the current and the speculated time there are a number of other backend tools that developers and react native app development companies use to create their application.
The answer to which is the best database tool ultimately depends on your project type. Get in touch with our consultants to discuss which react native database would best suit your project.
As blockchain is evolving, many startups and developers are exploring and dissecting the potential of the technology in all aspects. They are not solely taking interest in knowing how the technology can revamp their existing business models.But, are also entertaining all the originating buzzwords. While some are using them as synonyms, others are taking an interest in finding the differences between them.
What is DLT has become one of the buzz questions of the current time, with what makes it similar/different from Blockchain being the close second
Let’s cover both in this article. But first, let’s have a sneak peek of Blockchain vs DLT by considering a platform example of both, i.e, Ethereum (Blockchain) and R3 Corda (DLT).
Now while this would have given you some insights on the difference between blockchain and DLT, let’s jump into the decentralized world and study them in detail – starting with the basics of Blockchain technology.
A simple definition to Blockchain technology
Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed and often public database type where data is saved in blocks, such that the hashcode present in any block is created using the data of the previous block. These blocks offer a complete set of characteristics like transparency, immutability, and scalability that makes every brand and developer interested in investing their time and effort into Blockchain development guide.
Advantages of Blockchain:
Blockchain technology enables businesses to verify any transaction without involving any intermediaries.
Since transaction stored in the blocks are stored on millions of devices participating in the Blockchain ecosystem, the risk of data recovery is minimal.
As consensus protocols are used to verify every entry, there is no chance of double entry or fraud.
Another benefit of blockchain technology is that it offers transparency in the network, which makes it easier for anyone to be familiar with transactions in real-time.
The technology came into limelight as backend support force for cryptocurrencies, but soon made its place in different business verticals including Healthcare, Travel, Real Estate, Retail, Finance, and On-demand. A complete information about different industries that Blockchain is disrupting can be taken from this image:-
With this attended to, let’s turn towards DLT.
A Brief Introduction to Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)
The answer to what is Distributed Ledger technology (DLT) is that it is a digital system used for storing the transaction of assets, even when the data is stored at multiple places simultaneously. It might sound like a traditional database, but is different because of the fact that there is no centralized storage place or administration functionality. Meaning, every node of the ledger processes and validates every item, and this way, contribute to generating a record of each item and building a consensus on each item’s veracity.
A timeline of DLT’s movement can be seen in this image –
The concept is attracting almost every app development company with a complete set of advantages as shared below.
Advantages of DLT:-
In DLT, data is 100% tamper proof till the database ledger is distributed.
It offers highly secure and trustworthy experience.
A decentralized private distributed network enhances the robustness of the system and assures continuous operation without any interruption.
Now, as we have looked into what the two terms mean, let’s look into the DLT and Blockchain relationship before turning towards the comparison of two.
Relation between Blockchain and DLT
As depicted in the above image, Blockchain is just a piece of the vast ecosystem of DLT. It is a type of DLT where records are stored in blocks after being validated cryptographically. That implies, a hash created using the data stored in a block is fed in the next block added such that it gives an impression of a chain.
“Every blockchain is a distributed ledger, but not every distributed ledger is a blockchain.”
Now, while this might be giving you a rush to compare Blockchain and DLT at once, let’s take a twisted path. Here, we will first learn about other types of DLT besides Blockchain, and then move to the core part of the article, i.e, Blockchain vs DLT.
Here are the popular forms of DLT that exists apart from Blockchain.
1. Holochain
Holochain, in simplified terms, is a type of DLT which does not rely upon consensus model or on the concept of tokenization.
Here, each participating node has its own secure ledger and can act independently, while also interacting with other devices on the network to meet the basic needs of decentralization. This way, it lets you build more customized and scalable solutions than what Blockchain offers.
2. Hashgraph
Another form of DLT that exists in the market is Hashgraph. It is basically a patented algorithm that has the potential of delivering all the benefits of Blockchain (decentralization, security, and distribution), but without compromising at transaction speed rate. Something for which it relies upon the concept of Gossip about Gossip protocol and Virtual voting technique.
