Category: iOS App

In 1996, Chex made a surprising announcement. Inspired by a classic video game called Doom, the cereal company launched its own video game called Chex Quest. Any doubts about Chex’s bold move were quickly resolved when sales climbed by 248%.

Today, companies and gaming studios alike aim to replicate Chex’s success. According to Pew Research, more than 5 billion people around the world have smartphones, presenting companies with an unprecedented opportunity to supply entertaining mobile games.

One of the first decisions, game developers must make is what platform and methodology to prioritize. Four key considerations include:

1. Strategic advergaming
2. Evaluating the pool of potential users
3. Marketing in the app store
4. Preventing and resolving mobile gaming bugs

You can use this article to learn more about the benefits that make open-source Android development a clear choice for mobile game development.

Develop a Strategic Plan for Advergaming

Today, companies are investing more in advertising campaigns that are less effective.

In fact, ad fatigue has been named the “silent killer of ad performance.” Customers are so inundated by ads that they are simply learning to tune them out.

Mobile games provide a clever solution to this persistent challenge. In advergaming, ads are transformed into mobile games that expose players to a company’s messages in a highly engaging format.

Games earn users’ sustained attention by deploying compelling levels, point systems, and opportunities to engage with in-game community features. The numerous benefits include increased brand awareness and long-term ROI.

For example, in 2015, Chipotle released an arcade-inspired game called “The Scarecrow.” In addition to supplying addictive gameplay, the app directed users back to Chipotle by allowing players to unlock coupons for meals.

In the age of ad fatigue, advergaming shows real promise. It’s even more impactful when your business targets the broadest possible base of users.

Evaluate the Pool of Potential Users

Apple made headlines earlier this year when the company announced that 1.4 billion users rely on iOS smartphones. As impressive as that might seem, Android surpassed 2 billion monthly users back in 2017.

Android’s appeal lies in the wide variety of devices that support it. iOS smartphones are often viewed as luxury products that come at a high cost.

By comparison, competition between companies that produce Android devices drives down prices without sacrificing quality.

Additionally, Digital Trends notes that Android “has been deliberately optimized to run on low-end hardware.” This means your mobile game will run just as well on a budget-friendly Android smartphone as it would on a more sophisticated one.

Android provides more options at a wider variety of price points. As a result, it’s managed to capture a larger percentage of the market.

If you want to build gaming apps for the widest possible cross-section of users, you should prioritize developing for Android.

Marketing Mobile Games in App Stores

In a crowded marketplace, mobile game developers face the same core challenge: How to convince users to give their mobile games a shot?

In Apple’s app store, users have the opportunity to peruse user reviews, game descriptions, and video trailers to evaluate mobile games before downloading them.

Android users can take their research a step farther. In 2017, Google launched a new feature called “playables” that allows developers to upload an interactive demo to the app store.

This allows Android users to explore how a game’s functionalities feel, an important factor that impacts user satisfaction.

By allowing Android users to test gameplay, Google helps game developers earn more qualified downloads. When users download a game they already enjoy, mobile games cultivate a more engaged following.

Businesses should invest in resources that help them understand what type of marketing their clients would best respond to in the app store amongst the hundreds of other gaming apps.

Reducing and Resolving Bugs in Mobile Gaming

Even the best mobile games encounter bugs that can frustrate users. Open source methodology allows game developers to receive feedback on their code, reducing the likelihood of launching a buggy game and helping developers fix bugs faster.

Open source methodology was famously summarized by Linux creator Linus Torvald, who said, “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.”

In other words, when publicly shared code receives feedback, developers are more likely to resolve bugs before they negatively impact a mobile game’s success.

Open source methodology also naturally complements Android development. “Android may not be fully open source, but the example is still a perfect illustration of what’s known as ‘Linus’ Law,” writes PC World.

In addition to publicly sharing code for their mobile games, developers can rely on countless lines of open source code that have already been thoroughly vetted and iterated upon.

