Category: Mobile App

If you’ve been looking for various methods to develop cross-platform applications, then there’s no doubt that you would have come across the most prominent tools Flutter and React Native. Surely there is a point where it is difficult for you to settle upon one option, right? Let’s settle your uncertainties here in this blog.     

A complete interpretation of both the ruling cross-platform dialects, their pros and cons is illustrated here just for you to help you identify why Flutter can be the best fit. 

Cross-platform development- a brief overview

Cross-platform development is a process through which developers can create apps that are compatible with different platforms with one single codebase. This means a company could release the product quicker and with better quality. For businesses aiming to reach a broader audience, this can serve as a great method.

Among a lot of current cross-platform development tools and technologies, the two most popular tools adopted worldwide are Flutter and React Native, to 42% and 38% in 2021 respectively. 

What is that minor change that makes Flutter the top choice for the developers and businesses? What are the benefits that it is offering? Let’s look at it. 

What is Flutter?

Flutter is an open-source, cross-platform framework that helps one seamlessly create visually attractive, natively-compiled apps for mobile, web and desktop with a single codebase. It is a programming language developed by Google to build efficient apps, using a Dart language. 

What is React Native?

React Native is a framework created by Facebook to develop a cross-platform app that runs on mobile, web and desktop and uses JavaScript as its programming language. The code reusability feature and ready-to-apply elements that quicken the development process are the reason behind its popularity. 

Benefits of using Flutter and React Native

• Lesser testing 

If you have the same application on both platforms, then your Quality Assurance process will be faster as you can take it through less testing. 

• Perfect for MVPs

In case you want to build an MVP to showcase it to the potential investors, these are the perfect options, given the time both the framework takes is short. 

Both seem to be quite good in their perspectives and performance, so why are they at loggerheads?  

Reasons why Flutter is overtaking React Native

If you are to ask a developer what are the top-selling points of the toolkit- Flutter, they would be fast development time, alluring UI and native performance. But however, that’s not it.

• Learning curve 

Though one might bring many arguments showing that JavaScript is the most popular programming language, we can’t say that it is the easiest and most exciting language to learn. However, developers choose programming languages that are fun and convenient to work with, but if observed carefully, Flutter is easier to learn than React Native. 

Of course, React Native is not a bad framework itself, but one might get lost somewhere in the learning process if one is not familiar with some nuances.  

Whereas, Flutter is much more developer-friendly than React Native and its Dart language is easier to work and understand since Dart is closer to programming languages used in native mobile app development. 

• Performance

The architecture of React Native requires a bridge that allows interaction between JavaScript and native user interface components and some specific elements like Bluetooth, sensors, camera etc. Due to this bridge-based communication, React native is slower than Flutter. 

Flutter sets up a standard to a greater level than it would make one feel like it is no different from a native app platform. Cross-platform apps tend to depend on various interruptions and intermediate code representations. However, with Flutter, you get a unique coding environment, reduced risks. 

• Community support

Once the developers start to show their interest in technology and adapt to its development process, they would form a community to share knowledge. The stronger the community, the better the solutions are born. 

React Native has gained great popularity ever since it was launched. And it has a wider community supporting. 

Flutter beholds an incredibly larger community on the lookout. Though Dart is not as widely used as JavaScript, it is still catching up to the React Native community. Nonetheless, from the 2020’s Stack Overflow Survey on popularity, it is seen that 68.8% of developers love Flutter when compared to the 57.9% of developers who like React Native. The Github stars seem to be more for the Flutter community. 

• User Interface (UI)

React Native uses native components that can change after every up-gradation, which might lead to breaking the app’s UI, though it might happen only rarely. 

Flutter doesn’t rely on native system components and has its own array of custom widgets. Therefore, it guarantees an expressive and adaptable UI that can be built with the unmatched creative flexibility that the toolkit offers. It equips a native app development with maximum customization, letting you create UI elements that can stand out. The app UI is a lot more stable when compared to React Native. 

• Quicker time to market

Though the development is just as fast, since React Native uses a bridge and a few native elements, it might require optimization for every platform, making its development time longer than intended.

Unlike conventional programming, Flutter utilises Dart, a simple-to-learn programming language that offers smooth application development. As it follows a transparent language structure and smooth coding modules, many companies had to only take a minimum effort to create mobile applications and have an ideal opportunity to market to the app proprietor. 

• Hot reload

From a developer viewpoint, Flutter offers dynamic and faster app development that is appreciated by every top mobile app development company. The developers could make modifications to the codebase and see their changes immediately reflected in the application. This is the best aspect given, development is all about creation and updating. 

The hot reload feature allows developers to add features, fix technical issues and experiment with new ideas. Thus Flutter enables fast application compilation. 

