Category: Mobile App

Since the dawn of humanity, the payment for goods and services are done. The only thing changed is how the payment is accomplished.

The payment system has dramatically changed in the last few decades from bartering and physical currencies exchange to the plastic cards and e-payment. Presently, mankind is witnessing the biggest transformation in human history with the evolution of hundreds of payment apps, types, and portals.

The widespread adoption and technology advancement has brought significant changes to the payment space. This is why the headlines such as ‘Wallet wars’ or ‘ Apple Vs Samsung pay’ have become ubiquitous taglines for the major publications.

The wind of change is moving into the digital payment direction to keep the customers happy and let the businesses flourish with its adoption.

As the smartphone became the dominant internet access tool across the globe, it has started changing the fabric of the payment system, and the payment goes mobile. But, don’t confuse the mobile payment by digital wallets because both of them are two different trends that are ushering the new era of payment solutions.

Let’s first understand what is digital wallet:

The digital wallets are the virtual version of the physical wallets that electronically stores transaction data, user identification info, user rewards, tickets and other financial details in an encrypted way. They are created for the purpose- when the people forget the wallet at home or prevent the cases of potential theft of cash, cards, or important documents.

Just by simple setup process that involves credit or debit card scanning or key entering into the software, the people can successfully make the payments (buy concert tickets, make an online purchase, split bills with friends, or tip the driver) after the transaction authentication.

The definition of mobile payment:

Replacing the old-school methods like cash or checks, the mobile payments allow the users to pay using mobile phones through any of the platforms such as PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and others. Basically, the mobile payment is the mobile version of the digital wallet allow the people to trade on-the-go.

The businesses have taken the products and services on the road with easy payment acceptance through different types of mobile payments such as mobile wallet (Most used mobile payment solution is linked with cards that let users pay through NFC chips, BLE reader, or QR code scanning), mobile POS (The business owners have handy mobile devices to process the payment), mobile payment platform (The peer-to-peer transactions that allow users to pay online using the phone), direct carrier billing (The cellphone is used to pay for the apps purchased from the store), and closed loop payments (The apps built by the leading giants).

The amazing piece of technology has become integral to people lives and there are certain features that people expect minimally.

The fundamental features of the digital wallet and mobile payment system:

• Payment acceptance

Limited options no longer delight people. The digital payment solution must support all forms of digital payment such as EMV credit card or debit card, bitcoin, ACH, and loyalty card. The flexibility to add money and make the transaction through the preferred mode of payment mode make the payment convenient.

• Compatibility

Not all the smartphones in the universe have the necessary software to pay through Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Android Pay. It means the digital wallet should seamlessly work on the mobile software regardless of the type of device the user has, else you will be losing the large share of the customers for no reason.

• Order ahead

With mobile innovations, waiting in line has become a thing of the past. With mobile wallets, the customer expects an automated bill payment option, easy to load money, view transaction history, and real-time receipt as must-have features.

• Rewarding system

The integration of loyalty cards with mobile wallet apps help the customers to know the loyalty points or rewards as cashback earned for the purchase. Plus, the loyalty points can be automatically applied and redeemed for the purchase.

• Budget tracking

By facilitating the customers to monitor or track the spending, the wallet can help them control unnecessary expenses and plan the savings.

• Perform to the notch

The app that meets the instant gratification need of the customers excels in the market. When the app loads at speed and immediately connect with the bank servers, the customers love to use such wallets.

• Security

With increasing cyber attacks, security is the topmost concerns for the people before using any wallet. The wallets must be double-password protected, the financial information is encrypted so that it cannot be read by the machine or other apps, and biometric authentications can be used.

Benefits of digital wallet system:

The mobile wallets that add convenience and comfort to customers also drive in the range of benefits for the merchants. They are:

• The mobile wallet apps eliminate the need for employing cashier or buy expensive POS solution to process the purchases. The apps like Square reduce the transaction cost by eliminating intermediary involvement.
• Giving a great sense of satisfaction to the customers as just ‘a tap’ through phones would process the payment and they are not required to stand in long queues.
• The new venture unfolding various business opportunities to earn potential revenue with access to customer’s data in the real-time.
• Gain a competitive advantage as the business is staying up-to-date with technology progresses and enhancing the customer experience with new forms of faster and secure payment.