This means open-source games run more smoothly, supporting happier users.

Open-Source Android Development Supports Successful Mobile Games

As mobile games gain importance for marketing and advertising, game developers have to think strategically to achieve their goals.

iPhone users will continue to make up a significant portion of any business’s target audience, and game developers must consider this when choosing their methodology and platform of focus.

However, research suggests that game developers would be remiss to ignore the evidence that Android has captured an even greater market share.

Finally, open-source methodology dovetails perfectly with Android game development, providing reliable games users will crave.

Emily Clark leads app development and marketing topics for The Manifest, a business news and how-to resource based in Washington, D.C.

One of my colleagues recently started working on search engine optimization. She owns a software house and her focus domain is ‘mobile application development’. So she read all the science behind SEO, and started implementing the relevant SEO practices on her website. But how long do you think it would take for her to get her website ranking for those keywords? It could take months, years. The reason behind this is that there is a lot of competition in the app industry. Just as trying to rank on Google is difficult, trying to rank on the app stores is also getting difficult.

Millions of apps are being launched each year, every new app is better than the previous apps.

And every app development company is trying their best to stand out from the rest of the competition. This means that you have to work extra hard to develop a quality mobile app that stands out from the other apps. Apart from making it interactive, you also need to make sure that it delivers a good user experience and has excellent usability. In this blog post, my primary focus is going to be on mobile app usability. I will offer 5 tips you need to master your mobile app’s usability.

Before we move on, let’s take a few moments to understand what ‘app usability’ actually is:

What is Mobile App Usability?

The first and foremost thing to remember is that mobile app usability is not equivalent to the app’s user experience. Usability is the measure of how effectively a user can interact with the mobile app. Mobile App Usability is a small part of the user experience. It focuses on the user and the product and measures how effective and efficient it is to use the product. Usability is the measure of how easily a user can achieve his goals.

Think about it, which type of app would you prefer to use? An app that has an entire instruction manual that you have to spend hours trying to figure. Or would you prefer using a simple app that is easy to understand and the navigation comes to you smoothly? I’m positive the later will be your answer. All the successful apps on the play store and the app store are intuitive and very easy to learn. The shorter time it takes for a user to get familiar with the mobile apps, the more useful it will be and the more conversions it will derive.

Why Exactly Do I Need to Improve my Mobile App Usability?

The harder it is to interact with an app the fewer downloads it will get, furthermore, users that have already installed the mobile app will choose to uninstall it from their devices. On the contrary, an app that is easy to understand and easy to use will get more installs and users will keep these apps installed on their devices for a longer period of time. A mobile application must be effective and efficient; this means that you need to quickly give the users what they are looking for. If users are unable to reach their goals, they will probably abandon your app faster than they had installed it.

Having good usability is the only way to build a client’s confidence and to generate repeat usage. So in simple words, usability is the key factor for generating loyal users for your mobile app.

Now the main question is, how can you improve your app’s usability?

How to Improve Your Mobile App Usability?

Bring Simplicity in Your App Designs

When users open an app, they have a certain goal to accomplish using the mobile app. They expect to get their work done with efficiency and speed. But, if you start creating obstacles in the way of the users, it will frustrate them. They will lose track of reaching their goal and probably start cursing you for wasting their time. Those obstacles aren’t intentionally inserted by you, but, you can follow certain designing rules to make the goal easier to achieve.

Those obstacles may be a result of overly complex app design and unwanted features that might misguide the users from completing their goals. If you want to improve the usability of your mobile app, you will need to start taking the minimalistic approach during the designing process. By taking the minimalistic UI design approach, you can create a simple yet highly usable application.

To remove any unnecessary features from your app design, you can create wireframes and prototypes to test the simplicity of your mobile app. Make sure you pass your app through multiple test iterations and live interactions to check the simplicity of your mobile app.

