7 Things You Should Do to Hire a Skilled Android Developer

By James Tredwell on September 15, 2018

Android has been the most popular operating system for mobiles for several years. Due to its raging popularity and a broader reach, most businesses are now interested in building their personalized app on this very platform. This explains why the professional android developers are so much in demand these days.

If you are an entrepreneur or a seasoned businessman, you may have also seen the potential of a personalized android app in boosting your business operations. However, before you can make any progress on the development of the Android app, you need the manpower who can execute your idea of an android app.

Surprisingly, hiring a proficient android developer is as challenging as finding a needle in the haystack. And this time, you are not the only one who is looking for the needle. As the demand for sophisticated android app tends to grow, the demand for skilled android app developers is also growing significantly.

However, you can find the perfect person for the job, if you are prepared to go the distance to recruit the best Android developers in the market. Here are several tricks that can help you guide through the interview process:

  1. Ensure your job offer reaches the right people:

How are you supposed to find the best in the market, if your offer doesn’t reach a larger population? If you are fine with a decent app developer within your locality, you can have a small advertisement and find a few applicants for the role. In that case, however, your options will be limited.

If you are ambitious about your venture and want it to succeed, don’t settle for a mediocre app developer. Get in touch with good recruitment agencies that mediate the hiring process, and ask them to shortlist the good ones. If you compromise on the recruitment of key personnel, you may need to pay larger bills in the longer run.

  1. Be certain about the job profile:

Numerous potential candidates usually don’t feel confident about applying for a job when the job description does not offer enough insight into the profile. If you are putting up a vague job description, the experienced app developers (especially the good ones) may assume that you lack the sense of professionalism. This often turns off the professionals who are good at their job.

To ensure you get all the attention of the skilled and experienced app developers, who are looking for a new opportunity, you should describe what kind of applicants you are looking for. Describe all the technical and non-technical skills that you want in an applicant, and also reveal the CTC and other significant details that the applicants usually want to know before applying for a job.

  1. Set up a proficient interview panel:

Once you are done advertising for the job profile, you need to prepare for the big interview. Yes, even the interviewers need to prepare to get the right people for the job. If you don’t prepare for the interview, you may end up hiring someone who cannot add any value to your business or the app that you are willing to build.

Decide who all are going to be the part of the interview panel. Get some experienced people who don’t just have technical knowledge, but also have the ability to analyze and assess the behavior of the candidate in the interview room. You can sit with the interview panel prior to the day of the interview and discuss what kind of questions you need to ask and what all skills and abilities you are looking for in an applicant.

  1. Test the skills of the applicants with some practical work:

Since the technical expertise of app-developer matters the most, you need to assess those skills of a candidate before recruiting him or her. These days, a lot of people lie on their resume, just to impress the interviewers. So it becomes really important for you, as a recruiter, to test anyone who you think can be a great asset to your team.

Technical questions are one way to test the skills of the applicant. However, it will be more fruitful if you can ask the interviewee to demonstrate his/her skills practically during the interview. Ask the person to finish a test project with minimal functions to see how proficient he/she is. As you may realize, the qualification and past experiences won’t matter if the applicant is not seamless with the technical skills.

  1. Consider the freelancers also:

While you are considering the conventional way of recruiting a full-time app developer by arranging an interview in the office, you can also keep the options open for the freelancers. In the recent times, freelancers have been more active than the regular office-goers in terms of productivity. Though most freelancers like to work on their own terms, they can also be a great contender for the job.

If you keep the job opportunity open for the freelancers as well, it will allow you toexplore the option beyond the geographical boundaries. As you may realize, in the case of freelancers, the location does not matter. What matters is how they perform.

You can set up an online interview with the interested freelancers and proceed with the same approach that you plan for the conventional interview option. You may need to make slight changes in the questionnaire and the assessments, but the key objective of the interview remains the same.

  1. Review the previous work of the applicants:

As you progress into the interview process, you need to dig more into the work experience of the applicant to have a better understanding of his/her performance as an android developer. Assess all the significant works the applicant has done in the recent past. How long he/she has been in this profession, what all organizations he/she has been associated with, and what are the significant achievements that he/she has made in the career – have a thorough background check.