What future has in stores for us?

After looking at the digital wallet and mobile payment trends of last few years, it’s a clear signal that this form of payment is no longer a novelty option, instead, it has become a key enabler of commerce to increase sales opportunities and surge revenue. The wallets are living up to its much-created hype in terms of the immense success gauged by Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and other emerging wallets.

Reducing the friction, the payment apps are now making their inroads into wearable devices, and connected cars that allow the users to pay without making the effort of even taking the phone out of the pocket.

The latest cryptocurrency has become the hottest trend that’s catalyzing the payment revolution by handling most of the transactions securely.

The apps such as Circle, Square, and Revolut have incorporated cryptocurrency to allow users to buy and pay using virtual cash, and even invest and follow the market right through one app.

The next-gen bank has revamped the loyalty program with blockchain technology to offer personalized rewards to the customers. What’s next? A ton of amazing things that will transmogrify the customers in future.

Conclusion

Let’s accept it: The digital wallets and mobile payments soon land us on the cashless planet where the payment becomes an effort of tapping a button, nodding your head, or speaking a couple of words. Going beyond smartphones, wearable and blockchain technology is making great strides and expect to lead the future of payment. Till then, wait and watch which payment type phased out for another better form of payment.

This article is contributed by Patel Nasrullah, co-founder at Peerbits — web development company.

Have an interesting article or blog to share with our readers? Let’s get it published

Mobile applications are a great way to reach out to potential consumers. You can improve the experience of your customers by creating the best mobile application. The world business has moved from desktops to smartphones and is offering tremendous ROI. If you are thinking to build a mobile appearance for your business, you should first understand the benefits of a mobile application. Mobile websites and applications can seem similar at an initial glance and it is challenging to decide which is most suited for your business requirements. Some of the benefits of a mobile application are:

Mobile Apps Are Faster

Apps are normally faster than mobile websites also they work actions much quicker too. Applications store customer information locally on your device. Allow data retrieval occurs in the blink of an eye. In the case of mobile sites, information needs to be retrieved from the web servers which can choose from several minutes to time depending upon the network speed and package sizes.

Mobile sites work on JavaScript to run functions and apps run on frameworks which can be five times quicker. As all of this happens in the back-end, your users get to perform actions much faster on the front-end enjoying customers with a wonderful experience.

Personalized Content

Users like extremely simple content according to their choices. It’s like offering them tailored communication in the language they speak and understand. And mobile apps make it easy to cater to personalized experiences.

The application will recognize customer’s action and behavior to allow custom tips and filter updates for them based on their exact position in real-time. This really impressive! Having an app is not only about personalization, but it’s also to market your products and services. Right!

Instant Online and Offline Access

Mobile apps offer instant access by a tap. People enable to use their content instantly allowing seamless experience through collecting vital data that can be obtained offline too. Any applications like banking, storefronts, retail, finance, games, and news work both online and offline. Loading a news item or a game that can be understood or played without an internet connection is just enjoyable.

Experience to work offline is the common basic difference between an app and a mobile website. While applications need an effective internet connection to execute crucial tasks like payments and notifications, but they still give basic content and functionality to users even in offline mode.

Appropriating Device Features

Mobile applications have an added benefit wherever you can code an application into using different features of a native device. So, once downloaded people can use features like Camera that can scan PFDs, QR also GPS to attach with maps and various services also an accelerometer, gyro meter, and device that can be used for thousands of different purposes.

Another advanced use is that design features can significantly decrease the opportunity users require to start and complete an action and fundamentally transform the way a user communicates with the device and your applications.

Push Notifications and Immediate Updates

Application notifications are taken while a user begins an application on their mobile. Push notifications are supported on devices regardless of a user opens an application or not. Basically, the update and promotional notifications which you hold on your devices on a daily base are Push Notifications.

