With nearly 85% market share, Android, without a doubt, is the most popular mobile OS. As far as creating a mobile app is considered, Android OS gets the attention. Android mobile applications are user-friendly and are sure to lead the industry. With the ever-changing demands and supplies of products and services, mobile application development is flourishing with the latest technologies and trends. You should find the future trends that can help you stay ahead in the ever-changing mobile application development industry. Before you hire a top Android app development company, it’s best that you get familiar with the latest trends in Android app development.
LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT THE TOP 8 ANDROID APP DEVELOPMENT TRENDS IN 2021 THAT ARE SURE TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE BUSINESS MODELS.
1) Instant Apps
When it comes to Android app development, Android instant apps aren’t a new phenomenon. However, they are becoming more and more popular. They let users try a game or an app without their installation on your device. As a result, end-users do not need to download them. The instant app’s technology helps gaming companies and eCommerce companies mainly. Moreover, the instant apps do not take extra space on the smartphone and decrease any needless interruptions. The most important benefit of instant apps is that you get complete access to the apps without even downloading them, additional storage, compatibility on all the Android devices, and outstanding UX/UI designs.
2) Apps For Foldable Phones
The flip phone was a thing of the past. Touch screen phones have been the latest trend in the market. But foldable phones have again started making a comeback in the last few years. Foldable phones fold to expand or compress the screen size depending on the user preferences. From the viewpoint of app development, content creators and resellers should consider these devices when creating or updating apps. The main idea is that the app should flawlessly adjust the display when the screen of the phone folds or unfolds. 2021 will definitely see an increase in foldable phones users. As a result, app developers should plan accordingly.
3) Flutter
Flutter, the latest Google’s technology, is the Android app development future. Flutter allows app development for platforms like Android and iOS using native interfaces. Most Android developers will shift to flutter in 2021 because of its features and flexibility. The most essential benefits of using flutter for mobile app development are Support for MVP development, simple to learn features, and native designs. App developers are quick including flutter in their app development approach, which is making it the future of Android development 2021.
4) Beacon Technology
This technology has been already included by many industries. From retail to hospitality, beacon technology can add superior functionalities to almost all mobile apps. The key advantage of beacons is proximity marketing, which is known to enhance the client experience within mobile apps. Thus businesses have begun using it to target potential customers already. It also assists businesses to send notifications and target clients when it comes to hotels and restaurants to smart devices.
5) Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence penetrated the mobile app development industry many years ago. But it has recently seen a rise. When we consider Artificial Intelligence, virtual assistants like Alexa or Siri come into our minds. However, it goes beyond this when it comes to app development. Recently, Apple launched Core ML 3, the recent version of the iOS machine learning platform. It helps app developers embed Artificial Intelligence into their mobile apps. The best AI features that you can implement in an app include predictive maintenance, speech recognition, face detection, image recognition, sentiment classification and recognition, image and text classification, and more. AI can make your apps smarter by enhancing their performance at each level. Artificial Intelligence is surely going to change the ways mobile apps are built.
6) Chatbots
Increasingly more businesses are going to advantage from merging the content and services of their applications with Google Assistant in the coming year. The main benefit of this integration is that it allows faster methods for the users to use the app in the Assistant. It also lets you deep-link further to specific features in the app from Google Assistant. Android Slices, another important feature lets app developers display your app’s content from the app to the Assistant users. With an increase in the Google Assistant users, app integration with the Google Assistant will prove to be very helpful.
7) Advanced App Security
Everybody is vulnerable to cybercrime. Right from a freelance content creator to a multi-billion dollar business, no one is immune. An increase of 54% was seen in malware attacks that were intended to harm smartphones. Over 60% of frauds originate from smartphones. Nearly 80% of these figures come from apps. As far as your app security is considered, you cannot take shortcuts. If you are a mobile app reseller, the security of the apps should be your main priority. App users know security risks that are associated with the apps. So, they think twice about sharing information with third parties or sharing passwords. So, in 2021, app developers will begin implementing features such as Sing in With your Apple ID to apps. This will help users make an account and then sign in with their Apple ID.
8) On-Demand Mobile Apps
The on-demand mobile application development, will trend upwards in 2021. Users have witnessed spending over 57.6 billion dollars every year on on-demand services. With on-demand apps, the opportunities are endless. Being an app reseller, it’s a big opportunity to widen your client base. By using the on-demand abilities, your customers can add superior functionalities to their mobile apps and that is sure to boost profits for everybody.
WRAP UP
We see now ideas, trends, and innovations every year leading to a major shift in the technology world. By looking at these Android app development trends in 2021, we can say that Android will move towards a flawless experience to deliver to the user demands.
We all must agree with the fact that we are spending more time online than ever before, and 80% of that time is spent on different mobile applications. With the rise in the use of mobile, businesses are relying on mobile applications to boost their business visibility. Mobile apps save you valuable time in getting access to the website. With an app, you don’t have to enter a URL and wait for the browsing page to open. That was a brief explanation of why mobile apps prove better than desktop apps or websites. But, our topic of discussion is getting to know about mobile app development tools to build a fantastic and highly engaging app. Are you ready to delve into further exciting parts?
HERE ARE THE TOP TEN TOOLS FOR MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT:
1. Headspin
It is the time to improve your mobile app performance with Headspin. It provides real-world and actionable user insight to develop more engaging and better apps for your business. The beauty of this tool is that it provides complete details about user experience and performance issues across each layer of the mobile stack. You can ask your mobile app developers to use Headspin for your mobile app.