Since Android development is one of the most popular categories in the sector, it is quite common among the professionals to develop multiple apps within the span of 3-4 years. See if the applicant, you are interviewing, have developed an app recently. If the answer is yes, review the app and ask the person app-related questions to get a better understanding of his/her expertise.

  1. Explain all the responsibilities to the candidate:

Now that the person has passed all the test and you are willing to hire the individual for the job, it is your turn to convince the applicant why he should join your company. Well, the employers do not usually express their interest in the interview room. However, exceptions can be made if the candidate himself/herself is exceptionally talented.

Discuss the job profile and explain the office culture. If the candidate is a freelancer, make sure he/she has a complete understanding of the work and his/her role in the organization. As you may realize, good candidates, are always in demand. So if the candidate has walked into your office and given an interview, make sure you can keep that individual inside your company. If a rival organization offers a better job profile or a better salary package, you may lose the gem of an android developer.

As you can see, the recruitment of an Android developer is a multi-step process. Since it is a technical job, you need to be very particular about the details that the applicant shares during the interview. Your company’s success will rely on the efficacy of the person. So, make the right choice while hiring an Android developer for your company.

This article is contributed by Siena William , Writing Expert at Assignment Help.

How Swift is Shaping Modern iOS App Development

By James Tredwell on September 15, 2018

The mobile phone app industry has been experiencing an upsurge of products with apps cropping up almost every second. Developers all over the globe are hard at work releasing applications they hope the market with receive with enthusiasm.

Apple took up the challenge to help make iOS application development a lot easier by introducing Swift in 2014. It is an intuitive and authoritative programming language you can use to develop apps for all Apple products. The language is as a result of deep research on programming languages and years of coming up with Apple platforms. It came in to replace Objective-C that has been in existence since 1984.

While most people think that it is only good for iPhones and iOS, you will be glad to note that the language can also code for iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.

The launch of Swift helped shape development of iOS apps positively in numerous ways. It’s no wonder many big brands jumped into the bandwagon to develop their apps using Swift. Examples of such include:

  • LinkedIn.
  • Lyft.
  • Uber.
  • Airbnb and many more.

Let’s take a look at how Lyft took advantage of the programming language for their ride-hailing app.

How Lyft Benefitted From Swift

Lyft is an example of a company that decided to try out the newly launched programming language for their app. They did this by re-writing their entire iPhone app in Swift.

Chris Lambert the company’s CTO explained that although it was a huge risk, it was well calculated in that Apple hinted that it was the future. He was grateful that the investment paid off in a significant manner.

He reports that in just twelve months after rewriting the iPhone app, it has become highly functional. It adds new features faster while at the same time drastically reduces the time it takes to open the application.

Most importantly, Lambert says that it has worked well for the business. More iPhone users request for Lyft rides. He adds that the company has been able to double the lines of code that power their app because developers are more productive working with the new language.

After reading about this success story, let us go back to learning some of the ways that Swift is making changes to developing iOS apps.

#1. It Reduces Development Time

Developers whether novice or experienced appreciate a programming language that they can read without any difficulty. Swift offers this because it comes with a clean syntax, which makes the process of reading, writing and modifying a lot easier.

It also has fewer code lines to implement an option. The reason behind this is that it gets rid of legacy conversions. Experts agree that it comes close to resembling plain English making the entire process more natural. This results in saving both time and money making the process of app development more fun. Below is an example of a simple syntax using the “For-In” method with Swift.

With this programming language, you do not need to add any semicolons at the end of parenthesis when working with conditional statements. It helps to eliminate different types of mistakes that would crop up especially using Objective-C.

#2. Swift is Low-Maintenance

Developing an app and releasing it to users is not the end of the journey. You have to keep updating for users to continue enjoying using for the longest possible time. While using C, developers had to maintain two code files if they wanted to enhance the efficiency of the code. It is a thing of the past with Swift because it combines implementation (.m) and. (h) files into a single (.swift) file as seen below.

#3. It Offers Functional Programming

Swift embraces high-order functions like filter, map, flatMap, and reduces for iOS app development. To understand how this simplifies your code here is an example:

// Add 5 to each number in an array, and return the even results
let numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

// The traditional, imperative way
varnewNumbers: [Int] = []
for number in numbers {
   let newNum = number + 5
   if newNum % 2 == 0 {
newNumbers.append(newNum)
   }
}

// The functional, declarative way
varnewNumbersFP = numbers.map{ $0 + 5 }.filter { $0 % 2 == 0 }

These high order functions are highly beneficial in that they help individuals not only read but understand difficult functional programming. They also assist developers to enhance programming language skills to write more elegantly.