Moreover, you can post daily updates through Play store, iTunes, and windows store to your application via OTA, having it refreshed at all times including all the advanced features and pictures and merchandise listings. This urging also allows you to improve products and help continue growing your businesses and earnings.

Branding and Design

Unlike websites that hold browsers to support roles, mobile applications can be designed to support swipe movements like a drag, pinch, hold, tap, double-tap and more, all executing a specific task that increases user-friendliness. Moreover, you can create your application in this way you require externally depending upon the device or browser components and caching problems.

All mobile app is customized according to a company’s branding and yours won’t be an exception. And if you’re changing you’re branding, then there’s nothing better than a mobile app. You can essentially improve or change how your application looks including colors and design whenever you want with variant upgrades and uniform it according to your vision and what users require. Your app then becomes your 24X7 earning salesman.

Productivity Improvement and Cost Reduction

The greatest advantage of mobile applications is that it improves connections between your employees, vendors, and customers by sharing the related resources and position to order, give answers and elevated about your products and user behaviour. Whenever communicate directly with your clients and employees, your marketing and advertisement use get decreased drastically. Additionally, your users can participate via social channels mixed into your app to increase your social trace on the internet. That is super beneficial these days considering even FB and Twitter has now started charging for premium space and conversations.

Interactive Engagement

Mobile applications hold their individual interfaces that enable users to experience two-way immersive expertise. They can easily share an image to their friends and explain everything they’ve got via easy sharing and one-click buy will increase your communication with the clients and revenue.

Businesses these days are promoting websites that habituate their clients with task-based assistance over applications with easy accessibility. The application enhances user’s engagement experience for shopping, query and contacting you for delivery, grievances and all other sales and customer experience related aspects.

Conclusion

There is a lot of mobile application out where on the internet and probably there will be a lot more. Recognize, users, are using more and more time on applications as these latest studies have recommended and a company should be started where its customers are. So, it is the best opportunity to build mobile applications for your businesses to fully secure First Movers Advantage to sell your products and services before your opponent makes.

This article is contributed by Sreenivas Godlindla, digital marketing professional at fusioninformatics — mobile app development company

Have an interesting article or blog to share with our readers? Let’s get it published

There is no big dream for mobile users these days rather than to simply use the same application on different platforms as and when he likes. When we talk about multiple platforms, we should also note that there may be many attempts which may fail and tend to not operate in every platform.

A cross-platform developer can simply design a coding app which, as a result, will work on each and every platform such as IOS, Microsoft, Andriod, etc. From this, we can clearly see that the mobile phone market is shifting its needs with various ideas in order to make it user-friendly and handy to use.

What is the need for the cross-platform app?

Well, to be concise, the cross-platform app can easily reuse the codes. This not only saves time but eliminates the act of repetition. As we are reducing codes from multiple to just one, we save money as well. This way, one need not worry about their time and money wasted as said earlier but also the tools and their resources. As you can see, anybody can easily create a single codebase altogether and sell it in the market. This is completely cost effective and can bring never let you down in the mobile market. With all this said, one important thing the cross-platform usually does is making applications look exactly the same in other gadgets just like how they look in their mobile phones. This avoids complication and confusion for the users who often use multiple platforms for their businesses.

The 6 tips for developing cross-platform apps

#1. Convenient Development Technology

We came across some different views on the uses of the cross-platform apps. Likewise, there are different language for different platforms such as IOS which has Cocoa and Xcode and Andriod with Java and so on. So to not simply let everything complicate things, you need to choose the most convenient development technology environment. This will make the maintenance easier when the app’s new versions are being released.

#2. Mingle with the designers

Before you actually create or develop a cross-platform app, its better you get to know the designers who are well aware of things both the pros and cons of this cross-platform application development. Combining knowledge will strengthen the creativity and teamwork, which in turn gives the best of results. You can also get ideas and see that your application is different and giving a whole new experience for the users than that of what already exists.

#3. Aesthetic appeal

The way your application presents itself is one of the most important things to remember. We often tend to download things which look attractive to our eyes. Likewise, when you focus on the look of your app, giving the users a new aesthetic feels, then there are chances that you can easily hit the market in full. From IOS to Android, people will feel it’s meant for their mobile.