Features:
It has got on-premise and cloud setup;
No SDK to expand the code base as all is done through API access;
Load testing available;
Offer pre and post availability;
The tool is available to 150+ location around the world;
It offers dedicated, pay-as-you-go, and shared availability option;
One of the most preferred tools for mobile app development for native applications is xamarin. It is used in developing native apps for Android, Windows, iOS, tvOS, macOS, watchOS, and .NET. It allows code sharing for multiple platforms without much hassle.
Features:
It allows deep linking and application indexing;
Another striking feature is that it allows communication with the API of mobile devices due to its mono framework;
It has got component stores including third-party UI controls, and cross-platform libraries;
With this you can save time as it produces very few bugs and provides quick time to market it;
Platform-specifics allow consuming functionality that is available only on limited platforms.
3. PhoneGap
PhoneGap is an open-source application based on HTML5, JavaScript. And CSS3 and it is one of the trusted frameworks in the category of cross-platform app development. With this, you can develop a single app that can work on all mobile devices and OS. it has access to the Cordova plugins library and assists SDK plugins so that developers can produce native components like file transfer and push notification.
Features:
Robust tool for building apps without having a specific skillset;
Can enhance development by integrating it with various tools;
With the help of plugin architecture, the developer can extend the functionality of the application.
4. QT
QT is an open-source widget toolkit used for developing graphical user interfaces. Major applications and software that runs on different platforms like Linux, Android, Windows, macOS, and embedded systems.
Features
Provide support for opaque private keys;
Support dual-mode networks and IPv6;
It has got new enabler classes for window and rendering;
Compiler and parser optimization have been implemented;
5. React Native
React native is one of the best mobile app development tools. It is one of the reliable class JavaScript libraries for building user interfaces. Using this, developers can maintain two platforms with a single shared codebase. You can reap maximum benefits by using it as it is supported by many reputed companies and individuals globally.
Features
Cost-effective solution for developing enterprise application;
Supported by a large community of developers;
Provides a seamless platform for the cross-platform app;
It is best is providing optimal performance, as it builds an interactive user interface;
It has got modular architecture and offers stable apps’;
Programming becomes easy with Javascript.
6. Ionic
Ionic is an open-source built on AngularJS and Apache Cordova, used for hybrid mobile app development. It provides platform developing hybrid, desktop, and Progressive web apps using technologies like SASS, CSS, and HTML5.
Features:
Create a highly interactive app using great tools;
Can build native and progressive web apps for every app store;
It has got many JavaScript and CSS components for developing mobile apps;
Ionic uses native SDKs;
It’s lightweight PWA is two times faster than previous versions;
Provide typography, base theme, and readymade component for development;
Provide command-line Interface for project creation;
7. Appcelerator Titanium
It is an open-source framework for the creation of native mobile apps using JavaScript codebase. Based on the MVC framework for developing apps for Windows UWP, Android, and iOS. Many app developers Toronto are making the best use of this fantastic tool.
Features:
Allows on-premise and private virtual deployment;
Improve the speed of mobile app development;
Provide support for multi-region global app deployment;
Provide high cloud capacity limits;
The developer can reuse code for both platforms: Android and Windows;
Other top features include Angular integration, Hyperloop, ES6, Vue.js integration support.
8. Mobile Angular UI
Transform your desktop app to the mobile app with the mobile Angular UI. It is more like JQuery mobile and Sencha Touch. With the use of Bootstrap 3 syntax of mobile Angular UI to convert web apps to the mobile. It has got robust and reliable libraries like overthrow.js and fastclick.js.
Features:
It can easily squeeze and stretch the browser window to see the web as well as mobile versions;
Allow mobile app developers to test responsiveness and speed;
Allow to create great mobile components;
Provide complete native controls along with that you can make it interactive through HTML attributes without directly using Javascript.
9. Mobincube
Mobincube is a popular choice for developing apps for health, games, business, educational, and whatnot. With the help of this app interface, developers can build different kinds of apps for Android, iOS, and windows. It gives the benefit of native apps even if you don’t possess knowledge of programming language and at no time investment.
Features:
Easy to communicate with users;
Developed advanced functionalities with the help of Mobincube;
Easy to customize each detail as per the need;
Easy to integrate with 3rd parties within the app;
Its dynamic filters let the users filter data fields from any database within the app;
Easy to update its online content;
It allows you to develop your own advanced functionalities.
10. VuForia
VuForia is another popular name for providing Augmented Reality Software development kits. It helps to create apps based on Augmented Reality. It is one of the best tools to bridge the gap between the digital and real worlds.
Features:
Great aid in video playback
Support iOS devices, leading phones OS, digital eyewear and tablet based on Android;
It easily recognizes a large number of images, environments, and objects;
Can track a broader set of the objects;
Gives the freedom of customized design;
Deliver best-in-class computer vision;
Can create a virtual button for the app;
Occlusion management detects and tracks targets with ease.
CONCLUSION
Since the mobile application market is growing like never before, it has become even more considerable for businesses to have a business app. By selecting the best development tools, you can take a step towards an app development project. Moreover, a reliable and trusted mobile app development company can turn your dream app into a beautiful reality.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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