#Appdesigning Archives

Agile for Mobile App Development Process-Reasons to Trust

Posted on 19/10/202011/06/2021 by Tushar

Agile Mobile Application Development has emerged as a concept that ensures not just a quick delivery of projects but also the one that guarantees app responsiveness and overall business growth and agility.

It was after three app projects, developed and deployed using the Waterfall model, we realized that we were not just slow but also the team lacked clarity, which showed in the apps. It was a loss for both us and the brands we were developing apps for, as the resources were getting freezed for more time than they should along with the missing sense of a clear process.

Let us look into the concept in more detail. Highlighting the meaning of the methodology and the associated benefits and ultimately the approach we follow for developing apps using agile methodology.

Let’s start –

What is Agile Mobile App Development About?

The Agile Methodology is a term used for an incremental and iterative app development approach, which consists of breaking down the complete app development process cycle in various different tasks. The whole array of segregated processes are further categorized into number of sub-tasks, every one of which performs as separate modules among the app development team. Next, each of the module is handed to a dedicated cross-functioning group of specialists who then work on every module as an independent mini-project.

Using this agile methodology for mobile application development enables multiple teams to develop different parts of the apps simultaneously. The whole project becomes a combination of various small modules. Agile software development method not just lowers the associated risk, but even provides developers with full freedom and flexibility for developing a superior-quality app, which quickly adjusts to alterations post-release.

Now that you know what Agile Development is, let us look at why agile is best for app development, reasons to use agile methodology, and why app development companies like us, swear by it.

Why use Agile App Development Process?

Agile for mobile app development helps agile software developers to efficiently come up agile development methodology and project management system that is foolproof in many ways. It certainly assists agile software development company and development teams to overcome some critical development issues like varying demands of various classes of users, which in turn hinders seamless development across multiple running platforms.

Agile is the go-to framework for helping app startups and development agencies maintain a focus on delivering a quality application ー rapidly and productively. Agile maximizes value throughout the development process and significantly decreases the overall risk of any given project.

1. Quality Product

It was expected to test software before the launch, however with agile, testing is integrated at every phase of development to guarantee a quality end result. This type of continuous testing of every single module provides space for changes and reduces the risk of encountering a bug during quality testing of the complete project. It also helps mobile app developers to inspect app elements at every phase of the development process and make alterations as per the requirement, eventually helping in providing high quality of services.

2. Customization

While opting for agile development best practices, developers get the chance to customize the whole app development process according to their preference and work upon user- driven solutions. Thus, customization is another reason behind why use agile methodology for creating mobile applications.

In a situation where developers are on the hunt for various techniques for creating and launching a mobile application while integrating the recent technologies into the development process, agile methodology approach keeps you covered.

3. Swift Return on Investment

Backed by iterative nature, app features are developed and deployed speedily in an agile development process, leading to rapid application development. Contrary to the earlier used waterfall development methodology where you had to sit till the completion of an app project to even look at return on investment value, agile methodology allows you to drive ROIs in advance. In agile app development process, the stakeholder plays a very crucial role and stays in direct conversation with the project’s scrum master to help prioritize the main features and then show an aligned development process.

4. Reduced Risks

The previously used waterfall app development system came with high chances of failures, which varied from budget shortage, timeline extensions, scope creep, not being able to have the priority features, even by the time of project completion.

While Agile, on the other side, employs parallel test model to allow you to line up the different mobile application development problems while developing other features, simultaneously. The transparency that the process comes with the scrum process of agile app development process enables you to view and remove the issues of even the later-stages from their roots, in the beginning stages itself.

5. Helps to Move with Business Agility

Rapid variations in the smartphone user movements hints towards the need of brands to promote superior level of business agility by using agile process method. Agile method enables you to adjust to the varying business needs or user trends in spite of what stage of app development you are in, without any further amount of investment. Agile method gives you the freedom to not be confined to work around a pre set feature list as a part of mobile app solution. This enhanced business dexterity gives the application any shape you are seeking, thus giving you an unprecedented edge over the competitors.

6. Enhanced productivity

The sprint-based workflow of agile methodology lowers the scope of daily detailed discussions and concentrates on the delivery of list of the high-valued app features in every sprint. Using collaboration, mobile app developers’ team works on goals with accountability, which helps in meeting all the commitments in fixed time. The distinct set of work, which are decided for specific time frames allow scrum master to measure the real-time work status and can handle the teams, likewise.

7. Develop superior quality mobile app development solutions

Quality undoubtedly continues to be the main concerns in an app world. Because of the collateral testing model used in the agile mobile app development process, it gets easier for mobile app developers to inspect an app project in the real-time and then undergo the necessary quality based improvements hand-by-hand. With respect to this, when there are variations in both – the mobile application needs or in the quality standards which have to be maintained, the project managers can get them incorporated and solved, instantly.

8. Placing Responsiveness in the Technology

By combining agile sprints with the app’s software update method, the enhancements along with the needed new features, based on customer feedback, can be made instantly, lowering the development timeline.

Agile mobile development process introduces a data backed consistent app updation process that makes sure that even with the app updates, the data is spatially harmonious with old data.

Now, as promised earlier, we will now get into the basics of how we employ Agile Development in the apps that we develop.

Agile development process in itself comes in different types. While we focus on Scrum to a large extent, there are around five other types of Agile App Development methodologies, which we use in combination, which varies from app to app.

Let us look at each of them, to give you a better understanding of the types there are and what you should expect to achieve from each.

Types of Agile App Development Methods

1. Adaptive Software Development

This method is used in software projects, which have shifting requirements and strictly fall in the category of short span app projects. The methodology takes help of processes like collaboration, speculation, and learning to achieve this.

2. Crystal Methods

These are the methodologies that are used to help develop app by concentrating on app properties such as reflective improvement, frequent delivery, focus, close communication, easy access to expert users, and personal safety, taking help of configuration management, automated tests, and recurrent integrations. The process works best when developing apps that are related to people, community, interaction, talents, skills, and communication.

3. Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)

It is an iterative agile development method which ensures that every step is completed just enough to be able to move on to the next stage. It helps in delivering working systems in short span of time. This process aids in aiding regularly changing scenario since the next level of process can be easily put to work by not affecting the process of delivery in whatever way.

DSDM makes use of tools, knowledge, and techniques and helps with the delivery of new systems in the expected period of time.

4. Feature Driven Development

This is the agile methodology for the app development process, which is also model-driven. At the start of the app project, the developers design a model, which specifies various app features and their iterations.

5. Lean Development

It is one of the most used agile methodologies, in fact the one we swear upon, which is implemented for the development of mobile apps. This principle aims at managing the risks and turn them into opportunities. This, then offers a competitive advantage to a business over its counterparts.

6. Scrum

Scrum is another agile software development process that implements the flexible process control for complex software projects. It likewise makes use of iterative and growing practices. In light of the theory that we can’t characterize the last prerequisites of the project, initially, the information is acquired over the due process from the mistakes made over the long run. It solely focuses around checking the progress of the project and resolving the challenges when it is encountered in the frequent gatherings. It gives the benefits of agile methodology that it assists to take action as and when the requirement changes.

7. Extreme Programming

Here, the focus is entirely on the app project instead of the documentation, since it follows principles of design and simple code. Which, in turn, makes it easy for the developers who join late, to understand the process.

The method is based on twelve practices and four groups. The four groups include – feedback,collaboration, respect, and revision. This requires the direct participation of all the involved parties including our customers.

The twelve practices are collective code ownership, coding standards, system metaphor, simple design, pair programming, test driven development, planning game, refactoring, the whole team, continuous integration, short releases, and a sustainable pace.

Now that you know the types of Agile Development Process, let me take you through the Approach we follow while developing and deploying Mobile Apps on the basis of the methodology.

Anteelo Approach to Developing Apps Using Agile Development Process

When we start an app development project here at Anteelo, we segregate the functional requirements in user stories, which becomes the basis of our app development process.

We mostly work in the structure of two-weeks sprint set, and restate continuously till we gain milestones in the app. This includes apps that come with a very high number of brand requirements

The method has helped us work on projects with as much as 3,500 different development needs, by breaking down the requirement in small, manageable processes.

We divide our Approach into processes that include –

– Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD)

Connecting you with the developers, designers, and the testers, which helps you communicate the specific requirements even before the actual implementation.

– Agile Modeling

We document the principles and values for applying in mobile app development work, which ease the implementation of agile development methods like the extreme programming, Scrum, and the Rational Unified Process.

– Agile Testing

Making mobile app testing a crucial part of mobile app development process, we ensure that the bugs and errors are next to nothing. Lead by our team of testers, Agile method help keeps every involved party from the UX-UI designers to the app developers in the circle.

– Backlogs

Every one of our POCs know their to-do lists and the what’s left lists. This helps in achieving client’s expectations through the incremental and iterative mobile app development process.

– Behavior-Driven Development

Every app functionality is validated in planned way to not miss test cases or criterias defining them. It also includes the prime causes and their relevant fixes.

Need help with streamlining your app development process? Contact our team of Mobile App Developers, today.

API Development: A Complete Guide

Posted on 28/09/202011/06/2021 by Tushar

Assuming that you’ve heard the word ‘API’ for like zillion times while communicating with mobile app developers, today I’m going to cover everything about APIs in this article. So, put your seat belts and get ready to get into the world of APIs – the superheroes behind the functioning of the mobile apps.

Let’s begin with what are APIs?

1. API

API(Application Programming Interface) is a set of instructions, standards or requirements that enables a software or app employ features/services of another app, platform or device for better services. In short, it’s something that let apps communicate with each other.

For example, when we hit on the ‘Connect Facebook’ button on Candy Crush, it does not ask us to enter our Facebook account details. Rather, it accesses the data from the Facebook server and let us enjoy playing – all thanks to API.

An API is the base of all the apps that deal with data or enable communication between two products or services. It empowers a mobile application or platform to share its data with other apps/platforms and ease the user experience without involving the developers. On the top of it, APIs eliminate the need to build a similar program or platform from scratch; you can use the existing one of some other app/platform. Because of these factors, both app developers and business leaders focus on API development.

If you are also interested in API development or wish to gain a sound knowledge of the same, keep reading

Before we delve further, let’s just have a look at the basic terminologies that will make it easier to understand the concept.

2. Terminology

a) API Key: When an API request through a header or parameter to recognize the requester, the authorized code passed into the request is said to be an API Key.

b) Endpoint: When an API interacts with another system, one end of the communication channel is termed as Endpoint.

c) JSON: JavaScript Object Notion or JSON is said to be a data format used for APIs request parameters and response body.

d) GET: The RESTful API’s HTTP method of obtaining resources is called GET.

e) POST: It is the RESTful API’s HTTP method for building resources.

f) OAuth: It is basically an Open standard authorization framework that renders access from the user’s side without directly sharing the credentials.

g) REST: REST (Representational State Transfer) is a kind of programming architectural implementation meant to enhance the efficiency of communication between the two devices/systems. It is light-weighted and based on the idea of making a particular data available only when requested by sharing references to the data instead of the entire copy of the data itself. The systems enforced on this architecture are said to be ‘RESTful’ systems, and the most overwhelming example of RESTful systems is the World Wide Web.

h) SOAP: SOAP or Simple Object Access Protocol is a messaging protocol for sharing structured information in the execution of web services in computer networks. It works with XML information set and application layer protocols (like HTTP and SMTP) for message format and message negotiation & transmission, respectively.

i) Latency: Latency is defined as the total time taken by an API in the process from the request to the response.

j) Rate-Limiting: The term API Rate-limiting refers to the process of defining the rate at which an end user can access the APIs. In other words, it means restricting the number of requests a user can hit to an API per time.

k) API Throttling: The process of regulating the usage of APIs by users during a particular time period is called Throttling. This can be used for API limiting. For example, you set the limit of 1000 API requests per day. When the user hit the 1001 request, the server will send 429 messages as HTTP status to the end user along with the message, “Too many Requests”.