One real-life implementation of Hashgraph that has proven to hold the potential of becoming a replacement of Blockchain is Hedera Hashgraph, about which you can learn more in this blog.
3. Direct Acyclic Graph (DAG)
Direct Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) or you can say Tangle is also one of the prime types of DLT that pertains in the tech world.
Under this concept, multiple chains of nodes are created and managed at the same time and are interconnected to one another. They, unlike Blockchain, exist both in serial and parallel form.
.
Factors to Consider While Comparing Blockchain and DLT
1. Consensus model
The foremost factor to focus upon while checking into Blockchain vs DLT is the consensus mechanism.
Since only a limited number of nodes participate in the case of DLT, there is no need for any consensus. But, the same is not true in the case of Blockchain where anyone can participate and contribute to the addition of a new block to the chain.
2. Block structure
Another factor that you must keep a watch on while differentiating between Blockchain and DLT is block structure.
While blocks are added in the form of a chain in a Blockchain, they can be organized in different forms in the case of Distributed Ledger technology.
3. Tokens
Tokens, i.e, the programmable assets governed by Smart Contracts or underlying distributed ledger, is also one of the prime comparing factors in Blockchain vs DLT war.
While tokens are must to consider while working with Blockchain technology, they are not required when dealing with DLT. And the reason behind is that only invited (limited) nodes are allowed to participate and validate any transaction in DLT environment which reduces the size of complete ecosystem.
However, you might be requiring tokens when you wish to perform block spamming or work on anti-spamming detection process.
4. Sequence
In Blockchain environment, all the blocks are arranged in a particular sequence, i.e, in a serial mode. However, there is no as such constraint when talking about DLT. Blocks are organized in different ways in the case of DLTs.
5. Efficiency
A DLT can complete a significantly high number of transactions in a minute than what is possible by Blockchains. So, it delivers higher efficiency with minimal cost than Blockchain-based solutions.
An outcome of this is that today, various Blockchain development companies are looking ahead to enter into the DLT ecosystem.
6. Trustability
Another factor that you can consider to see the difference between Blockchain and DLT is Trustability.
In the case of DLT, trust among participating nodes is high. And it is even higher when the corporate initiates building their own internal blockchain or organizing a consortium. Also, the censorship resistance in this template is low since they can be centralized and/or private.
However, it is not so in the case of Blockchain.
In Blockchain ecosystem, the censorship resistance is too high with one vote per PC. But, with the progressive concentration of mining with upgraded hash power in the hands of fewer decision makers, the chances of trustability is low.
7. Security
To access data stored in a blockchain, users have to employ a key. If they lose the key, they would lose access to their account and funds. A real-life example of which is that the loss of access on nearly $145M of bitcoins and digital assets on the death of a cryptocurrency exchange CEO.
However, such situations are not majorly possible in the case of DLT, since the data is distributed, encrypted, and synchronized across multiple ports.
8. Real-life implementations
When talking about the comparison of blockchain and distributed ledger technology in terms of real-life implementations, blockchain leads the battle.
This is so because many entrepreneurs are slowly and gradually understanding the nature of Blockchain via some guide and use them into their traditional model for leveraging better advantages. In fact, various recognized brands like Amazon, IBM, Oracle, and Alibaba have started offering Blockchain As a Service (BaaS) solutions.
But, when it comes to Distributed Ledger technology, DLT enthusiasts and application developers have begun to explore the core of the technology. They are looking ahead to come across different use cases of DLT, but there are not many significant real-life implementations yet.
So this was all about what you should know when looking into Blockchain vs DLT. But, in case, you have some more queries or confused about which one to invest in, feel free to connect with our Blockchain consultants.
Product Market Fit – the term coined by Marc Andreessen and popularized by Sean Ellis is a marketing concept that has grown to be applied by a number of startups, globally.
The most no-nonsense way to understand its meaning is that if a product is being liked by a market which is demanding the product heavily, the product’s parent company has achieved a product market fit.
While the definition paints a picture of nothing less than a utopia, the reality is that there are very limited ways to achieve this utopia. And the ways come packed with confusions.
