The 13 App Ideas That Could Change Your Business

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Mobile apps have transformed many things, among them user browsing experiences and online shopping patterns. Mobile apps have reinvented business communications allowing businesses to optimize on financial and operational performance.

In addition, mobile apps continue to accelerate digital retail practices, especially as online retailers view mobile apps as a frontier in mobile commerce. There’s no doubt that mobile applications have dominated businesses, from small enterprises to large establishments.

Mobile apps continue to push boundaries in business process developments. So, if you’re looking to build your first app, here are some app ideas that could change your business.

1. Scan and Shop App

The “scan and shop” app lets users scan items they find physically so that they can order them online. The scan and shop app allows users to physically translate their physical shopping experiences to online. The app allows you to scan items and track them back online by images. This approach allows customers to buy products easily from online stores. Scan and shop apps allow vendors to add more features to make the app experience interesting. Businesses looking to transform their online shopping experiences can invest in scan and shop apps.

2. Mall Navigation

Although the Covid-19 pandemic saw shrinking mall spaces following social distancing measures in public areas (stores and malls), digitization has the potential to debunk this anecdotal talk with mobile commerce. Mall navigation apps will secure the digital maps of all the physical malls in a specific area, allowing users to locate specific stores in malls.

These apps allow shoppers to physically locate a store and use navigation to physically visit and shop. This app can navigate directions and maps, check restaurants, stores, bathrooms and locate parking spaces. So, if you’re a business enterprise or an individual running a commercial building, a mall navigation app is a must-have.

3. Restaurant Booking

Among the most hit businesses by the pandemic was the hospitality industry, hotels and restaurants being the biggest culprits. Luckily, the pandemic revealed that apps could bridge gaps in customer service through graphical restaurant reservations.

Nowadays, couples, families, individuals, and groups can use mobile apps to book hotel reservations. To what’s known as the graphical restaurant reservation, this booking app gives you access to a restaurant’s physical layout and general appeal. Graphical restaurant apps allow you to select your preferred dining spaces (and tables) for a specific time.

4. Supermarket Checkout

Supermarket checkout apps let users compare prices in different product categories. In addition, these apps let you automatically scan products and make purchases using e-payment gateway integrations. Integrated e-payment options provide improved shopping capabilities and superior experiences for prospective customers. Businesses can use this app idea to bolster online retail experiences.

5. Health Check-up and Food Planner

Health is a priority today more than ever. That’s why health insurance has skyrocketed in the last decade with rising emphasis on disease prevention and management. The health check-up and food planner app checks your health on a daily basis and suggests the meals that you should consume to remain healthy.

Health check-up and food planner apps incorporate temperature measures, body mass indices, blood pressure, body weight, and calorie count metrics. Collectively, these metrics can be used to boost your dining experiences, especially if you run a fast-food, groceries, hotel, tours and travels business.

6. Voice Translation App

There’s no doubt that business is about communication and agreements. In the contract management process, a central part of negotiation is establishing clear communication that supports all procurement needs. Businesses engage in “buy-and-sell” processes that often involve communication between people of different cultures.

A voice translation app understands the rising globalization and multiculturalism. This app responds to differences in languages, especially between employees, customers, professionals, and associates of different cultures. A voice translation app is a superior tool if you’re looking to foster communication in a multicultural workforce environment.

7. AI-Based Picture Translation

We all have challenges translating road signs, pictures, images, and signatures – especially when traveling to another country or exploring a foreign culture. So, just like Google Translate or Lens, an AI-based picture translation app allows travelers to translate pictures, texts, images, and objects. AI-based picture translation apps would transform business experiences, especially enterprises looking forward to transforming and reinventing how they communicate to multicultural audiences.

8. Criminal Alert App

Businesses in warehousing, logistics, and procurement definitely need a guaranteed security solution. A criminal alert app is embedded in warehousing computers, personnel devices, and procurement endpoints to detect any anomalies in inventories. A criminal alert app is important for monitoring inventory inflows and outflows, and monitoring warehousing activities. This app provides end-to-end visibility to procurement processes, enabling store owners and warehouse floor supervisors to keep track of inventories.

9. Exam Study

Virtualization is changing traditional education with online distance learning opportunities. New learning platforms such as Coursehero, Coursera, Doordash, and Quizlet are at the center of traditional learning transformation. Already, schools are implementing software and adopting technologies to support this transformation. In responding to this shift, businesses in education and higher learning sectors may consider investing in these apps.

An exam study app is a virtual study app where students can meet virtually and revise for upcoming exams in a particular discipline. By using exam study apps, learning can be facilitated using discussions, study tools, and study materials. This app would definitely be a win for enterprises in research, academia, higher and Montessori curriculums.

10. Call Recording App

Cybersecurity is a rising issue in enterprise security especially with the uptake of digitization solutions in business processes. Unfortunately, despite the significance of cybersecurity in today’s online shopping, most customers still fall victims of phishing and spam calls.

Most businesses are investing and downloading call recording apps so that when they’re harassed by scammers, they can record, save and share the audio file with anyone. This app is critical for all enterprises that want to share scamming and phishing audio calls to internal personnel as a measure against cybercrime.

11. Tip Calculator

The tipping culture is forever changing and affecting businesses differently. This app has a calculator that allows faster entry of food bills when you’re dining with friends and family and you want to split the bill. The tip calculator calculates the total amount to tip. This app is a critical component for hotels, restaurants, and businesses in the hospitality sector where tipping is nigh.

12. Sell, Buy, Rent Apps

The sell, buy and rent app is just like the Facebook app but with added functionality. This app lets users hire products online, buy or sell. Apps like Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Vrbo, and Plum Guide let you hire properties for a specified duration. However, a sell, buy, or rent app allows active customer-buyer engagements, facilitating property and goods transfer either through buying or renting out.

