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How to Choose a Custom Mobile App Development Company?

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Documented evidence shows that mobile apps will likely generate $935 billion in revenues through paid downloads and in-app advertising. Needless to say, this statistic highlights the potential and growth trajectory of mobile apps. Businesses across all sectors leverage mobile apps to streamline processes, facilitate payments, and enhance productivity. Therefore, it’s important to develop your first app by choosing the right custom mobile app development company.

Importance of Custom Mobile Apps

In today’s digital landscape, having a mobile app is no longer a luxury but a crucial necessity and priority. Custom mobile apps provide tailored solutions that cater to specific business needs. In addition, mobile apps offer a personalized experience that off-the-shelf solutions often fail to achieve. They provide improved brand visibility, and better customer engagement, and enable businesses to collect crucial insights that they can use to improve their business processes. Furthermore, custom apps can seamlessly integrate with existing systems, ensuring business process efficiency.

Purpose of the Article

It’s crucial to note that choosing a custom mobile app development company is a critical decision that can significantly impact project success. This article aims to guide you through all the essential factors you must consider when selecting a development partner. From understanding pricing models to assessing technical expertise, we’ll provide you with a comprehensive roadmap that will help you make an informed decision.

Understanding Your Needs

Define Your Objectives

It’s important to clearly define your business goals and objectives before embarking on building an app. Start by identifying the primary purpose of your app. Are you aiming to provide a seamless experience by providing users a more immersive experience? Or are you seeking to improve your e-commerce experience by enhancing your customers’ shopping portfolio? Maybe the purpose of adopting a mobile app is to streamline internal processes, enhance operational efficiency, and improve communication. Once the app’s idea is clear, begin to define your target audience. Who will use the app? What are their expectations? Knowing these will help you make more informed decisions on the design and functionality of your app. This will further ensure that the final product drives business decisions and meets user needs.

Key Features and Functionalities

After defining your business objectives, proceed to state any key features and functionalities. Essential considerations could include user registration and login, search functionality, social media integration, push notifications, and secure payment options for e-commerce stores. However, for internal business apps, key features and functionalities may include data analytics, communication tools, and task management.

In addition, it’s crucial to consider the app’s scalability as well as possible updates. Remember that as your business grows, so should your app. Plan for the ability to add more new features, handle increased traffic, and integrate with emerging technologies. Ensuring your app can easily integrate with other systems and technologies will save time and resources in the long run. It will allow your app to evolve alongside your business.

Researching Potential Companies

Look for Experience and Expertise

When looking for a custom mobile app developer, start by looking at their experience and expertise. A company that has been there for several years is likely to have a portfolio and a proven track record and stability. Therefore, assess the type of projects they have successfully initiated and completed. Companies with a diverse portfolio across different industries demonstrate a wide range of skills as well as adaptability.

Specifically, consider whether they have experience and expertise in your industry. This is because industry-specific knowledge can significantly improve the relevance and quality of your app. For instance, a company that has developed multiple e-commerce apps will have valuable insights into user behavior, feature prioritization, and security concerns unique to that specific sector.

Review Portfolios

It’s crucial to thoroughly review a company portfolio. Evaluating their previous works provides valuable insights into their development techniques, technical capability, innovation, and aesthetics. Evaluate projects that are similar to your requirements. For instance, if you need a retail app, check whether they have built retail apps before. Pay close attention to the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design principles. Check their app’s functionality and app performance. A strong portfolio will showcase a company’s ability to deliver technically sound, user-friendly, and high-quality apps. Of special importance is to download and use some of the apps developed by these companies. This will give you a glimpse of what to expect from your app.

Check Client Reviews and Testimonials

Client reviews and testimonials offer valuable insights into user satisfaction and a company’s reputation. It’s advisable to research reputable platforms such as Clutch, Upwork, and Google reviews to know a company’s overall standing and reputation with clients. These reviews provide an unbiased perspective on the company’s strengths and weaknesses.

Additionally, it’s important to request references from past clients. Speaking directly to past clients allows you to ask detailed questions about their experience, including communication practices, adherence to deadlines, post-launch activities, and problem-solving abilities. High ratings and positive feedback are strong indicators of a company’s reliability and commitment to quality.

