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.

What Makes an Effective Company App? 12 Features

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Mobile apps are transforming businesses by giving innovative solutions to legacy problems. With a well-customized mobile app, you can communicate directly to customers, improve customer engagement, and design a personalized marketing channel.

When investing in a mobile app, companies look forward to building robust apps that will attain success in the shortest time. But this is not always the case. Most mobile apps get drowned in the sea of apps out there. This is why it’s important to learn the ups and downs of building a great mobile app.

To ensure your app meets the minimum requirements and provides maximum value, you must be aware of features that make your app stand out. Below, our mobile app development team looks at features that make an effective company app.

1. End-User Simplicity

A great UX design is determined by superior navigation and a clear interface. Interface and navigation enable an app to rank higher among other alternative apps. So, if your app is well-customized and easy-to-use, potential users will not have to look for alternatives. The end-user simplicity is a fundamental characteristic of award-winning apps that collect and maintain a large audience or user base.

2. Integrates IOS and Android

These are two most common operating interfaces. However, a service provider can offer a cross-platform development as a marketing gimmick for targeted clients. The leading cross-platform frameworks are ReactNative, PhoneGap, and NativeScript. These platforms and frameworks enable businesses to save costs while entering the market with a minimum viable product MVP. The ability to integrate and cover both Android and IOS is a key element of a successful company app.

3. Performance

Performance is a critical attribute of any successful company app. Performance refers to the way the app functions according to set requirements. Optimum performance means that the app meets the highest levels of outputs and meets set requirements and expectations. On the other hand, a poor app performance means that the app negates its key responsibilities and expectations. The app must load faster and particular attention should be given when pages or objects take long to load. The latency time must be kept to a minimum with constant app optimization.

4. Security

Cyber-attacks are posing significant threats to protected networks and systems, including critical enterprise resources. The compromise of a critical resource like the enterprise mobile application may pose a significant threat to customers. For instance, compromise of mobile apps may reveal personally identifying information (credit card numbers and social security numbers), or even compromise the integrity of protected health information PHI. So, a successful company app must have the necessary security infrastructure and posture to detect threats and patch unprotected networks. Luckily, mobile app developers can design apps with robust security infrastructures, protecting information, networks, and crucial resources.

5. Personalization

A personalized application reinforces close relationships with targeted prospects. Personalized app experiences create loyalty, raising awareness and leading to higher user retention levels. Users love products (and apps) that offer lots of customization possibilities. For effective company apps, it’s advisable to offer users limitless possibilities for customization. Winner apps incorporate details such as flexible backgrounds, fonts, color, and settings.

6. Great Image Resolution

A great app balances speed, functionality, and resolution. Most importantly, you have to ensure that what’s displayed on the screen is clear enough to make the user experience delightful. The world is way past the blocky graphics and today users expect hi-definition, 3-D images and multiple colors. A great image resolution must also sync seamlessly with the overall app’s functionality to ensure a smooth and rewarding user experience.

7. Search Icon

Provide users with an easy way to search and locate items and objects. The search functionality particularly matters for software products with high complex content. Therefore, it’s advisable to make every page and content as clear and easy-to-locate as possible.

8. Feedback Systems

Providing feedback is a great way to build and garner a reputation. So, it’s advisable to let users report bugs, give comments, and feedback about the app’s functionality, products, or brands through an open app forum. Giving users an opportunity to air their views and give grievances about products and app’s functionality leads to enhancing credibility and trust.

9. Social Integration

Social integration is a critical component for users connecting in the app’s ecosystem. Integrating with social networking channels simplifies using the app by enabling users to easily sign-up in the app. In addition, social integration allows users to share posts about events thus remaining fully connected in their social channels.

10. Customization

The app design process must consider customization as a key feature of aligning app features with customer preferences. By customizing the system functionality, layout, and content, the app viewing experience can be tailored to meet and respond to users’ needs.

11. App Analytics

The app must provide clear and accurate statistics and metrics. Clear visibility of user browsing trends enable businesses to monitor customer behavior, thus adjusting business practices to respond to consumer needs. Analytics is a critical component for mobile apps of all sizes and sophistication. Analytics track your app’s performance and optimize the app’s functionality.

