Android vs. iOS: Choosing The Right Mobile App Strategy

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Every development lead must comprehend the pros and cons of the most popular mobile platforms. Therefore, it’s common to engage in lengthy and strenuous deliberations regarding the age-old Android vs. iOS debate. And yes, this may sound passé considering how firmly established both platforms have become and how often the fanboys on both camps have had to eat humble pie. 

But we’re not talking about fanboyism here, as that’s detrimental for any app developer. After all, the best app developers and publishers don’t pick favorites but focus on tangible results. And there’s no point in favoring Android over iOS, or vice versa, in an era when both platforms satisfy billions of users globally. 

Therefore, the wisest option is to target both platforms if that fits the budget and capabilities of the development team. But we do want to stress that it’s crucial to implement a different strategy for each platform. And that’s because Android and iOS each serve specific markets and demographics better than others. 

For example, Android is the mobile gaming heavyweight and has a far larger global audience. Thus, it makes good business sense for game developers to focus their efforts more on Android vs. iOS in most cases. These efforts could involve the game assets, code, testing, marketing, and ad campaigns. 

On the flip side, iOS users love apps that enhance their photos or help them edit videos. That makes sense, considering that iOS devices are known for their excellent cameras and are used extensively by content creators and social media influencers. Understanding these differences allows every development lead to stay on top of the Android vs. iOS discussion and even steer it toward a fruitful direction.

But What Is A Mobile App Strategy?

A mobile app strategy encompasses the early planning stages, development phase, marketing efforts, and release. Ultimately, it serves as a roadmap for bringing your app to fruition. Without a mobile app strategy, your team will have scattered goals and priorities, and your project will fail.

And this is a problem because too many small indie developers treat mobile app development as a feel-good endeavor. They watch several YouTube videos, then read some articles and Reddit posts, which convince them that app development is fun. 

And while app development is indeed fun, professional studios always focus on delivering results. That means the fun and excitement of app development take a back seat to work within the parameters of a carefully conceived plan instead. Clients who partner with studios such as NS804 expect high-quality apps that meet their requirements. Therefore, there’s no room for aimless “what if” scenarios or raw experimentation, which indie and freelance developers may embrace.

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Android vs. iOS: A Mobile App Strategy That Applies To Both

As we mentioned earlier, you’ll likely target both Android and iOS platforms for your apps. Therefore, when you start putting together your mobile app strategy, you’ll have to consider the following for both platforms: 

  • Research the marketplace to determine whether other apps already solve this problem. And if they do, can you implement a feature that innovates or improves on what existing competing apps offer users? If you cannot forge ahead with a better alternative, reconsider your app idea before entering a market with an oversupply of similar apps.
  • Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats your app business will likely face.
  • Draw up user profiles of the types of users who will likely embrace your app. Consider several demographic examples about these users, such as their age, sex, location, occupation, education, salary, and interests.
  • Define the capabilities of your app in detail, even if some of these don’t make it into the end product. Also, create a wireframe to prototype the user interface (UI) to show all stakeholders involved in the project.
  • Document all the data accessibility and management systems you’ll use for your app. And don’t forget to design your privacy and security protocols early on. Moreover, be sure your team’s up to speed with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) if you’re releasing your app in Europe.

Android vs. iOS: When Your Mobile App Strategy Will Differ

The primary areas that impact your mobile app strategy for each platform relate to the app stores, marketing, monetization, and tech stacks. Let’s take a more detailed look at these factors below:

  • App stores: The App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) are where most users will download their apps. But given Android’s more open philosophy and a wider variety of device manufacturers, there are way more stores to download Android apps. However, all these stores have their own app store optimization (ASO) requirements and user expectations that developers and publishers must meet. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work, but a different strategy for each app store leads to success.
  • Marketing: Brand positioning, public relations (PR), outreach programs, pre-launch promotions, sales offers, and even post-release strategies will impact the success or failure of your app. Also, ensure you tailor your marketing messaging specifically for Android and iOS users and your app’s potential user demographics.
  • Monetization: iOS attracts more affluent users, and they’re more likely to spend money on apps than their Android counterparts. Therefore, an iOS app can make money with in-app purchases, subscriptions, or even as a paid app. But an Android app will likely generate more income via advertisements. So, a completely different monetization strategy for each platform will work best.
  • Tech stacks: Apple provides its proprietary Xcode integrated development environment (IDE), the Swift programming language, and platform-specific application programming interfaces (APIs). And Google offers its Android Studio IDE & App Tools and the Kotlin programming language. Developers should use these two tech stacks, especially if they develop native apps for each platform.