Technical Competence

Technology Stack

When evaluating the technical expertise of a mobile app development company, consider their familiarity with the latest technologies and frameworks. The tech stack chosen for your app can significantly affect its performance, speed, reliability, scalability, and compatibility with other apps and systems. A reputable company will demonstrate expertise working with modern tools and technologies such as Kotlin, Swift, Clutter, and React Native for IOS and Android app development.

The custom mobile app developer must also be able to advise on whether a cross-platform solution, developing one app for various platforms, or native development, developing different apps for different platforms, best suits your project needs. This will help balance factors like performance requirements, time to market, as well as budgetary constraints. The ability to identify and evaluate your business goals vis a vis your app’s requirements is a crucial factor in selecting a mobile app developer.

UI/UX Design

User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) are crucial factors to consider when developing a mobile app. A user-friendly design not only enhances usability but also drives user engagement and user satisfaction. It’s crucial to evaluate a company’s design capabilities through its past works or work history. Look for apps that exhibit intuitive design, visually appealing interfaces, and seamless interactions. The design must align with your brand identity and resonate with your target audience. Assess how the company integrates usability testing and user feedback into its development processes to refine and improve the app’s interface.

Quality Assurance and Testing

Quality assurance and usability testing are essential factors in the app’s development stages to ensure bug-free performance and overall reliability. Inquire about the company’s testing procedures and methodologies. They should conduct comprehensive testing across various devices, different network environments, and various operating systems, and resolve issues before launch.

It’s crucial to ask questions about their automated testing and manual testing processes. Of special importance is to inquire about their regression testing to maintain the app’s stability after updates. A custom mobile app development company that’s committed to quality improvement will always have mechanisms for feedback collection.

This further enables the developer to iterate and enhance the app based on evolving needs and real-life usage. Choosing a company with strong technical expertise and proficiency ensures that your app not only meets industry standards but exceeds them. In addition, this helps to deliver a seamless user experience and achieve business objectives effectively.

Communication and Collaboration

Transparency in Process

Effective communication begins with transparency about the development process. A reliable mobile app development company will provide sufficient information about project timelines and project deliverables. Moreover, the developer will outline the phases of the project and provide deadlines. Regular updates and progress reports ensure that you are informed about the project status and outcomes. In addition, this allows for timely adjustments and improved decision-making.

Responsiveness

The responsiveness of a development team is crucial for smooth collaboration. The development team must be accessible and proactive in their communication; they must promptly address issues and concerns. A responsive team demonstrates a commitment to client satisfaction and demonstrates a willingness to attend to revisions and feedback throughout the development cycle. This flexibility in communication and feedback ensures that the final product aligns with the client’s vision and goals and ensures the product meets business requirements effectively.

Cultural and Time Zone Compatibility

Collaborating across different time zones may present challenges if not managed effectively. It’s advisable to choose a development company that demonstrates ease in working in different time zones. This will ensure that communication and project workflows remain consistent across different timelines. Understanding your business culture is also important as it ensures alignment between your development goals and the team’s approach. A company that values cultural compatibility will integrate seamlessly into your organization’s workflow. This will further foster a collaborative and productive partnership.

Budget and Pricing

Understanding Cost Structures

When evaluating budgeting and pricing with a mobile app development company, cost structures are an important factor to consider. Companies offer pricing quotations based on either hourly rates or a fixed price. A fixed cost provides clarity on the upfront cost of the project. However, an hourly rate can be more flexible for projects with evolving requirements. Therefore, it’s crucial to clarify what’s in the pricing. It’s important to clarify whether the price covers design, ongoing maintenance, testing, or development. Understanding these pricing components helps you budget effectively. It also helps avoid unexpected costs during and after development.

Value for Money

While cost is a significant development factor, it’s important to consider the value for money offered by the developer. Balancing cost with quality ensures that you get a high-quality product that meets your business requirements and user expectations. Choosing the cheapest option may lead to compromises in design, performance, speed, and post-launch support.

Choosing the cheapest option may potentially affect the app’s success and longevity. Instead, it’s advisable to prioritize a custom mobile app development company that offers competitive prices while showcasing a strong portfolio, positive reviews, and technical competence. It’s important to note that investing in a reputable development partner often yields long-term outcomes. It leads to higher satisfaction levels and fewer risks for both the client and app users.

Post-Launch Support

Maintenance and Updates

Post-launch support is important for your app’s long-term success. A reliable app development partner will offer ongoing support and maintenance to ensure your app remains relevant and secure. This includes regular updates to adapt to ongoing software upgrades, feature enhancements, and security patches. The development company must have robust procedures in place to handle and resolve issues promptly. These include issues that may arise post-launch, thus minimizing downtime and ensuring a smooth user experience.