• DevOps and CI/CD support

For any app to dodge releasing buggy code and to get continuous feedback it is crucial to follow Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery practices. 

React Native doesn’t contain any official documentation on setting up CI/CD. Though there are articles concerning this CI/CD for React Native apps, Flutter’s effective command-line interface tools allows developers to set up CI/CD easily. 

• Advanced cross-platform capabilities

Flutter gives the ability to go beyond just a mobile phone. It has launched many innovative development tools that will help you in making your app compatible with different platforms. You can smoothly run your app on a browser without even modifying the source code or in simpler terms, you won’t have to worry about changing anything in the Dart. Just a developer can use a single codebase for both web and mobile development.

• Documentation

Though React Native came into existence much longer before Flutter, the documentation of the React Native lacks organization and depth.

Whereas, Flutter’s documentation is more developed, comprehensive and easy to understand for any developers from different technical backgrounds and different levels of experience. 

• Code reusability

Code reusability is a big talking point between React Native and Flutter. React Native framework will allow you to write code once and apply it to every platform but the compatibility on every mobile is questionable. Therefore the developers must load a different set of components that works. This might take a longer development time. 

However, Flutter’s codebase is very much reusable, allowing developers to define a single UI widget tree and reuse the defined logic. 

• Release

In React Native’s defence, though the release process for every react native app development company is a standard one, the companies, however, need a third-party tool to deploy the app automatically. This brings us to the understanding that the release process can be tiresome and slows down the development speed. 

Whereas, Flutter has a seamless release process which will make it easy to launch it on the App Store or Google Play. 

• Further evolution

Since February of the year 2020, the users’ search volume for Flutter exceeded the volume of React Native. This shows well the potential of future growth and market distribution, as the software development community had shared questions, solutions and knowledge and backgrounds with their colleagues. 

Wrapping up

Many people presume that Flutter’s popularity will grow significantly in the coming years, as companies like Uber and Google Ad already have their platforms built on Flutter. Flutter app development services are an extensive SDK for building applications and are not just a structure. As mentioned earlier, Google Trends also shows Flutter to be the most searched term. 

The app development market is one of the fastest-growing areas in the business and technology environment. As many businesses are depending upon the insightful ventures for a quick turnover, Flutter is gaining upper hand over other competitors and is advantageous over React Native in many ways in cross-platform app development offering answers to all the demands. You can discuss your project requirements with a Flutter app development company to discover the benefits specific to your project by choosing Flutter for your Hybrid App Development.

Author Bio:

Monish Sinthala, CEO of the mobile development company, Pyramidion Solutions, loves to author in-depth content about the recent mobile app development trends, all-important blockchain technology employments that small to large-sized companies can implement to manage and expand their business. Get chances to know the nuances of the tech world by following him. 

With the advent of digitization, the face of global sectors transformed significantly. Many new and future-proof business models emerged, and many of the existing sectors revolutionized with next-gen technologies. Car sharing app development is one such robust sector that gained high momentum in the past few years. 

Car-sharing apps have become the most profitable business model globally due to their time-saving features, cost-effectiveness, and positive impact on the environment. Car sharing app development has become a widely accepted segment that offers excellent customer experience and profitability to its investors. Don’t you believe us? Here are some market stats on car-sharing applications!

• The global car-sharing market is expected to grow from $85.8 billion to a whopping $185.1 billion by 2026.
• The US taxi sharing market has generated a market revenue of $14.7 billion by the year 2019. 
• The total taxi sharing app users in the US alone exceeded 100 million and is further expected to outbreak this number.
• In India alone, the total revenues earned by these taxi-sharing apps was $3.7 billion by the year 2020. 

Hence, one cannot deny the bright and promising future of the car-sharing app development market for years to come. But, developing one such competitive car sharing app is undoubtedly a tedious task. You should have explicit knowledge of the market to create your own car-sharing app like those prevailing in the market.

That’sThat’s why, as an experienced app development company, today, we will be sharing a detailed approach to building a feature-rich car-sharing app that can outgrow your competitors. So, without wasting any further, let’s get started!

Car Sharing App Development – Getting Started

Here are a few critical steps you need to consider to create a feature-rich car-sharing app that suits your brand value. 

• Understand Your Target Market and Target Audience

So, the first and foremost aspect that one needs to consider while developing a car-sharing app is understanding your target market and understanding your customers’ pain points. You need to be very clear about what type of app you will create and how it will help your target audience. For that, you can ask yourself some questions like:

• What is the primary concern of my customers?
• How will my app solve that problem?
• What features will lure the customers?
• What other apps are they using?

Once you have all the answers, it will be easy to develop your app as per the user’s expectations. Similarly, you also need to identify a suitable and promising market for your car-sharing app. That market should have your target audience and should be free from competitors. 