Platform Usability

Something that really annoys me is when I really want to install an app on my mobile phone, but, it turns out that the app doesn’t operate on my specific phone model. In another scenario, if I install the mobile app but it doesn’t function correctly on my phone. Android and iOS are two very different operating systems; you can’t expect a mobile app developed for Android to work on iOS.

Both operating systems have different types of design and programming requirements. For example, the navigation for iOS doesn’t host a device ‘back’ button like Android. Keeping this in mind, you should decide which operating system you want to develop for (I would suggest you go for cross-platform app development) and make sure that your app is compatible with various Android and iOS smartphones. This will add to the usability of your mobile app, limit the bounce rate, and improve your conversions.

Clear, Concise Content and Readability

Just like having minimalistic app design features are important, having clear and concise content is also very important. You only need enough content to aid the user in completing their goals, there is no need to complex everything, it will only confuse the user.

For example, in the buying process, Consumers need complete, yet, relevant and concise information to successfully complete a purchase. Including too much information will only result in poor user experience, no one likes to read lengthy paragraphs to find something that could be conveyed in a single sentence.  Make it as easy and as readable as you can.

Asides having concise and relevant content in your mobile app, it’s also important that your users can read what’s on the screen, otherwise, they won’t be able to use your app. In order to make sure that your content is easily readable, you can watch out for the following factors:

• Text colors that could be hard to read against a certain background.
• Text that is either too large or too small
• Unreadable scrip, such as ‘Edwardian Script’
• Bad writing and lack of clarity
• Too much or too little spacing

Easy Navigation

One of the top issues that users face is ‘poor navigation’, this is especially true for eCommerce mobile application development. When customers are using the app, they have a hard time finding exactly what they are looking for. They might have to navigate around the app for far too long to find the product that they want to purchase.

So if you’re aiming to deliver better usability, you will have to make sure that your products and services are very easy to find. When a user starts using your app, they clearly have a target to achieve, it’s necessary that they understand how to navigate to complete their goal. Whether they want to purchase a product, find certain information, or book an appointment, it should be done without any barriers. So when focusing on usability, make sure that your products or services are really easy to find. You don’t want to risk triggering the user abandonment rate.

Goal Funneling

I’ve come across multiple apps that have multiple features and functionalities, but they lack proper goal funneling. For example, consider a realtor’s app that aids those looking for houses to buy, apartments to rent, and also includes options for selling houses.

Suppose you are looking to rent an apartment, so you quickly go ahead and install the app in your smartphone, but when you open the app, you come across a search form for selling a house. If you are someone patient, you might stick around to figure out how you can rent an apartment, but, if you’re in a hurry, you might feel frustrated and abandon the app to find something more relevant. This could cause to lose some potential clients.

So what would you do in this situation? The best option would be to have the screen open with three tiles. Each tile for a different goal. This will allow your users to select an objective of their own. Improving the user experience as well as mobile app usability.

Wrapping Up:

So it turns out that mobile app usability is a very important factor for deciding the success of a mobile app. How users perceive and interact with your mobile app has a major impact on whether they will stick around to use your app or move on to something better. The mobile app usability decides how users feel about your app, negative or positive. If they perceive, value, efficiency, and utility of the overall experience, then you have succeeded in developing a successful mobile app that converts. After all, usability is what will help convert visitors, into loyal, long-term customers, and in turn, generate more revenue.

One of the biggest decisions a business has to make is whether the app development should be done in-house or outsourced to an app development company. Each of these options comes with its own set of decisions.

If you pick in-house, do you have enough time and money to hire a team, invest in infrastructure and monitor the project?

If you choose to outsource, it is more about which company to work with, what are your deliverable and of course, the level of expertise the tech and management team possesses.

In this post, we will take you through the perks of your app development to an IT outsourcing company, offshore or nearshore as well as give you a little bit of intel on how to outsource and choose the right company for your business. Read on.

Pros of Outsourcing iOS and Android App Development:

You might have excellent ideas for improving your business and scaling up rapidly with the help of an app. You might have great concepts to create an effective app.