12. Offline Access

Mobile apps work best where there’s a stable internet. Although connectivity is great for apps, there are apps where offline access would be appropriate. As a company, you must predict a situation where internet access would not be possible and provide features that work without internet connectivity. It’s difficult to categorize apps based on features because a majority of them depend on industry and app type.

Classifying The Features of a Successful Mobile App:

A successful mobile app integrates these features smartly: user, market and product. These elements need to integrate seamlessly and sync seamlessly to provide users with great usability, unique value, and superior performance. In examining what makes a successful mobile app, the features discussed above have been classified into two: customer-centric and business-centric features.

Customer-Centric Features

Customer-centric features denote attributes that evoke a positive emotional response to customers and targeted app users. Customer-centric features include:

  • Nice and appealing design and layout
  • Well thought out user interface and user experience
  • Reliable and stable workflow
  • Sufficient data protection
  • Quick access to service desk
  • Cover needs and specifications based on user needs

Business-Centric Features

Business-centric features refer to attributes that satisfy key business requirements. Business-centric app features include:

  • Offer quick, hassle-free payments
  • Encourage user retention
  • Protecting data breach
  • Easy update procedure
  • Low maintenance and development costs

NS804 – Transforming Enterprise Mobile App Adoption

Mobile apps are at the forefront of the digital mobile revolution. Mobile apps provide diverse capabilities and superior functions – communication, interaction, emailing, purchasing, billing, and payments – all integrated into a simplistic app solution. That’s the reason most companies are accelerating their app adoption efforts to keep track of new industry developments.

Companies must ensure their mobile apps function effectively to meet evolving consumer needs even with the rising adoption of apps. A streamlined app experience will provide growth opportunities. There’s no doubt that mobile apps are proving as innovative solutions to bolster growth and build a competitive positioning.

You can contact NS804 for innovative mobile app solutions.

Is An App Really Worth The Investment?

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How do you know if your upcoming app project is worth the investment? Well, there are no easy answers if you don’t know what indicators reveal the potential success of your app project. And given the propensity for media hype to center on the most popular apps, this only muddies the waters.

One way to test whether your app idea will hit the mark is by creating a minimum viable product (MVP). But this isn’t always a feasible option, especially if you’ve already started developing a fully featured app. 

Or you may already have released an app that was languishing in the app marketplace. Then you decided to update it and noticed an uptick in downloads and user reviews. However, you’re still unsure whether this updated app warrants further investment. Below, we reveal several of the most pertinent reasons for whether an app is worth the investment. 

Invest In An App To Stay On Brand

If you’re trying to promote the company brand or an appreneur that develops apps for brands, an app is worth the investment. And that’s because you’re trying to reach customers in as many avenues as possible. Furthermore, you want your brand identity and messaging to be uniform across the board. 

But how would you stay on brand with an app? Well, it’s likely that your company already has a website. It’s also likely that the graphic design, photography, and user interface (UI) reflect the identity of the company brand. 

So, when you decide to develop an app, you’ve already got a blueprint of the design language. The colors, gradients, fonts, icons, user experience (UX), and art assets should follow a standardized format. Once you release your app, customers already familiar with your website will have an easy time navigating your app.

Apps With High Retention Rates Are Worth The Investment

We may have entered the post-COVID-19 phase of the pandemic, but the work-from-home trend continues. That means that many workers won’t be going back to the office or have little desire to return. And that’s a good thing for appreneurs, as having millions of people working from home opens up many opportunities.

Not only that, business, education, and fitness apps boast the highest retention rates. And if you’re targeting any of these market segments and solving a real need, your app may be worth the investment. Moreover, since users will spend significant time with your app, it’s yet another opportunity to promote your brand and stay on brand.

Take Advantage Of New Hardware Features

Smartphones and tablets constantly evolve, especially when manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung release their premium models. Users of these devices expect developers to take advantage of their additional features and innovations. 

And it’s now possible to deliver content and experiences that wouldn’t seem out of place on a powerful desktop PC. So, if you’re a boutique software developer specializing in specific app niches, consider if these are a good fit for premium devices. 

For example, you could be developing an illustration app that takes advantage of the 120Hz refresh rates of these devices. The higher refresh rate allows for smoother drawing when using a stylus, which isn’t possible on 60Hz screens found on lower-end models. Such an application would attract and satisfy professional users willing to pay for using your app.