Additional Mobile App Strategy Considerations

It’s not uncommon for app developers to utilize cross-platform tools and other handy tools that aid productivity. For example, a developer may use the Visual Studio IDE, the C# programming language, and Xamarin for cross-platform development. And such a tool allows the developer to focus on a single codebase while enjoying the benefits of native performance. 

But what would this do for the mobile app strategy? It would simplify it somewhat, as the developer won’t have to deal with the complexities and costs of maintaining two codebases. But the developer should still consider a contingency plan in case Xamarin is sunset during development or any similar scenario, even if it seems unlikely.  

Another factor that will seriously impact productivity and development costs is cloud infrastructure. It may save company resources to use a cloud-based testing service to run unit tests, especially for a startup. And even a more established developer may benefit from additional security and scalability offered by a good cloud service. 

Understanding the pros and cons and associated costs of all tooling ahead of time is a huge boon. But it’s equally important to document all these within the mobile app strategy from the get-go. Furthermore, it’s essential to detail when Android and iOS strategies will be similar or different.

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The Bottom Line

The days of getting into heated Android vs. iOS debates should hopefully be over. But that doesn’t mean that the development lead should ignore the core differences between these two platforms. In fact, it’s essential to understand these differences intimately and draft a mobile app strategy that works flawlessly for Android and iOS specifically. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you craft a strategy to bring your best app ideas to the market! 

Budgeting for an App? 6 Costs to Consider

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There is really no single answer to the question of how much it costs to build an app. Most mobile app experts will give a long and structured answer to help you estimate what app that you have in mind will cost to build and deploy. Depending on the intended purpose, an app will have varying integrations with third-party apps. It will also use different built-in features in the hardware device it will be installed. These include GPS navigation and Augmented Reality.

Detailed preparation is required in order to ensure you set aside enough funds to oversee the development project to completion. Many development projects stall because the owners hadn’t factored in all costs involved in the project. App development is a capital expenditure akin to commissioning a new plant in a factory.

Here are 10 costs to consider when budgeting for an app.

1. Business Analysis

The first step in any app development project is establishing a business case for the app to be built. The business might even hire a business analyst to conduct a market analysis before embarking on the actual building. In fact, if there is already a budget for the app, 10% should ideally go into the analysis phase.

If there are existing competitors in the app, the proposed app must have a unique selling point to ensure that it can gain and grow its share of the market. Part of the preliminary work includes preparing the documentation for the project. All the requirements of the app must be put down succinctly before being handed over to the development team.

Another reason to carry out an analysis is to establish whether you can achieve everything in the project scope within the budget and time constraints. If not so, it may be necessary to scale the project down to make it achievable.

2. Prototyping

Once the requirements of the app have been established, the next cost item is prototyping. Here, the development team prepares mock-ups of how the app’s UI will look like. The goal is to ensure that the final app’s visual design is perfect and that the app is consistent in terms of colors, fonts, placement of buttons, navigation menus, and other factors that influence user experience.

Normally, the preparation of prototypes can take up 10-15% of an app’s budget.

3. The Development Phase

The bulk of your app development costs will go to paying the team to write the code to bring your app to life. The development team is likely to have a front-end engineer or a UI/UX designer, a backend engineer, a mobile developer, and a quality assurance engineer. Building an app requires experts in several fields to collaborate on the project. The cost of hiring each of these experts is north of $100 an hour.

In order to get the best value for money, it is best to work with a development team that adopts an agile delivery/development methodology. They should be able to provide weekly updates on the progress of the project. There must be deadlines in place for the achievement of major project milestones.

4. Features that Drive Costs

The length and cost of the development phase will heavily depend on the features intended in the app. Today, it is standard for mobile apps for instance to include screen optimization for different devices. Support for tablets, in particular, adds complexity and drives up development costs.

It also matters the number of platforms for which the app is being built. Normally, mass-market apps will need to include an Android as well as an iOS version.

Modern apps also require push notifications as an added feature to add to the amount of interaction users have with the app. It’s also quite common for apps to now allow users to create accounts and sign in using their social profiles. This is meant to add to the speed of signing into the app but it also adds a layer of security. If all these added features need to be present in the app, they will undoubtedly result in tens of additional development hours being billed.

5. App Marketing

An often overlooked but important part of the app development and deployment process is marketing. Having a marketing strategy and setting aside a budget for it is crucial in ensuring the target audience of the app is made aware of its existence and where to access it. The landing page can also be used to collect emails of interested users before the formal launch. These emails can be used in retargeting and user retention campaigns.