13. M-Commerce Apps

Mobile commerce, popularly referred to as M-Commerce, refers to shopping on a mobile device, especially a smartphone, tablet, or wearable. The future of m-commerce is bright with customers turning to mobile shopping solutions. This means that for forward-thinking organizations, a simple m-commerce app can put you ahead of competitors.

Mcommerce allows you to operate contactless ordering and delivery applications. This improves the entire customer service experience by using innovations such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and mixed reality. For instance, virtualization and mixed reality allows shoppers to try out new outfits before purchasing. That means that malls and fashion retailers must look at Mcommerce apps as the next frontier in retail fashion.

Contact NS804!

There’s no doubt that a superior digital retail strategy combines an intuitive, user-friendly digital store and a fully functional website. However, mobile apps are complementing digital retail strategies especially with the accelerated uptake of mobile solutions. Rising adoption of smartphones and infiltration of internet connectivity continue to define new shifts in mobile app adoption.

Contact NS804 to transform your business with intuitive mobile applications.

What Makes a Good UI Design? 7 Features

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The user experience is the most common front-end, interactive feature in any app, website, or dashboard. The user interface supports all human-computer interactions.

The user interface provides a navigational platform to control software. Think of a user interface as an application programming interface that links users and a computing system, the back-end.

Although a user interface can take many forms, it accomplishes two fundamental purposes:

  • conveying information from users to machines
  • conveying data from machines to users.

The most important features of a great user interface design are:

1. Simplicity

Simplicity is the centerpiece of any navigation. Easy navigation depends on a highly simplistic user interface. So, the user interface design must be succinct: it must communicate the most with the least. The designer must ensure less navigation and fewer mouse clicks to accomplish any app or website task. It’s important to add new features only if they’re essential and bring substantial value to the application.

2. Consistency

Your user interface must deliver consistent browsing and search results. Consistency achieves stability and eliminates ambiguity and information chaos. Designers should apply size, typeface, and style conventions to screen components to improve readability and learning.

3. Intuitiveness

Intuitiveness is the most important detail of a great UI design. Intuitiveness means that users can easily learn your interface and quickly pick it up. Intuitiveness implies the ability to get accustomed to your app’s interface, element spacing, and overall layout. Intuitiveness means something that can be understood easily and applied with ease.

4. Familiarity

Familiarity is a critical feature of a great UI design. While many designers aim to create intuitive designs, few stop to ask themselves what does an intuitive design mean? Well, intuitiveness means making things understandable and easy to remember. Creating a great user interface concerns familiarity. Designers must aim to create apps that deliver personalized user experiences. Aiming for familiarity will reinforce your app design.

5. Responsiveness

A great user experience must be responsive to users’ needs. Today, most website visits come from mobile endpoints, which is surprising given that it’s convenient to leverage an Android or an iPhone. You encourage users to visit your website frequently and stay longer by having a mobile-responsive interface. Responsiveness is about reducing the latency time and offering a rewarding experience.

6. Clarity

Clarity is an important element in the user interface design process. Clarity signifies that you know what you’re doing and that the interface or platform your users leverage is trustworthy. Achieving clarity in user interface design involves consistency, truth, and simplicity in your messaging. If you aim for consistency, it’ll be simple for users. In addition, if you eliminate ambiguity and incorporate only relevant elements, your interface will be rewarding.

7. Attractiveness

Attraction is about aesthetic appeal. Attraction concerns making elements and layout appealing for prospective and existing users. Attractiveness aims to make the site enjoyable and thrilling to navigate. You can make your site or app efficient, simple, easy to use, and concise – but it will only do well by making it attractive. Your clients or prospective users will not only use a stirring interface; they will look forward to using it once again.

Contact NS804 to achieve a great UI design.

 

How To Grow Brand Awareness with An App

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Business leaders often want to find effective ways to increase brand awareness. You’re likely one of those business leaders looking at how technology can positively impact your brand. And since we live in an era with so many options, technology-wise, it may seem incredibly daunting to make the right choice. 

Now, you may be wondering if apps can help grow brand awareness. And the short answer is a resounding yes, especially if you’re thinking of mobile apps instead of desktop or web apps. However, haphazardly releasing a mobile app for your brand will likely yield negative results. Instead, it’s best to follow these handy tips to make your app development endeavors worthwhile.

1. Increase Brand Awareness With A Quality Native App

Sadly, the mobile app stores have too many cheaply done, low-effort, and redundant apps. Users will often download apps that pique their interests, try them out, and eventually delete them. And what’s worse, most of these apps won’t get downloaded again in the future.

Obviously, as someone that wants to grow brand awareness, you don’t want such an outcome. So, how do you go about developing a mobile app that will do your brand justice?

Start by creating a native app that will run smoothly on Android and iOS. And while it costs more to develop a native app versus a hybrid app, your users will appreciate the better performance your app will deliver. Another benefit of releasing a native app is it will have a native UI that corresponds with the target platform’s guidelines and specifications.

2. Focus On UI Design And Usability

Your app must have an attractive and easy-to-navigate UI, as you want it to appeal to users while not frustrating them. After all, an ugly and unintuitive UI makes it harder for users to navigate the app. And this is usually a tell-tale sign of a low-quality app, which will reflect poorly on your brand.

Then, ensure that the design language of your app is on-brand. So use color schemes, graphic design, images, fonts, logos, and patterns associated with your brand for your UI. Ultimately, you want users already familiar with your brand to ‘feel right at home’ once they run your app.

Also, you want users to quickly associate your app with your brand by having a cohesive design language. The cohesion must be so strong that when you release other apps, users will instantly make the connection by simply looking at a screenshot of your app on social media or in the app store.

3. Grow Brand Awareness And Increase Retention With Push Notifications

Push notifications are a powerful tool that every savvy brand should utilize. Users love having announcements and content delivered that’s tailor-made for them.