The Bottom Line

Companies that invest in apps can further increase the stature of their brand across the web and mobile. And new hardware and the work-from-home movement offer appreneurs many opportunities to spread their wings and develop apps that truly are worth the investment. Contact NS804 to learn how we’ll help you develop apps that will excite and satisfy your users!

New to Apps? Tips For Beginners

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Mobile applications are the new frontiers in technology. With the ability to support multiple functions such as messaging, social connections, interactions, payments, and banking, apps are proving to be an instrumental force in propelling the mobile revolution.

But, if you’re struggling with learning mobile app development, you’re at the right place. You don’t have to be an expert programmer or a coder to develop an app. With the right knowledge and a solid grasp of one of these programming languages (Java, C++, CSS, and HTML), you can ace any mobile app development journey.

So, if you’re new to apps, here are a few tips for beginners:

1. Start with A Killer Idea

A killer idea is the cornerstone of any successful application. An app must be able to solve a real-life problem and provide an instant solution to a deep-seated problem. So, to get started with apps, draw out a sheet of paper and bring your idea to fruition. Write a list of features you’d like to incorporate into your app, and don’t get lost in the design details. It’s just the beginning!

2. Do Research

Unless you’re creating an app for your purposes, it’s important to ensure you’re providing an entertaining service or fixing problems for people. Find out what features people are looking for in apps and incorporate them to stand out from the competition. Usually, your research should be directed at finding out what’s missing in other apps. Try to fix an existing problem and provide new solutions.

3. Create Mock-ups

At this juncture of your development journey, you should know what you’re building, who it’s for, and what audience you’re targeting. This is the time to think critically about the build itself. Develop rough sketches of your layout known as mock-ups before you start hiring programmers.

4. Get Graphic

As an amateur developer, it’s crucial to be realistic with your programming strengths and weaknesses before you commit to building the first app. This is because you’ll need to hire expert programmers and developers to make your dream a reality. If you’re not a design expert, you can hire an expert developer or programmer. Many companies and agencies offer app development services. So, it’s advisable to select a service provider who offers excellent, quality, timely, and affordable app development services.

5. Lone Ranger

Use an app design template if you’re taking this programming journey alone. You’re free to use the standard design templates to create app features that you can customize later. Some great building block app templates include TETHR, NOW, Stark UI Kit, Apply Pixels, Phoenix, and Stitch.

App Development Journey

It’s important to remember that app development is not a one-off task but a journey. What you do today will impact your app outcomes tomorrow. So, remember that app development is a learning curve that requires patience, discipline, and consistency. Other crucial tips for beginners include:

  • Sort out your Google account. Your Google account will be linked with the app you want to create. So it’s advisable to create a new google account for a new app.
  • Master transfer tools. Most developers and manufacturers provide free (and paid) transfer tools to help developers move old content into a new interface. However, if you’ve been using a Google account before, the content will be transferred automatically without a hitch.

NS804 provides professional app development services.

You can contact NS804 to kick start your app development journey.

NS804 is one of the Most Reviewed App Developers in Denver According to The Manifest

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Top Denver Mobile App CompanyThe NS804 team is very happy to announce that we’ve been recently named as one of the most reviewed mobile application developers in all of Denver! We are very honored and privileged to receive this exciting award from The Manifest. 

First and foremost, what is The Manifest? The Manifest is a business blog that aims to gather and verify the hard data, expert insights, and actionable advice that you need to build your brand and grow your business – to provide the practical business wisdom that manifests in your success.

Our team is very honored to be on the list of the top Denver development firms on the Manifest this year. We’ve always been putting our best foot forward for our clients and this award is a testament to our perseverance in the industry. On that note, we are very grateful to The Manifest and their team for this incredible award.

We would also like to take this time to express our gratitude to our clients and partners who chose us for their development projects.  We are thankful for every opportunity that comes to us – whether you’re an appreneur with a small budget or a Fortune 500 company.

With more than a decade of experience in the industry, our team has been a mainstay in the mobile application industry. For each project, we try to take the time to learn what your business does, where it’s headed, and what you want to achieve. 

If you are interested in this kind of approach, then feel free to connect with us! Schedule a xdiscovery call with our team today.