It’s best practice to have a landing page from where people can be redirected to various stores for download.  The landing page might also have a blog section where the company shares useful content to users. The blog content can also be shared across the different social media platforms that the company uses.

Your app must also be properly optimized for the stores where it will be available. This includes having proper description of what it does as well as high-quality images of what the various UI-screens look like. You must categorize the app accurately for users to be able to find it organically.

6. App Maintenance Costs

The success of an app greatly depends on the ability of the owners to respond swiftly to bugs as well as user feedback after the launch. The norm today is to go through many iterations of the app throughout the year, each with incremental changes. This way, customers feel that the app is constantly improving while the learning curve for new features of interfaces is not too steep.

Normally, app maintenance costs will amount to about 15-20% of the initial development budget. Besides bug fixing, part of the maintenance budget goes to paying of commercial licenses for technologies used in the app. Apps also require paying for hosting services.

Another common hack is to work with a development partner who can handle design, development, and maintenance. Negotiating for all these services with one partner is likely to be much more cheaper than working with multiple firms.

Ideas on How to Reduce Your App Development Budget

Limited resources means businesses will often have to make compromises or shrewd decisions on how to approach the app development process.

One such shrewd move is to use cross-platform development technologies instead of native ones. This means that the development team can simultaneously build Android and iOS version of the app. This will not only cut the development time but also costs.

Another move would be to strip down the app so that the first version to be released only contains fundamental features. This is called a minimum viable product (MVP). The MVP approach ensures that the bulk of the budget goes to building the features that provide the most utility to the intended users of the app.

If your business is looking for an app development partner, reach out to NS804. We are a world-class mobile app development company. Our team will help your business develop specifications for the MVP, carry out the development and also help with the launch and marketing strategy. Book a consultation call here.

Which Comes First When Developing A Mobile App — iOS Or Android?

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Should you choose iOS or Android for your next app project? Well, that largely depends on your goals. And that’s because these goals will help you determine which platform you should develop for first.

But you may have heard that it’s cheaper and faster to develop for iOS. And that’s true, but this is seldom a good enough reason to opt for iOS over Android. It’s better to consider the target audience and what platform they predominantly use. 

Ultimately, always consider where your app will likely succeed first. Below, we reveal a few handy tips to help you choose iOS or Android — but to do so wisely! 

1. When Developing A Premium App

It’s no secret that iOS users spend more on apps than their Android counterparts. Moreover, they prefer premium apps and are willing to purchase apps instead of watching ads like Android users. And that difference is significant, as users spent $85.1 Billion in the App Store versus $47.9 Billion in the Google Play Store in 2021.

So, if you’re planning on going premium with your next app, then iOS is the clear winner. The same applies if you’ll be monetizing via in-app purchases and subscriptions, iOS still leads the way here. But be careful with utility applications, as these tend to do better on Android and don’t engage iOS users as much.

2. Consider Your Target Audience

One of the most crucial factors that will determine whether you’ll choose iOS or Android for your upcoming project is your target audience. And then, you’ll need to determine their demographics, locations, and preferred platform.

Outside North America and most Western territories, Android reigns supreme, especially in the developing world. Android has a 72% market share, and iOS has 26% of the mobile audience. So, if you’re aiming for maximum downloads, especially with a freemium app, Android’s your best bet!

Since most Android users reside in low and middle-income countries, you’ll be reaching a diverse audience. And that means you’ll need to spend some time and money on localization.

3. Starting With iOS Or Android For Mobile Game Development

Between Apple and Google, the latter has historically been the more game-friendly company. But that’s slowly changing, especially after the introduction of the Apple Arcade subscription service. However, Google remains competitive with Google Play Pass and Instant Play games.

And then, there’s the wide variety of platforms and storefronts that Android reaches. Android apps and games run on Chromebooks, and Google Play Games (still in beta in some regions) now run on PC. Furthermore, the Amazon App Store, Huawei AppGallery, Samsung Galaxy Store, and several other stores host Android games. 

Thus, Android offers developers many more opportunities to reach gamers than Apple. And specific genres, such as arcade, puzzle, and racing games, tend to earn more as freemium titles, which suits Android perfectly.

However, if you want to be featured in the App Store, you may want to hold off on the Android version momentarily. The cool thing about the App Store is that it’s curated by humans who take an interest in titles that stand out. And if you provide them with a unique game that’s timed-exclusive, it’s possible to be featured, leading to many downloads and sales.