• Analyze Your Competitors

Another crucial aspect that is essential for the success of your car-sharing app is to analyze your competitors. You need to identify and analyze all the business strategies of your competitive apps, viz., what are their features, what marketing strategies they follow, their monetization models, and so on. Besides that, you also need to have an idea of the tech-stack they have used to develop their car-sharing app. 

That’sThat’s so because analyzing your competitors will give you a clear idea of what to include and how to lure customers. So, to help you out, we have listed some of the top playing car-sharing apps in the market!

• Skyscanner

Whether it is booking flights, planning your travel, or booking cabs for transportation, Skyscanner is the very first choice of the people. The app offers some amazing discounts and even helps you search for the vehicles based on their fuel type, seating type, and many other filters. It’sIt’s features include price comparison, custom vehicle search, referral bonus and discounts, car rental services, and more.

• Turo

Another excellent car-sharing app that has been attracting users from across the globe is Turo. With over 800+ car options and some unique features like connecting with local hosts, monitoring the vehicle’s performance, AI chatbot, and more, Turo has generated a market value of around $1.2 billion.  

• Getaround

When it comes to a quick and user-friendly car-sharing app, then Getaround is consistently named. With its fast onboarding and easy verification process, you can get your rental car in just a matter of minutes. Besides that, you can even share a car on an hourly or daily basis. Other features of the app include keyless entry, remote unlocking, geolocation, and more.

• Hertz

Last but not least, we have Hertz as our competitive car-sharing app. Hertz enables the users to book the rides in advance and view/edit the details anytime they want. With the Hertz app, you can track your rides and can get recipes for the total expenses. Besides that, the app even offers social media sign-up, faster verifications, parking slot searching functionality, and more. 

• Look for the Latest Yet Reliable Tech-Stack

Once you have got all your answers and have analyzed your competitors, the most crucial step is validating your idea and including the latest tech stack for your car-sharing app. You need to check the feasibility of your idea before investing in it. That’s because an idea, when turned into a reality, faces many ups and downs, so it’s better to validate it before beginning the development. That’sThat’s where experts come into play!

An expert car-sharing app development company will always offer experienced engineers that could validate your ideas and could offer you the best suggestions for them. They will also know the latest and most reliable tech stack that could help you in the long run. Hence, it is always wise to look for a company that offers expert consultation services with app development.

Here we have mentioned some of the latest and future-ready tech-stack that could elevate your car-sharing app development:

• For Android App – Java, Kotlin

• For iOS App – Objective C, Swift

• For Cross-Platform App – Xamarin, Flutter, React Native

• For Hybrid App – Ionic, PhoneGap

• For UI – SwiftUI, UIKit, AndroidUI

• For Database – Hive, SQLite, Firebase Real-time Database

• Include Next-Gen Features

When it comes to the success of any mobile application in today’s digital world, the two most important factors that impact it are features and design. Features are the most crucial element that can either make your app a hit or destroy it after the launch. Hence, you have to include at least two to three advanced features that are not present in your competitor’s app and useful for your users. 

Here are some of the features that we would suggest you to include in your custom car sharing app.

For Users:

Features	Description
Social Login	Enable your users to login to your car sharing app with their social accounts.
Real-Time Tracking	Offer a live tracking functionality to your users to track their drivers and tide in real-time.
Connect with Driver	Ensure an accurate and timely ride to your users by connecting them with the drivers.
Digital Payments	Offer ease to your users by including multiple payment channels in your car sharing app.
Cancel Ride	Make it easy for your users to book and cancel the rides at any time with a dedicated feature.

For Drivers:

Features	Description
Accept/Reject Rides	Offer real-time notifications of the rides to your drivers and enable them to accept/reject those rides at any time due to their busy schedule.
Track Earnings	Offer a centralized dashboard to your drivers to help them view their total earnings including the tips received from each of the rides.
Geolocation	Help your drivers to get an accurate location of the destinatination by offering them an accurate map of the route with real-time traffic.
Contact Users	Make it easy for your drivers to locate the users, and save their fuel by connecting them with the riders using call/chat functionality.
Driving Alerts	Offer all the driving parameters including fuel level, speed, and other driving alerts to your users, to make their rides safe.

For Admin:

Features	Description
User Management	Add users to your car sharing app and manage the existing ones with easy verification.
Total Earnings	Get a record of the total earning of all your drivers and your app through a centralized dashboard.
Allocate Rides	Allocate the rides to your nearest valuable drivers on the basis of their schedules and nearness to the destination.
Geofencing	Keep a track of the routes your drivers follow and restrict them on going in certain disputed areas by creating virtual fences.
Route Optimization	Make it easy and safe for your drivers to complete the rides by offering them optimized routes in real-time.
Driving Alerts	Get real-time driving alerts and solve all your driver’s problems with simple tap and remote functionalities.
Push Notifications	Alert your users about changes in policies or any recent updates of your car sharing app with push notifications.