Mobile Apps: Does Your Business Really Need One?

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In 1997, Nokia designed a built-in version of the arcade Snake Game that many consider the first app. Over the years, the app market has grown extensively to capture different apps – for gaming, shopping, banking, and many other purposes. Mobile apps are widely being adopted to provide the best use in business process development.

However, it’s worth mentioning that most people perceive mobile apps as a reserve for large enterprises. Most think that mobile apps apply only to established, reputable brands that have a reputation to protect.

Well, if you think mobile apps are for big-boy enterprises like Amazon and Walmart, you’re mistaken. More and more small businesses are adopting mobile apps after understanding that an effective digital strategy transcends beyond simply having a mobile-friendly website.

Undoubtedly, e-commerce has been phased out by mobile commerce, as evidenced by the accelerated adoption of mobile solutions by retail establishments. Today, more than ever, you’ll realize that most enterprises you interact with have a custom app – be it a spa downtown or a corner coffee shop. If you’re not sure whether your business needs a mobile app, here’s what to look out for.

Nine reasons your business needs a mobile app:

1. Customer Visibility

Customer relationship management is taking a new turn with exciting developments in custom mobile apps. The growth of mobile apps allows businesses to connect and reignite touches with their most loyal customers, reinforcing trust, loyalty, and retention.

Statistics show that the average American spends two to four hours a day on their mobile devices. While only a handful of apps make up a bulk of this usage, it doesn’t change the fact that every user has to unlock their phones and scan for apps. Being “available” with a custom business app can be an advantage because it requires a user to spot your brand and their mind subconsciously records your business.

2. Marketing Channel

A custom app can translate into an excellent sales channel, especially if used with diligence and tact. Apps serve diverse functions. They can provide information, store data, process trends, and report insights. One of the biggest advantages of having a custom mobile app is that all the information you’d like to convey to your customers is right at their fingertips.

You’re getting closer to reinforcing your interactions with your customers through features like push notifications. You can remind customers about your services and products. Thus, there’s no doubt that mobile apps are transforming outreach by reigniting touches with clients and maintaining relationships.

3. Customer Connectivity

Smartphones are one of the most personal things; they harbor our personal information – email addresses, credit card numbers, and addresses. Statista reports that 90% of the time spent on a smartphone is spent on downloaded applications.

With mobile apps, businesses can connect with clients on the go. Some offline apps don’t need an internet connection which means that users can constantly check new updates, access notifications, and interact with other users. So, if you find a pressing need to connect with clients on the go, a custom mobile app can be an ideal solution for your business growth.

Industries and companies that can connect with clients on the go include:

  • Transport and logistics. Railway, airline, and sea transport companies can use mobile apps to connect with passengers and allow them to book tickets and do in-app purchases.
  • Travel and tour. Travel and tour enterprises can reinforce their relationships with clients. These firms can use mobile apps to; advertise destinations, arrange bookings, and launch virtual tours.
  • Mining. FIFO jobs present opportunities for professionals and technicians who want to work away from home. Thus, mobile apps that enable FIFO workers to connect with their families directly while reporting and tracking progress remotely is a win.

With the above examples, it’s clear how mobile apps can bridge gaps in multiple sectors and industries.

4. Building Brand Recognition

A custom mobile app can immensely contribute to your business and brand awareness. Below we break down brand recognition into two separate parts to understand how mobile apps can help strengthen your brand.

  • Brand. A mobile app is like a blank paper, an empty signboard. You can make it fun, stylish, entertaining, functional, or informative. But what you want is to create an app that has features your customers will like; an app that’s well-designed and beautifully branded.
  • Recognition. The more often you engage users with your app, the higher their likelihood of interacting with your products or services. Higher app interaction translates to brand awareness and leads to purchases. In advertising, this aspect is called effective frequency. Essentially, seeing or hearing your brand about twenty times is what makes it recognizable or truly noticed.

So, mobile apps are classic channels for fuelling brand recognition.

5. Customer Engagement

Customer engagement is an essential aspect of positive customer relationships. Signs of poor customer engagement include slow welcome, unfriendly gestures, keeping customers waiting, and inflexible appointment times.