The Bottom Line

Both iOS and Android are fantastic platforms that offer developers plenty of solid opportunities. But you need to develop apps first for the platform that lines up with your goals closely. Avoid fanboyism and the hype surrounding a particular platform, and focus on the platform that will deliver the results you want instead. Contact NS804 to learn how we’ll help you deliver phenomenal iOS or Android apps to your users! 

App Developers Richmond, VA

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Richmond, Virginia, is a thriving and vibrant capital. Richmond is considered one of the oldest US capitals – Patrick Henry, one of America’s Founding Fathers declared in Richmond, ‘Give me death or give me liberty.’

Downtown Richmond has a remarkable collection of hotels, restaurants, museums, recreational areas, and real estate. All these businesses are gradually undergoing a massive shift towards digitization, especially in mobile app adoption.

So, if you live in Richmond or you’re running a business in either uptown or downtown Virginia, you’ll want to outsource the services of a mobile app developer.

The adoption of mobile apps has been a significant driver of Richmond’s economic transformation. The uptake of mobile apps by retail giants like Target, Mod&Soul, and Burlington continues to predict future trends in mobile app adoption.

So, if you’re looking for mobile app developers in Richmond, worry no more. NS804 has remained committed to providing superior mobile app development solutions – not only in Charlotte Colorado, but also in Richmond, Virginia.

NS804 serves businesses of all sizes and types and provides services tailored to your needs.

What to Expect from App Developers Richmond?

Here’s what to expect when you hire NS804 as your trusted app developer in Richmond:

1. Expertise

NS804 has committed itself to provide quality and reliable mobile app development solutions. Our team handles your project from conception to completion, following details and adhering to standard design procedures.

2. Versatility

NS804 mobile app developers have vast experience developing both IOS and android apps. We work with start-ups and middle-sized enterprises to identify their business needs and build apps that are targeted to their business needs. One of the things we pride ourselves in is the ability to provide cross-functional apps that serve both IOS and android.

3. Minimum Viable Product MVP

A minimum viable product is a prototype of the actual app. An MVP allows the buyer or client to test the performance and functionality of the app before the full product is developed. This prototype helps to identify gaps in operation and areas of improvement.

NS804 provides minimum viable products to its clients. NS804 app developer provides an MVP calculator to help clients determine how much they will pay to have the MVP developed. However, this step is critical because a prototype of the actual app will help you identify and fill gaps in performance, efficiency, and productivity.

4. Strategy

NS804 is a custom strategy provider. When you hire them as your preferred app developers in Richmond, they will sit down with you to identify what makes your business successful. From there, NS804 will scope a strategy on what your app needs to accomplish to suit your business.

5. Customer-centeredness

App development is a sophisticated process that requires careful planning and expert execution. App developers work with various programming languages and look at the interoperability of platforms in creating the best apps. So, to achieve superior results in app development, NS804 values the input of its clients. During the development process, the client’s input is critical. We capture details that the client wants to be included in the app and develop a product that best answers your questions.

Why App Developers Richmond?

Richmond is a thriving capital with immense growth potential. The presence of reputable shopping stores, malls, real estate, hotels, properties, and impressive infrastructure makes Richmond a destination for consumers and tourists.

Integrating mobile app solutions into your enterprise is a great way to keep clients engaged, whether inside or outside Richmond. Aim to create lasting relationships with your clients, whether they’re inside or outside Richmond.

App developers Richmond will help you connect with your customers with custom mobile app development solutions.

Contact NS804 if you’re looking for mobile app developers in Richmond.

 

What Should You Do When Your Mobile App Fails?

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Mobile app failure can cost your business consumer trust, loyalty, and financial decline. Think about all the app conversion failures, customer communication breakdowns, and sales declines you will experience if your app fails today.

So, in this post, we discuss the most common causes of app failures and what you can do in case you’re in such a mess.

Let’s delve.

Causes of Mobile App Fails

Mobile apps can fail because of many reasons. Outdated apps that do not respond to new operating systems or meet new operating requirements are likely to fail, especially at the onset of new OS launches.

So, ensure your app is updated and maintained to respond to emerging or evolving technology trends in the market.

Apps can also fail because of bugs and viruses. Freely existing malware can target apps that lack the proper security infrastructure or architecture, thus compromising your app’s integrity. Hackers target consumer personal and financial information, meaning they’re likely to target your app to access consumer information.

So, hacker targeting through malware, bugs, and even ransomware are some examples that may lead to app failure.

Your app can also fail for many other reasons. For instance, you may fail to do adequate market research before the app launch. That means you won’t access the target consumers, and your app will fail to meet its expectations.