For example, you’ve created a food delivery app meant to serve customers of your pizza brand. But to engage these customers, you offer them discounts on pizzas they’ve bought before based on their prior purchase history. And to keep them hooked, you provide them with pizza eating and making tips and run contests at a regular cadence. 

The beauty of push notifications is that they’re relatively easy, cheap, and quick to set up. And if users know that they’ll be receiving discounts and handy tips via upcoming push notifications, they’re more likely to engage with your app and keep it installed on their smartphones.

In Conclusion

Increasing brand awareness can and should go hand-in-hand with creating quality native apps, implementing UI design with usability in mind, and using push notifications. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you develop phenomenal apps that will help grow your brand!

The 5 Features a Business Needs in App

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All businesses will need apps in the near future, whether you’re a fast-food vendor or a fast fashion store. Small businesses are already using apps to communicate to customers. Big boy brands are leveraging mobile apps for brand positioning purposes.

So, mobile apps are adopted differently by businesses depending on the scope and the size of their business operations.

The adoption of mobile phones alongside high internet penetration rates dictates new developments in smartphone usage. Already, mobile apps are ushering new frontiers in web experiences by offering chatting, browsing, and payment services.

Mobile apps are transforming legacy communication patterns by providing digital avenues for communication. A classic example is the chat apps: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct, Line, Skype, and WeChat.

Research shows that mobile applications could generate up to $930 billion in revenues in 2023 alone. Already, shocking estimates show the power of mobile apps, reinforcing the talk of why it’s critical to get started with mobile apps. For instance, users spent over 3 trillion hours on mobile apps in 2021 alone.

The ever-changing face of mobile applications and the desirability of mobile apps to young demographics make it a target for tech-savvy enterprises. Most importantly, young developers are embracing application programming as a new frontier of mobile usability.

While apps are crucial in transforming legacy enterprises and shaping customer experiences, it’s critical to identify particular features that make apps desirable.

Important features a business needs in an app:

1. Usability

Usability is a critical consideration in any app development exercise. That means that developers must approach any mobile app development process with usability in mind. The app must be creative, simple, and easy to navigate. Most importantly, the app must focus on robustness and intuitiveness by incorporating the things people see in apps.

2. User-friendliness

Always aim for a user-friendly app design that’s simple to navigate and highly responsive. Navigation and responsiveness are the cornerstones of any successful app design work. Therefore, ensure that your business app is user-friendly and responds well to the evolving user needs.

Some tricks to make your app user-friendly include:

  • Focus on your target audience
  • Offer superior design
  • Prioritize user security
  • Optimize graphic and font size
  • Make wise use of push notification
  • Aim for intuitiveness

A user-friendly app is highly adopted and has higher retention rates.

3. Chat and call-back

Your business app must incorporate chat and call-back options. Business communication is forever changing, making mobile apps the go-to platform for business communications. Alongside emails, chatbots, and web portals, mobile apps offer a unique avenue for users, mostly clientele groups, to communicate and interact with brands.

4. Intuitive user interface

All apps must incorporate an intuitive interface, and proprietary, discretionary privacy. Users must own their information and privacy for apps to make meaningful sense to prospective users. The fact that enterprises are accelerating their app adoption efforts means that enterprises must find new ways to retain customers. One of these ways is by offering discretionary privacy solutions, including the possibility for privacy notifications in mobile apps.

5. Payment gateway

Payment gateway integration is a no-brainer for any business app. As a business owner, you are involved in the “money” business. That means that your services and products are sold or leased out to customers, making payment gateway integration altogether important. Therefore, a payment gateway is a critical feature of your business app.

NS804 – Aiming for Excellence!

Other vital tips for business apps include:

  • User experience is your ultimate objective
  • Always aim to deliver a superior typography
  • Aim for smooth edges, soft app elements, and creative color
  • The logo is the centerpiece of your brand positioning. Keep it first.
  • Remember to keep users updated. Users must not feel lost.
  • Be accommodative in scope. Let your app encompass many features and functionalities.
  • Aim for an interactive design. You can do this by testing, fixing, and testing once again.

At NS804, we guide businesses in mobile app development.

Contact NS804 to get started on your business app development journey.

 

The 5 Features a Business Needs in an App

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The adoption of mobile phones alongside high internet penetration rates dictates new developments in smartphone usage. Already, mobile apps are dictating new frontiers in web experiences by offering chatting, browsing, and payment services.

Mobile apps are transforming legacy communication patterns by providing digital avenues for communication. A classic example is the chat apps: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct, Line, Skype, and WeChat.

Research shows that mobile applications could generate up to $930 billion in revenues in 2023 alone. Already, shocking estimates show the power of mobile apps, reinforcing the talk of why it’s critical to get started with mobile apps. For instance, users spent over 3 trillion hours on mobile apps in 2021 alone.

The ever-changing face of mobile applications and the desirability of mobile apps to young demographics make it a target for tech-savvy enterprises. Most importantly, young developers are embracing application programming as a new frontier of mobile usability.

While apps are crucial in transforming legacy enterprises and shaping customer experiences, it’s critical to identify particular features that make apps desirable.

Important features a business needs in an app:

1. Usability

Usability is a critical consideration in any app development exercise. That means that developers must approach any mobile app development process with usability in mind. The app must be creative, simple, and easy to navigate. Most importantly, the app must focus on robustness and intuitiveness by incorporating the things people see in apps.

2. User-friendliness

Always aim for a user-friendly app design that’s simple to navigate and highly responsive. Navigation and responsiveness are the cornerstones of any successful app design work. Therefore, ensure that your business app is user-friendly and responds well to the evolving user needs.

Some tricks to make your app user-friendly include:

  • Focus on your target audience
  • Offer superior design
  • Prioritize user security
  • Optimize graphic and font size
  • Make wise use of push notification
  • Aim for intuitiveness

A user-friendly app is highly adopted and has higher retention rates.