Scalability

Scalability is another crucial aspect of post-launch support. As your business grows and user demands evolve, your app must be able to accommodate increased traffic and new features seamlessly without compromising on its original functionality. A forward-thinking custom mobile app development company will design the app’s architecture with scalability in mind. Most importantly, this will allow for easy integration with other apps or features without major disruptions to the app’s function. Future-proofing your app involves identifying and recognizing the possibility of future needs and technology trends. In addition, this ensures your investment in app development continues to provide value. Future-proofing ensures that your app remains competitive.

Why Choose NS804? Your Custom Mobile App Development Partner

Experience and Portfolio

NS804 boasts a diverse portfolio of different companies across several industries: finance, education, healthcare, retail, and commerce. With exceptional experience in custom mobile app development, NS804 has delivered innovative solutions that have enhanced client operations and customer engagements. In addition, client satisfaction and positive reviews highlight NS804’s commitment to excellence as well as customer satisfaction. Satisfied clients praise NS804 for their communication, professionalism, and ability to deliver projects within budget and on time.

Commitment to Quality and Support

NS804 prioritizes quality throughout the development cycle – from initial conception to post-launch support. As a custom mobile app development company, the firm adheres to rigorous development practices, ensuring quality and compliance. In addition, the company is committed to continuous improvement, building apps that meet the highest standards of quality, reliability, security, and usability. NS804 dedication to ongoing support means they are committed to maintaining and enhancing your app long after its launch. Notably, this provides peace of mind and ensures continued success.

Contact NS804 today to bring your app’s vision to reality.

Custom Mobile App Development: How To Benefit From The Latest Trends

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As a forward-looking business leader, you want to utilize mobile technologies to put your organization in the lead. But where do you begin with all the options currently available — do you pick an off-the-shelf solution or venture forth with custom mobile app development? 

The first option seems cheaper and hassle-free since you can use the product soon after registering your account. But with the latter option, a custom-built app will require a significant commitment from you, which will involve an initial cost outlay and consultation time with a mobile development studio.

Considering the mere accessibility of the first option, it should be the way to go, right? That may be the case if you only have a surface-level view of your organization’s short-term and long-term requirements. 

For example, you may be running a startup with a limited budget, so an affordable off-the-shelf solution suits your needs now. But how robust is this solution when you decide to scale your business or require features that this solution doesn’t offer? Will you jump to another ready-made solution to fill these gaps, or do you opt for a mobile app custom-built to your exact requirements? 

If you end up with several off-the-shelf solutions, you’ll add complexity to your organization’s existing tech infrastructure. Furthermore, your staff will require training to use these additional apps. While this isn’t necessarily bad, it’s seldom possible to train staff when you need them to perform mission-critical tasks required for the smooth functioning of your organization.  

Fortunately, you can do away with these issues by embracing custom mobile app development. Your organization will enjoy several key benefits from the latest trends custom-built apps bring forth, which we’ll discuss below.  

Custom Mobile App Development Solves Problems Exclusive To Your Business

Primarily, you want to approach custom mobile app development to solve problems that exclusively impact your business. Off-the-shelf solutions seldom do this because they attempt to solve issues affecting organizations in general. Since your business is unique, you can’t always rely on tools that all your competitors are using. 

Let’s assume you’re operating a chain of bakeries that use wood-fired ovens. But all your competitors are using either commercial electric or gas-powered ovens. Thus, how you stock your inventory and prepare your baked goods will differ significantly from competing stores and chains. 

The unique methodologies in preparing your goods will inevitably impact your tech infrastructure. You may need to create an inventory management mobile app to keep track of your stock levels based on your dough preparation and baking rates. Since your wood-fired ovens require skilled artisans to operate and bake slower than electric or gas ovens, your custom-built management app will work with this scenario.

If you had to use a similar solution to your competitors, you’d end up over-ordering or under-ordering on the wrong days. And this would impact the efficiency and profitability of your chain of bakeries. 

But why create a custom-built inventory management mobile app when you could go with a desktop or web-based solution? A mobile app is often the better choice since all your employees have mobile devices and will be in different areas of your stores. Your chief baker can check inventory and place orders without leaving the bakery floor, especially if a desktop PC isn’t available here. 