For more terminology and acronym, refer this site.

Now, as you know what are APIs, are armed with the terminologies and are familiar with the anatomy of the growing API market, let’s dig deeper into the technical part – beginning with how do APIs work?

3. Working of API

Suppose you opened some XYZ app/website to book a flight. You filled the form – you entered the departure and return date, city, flight, and other relevant details – and submitted. With a fraction of seconds, a list of flights appears on the screen along with the price, timings, seat availability, and other details. How this actually happens?

To provide such stringent data, the platform sent a request to the airline’s website to access their database and get relevant data via API. The website responded with the data which API delivered to the platform and the platform displayed it on the screen.

Here, the flight booking app/platform and airline’s website act as endpoints while API as the intermediate streamlining the data sharing process. When talking about communicating the endpoints, the API works in two ways, namely: REST and SOAP (see definition above).

Though both the methods bring effective results, mobile app development companies prefer REST over SOAP since SOAP APIs are heavy and platform-dependent.

To understand the API lifecycle and working process in detail, contact our experts today!

Now coming to the main part – How to develop an API? What tools and technologies to choose? What practices to adopt for an effective API development?

4. Tools for Developing an API (like a PRO..)

While there are a plethora of tools and technologies equipped into the process of creating an API, the popular tools and products for developing APIs for developers are:

a) Apigee: It is a Google’s API management provider that assists the developers and entrepreneurs to triumph at digital transformation by reestablishing towards an API approach.

b) APIMatic and API Transformer: They offer sophisticated automatic generation tools to build top-quality SDKs and code snippets from API specific formats and transform them into other specification formations, such as RAML, API Blueprint, etc.

c) API Science: This tool is primarily used for evaluating the performance of both internal APIs and external APIs.

d) API Serverless Architecture: These products assist mobile app developers in designing, building, publishing and hosting APIs with the help of a cloud-based server infrastructure.

e) API-Platform: This is one of the open-source PHP framework that is apt for web API development.

f) Auth0: It is an identity management solution used to authenticate and authorize APIs.

g) ClearBlade: It is an API management provider for embracing the IoT technology into your process.

h) GitHub: This open-source git repository hosting service let the developers manage code files, pull requests, version control, and commenting that are distributed across the group. It also let them save their code in private repositories.

i) Postman: It is basically an API toolchain that empowers the developers to run, test, document, and evaluate the performance of their API.

Although the world is full of APIs and APIs, there is still a major gap in utilizing the perks of API. While some APIs make integration to the app a breeze, other turns it into a nightmare. To help you out in ensuring that you build a former one, here are some of the factors related to APIs for developers to consider:

5. Must-Have Features of an Efficient API

a) Modification timestamps/Search by criteria: An API should let the users search data based on different criteria, like a date. This is because it’s the changes (update, edit and delete) that we consider just after the first initial data synchronization.

b) Paging: Many times, it happens that we do not want to see the complete data changed, but just a glimpse of it. In such a scenario, the API should be capable of determining how much data to display in one go and at what frequency. It should also inform the end user about the no. of pages of data remaining.

c) Sorting: To ensure that the end user receives all the pages of data one-by-one, the API should empower the users to sort data as per the time of modification or some other condition.

d) JSON Support/ REST: Though not compulsory, it is good to consider your API to be RESTful (or providing JSON support(REST)) for an effective API development. The REST APIs are stateless, light-weighted and let you retry the upload mobile app process if it fails. This is quite tough in case of SOAP. Besides, JSON’s syntax resembles that of most of the programming languages, which make it easy for a mobile app developer to parse it into any other language.

e) Authorization via OAuth: It is again necessary that your API authorizes via OAuth since it is faster than other methods – you just need to click on a button and it’s done.

In short, the processing time should be minimum, response time good and security level high. It is of paramount importance to put efforts into the best practices for securing your application, after all, it deals with a heap of data.

6. Best Practices for Building the Right API

a) Use Throttling: App Throttling is a great practice to consider for redirecting overflow of traffic, backup APIs and safeguarding it from DoS (Denial of Service) attacks.

b) Consider your API gateway as Enforcer: While setting up throttling rules, application of API keys or OAuth, the API gateway must be considered as the enforcement point. It should be taken as a cop that lets only right users get access to the data. It should empower you to encrypt the message or edit confidential information, and thereby, analyze and manage how your API is being used.

c) Allow overriding HTTP method: Since some proxies only support GET and POST methods, you need to let your RESTful API override the HTTP method. For doing so, employ the custom HTTP Header X-HTTP-Method-Override.

d) Evaluate the APIs and infrastructure: In the current time, real-time analysis is possible to get, but what if API server is suspected to have memory leaks, draining CPU or other such issues? To consider such situations, you can’t keep a developer at duty. However, you can perform this easily via using numerous tools available in the market, like AWS cloudwatch.

e) Documentation: Last but not the least, it is profitable to create an extensive documentation for an API that let other mobile app developers easily understand the whole process and utilize the information for offering better user experience. In other words, a good API documentation in the process of effective API development will lessen the project implementation time, project cost and boost the API efficiency.

Now as you have gained an in-depth knowledge of what are APIs and what factors to consider while developing one, are you interested in API development? If so, reach to our experts.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT API DEVELOPMENT

1. What is REST API and SOAP API?

REST (Representational State Transfer) API is a software architectural style that describes a complete set of constraints to be employed for building Web services. Whereas, SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is a protocol much complex by adding more standards than REST, such as security

2. How do I make a good RESTful API?

Making a good RESTful API is easier when you follow these practices:-

Use Throttling
Considering your API Gateway as Enforcer
Allowing overriding HTTP method
Making a proper documentation
Determine the APIs and infrastructure

3. What is API and types of API?

API (Application Programming Interface) is a collection of instructions, and requirements that let a software or mobile application utilize the features/services of other applications, platform or devices for exceptional services.

There are basically different types of API:-

Web service APIs
WebSocket APIs
Library-based APIs
Object remoting APIs
Class-based APIs
Hardware APIs, etc.

4. What is JSON API?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is an encoding scheme created to eradicate the need for an ad-hoc code for each app to interact with servers in a particular manner.

Traits that could make your Fitness App popular like Fitbit

Posted on 24/09/202011/06/2021 by Tushar

From running away from Zombies to running after Pokemon, the users are becoming more than avid gamers. The majority of people today are using these apps to shed their weight, live a healthier life and get a perfect figure to flaunt in a swimming suit – and that also without spending a huge amount of money in getting gym memberships and adjusting their daily routines.

According to Flurry statistics, the health and fitness apps have become significantly popular in the past few years. A rise by 330% has been recorded in the adoption of fitness apps in last three years. Besides, it has been observed that users are accessing these applications at least twice a week and at most 10 times a week. And with the advent of wearables like fitness bands, the users are becoming more motivated to use these applications for enjoying their lives healthier. This, as a whole, has driven the demand for fitness apps like Fitbit.

If you belong to the fitness industry, this is a call for you to invest in fitness application development and leverage huge benefits from this lucrative opportunity. But before you begin with, you must be familiar with the features that can make your app popular like Fitbit app, about which we will discuss in this blog.

Features Your Fitness App Must Have

There are different types of fitness mobile applications – there are weight loss apps, nutrition and diet apps, on-demand personal trainer apps, exercising and workout apps, and so on. To decide the features, you must determine the type of app you want to develop firstly. However, the following can be considered as the basic features that can be included in all the types of application:

1. Account Creation

As fitness apps are for serving individuals, personal account creation is the foremost feature to consider. The end users must be facilitated with the opportunity to have an individual account where they can feed their personal data, choose all the elements/facilities they want, and track their journey conveniently. It is advisable to keep the profile creation process simple and seamless. The process should not be time-consuming and complicated. The best way to provide effective account creation services is to let the users sign up not only by email, but also by using social media credentials. This will ease the process while helping you to gather the required information and use. from this, if you are designing a fitness application with subscription options, let users store billing information and pay easily via payment gateway integrated into your mobile application.

2. Social Media Sharing

Who doesn’t like to brag about his achievements on social media platforms? We all do it, right? Because of the same reason, social media sharing should be in your fitness application feature checklist. When the users could share their goals and achievements within the app, they will feel good about using the app and do ‘word of mouth’ marketing. Besides, people in their social media networks will come to know about your app and look forward to using it, which means cost-effective brand awareness and marketing.

3. Design

While designing a fitness app, the mobile app developers must ensure the simplicity, usability and interactivity. The design of the app must not be confused or the procedure must not be time-consuming as it would affect the user’s interest. The clickable and minimalistic icons should be considered for adding to the home screen so that the user could easily reach the different sections. The screen must be presented in the form of a sheet to help users easily find what they have done, what they are doing and what they have to do so as to achieve their target. The app should be interactive, gesture-focused and based on the color psychology, i.e., calm colors must be added to generate positive energy.

4. Personalization/Setting Targets

Every user has different body features, needs and expectations. Providing them with the same fitness course won’t be favorable. So, it is vital to facilitate them with the service of personalization. Let them set their own targets and timeline, decide which exercise/activity they want to practice and when, what supplements they will intake during this course, and so on. When fitness apps provide personalized features, users tend to be more consistent, and thus, the app goes viral.

Apart from this, you can also add VR technology into your application – allowing smartphone users to create a VR fitness room and workout in groups.

5. Notification System

A missed workout can hamper the user’s enthusiasm as well as interaction with your application. So, it is vital for every fitness app development company to invest in the notification system. With a perfect notification system, you can prompt users to use your applications regularly. Besides, it can provide you extensive know-how with which you can understand the user behavior and deliver a better experience. However, bear in mind not to push too many notifications that annoy users (the frustrated users would definitely leave your application for never returning back).

6. Gamification

Music in the gym and fitness stations make losing calories more a fun, right? What if you could get the same feel in a mobile application? With the concept of gamification, you can easily add fun elements to your app processing, making it more engaging. By incorporating different elements like Badges, Rewards, Leaderboards, and Progress bar, you can increase the user acquisition and retention rate.

7. Geolocation and Wearable Integration

If you are developing an outdoor fitness app, these two technologies are must to integrate into your application development process. Geolocation functionality will let the user know the path, traffic and minimal time required for going through the track. It will also help them to track the user activities such as no. of steps taken, cycling, swimming, etc. With this data collected using GPS, you can easily calculate and share the insights gained, because of which the users would start appreciating your application.

While integrating your app into wearables like smartwatches and bracelets will empower you to monitor user’s steps, heartbeat rate, pulse rate in real-time and provide valuable advice using these insights. Tip: There are various public APIs and developer’s kit for integrating wearables into your fitness app, like Misfit, Garmin Wellness and Pebble. Determine which one is apt for your app processing and look forward to using it.

8. Chat Feature

With a chat feature, users will be able to interact with a team of fitness experts and get the best-customized solutions related to their health and fitness concerns. Besides, the users will be able to interact with other fitness freaks and create daily challenges based on their potential and needs. This way, the chat feature will boost user engagement and app success ratio.

9. Audio/Video Guide

Amp the workout experience with an audio/video guide. A guide, just like an instructor, will help the fitness application users to understand the right way to do exercise and workout. This will lessen the risk of injuries due to inappropriate postures, boost their experience and motivate them to perform exercises daily.

10. Activity Log

Recording the daily interaction of the app with the user is also a crucial factor to consider while designing a health and fitness mobile application. The recorded stats inform fitness freaks how much calories they have reduced and how much time is it required to reach their decided goal. This supercharges them to be more active and workout religiously.