 

• Hire Professional App Developers

Here comes the most critical aspect of car-sharing app development. No matter what features you include or what designs you have in your mind, if you do not have an experienced and reliable development partner, then everything is in vain. Hence, we always suggest our users choose the most experienced and repeated app development company as their development partner. 

Reason being that firstly an experienced firm will have all the resources and tools needed for a cost-effective and successful car-sharing app development. Secondly, their developers will be well aware of all the issues that might come during the development process and even have the answers. Lastly, a reputed firm will indeed offer you all the professional services during and after the development to make your app a hit for years to come. Hence, look closely and only choose a partner that offers all these services!

• Test Your App

Our last and final step in car-sharing app development is testing. Testing is the most crucial step amongst all the steps mentioned by adobe. Why? That’s because testing identifies and resolves all the issues that were left unidentified during the development process. That eventually signifies a smooth and user-friendly app that works on all platforms and under all circumstances. 

Hence, always choose an experienced development partner that offers you either manual or automated testing services. Because if your app runs smoothly, it will also enhance the user experience, which will drive profits and brand value for your business. 

What is the Cost of Developing a Car Sharing App?

So, we are at the most awaited section of our article – the cost of developing a feature-rich car-sharing app. Now, many of you might be looking for an exact price of development, but that is a very tedious task! That’s so because the price of any custom mobile application depends on many crucial factors. For instance, the choice of technology, complexities of the features, customizations, design elements, testing method, and MVP creation impact the cost of development. Hence, if you are actively looking for accurate cost estimation, it is advisable to discuss your idea with experts. An expert would carefully analyze your requirements and offer an accurate cost estimation matching your needs and wants. 

Final Takeaway!

That was all about car-sharing app development. To conclude, we can say that the world today is evolving faster, and if you are someone who deals directly with the customers, then paying attention to all those changes is essential. Car sharing is one such sector that has quickly evolved in today’s digital market. And to succeed in such a competitive business, it is vital to strictly follow the latest and most reliable trends that can help you in the long run. So, choose wisely, and follow our steps for successful app development. 

Till then, Happy Reading!

Author Bio.:–Sourabh Sharma is an experienced technical content writer at Matellio who has a love and passion for covering various aspects of next-gen technology. He enjoys implementing various writing styles and techniques. He is an engineer which further gives him a broad spectrum of understanding various tech tools and platforms.

Whether you are using your phone to connect with your friends or scroll on social media, each time you go online, you are exposed to threats. Our mobile devices are similar to our computers. It can catch malware if we don’t know how to practice safe online rules.

The number of mobile attacks is slowly increasing as more people are shifting to mobile devices than desktops. However, most mobile device users don’t protect their devices. But like your desktop, your mobile device requires tools to keep it safe.

Most people think that Android devices require more security than an iPhone due to their vulnerability to attacks. However, Apple devices also need protection. Despite not experiencing frequent attacks, iOS devices can also get hacked.

How to Secure My Mobile Device?

The only way to keep your devices and their content safe are to follow a cybersecurity checklist. The protection of your mobile device is different from your desktop. Computers require more security and encryption software as compared to mobile devices. But it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t protect your device.

Here are some ways you can secure your mobile device from old and new threats.

• Lock the device with a password or fingerprint. It is critical to keep your devices lock in case you left them behind. Also, make sure that the standby screen shouldn’t be more than a minute.
• Add a remote wipe on your device. It will allow you to wipe data remotely whenever your device has been stolen.
• Don’t download apps from a third-party source. Always make sure to download apps from your app store only.
• Back up data to the cloud or on your computer. Regularly back up your files and media.
• Make sure to update your phone’s system and all the apps on your device.
• Take precautions when connecting to public Wi-Fi. Use VPN to encrypt your data from hackers.
• Never click on links from your email or messages, particularly if it comes from an unknown source.
• Update your mobile’s system and apps.
• Download the best mobile security software for your device.

Now you have an idea of how to keep your devices safe, here is a list of the best phone security apps you can add to your Android or iOS devices.

AVG Antivirus

AVG is one of the excellent security software designed for desktop users. However, they also have a security solution for mobile devices.

Although AVG offers security for both Android and iOS, it has exclusive features available on each OS.

AVG Android Antivirus

• Remotely lock and wipe your device’s content
• Track location of the missing phone.
• Lock apps with sensitive content with a PIN
• Capture an image of someone who’s trying to open your device
• Antivirus for scanning of threats
• Block unwanted calls
• VPN for private browsing

AVG iOS Antivirus

• Checks for safe Wi-Fi connection
• Encrypt data using a VPN
• Monitors leakage of account password
• Secure vault for photo storage

Both OS of AVG offers free and paid versions. The free version has limited features.