The three confusion-clouded ways that help entrepreneurs reach the product market fit are: Proof Of Concept, Prototype, and Minimum Viable Product.
The major confusion that surrounds these three app viability check strategies is what separates them from each other and which one would get them closest to achieving the product market fit utopia before their competitors act on the idea.
The intent of this article is to solve the confusion and help you decide which strategy to go with to achieve a product market fit in your app industry.
But before you even get to the point of making a decision between POC vs. MVP vs. Prototype, there are a few things that you should keep into consideration:
Who is your target audience?
What are you trying to validate?
POC vs. MVP vs. Prototype: The Concept
POC (Proof of Concept)
What is POC? As the name denotes, POC (Proof of Concept) is an approach which businesses use to validate the idea or the feasibility of the concept. The stage comes into existence way before the mobile app development process starts. Here a small project is implemented for verifying if a concept can be implemented on the technical capability and business model grounds.
A mobile app POC is not usually shown to the public or the customers for the main idea behind it is to simply check if the idea is workable or not.
Proof of Concept(POC) Features:
Showcases feasibility & Confirm Idea’s Potential
Developing a POC is a cost and time-effective way to validate features
Highlights risks and errors at a very early stage
Gives a clear yes/no right at the beginning of the project
Prototype
What is Mobile app prototype? Prototype focuses entirely on showing how an app will flow from one screen to another and how it’d look to the end users. Building a mobile app prototype is one of the most important processes of app development for it uses tools to help with understanding how the app flows, what would be its usability, and what all features must be added in the application. Although it is not a standalone system in itself, the benefits of mobile app prototyping can be seen in the fact that it helps in getting a clear idea of how the app will look and function.
Prototype Features:
Gets an early feedback on the application
Helps in identifying mistakes in the design and development phases
Simplification of complex ideas into understandable format
Application’s flow is validated by the business users
Beneficial in getting seed funding
Minimum Viable Product
What is Minimum Viable Product? MVP is a functional app that comes loaded with the prime features that best represent the application. It is a standalone application version containing mobile app MVP functionalities that can be sent to the users for them to play around and gauge the experience that they’ll get out of the full version of the application.
The MVP development process helps in verifying the app feasibility, teams’ assumptions about the application, and its probable usability along with the market demand. When you build a minimum viable product, it ultimately helps in developing an application which is prepared to gather the end-user feedback.
MVP Features
Greater development readiness
Creation of higher value for users through continuous feedback
Attracts high retention through small investment
Helps in prevention of time and money wastage.
POC vs MVP vs. Prototype: How to Choose The Best Approach?
If there is one thing that the comparison table and the definitions shows, it is that the question: which is the best strategy out of the three, in itself is wrong.
In order to truly achieve a product fit, entrepreneurs cannot choose between the strategies. They will have to either choose one of the strategies, depending on the stage of their application or would have to see them as steps.
Let us explain both the points in detail.
Scenario 1: When you are yet to enter the idea validation stage
When you haven’t started with the development of either of the strategies, you are at a stage, which we deem ideal. A stage where you have the time to chart the app validation lifecycle.
The benefits of investing in the lifecycle that starts from POC then reaches Prototype before getting to the MVP stage are manifold.
Rightful Testing of the Concept: The point of developing an application starting with the POC stage and then moving to prototype and MVP is to help check the viability of the idea. It helps entrepreneurs adjust their initial idea on the basis of how their audience reacts.
Speedy Development: When you go with this approach, your partnered mobile app development agency work with limited features – one which have been market tested. Meaning, there is a lot to profit from in a very little time.
Low Investment Risk: When you develop an application that has been tested at three stages, you give the investors an assurance that it is risk free. This, in turn, translates to greater investments.
Scenario 2: When you have entered the idea validation stage
When you have already entered the idea validation phase, the probability is very less for you to follow a step-by-step process in order to reach product market fit phase. Under this scenario, you will have to make a choice between POC vs Prototype vs MVP.
And the choice will be dependent on several factors – ones that are enough to be converted into IFTTT scenarios.