3. Chat and call-back

Your business app must incorporate chat and call-back options. Business communication is forever changing, making mobile apps the go-to platform for business communications. Alongside emails, chatbots, and web portals, mobile apps offer a unique avenue for users, mostly clientele groups, to communicate and interact with brands.

4. Intuitive user interface

All apps must incorporate an intuitive interface, and proprietary, discretionary privacy. Users must own their information and privacy for apps to make meaningful sense to prospective users. The fact that enterprises are accelerating their app adoption efforts means that enterprises must find new ways to retain customers. One of these ways is by offering discretionary privacy solutions, including the possibility for privacy notifications in mobile apps.

5. Payment gateway

Payment gateway integration is a no-brainer for any business app. As a business owner, you are involved in the “money” business. That means that your services and products are sold or leased out to customers, making payment gateway integration altogether important. Therefore, a payment gateway is a critical feature of your business app.

NS804 – Aiming for Excellence!

Other vital tips for business apps include:

  • User experience is your ultimate objective
  • Always aim to deliver a superior typography
  • Aim for smooth edges, soft app elements, and creative color
  • The logo is the centerpiece of your brand positioning. Keep it first.
  • Remember to keep users updated. Users must not feel lost.
  • Be accommodative in scope. Let your app encompass many features and functionalities.
  • Aim for an interactive design. You can do this by testing, fixing, and testing once again.

At NS804, we guide businesses in mobile app development.

Contact NS804 to get started on your business app development journey.

7 Steps to Prepare for a Successful App Launch

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In 2021 alone, consumers downloaded a total of 200 billion apps. The rising trajectory of mobile app adoption reveals immense interest among consumers for new exciting apps. However, this doesn’t mean you can create an app in weeks, relax and hope for revenues. Launching an app requires an understanding of market trends and a lot of effort.

Below we go through the different phrases of successful app launch.

1. Define Goals and KPIs

After defining a market proposition and building an app that fulfills a specific need, now it’s time to launch your new product. Start by defining clear goals and key performance indicators KPIs for your application.

It’s easier to identify your app’s strengths with sufficient information about your market and buyer persona. And with specific metrics in place, you can determine if your app’s launch is a success, or you can conduct productive usability testing to eliminate any obstacles before your app gets to the end-user.

2. Prototype Testing

It’s crucial to test your app right away. It’s a great solution to have a QA engineer review your app from inception to completion and evaluate it throughout and before it’s launched. And when the prototype is ready, you should submit it to your sampled representatives for honest review and feedback about usability and functionality.

3. Build Buzz

The next step is to build a landing page and collect emails. A simple one-pager landing page with an email field is adequate. Collect emails and ask for subscriptions. It’s advisable to compile a list of early adopters and engage them before launching.

4. Make Specific Plans

After going through any possibilities, gathering relevant information, building and testing your app, now it’s time to determine the app’s launch date. Your target audience must know exactly when to expect the finished product. This step presents an excellent time to build a marketing plan that covers your distribution channels, the timeline, and the message you’ll convey.

5. Beta Release

Create a contained release to show how the actual product will act in the real world without risking the app’s performance. This research must be specific and must confirm that every functionality is intact. You can leverage these actionable insights to get closer to the launch date. These insights provide you with the meaningful feedback you need for a successful launch.

6. Select Launch Platform

You should select stores that your app will be available on based on your choice of technology or development. Go through the approval process and set the launch date. Each mobile app store has requirements, rules, and policies when publishing your app. Carefully review all the details and prepare your app for publishing by complying with the set requirements. A crucial part of this preparation involves creating a description and high-quality videos and screenshots to showcase. If you adhere to the guidelines given in each store, you will encounter no problems publishing your app right away.

7. Launch Date

Although the launch date is the most exciting part of the app development process, it should come easy with all the steps you’ve done before. Make use of all the materials you’ve used along the way and make a push through the available channels. Whether you’ve opted for PR articles or social media influencers, the goal is to make the “call-to-action” for download as visible as possible.

  • Post-Launch Tracking. After the launch date, keep tracking performance to get an idea of how the launch was and if it met your key performance indicators KPIs.
  • React on feedback. The feedback and insights you obtain from your audience are only valuable if you act on them. Try fixing bugs, testing performance updates, and implementing new functionalities that your users recommend.

Contact NS804 for mobile app development (and launching) solutions.

 

Mobile App Development Best Practices

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The rising adoption of mobile apps has been driven partly by changing consumer lifestyles. The accelerated uptake of mobile applications is due to the increased need by consumers to shop, bank, communicate, and socialize on social platforms. Thus, mobile apps will continue to have diverse applications in many users’ lives.

There’s no doubt that as the world continues to move faster, business people, from frontline staff to executives, will want to draw insight into their business processes. That’s why NS804 launched mobile app development for individuals and businesses, putting the power of AI-driven and search analytics in the hands of executives and employees.

The global mobile app market was estimated to be $154.05 billion in 2019, and it’s projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 11% from 2020 to 2027. The demand for mobile apps will grow mainly due to internet infiltration, smartphone proliferation, and emerging technologies such as; artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the cloud.

Although the global app market is expected to grow, generating millions of revenues to companies and reaching out to millions of new users, experts predict that not all apps will meet the evolving demand for new apps. That is why 80% of apps developed nowadays fail.

Below, we look at mobile app development best practices:

Mobile App Development Best Practices

1. Unique Value Proposition

Many individuals and start-ups fail to establish an original idea for a mobile application and copy their competitors. Without a unique value proposition, your app is likely to fail and get lost in a myriad of apps out there.