McAfee Mobile Security

Mcafee can secure both iOS and Android devices. It has an award-winning security scanning feature that can detect malicious apps, unsecured Wi-Fi, and unsafe websites.

It can also protect devices from prying eyes whenever you connect to public Wi-Fi. Also, you can recover your missing device or wipe the content remotely. Keep your data safe anytime and anywhere you go.

Furthermore, McAfee also offers to keep devices running faster and longer by cleaning junk files, boosting the battery life, and improving the performance of your device.

Bitdefender Security for Mobile Devices

Bitdefender is one of the best antivirus software for any device. Although the free version is limited, you’ll get plenty of perks with the paid package. Bitdefender can support both Android and iOS devices.

• Malware scanner to protect against incoming threats.
• On-demand scan
• Anti-theft to remotely lock your device and wipe out data
• Enhance the performance of the device
• With 200 MB/ day VPN
• Lock apps with sensitive content
• Filters app traffic to detect any suspicious activity

Avast Mobile Security

Like other names of brands mentioned here, Avast has been around for quite some time. They have developed excellent and outstanding antivirus for PCs for many years. But it doesn’t stop there. Avast has extended its security expertise to Android and iOS devices too.

Avast has a free version for their mobile security, but you can also get their paid version to enjoy its full features.

You can block all kinds of threats as Avast allows you to perform regular scanning of your device. It can detect malicious apps, infected websites, unsecured Wi-Fi, and even emerging threats.

You can secure your online activities using a VPN and keep your media safe by adding a password.

Furthermore, you can secure your passwords and get alerts when someone tries to hack into your account. Similar to other antivirus software, Avast offers anti-theft features too. You can locate your phone, lock your device or wipe out data remotely, and take a photo of the thief.

Avast can also get rid of junk files to improve the performance of your mobile device.

Trend Micro Mobile Security Solutions

You’ll enjoy a mobile device that works fast with Trend Micro’s performance enhancer. Aside from boosting your device’s performance, you can secure your device by scanning for viruses, malware, and other threats.

You can locate your missing device whenever it is lost. Trend Micro app can help in removing content remotely and taking a picture of the thief. Not only does your mobile device get protected physically, but you can keep your data and device safe from harmful websites.

Even social media URLs are monitored to make sure that you won’t click on harmful links. Every time you add a new app to your device, it scans it before installing the app.

You can also enjoy safe online banking and payment with Pay Guard Mobile. It secures all sensitive information by avoiding fake websites.

Avira Mobile Security

Avira is an all-in-one app that protects your devices by scanning for threats and encrypts your data from prying eyes with a free VPN (100 MB/day). You can get unlimited VPNs when you opt for the paid version.

Also, the mobile app permits enhancing the performance by removing junk files, clearing cache, and increasing the speed of your browser.

The app can also track stolen devices, trigger a loud sound when it’s missing, lock the device to prevent the thief from getting access.

When you upgrade to the premium version, you’ll enjoy advanced features such as blocking phishing websites and get a real-time alert if your email password gets leaked.

Lookout Personal

Lookout has a clean and easy-to-use interface. It lacks ads on its free version, which makes it a popular antivirus app. It can protect both iOS and Android devices.

Before the virus gets into the system, Lookout finds a way to detect the malware and stop it immediately. It offers a safe space to browse the internet without getting viruses or malware that can infect your phone and steal your information. 

It keeps the person’s identity safe by monitoring the information whenever it gets out or exposed online. 

Lookout can also help you locate your missing device by showing the location you left your device and make a loud sound. Whenever your phone’s battery is low, you can get an email of the location of your device with a Signal Flare. You can send a customized message to your missing phone that appears on the lock screen. So, whoever has your phone can give your device back.

F-secure for Mobile

Get protection for your on-the-go activities. F-secure can bring the protection you need for your Android and iOS devices. 

The android version of F-secure allows multiple devices to get protected. It also ensures safe online banking and shopping by keeping your information safe. You can also access geo-restricted content and encrypt your data as you browse online using its unlimited VPN. 

You can create strong passwords and store them on the password manager provided by F-secure. It autofills anytime you log into your account. Furthermore, any data breach will alert the user to prevent identity theft.

The iOS app has a safe browsing feature to keep you safe anytime you search online and similar features like secure online banking and shopping. It includes a parental control feature to prevent children from viewing inappropriate content.

Kaspersky Security Cloud and Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus

Kaspersky does have an antivirus that can cover all operating systems, such as Kaspersky Total Security and Internet Security. But if you only want to secure your mobile device, Kaspersky offers a version of it on each app store.

The Kaspersky Security Cloud is made for iOS devices. 