Tip: To speed up the development process and cut down the cost, employ Google Fit APIs and HealthKit to access health and fitness related data.

11. Data Security

Remember the data breach case of Strava app? The app aggregated the US military men sensitive information to provide personalized fitness and workout services. However, shared the information publicly without their consent. This incident has turned the smartphone users more conscious about the security and privacy policies of the mobile applications they use, which implies you need to work on the data privacy and security aspect.Optimize your app performance and ensure that there’s no data leakage point so as to win the trust of mobile users and prompt them to use your application. Also, make it certain that your app follows the guidelines of HIPAA and other such health privacy compliances.

12. Multi-device synchronization

Just like Fitbit, you can also embed multi-device synchronization feature in your application. This feature will be highly appreciated when the user does not have the synchronized fitness tracker but want to workout. Allowing them to sync another device will make it easier for them to practice religiously and reap the benefits. This will boost customer loyalty.

13. Reviews

The reviews section is of utmost importance to both the users and developers. By collecting feedbacks, the developers can easily find out what challenges users are facing while using the app, what are the glitches in the fitness application and how can they work on improving the customer experience.

Now, as you know the features that could make your fitness app popular and useful as Fitbit, take no time to plan the process and invest in the development process. If you already have the plan ready but are confused at the costing, Anteelo team would love to assist you. Our healthcare app development experts will understand your market needs and suggest the best tech stacks to include in your development project along with outlining the cost to build a fitness application.

Determining the Chatbot Development Cost

Posted on 21/07/202014/06/2021 by Tushar

The modern-day business world has found a number of uses for chatbots. From increasing the user engagement count to play a major part in the lead conversion process, chatbots have entered the world across industries. The fact that chatbots are equally famous among baby boomers and millennials, increases the user base of the technology to a great extent. Seeing the business benefits and the flourishing market size, there are a number of businesses that are looking forward to launching their chatbots, both for their own app and for others to use. In this article, we will be looking at how much it costs to build a chatbot and everything surrounding the transformative technology. But before we get into cost benefit analysis of chatbot part, let us first look into what the flourishing chatbot market looks like.

Chatbot Market

Within the past one decade, chatbots have witnessed an unprecedented demand from a number of industries around the globe, including logistics and on-demand. What was earlier restricted to only eCommerce has now shifted to a number of other domains ever since the advent of mobile apps. All this has been the doing of growing inclusion of growing level AI in customer experience.

By the time we reach 2024, the market size of Chatbots would have increased to $1.34 Billion – a number that is driven by the inception of disruptive technologies like Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in the chatbot mechanism.

From the simplistic rules specific chatbots developed to manage uncomplicated queries to cloud-based self-learning bots that are designed to understand the user intent and automatically modify the output, chatbots, no matter how learned or simple are being used extensively in fields like eCommerce, Healthcare, etc. via business data integration.

The fact that chatbots have proved themselves to be this useful in the world, has prepared them to contribute $1250 million by 2025.

Seeing the market share that chatbots hold, one thing is clear – Chatbots are going to be a very prominent part of businesses across industries. And why not, after all, the business benefits that they have to offer are unmatched and unparalleled.

Talking of business benefits of Chatbots, let us look at what they are before we move on to the chatbot development cost.

Business Benefits of Chatbots

It is invalid to ask the question ‘How much does it cost to build a chatbot’ until you are convinced that they are needed.

Besides the obvious benefit of making your business a 24*7 business, Chatbots, no matter how much you pay in the name of chatbot development life cycle, come with a number of advantages that are known to lower the cost of business operation, which tend to unnecessarily tend to close the gap between gain and loss numbers in the balance sheet. All aimed at changing your business growth story.

Here’s what they are:

A report by Juniper Research validates that the cost of building a chatbot is going to be a much smaller amount in front of the costs that chatbots are all set to cut down – $8 Billion on a yearly basis – by the time we reach 2022.

Let’s see how:-

Lowered operational cost

The biggest operational cost in businesses is around the number of incoming calls. By giving the visitors answers to what they are looking for, chatbots are able to save on the cost associated with the increasing call volumes and in fact the whole interaction volume.

In addition to this, when users call businesses after having the preliminary level of interaction with a chatbot, the time of customer care executive that would go behind answering the first level interaction gets lowered to a huge extent.

Cut down labor expense

In a report, McKinsey estimated that around 29% of customer service position in the US can get automated via a properly designed chatbot. The fact that chatbots can interact with multiple people at the same time, hints at a time where the customer engagement industry would be dominated by chatbots.

In addition to this, businesses who have employed chatbot in their customer service program know how chatbot implementation costs much lower than the annual salary of an employee while doing twice their work.

**Cost effective 24*7 availability**

Modern-day customers expect businesses to be available 24*7 to answer their queries at all hours. The fact that a number of businesses are still not able to function on a 24*7 mode has not just made them lose on to prospective sales but also has affected customer loyalty to a great extent.

But when you employ a chatbot that has been designed to answer to the customer requirement in the off hours when your customer rep is not available, you make them more receptive towards your business, altering your brand image 180 degrees.

Better resource allocation

When the customer representative doesn’t have a list of customers to attend to and knows that even in their absence their customers will be handled with equal attentiveness through a chatbot, they are able to concentrate on devising strategies on keeping the users hooked and finding ways to help chatbot close more leads.

This way, chatbots prevent sales reps from falling into the cycle of mundane work and monotonous job cycle, giving them the opportunity to keep learning.

Greater revenue

There are a number of businesses that have been using Chatbots for lead conversion and greater sales. Through chatbots, you can keep alerting your customers of the discount opportunities and increase the engagement and upsell count.

Along with making a business a sales conversion magnet, chatbots help create a strong brand awareness when integrated with social media messenger platforms.

Increased customer engagement

It’s vital to keep your clients involved with your brand. As indicated by companies, organizations that involve with their customers through social media were able to increase the user spend by 20% to 40%. While social media is doing its work, chatbots can contribute by making customer engagement interactive and easy.

Monitoring consumer data & gaining insights

As you already know that chatbots are great devices and tools to chat with customers. With the input they gather through basic inquiries, you can make improvements on your administrations/products and even upgrade your website by adjusting low converting pages. For instance, if your landing page creates a decent measure of organic traffic but doesn’t convert well, your chatbot can contact customers visiting the page with a study to gather more data on why they are leaving the page without buying or making action and so forth.

The chatbot benefits are equal among all the different types of bots. No matter what type your chatbot gets categorized the benefits mentioned above will hold true for them all.

Speaking of types, let us look at the different Chatbot types that are most commonly employed by businesses across the world.

Type of chatbots

When we look into the types of chatbots, we have to look at both – the Superset and the Subset wise demarcation of Chatbot development type, having elements that goes into interactive chatbot development.

The supersets

There are two categories of chatbots that you can invest in.

Bots Implemented in Own App – These chatbots work inside a mobile app which performs a specific function for the sake of automating the interaction happening between the app and the user.
Bots which Function Within Messenger – These chatbots stay in messengers which support bot interaction. These work best for businesses that do not have a standalone app or wish to keep social media at the center of the business model.

The Subsets

Within the prime categories of the chatbot mentioned above, there are a number of chatbot types that you can get made –

FAQ chatbot – A basic QnA or FAQ Bot provides its users with automated responses to frequently asked questions in a natural, intuitive question-and-answer conversational style.
Conversational chatbot – The chatbot type uses language understanding services to have easy flowing conversations with the end users. They are usually made to A. collect the basic information about the users and B. keep them engaged till a human customer care executive is online.
Transactional chatbot – These are the chatbots that help the app users to inquire into and buy something off the app without ever talking to a human customer care representative.
Predictive Chatbot – These chatbots are the most advanced ones in the market at this time. They are developed and designed on a case by case scenario. By incorporating heavy machine learning in them, businesses use predictive chatbots to analyze how users might react next.

Irrespective of what type your chatbot belongs to, the elements that go into it are all the same. Something we will be attending to, next.

MVP Chatbot Features

Conversation

Conversation, one of the primary needs and features of chatbot should be based on a fundamental principle. In the basic principle, the request for messages ought to be logical and comprehensive for each customer. For example, when a customer asks about the contact number of your organization, the chatbot should tell the user just a number. If it informs about the address, it implies that the entire rationale is broken.

What’s more is that, ensure that your chatbot doesn’t commit grammatical errors and follows the overall pace of the discussion. Keep an official discussion tone in case you’re focusing on business people. If the task is somewhat hard for you, it’s smarter to hire a freelancer to produce content for the messages.

Payment system

This feature suits e-commerce chatbots. If your bot’s main goal is to boost sales and create new distribution channels, you should take care of at least one payment method. This is the point for you to choose between the third-party system or a custom payment solution.

A well-designed payment system eases the flow of the payment security and allows to analyze the payment and customer behavior. What’s more is that you don’t need to stress over expenses that are generally charged by third-party systems. Regardless of advantages, the expense of a custom payment framework is excessively high. That is the reason why most of the small organizations execute services such as PayPal, Braintree, Stripe, and others.

Geolocation

Online mapping is another helpful feature for a chatbot to attract new customers by pinpointing the area of your business on the map. For instance, users can request the bot to help them navigate to the restaurant or street they’ve never been to. Google Maps Platform permits you to make this feature with zero effort. All things considered, it draws customers to visit your place.

If we take an example of food delivery, then this feature is the best. All that your users need to do is to place an order using the chatbot, make payment through an integrated payment gateway, share the location with the delivery personnel, and enjoy the food after arrival.

Personal touch

The personal touch is more about the personality and character than the technologies. Mentioning users by their name rather than pronouns, elevates their feelings and emotions. The personal mentality to every customer ensures increased brand loyalty and positive input about your chatbot.

To make a remarkable and unique chatbot, you can utilize the knowledge of a brand expert. In case you’re on a tight budget, you can always bring into play your imagination and creativity.

Account synchronization

The first use case of account synchronization that rings a bell is redeeming rewards. If there is a promo system, then the users have some awards or bonuses from the past purchases, which users can spend during further purchase. Nonetheless, if the chatbot isn’t synchronized with the website, it doesn’t display the rewards. Thus, you need to ensure that your platforms have a typical database that continually shares data with one another.

A synchronized record permits you to carry out efficient marketing campaigns. Whenever there’s a discount or sale on a product from the customer’s wish list, the chatbot sends a warning about it. This methodology is more successful than promotional e-mails and messages.

The Composition Required to Build a Chatbot

There are a number of components and chatbot design strategies that come together to develop a chatbot that goes on to revolutionize the customer experience that a business offers, all coming as an addition in the breakdown of chatbot pricing models.

Before acquiring the knowledge of building a chatbot, let’s have a look at the image that describes the working of it.

As a business who is looking to partner with an agency that excels in chatbot development services, you should look at their approach in the context of all these components before making any decision.

Backend

Chatbots need a backend to manage messages coming in from different channels and to process them with NLP offerings like Api.ai, LUIS, or Wit.ai. The backend also holds business logic and integration within the current systems and is used to develop conversational intelligence on the basis of which conversation happens with the end users.

Channels

After your backend is set up, you will have to create the endpoints for the integration with every specific channel. While every single channel integration is different, they mostly follow the same method of endpoint set up in the backend for the purpose of sending and getting messages which rely on the access token authorization. Also, you will have to implement the channel-specific user interface in places like quick reply, visual cards which guide users during a conversation.