#4. Improve app performance

There are so many ways to improve the app’s performance, and one such is the usage of virtual machines. This enhances the use and reduces the complications when it comes to cross-platform apps. One need not switch from one setup to another for coding but can compile them and work on just one machine.

#5. Testing

As you keep developing the app, it’s very important to test the codes. Often, the codes may not turn to work very well in other devices, and that can be a failure. To avoid this, you can keep testing now and them through the process of development itself.

#6. App security

Your app security to next to the testing. Each cross-platform developer needs to provide a level of security while developing the app. As you can see, we see working on multiple platforms which have different levels of security; this means one needs to make sure his security is compatible with the rest. Security is one key feature which beings in a lot of difference and importance for the users.

We’re now aware of a few important things with the above-given tips. Try these tips when you decide to develop a cross-platform app and make a difference.

Happy developing!

This article is contributed by Code Wilson, Marketing Manager at AIS Technolabs which is Web design and Development Company, helping global businesses to grow by Cross Platform Developer Services.

Have an interesting article or blog to share with our readers? Let’s get it published

Smartphones have gotten faster, better, and stronger over the years. Just like the Daft Punk and Kanye West song. One of the things that smartphones have consistently improved on is camera quality. These days, most phones come equipped with a dual or triple back camera, powered by AI in many cases. Others even have dual front cameras for the perfect selfie. So is it any wonder that video calls have increased significantly?

10 Best Video Chat Apps for Android and iOS

With better smartphones and better cameras, it was only obvious that video calling would gain popularity. These days most people have multiple video chat apps installed on their phones. Videos offer a better way of communicating with friends and family across the world. Video calls are the next evolutionary step in traditional telephonic conversations. Until we get Star Wars-style holographic calls, video is our best bet. It’s fast and instantaneous. It is also cheap, which is a winner for me, even with the Spectrum internet assist program I’m enrolled in.

There are billions of smartphone users across the globe. This means the corresponding number of apps on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store is also huge. There are hundreds, if not thousands of apps for everything, including video calling. Choosing the right one can be confusing, or downright frustrating. Luckily, we’ve narrowed your choices down to the 10 following apps available both on Android and iOS:

1. Whatsapp
2. Instagram
3. Facebook Messenger
4. IMO
5. Viber
6. Duo
7. Skype
8. Hangouts
9. WeChat
10. Tango

Let’s take a closer look at what makes these apps perfect for video calling.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp originally started out as an instant messaging platform. In time, it became more intuitive to use WhatsApp to contact someone rather than a traditional text message. WhatsApp is in use on billions of smartphones and is extremely popular. Owned by Facebook, WhatsApp began offering voice calls as an expansion on its original idea. From there, it was only a small step to offering video calling.

WhatsApp is immensely popular because:

• It’s free to use
• It allows for in-app customization
• It lets you share documents, images, videos, and contacts
• It also works on PC
• End-to-end encryption

Instagram

Instagram is another Facebook-owned app that started life as an image-sharing platform. It now lets you share images and videos, add stories from your daily life, and place catchy captions. Instagram lets you follow people that you would like to stay updated on.

As a video calling app, Instagram has recently gained a lot of popularity. Some of the reasons for this include:

• Simultaneously call up to 4 people at a time
• Multi-task during video calls
• Send video messages

Facebook Messenger

The number 3 spot on our list goes to yet another Facebook app. This time, it’s Facebook Messenger. Most smartphone users who use Facebook also use the Facebook Messenger app, meaning it has a huge user base. All you need to use it is your Facebook account.