• Detects threats automatically
• Keeps safe from phishing websites that can steal sensitive information
• It scans faster as it runs on the cloud
• Manage accounts remotely
• Secure passwords

Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus is designed for Android users.

• Scans and block malware and other threats automatically
• It has an on-demand and real-time scanning options
• Locate missing phone
• Wipeout all data in a missing or stolen device
• Lock apps that have sensitive content
• Filters out unsafe links or websites
• Protects users from entering phishing websites

Norton Mobile Security

Norton has years of experience in keeping computers safe from threats. It is also best known for its dark web monitoring and LifeLock. 

Its superior protection on PCs and Macs has extended to mobile devices too. 

Norton Mobile can proactively scan and detect threats from smartphones and other devices. It detects any vulnerabilities on your devices, such as outdated apps and systems. Hence, you get to take control of your device before a hacker does.

Furthermore, you can connect to a secure Wi-Fi without worrying about fake network connections that can spy on your data. Even fake websites are detected and blocked to avoid clicking or entering the site.

Norton also offers a VPN for their mobile security protection.

It is free to download at both app stores with the name Norton 360.

Malwarebytes Mobile Security

Malwarebytes is forever ad-free. Even with its free version, users don’t have to experience annoying pop-ups on their screens. However, it offers limited features.

If you want, you can try the premium version for 30 days.

The premium version offers the following features:

• Block unknown calls and text, unsafe websites, and annoying ads
• Can detect adware and other common malware threats
• Perform privacy audit on apps
• Prevent ransomware attacks
• Filters websites for safe browsing

Conclusion

Choosing the proper antivirus software for your mobile device depends on your activities, needs, and budget. Although these antivirus software apps have almost similar features, some perform better than others. You can read reviews of each of these antivirus software to learn more about them. Ultimately, protecting your device is more than using an antivirus app. You’ll need to use other tools and follow guidelines to ensure that your mobile device and its data are safe from hackers.

Let go of antediluvian practices! Let go of hardware and accustomed servers! A new era of cloud computing has brought new standards of application development.

In order to succeed in a dynamic and technologically advanced world, there is an immense need for companies and software-driven markets to change the way of designing, building, and using applications. That is where cloud-native computing comes in.

This blog is a detailed guide for people who are unaware of cloud-native application methods. Well, cloud-native application development is a method that runs and optimizes the best practices of cloud computing.

Through this highly versatile methodology, developers enable to deploy cloud computing resources at full capacity. Developers can integrate with new technologies like microservices faster, serverless, and more. It is a process of improving app development based on the latest technologies and techniques.

Applications that develop and deploy using cloud-based technologies are cloud-native applications. They are built, tested, managed, and deployed in the cloud. Cloud-native application development is a versatile platform that aims to revolutionize software by supporting platform ops and DevOps capabilities.

Whether you operate in telecom, healthcare, or any other industry, business applications have become the foremost priority of business strategies. The transformation in business processes requires the development and delivery of new applications for users.

Cloud-native applications are an amalgamation of coupled services. They tend to deliver well-recognized business value (capable of incorporating user feedback for continuous improvement). Hence, cloud-native application development processes speed up how companies build new applications, optimize the existing ones, and connect them all effectively and efficiently. Organizations and businesses throughout the globe adopt cloud computing services to escalate the scalability and availability of applications. These benefits are attainable by self-service, on-demand provisioning of resources, and automation of the application lifecycle from development to production.

The overall IT industry has been built on legacy technology infrastructure. This heritage system is reliable and trustworthy with scalability, improved customer experience, budget-friendly prices, greater agility, and access to innovation. However, if users want to take full advantage of cloud computing, there is an immense need to adopt new technologies and methodologies. The overall infrastructure of this development process lets the developers use existing components like catching services, data visualization, and workflow engines. This process alleviates the intricacy of the overall development process. Developers have to focus on the complexities of the application, not the overall framework.

Consider the following steps and move your application to the cloud. 

DevOps: This is a direct approach towards culture, automation and platform that plays a crucial role in delivering increased business value and responsiveness.

Microservices: This architecture helps in breaking down applications into small components that are independent of one another. 

API: The application programming interfaces include tools, definitions, and protocols for building application software. APIs are responsible for connecting products and services without knowing their implementation processes.

Containers: Through well-designed containers, applications are packaged and isolated according to the entire runtime environment. Containers make it easy to move them among different environments while retaining full functionality.

Why more and more companies are opting for cloud-native Application development processes? 

Cloud-native application development processes increase the functions and operations of companies whose computer resources are available across different environments. For instance, your company might have a few resources on Amazon Servers, Google Servers, and Oracle databases that run on your premise. This hybrid-cloud architecture helps your company derive business value and generate revenue.