What Should You Do When Your Mobile App Fails?

So, here’s what to do in case your app fails:

1. Identify the root cause of the fail

It’s first important to diagnose the issue and identify the root cause of the failure. Most failures occur due to bugs, poor design, unappealing interfaces, and outdated operating systems.

So, identify the cause of the failure before proceeding to act further.

2. Correct what you can

Sometimes, the app fails for obvious reasons – failing to research more about your audience. If you discover that you did not conduct due research, ensure that you work towards improving this.

Ensure that you correct what you can before proceeding to outsource expert help.

3. Contact experts

Mobile app design companies offer mobile app design and development solutions – from inception to completion. Mobile app designers are likely to diagnose virtually every issue in your app, including failures, lags, and even inefficiencies.

In addition, by working with experts, you enjoy supplementary services like app navigation, user interface, and user experience.

You gain an end-to-end understanding of app design and usability by working with mobile app design companies. Also, monitor your app’s performance and ensure it brings in the desired conversions.

NS804 – The Solution to Mobile App Fails!

At NS804, we believe that one of the leading reasons for app failures is the lack of enough app testing. The mobile app design work is a sophisticated process that demands careful planning and expert execution.

At NS804, we have worked with diverse clients on simple and complex projects. So, we understand the end-to-end process of developing a superior app. We can help diagnose and correct any mobile app failure.

Contact NS804 to enjoy superior mobile app development and diagnosis solutions.

 

Do You Have A Great App Idea? 5 Tips To Get It Validated

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Coming up with a great app idea can seem easy at times. But what may not seem easy is ascertaining if that app idea is truly feasible. If most developers were honest, they’d admit they lucked out on some of their best and most profitable ideas. Instead, they’d like everyone to believe they’re geniuses for coming up with winning ideas.

Of course, some top-tier app developers have a methodology for brainstorming ideas and validating them. And that’s what we want to focus on right now!

We’re not interested in revealing tips aimed at opportunistic appreneurs and developers that want to make a quick buck from current trends. And that’s because this is not a sustainable way to push out compelling apps at a regular cadence.

Instead, we want developers to work systematically to achieve consistent results regularly. We also want developers to think of themselves as problem solvers and not simply studios that push out code.

While working with new technologies is always fun, we should never lose track of the fact that we’re here to provide solutions. Our goals should always align with those of our clients and users. And that’s to make life easier for them by solving problems that hold them back or impact productivity.

However, you may be at this point now where you have a great app idea that will solve a problem users experience. But how do you validate it to know for certain that it will serve your target market well? Read on, as we’re about to reveal several handy tips to help you through the validation process.

1. Market Research Is A Must! 

Never commence planning and developing an app without conducting market research first. And that’s because you need to know if your app is unique or improves on existing ideas. And if the market already has competitors, can you compete by offering something different or better?

Moreover, you should clearly define your app’s unique selling point (USP). Ask yourself what sets it apart from competing apps and how your users will benefit.

And possibly, create a prototype to show your team, company stakeholders, or even a small focus group. Then, ask them for feedback on what they think of the app and if they can pinpoint its USP and potential target audience.

2. The Early Stages Of The Validation Process

As a startup with limited time and money, going through the validation process may seem challenging. But we recommend that you don’t skimp on this step, as it will help determine if you have a great app idea or not.

We mentioned earlier about building a prototype and showing it to relevant parties. However, you can take things further by setting specific validation goals. 

For example, you may decide not to build a prototype but focus on pitching your idea to investors. If you manage to convince five or more investors about the virtues of your app idea, then that’s a good sign. Or you can work with another metric: if 100 or more potential users view your concept design on social media and react positively — you may want to greenlight the project. 

As you may understand by now, there are several ways you can go with this. And by setting several validation goals that you can measure, you can gain real-world feedback without breaking the bank. But only doing the above won’t be substantial for most projects, even though it’s a good starting point.

3. Effective Ways To Validate A Great App Idea

Real-world feedback is an ongoing theme with app validation. And that’s because there’s no better way to determine if there’s interest in your app concept or idea.

So, focus on ways to receive user feedback from potential users. But also ensure that you research the size and value of the market you’re targeting. And no matter how much you like your idea, don’t invest in developing it into a full-fledged app without thorough market validation. 

But how do you thoroughly validate the market? Well, one of the best ways to do this is with a minimum viable product (MVP). An MVP is a stripped-down version of your app with the bare minimum of functionality. And the main advantage of this is that you can deliver an MVP to your users cheaply and quickly. 