2. User Experience

According to research by Intechnic, users abandon downloaded apps after three or fewer attempts if they find the app problematic. The reason users have a poor app experience is due to unintuitive navigation, long loading times, low latency, and a long registration process. It’s advisable to blend intuitive and useful experiences in the following ways:

  • Reduce the effort required by users to get what they want
  • Break large chunks into smaller manageable portions
  • Offload tasks by setting smart defaults
  • Allow users to save actions and re-engage later. Users expected to continue the browsing journey after leaving the app for a while
  • Focus on user goals but avoid overwhelming users with too many actions
  • Home the pinboard setup – ensure simple walkthroughs, faster email setups followed by onboarding.

A superior user experience leads to higher conversions and retention.

3. User Interface

Make app content the interface and remove unnecessary elements that do not support user tasks. Cards are considered great elements to display actionable content. And it’s advisable to keep the app interfaces light. Remember that the most successful apps are focused on a limited set of features. So, limit your feature set and prioritize what’s important, and cut off the clutter.

Another way of improving the user interface is by using a typeface that works perfectly well in different sizes to maintain usability, functionality, and readability in every endpoint. In addition, use adequate contrast for text because insufficient contrast makes the text blend with the app’s background. Strive for a minimum contrast of 4:5:1 for image text and body text to achieve sufficient contrast.

Other tips for making interfaces invisible include:

  • Use content prioritization to improve the UX and simplify the UI
  • Use direct and simple language for clarity
  • Use legible font size

The user interface is the browsing surface of any mobile application and the lifeblood of any user engagement and user retention.

4. Problem Solving

Most businesses fail to define a specific user problem and thus do not solve a specific demand. If you design an app that’s fully functional and provides a superior user experience but fails to solve a problem, your app cannot be successful. A well-defined problem may sound something like this, “I am a young professional who’s focused on my career and professional development. I work long hours and do not have time to prepare healthy meals. I want to eat better and to pursue a healthier lifestyle.”

5. Monetization Strategy

Businesses conduct thorough market and consumer research, define their goals, prioritize their strategies and build an app that solves users’ problems. However, they still fail to make money off their app development efforts. That is due to the lack of a good monetization strategy. By launching it, you might attract and retain users but still fail to monetize the app.

6. Prioritize Security

It may not seem like a pressing concern right now, especially at the nascent development stages. However, when you critically think about your app for a minute, you realize it will have tons of sensitive information and data. The app will hold information about the company and its stakeholders – customers, employees, suppliers, and partners.

Depending on what your app is used for, you could be collecting sensitive payment information such as credit cards. You’ll have access to information such as phone numbers, email addresses, and everything else provided. It’s your responsibility as the app owner to protect your data. That’s why you need to prioritize security from the onset.

Users may hesitate to provide you with their information if your app is insecure. If security gets breached, it will have far-reaching implications by damaging your brand and making it impossible to recover. One best practice for mobile app development is to use encryption like the two-factor authentication TFA to protect sensitive data.

7. Test and Test Again!

Tests need to be run throughout the app development process. Don’t wait until the end to test the app’s performance, that’s too late to notice any anomalies. It’s much harder to identify and solve problems if tests are not run periodically. One best way to test your app development is with beta testers.

You can try using online resources and tools from the Beta Family to put you in contact with superior testers. You can identify crashes, bugs, and even error reports with beta testers. If you cannot run diagnostic tests yourself, outsourced mobile app developers can assist you with your app development process to ensure a smooth and successful delivery.

8. Simple, Discoverable Navigation

Navigation should inspire users to interact and engage with the content. The navigation should be implemented in a way that supports the structure of the app without bringing attention to itself. The navigation should be accessible and discoverable without occupying too much screen space. Indeed, navigation should accommodate the needs of the app users.

To make navigation simple and discoverable, assign priority levels to common user tasks. Give prominence in the user interface to destinations and paths with frequent use and high priority levels. Ensure that navigation is available at all times, not just when users anticipate using the app. Minimize the user’s memory load by making features available and ready to use.

Other ways to make navigation simple include:

  • Communicate location using location indicators
  • Icon and graphics elements must help users understand menu options
  • Make interaction easy
  • Hidden navigation affects engagement, slows down exploration, and confuses users.
  • Reduce search efforts. For instance, if “search” is a primary function, it should be in front of people. You can display the “search” icon at the top or have a reference that activates search mode anytime and anywhere.

Simple navigation with labels and icons helps with user experience, interaction, and retention.

NS804 – Accelerating Your Mobile App Adoption

NS804 provides superior mobile app development solutions. As a partner from concept to completion, NS804 works with individuals, businesses, and market leaders to identify and optimize market opportunities with innovative app solutions. With specialties in IOS, android app development, minimum viable product MVP, and app optimization, NS804 can help you bridge any development gaps.

Contact NS804 for superior, best-in-class app development solutions.

2022 Mobile App Development Trends

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The global mobile app market is on a rising trajectory and will continue to boom in the years to come. According to Statista, global revenues from mobile applications will reach $613 billion before 2025, up from $316 billion in 2020.

With this development and projected growth comes plenty of opportunities for developers to optimize their app development efforts by delivering the best to the end-users. As 2022 unfolds, it’s critical to look at trends that will dominate the app development marketplace.

Why Cast Sight into the Future?

Software development personnel play a central role in driving revenues for their companies. Apps that fulfill a specific need, are unique in fulfilling particular goals, and extend a superior user experience will see the highest levels of adoption and retention. Simply, the more the users, the more the revenues.

You need to understand and adopt the latest trends in mobile app development to ensure your app ticks these boxes of usability, adoption, and retention. The better you translate these app trends into your app, the more users your app can attract.

2022 Mobile App Development Trends

2020 is undoubtedly the year that the more fringe applications will become more mainstream – artificial intelligence, 5G, augmented reality, virtual reality VR, and machine learning will see increased adoption to meet the evolving needs of the modern consumer.

As peoples’ lives become increasingly sophisticated, this complexity extends to how they shop, communicate, and access information. Below, we discuss crucial trends that will define the mobile app marketplace in 2022.