Whether you’re selling insurance or renting out gym floor spaces, your customers need a way of reaching you, anytime and anywhere. Having a helpdesk or a messaging feature in your app can make a difference in how you handle customer communications.

For instance, OpenTable designed its business model around customer engagement. Instead of calling restaurants or fast-food chains for a table, OpenTable’s management made it easy for customers to book online on their mobile app. Now, if you think about it, you’ll realize most customers prefer to speak to you via text instead of the phone.

6. Market Competition

Many businesses are gradually adopting mobile apps to streamline their processes: performance, customer engagement, procurement, and spend management. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to note that business apps are still at their nascent adoption stages these days. And this is where you can leap ahead of your competitors. It’s advisable to offer a custom app for your small business and exemplify your forward-thinking approach.

7. Customer Loyalty

Shifts in customer shopping behavior are clear indicators that your business is ready for a custom app. The most important reason you should consider investing in a custom mobile app is customer loyalty. With all the melee and noise out there – billboards, Facebook ads, road sign banners, flyers, flashing signs, coupons, and newspaper ads, we slowly lose our impact on clients because they’re overwhelmed by immense advertising.

Now, it’s time to go back and make a sincere connection with your customers by making them loyal lovers of your product. While a mobile app may not save your business, it’s a way of coming closer to your customers and being just a finger away from your prospects. Custom business apps provide a way of connecting customers with support providers and strengthening client bonds. So, if you’re looking forward to transforming positive customer relationships into lasting value, look no further: custom mobile apps provide lasting solutions.

8. Business Process Optimization

Having a mobile app gives you the option of developing an app for any purpose. For instance, you can have an app that facilitates interactions within the workspace. Alternatively, you can create an app that supports the exchange of files, aggregates statistics, monitors and manages processes.

The significance of mobile apps is that they can effectively be used for the organization and automation of business processes. The creation of products for internal use by the organization is a common practice. With a custom mobile app, you can ensure employee interaction regardless of location. Changing work cultures and emerging “work-at-home” patterns underscore the need for mobile apps.

9. Smart Analytics

Data is the backbone of most business processes because data-driven decisions inform business processes. With a business app, you can collect vast volumes of data for further analysis. For instance, you can collect data that enables you to understand shifting customer preferences, shopping habits, and app usage patterns. Mobile apps can help you know what areas and functions of your business are most important and which ones are least important.

NS804 – Powering Business Transformation with Custom App Solutions

Not all enterprises optimize the power of their websites, let alone custom mobile apps. If you happen to be among the first to adopt mobile app solutions, you can confidently reinforce your market position and edge out the competition. Mobile app solutions provide immense benefits and stand to transform your enterprise’s growth efforts.

You can contact NS804 for inquiries and solutions on mobile app development.

 

Differences Between An iPhone App And An Apple Watch App

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The iOS ecosystem is not only about iPhones but also allows a developer to create the kind of Apple Watch app that will turn heads. But here’s the problem, Apple’s effective marketing machine has unintentionally convinced many that iOS apps are similar across iOS devices. However, that’s not true, and developers must ensure that they don’t fall into the trap of creating apps that don’t take advantage of each device’s unique features.

Due to its form factor, the Apple Watch has a far smaller screen than an iPhone. And thus, developers must take this into account and not try to shoehorn an iPhone app into the confines of an Apple Watch. Below, we go into greater detail about what developers should consider when building an Apple Watch app.

An Apple Watch App Should Show Key Data Points Clearly

Many consumers choose smartwatches over conventional watches due to how easily they can track their fitness levels. And the size of a typical smartwatch screen is large enough to display key health attributes effectively.

Take one of the leading fitness apps on iOS as an example. WorkOutDoors has some notable differences between the iPhone and Apple Watch versions. The iPhone app of WorOutDoors’s user interface (UI) has detailed maps, displays many workout routes, and includes a comprehensive list of settings.

However, that’s not the case with the accompanying smartwatch app, which has a far simpler UI. Key health data points, such as the miles traveled, kCal, and BPM, are displayed clearly with large fonts. A user can quickly digest this information with a casual glance at the smartwatch screen.

The Ideal Apple Watch App Offers The Most Relevant Features

Most iOS users utilize their iPhones or iPads for most of the things they want to do. Whether playing a game, online banking, or video conferencing, a smartphone or tablet works well for these purposes. On the other hand, the smartwatch is not a good option for these particular use cases.