Here are some scenarios to help you make the choice –
Choose MVP When:
When you have to show the customers a working app
When you have to make money out of the application
When you need a bug-free app ready to be used by the world
When you need higher retention at low cost
When you wish to know the market perception to improvise the application
Choose POC When:
When you need seed-stage funding
When you have to check if the idea works, technically
When you are aiming to share internal knowledge among team
When you want to assess project or the features’ success
Choose Prototype When:
When you want a visualization of how the app would function
When you have limited money and time but you want to show the application to stakeholders
When there is very limited technical availability
When you need an instant look and feel of the application
FAQs About POC vs. MVP vs. Prototype
Q. What is the difference between MVP and Prototype?
The primal difference that stands between the goal of a prototype and an MVP is that the latter is a ready to publish publicly version of an application, while the former is more of a version that is there to test the idea within the internal stakeholders of a company.
Q. What is the difference between a Prototype and a Proof of Concept?
POC vs Prototype is a comparison of two very different concepts. While POC is merely a set of documents or basic level software used to check the workability of an idea, Prototype is the clickable version software that give stakeholders peek into how the user would move inside an application.
Q. When to consider building a MVP app?
There are different instances where the MVP development method makes more sense compared to creation of POC or Prototype:
When you have to show the customers a working application
When you have to make money out of your app
When you need a bug-free app ready to be used by the world
When you need higher retention at low cost
When you wish to know the market perception to improvise the application
Q. What is the difference between MVP and POC?
POC vs MVP is a comparison between a concept and an application that is ready to be published in the stores. While the intent between both the concept is the same – to validate an app idea, the stages in which they make an appearance are very different.
A POC is the first stage of idea validation – stage where a small project is implemented for verifying if a concept can be implemented on the technical capability and business model grounds.
MVP, on the other hand, is a functional app that comes loaded with the prime features that best represent the application.
Since the past 40 years, the number of technology innovations both within and around medical devices have increased dramatically. Especially, the past 20 years have witnessed an acceleration in the sector, thanks to the Internet of Things and rise of its other corresponding parts like wireless connectivity, cloud computing, and AI, etc. These advancements have transformed the healthcare processes.
Even after 20 years, these leading-edge technologies are continuing to source a seismic shift in the process of healthcare administration and delivery.
And now, mobile applications have also seeped in and have become an important part of these highly demanded, technology-based medical and non-medical purposes.
These Apps or Software which are a medical device on their own – Software as a Medical Device – have grown to become an inherent part of the users’ life. The applications of SaMD are not just limited to diagnosis but have also made their place in the monitoring and treatment process. In fact it is SaMD that has led to the evolution of healthcare 1.0 to healthcare 3.0.
Seeing the growing inclusion of SaMD in the everyday healthcare, The International Medical Device Regulators Forum have described the concept and SaMD risk categories in detail for the medical app development industry to follow.
* SaMD is not the only compliance that healthcare industry stakeholders – mHealth applications entrepreneurs and device manufacturers should follow. There are other compliances as well, such as FDA, HIPAA, HL7, and FCPA. We have touched upon these compliances in much detail in our mHealthcare App Development Guide.
In this article, we are going to throw some light on what is SaMD, the regulations that it entails, and what mHealth app types which are categorized as Software as a Medical Device.
What is Software as A Medical Device?
The terminology – Software as a Medical Device stands for any software that is intended for use for one or multiple medical purposes and which performs these purposes without being integrated into a hardware medical device.
Here’s how IMDRAF defines SaMD –
‘The term “Software as a Medical Device” (SaMD) is defined as software intended to be used for one or more medical purposes that perform these purposes without being part of a hardware medical device.’
How to know if your mobile app is a SaMD
SaMD is a medical device and includes some in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) medical device.
SaMD is able to run on general purpose (non-medical) computing platforms.
Software does not meet the definition of SaMD if its intended purpose is to drive hardware medical device.
SaMD may be used with other products such as medical devices.
SaMD may be interfaced with other medical devices, including hardware medical devices and other SaMD software, as well as general purpose software.
Factors to Consider for SaMD Characterization
There are two ways through which SaMDs are characterized:
A. Information provided by SaMD
To diagnose or treat patients
To inform clinical management
To drive clinical management
B. Healthcare Condition
Critical condition
Serious condition
Non-serious condition
On the basis of these characterizations, SaMDs are divided into four categories.