You might also have all the basics jotted down. But what next? If you are not aware of how you can go about implementing your ideas into a full-fledged app, your concepts will remain concepts.

Putting the strain of handling an entire app development project to your team can lead to the unexpected expectations on your in house team.. Therefore, the best solution for app development is to hire an efficient mobile app development company which will do this job for you in a shorter period of time and with better efficiency.

Here are some reasons on why you should consider outsourcing:

1). You get to work with highly skilled app developers: Most app development teams comprise of members who are trained in app development. Thus, they are very familiar with the process and will take the project to the finish line without much intervention from your end. Of course, as the client, you will have to be involved to make sure that your instructions and concepts are being accurately translated into the features of the app. Here, it would make sense to adopt the agile methodology to stay in the loop.

2). When you decide to work with a software outsourcing company, you get a variety of options in the pricing spectrum. Your task here is to evaluate which company’s proposal has the best price-quality ratio. IT outsourcing companies offer you with startup packages, reduced prices and quick turnaround time.

3). Outsourcing your app work can help you focus on building your business. The development team takes up the responsibility of managing the project, reviewing progress, staying organized and providing optimal support to you. Therefore, you are relieved of this task completely. All you have to do is spend some time each day with the team to stay updated on the progress and how to improve the development process of your iOS and Android app.

How to Outsource iOS and Android App Development?

1). Know your product correctly: Before you hand over your app development to an offshore team, make sure you understand what your product is all about. Your app development will be far from being a success if you do not convey the right instructions and expectations you have from the project. Take time to understand your product well-enough to explain it to the developers.

2). Risk mitigation: The two major risks are leaking of data and mismatch in expectations and app delivered. To mitigate these risks, you have to take the right measures. For the former, signing an NDA can work whereas for the latter, communicate throughout the process of app development is the answer.

3). Effective planning and communication: Chalk out all the details and set a project plan so that everyone is on the same page. Always be available for the team to receive feedback and suggestions from your end.

Choosing the Right iOS and App Development Company

1). Hiring remote freelancers: If you don’t feel comfortable with working with a team of developers or if you feel that your requirement is not too huge and can be managed by a remote freelancer, go for it. However, we would recommend that you choose an agency.

2). Consider their tech expertise: This is a no-brainer. Your app development team needs to have the skills to pull off a project that involves developing an app from scratch based on your specifications. Always look for an agency that can effectively focus on both Android and iOS app development. Talk to them in detail about how their backend and frontend work with apps, to get a general understanding of their working style.

3). Ask about security: Your business will be collecting data from your customers and all of it, including your trade secrets and confidential information, should be well-secured and protected from any cyber threats and malware. Your app development team should be comfortable with enforcing all these security measures to prevent any kind of mishaps that can happen once the app is live.

4). Releasing the iOS and Android App: The app development partner you choose should stick with you until the very end. This means that once the app is complete, they do not simply back off. They have to spend time analyzing the effectiveness of the app and in the case of bugs and glitches, they should help you resolve them when the app is released. It would be preferable if they also take up the maintenance of your app.

5). Match agency cost vs value: Once an agency sends across a quotation, evaluate if the cost they are quoting is worth the work they will be putting in. Several agencies provide an illusion that they are giving you a good deal but they might not be clear on the tasks they will be undertaking as a part of their services.

6). Ask for previous client testimonials and references: Never collaborate with any agency without ensuring that they are credible. Search for reviews of them online, see what their former clients have said about them and don’t shy away from asking for references.

There you have it, a quick and crystal clear guide to outsourcing your Android and iOS app development. The trick to successful outsourcing is in choosing the right IT partner from you. It is a task similar to picking a needle from a hay sack but, that is why we are here to help! Hopinfirst offers quality app development for businesses worldwide. Find out more about it here.