The key benefits of cloud-native application development: 

– Resilience and greater tolerance level

– Security

– Integration with enhanced and modern technologies

– Faster time-to-market delivery

– Reduced maintenance and infrastructure cost

– No vendor lock-in

Resilience and greater tolerance level 

Cloud-native development processes often deal with contemporary approaches. It means cloud-native applications have properties like self-healing in cases of downfall and downtime. For instance, if one container stops operating the other one goes up immediately. Or if there is a failure of services within the microservices net, it will not impact the overall operations of infrastructure.

Security 

Security is one of the crucial parts of an application. It is possible to set up automated quality checks for enabling strict code control supervision through this cloud-native application feature. So, every time developers try to change the code, it happens before deployment to production.

Integration with enhanced and modern technologies 

Cloud-native application development encompasses contemporary architectural methods like microservices, containerization, serverless, and more. As a result, companies end up getting exceedingly responsive infrastructure. It always scales up and down.

Faster time-to-market delivery 

Cloud-service applications are designed in a manner that alleviates the efforts of maintaining and providing infrastructure. So, the primary focus and concentration of the IT team are on future releases instead of infrastructure maintenance. Alongside, strict and standardized business processes enable code, design, deploy, and never compromises on quality.

Reduced maintenance and infrastructure cost 

You might have seen millions of articles covering cost reduction techniques by IT solutions.

Given below are the main reasons for maintenance and infrastructure cost reduction. 

– Cloud-native applications tend to have free plans and continuous support of users.

– They are resilient and robust.

– The uptime rate is higher. That brings revenue to businesses.

– Less effort is required for maintaining the infrastructure in the cloud.

No vendor lock-in 

That refers to the fact users can switch the tools if they are not satisfied with the services and prices. There is no need to choose a single public cloud provider. Multi-cloud solutions are getting more and more popular among many companies and organizations.

How to refactor current applications into a modern cloud-native one? 

It becomes strenuous to give a piece of advice regarding refactoring. It varies from infrastructure to infrastructure. Not everyone is willing to turn everything upside and commence. However, a few recommendations of refactoring include:

– Companies need to containerize the environment and applications. It allows the applications to become more portable and integrate with cloud-native practices.

– Always be prepared to spend a lot of time and effort coding and make applications according to cloud-native standards. It might be heavy on the pocket but never forget about TCO and ROI. Your efforts eventually pay off.

– Always ensure to containerize with your applications and environments. However, sometimes there is a need for vague modifications. Now is the time to make your applications portable with cloud-native practices.

– If you are looking for reliable ways of delivering quality products and services at a faster rate, then the cloud-native app development process is what you need. Aside from this feature, cloud-native obtains superior flexibility and optimizations.

Add new tools, update the resources, and scale them down easily whenever there is a need. Enterprises with legacy applications think of hybrid solutions to be the most winning way towards modernization.

However, the most challenging task of modern cloud indigenous systems include the high cost of revamping, the time needed for renovation, possible inconsistencies at an early age, and the need for change on the organization level.

What are the types of cloud-native applications?

Structured cloud-native applications

Unstructured cloud-native applications

Structured platform: 

A structured platform addresses the shortcomings of PaaS. Both of these platforms are open source. They play a crucial role in supporting various languages and frameworks.

Unstructured platform: Many businesses and startup companies are opting for cloud-native app development processes and homegrown tools. This unstructured technology moves together for semi-structured platform models. It is one of the examples that directly comes from the open container initiative ( OCI) and cloud-native computing foundation.

The working of cloud-native applications 

Management and building of cloud-native applications result in continuous improvement of deploying microservices in containers.

The process of building cloud-native applications.

Underlying infrastructure: 

The base provides all computing resources for applications.

Modern cloud-native computing services run, scale, and manage the microservices.

Provisioning the infrastructure 

• Tools that tend to provide infrastructure.
• Tools like Ansible that help in processes.
• Services that cloud computing companies offer services for architecting an infrastructure.

Applications runtime 

It provides modern storage.

Runtime for containers like Docker

Network services like AWS VPC.

Deployment and management of applications 

Tools like Kubernetes. Services discovery happens through various tools like Etcd, Zookeeper.

What are the best practices of cloud-native? 

Auto-provisioning: Automatic provision of different environments by using code that is used in Git.

Auto-redundancy: Cloud-native applications don’t fail easily. Whenever there is an occurrence of any issue, the application moves to another server seamlessly and automatically.

Auto-scaling: Whenever there is a spike in traffic, this cloud-native application development practice escalates or alleviates the resources. The design of the application is often carried out by using Microservices.

Given below are the tools to manage cloud-native applications.

AWS, Google Cloud – Helps in providing cloud computing services.

ELK Stack – Help in providing a complete monitoring solution.

Fluent – Peculiarly used for logging. It helps in collecting and sharing log data tools like AWS cloud watch.