#4. It Is Built for Safety

Safety is a number one priority for anyone looking to come up with an app. You will not have to deal with any unsafe codes when working with Swift. It also makes use of the latest programming conventions to assist in maintaining watertight security on the apps.

Note that the programming language enables a person to define valuables as value types or optional types. It implies that a professional developer has the freedom to define whether the value exists or it is null (nil).

It means that should a developer take nil optional value by mistake, the programming language will trigger a runtime crash. This remains on the line of code forcing the developer to take care of any bugs immediately. Bottom line is that Swift does not open up any chances for you to develop harmful bugs or exception-free applications.

#5. Open Source

In 2015, Apple announced that the programming language was Open Source. It was a welcome move by a majority of the developers because it means that Swift can be used across different platforms and for backend infrastructure as well. It is among the primary reasons many developers prefer to use it instead of other available programming languages.

It is safe to state that the decision from Apple contributed significantly to Swift’s development and adoption. It is among the top programming languages in the globe. The way things are going, it will soon occupy the first position and remain there for a while.

#6. Experiment Possibilities

Swift comes with a playground mode that individuals can take advantage of to work on some application concepts. It makes things a lot easier because it gives you a real picture of how the app will turn out, so that you can know whether to proceed or work on a more viable project.

It is vital to add that the programming language supports dynamic libraries. These refer to executable bits of code that developer’s link to an application. It permits current Swift apps to link with fresher versions of the language in future years as it evolves.

You can download the libraries to the memory directly. The move will increase the performance of the app, since it cuts down the original size.

#7. Easy to Understand

Swift is not exclusive to developers who have had years of experience in the field. Its documentation is pretty forthright, which means that anyone can take advantage of it to end up with a top-notch app.

It is an interesting read that explains things in a straightforward manner with helpful examples. You can use Swift docs as a reference to uncover plenty of beneficial material. There is also an active online community where you can get assistance when you have questions.

Many people agree that in less than four months, you should be able to realize your dream of making fantastic apps easily with Swift.

There are limitless reasons why you should consider using open-source Apple’s Swift for iOS app development including speed, ease of use and security. Trust that it will give you the results you want whether you are an expert developer or just want to build apps as a hobby.

This article is contributed by Patel Nasrullah , co-founder at Peerbits.

5 Ways iOS App Development Benefits Small Business

By James Tredwell on September 15, 2018

In today’s digital world, there has always been the advanced world of thrilling technology giving you the choice of platform to be used for designing an exceptional business app for small businesses. You will get to see that the maximum web traffic comes from smartphones as people are found spending more and more time on it. As a result, majority of smart small entrepreneurs are taking benefit of such mobile apps phenomenon to further enhance their business.

Knowing the fact that iPhone enjoys a major market share and ever-growing interest of users, there are several small businesses that are trying their feet in iOS app development. There are infinite benefits of having iPhone applications. As iPhone has reached new heights of fame, it becomes vital for business to have an iPhone application which helps them stand ahead of the crowd. In this article, we will discuss why it is advantageous for small businesses to have iOS apps. Let’s have a look:

Advantages of Using iOS App For Small Businesses

Excellent Quality

Apple has set very high quality standards for any app to get registered on Apple iTunes App Store. It is crucial for an iOS app to adhere to the strict quality standards and this motivates developers to design the best quality apps. Apple takes immense pride in creating outstanding user experience not only for gadgets but also for creating high standards for apps present on its ecosystem.

One of the most important things which makes iOS apps better than its competitors is the highest standard of quality. This is the vital reason why businesses plan to hire iOS developers over Android even though former is more expensive. If you own an iOS app for your business, it enriches your brand identity.

Integration Of Social Media

This is the time when people are found more on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. If you are not having any mode of communication to communicate with your targeted audience, then your business is surely missing out on a huge population of mobile-friendly users.