1. 5G Technology

5G technology is on track to becoming the gold standard for mobile communication, even though it’s not presently mainstream. The 5G technology market is poised to reach $620 billion by 2030. And with user-friendly benefits like low latency, faster data transfer, and increased performance speeds, the time for your app to support 5G is now. The 5G technology will change the way we build and use apps, efficiency and speed will substantially improve, and here are a few more things to expect:

  • 5G will be up 100 times faster than 4G
  • Latency will reduce from 50 milliseconds to 1 millisecond
  • With less latency, higher resolution, and superior performance – video apps will improve significantly.
  • Data transfer between devices will be faster and more fulfilling
  • 5G will allow developers to build superior features
  • Mobile payments will be more secure because of the faster processing of biometric data

Overall, 5G will make apps smoother, faster, and more efficient in their operation.

2. IoT and Cloud Technology

Mobile-connected endpoint devices and the internet of things (IoT) technology have been there for years, but their market is projected to grow to $1 trillion by 2023. The biggest drivers behind cloud and IoT adoption are security and increased concerns of business continuity processes. Indeed, with over $120 billion spent on IT security in 2019 alone, it’s easy to see why enterprises are looking for cloud and IoT as alternative security solutions. Cloud and IoT have other benefits including; improved efficiency, operational efficiency, and interoperability.

3. Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology has emerged as a powerful force in protecting and safeguarding information, data, and resources. Blockchain is a digitally distributed and decentralized ledger located across a network. Blockchain is immutable, decentralized, and consensual, which means it can achieve faster settlements with enhanced security.

What makes blockchain a forerunner this year is that there has always been a security concern and misuse of data among app developers. Fortunately, blockchain solves security problems with its powerful characteristics – immutability, decentralization, and distribution.

Blockchain allows enterprises and organizations to create decentralized databases; which means that these databases do not need a company or a service provider to act as a gatekeeper. Blockchain solves a long-standing culture of data bureaucracy by bringing data control to the hands of users.

4. Augmented Reality AR and Virtual Reality VR

Pokémon Go was short-lived but it propelled the adoption of AR in mobile app development. Pokémon Go showed the world that we could use virtual reality to offer an immersive experience to viewers.

Today, there are several scenarios of brands using AR and VR to enhance user experience:

  • L’Oréal make-up app allows users to see their make-ups before purchase
  • IKEA uses augmented reality to let users see how furniture will look in their homes before purchasing
  • Lenskart lets buyers virtually experiment with glasses before purchasing them

This year, we will see AR and VR dominating the mobile app market in ways we can never imagine. The AR and VR market will rise from $25 billion in 2018 to $210 billion in 2022. Brands and businesses are expected to see a spike in VR and AR this year.

5. Artificial Intelligence AI and Machine Learning ML

In efforts to deliver personalized experiences to the end users, AI that utilizes predictive analytics algorithms will be an important element to consider. AI is important for speech recognition, navigation, and natural language processing. In addition, behavioral algorithms can improve security by analyzing user behavior and detecting fraud and information breaches.

6. PWAs and Instant Apps

Progressive web apps PWAs are becoming popular because they bridge the gap left by native web pages and apps. Benefits like faster loading time, reduced dependency on internet connections, and automatic updates make PWAs a darling to both consumers and brands.

In addition, instant apps are gaining popularity because they allow users to test the app before downloading it. While it appears that designing a simple app experience may reduce users’ app loyalty, it appears the opposite is true. Instant apps have a higher conversion rate and different testing requirements than native apps.

7. Mobile Commerce

Years ago, platforms like eBay and Amazon took precedence in the mobile commerce marketplace. But with exciting developments, the e-commerce trend has been phased out and substituted by mobile commerce.

As more shoppers prefer online shopping, retailers are adopting progressive web apps PWA (native apps) to improve user experiences. The mobile commerce marketplace is projected to hit $23 billion by the end of 2022 simply because many B2C and B2B companies have seen an increase in user engagement, revenue growth, and conversion rates after building an app for their business.

8. Wearable App Integration

According to Statista, there will be 1.1 billion wearables by 2022, and the most common connections made using connected wearable devices. Wearable app integration is another way to bring convenience to users, with users receiving updates, notifications, and messages about their health and wellbeing.

According to research, the ability to receive messages and notifications is the highest-ranking function of wearables in the United States. In the wearable market, fitness tracking has seen remarkable growth with the rise in health wellness among the general population. So, wearable app integration is likely to dominate most mobile applications as 2022 unfolds.

9. Beacon Technology

Since its inception in 2013, Beacons are gaining relevance among retailers and wholesalers alike. For consumers, Beacon transmitters connect and transmit data to connected devices, making interaction and location-based searching faster and more accurate. The convenience of mobile apps has accelerated the adoption of Beacon technology, making it a win-win for consumers and retailers. For businesses, beacon technology allows them to understand shopping habits – turning this data into a personalized shopping experience.

NS804 – Spearheading Your Mobile App Transformation

With the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating the need for consumers to move online, there is a new demand to deliver personalized and intuitive user experiences to customers. The 2022 mobile app development trends reflect this trajectory and increasingly focus on user satisfaction. Incorporating these trends in your mobile app roadmap will enable you to succeed now and beyond.

6 Interaction Design Tips For Your Mobile App

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It’s easy to establish the quality and functionality of mobile apps. A clear sign of professional design work is when the usage is effortless and smooth that users don’t think twice when using it. But, if there are interactivity issues or problems, users will automatically recognize and won’t be pleased.

Mobile apps should be clear and smooth to be effectively used anywhere and anytime. The designer’s task is to create an intuitive and engaging interface that guides users within the app, helping them operate it without navigation or interactivity issues.