NLP

The moment you receive messages from a specific channel, you are going to use NLP services like Luis, Api.ai, and Wit.ai for extracting the entities and intents out of the user message. While the set up of NLP service and processing of messages with the help of SDK is pretty direct, training the NLP entities and entities which might be present in an external system is not an easy task. You will have to understand the entities which map to specific objects which exist in systems like Contacts, Products, or Employees. You will also have to implement business logic validation on the extracted data which can range from simple validation to custom.

Conversational intelligence

This is the most complicated component of the whole chatbot development process. You will have to design intelligent conversations on the basis of NLP entities and intents – something that is not easy. To achieve a stage where you build an intelligent chatbot, you will have to create an algorithm for every single conversation and navigation so that users can start from scratch. You will have to make use of decision trees, slot based algos, state workflows, or other deep learning methodologies for controlling the conversation.

Integration

Because of prime purpose of your chatbot is the execution of processes like booking appointments, buying products, ordering items, etc. you will have to integrate the chatbot in an existing mobile application. Integration here will involve factors like business logic rules and validations, the persistence of data which would be required as a part of the business process.

Now that we have looked at the different components that come together to make a chatbot, it is time to attend to the things that matter to you on a more intricate level – the time it would take to develop a chatbot and the cost of chatbot development, in accordance with the different metrics that chatbots are evaluated on.

The time it takes to develop a Chatbot from scratch

A very important part of the whole chatbot app development process for businesses and an answer to the cost of chatbot development is knowing how much time it is going to take for chatbot app development company to develop them so that they get a rough idea of when to start witnessing unprecedented customer satisfaction graphs.

Well, here’s an answer to the hours it would take to develop a bot, something that will have a direct impact on your chatbot cost –

Integration with an app – the duration of it depends on the chatbot complexity, but usually it takes up 40-56 hours. Development of communication interface

Command language user interpreter takes up somewhere around 40-56 hours.
Natural language user interface takes somewhere around 120-160 hours.

Business logic

Adaptation of an existing business logic, takes up 120-160 hours, depending on the amount of logic.
Development of business logic from scratch takes around 160-192 hours.

Since you now know the approximate hours it would take to attend to different parts of chatbot development, it is time to translate those hours into the cost of chatbot development.

Decreasing the Chatbot development Cost

There are a number of aspects that increase the price of chatbot development. But there are also the option to stabilize the financial impact like the chatbot development tools that save time for developers and decrease the eventual final cost.

Third-party platforms

Developing a chatbot from the scratch without any preparation is quite expensive. Thus, to solve this people generally use third party platforms. With the assistance of these popular platforms, you can make a chatbot with less efforts and time.

Despite the fact that these platforms guarantee rapid development, they also provide flexibility and adaptability which lets the developer use them often.

Some of the common and popular chatbot platforms are:

Chatfuel

Botsify

Dialogflow

BotPress

Mobile Monkey

How Much Does It Cost To Develop a Chatbot? – The Exact Chatbot Development Cost

Now that we have seen all – The market of chatbots, benefits that they have to offer, types of chatbots that are presently ruling the world, and the components that come together to develop them along with the time it takes to develop chatbots, it is now time to look at how much it is going to cost you.

Seeing the work that goes into developing a chatbot, the approximate chatbot cost that comes for development of your bot is in the range of $25,000 to $30,000.The cost range includes the design, development, and integration part of the whole chatbot development framework.

With this, we have now seen all – the benefits of chatbots, features and components that helps to devise a well-structured chatbot, the market size, the type and the cost you will have to pay to get your chatbot developed, the only thing left for you to do here is to get in touch with our chatbot developers and avail the best chatbot app development company in USA.

Impact of 5G Networks on Mobile Apps- Read

Posted on 04/04/202015/06/2021 by Tushar

We are just 2 months away from entering the age of next technological revolution – the onset of a wireless network which will help combine data computation with million of devices in a matter of a few seconds. Imagine it like this – Till the time you blink your eye, millions of data would have transmitted from your system to millions and millions of connected devices in the world. The facility that will make it possible – after being talked about and dissected at great length – is finally here. The powerful technology that is on the brink of altering mobility that we are going to talk about in much detail in this piece is 5G Wireless Networks.

Seeing the potentialities that 5G technology comes powered with, it will be naive to call it just a network. 5G will be the underlying fabric for a complete ecosystem that is made of completely connected devices and is capable of overhauling business and economic policies 180 degrees – The reason why 5G has found its place in the list of Top 10 tech trends that will go mainstream in the near future.

The transformative technology has seen interest coming in from not just businesses but also in the charts estimating a number of subscriptions. The paradigm shift that 5G technology is poised to bring is going to having a lasting effect across a number of industries in ways that are going to open doors of innovation and transformation to an extent that things that were always assumed to be too far fetched or ones belonging to a Steven Spielberg sci-fi movie. A shift that will be faster than the time you take to get 5G technology explained.

We are going to look at the impact of 5G on a number of different industries in this article. But since the most direct impact of a high internet connectivity can be seen in a mobile app economy (and because mobile app development economy is our expertise) we will be majorly focusing our attention on the 5G impact on Mobile Apps.

But before we move on to the 5G impacts on Mobile Apps, it is imperative to get you acquainted with the power of 5G – something that you will only be able to understand when you know how different 5G is from 4G or through a comparison between 5G vs. LTE vs. 4G

How is 5G technology Better Than 4G?

A lot faster fiber comparable sped minus wires
Lower latency – meaning lesser delay and interference
Greater wireless power to allow more devices to connect on an IoT network
A uniform experience with a greater variety of coverage option and condition
Greater opportunity for wireless connectivity

But what do these benefits mean for mobile apps?

Let’s Find Out.

What Does 5G Networks Means for Mobile Apps?

1. Greater Speed

The high download speed that will now be tagged with 5G technology will not just make it easier for the users to download apps in a few second irrespective of what the MB size your app is of.

Apart from taking benefits in terms of high app download speed, the speed factor seen in mobile apps with 5G will also come in handy for mobile app marketers who are relying on in-app download based monetization plans as one of the ways they can earn from mobile apps.

While this is about the perks that mobile app market will enjoy because of high download speed, there is another category of speed that affects mobile app retention to a huge extent. In fact, in the world of entertainment apps, it is one of the main reasons behind users abandonment after first app visit – App Streaming Speed.

5G mobile apps will remove the mere concept of streaming lags.

2. Faster File Transfer

With great speed comes faster transfer of files, money or simply anything transferable. The power of 490 MBPS browsing speed and 100 MBPS download speed ripples down to speedier file transfer.

The revolution that 5G mobile app is going to bring in the file transfer feature is going to advance a number of mobile app categories that have based their business model around transfer of data or money from one account to another.

3. Low to Zero Latency

There is nothing more annoying for a mobile app user than an app that takes ages to respond to their one action.

Latency is something that the mobile app development economy is not a stranger to and a victim of. But with 5G mobile apps, the time it takes to react to the users’ prompt becomes even more faster than real-time. An event which comes in very handy in AR/VR based mobile apps.

4. Greater User Experience

While the three factors mentioned above are sufficient in themselves to improve the user experience to a huge extent, one of the biggest perk of high 5G internet speed is clarity.

You must have noticed the difference between watching a video or hearing music on 2G network over streaming the same over an LTE Network. It is only going to advance now. The effect of app UI gets elevated to a very huge extent when used or streamed on a 5G network.

Now that we have given you a sneak into the myriad of benefits that your mobile app is just a few months away from availing, it is now time to look into the industries that are most likely to be touched from this revolution called 5G.

Industries That Are Going to Witness the Maximum Benefit from the Onset of 5G

5G wireless networks will be unleashing a massive amount of revenue opportunity – approximately $12.3 Trillion globally – across a wide spectrum of industries, according to IHS Economics. An amount that is equal to consumer spending of all of the USA in 2016.

5G is expected to create millions of jobs universally, with the mobile app developers being identified as the core career groupings who stand to benefit, in addition to the content and infrastructure providers.

While there is not even a single industry that is going to go untouched by the advantages that the higher than ever seen before internet speed is going to bring, there are some industries that will show the first sign of adoption and innovation. Industries that will in many ways become the torchbearer of 5G Power adoption in the mobile domain.

Let us look at some of those industries that are going to be the fastest recipients of the 5G benefits in the mobile domain.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The faster than real-time communication speed and long battery life – the two benefits of 5G wireless networks are perfect condition for Internet of Things growth

According to a recent survey by Gartner held between several representatives of different economic sectors, it was found that over 57% respondents considered IoT the most promising 5G mobile apps niche.

5G will allow the mobile app developers to work in those IoT areas which makes it crucial to keep a difference between 4 milliseconds and 40 milliseconds.

Smart Cities

With 5G finally here, creation of smart homes and heck, Smart Cities a reality now. A reality that is equipped with millions of sensors working in real time.

Smart Cities are undoubtedly a unique platform for businesses as they will now be able to connect multiple devices with a single mobile app.

The perks will most be enjoyed by someone who own multiple businesses as Smart City will help them offer every single sphere of their service offerings to the user of tens of connected devices in one stroke.

Even if you keep the profit and business side away, imagine what 5G powered Smart Cities would do to city’s safety quotient.

AR/VR

The time when AR/VR used to be an upcoming trend will now finally stop. Now, users will see the advent of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in almost all phases of life around them.

From attending a live event in LA while being at home in Canada to seeing the history of every room and turn of the monument, AR/VR will now finally go mainstream with 5G.

While the examples that we gave above are more inclined towards entertainment, there are a number of other industries – Healthcare, Education, Army, etc that will witness the benefit that the platform where Reality and Virtual surrounding is same.

Logistics and Production

Use of 5G mobile apps will help in improving remote control of the machine in complex industries. Stability of the automation system will grow and alongside an enhancement of the product quality.

Three-dimensional printing along with 5G and robotics even allows designing of smart plants. Remote controlled machines significantly reduce risk factors for people who are working at difficult production facility.

Healthcare

All the various healthcare obstacles will cease to exist once 5G comes into the picture. Challenges like remote patient monitoring and doctors not being able to attend to patients on time are ones that would not exist once 5G meets healthcare applications.

Along with this, wearable devices connected with medical apps will be able to keep better details of the patient’s records and then give reports in real-time as well.

So here were the industries that are going to get affected with 5G onset. But, is the soon to be true future really that perfect?

Well, no.

Like at the beginning of every technology, implementation of 5G also comes with its share of challenges. Let us look at what they are –

Challenges Associated with Implementation of 5G in Mobile Apps

1. Security Issues

With greater speed will come a greater increase in the number of connected devices and networks – something that will create loopholes in terms of security.

2. Establishment of 5G Based Business Model

The network speed which 5G is anticipated to be launched with, will demand business models that make the most of its potential, something that the mobile app strategists will have to give a lot of thought to. It is not just the strategists but also the OS ecosystems like Android 11 which are looking to help businesses adapt the 5G technology.

3. Multiple App Versions

With 5G coming into practice, the app audience will be get divided to poles apart. There’ll be those who have devices fit for 5G and then those who are still working on 2G or LTE version devices.

Want to find solution to these challenges? We have them. Get in touch with our team of Mobile App Strategists to know how to prepare your app to be a part of the 5G race even before it’s here.

Here are Tips to Enhance Mobile App Design by Improving Its UI

Posted on 20/03/202015/06/2021 by Tushar

Often, we hear the terms ‘UI’ and ‘UX’ being used in context of websites and mobile applications. Haven’t we all heard or made statements such as ‘I just couldn’t understand the UI of the application so I didn’t install it’ or ‘the UX of the website is so great I keep going back to it.’ What are UI and UX actually and how do they impact a mobile application’s performance? And more importantly, how can mobile application design be enhanced using UI and UX?

This blog will talk about the vital UI and UX aspects of a mobile application and also provide handy tips that are proven to improve an application’s UI and UX.