So, when planning and developing a smartwatch app, always consider what features users will most likely use. Focus on the bare essentials, and only include any additional or ‘nice-to-have’ features in your accompanying iPhone app. But ensure that both your Apple Watch and iPhone apps synchronize correctly to provide your users with a rich and seamless experience.

Create Apps That Don’t Drain The Battery Quickly

While the Apple Watch is an impressive piece of technology, it has one notable flaw — it suffers from poor battery life. And users become easily frustrated with any apps that drain the battery quickly. Therefore, ensure that you follow Apple’s best practices and guidelines when developing your Apple Watch app.

And ensure that you’re making your app as lightweight as possible and utilizing native iOS development tools. Furthermore, if your app needs to run any background tasks, keep these to a minimum.

In Conclusion

The smartwatch has become incredibly popular over the past five years. And it’s easy to see why that is, considering all the benefits and features that smartwatches offer over conventional watches. Thus, it’s worthwhile developing a compelling Apple Watch app that takes advantage of its form factor and unique features. Contact NS804 to learn how we’ll help you create stunning iOS apps that will delight your users!

9 Signs Your Business Is Ready for a Custom App

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Most enterprises see a paradigm shift in their success when they build a website and provide more information and tools for their customers. However, some businesses may even see more success if they create a mobile app.

The adoption of mobile apps has accelerated business development in several frontiers – customer service, employee performance, operational efficiency, and productivity. The rising adoption of mobile apps by enterprises is due to the increasing smartphone ownership and higher internet penetration rates.

But how can you determine whether your business is ripe for a custom mobile app? And once you decide whether you’re ready for an app, how do you figure out what to put in the app? Below, NS804 lends its expertise to discuss clear signs that your business is ready for a custom app.

1. Business Development

If your business is facing declines, it’s a clear indication that you’re not engaging with your customers right and adapting to new trends. Businesses must consider adopting an app but only if it adds substantial business value. Today, mobile apps are being used to increase employee performance and productivity by optimizing business processes to improve outcomes and productivity. The business app empowers workers, enabling them to stay connected and obtain real-time insight in and outside the office. Business apps increase engagement, boost loyalty, retention, leading to improvements in business process development.

2. Competition is Adopting Apps

When your competitors are increasingly adopting apps, it indicates that times are changing and so should you. Look around at your competitors and you’ll realize that they more likely have an app. Customers and normal folks are becoming connected, underscoring the importance of a mobile app for your business. However, before developing a custom app for your business, ensure that it links to your website, has push notifications, and supports contact information.

3. Slow, Manual Processes

Humans are slow being with a limited capacity to collect and store information. However, machines present classic opportunities to run several tasks simultaneously and store huge chunks of information datasets in one place. If a company lacks resources to automate manual processes, it’s a clear sign it needs a mobile app. In addition, if the business keeps relying on outdated, archaic machines, equipment, and systems, it’s a clear sign it’s lagging in technology adoption. Businesses and organizations that still rely on outdated systems show a desire and the need for a custom mobile app.

4. Customers Struggle Accessing Your Brand

If a mobile app would give your customers greater access to your brand, then you need to invest in a custom app solution. An app is created to provide customers access to a portal for personalized services, at any place and time. An app translates to greater communication between the business and its prospects. So, if your business struggles connecting with prospective clients and customers, it’s a fool-proof sign that you need a custom mobile app.

5. Customers Would Benefit from Offline Access

Mobile apps have the benefit of being accessible even without an internet connection. That ensures they are functional even in situations where there’s simply no internet connection. Offline access is an essential element in giving users a better experience, and ensuring that users download and use your app. So, if your customers benefit from accessing the tools that you offer, information, profiles, content, and shopping, it’s a sign that you’re ready for a custom app.