By designing an app which can help you connect to your popular social media accounts, you can easily open up your business to a completely new audience. You get an opportunity to even contact with those customers who are not actively using your app as they will get the pop ups from time to time in status updates giving your brand immense exposure.

Security

With so many add-on advantages, there also comes a risk factor. One of the most crucial risks and concerns for businesses wishing to go mobile is security of their important data. For any small business owners, it is of utmost importance to offer security to users assuring protection of its own database. It is vital for enterprises to shield intrusion and hacking of acute data. However, an iOS app development does not compromise with your crucial data.

The major benefit of an iOS app development is that you can easily make room for some add on features. It provides complete support to an integrated data managing system resulting in keeping your data secure. iOS users are most of the time safe from external threats. It offers a powerful shield for malwares and viruses that makes it an ideal choice for app development. If you own an iOS app development platform, you can just relax and not worry about leaking your priceless data. iOS also provides measures against data encryption and failure of data security.

Increase The Interest Of Customers

When you create an exceptional mobile app for your business, you get an awesome opportunity to display your products and services to a large group of people. Your mobile app can be considered as one-stop point for getting all the vital details that they require. The moment you update the content on mobile app, the customers will get to know about the latest products and services that they have on offer. As a result, this increases the interest of present customers and are they likely to suggest to other people that enhances the chances for increasing new customers.

A well-designed mobile-app can present your business on your targeted customer’s phone all time providing hassle-free access of details at fingertips. Mobile apps are highly valuable tools which are designed for fulfilling specified purpose. They are the ultimate marketing tools for engaging with new clients and retain the present clients.  

Create Brand Awareness

A well-designed iOS mobile app can turn out to be highly beneficial as it promotes your brand on a higher scale. It is just like a blank billboard sign where you can make changes as per your wish. You can seamlessly make it highly functional, informative and more stylish. All you require to do is to design an app which comprises all the functionalities your customers love with captivating designs.

It is a well-known fact that the more the consumers get used to your app, the sooner they are inclined towards buying your products and services. Viewing your brand several number of times will increase the chances of recognition among the customers. This kind of advertising is highly beneficial and adds value to your company.

In A Nutshell

To conclude, apart from the above, there are numerous other advantages of having an iOS mobile apps for your business. If you really wish to reach to your targeted audiences and satisfy their needs, then you must have a well-designed mobile app. It can help you collect the data of user behavior for your business and assist you to serve good products or services for your customers. With good marketing strategy and mobile app for your business, you can easily increase the visibility as well as sales of your business.

There are times when business owners are seen in confusion for choosing the right type of app development for their business. However, choosing the iOS app development can be highly beneficial for your business in comparison to any other platform. So, go ahead and get an iOS mobile app made for your business today!

How Do You Hire an iOS Developer?

By James Tredwell on September 15, 2018

Due to the tremendous growth in mobile use for meeting different personal and professional needs, iOS app development companies are trying to develop mobile applications to multiply their business volumes by leaps and bounds and strengthen ties with existing & potential customers. It also helps them to maintain the efficiency and high productivity of daily business activities. So, the demand for the developers of iOS-applications is constantly growing with each passing day.

To create software for iOS- two main programming languages-Objective-C and Swift from Apple are used extensively. Experts who are familiar with these technologies are always in high demand in the job market.

With the growing popularity of iOS Applications, there is a higher the competition among companies to hire talented iOS developers who develop quality products and help them capture more shares in the market. Some organizations can afford to develop the application on their own, others rely on third-party iOS developers to keep up their business. How to find a good iOS developer among the crowd of many options? Let’s read some of the most useful tips mentioned below:

  1. Define Your Needs At First

    Always keep in mind that iOS app development takes place in several stages. So, you need to have at least the basic idea about the design and functions of your app, its type, audience, goals, etc, before looking for an iOS developer. This enables you to find a suitable individual for meeting your needs.

      2. Post Your Requirement on Online Resources

 The global internet is the best place to find a competent iOS developer you are looking for. You can make a default search on    Google (or on alternative search engines) and get several results for that. Go through different suggestions, select some profiles to make a comprehensive comparison and make a smart decision. LinkedIn is a business based social networking website which is perfect for finding reliable mobile application development companies in Australia and other parts of the world. You can post your requirements on different online portals and get contacted by a good number of iOS developers.