User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX)

User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) are commonly used interchangeably, but the fact is that UI and UX are quite different from each other. “Design is not what a thing looks like or feels like; design is all about how anything works.” Steve Jobs’ legendary words sum up the co-dependence between UI and UX. A great product design strategy for your mobile app will keep end users’ needs in mind and meet the bottom line of conversion, every time.

Both UI and UX work hand in hand to make interaction with a mobile application as painless and smooth as possible.

User experience refers to the interactive side of a website or application. It governs the kind of experience a user has while interacting with a product. An application having a great UX will put new users to ease and actually encourage them to explore the application. So, UX developers have to actually anticipate how a user will think when they use a product and then design it in such a way that the interaction becomes seamless and intuitive. When talking about a website’s UX, site map, page load, responsiveness, and content are relevant aspects and for apps, navigation and layout are relevant UX aspects.

User Interface on the other hand refers to the visual elements in a website or app. The typography, color schemes, and layout of various design elements are usually a part of UI design. So, if a call-to-action button has to be placed on a webpage, its color and fonts will be decided by the UI developers but its placement, resolution, and functionality will be determined by a UX expert.

So, while UX professionals make designs centered on user’s needs and research, UI professionals create visual designs based on a client’s needs and requirements. But the end objective of both UI and UX is to please website visitors and app users and encourage them to return to the app or website again and again.

Tips to Improve Your Mobile App’s UI

Designing the perfect UX and UI is an art and a science. Your mobile application’s design can make or break its fate. While style certainly can’t beat substance, it’s a definite deal breaker for app users. All users love apps with familiar layouts, quick load times, and seamless experience across devices and screens, cohesive visual elements and strong branding. So, for your app to be a hit, it needs to be appealing inside and out.

Have a Unique app icon

A killer app icon will make your app stand out among the dozens crowding a user’s screen. Facebook, Google and WhatsApp icons are recognizable by people across the globe. Ensure that your app icon reflects your brand’s colors and style. Use the icon consistently across screens and pages and on all marketing collateral. The aim is to forge a strong bond between your brand’s message and its icons so that people make the connection instantly.

Keep in mind the following when designing your app logo:

Either use a unique image or your brand name’s initials in the icon. Your company’s logo is also a good choice as it might already have established repute and visibility in the market.
Avoid incorporating long words in the icon as it affects readability adversely and crowds the screen.
Submit several iterations of the icon while publishing your app.

Prioritize interaction design

Interaction design is an essential aspect of mobile app design. Apps with great interaction design are simple to use and seem like second nature. Users are able to figure out how to use these apps without reading lengthy tutorials or seeing complex demos. Each element of the app just fits together perfectly such that design becomes secondary and functionality gains priority.

The three pillars of interaction design that can enhance your app’s UI are:

Goal-driven design: User research and use case scenarios should be made for numerous situations so that you understand how a user will behave in a particular situation. Your app should not lose users at any point. Since it’s relatively easy to acquire an app from play stores, users don’t hesitate to abandon an app that isn’t meeting their needs instantly and opt for a competitor app. So your UI developers have to only attract visitors but also retain and convert them efficiently through brilliant design and interactivity. Customized workflows have to be designed for different use cases. Familiar navigation and simple layouts are best to guide users to the next steps. Uncluttered typography and contextual content are absolutely essential to maintain attention.
Usability: Usability testing is arguable the most important phase of app development. It allows real users to interact with an app under construction. Careful observation should be made to identify breakpoints and incoherence in the app’s UI. Usability testing should be repeated a number of times with different users and in different environments. This will probably give the most authentic feedback to your developers even before the app hits the market.
Feedback: Users need to be validated after they complete an action, especially new users unfamiliar with an app’s functioning. So, provide timely feedback in the form of visual cues, sounds or prompts as a user performs an action. It’s also a great strategy to include a prompt about the next step they should perform to guide them towards conversion stage.

Reduce, Reduce, Reduce

While mobile applications are becoming the go-to source for every kind of transaction, it’s a harsh truth that people’s attention spans are reducing by the second. Web users have no patience to read walls of text or go through lengthy how-to guides.

Keep your app copy clean and engaging. Also adhere to the context of the content. The aim is not to wow audiences with long, technical terms but to endear them with simple easy to understand content.
Use pictures and icons lavishly. They not only make your app attractive but also occupy less space and are more effective that textual cues. Keep in mind that pictures used should not be generic stock images. They should be customized to platform and screen size and have a comfortable resolution.
Mobile apps have trouble with multitasking. So focus on limited features. Don’t try to accomplish everything with a single app. Remove all extraneous elements and features and make your app screen uncluttered. This will appeal to users and also up your app’s performance.

Concentrate on Responsiveness

Finger-friendly design is a must for mobile applications. Your app should run flawlessly in different devices and screen sizes. Whether this requires tweaking media queries or JavaScript, no stone should be left unturned to keep users engaged when they switch between laptops, smartphones and tablets.
Use images in suitable format that fit the platform on which your app runs. Stretchable graphics are a great choice for Android app design.
Follow platform rules and design for best utilization of the particular platform. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel and create unfamiliar screen controls an interface elements. Take cues from the platform about the look and feel of your app. This will not only reduce redundancy of efforts but also delight users.
Adhere to the UI guidelines prescribed for mobile applications. There are norms for buttons, menus, widgets and every mobile element. All applications are scrutinized for these guidelines by play stores before they are published there.

Know Your Visual Elements

Visual elements such as fonts and colors although a part of UI, contribute substantially to the holistic user experience with an application.

When choosing typography for your app copy, focus on readability rather than attractiveness. The aim is not to distract users from your app’s features by using large, whacky fonts. Too small fonts become miniscule on smaller screen sizes. So, keep font size above 12 pt. at least.
Understand colors thoroughly and use them smartly to enhance visuals and show screen transitions. Fade out between screens will soften screen transitions. Highlighting a button can prompt a user to perform an action. Changing a button’s color after it’s been clicked will show a goal-driven action has been completed.
Use popular icons to show typical actions. For instance, a heart can be used to signify favorites and a tick mark to show completed action. Replacing text with representative icons will help your app’s international users who may not understand your app’s copy.
Keep an eye on app design trends as they keep changing rapidly. Material design, flat design, minimalistic design- choose wisely to give your mobile app a contemporary look.

Designing a mobile app with a great UI is a tough task. It requires years of patience and an in-depth understanding of user psychology. But practice makes perfect. So, keep iterating and testing to get the perfect mobile app design. Anteelo’s skilled UI and UX team has created more than 350 Android apps and iOS apps. We even provide comprehensive design consultancy to audit your app’s design elements and enhance its performance and usability.

Rapid Application Development in Business: Benefits

Posted on 16/03/202015/06/2021 by Tushar

Not every brand has a six month to year time frame for getting their application launched in the market. It might happen that the app idea you have come up with, has the potential to attract a lot of competition from the industry.

So what do you do? Do you compromise on quality and deploy an app that is a peek into your concept? Or do you extend your time and increase the probability of coming face to face with greater competition?

None of it.

We get a lot of queries from brands looking for strategic mobile app consultancy for finding ways to deploy apps in the least possible time, without compromising on the app quality or paying hefty amounts. The solution that we offer them is, – Rapid Mobile Application Development Platform.

This article is dedicated to the concept where we will be looking into the various phases and characteristics of rapid application development using the RMAD model.

What is RMAD Model?

Rapid Mobile Application Development (RMAD) means using code free tools to expedite the process of creating mobile applications.

RMAD can be seen as the mobile version of RAD model, which is based on a concept that high quality products development can be expedited by using processes such as reuse of software components, early prototyping, and lesser formality in team communication.

Phases of RAD

Business Modelling
Data Modelling
Process Modelling
Application Generation
Testing and Turnover

1. Business Model

The main business plans are decided and their need of achievement is determined. The sort and flow of information are settled between various business models. The questions regarding what information will be required to choose the kind of data structures and how the communication gap bridges between various business administrations be set up is resolved during this process.

2. Data Modeling

The next stage includes review and analysis of information objects as compared to the business model. The credits of these data collections are characterized and their relevance to the business is plainly mapped out.

3. Process Modeling

The data sets and business models are adjusted to create a flow of information for different business models. The process for development and change, both are determined. In this stage, the process structure for adding, erasing, changing or retrieving a data set are set up at one place.

4. Application Generation

In this model, automated tools are utilized for the construction of the software, that is to convert the processed and data models into prototypes

5. Testing and Turnover

RAD is famous mostly because of its focus on the testing and turnover. Each prototype is tested by the user and every feedback is used to optimize the current structure and integrate changes as per the feedback.

For a brand that is looking for a smaller launch time and has a low feature mobile app, Rapid Application Development (RAD), with its USP of delivering quality apps in the least possible time, comes in very handy. There are a number of reasons that come attached with this that has brought in a demand for RMAD among the businesses.

Let us look at some of the pros and cons of rapid application or low code no code app development that is turning brands into the direction of the in-trend approach.

Benefits of Rapid Application Development

1. Quick Delivery

Under the Rapid Mobile Application Development Process, the whole project is segregated in modules, which are treated as an individual prototype. Each of these prototypes are tested instantly, before being winded together. This helps in faster delivery of an app which is tested to ensure lesser bugs.

The primary benefits of RAD is a faster development life cycle, and a better turnaround time of the software product. This is achieved by rapid prototyping, and by using automated tools like Computer Aided Software Engineering or CASE tools, that enable the developers to re-use previously generated codes, thus saving the time needed for manual coding. The CASE software tools are a major contributing factor in reducing the delivery time in the RAD methodology.

2. Fast Action on Market Analysis

Since every module is treated as a separate prototype, brands can easily get it reviewed by the end users, without having to wait for the final product to be launched. Also, since changes are to be made on one module out of the supposed 5, the maximum portion of the app remains unchanged.

3. Reduced Waste Time

When developing mobile apps, it is found that the elements like wait times, task switching, handoffs, and defect solving contribute to extension of the app development cycle time.

The RAD process comes with rapid app development tools that help with visual development, on the spot testing and deployment. All these processes and supporting tools together bring substantial reduction in waste time.

4. Better Quality and Low Production Cost

Even though the Rapid Application Development Process comes with compromises related to range of features in the app and its scalability, the overall quality of the app is better when compared to their counterparts.

Since they provide greater reduction in error by using prototyping and automation tools, there is a reduction in errors and bugs.

One of the advantages of RAD model involves the use of reusable software components, which ultimately leads to lowering the cost range that goes into the programming of the mobile app.

5. Aligned IT and Business Teams

IT professionals across the globe admit to spending half of their time on rework. The occurrence of rework happened because of the change in views between the IT and Business Team. Rapid Mobile Application Development eases the process by bringing both the IT and business together, in all the processes – Requirement Analysis, Development, QA, and Production (As shown on the right side of the image above). Since the method works on bringing development and validation to operate side by side, rework is immensely reduced and cost overrun is protected.

6. Faster Release of Product Versions

Rapid Mobile App Development makes use of a method known as timeboxing, which controls the features that are to be deployed in the present, and the next-level versions of software products.

The method helps with releasing product versions in the least possible time, by keeping the next version features added in the app development process.

7. The Innovation Pyramid

As of recently, businesses have observed the advantages of RAD just at the application level. However, RAD benefits are significantly more noteworthy at the enterprise level. To get that, you need to look at enterprise applications from the point of their rate of change, as clarified by Gartner in their Pace-Layered Application Strategy. Gartner has characterized three application categories, or “layers,” to recognize application types based on their rate of change. A close examination uncovers that these layers likewise indicate the extent of focus and financial plan traditionally accorded by undertakings.