A Custom-Built Mobile App Offers Stellar Data Security

Not a day goes by without a major data security breach making the news. Sadly, the world’s most popular websites and cloud services are usually at the front lines of these data breaches. Whether it’s Alibaba’s leak of 1.1 billion chunks of user information or Microsoft’s Azure cybersecurity breach impacting executive accounts, no mainstream online product is safe from hackers.

But where does that leave mobile apps; are they safer? Yes, mobile apps are often safer if users download them directly from the App Store or Google Play. Both app stores have raised the bar on what they expect from developers regarding app security, user data, and privacy. However, unscrupulous developers and bad actors still manage to publish dubious apps on these stores, which poses a significant security risk to users. 

The good news is that custom mobile app development allows you to lock down your security on all fronts. And enjoy peace of mind due to having a higher level of app security than any off-the-shelf solution can offer your organization. Moreover, you can integrate your custom-built app with a hybrid or private cloud service, giving you considerable control and data protection. 

Take Advantage Of The Latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) Trends

Trailblazing large language models (LLMs) like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini are integral to the modern AI landscape. There’s a good reason for this since these LLMs radically improve the productivity and efficiency of users and organizations. And like all modern organizations, you want to take advantage of these LLMs if you haven’t done so already. 

All the most popular LLMs offer application programming interfaces (APIs) that integrate with desktop, mobile, and web apps. So, you can easily tap into the power of these LLMs without requiring expensive hardware or knowing the minutest details of how these language models work. All your staff needs to do is learn how to enter prompts that will output the desired results from the LLMs you’ve integrated.

It’s also possible to build custom mobile apps that don’t use prompts but rely on other forms of user interaction, such as voice and context-based inputs. If you embark on custom mobile app development, consult a reputable studio like NS804 to help you plan and implement these inputs to suit your needs along with LLM integration.

Improve Staff Productivity With A Custom-Built Mobile App

Since you’re the leader of your organization, there’s no one better placed to understand your staff. You know how productive they are, their workflows, and what motivates them to perform at their best. You also know who the team players are and who are unengaged. 

Ideally, you want your unengaged staff to step up by emulating the behavior of your best employees. But that largely depends on how well you convey your organization’s culture, expectations, and goals. Leading by example and initiating discussions with staff members who are lagging behind will also help.

Even if you take all these actions, your staff still needs the right tools to produce optimal results. If you’re relying on a mix of disparate apps from different vendors, you’re making things more difficult for your staff. And that’s because they’ll have to contend with differing user interfaces (UIs), workflows, and app usability.  

Worse still, you’ll often encounter one or two apps within your suite of apps that create bottlenecks. These bottlenecks may be due to apps with poor performance, lack of updates, and unsupported features, ultimately making them redundant. Nevertheless, your organization can adopt a better app strategy by creating one or more custom-built apps that address all bottlenecks your organization currently deals with.

Thus, approach custom mobile app development with the intent to offer the features and workflows that will help keep all your staff members productive. Moreover, ensure all your custom-built mobile apps are fully compatible and integrate with your existing tech. In time, you can consolidate all the most crucial features into a singular mobile app, reducing complexity and maintenance costs.

Custom Mobile App Development Enhances Business Competitiveness

World-renowned brands like Domino’s Pizza, IKEA, and Nike rely on custom mobile app development. Also, NS804 has delivered custom-built solutions for leading brands like CarLotz, Dominion Energy, and Luck Stone. All these brands understand that custom-built apps offer them an unprecedented amount of control, efficiency, and security.

Another reason custom mobile app development is popular with brands is that it helps them stay competitive. They prefer using bespoke apps that align fully with their needs and goals instead of relying on off-the-shelf solutions that have little to do with their businesses. It’s not that brands will never use the latter, but tailor-made solutions will always play a central role due to their holistic design and implementation. 

But how can a custom-built mobile app give your organization a competitive edge? If your organization is a startup or a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), you’ll have a tool designed specifically for your business processes. That won’t be the case for most of your competitors who opt for off-the-shelf solutions, as these won’t adequately cover all their day-to-day operations.

Increase Customer Engagement And Satisfaction

While custom-built mobile apps usually address internal business needs, you should also consider customer-facing scenarios. Nowadays, most existing and potential customers will seldom visit your website unless you have an e-commerce store or are regularly running special offers. So, you’ll need to consider a more effective avenue to reach and engage customers if your online presence isn’t having an impact.