Below we look at essential interaction design tips for mobile apps:

1. Provide Simple Navigation

Simple navigation provides an obvious way to move between screens and find the desired items since users must navigate back and forth in the same window. App navigation design is like a GPS or a map that helps us navigate across places, and identify the specific features we’re looking for. A great navigation design makes you feel you are in control of where you’re going, letting you know where you’re headed and where you are at all times.

2. A Large Touch Surface

Ensure to create control areas or surfaces that are easier to touch by the thumb. Providing smaller touch areas may potentially annoy the user when s/he uses the app. The finger-friendly design provides ease of use, making it possible for users to hit their desired target icons with precision.

3. Eliminate Clutter

It’s unnecessary to display every icon and information on the app’s interface. Arrange and structure your content in a way that provides users with a comprehensive understanding of the features. Reduce clutter by keeping minimum content on the screen to enhance visibility and readability.

4. Display Large Texts

As a developer, keep in mind the small size of mobile screens and keep your app’s texts large and readable. One advantage of texting in the modern digital era is immediacy. Composing and conveying a text is easy and replying to a text is even easier. So, apps with large display texts provide convenience and easy readability.

5. Leverage Touch Controls

There’s no doubt that there are a lot of mobile app controls available in design. So, there’s no need to use web controls as they’re difficult to operate on mobile. Designers must keep interfaces sleek, smooth, and easy to use with mobile touch controls.

6. Leverage Simple Forms

Provide simpler forms where users can input details and information with ease and precision. Use form controls where there’s minimum typing. A simpler form saves users time, enables users to achieve easier navigation, and helps users to manage their information with ease.

Other interaction design tips for your mobile app include:

  • Take care of thumb position
  • Provide consistent user experience
  • Lead users towards the next step
  • Match interactions to your platform
  • Use clear simple icons
  • Apply recognition patterns
  • Add game mechanisms
  • Consider multiple holds

Luckily, with outsourced mobile app development, you can enjoy interactive designs for all your mobile app development projects. You can always contact NS804 for interactive mobile app design solutions.

How Much Does It Cost To Implement Real-Time Updates in Your App?

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Utilizing real-time updates in your personal or business application is no longer an option but a necessity. Most business applications are adopting real-time features such as: push notifications, instant messaging, real-time feed, and tracking live orders. The rising adoption of real-time notification occurs because real-time features deliver information to users in action-time incidences and scenarios.

There’s no doubt that real-time updates have made themselves available in mobile and app development in recent years. For instance, since 2015, instant messaging apps have witnessed a substantial uptake. Today, both established firms and upcoming start-ups are adopting real-time features to strengthen connectivity and power interactivity between users and their brands.

Companies and internet users can benefit immensely from real-time app updates, as both enjoy reliable and quick communication and information exchanges. That is the reason many sectors – healthcare, food and beverage, banking, insurance, technology, education, and retail – are witnessing a rise in real-time features in their apps.

How Businesses and Customers Benefit from Real-Time Updates

The history of real-time updates dates back to when stock market traders realized that it took a long time to update charts and close trade. Real-time updates were developed to update stocks and trades. Shortly, more sectors started embracing real-time updates to streamline internal communication and information exchanges. Real-time features soon migrated to reputable applications such as Uber, Airbnb, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Most apps are equipped with one or another form of real-time technology, thanks to earlier developments made in the stock market.

The following are just but a few advantages of real-time updates:

  • Apps with real-time updates can generate a higher degree of user engagement. Real-time technology helps apps to replicate real-world human behavior. For instance, users can handle multiple tasks simultaneously like, talking to friends while booking a ride in a cab-hauling app.
  • Through real-time updates, users can get connected more naturally. For instance, one can follow friends, share live locations, and message online using these applications.
  • Real-time features enable programmers and developers to focus more on the app’s core competencies. These core competencies include innovative features, upgraded user interfaces, and interactive user experience.
  • With the cloud delivery networks available, developers need not worry about maintenance and related expenses. When developers make real-time updates to users, they can rely on public clouds like the Amazon Web Services AWS.

Examples of real-time updates you can integrate into your app include:

  • Real-time feed
  • Push notifications
  • Integration of IoT devices
  • Multi-user collaboration
  • Live messaging
  • Live streaming
  • Live tracking order status

Here’s how your business and your customers can benefit from real-time updates

1. Real-time messaging

There’s no doubt that people love instant messaging. Messenger apps with multi-group messaging, media sharing, video, and voice calls are a classic replacement for the otherwise archaic, inconvenient SMS messaging. The prominence of instant messaging apps is evidenced by the rise of instant messaging platforms like Slack, Telegram, LINE, and Viber. According to Statista, there were 1.82 billion app users in 2017. This figure is expected to skyrocket to 2.48 billion by 2022.

2. Push notifications

Push notifications have become a necessity for most mobile and web applications. Notifications inform users about critical events, pull them to a brand or a product, and encourage users to use products more. For instance, 21% of users abandon your app after the first use. Thanks to push notifications, you can get users to return to your app by reminding them about its existence. The social app can encourage users to open it and download it by informing your users about recent news or events. However, be careful not to overuse notifications when choosing the right frequency for push notifications.

3. Real-time feeds

An in-app feed feature that updates immediately when new content is published is a necessity for all social networking applications. Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook allow users access to new content and updates without updating their feeds. The advantage is that your app becomes sticky with real-time feeds because users get the latest and most relevant information in real-time.

4. Live data streaming

Live streaming is widely used in many business sectors – from real estate to logistics and social networks. Live data streaming allows an app to create and deliver data to end-users, facilitating deep user engagement. Live streaming is considered the precursor of video streaming.

Developed in 2007 by Periscope, live streaming allows users to create videos and share the videos on platforms where other users can play the video content via smartphones or desktop computers. When Periscope made a market entry, video streaming went viral.

Later, the video-streaming feature was adopted by players such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and now TikTok. Indeed, the popular video streaming platform Twitch has been built around the same live streaming technology – allowing users to stream games and get paid for that.