Facebook Messenger has a number of excellent features that make it a good choice for video calling. Some of these include:

• Instantly connect with contacts using either their phone numbers or their names
• Add quirky augmented reality filters to your video calls and video messages
• Free to use and has cross-platform compatibility

IMO

Imo is a simple, easy-to-use app that doesn’t take up much space on your phone. The app does what it’s meant to do without any fuss or fanfare. It allows users to make video and voice calls for free. All it needs to function is a Wi-Fi or mobile internet connection. Some of the reasons imo makes it to our list include:

• Efficient data consumption on voice and video calling
• Supports group calls and messaging
• Works across all devices
• End-to-end encryption for voice calls, video calls, and messages

Viber

Viber originally started out with a feature that WhatsApp added much later: free voice calls. Since 2013, the app has seen over 11 million downloads on both Android and iOS devices. Over the years, the app has continued to improve and add new features, including video calls. Included among its many quirky features are:

• Automatic encryption for texts, voice calls, and video calls
• Ability to hide sensitive messages and access them later
• Free international voice and video calls over an internet connection

Duo

Google Duo is one of the more recent apps on this list, but it still packs a hefty punch. Many have called it the best video calling app of the year. Duo features a simple and intuitive user interface. All you have to do is log in with your Google account and verify your phone number. After that, you are free to make video and voice calls the same way you make standard phone calls. The app is wildly popular because:

• Intuitive and simple UI
• Clearer and more reliable video calls even without internet
• Option to check who is calling before answering

Skype

Everybody knows what Skype is. It is one of the oldest and most popular video and voice calling platforms in internet history. Owned by Microsoft, Skype was originally just a PC application. However, with the rising popularity of smartphones, Skype soon offered its own Android and iOS app.

Skype is and will continue to remain popular because:

• It is free to use
• You can purchase credit to call any device, phone, or landline
• Share voice messages, images, documents, and videos

Hangouts

Hangouts is another Google app that is great for video calling and conferencing. The app supports multiple calls at the same time, and all you need to use it is your Google account. Hangouts has gained a lot of popularity over the last few years thanks to:

• Calling up to 9 people simultaneously
• Syncs across all your devices
• Allows easy integration of Google Voice
• Turn messaging groups into conference calls of up to 10 people

WeChat

The number nine spot on our list goes to WeChat. WeChat has a steadily growing user base and allows you to connect to people all over the world. The app combines video and voice calling with messaging, image sharing, and video sharing. Some of the reasons to choose WeChat include:

• Supports around 20 different languages
• Has a personal photostream for sharing images
• Assured privacy, TRUSTe certified
• High-quality video and voice calling

Tango

Tango gained popularity a few years ago and to date has over 400 million users. The app doesn’t just allow you to make high-quality video calls. It also lets users create live streams that other users can join and watch. You can make your own network of friends on the app based on your settings. Tango comes in at number 10, but it is still a fairly decent app, especially when you consider:

• Easy switching between voice and video during a call
• Add friends and connections and follow their feeds
• Subscribe to interesting sources and stay updated

To conclude, video calling isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, unless I miss my guess, it is going to continue to increase in popularity. Video calls aren’t very demanding, so you don’t need a blazing 100 Mbps fast internet connection to make one. All you need is a steady connection and a decent smartphone. Let us know if we missed out any of your favorite apps.

No matter how you turn the tables, the average person spends at least four hours a day on their phones. You wake up and look at your phone. You are hungry- you look at your phone. You are bored- you look at your phone. You hit the sack and look at your phone. Why not turn your random scrolling into cash, a lot of cash?

Check out these amazing money making apps that can give you a break from your 9–5 job.

#1. Money App

This app asks you to complete certain tasks, and they send the money once you are done with all the tasks. The Money app is available both on Android and iOS. The tasks usually include playing games, offering opinions, mystery shopping, checking store displays, participating in free trials and testing services.

You need to create an account with the app, and they will send you rewards upon completion of the tasks. Accumulate those rewards and redeem the cash using a PayPal account. This app usually pays you within two or three working days of redeeming the rewards.

#2. Robinhood

You have a job that helps you earn enough money. But, how about some more? Your savings account won’t mind, I suppose. Robinhood lets you earn a considerable amount of money by buying and selling stocks. You can also make deals with cryptocurrencies (if you are into such things).

I would suggest you have a detailed idea about stock exchanges before using this app. The app offers you a general list of statistics and charts for stocks. But, Robinhood won’t teach you the basic intricacies of the stock market.