Should it prove popular with users, you can scale it into a fully-fledged app and implement the features that users have suggested. However, if it fails to gain traction, you can scrap the project or implement changes that may make it more appealing to users. The latter may be the way to go if there’s still middling interest and users have made suggestions.

4. Conduct User Surveys

Another good way to ascertain if you’re on to a great app idea is via user surveys. Start by creating a customer profile that represents your ideal users. Your customer profile may have the age, demographic, education, hobby, location, and spending attributes.

If your customer profile slants to the younger ages, you may want to find users on a platform such as TikTok. And if they’re older professionals, you may want to track them down on LinkedIn. Either way, you should have a clear picture of your target group so you can survey them properly. 

Ensure that you tailor your survey for your target group and use language and tone that appeals to them. Moreover, respect their time by not asking more questions than you have to or asking complicated questions that are too difficult to answer. Ideally, you want these users to complete your entire survey and not give up halfway through.

5. Pre-Selling And Pre-Registration 

Another effective way to test your app idea is by setting up a pre-selling landing page. This landing page will feature a description of your app, screenshots, and a promo video to create buzz. Furthermore, visitors can easily register and submit their email addresses to stay updated. 

What’s so compelling about this approach is that it’s a way to attract early adopters. And the higher number of these early adopters, the more validation you receive for your app. Moreover, it can act as a revenue stream if you need to generate income before launching your app officially. 

But if setting up a landing page and maintaining an email list isn’t your thing, there’s no need to despair. Google Play offers pre-registration for your app so that you can build hype and user relationships before launch. This is done directly on the Play Console and is implemented 3-6 weeks before the launch date. 

It’s an effective way to drive traffic to your app’s store page. And it’s possible for Google Play to automatically deliver your app to users and auto-install it on their devices on launch day. Thus, it’s almost certain that you’ll have users on day one with a limited amount of work on your end. You can also use Google’s pre-marketing tools to boost interest further.

The Bottom Line

When you have a great app idea, you’ll want to validate it as soon as possible. The good news is that there are several ways to go about this, as we’ve already covered above. However, there’s a bit of additional work involved, which may increase your costs and time to market (TTM).

But if you work with experts, such as NS804, you’ve got a partner to help you navigate this process. Contact us today to learn how we’ll help you validate your best ideas and turn them into phenomenal apps!

What Can Your App Metrics Tell You About Your Customers?

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App metrics will help you succeed as an appreneur or even as an enterprise releasing one or more apps. After all, it’s never a good idea to push out an app without monitoring its key performance indicators (KPIs). And that’s because you’ll be missing out on crucial information that impacts your app in its entirety.

Just think for a minute that you’ve spent a lot of time and money on a food ordering app. Many users download it, but you receive very few orders. Having failed to add mobile app metrics, you’re left bewildered as to why this occurs. To top it off, you’re left guessing about what needs to improve, apart from a few negative user reviews.

The hard truth is that you should never have to guess what’s wrong with your app. Instead, you should know how it performs during its entire lifecycle. And app metrics will also help you learn more about your customers, which we’ll discuss in more detail below.

Learn More About Customer Device Specs

You should add metrics that monitor your app’s performance and user experience (UX) from the get-go. But why is this so important when your app runs fine on your test devices? Your test devices only offer a limited view due to the massive variety of devices available, especially in the Android space. It’s a technical impossibility to test your app on the thousands of different Android smartphones, tablets, and TVs that your users may own.

However, your mobile app metrics will let you know how your application performs after the user installs it. You’ll gain access to valuable data, such as the user’s device operating system (OS), screen resolution, load times, and crash reports. Moreover, you’ll have a granular view of this data to allow you to pinpoint issues and fix them. Occasionally, you may detect these issues before most of your users do.

Mobile App Metrics Reveal Customer Engagement KPIs

Is your app engaging users, or are they uninstalling it in droves? Believe it or not, that’s one of the most important questions you should be asking. But it’s also one that you should be getting answers for immediately. And that’s because engagement rates directly impact your app’s revenue, so never leave this to chance.

Your customer engagement KPIs should reveal the following: average number of screens per visit, session length, stickiness ratio, retention rate, and churn rate. Furthermore, you should have detailed data on daily, weekly, and monthly engagement per active user. 

Monitor Customer Spending Habits

Your app’s supposed to make you money, so you need to know if your customers are actually making purchases. Also, integrate the necessary application programming interfaces (APIs) to facilitate and monitor all payment methods. Nowadays, users like to make payments using Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal — and several other payment services.