With the phones we carry around with us being nothing short of mini-computers, they become a tempting target for hackers. That’s something that is of great concern to all of us. After all, how much information do we have on our phones? We do our banking, communicate with one another, take photos, and so on

With all that in mind, it’s clear that we need to protect our data from cyber criminals. The next logical question is, “Which mobile operating system ranks as the most secure?”

In this post, we’ll look at the main two contenders in the market — Android and iOS — and see which one offers better protection.

Remember the days when cyber criminals primarily focused attacks on laptop and desktop computers? Times seem to be changing. Today, cyber criminals are targeting smartphones and tablets more often. And if this is true, then it begs the question — Which mobile operating system is more secure, Android or iOS?

We have to be upfront here about something — it’s not a simple question to answer. There are strengths and weaknesses with both systems.

The Difference in the Code

There are those that will say that iOS is more secure because the code is not released to app developers. Those owning these devices are not able to make changes to their phone’s coding at all. For this reason, it’s harder for a hacker to identify weaknesses to exploit.

Android, on the other hand, is based on open-source coding. That means that anyone can change the code. If you want to, you can alter it on your phone. This could allow greater customization but, if you’re not careful, also leave weaknesses for hackers to exploit.

The Difference in the Number of Devices

It’s true that hackers are more likely to look for vulnerabilities in Android operating systems. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise seeing as 72.23% of devices globally are powered by Android. The wider scope of devices and manufacturers make it easier for hackers to find vulnerabilities.

Not all manufacturers put the same amount of effort into making sure that their hardware is secure. That’s one area where iOS definitely outshines Android.

Now, before you tear off to exchange your nice new Samsung for an iPhone, there’s more to it than that. Because of the number of different Android devices, there are a lot more targets, but that doesn’t mean that no one is trying to beat iOS-based devices.

Hackers are equal-opportunity criminals and will look for opportunities wherever they can.

Neither System Offers Complete Protection Against Phishing Hacks

Sometimes they do this using an app that has malware embedded into it, but there are other tacks they can take as well. Phishing attacks can affect both Android and iOS-based devices.

Security Updates

This is one area where iOS is one step ahead. Both systems issue updates on a regular basis, but iOS tends to make a bigger deal of it. The best bet in both instances is to ensure that your phone is set to update automatically. That way, you won’t miss anything.

How to stay safe on Android and iOS

Many users find Android attractive because it is a more open operating system. This means, though, that you need to be more cautious. But keep in mind, you also have to be cautious with iOS.

Consider all the apps you download. Downloading a rogue app is the easiest way to infect your Android phone, tablet, or wearable device with malware or a virus. The same can be true for iOS. That’s why it’s important to download apps only from reputable sources.

Your best bet? For Android, stick to the Google Play store. Google Play features countless apps. You really have no reason to download Android apps from any other location. If you do venture outside Google Play, you could likely increase your chances of downloading an infected app. The same goes for iOS. It’s best to go to the Apple App Store.

Dealing with the App Store

With mobile devices, apps are a great way for hackers to get users to willingly download malicious code. Both the Google Play Store and Apple Store review applications before allowing them to be listed. In this respect, though, Apple is a lot stricter.

Android takes another knock in the department because it is relatively simple for users to change the settings on their phones to allow downloads from unknown sources. This means that users can download apps from outside of the Play store. It renders the Play store’s reviewing process somewhat obsolete.

Final Notes

Overall, Apple’s more stringent controls make iOS a safer operating system for the following reasons:

• Users cannot change or customize the operating systems on their phones.
• The Apple store is a lot stricter when it comes to accepting apps to be listed.
• Apple is the only brand to use iOS. Android is used by a range of manufacturers, and not all of them take as much care as they should to create hardware that’s harder to hack.

This article is contributed by Nick Galov, Hosting Expert and Content Manager at Techjury.net.