    3. Compare Different Profiles From All Angles

After selecting a few profiles of iOS developers, you need to examine their talent and expertise from different angles in order to make a smart selection. Some basic parameters are explained here below:

Expertise

Brief Explanations

The sufficient Knowledge of iOs Development technologies

An iOS developer should have a fair understanding of the following technologies:

  • A Git code repository technology,

  • Familiarity with iOS 10 and newer OS versions,

  • OpenGL or Metal, iOS graphics APIs,

  • 2D and 3D graphics frameworks,

  • Apple Human Interface Guidelines,

  • UI and UX design experience,

  • Frameworks and APIs like Foundation, UIKit, and CocoaTouch,

  • Apple’s Xcode IDE and

  • Objective-C, or the Swift 3.0 programming language.

Professionalism

The word “professionalism” in business communication refers to a quality in iOS developers. They stand for good knowledge of the iOS app development industry, the right approach to decision-making, reasonable choice of effective actions, knowledge, and consideration of diverse experience, control of the situation at the workplace. So, choose an iOS developer who adopts a high level of professionalism in his/her communication with clients.

Experience

Experience matters a lot when you are looking for an iOS developer that can create amazing iOS software and make it sell like a hot cake. Choose a candidate who has at least 8-10 years of experience in the iOS app development industry.

Work Samples

While dealing with a particular candidate, ask for his/her work samples. This will let guess about his/her actual potentials and make an appropriate decision accordingly.

The Ability to Fix complex issues

iOS software and apps often behave strategy and they have several issues and problems. Just find out the iOS developer is competent enough to solve complicated issues of iOS software and apps or not before making a decision.

  4. Prefer Quality To Price

Always keep in mind that finding a talented iOS developer is as difficult as choosing a diamond in a pile of stones. So, be careful and assume that a high price does not necessarily mean high quality. However, You need to have a definite budget before you start searching an iOS developer. The actual cost of the work depends on the complexity level of the application and the fees of the iOS working with you. The quality of the application should be the most important goal of your company. If you end up choosing an inexpensive mobile app development company Melbourne, you are guaranteed to get a headache, a lot of bugs in your app and an uncomfortable user interface. So, better find an iOS developer that can provide high-quality app and software development services at affordable price tags.

  5. Communicate With The Former Customers of The Application Development Company

Always remember that Everything should be exactly the same as when hiring a new employee after seeing an advertisement. If an application development company is smart enough and places favorable reviews on its website, don’t fall for this bait in any way. Analyze the company’s activities and ask for a list of its clients to conduct an inquiry.

If possible, talk to its former customers and hear their experience. This will help you to get a detailed knowledge about the mobile application development companies in Australia and know if they have the skills and experience that you need. Learn more about their successful and failed projects and make a right choice accordingly.

  6. Test drive

Do you buy a car without a test drive or purchase a house without looking at a few options? No, not at all. Just apply the same approach while hiring an iOS developer. Find the developer of similar applications and spend some time on a small “test drive”. For compliance with the standards, use your own enterprise application. If you have any criticisms or doubts about the operation of applications, discuss with the developer and make a smart decision accordingly.

  7. Search For the best warranty offer

Always remember that iOS developer’s confidence in his/her work does not always lead to good results, but it matters a lot. if you have a choice between several prospective developers, check their warranty offers carefully. These guarantees can cause the developer to have a more responsible approach your task, keeping within the budget and the deadlines and even offer a lifetime guarantee that they will fix any errors found in the application during use.

Final Remarks

The demand for iOS apps and software is increasing rapidly. These tips are helpful to find a good and competent iOS developer or company easily and comfortably. 

Do You Need a Mobile App for Your E-Commerce Business?

By James Tredwell on September 15, 2018

Thanks to technology, doing any sort of business has truly changed. Perhaps one of the biggest innovations in modern history are computers, and later on, the Internet. Through the Internet, borders have been blurred and various forms of businesses and industries were born. One of these industries is e-commerce, which, in its simplest form, is selling products online, be it goods or services.

In addition, industries and businesses that were created from the internet are changing at a much faster pace. E-commerce itself has evolved over the years, with the introduction of various platforms for which e-commerce can be done. One of the newest additions is e-commerce through mobile applications, a way to keep up with a world that leans more on mobile devices compared rather than desktop computers.