One of the reasons companies are adopting live streaming as a real-time update is the possibility of connecting with audiences and building user engagement. In 2017, Livestream collaborated on market research with New York Magazine and found out that 80% of the respondents would rather watch a live video than read a website or a blog. For instance, Ustream App is a classic example of an app that uses live video streaming. The app blends augmented reality, 360-degree video capabilities, and virtual reality to transform live streaming experiences.

5. Order status updates

This feature is crucial for on-demand shipping and delivery companies as it helps bridge the trust gap. Users want to know that their orders (products or services) are safe and sound. Indeed, users are more than willing to track the progress of their orders for transparent customer relationships. Research shows that customers care about transparency and accountability in shipping and deliveries.

For instance, 82% of respondents indicated that retailers must constantly communicate at every stage of the delivery process. 45% of respondents track their order status using phones and SMS messaging, while 84% use email to stay updated. So, how can you improve user satisfaction? Well, provide customers with regular updates about their orders. That means providing them with a convenient and efficient way to track their orders via an app.

Other ways customers and businesses can benefit from real-time updates include:

  • Multi-user collaborations
  • Real-time data analytics
  • Control and integration of IoT devices

The internet of things represents a classic example of real-time functionality, whereby data from devices or sensors is conveyed instantly to the end-users.

The Cost of Installing Real-Time Updates on Your App?

It’s crucial to understand app development cost indicators to understand how much it costs to install real-time updates on your app. Well, several years ago, there was a key difference in app development cost between two main platforms – Android and iOS. However, today that difference is not significant. The only driving factor in the difference between app development costs is complexity.

Today, the major factor to consider when calculating the cost of installing real-time updates is the complexity, which can arbitrarily be segmented into – complex, medium, and simple. For instance, the price tag for a simple update ranges from $10,000 to 30,000. Medium-complex real-time updates range from $20,000 to 40,000, and complex real-time update installation cost between $40,000 to $60,000.

The complexity levels of real-time updates

Simple updates Medium updates Complex updates
 
Push notifications Real-time messaging Live data streaming
Real-time feeds Multi-user collaboration Integration of IoT devices
  Live to track of order feeds

Real-time updates installation costs

Simple complexity Medium complexity Complex complexity
$10,000 – $30,000 $20,000 – $40,000 $40,000- $60,000

It’s important to remember that the above numbers are just but a ballpark. They are supposed to offer you a birds-eye view of the prices you’re expected to pay for a real-time installation depending on the complexity, size, and scope of installation.

Maintenance Costs

Every app has an ongoing maintenance cost, no matter who designed or created it. Once an app is created, you have to track its performance, additional updates to install, and let users know of new updates or feeds. If your app leverages a server to store information like payment information and user records, you’ll have to pay to manage this storage.

Every app needs regular and ongoing maintenance and real-time updates to keep users engaged, happy, and coming back for more. In addition, depending on your app’s complexity, you can incur additional costs for emergency maintenance, servers, push notifications, processing, and many more.

So, how much does it cost to maintain an app, including installing real-time updates?

Well, the answer to this question depends wholly on how it was built. You can save significantly on upfront costs with a cheaper developer or programmer. However, if your app is not designed up to par, you’ll run significant expenses as your app grows and attracts more users. It’ll be expensive to install updates if your app didn’t meet the standard requisites of a conventional app.

A good estimation is to budget 20% of your initial app development cost for new real-time updates and installations. If your initial app development cost was $100,000, estimate $20,000 per year for updates and real-time installations.

However, if you outsource NS804 mobile app developers, you get to enjoy subsidized installations of real-time updates. However, be informed that different service providers offer varying costs depending on the app’s complexity, the scope of installation, and other factors.

Why are Real-Time Updates Important?

Real-time updates provide convenience, save time, and enhance user engagement. Investing in real-time updates prevents your app from being obsolete. For instance, in 2016, the Apple App store removed 50,000 apps from the App Store for being obsolete. With technology advancing at an unprecedented pace and with changing user habits, it’s becoming imperative for app developers to adopt real-time updates. Chances are that without real-time capabilities, your app will crash and burn.

If you’re still thinking about why you should install real-time updates, check out the following reasons:

  • Minimizes uninstalls. Apps with regular crashes and annoying bugs frustrate users, driving them away. Similarly, if your app doesn’t offer updated functionalities and information, users may find no reason to use it.
  • Better user experiences. You just don’t want users to download your app; you want them to use it. That is because developing long-term relationships with prospective users is the key to your app’s success. And to nurture lasting and valuable relationships with users, you’ll need to offer a unique user experience that comes with real-time updates.
  • Stay ahead of the competition. Millions of apps in the App Store and Google Store are competing for users’ attention. So, users cannot download and begin using all these apps. To beat the competition and stay at the top, you’ll need to ace your app with new updates, including: push notifications, live streaming, instant messaging, and feeds.
  • Safety from cyberattacks. With increases in mobile apps, there’s a corresponding increase in cyberattacks. So, it’s crucial to ensure the safety and security of your app to prevent exploitation and safeguard sensitive data and information.
  • Increases ROI. Real-time updates offer room for maximizing the returns on investment and decreasing the cost of acquiring new users. Once your app goes live, you’ll probably face crashes and bugs somewhere. Real-time updates provide a reliable communication channel when users face unprecedented service disruptions.

NS804 – Masters in Real-Time App Updates Installation

NS804 ensures that individuals and businesses get the best from their app development journey. With years of experience designing cutting-edge technology solutions, NS804 allows clients to estimate app development costs with an app development calculator. The significance of real-time updates cannot be undermined, with the growing emphasis on superior user experiences in customer relationship management. Real-time updates reinforce relationships by providing a reliable and constant channel of communication.

Contact NS804 for timely solutions in app development and real-time app update installations.