Prometheus – It helps in monitoring tools that record time-series data for microservices.

Grafana – is a visualization tool.

Istio – Enables the service mesh,

If we just stop for a minute and think about our dependence on the mobile phone – we’ll find it for every small & big task of our daily routines. Every business, every institute, & every organization needs software, mobile apps, or websites in some or other way.

According to research, there are approximately 2.56 million apps and 2 billion websites across the globe. (This shows we’re bound with technology for every single thing one can think of!)

However, a question that always looms around is – which one is better to use a mobile app or website? It is a controversial topic that comes along with a never-ending battle between the two.    

The fact is, be it a mobile app or website both come with many benefits for the business. Although, there are some extraordinary points that differentiate one from another, and gives you an ideal choice for your startup.           

In this writeup, a few crucial factors are showcased in a way that helps you understand both the elements and finalize the one based on your business/startup needs.  

Though, before peeping into the essential points, let’s first know how mobile apps and mobile websites different from each other. 

How Can You Differentiate A Mobile Website From An App? 

Since both are used in mobile phones, it is misunderstood that mobile websites and applications are one and the same. Have a look at the below-mentioned points to know more about the same. 

• A mobile app is built from the scratch with unique UI designs based on the device interface while mobile websites are composed versions of the desktop websites as per the screen of the smart device. 
• An app is to be downloaded from the app store that is built by mobile app development companies. On the other side, mobile websites do not require any type of separate downloading. 
• Security is a major concern from the user as well as the developer side. When it comes to security, mobile apps are more secure in comparison to websites.   
• The location of data storage varies in both apps and websites. The information of the website is stored on the servers whereas the mobile app stores the data in the mobile itself. 
• Website updates are enforced automatically while for the apps you need to visit the app store and update your application. 

That’s all on the points of difference, now let’s move toward the crucial aspects that will let you decide the ideal one for your startup. 

The Ideal Choice For Your Startup – Mobile Website/Application?

You will easily get the answer to the aforementioned question with the help of the pointers that we’ve analyzed. 

What is Your Budget?

It is the most important thing that you need to be clear with before making any decision. How much budget do you have to build a satisfactory platform? Make sure you do not compromise a single penny while building your online startup. As this could directly affect the success of your business.      

If you’re running with a limited budget, we would recommend you first go for developing a website. The development of a website is cheaper in comparison to developing an application. For a mobile app, you need to invest more as different apps are to be developed for Android and iOS platforms. 

Which Comes with Better Speed & Accessibility?

Nowadays, a user will never go to a platform that has a slower speed. It is a fast-paced world wherein users want everything at their fingertips within the least time possible.  Of course, mobile apps are faster but if a user is just looking for some general information. He/She will not waste time installing an app as it is more time taking than visiting a website. 

In another phase, we all know that an app is more attractive, and interacts with almost every type of smartphone. You need to make your website responsive to every screen device. The only thing you need to take care of is developing an app or website with a user-friendly interface. This is the only way to attract the user. 

Want to Reach More Users? 

It is observed that mobile phones bring more traffic than desktops. If your only aim is to gain traffic on the platform then mobile apps and websites both come with the same preference. 

If you’re going for mobile apps then iOS apps gain more users than Android apps. Moreover, if you’re planning to build an informative platform, then you should use a website rather than an app. About 60% of the users will directly visit a website to gain information instead of searching for an application. Analyze your business requirements, and accordingly choose the platform of your business.         

Are You Ready to Spend $10k+ on Your Online Startup?

When you opt for mobile app development for Android and iOS, it will definitely cost you more than 10k dollars. Therefore if your budget is lower then you can opt for a mobile website or application. 

Again, take note of the point that the price may vary based on the project type, requirements, region, and more. The one we mentioned to you is an average cost that an app development usually takes. 

To put it short, if you’re not willing for a huge investment, then opting for a mobile website is a wise choice.     

The Parting Thoughts

So, we have shared every key factor that lets you make a firm decision for your online startup. Sharing one bonus tip – if your only aim is to gain the attention of a large amount of audience, then just build an online website for your startup. 

One more thing, in addition to the websites and mobile app development you even have an option to develop PWA (Progressive Web Apps)  that works as a web page but offers you more features and functionalities. 

At last, all we would say is to analyze your business requirements and target audience – accordingly build a mobile app or website. Both of them come with their own advantages and disadvantages, make a wise decision for your startup.  

Author Bio : – Cynthia Murray – An enthusiastic writer who is passionate to bring ins and outs of technology by writing articles and blogs. She has been writing tech blogs for more than six years. Moreover, her expertise to bring up the innovations for applications has enabled her to sell app ideas to companies. Besides writing, she is an adventure fellow who loves to go on various expeditions.