Here are some customers who may benefit from an app that’s available offline:

  • Customers who are using your app for traveling purposes, such as traveling itinerary or looking for directions to a remote camping location
  • Impatient users who don’t want to depend on slow and unreliable internet connections to reap fast apps
  • Consumers and users based in rural and regional locations would highly benefit from offline apps because these locations have poor internet connections.
  • If your app is precise and offers a few target features or specifications, offline accessibility would be an easy model to deploy to customers. This means that customers would access every feature in your app without an internet connection.
  • Consumers who want to access diverse content such as blogs, eBooks, videos, music, and podcasts in transit. Spotify is an ideal app that can be accessed offline. In addition to how much internet streaming for long hours, it would take, think about internet connectivity on highways. Offline access makes sense where there’s a demand for internet streaming for prolonged hours.

Your business is ready for a custom app if your customers would benefit from offline access!

6. Market Gap to Fill

There are over 10 million apps in the market right now. So, with a staggering amount of digital resources available to consumers, it’s crucial to think about what your app idea can do that other apps cannot do. If there’s a market gap your business could fill with a custom app, it’s a sign that your business needs an app.

Case in point, following the Covid-19 pandemic, Walmart reinforced its e-commerce capabilities with a robust app model. This transformation was intended to overhaul the traditional e-commerce experience with a more modern, high-tech retail experience.

Walmart mobile app for iPhone and Android lets users browse products, search and buy merchandise in different locations. Walmart has achieved massive cost savings and optimized retail opportunities amid a crisis. So, if there’s a market gap you can bridge, it’s an indicator that your business needs a custom mobile app.

7. Siloed Information

Today, data is being used to optimize business processes and to provide the best use. Connected IoT devices offer the possibility for collecting harnessed data, processing, and drawing insight from stored data. However, traditional organizations have information stored in central databases that are managed by authorized personnel.

If you find yourself relying on centralized data points, it’s an indicator that your enterprise has not evolved with time, and you’re still relying on siloed information. Mobile apps extend the possibility of collecting information from different sources and distributing this information to several users. The interoperability (interconnectedness) of devices and systems ensures easier and faster information transfer, promoting collaboration and improving productivity.

8. Fewer Sales Channels

This is one of the reasons companies give for integrating mobile apps into their business models. Undoubtedly, mobile apps provide additional sales channels that companies can use to bolster their revenues. Mobile apps simplify the task of buying or acquiring customers. For instance, if a mobile app offers the possibility of paying for products without ordering or going out to the store, it can become an efficient solution for the sales channel.

9. Inefficient Communication with Customers

Traditional communication applications like Skype, WhatsApp, and Hangouts have been nifty for companies. However, sometimes transferring important information like reports and files to multiple users and managing minutes can be difficult with traditional applications. Not only is internal communication solved by mobile apps, but communication with customers and prospects is also made agile and faster. For instance, the ticket system can respond to incidents to avoid communication problems.

NS804 – Accelerating Your Mobile App Adoption

At NS804, we believe that knowing the difference between “necessary” and “useful” will enable you to decide whether you need to hire an app development company to simplify your process, or whether you want to do it alone. Identifying signs like manual processes, system upgrades, inaccessible information, and inefficient procurement methods indicate that your business needs a custom app.

You can contact NS804 for inquiries and solutions in custom mobile app development solutions.

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.

 

Android App Development: How To Store Data Locally

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There comes a time when every Android app developer will have to figure out how to store data locally. Fortunately, the Android development environment does provide all the tools for achieving this goal. 

But why would a developer want to store data locally? Aren’t more apps taking advantage of cloud storage lately? Yes, cloud storage has become commonplace and works incredibly well. However, it’s always a good idea to store your app’s settings, media files, and sensitive data locally in most cases. 

Since the Android developer documentation already provides guides and code samples for data storage, we won’t include any code snippets. On top of that, we’d need to show both Kotlin and Java examples, which would make this article unbearably long and complex for most readers. 

But what we’ll do is reveal how a developer can store data locally and cover this topic from several angles. It’s also preferable to have some background knowledge of the Android app development environment to follow along.

Various Ways To Store Data On Android

The beauty of Android’s file system is that it borrows much from existing disk-based file systems. Thus, it’s both easy-to-understand and versatile for several use cases. 

But don’t go rushing in without understanding the various data storage methods and when to use them. Here’s a brief rundown of how Android can save your app’s data: 

  • App-specific storage: Store data only meant for your app. It’s possible to store this data in an internal storage volume using dedicated directories or within external storage using different dedicated directories. 
  • Databases: With the Room persistence library, it’s possible to store data in a private database. 
  • Preferences: For storing private and primitive data within key-value pairs. 
  • Shared storage: Storing files that your app will share, such as documents and media files.