But what customer revenue metrics should you monitor? You’ll need to look at the following: average revenue per user (ARPU), number of purchases, time to first purchase, customer lifetime value (CLV), conversion rate, and cost per install (CPI).

In Conclusion

Mobile app metrics, when properly implemented, reveal much about your customers. And the data you collect and analyze will help you to pinpoint issues that impact your app negatively. Thus, allowing you to make fixes and roll out updates that actually make sense. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you integrate app metrics to unlock the true potential of your applications!

How to Make an App User Friendly

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Mobile applications continue to be critical tools for our everyday lives. Many factors must be considered when creating an app including; services provided, layout, design, features, and user experience.

Development of mobile apps requires a lot of effort and ingenuity with each app designed to solve a particular problem. However, what makes an app stand out is the user experience which can make a significant difference in making an app successful and stand out from the rest.

There is growing competition for app developers to create quality popular apps. With so many apps out there, users have a wide array to choose from. This makes app retention crucial by not only making the experience awesome but also being functional by solving the user’s problem.

So how do you make your app user-friendly in a highly saturated space? Well, making an app user-friendly requires some elements to collectively work together to achieve this goal.

1. Keep it Simple

The most important tip for making an app user-friendly is simply making it simple. The end user is likely to stay on an app that is simple and easy to navigate. Instagram and Tik Tok are some of the most popular apps which is because of the basic functionality that makes them easy to use.

A basic design must hook users who are not particularly tech-savvy and appeal to those with short attention spans. The average user is usually not interested in all the features of an app. Most users are focused on functionality and convenience when using the app.

They want to navigate the app seamlessly without feeling overwhelmed with information or complex features. An easy-to-use app means a new user can jump straight into the app with zero familiarity yet be able to navigate with ease.

Keeping it simple with an easy-to-understand layout and design creates a pleasant experience.

2. Understand the Target Market

The user interface and experience are based on user demands and behavior. User demands are typically the issues, difficulties, or obstacles that users are trying to address with the app.

User behavior on the other hand is the general pattern of characteristics that the target market shows while attempting to solve the issues.

For instance, younger users heavily rely on apps for on-demand services, whereas elderly users enjoy the personal touch of phone conversations. To make an app user-friendly, it is essential to comprehend the subtleties of user wants and behavior.

Making an app with the preferences of your target users as the top priority will ensure that you are creating something they will enjoy and use repeatedly.

3. Make it Safe and Secure

People are becoming more aware of the threat of hackers and the potential dangers of information getting leaked to the wrong hands. Users want the assurance that the data shared on apps are secure and will not be accessed or used illegally. This is especially true for apps that collect sensitive data like credit card information, medical data, or bank details.

For such apps, the consideration of security cannot be overlooked. Any app with security breaches is going to have a negative outlook with users who will avoid it completely.

Therefore, you should take all necessary steps to ensure that users of your application do not suffer any security breaches. Many apps employ a Facebook or Google sign-in as a method of contracting out their security procedures to a trusted vendor.

The first thing users notice once they launch an app is a design, color, and layout. A basic color scheme is appealing and user-friendly as opposed to a clash of various bright colors. The design should be attractive yet simple without being overbearing for the users.

The layout should be clean without too much going on to convey an application with extraordinary visual appeal. All in all, the design and layout should be simple with icons and paths that make it easy for users to navigate the app.

NS804 – Making Your App User-Friendly

NS804 is a trusted provider of superior mobile app solutions. We help individual businesses and large companies navigate the difficult process of developing an intuitive and user-friendly app. At NS804, we work together with clients to identify their different business needs and deliver mobile app solutions that address these issues.

Contact NS804 for superior, user-friendly mobile apps.

What is an App Implementation Plan?

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An implementation plan gives an outline of the specific steps needed to go through in order to end up with a well-performing app. The implementation plan ensures that resources are well utilized and that indeed there is a business case for building and implementing the app. A plan for an app treats the whole process as a project with clear targets and performance indicators.

Here is what a typical implementation plan entails.

Making the Business Case

The start of any app implementation has to be the making of a business case for building it. There has to be a target audience and a quantifiable return on investment. Whether the business is building an app to push sales or one to help field employees collect data more easily, there is a need to show that the return outweighs the investment going to be put in.

The expected return is what will guide the business in deciding the budget limits for building and maintaining the app. Most times, companies will call in a business analyst to provide an assessment of the idea from a value perspective.

Vendor Selection

The next step in the app implementation plan is choosing a software development partner to build it. The criteria for choosing the vendor should include their industry expertise, proof of past satisfied clients, their charges, and the level of support they are willing to provide post-launch. Normally, once you pick a vendor, you are likely to work with them for years as they help with maintenance and improvement. There should be a cultural fit between your two companies.