[table id=35 /]
Category Wise Examples of SaMD
Category IV:
SaMDs which perform diagnostic image analysis for enabling treatment decisions when patients suffer an acute stroke
SaMDs which calculate the fractal dimension of a lesion and builds a structural map which reveals different growth patterns for providing diagnosis or identification if the lesion is benign or malignant.
SaMDs combining data from the immunoassays to the screen for mutable pathogens outbreak that can be highly communicable.
Category III:
SaMD which makes use of phone’s microphone for detecting interrupted breathing during sleep.
SaMD used for providing information by clicking pictures, monitoring growth or other data to supplement other information that a healthcare provider uses for diagnosing if a skin lesion is benign or malignant.
Category II:
SaMDs that analyzes heart rate
SaMD which use individuals’ health record data for predicting the risks of heart disease or stroke and create prevention strategies.
SaMD which integrate and analyze multiple tests to offer recommendations for diagnosis in certain clinical indications.
Category I:
SaMD which gather data from symptom diaries for providing information to gauge occurrence of an asthma episode.
SaMD analyzing images, movement of the eye for guiding next diagnostic action for astigmatism.
SaMD which store historic blood pressure information for health care providers to review.
SaMD using data of hearing sensitivity, speech in noise, and asking users to answer questionnaires about common listening situations for self-assessing hearing loss.
What Can SaMD Manufacturers do to Ensure Regulations?
SaMD companies should have a good Quality Management System incorporated into the development process to ensure compliance with any regulation. The chosen QMS platform should be capable of compliance with regulatory requirements like the FDA 21 CFR Part 820 and ISO 13485:2016.
Any misstep in the direction can lead to severe consequences with your application getting banned being only the tipping point. Noting the cruciality, it is advised that you should partner with a custom healthcare software development company who works alongside medical practitioners who understand these regulations and compliances to their entirety.
FAQs About SaMD
Q. What are examples of software that are not Software as a Medical Device?
Apps that hardware medical devices need for performing its role.
Apps which are dependent on the medical device data.
Apps that enable communication and streamlining of clinical workflow, like ones for scheduling visits, video or voice calling, etc
The app examples are not limited to these. There are a number of other app types which do not fall under the definition of SaMDs.
Q. What can Software as a Medical Device actually do?
SaMD applications are those which act as a stand-alone health application that gives users the insight into their physical health by making diagnosis, doing X-ray processing, or calculating insulin doses.
Q. What is IEC 62304?
IEC 62304 is a standard that specifies the life cycle requirements needed for the creation of Software as a Medical Device and Software within medical devices. When used along with ISO 13485, it offers a framework that is important for safe designing and maintenance of medical device software.
Q. Describe your QMS process for medical device software development
We have our own internal QMS for working with medical device and pharmaceutical clients, to ensure our own quality. We do not get audited by clients, third parties, or regulators.
Stage 1 : Initiate Project: Conduct a kick-off teleconference with Client to:
Review the project plan and timeline
Finalize key sources of information
Define the project team
Stage 2 : Review Documentation: Evaluate and examine all relevant documents including existing product information, nonclinical data/plans, and regulatory documentation. The sources of this information are:
Non-clinical data, regulatory correspondence, product technical specifications, references to predicate devices, proposed product claims and intended/indications for use, etc.
Stage 3: Determine Regulatory Pathway Using information from above section, Develop an FDA regulatory path determining whether 510(k) or de novo is most appropriate (a PMA regulatory strategy is more complex and will require a higher budget). The goal will be to advise Client on the optimal approach to FDA.
![Innovative Mobile App Ideas for Successful Startups in 2020 [Updated for 2021]](https://www.dotcominfoway.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Mobile-App-Ideas-1280x720.jpg)
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-dmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/ZHVZ4ELV4FH27G2F32H64TFPRM.jpg)
Now while this would have given you some insights on the difference between blockchain and DLT, let’s jump into the decentralized world and study them in detail – starting with the basics of Blockchain technology.