Data Storage Considerations

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, it’s time to shift focus. After all, not every data storage solution mentioned earlier is right for your project. And as an Android developer, you should be asking yourself several crucial questions, such as the following:

Can my app reliably access the data? 

That depends entirely on how your app functions. For example, you could be developing a visual novel that autosaves the user’s progression. Every time the user launches the app, they’ll want to continue playing from their latest save.

Therefore, the best place to place the autosave file is in internal storage, where the app can access it immediately and reliably. Storing this file in external storage, such as an SD card, isn’t reliable because the user may remove it at any time. So, when the user launches the app, it will either crash or notify that it can’t find the autosave file, ultimately ruining the play experience. 

How much space does my app need to store data? 

Always keep in mind the limits of internal storage. Even though newer Android smartphones come with a respectable amount of storage, many users still carry older devices with a severely limited amount of internal storage. 

Therefore, if your app’s data storage requirements exceed the limits of most commonly-used phones, then consider using external storage.

What type of data will I need to store for my app?  

If you need to store data that only your app will access, you should use app-specific storage. However, if you’re storing documents and media files, you’ll want to use shared storage so that other apps can access these also.

And if you need to store key-value data, you should use preferences, and for data containing more than two columns, use a database instead.

Understanding Storage Locations And Permissions

As mentioned earlier, Android devices come with internal storage and external storage. Although, the size of the latter varies depending on the capacity of the SD card or other storage device that the user decides to insert or plug into their Android device.

And the majority of apps get installed in internal storage, provided they are small enough in size. While Google Play has a 150MB size limit for apps, developers can exceed that limit when utilizing Android App Bundles, an advanced app distribution system. 

For apps that stick within the 150MB size limit, it’s best to store these in internal storage. And if you use the Files app on your Android device, you’ll see that ‘Installed apps’ and ‘System apps’ use the internal storage. But users can move apps from internal storage to external storage with a few simple clicks. And why users often do this is to clear up space on their devices for other tasks.

To store and manage data on Android devices, developers must use the following permissions: MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE, and WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE. 

And as of Android 11 (API level 30), the MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission allows write access to files outside MediaStore and the app-specific directory. In most use cases, apps no longer need to declare permissions. But developers should regularly read through the Android guides on how to manage the various file types, as methodologies often change with newer versions of the Android platform.

Know The Differences Between SQLite And Room

If your app needs to handle a large amount of structured data, you’ll want to use a database that utilizes internal storage. And you’ll also want to cache the data that’s most relevant to your app so that users can access it when they’re offline. However, it’s advisable to keep any cache files within the recommended size limit, preferably not exceeding 1MB. 

The good news is that the Android platform provides developers with two powerful tools for these purposes. Firstly, there’s SQLite, a database engine consisting of libraries that developers can embed in just about any app. And secondly, there’s Room, an abstraction layer that sits over SQLite and is a part of Android Jetpack’s libraries.

So, what does SQLite bring to the table that will benefit Android developers? It facilitates the creation of custom databases for developers knowledgeable in the Structured Query Language (SQL). And since Android provides complete support for SQLite from the get-go, most developers take advantage of this.

Renowned for its power and speed, SQLite is also a great choice if you require a comprehensive relational database. Also worth implementing if you anticipate that users will store data and run queries at regular intervals.

But what about Room, and why should developers use it when SQLite seems so effective? Google has made great strides in offering developers many handy tools as part of Android Jetpack. And for modern Android app development, every developer should consider using Kotlin and the Android Jetpack suite of libraries — and Room is one of those libraries.

Room offers the following advantages; annotations that reduce boilerplate code, simplified database migrations paths, and verification of SQL queries on compile-time. And due to these advantages, it’s recommended to use Room instead of directly utilizing the SQLite APIs.

The Bottom Line

Today, the Android app development environment is mature and offers developers many powerful tools. And these tools make it a relatively simple process to store data locally if it’s a requirement for your app to function as intended. 

Whether you need to store media files, sensitive information, or structured data, you have access to the tools and methodologies to do this properly. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you develop phenomenal Android apps with the best-in-class tools!