Actual Build

The most critical part of the implementation plan is the actual building of the app. The development team will first build mock-ups of the app’s UI for approval before coming up with a working prototype. If your company does not have the right expertise to oversee the project, you can hire a project manager and a quality assurance consultant. These two will ensure everything is running on time and that the final output fits the initial specifications.

The app has to go through the testing phase, with proper documentation of fixed errors. This is where your quality assurance consultant earns their money.

Going Live

If you are building an app for the mass market, your implementation plan should include a strategy for generating enough buzz about the app. For internal apps, you’ll need to get the buy-in of the relevant stakeholders. You should have involved them in discussions about the business case for the app and in test runs.

Feedback and Iterations

After the app is live, you will need to continuously collect feedback and user experience. This feedback will guide tell you whether there are bugs that need fixing. The norm today is to continuously improve the app, fix bugs immediately, and release newer versions several times in a year. The goal is often to make incremental improvements on the app.

NS804 is the right Partner for You

When looking for an app development partner, you want a company with wide industry knowledge and thousands of projects completed. Reach out to NS804 for your business app implementation needs. Schedule a free consultation session with us.

Cost of Developing a Fitness App

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A fitness app is a mobile, desktop, or web application that lets users track their health and fitness activities or workouts.

A fitness app meets your health and fitness activities. Fitness apps mainly consist of features for tracking workouts, monitoring physiological body rates, and logging exercises.

Fitness apps share one or more features with health and wellness apps. Some popular fitness apps include Fooducate, MyFitnessPal, Glo, Zones for Training, and Sworkit.

What’s the Typical Cost of Building a Fitness App?

The cost of a fitness app will vary depending on depth, scope, and target users. In addition, app development costs will vary from one app development partner to another.

However, although there are variations in the cost of fitness apps, most vendors or designers will charge an average of $15,000 to develop a solid fitness app. However, this cost is variable. A fitness app can range from as high as $30,000 to as low as $5,000.

In addition, an app with a limited number of features, also called a minimum viable product MVP, will be more affordable and easy to test than an app with extended functionality.

So, it’s advisable to weigh your options before settling for a fitness app.

Factors Affecting the Cost of a Fitness App

Many factors affect the cost of a fitness app. It’s crucial to understand the average hours and total costs (or individual costs) incurred in developing a fitness app to account for the total costs.

Building an efficient and fully scalable fitness app demands an end-to-end understanding of individual material costs as well as the hours of labor. Here are additional factors that will ultimately affect your fitness app development cost.

1. Platform choice

The platform where you’ll launch your app – whether Android or Ios is a defining factor in estimating the cost of your fitness app. Android and IOS are two leading platforms dominating the mobile app marketplace.

Creating an app for each version will take double the time and cost. That’s because you need specific programming languages for the web, mobile, and desktop computers. It’s advisable to choose cross-platform development solutions unless your project is large-scale or whether it targets specific Android and IOS users.

Fitness App Development Costs – Cross-Platform vs. Native
Platform Cross Platform Native
Development Hours Development Costs Development Hours Development Costs
Android + IOS + Web 600 – 800 $150,000 – $250,000 750 – 1000 $200,000 to $300,000 (and $20,000 extra for additional platforms).

 

2. Type of fitness app

You can also calculate the cost of your fitness app based on fitness category levels. Knowing the fitness app type you want to develop can substantially improve your expenditure throughout the project.

Here are some popular fitness app categories and their average costs.

Fitness app category Fitness app sub-category Average cost
Wearable apps Heart monitoring $15,000 – $50,000
Oxygen monitoring
Pulse monitoring
Fitness activity tracking apps Run tracking apps $30,000 – $125,000
Cycling tracking apps
Gym tracking apps
Workout and fitness apps Personal training apps $50,000 – $100,000
Exercise apps
Gym workout apps
Nutrition and diet apps Diet apps $15,000 – $90,000
Food intake app
Nutrition app
Yoga apps Mixed yoga apps $10,000 – $25,000
Yoga workouts
Yoga for beginners
Meditation apps For breathing $20,000 – $100,000
For sleep
For mindfulness

 

3. Location of the developer

Finally, the location of your fitness app developer will affect your app development costs. Developers from different regions tend to have different hourly rates.

Generally, countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia tend to charge on the higher end, while developers from India and Ukraine charge relatively lower.

Always work with trusted experts for the best possible solution for your fitness app.