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When the first iPhone was introduced in 2007, little did most people know that the small and lightweight handled device will rise to become one of the world’s most popular smartphones. Thanks to the revolution of iPhone app development and its continuous upgrades, iOS has remained the most stable and popular mobile platform for app development.

Initially, iOS mobile app development was designed to enable an efficient combination of 3 common products including a breakthrough internet, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a revolutionary mobile phone. While these components are still largely visible in modern iPhone app development practices, many more advanced features have since been added.

Currently, over 2 million iOS apps have been developed and deployed to the Apple app store. These apps have tremendously transformed the way people communicate with friends and family and have also influenced the way people do business with customers. When it comes to business, many people refer to iOS-enabled phones as the most successful consumer device ever to be created. Today, many top app development companies have adopted iOS app development to help enable enterprise relations which cut across various industries.

Since introduction, but iOS devices and iPhone app development have undergone a series of refining and simplifying processes that have greatly contributed to making the product largely popular on the market. While the phone has continued to maintain its rectangular slab of glass for quite some time now, it is, however, interesting to know that there are more features that are still attracting designers and developers to look towards adopting the platform even more.

Why consider iOS app development

Many top app development companies are focusing more attention on the iOS platform because it tends to provide an enhanced enabling environment for more advanced features such as the smart home and virtual reality. As a result of these improvements, app developers around the world are working assiduously to make iPhone become an essential part of customers’ lives.

Today, any individual or business organization can choose to hire dedicated developer to create appealing and functional mobile applications for iOS. Aside from its aesthetic value, these apps have gone a long way in helping to redefine the way people live, work, entertain, and communicate in the real world. Obviously, the standard has been set for mobile computing and it is quite interesting to know that things are just getting started.

Whether you are looking to hire dedicated developer or you simply want to get involved in the app development process yourself, it is important to first consider why and how iOS app development can be relevant to your project.

This post is designed to relate and explain why many app developers and top app development companies cannot get their eyes off iOS development. Below are some helpful points to enable you to understand the alluring features of the iPhone and the iOS platform in general that have continued to attract more developers to its world.

The cloud

Apple was one of the first mobile companies to find its way to the cloud. Initially, it was difficult to understand how things were done. But in recent times, things have taken an entirely new look. Now it seems very simple and easy for iOS users to connect and relate with cloud services right from their mobile devices. Thanks to the introduction of the dynamic cloud assistant known as “iCloud,” anyone can hire dedicated developer to create iOS apps with viable cloud-storage options.

Currently, there is a growing number of apps on the store, adopting this technology to enhance app functionality and user engagement. This feature has not only helped to improve storage but has also enabled users to properly organize things (such as phones and videos) right on their mobile device. Many top app development companies have managed to provide a meaningful solution to accessing files by relying on the cloud.

Augmented reality (AR)

In recent years, the makers of Apple have been showing deep interest in augmented reality. Basically, they are looking to take iPhone app development to the next level. When it comes to adopting AR technology, the iPhone has more interesting features than any other device you can ever think of. As revealed by the iPhone 7 Plus, Apple is building its devices in such a way that they can effectively use their dual cameras to sense depth.

Like some other mobile device companies that have already begun showing a keen interest in the technology, modern iPhones are now been built with advanced cameras to not only improve photo and video output but also enable augmented reality technology. This implies that developers can now think toward using the iOS platform to develop and improve their stance on the application of such technology for mobile use.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Gone are the days when you need to type in commands or instructions to make your phone perform certain tasks. Now, it is interesting to see how people can simply get things done right on their mobile device in real-time by simply talking to their gadget. Today, many organizations hire dedicated developer to help them create applications that can be able to understand context and act according to voice commands.

With the recent release of iOS 9, it is evident that Apple has done much in helping to integrate AI and machine learning into its services. Basically, this implies that anyone can be able to effectively adopt these features to develop a more ambient and helpful iPhone app for both personal and business use.

This article is contributed by Melissa Crooks, Content Writer at Hyperlink InfoSystem — mobile app development company.

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