Parting Words

So, here were the seven benefits that have brought Rapid Mobile Application Development in the business decision of brands looking to develop quality apps in the least possible time.

Want help with expediting your Mobile App Development Process? Contact our Team of Experts today, or Hire a well-known mobile app development company, who knows the ins and outs of the development process.

If you are looking to develop an app with an up to date and all the latest technologies of the current time, you should partner with known mobile app development services that are well-adapted with the changing market needs. You can also opt for remote companies like mobile application development company USA. But make sure you choose the best to get quality results.

Have you launched and deployed an app following the RMAD process? Let us know in the comment below.

Flutter Ideal For Cross-Platform App Development

Posted on 20/01/202012/06/2021 by Tushar

For mobile app development- iOS and Android are the two main platforms. Each of these platforms need different types of coding for application development. This separate coding has become a problem to various mobile app development companies; which has resulted in the use of cross platform development. Gone are the days when developers had to sweat double in order to create an app for app development platforms. Now, creating an app with one-time coding is possible, thanks to cross platform app development frameworks. The best cross platform app development includes creation of mobile applications in a way that they can be run on various platforms. In this type of development, programming is done only once in a manner that the app is supported by Android, iOS or Windows. Cross platform development has become popular because of its features and tools which are loved by developers. Some popular cross platform development tools are Xamarin by Microsoft, React Native by Facebook, and PhoneGap from Adobe. Each of these development tools have different features along with pros and cons. Developers are always looking for something new and improved to make app development a time saving and efficient process. This constant improvement in technology gave birth to Flutter.

What is Flutter?

Flutter is a software development kit and an astounding cross-platform app development tool, introduced by Google. It uses Dart language for programming. Flutter was launched in 2018 with the features that were missing in the previous cross-platform development tools.

Apps built with Flutter can be run on Android, iOS and Google Fuchsia which is another app development platform developed by Google. However, a debate of Flutter vs React Native is always going on among developers since the time it launched.

Flutter is being used by developers for its proficiency and efficaciousness. The developers at Google had been working rigorously on this before general use. Here are the things they worked on:

Ability to support more Firebase APIs
Has its own tools
Bug fixes
Improved documentation
Support windows development
Enhanced engine performance
Tools for Android Studio and Visual Studio Code
Support different languages i.e internationalizing
Accessibility for all types of developers
Additional features like inline videos, charts and ads

What is Flutter Good for?

Ever since Flutter has become famous, this question has been making rounds. Before deciding to build a Flutter mobile application, people want to know which type of development it supports and does not support. Flutter is not the choice for you if you are developing:

Instant or Progressive Web Apps – These type of apps need to be small and apps built with Flutter, on the other hand, are larger than native apps.
Apps that need uncommon native libraries – Flutter is new and it does not have all the native libraries in its repository so if any uncommon native library is demanded by an app, it can complicate the process. In that case, developers will have to add custom-made platform channels which is definitely going to take time.
Applications communicating to hardware via bluetooth – This feature can be built separately for both Android and iOS and then added to the Flutter app. However, this might be time-consuming.

Developing an app with Flutter

We did reveal the real Google strategy behind Flutter in our previous blog. Moreover, Flutter has been around long enough to provide the impeccable user experience. The exponential popularity of flutter for cross platform encouraged developers to build apps with this framework. Now, there is a sea of flutter cross platform apps out there, served with proficient flutter app development services.

Some IoT banking use cases of flutter include apps developed by Google- Adwords app which tracks the advertising reach and buys Alibaba app by Alibaba Group, a Chinese e-commerce company. Another examples are Watermaniac, Hookle, Coach Yourself, Reflectly, and many more.

From an app owner’s view, developing an app with Flutter is fast and less costly. There are other advantages of using Flutter for app development which are discussed below:

Pros

Hot reload – Whatever changes are made on the application is immediately visible to the developers and that makes the process easy and less time-consuming. Hot reload allows developers to quickly change anything that doesn’t look or fit perfectly in the app. This also allows developers and designers to collaborate better. However, the changes may take several minutes to reload.
Perfect for MVP – Flutter is the best option if you are looking to build quickly to show it to your prospective investors. It takes less time and built native looking application for both iOS and Android. This will let your investors see what your MVP looks like and you will not waste time developing apps for two different platforms.
Less coding – Flutter uses Dart programming language which is an object-oriented programming language. It does not need to code an entirely new programme if any changes are made because it allows hot reload. Flutter is slightly similar to react native so it is reactive and declarative.
Cross-platform development – Flutter is a cross-platform development tool. In this, coding is done only once and then the same code can be used in another platform as well. Also, Flutter is the only access to development in Google’s Fuchsia platform. With Fuchsia developer portal now live, developers are trying their hands on it. Looking at its reception so far, it is said to replace Android in the future, which is precisely the strategy of Google behind Flutter.
Widgets – One of the importance of flutter for app development is having many widgets that are natural looking, fast and customization. Widgets are necessary for an app because that’s what makes the apps interesting. Flutter has a wide range of amazing widgets that perform well and can be customized as per the need. The widgets are unified for all platforms and layouts.
Different themes – Most of the time, the themes of the same app are different for iOS and Android. The difference is not in the theme color and design but more than that. Flutter allows to put in different themes while coding for both the platforms. Take a look at the image below and see how the theme data is set for target platform iOS.

Cons

Limited to mobile only – To build an app with Flutter means to build an app only for mobile. Flutter is still not available for web browsers. This can majorly impact your decision on the development platform. If you are looking for maximum flexibility then maybe Flutter is not the right choice.
Few libraries – Flutter does have libraries but not a wide range of it. The most common ones that Google decided to include are available but many useful libraries are still unavailable. If a developer wants to use any of the unavailable libraries, he will have to build it on his own which is a time taking process.
No TV support – Even though Flutter development is supported in both iOS and Android mobiles yet it is not available for Apple TV or Android TV.
No CI support yet – Other platforms sure do allow continuous integration support like Jenkins and Travis to the iOS and Android apps but Flutter does not. There are other ready-made solutions instead of these CI platforms but to use that developers will have to set up toolkits.

Smooth Development Cycle and Rapid Results

There are numerous features in Flutter that simplifies the development process for engineers, upon relying on the experience of Flutter-based tasks, some of the important features are provided below:

Business logic components (BLoC)

Flutter’s principles depend on the reactive programming that guesses streams. This architecture pattern is called BLoC (Business Logic Components). This architecture permits separation of the application’s UI from the business logic by utilizing streams.

The fundamental value of BLoC design is its reactivity, and freedom of UI from data. In comparison to other architectural patterns, where UI might be stacked with delays, the BLoC design prevents delays in the application’s performance by using organized, async techniques, and streams. It implies that animations and screen scrolls will work easily, while data is stacked from the server.

We have been utilizing BLoC pattern architecture for years now. It is the best fit for applications with complex architecture and a lot of information. In a case where the app’s architecture is simple, additionally the Provider design is utilized that simplifies resource allocation and increases scalability for classes.

Code architecture

The measure of settled objects in Flutter code doesn’t impact the last presentation and responsiveness. This is because there are no recursive calls when preparing the layout.

For example: if there are a lot of gadgets accumulated in the native app – it probably influences the application’s performance. In any case, with Flutter, it is feasible to carry out UI/UX plans of any complexity, stylization, and onboard plenty of widgets.

Flutter supports multithreading, where threads are known as Isolates. When beginning to code in Dart, only a single essential Isolate is referred to as the UI Thread. It is the correct answer for long-running undertakings that ought to be processed alongside the smooth running of the entire application.

DartPub

Since Flutter uses Dart programming language, mobile developers generally utilize the DartPub as a package supervisor since it contains numerous reusable packages and libraries. While picking any plugin module, one can see both its popularity and the code’s health and maintenance. It is significant when creating custom highlights – it’s not as imperative to pick modules by the notoriety rate as to see that the code is in effect constantly refreshed and checked. The actual module may not be that well known, however in the event that you have some novel programming highlights, it is feasible to pick it relying upon the code’s wellbeing.

Why Choose Flutter?

Support and Community

The Flutter 1.17 release has lots of improvements and it has resolved an unprecedented number of issues since its last release. This enormous number of enhancements is the consequence of coordinated effort with Nevercode, an incredible nonstop mix and constant development tool that helps any Flutter application developer to effectively discover and resolve issues.

With each year, a number of issues are resolved than opened, and this permits the Flutter group to end up with less issues left. The greater part of the issues have been settled with the assistance of 3,164 pull requests from 231 contributors.

Core elements

Flutter utilizes widgets as its core element just like other progressive languages. Widgets permit developers to perceive how they’re doing with their code very quickly and save heaps of time on creating fundamental UI elements for each screen and resolution.

This is the thing that makes Flutter advantageous for developers, wherein they simply need to develop a UI element once and it will automatically adjust for any screen. This likewise saves time for QA professionals, as they don’t have to test the Flutter mobile app design on all devices with various screen sizes.

Lifecycle management

An application’s lifecycle is normally managed by the operating framework. This implies changing the condition of an application. Flutter used to be not that awesome at lifecycle management, as it didn’t have any tools that would permit developers to follow each phase of their application’s lifecycle.

Presently, developers can see their app’s lifecycle in Stateful widgets. They can likewise utilize extra widgets like OrientationBuilder, which tracks changes in screen direction and so on.

How Much Does it Cost to Build a Flutter Mobile Application?

It takes 50% less time to build an app with Flutter as compared to building apps separately for Android and iOS. According to the mobile app development guide on how much does an app development cost that we wrote recently, the cost of an app depends on the hours it takes to build it. To build an app with Flutter that works both on iOS and Android, it takes about 250 hours. On the other hand, it takes 400 hours to build the same app for iOS and 250 hours for Android.

To determine the flutter mobile app development cost, just multiply the hours taken to build the app with the hourly charge of an app developer. A Flutter app development company, however, has its own price range for its flutter application development services. It usually ranges between $15,000 to $40,000.

It is seen that the hours taken for Flutter app development is low hence it will save money. So if you want to save money and built an app in less time then Flutter is a great choice.

What is the Future of Flutter?

Often a compromise is made between quality and productivity while developing separate apps for iOS and Android. But Google decided to remove this issue and introduced Flutter as a cross-platform development tool.

Flutter has just entered the app development industry and has already seen a lot of fame. The future seems to be bright for Flutter. Google also launched Flutter 1.7 with added new features and functions such as Rangeslider, 64-bit support, typography features, game controller support and so on. There is no denying that it is certainly more powerful than the previous Flutter 1.5 and 1.6 versions. Flutter has a lot of potential in the industry and if it is able to bridge the gap between quality and productivity then it sure is going to take over the app development world.

Flutter app development platform is still in the development phase which can be a risk but it shouldn’t take Google long to launch a stable version of the framework. Flutter has an official website where you can find all about Flutter.

This was our take, as a Flutter app development company in USA and other countries, on the newly launched Flutter for cross platform development. If you wish to know about our development process for android and iOS cross platform development within this framework or want to gain insight into our flutter cross platform app development services, get in touch with us today.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How do you make a flutter app?

The very first step in the process of making a flutter app for your business model is to hire the best flutter app development company, which has the experience in this field and is trustworthy. Moreover, you need to make sure to calculate flutter Mobile app development cost before taking any solid decision.

2. How do you make cross-platform apps?

With the growing technology, many cross-platform mobile app development tools have also emerged to facilitate the whole development process. Software and mobile application development kit, such as Flutter, is the most effective way to develop a remarkable mobile app.

3. What programming language does flutter use?

Flutter uses the Dart programming language to create rudimentary codes and essentially the base for any cross-platform app.