#3. iPoll

iPoll is almost similar to the Money app. You get rewards upon the completion of certain tasks. The tasks are usually location-based and involve a simple process. Some of the tasks include giving your opinions on different products. You can download the app via Google Play Store and iTunes.

One simple task can earn you a quick reward of $1 to $10 immediately. Then you can redeem the rewards and claim the money in your PayPal account. The rewards can also be redeemed into airline points, e-gift cards, etc.

#4. Foap

Do you love taking photos, but you don’t own a professional DSLR? Well, this app can help you earn money even if you take pictures from your Smartphone. Foap lets both amateur and professional photographers make some extra money by selling photos taken on a smartphone. More than 2.5 million photographers have registered with this app.

You need to register an account on the app and upload photos along with clear tags. The registered community then rates your photos. Higher the rating, the more is your photo’s visibility. You can earn anything from $5 to $10 for each sale.

#5. Ebates

How often have you wished for a sale before shopping? Well, this app will seem like a boon to you. It will award you with up to 40% cash back on products that you would usually buy. Ebates consists of more than 2500 stores such as Walmart, Groupon, Amazon, Expedia, etc. You can switch on the notifications to see whenever new coupons are available.

You can even choose a particular product that you want to buy. This app will let you know about the stores that have the product and cash back offers available in the stores. At times, Ebates also offers a $10 bonus to the first time users.

#6. Mercari

From garments to electronics, you can sell any of your belongings on this app. Say you have a refrigerator at your home and now you want to buy a new one. You can take pictures of the old refrigerator, upload it on the app, sell it and earn money.

The process is nothing topsy-turvy or twisting. The customer will rate your purchase after receiving the package and issue your payment. Thus, you can get rid of your used items and earn money through the app. Mercari takes 10% of your payment as its fee.

#7. Fluid Market

Fluid Market is a sharing economy app that lets you rent out your cargo van, pickup truck, box truck, SUV or cars by the week, hour or day. Many of you may have a vehicle that sits idle for most of the days. In that case, you can make use of this app and earn quite a handful of pocket money.

The company’s website says that you can earn up to $24,000 a year by renting your truck on Fluid. Fluid also lets you rent tools such as hedge trimmers, saws, drills, hedge trimmers, etc. From a rowboat to a two-person bike, you can rent almost everything here.

#8. Swagbucks

Did you know that mere searching contents on the web, watching ads and completing surveys can help you earn money? Yes, Swagbucks has made it possible. You need to perform the tasks as mentioned, collect SWAG codes and turn them into SB points. You can then redeem these points on the app and let the cash flow in your account.

You can also participate in daily polls and complete exclusive offers with the partner retailer malls. Swagbucks also provide you with referral points when you refer a friend to their app. You can redeem the SB points or referral bonuses for gift coupons like the Walmart or Amazon.

#9. Bookscouter

This app lets you sell your new or old books and earn money. Download the app, register with your email address or social media account and start scanning book barcodes. You can use your phone camera to scan the codes. You will see a list of buyback prices from book buyers. Also, shipping is free.

Some books may not display the prices even after being scanned. Also, some of the offers as brought forth by the app for your book may disappear after a certain time period. You can earn anything from $15 to $170 just selling your books.

#10. Google Opinions Reward

Is there anything more reliable than Google? We have a money-making app from Google too! You can share your innovative ideas and opinions on this platform and earn money. They will conduct a survey on your ideas and pay you accordingly. The surveys take almost 30 seconds to complete and will generate a small token for your kindness.

Each survey can help you earn $1 to $2. You can get a survey per week. Android users will get Google Play credits. You can then redeem them in the Google Play Store. iOS users need to generate the amount through their PayPal accounts.

Wrapping it up

Money doesn’t grow on trees. But, they sure grow on apps, and you can use these apps on the go. Thus, it’s time to make some extra bucks before going to bed or while you are on your way to work. Your 9–5 job is not the only source of income now. Download the apps and drop the resignation mail at your workplace. I’m kidding. Download the apps and let me know about your experience.

This article is contributed by William Shell, CDR Writer and Enthusiastic blogger

Have an interesting article or blog to share with our readers? Let’s get it published