With over 53% of users now spending more time on handheld devices, coming up with your own mobile app sounds like a good idea. But, is having an e-commerce platform for your business the right decision?

Why you need a mobile app for your e-commerce business

While mobile apps undeniably came in as a game changer, it is not a platform that is used by all – or at least, not yet.

The biggest factor that brought about the popularity of mobile apps is the surge of smartphones. With phones that are capable of doing almost all functions that computers can do, there’s not much reason to access the internet confined on a desk. Capability matched with mobility is what made handheld devices more worthwhile to use.

E-commerce initially flourished through websites that are designed for desktop computers. With the proliferation of handheld devices, it just makes sense to create e-commerce platforms that are more compatible with them. And that’s exactly what mobile apps are meant to do, and what businesses who are looking into having an app of their own should consider.

Better User Experience

Because mobile apps are designed for mobile phones, it results in a generally better user experience. Mobile app developers have considered that while smartphones have better hardware than ever before, such devices still have limitations, particularly with regards to its screen size.

Taking into consideration everything about handheld devices, mobile app developers are able to enhance the experience of its users. Specifically, mobile apps are able to provide the following:

Mobile apps promote convenience

Mobile apps help make customers’ lives a lot easier by making it a lot more convenient to do their online shopping. Almost everybody has their phone with them all the time and because mobile apps have helped do online shopping on one’s phone, there’s less hassle. There’s no more need to stop whatever it is you’re doing, go out of your way, head to a computer, and do your shopping from there.

Mobile apps improve page loading speed

Before mobile apps were a thing, online shopping can only be done through websites accessed on a phone’s web browser. This wasn’t very effective as sites are not easy to optimize for mobile phones because pages took longer to load. This is especially true for product pages because these contain a lot of objects such as product images.

With mobile apps, the platform is specifically designed to work on a phone’s relatively limited capacity, making even product pages load a lot quicker than a website would.

Mobile apps are easier to use

While websites are reliant on the functionalities that a browser has, a mobile app can customize everything – buttons, menus, absolutely everything on the app. Apps are then made a lot easier for the user compared to visiting a mobile website.

Think about it, a web browser is also an app in itself. You are running your e-commerce business on a platform that is open to everyone. Meanwhile, your very own mobile app is designed to work just for your own business, making your e-commerce site run on a dedicated platform.

Mobile apps help securely store and use customer information

Because it is less likely for users to share their phone with others, mobile apps provide an easy way to store information and use stored information later on. Users may choose not to store information, but manually keying in their credentials can be tedious for some.

It makes payments easier, faster, and more secure

Mobile apps are also designed to have an easier checkout process, especially if your customer information is stored. But even if not, mobile apps have forms that are made to be easier to fill up compared to filling up forms on a mobile website.

Furthermore, there are payment options that some are native to mobile phones such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Samsung Pay. These payment options help provide more choices for completing a purchase.

Built-in Features Impact Purchase

Aside from additional payment options, there are also other features in phones that add value in the purchase process. These features include the use of GPS, camera, microphone, and even the calendar.

For example, GPS helps identify your location to help personalize product offers. Meanwhile, cameras can help capture QR codes and even scan credit cards. It is expected that more features of a smartphone can be used in the future.

All these integrations are best done through your own platform in which you have full control.

Builds Brand Loyalty

Having your own mobile brand also puts your name out there, and in the long run, can work towards an improvement in brand loyalty. Customers appreciate the effort of coming up with a dedicated app, and this is returned by downloading and using your app. If your app lives up to the expectations of your customers, then it can really help build a loyal following.

Mobile Apps Encourage Social Sharing

Finally, it is also allows for an easy integration of your users social media accounts. Again, apps provide you with control, something you can almost not do in mobile search engines. For having our own platform in the form of your app, it is a lot easier to promote all your pages to your customers, helping you boost your network, as well as your social media marketing initiatives.

Does Your E-Commerce Business Really Need a Mobile App

While it was already discussed what mobile apps can do for your e-commerce business, the decision still relies on you. Mobile apps pack a lot of benefits but it is a complicated service offering and would need your time and dedication to build a functional mobile app that can truly serve its purpose. So, does your app need a mobile app?

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