4. Which framework can be used to develop cross-platform applications?

From the myriad of frameworks, the best ones to use for cross-platform development are Xamarin, React Native, and Phonegap.

Outsourcing App Development (2019-2020 Guide)

Posted on 19/01/202012/06/2021 by Tushar

You have come up with a million dollar idea for a mobile application and now you are lost on the path of development. Next 7 minutes of your time will be spent in weighing all the options you have about how to do outsourcing app development for your big billion app idea.

If we look at it today, the mobile app development industry has become a multi-million dollar industry. Going by the stats, there are over 2 million apps on Apple’s App store and over 2.5 million apps on Google Play Store.

And to meet this demand, there are about 19 million software developers in the world and over 50% of them are dedicated to mobile app development. A simple mathematical calculation here would show how difficult it is to find a good app development agency amongst the crowd of millions of developers available in the market. And thus, it takes a lot of time and effort to find an app developer who is perfect for your app category.

Your diligent knowledge about how to find a good mobile app developer can in fact, take your app from ordinary to extraordinary. But what is difficult to sail the process of finding a good app developer, especially when you have taken an outsourcing route.

In this article cum guide, we are going to offer all the necessary insights to keep your plans to outsource app development rolling.

Here are some of the questions we will seek to answer in the article:

Outsourcing vs In-House Team of Developers: What Should be the Right Choice?
What Are The Benefits Of Outsourcing Mobile App Development?
Freelance or Agency: Which Outsource Mobile App Development Mode Should You Choose?
How To Select The Perfect Agency To Outsource Mobile App Development
How to Outsource Effectively on a Low-Budget?
What Are The Risks Involved In Mobile Development Outsourcing And How To Tackle Them?
Time and Material vs Fixed Price: The Best Application Development Outsourcing Contract
What are the Biggest Software Outsourcing Trends in 2020?

will be answered in this article and by the end of it, you will have a path to follow. So let us start.

Outsourcing vs In-House Team of Developers: What Should be the Right Choice?

There are usually two choices that every tech startup and their established counterparts have – have an in-house team of developers or outsource the requirement.

While there’s no fixed answer as to which is the right choice, in our line of work we have in fact gathered points that help entrepreneurs fall on either side of the coin. Here’s when it makes sense to outsource and not establish an in-house team:

When majority of your development task is one-time
When you are working on a low budget and unclear ROI plan
When you are looking for quick go-to market time
When there’s a scope of technical updation within the application.

The pointers that we shared above are more or less the story of every SME. So before you make your next hire, ponder upon the outsourcing route once. Especially around the benefits of application development outsourcing.

What Are The Benefits Of Outsourcing Mobile App Development?

It enhances the speed of your app development. With outsourcing, you don’t have to wait for the full hiring process. Additionally, when you outsource, the agency you partner with works single-handedly on your software, meaning there’s no distraction or additional tasks. This single-focus approach plays a great role in increasing the app development speed.
It helps in expanding the technological stacks without the need of re-hiring talent. Technologies are wildly fluctuating these days. And making hiring and firing decisions simply on the basis of the technologies which are in and ones which are outdated can be a bad move. When you outsource software development projects, you get to inculcate the necessary technologies without affecting your in-house manpower planning process.
App development outsource adds innovation and efficiency to the existing set-up. The implementation of IDEA (Identify, Design, Engineer and Analyze) is the simplest pattern that greatly helps in streamlining the entire process of mobile app development.
The cost-effectiveness of outsourcing is another big point in its favour that makes enterprises attracted towards it. For instance, if we go by the real-life experience of western world clients, they would tell that the cost of mobile app development or even of hiring a developer in the US and Europe is much higher than hiring a qualified app developer in the eastern part of the world.

According to some accounts, the cost was as less as 50% of setting up an in-house development team. So this makes the choice between in-house and outsourcing a bit easier.

Assuming you are sold on the benefits that outsourcing has to offer, here are the two options that would be available to you when you decide on mobile application outsourcing.

Freelance or Agency: Which Outsource Mobile App Development Mode Should You Choose?

Hiring a Freelancer

Hiring a Freelance app developer can seem like an extremely attractive idea when it comes to cost-effective solutions to all your app development needs. But just like any other situation, this situation also has its pros and cons.

Hiring a Mobile App Development Agency

Hiring an agency can be your one-stop solution for all the app development requirements. A mobile app outsourcing company is much more efficient and effective and most importantly, organised in terms of handling and managing clients. They provide flexible time schedules and ensure that the cost that you’re paying ends up worth every penny in terms of services. You can’t resist hiring an outsourcing agency for your next project.

Looking at the Pros and cons of both, hiring a freelancer and hiring an app development agency, it is fair to say that the better option out of the two is hiring an app development agency.

Now that we have decided on one aspect of our next mobile app development project, let us take a look at the scenarios you need to take care of and point to consider before deciding upon any outsourcing company.

How To Select The Perfect Agency To Outsource Mobile App Development

Mobile app development is a huge investment for any company and selecting an appropriate Agency for making the app perfectly as you have imagined is a difficult task. But following a set of pointers can ease out the outsourcing process to a great deal.

Fix a Geography

There are websites such as Clutch, Directory of Google development Agency and Appfutura which provide organised information about the ranking and rating for app development agencies worldwide. These lists can be sorted according to geography, reviews, Hourly rates and Industry focus of the company.

After you have made a decision on which geography to outsource services from, go through the reviews of the top rated companies to make a clearer second level decision.

You can even choose to personally contact some of the reviewers to get a better idea about the working procedure of the app development companies. At the end of checking and cross checking the credentials of your top companies on each of the mentioned websites, finalise four or five companies to go forward with.

Check the Quality of Work

Before making the final decision about hiring someone for your work, look at the quality of work done by them previously. Ask for a portfolio and judge the quality of work with it.

Portfolios are also a great way to scale a developer’s or an agency’s level at handling complex apps and projects. For instance, if your app is a complicated one, you will not hire the person or agency that has only simple apps in their portfolio and vice versa.

There also should be a standardized procedure to follow all the things through so that everyone is on the same page regarding the progress of the application. This has a great impact on the quality of the application.

Check the Range of Services Offered

The specifications of the project should be made clear before starting the actual development process for the best outcome. Generally, a rough solution or a scope of work is provided by the freelance developer or the app development agency according to their understanding of your vision and then you, as a client, also gain clarity about the things you need and do not need in the application.

The process of providing the scope of work also works differently for freelance mobile app developers and mobile app development agencies.

If you had been going with a freelancer, he would have never changed anything about the specifications you had provided and would have given you the exact set as you had stated in the paperwork but an agency walks you through the process of development. And gives you options to add or subtract anything out of the specifications as the need arises and the project becomes clearer to everyone involved in the process.

Enquire About the Post-Launch App Services

This is one of the most important parts of the contract between a client and a service provider. In a business as intricate and complicated as mobile app development, problems can arise anytime, after all, it’s a machine and no machine is flawless. Therefore, it is crucial to add the required clauses in the contract at the beginning of the project itself that makes it clear what kind of post-launch services you will be needing and the company of the freelance developer will provide you.

Agencies, usually have a separate support department which takes care of the clients’ post-launch services. On the other hand, it might not be possible for a freelance developer to provide support full-time due to time-crunch.

Post-launch services are also necessary because mobile apps require constant upgrades in order to match up to the industry standards. Also, the Operating system upgrades always need to be made compatible with the mobile application. This kind of support is easy to provide for a mobile app development agency.

Match the Communication Lined

With the growth that the world has seen in the past decade, it has become very easy for anyone to be in one corner of the world and get services from the other end of the world. This is an amazing technological advancement but with it, comes time difference.

It becomes very difficult to manage communications and projects being in different time zones. In such cases, it is cardinal that we decide the meeting and discussion times beforehand.

A checklist to outsource mobile app development effectively

They should be well established with a solid portfolio to judge their work. There should be excellent and appropriate examples of their previously done projects that should convey an amenable approach towards each project and client services.
They have to have a wide range of capabilities suggesting their work in diverse domains. UI/UX, Android, iOS, Web platforms etc.
They should have a good connectivity to be able to cater to all the client needs.
If the need arises, they should have the resources to travel to the client destination.
They should have a good grasp on the language they’re serving their clients in.
When you hire a remote development team, their team has to be very well-organised to reflect a critical mass in terms of the size of the organization or the team.
They should abide by all kinds of government laws and shouldn’t be involved in forgery.

How to Outsource Effectively on a Low-Budget?

Outsourcing of a mobile application significantly reduces cost. Especially when you’re a start-up. On the other hand, outsourcing also broadens the horizons as to what is the extent of technology we can reach. Also, there are countries which provide mobile app development services at a much cheaper rate than the US and UK.

The initial push for any startup is crucial in such a scenario if you find a better costing option And that initial push can be an MVP made in detail. This can be possible by outsourcing apps from foreign countries (Outsourcing app development in India like countries, where the cost of an MVP and a detailed wireframe of your project is much cheaper than all the other countries).

Another very significant advantage of outsourcing a project for a start-up is Idea-Validation. There will be an entire pool of experienced people and developers handling your project and you can get crucial insights as to what can and cannot work in the app idea that you’re proposing.

This can also be so because these companies will be able to give you some level of competitor analysis as they must have managed a project from your domain as well, previously. And this is all at a much lower cost than the cost of specialists you would have hired for the development of an app in-house.

A big backdrop of startups is more often than not, they fall prey to the services provided at a cheaper price by inexperienced developers. That is why it is very important to abide by the list of documents and questions to ask before you hire anyone.

In the lure of a cheaper price, you might end up stuck with a bad quality application which does not generate results as you like. This can in turn be the biggest outsourcing mistake that should be avoided at all costs.

What Are The Risks Involved In Mobile Development Outsourcing And How To Tackle Them?

Risking the leakage of sensitive data

Involvement of a third party into anything confidential delivers a significant risk of confidential data leakage. Building a successful and quality mobile application requires working with close integration with the outsourcing company team. And that involves sharing confidential information with a third party.

The antidote for such a risk is making a strong non-disclosure agreement and along with it an IP protection agreement. These documentations should be backed by appropriate legal measures also.

Mismatch in expectations and delivery

Your selected outsourcing company might be the most competent one in business but that doesn’t lower the risk of expectations mismatch. There is always a risk attached with outsourcing that the development team might perceive the client’s app idea in a different way and execute it according to that. Another worse scenario can be that the development team did not collect the necessary information about the application and that causes an inherent flaw in the app design itself which might add cost and time to rectify at a later stage.

To avoid such risks, the client-developer communication should be clear and on paper/mail. A clear pointed contract should be formulated with the development agency so that this risk can be neglected altogether.

Talking of contract, let us next look into the two most preferred application development outsourcing contracts that businesses choose from when they outsource app design or development requirements.

Time-and-Material & Fixed Price: The Best Application Development Outsourcing Contract

While there are multiple engagement models that an app development company offers, there are two that are most commonly used by the outsourced app development sector – Time and Material and Fixed Price.

Fixed Price Contracts:

Within a fixed-price contract, you pay for an app to be delivered in established budget and time. Here, entrepreneurs can set the price, duration, and the project scope in advance, which is a major pro. But the con in this contract is that everything is fixed. Meaning, there is little to zero scope of amendments in the project once the development has begun.

Time-and-Material Contracts:

In this contractual mode, you pay the developers for the time and efforts they put in. Meaning, it is a lot specific than the fixed time model, but at the same time, a lot more creativity friendly. Working on the time-and-material model gives businesses the flexibility to play around the workflows or feature set when things are not going as per their agenda.

What are the Biggest Software Outsourcing Trends in 2020?

Security as priority

As the times are growing so is the need for sensitive data protection. 2020, will see extreme and technologically advanced measures taken. Advanced security measures related to automation and threat intelligence will find a way into the outsourcing world.

RPA (Robotic Process Automation)

RPA is another new disrupting technology that is not just making people wonder if the future of work is robots, but is also capable of disrupting the current market of outsourcing mobile applications and bringing the cost down. There is a very high amount of data inflow during the making and testing of any mobile app and if we multiply the number of applications, the numbers are sky high. This size of data can be managed and analyzed only through automation. This will also reduce the outsource app development cost and work to provide a better quality app with the use of AI.

Hybrid Cloud Platforms

The use of cloud platforms is already rising up to a peak and cloud technology is all ready to become a trendsetter. For outsourcing companies, they will be able to highly improve and innovate their services and enhance the efficiency of their business process.

There are a lot of futuristic technologies in-line for helping out the outsourcing companies and clients which are looking to outsource app developers. 2020 has a lot in store for both of these parties.

FAQs That Entrepreneurs Have When They Outsource Mobile Application Development

Q. How to find offshore mobile app development companies?

While you can turn to a usual Google search to find an offshore app development company, what we recommend is head on to rating and review websites like Clutch, Mobile App Daily etc, which have a genuine list of software development companies that you can then select from.

Q. Will I get NDA if I outsource my application project?

Yes. Almost every software development company signs an NDA before the first level of communication with the clients. In fact, if your vetted agency says otherwise, we would advise you to see it as a red flag.

Q. What is the handover process like in outsourced app development projects?

At the end of the project contract, you are entitled to get back all the codes, designs, and data that the agency would have on you. Ideally, this clause should be mentioned in the service level agreement.

App development by Machine Disrupting Mobile app Industry

Posted on 18/01/202012/06/2021 by Tushar

When we talk about the present, we don’t realize that we are actually talking about yesterday’s future. And one such futuristic technologies to talk about is Machine learning app development or use of AI in mobile app development services. Your next seven minutes will be spent on learning how Machine Learning technology is disrupting today’s mobile app development industry.

“Signature-based malware detection is dead. Machine learning based Artificial Intelligence is the most potent defence the next-gen adversary and the mutating hash.” ― James Scott, Senior Fellow, Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology

The time of generic services and simpler technologies is long gone and today we’re living in a highly machine-driven world. Machines which are capable of learning our behaviors and making our daily lives easier than we ever imagined possible.

If we go deeper into this thought, we’ll realize, how sophisticated a technology has to be for learning on its own any behavioral patterns that we subconsciously follow. These are not simple machines, these are more than advanced.

Technological realm today is fast-paced enough to quickly switch between Brands and Apps and technologies if one happens to not fulfill their needs in the first five minutes of them using it. This is also a reflection upon the competition this fast pace has led to. Mobile app development companies simply cannot afford to be left behind in the race of forever evolving technologies.

Today, if we see, there is machine learning incorporated in almost every mobile application we decide to use. For instance, our food delivery app will show us the restaurants which deliver the kind of food we like to order, our on-demand taxi applications show us the real-time location of our rides, time management applications tell us what is the most suitable time for to complete a task and how to prioritize our work. The need of worrying over simple, even complicated things is ceasing to exist because our mobile applications and our smartphone devices are doing that for us.

Looking at the stats, they will show us that

AI and Machine Learning-driven apps is a leading category among funded startups
Number of businesses investing in ML is expected to double over the next three years
40% of US companies use ML to improve sales and marketing
76% of US companies have exceeded their sales targets because of ML
European banks have increased product sales by 10% and lower churn rates by 20% with ML

The idea behind any kind of business is to make profits and that can only be done when they gain new users and retain their old users. It might be a bizarre thought for mobile app developers but it is as true as it can be that Machine learning app development has the potential of turning your simple mobile apps into gold mines. Let us see how:

How Machine Learning Can Be Advantageous For Mobile App Development?

Personalisation: Any machine learning algorithm attached to your simpleton mobile application can analyze various sources of information from social media activities to credit ratings and provide recommendations to every user device. Machine learning web app, as well as mobile app development, can be used to learn.

Who are your customers?
What do they like?
What can they afford?
What words they’re using to talk about different products?

Based on all of this information, you can classify your customer behaviors and use that classification for target marketing. To put simply, ML will allow you to provide your customers and potential customers with more relevant and enticing content and put up an impression that your mobile app technologies with AI are customized especially for them.

To look at a few examples of big brands using machine learning app development to their benefits,

Taco Bell as a TacBot that takes orders, answers questions and recommends menu items based on your preferences.
Uber uses ML to provide an estimated time of arrival and cost to its users.
ImprompDo is a Time management app that employs ML to find a suitable time for you to complete your tasks and to prioritise your to-do list
Migraine Buddy is a great healthcare app which adopts ML to forecast the possibility of a headache and recommends ways to prevent it.
Optimise fitness is a sports app which incorporates an available sensor and genetic data to customise a highly individual workout program.

Advanced Search: Machine learning app ideas let you optimize search options in your mobile applications. ML makes the search results more intuitive and contextual for its users. ML algorithms learn from the different queries put by customers and prioritize the results based on those queries. In fact, not only search algorithms, modern mobile applications allow you to gather all the user data including search histories and typical actions. This data can be used along with the behavioural data and search requests to rank your products and services and show the best applicable outcomes.

Upgrades, such as voice search or gestural search can be incorporated for a better performing application.

Predicting User Behavior: The biggest advantage of machine learning app development for marketers is that they get an understanding of users’ preferences and behavior pattern by inspection of different kind of data concerning the age, gender, location, search histories, app usage frequency, etc. This data is the key to improving the effectiveness of your application and marketing efforts.

Amazon’s suggestion mechanism and Netflix’s recommendation works on the same principle that ML aids in creating customized recommendations for each individual.

And not only Amazon and Netflix but mobile apps such as Youbox, JJ foodservice and Qloo entertainment adopt ML to predict the user preferences and build the user profile according to that.

More Relevant Ads: Many industry experts have exerted on this point that the only way to move forward in this never-ending consumer market can be achieved by personalizing every experience for every customer.

“Most analog marketing hits the wrong people or the right people at the wrong time. Digital is more efficient and more impactful because it can hit only the right people, and only at the right time.” – Simon Silvester, Executive Vice President Head of Planning at Y&R EMEA

According to a report by The Relevancy Group, 38% of executives are already using machine learning for mobile apps as a part of their Data Management Platform (DMP) for advertising.

With the help of integrating machine learning in mobile apps, you can avoid debilitating your customers by approaching them with products and services that they have no interest in. Rather you can concentrate all your energy on generating ads that cater to each user’s unique fancies and whims.

Mobile app development companies today can easily consolidate data from ML that will in return save the time and money went into inappropriate advertising and improve the brand reputation of any company.

For instance, Coca-Cola is known for customizing its ads as per the demographic. It does so by having information about what situations prompt customers to talk about the brand and has, hence, defined the best way to serve advertisements.

Improved Security Level: Besides making a very effective marketing tool, machine learning for mobile apps can also streamline and secure app authentication. Features such as Image recognition or Audio recognition makes it possible for users to set up their biometric data as a security authentication step in their mobile devices. ML also aids you in establishing access rights for your customers as well.

Apps such as ZoOm Login and BioID use machine learning for mobile apps to allow users to use their fingerprints and Face IDs to set up security locks to various websites and apps. In fact, BioID even offers a periocular eye recognition for partially visible faces.

ML even prevents malicious traffic and data from reaching your mobile device. Machine Learning application algorithms detect and ban suspicious activities.

How are developers using the Power of Artificial intelligence In Mobile Application development?

After learning that what is machine learning app, let us take a look at the advantages of AI-powered mobile apps which are never-ending for Users as well as for mobile app developers. One of the most sustainable uses for developers is that they can create hyper-realistic apps using Artificial Intelligence.

The best usages can be:

Machine learning can be incorporated as a part of Artificial Intelligence in mobile technology.
It can be used for predictive analysis which is basically the processing of large volumes of data for predictions of human behaviour.
Machine learning for mobile apps can also be used for assimilating security and filtering out harmful data.

Machine learning empowers an optical character recognition (OCR) application to identify and remember the characters which might have been skipped from the developer’s end.

The concept of machine learning also stands true for Natural Language Processing (NLP) apps. So besides reducing the development time and efforts, the combination of AI and Quality Assurance also reduces the update and testing time phases.

What Are The Challenges with Machine Learning and their solutions?

Like any other technology, there is always a series of challenges attached to machine learning as well. The basic working principle behind machine learning is the availability of enough resource data as a training sample. And as a benchmark of learning, the size of training sample data should be large enough so as to ensure a fundamental perfection in machine learning algorithms.

In order to avoid the risks of misinterpretation of visual cues or any other digital information by the machine or mobile application, following are the various methods that can be used:

Hard Sample mining – When a subject consists of several objects similar to the main object, the machine is ought to confuse between those objects if the sample size provided for analysis as the example if not big enough. Differentiating between different objects with the help of multiple examples is how the machine learns to analyse which object is the central object.
Data Augmentation – When there is an image in question in which the machine or mobile application is required to identify a central image, there should be modifications made to the entire image keeping the subject unchanged, thereby enabling the app to register the main object in a variety of environments.
Data addition imitation – In this method, some of the data is nullified keeping only the information about the central object. This is done so that the machine memory only contains the data regarding the main subject image and not about the surrounding objects.

Which are the Best Platforms for the development of a mobile application with Machine Learning?

Azure – Azure is a Microsoft cloud solution. Azure has a very large support community, and high-quality multilingual documents, and a high number of accessible tutorials. The programming languages of this platform are R and Python. Because of an advanced analytical mechanism, the developers can create mobile applications with accurate forecasting capabilities.
IBM Watson – The main characteristic of using IBM Watson, is that it allows the developers to process user requests comprehensively regardless of the format. Any kind of data. Including voice notes, images or printed formats is analyzed quickly with the help of multiple approaches. This search method is not provided by any other platform than IBM Watson. Other platforms involve complex logical chains of ANN for search properties. The multitasking in IBM Watson places an upper hand in the majority of the cases since it determines the factor of minimum risk.

Tensorflow – Google’s open-source library, Tensor, allows developers to create multiple solutions depending upon deep machine learning which is deemed necessary to solve nonlinear problems. Tensorflow applications work by using the communication experience with users in their environment and gradually finding correct answers as per the requests by users. Although, this open library is not the best choice for beginners.

Api.ai – It is a platform that is created by the Google development team which is known to use contextual dependencies. This platform can be very successfully used to create AI based virtual assistants for Android and iOS. The two fundamental concepts that Api.ai depends on are – Entities and Roles. Entities are are the central objects (discussed before) and Roles are accompanying objects that determine the central object’s activity. Furthermore, the creators of Api.ai have created a highly powerful database that strengthened their algorithms.

Wit.ai – Api.ai and Wit.ai have largely similar platforms. Another prominent characteristic of Wit.ai is that it converts speech files into printed texts. Wit.ai also enables a “history” features which can analyze context-sensitive data and therefore, can generate highly accurate answers to user requests and this is especially the case of chatbots for commercial websites. This is a good platform for the creation of Windows, iOS or Android mobile applications with machine learning.

Some of the most popular apps such as Netflix, Tinder, Snapchat, Google maps and Dango are using AI technology in mobile apps and machine learning business applications for giving their users a highly customised and personalised experience.

Machine learning to benefit mobile apps is the way to go today because it loads your mobile app with enough personalization options to make it more usable, efficient and effective. Having a great concept and UI is one pole of the magnet but incorporating machine learning is going a step forward to provide your users with the best experiences.