An effective way to form a more meaningful relationship with your customers is with a custom mobile app. The app must make it easy for customers to learn about your products and services and receive round-the-clock assistance via AI-assisted chatbots. 

To make it easy for them to make purchases, ensure that you integrate the most popular payment gateways into your mobile app. Apple allows third-party payment processors for iOS apps distributed in the European Union (EU) as of March 2024. Android developers enjoy more freedom in this regard, as they can integrate leading platforms like 2checkout, Stripe, and WePay for most territories. 

Your customers will use mobile devices with different aspect ratios and screen sizes, and a growing number will use Android flip phones. Obviously, supporting these various screen configurations complicates matters from a development standpoint. But you want to give all your customers a satisfactory user experience (UX), and that’s only possible by implementing responsive design so that your mobile app adjusts its UI for each target device.

But to substantially increase your customer-facing app’s engagement, consider integrating the most favored social media platforms. Make it child’s play for your customers to share all the coolest products and services you offer across all their favorite social media accounts. Furthermore, this will help build awareness for your brand and its offerings without any marketing cost for your organization.

Connect With The Surrounding World More Effectively

The increased adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices offers businesses of all sizes countless opportunities to boost efficiency. IoT devices come in all forms, such as affordable single-board computers (SBCs), industrial sensors, and even security systems. The best part is that you can build an app that can communicate with all these devices and even automate specific tasks.

Now, consider a practical application for your organization’s office management procedures. You want to keep track of staff activities in the office related to their attendance, interactions, and movements. Why you should do this is to ensure that your office facilitates a safe and productive work environment. 

While you can spend weeks or months monitoring the office environment in person, you can gather more meaningful data by installing IoT devices in the right places. These include an automated attendance clock, desk sensors, and room occupancy monitoring devices. Then, your custom-built office management app will draw data from all these devices and provide you with real-time analytics.

With this data-driven approach, you can quickly pinpoint troublespots in your office layout and even identify errant employees. And with all custom mobile app development endeavors, you can add additional features when required. For example, you’ve identified that staff members spend their lunch breaks at the office lounge and avoid the cafeteria. 

You could remodel the cafeteria to make it more appealing. Alternatively, you can install vending machines in the office lounge to dispense drinks and snacks. And make it easy for employees to make purchases by introducing near field communication (NFC) payment via a newly-introduced feature in your office management app.

The Bottom Line

Custom mobile app development is the way forward for all businesses that want to perform at their best, especially when presented with harsh economic conditions. A custom-built app is designed to exclusively serve your organization’s structure, goals, and business processes. It’s never a one-size-fits-all approach like many popular off-the-shelf apps that usually run on a Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription model. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you build a custom app to help you stay ahead in your industry!

10 Kinds of Mobile Apps with Artificial Intelligence

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Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that simulates human intelligence in machines to help machines perform certain tasks that require human intelligence. For instance, these tasks may include learning, decision-making, and problem-solving. In the context of mobile applications, AI is revolutionizing how users interact and adapt to their apps. This is achieved by building apps that can communicate, interact, and engage with the end user, all while responding diligently to user requests and input preferences.

Artificial intelligence in mobile apps captures a wide range of domains. For instance, these domains include: voice recognition, natural language processing, predictive analytics, computer vision, and machine learning. These technologies enable mobile apps to learn user behavior, interpret complex data, and make decisions.

Importance of Artificial Intelligence in Enhancing Mobile App Experiences

Artificial intelligence has improved the performance of mobile apps, delivering unprecedented levels of convenience, usability, and personalization. Some of the key ways artificial intelligence enhances mobile app experiences include:

Personalization

AI analyzes user behavior, interactions, and preferences to deliver personalized content, services, and recommendations. AI-powered mobile apps adapt to individual user preferences, making the user experience more engaging. Whether it’s suggesting workouts, curating menus, or recommending relevant products and services.

Predictive insights

AI enables apps to anticipate user needs and tailor proactive solutions. By analyzing past behavior and contextual data, AI-powered mobile apps can predict user behavior, automate tasks, suggest next steps, and streamline user experience. All while saving valuable time for other tasks.

Natural language understanding

Natural language processing algorithms enable mobile apps to understand and respond to human language inputs like text inputs, voice commands, and conversational interactions. Virtual assistants like Google Assistant and Siri leverage natural language processing algorithms to understand and respond to human language inputs and commands. This offers an intuitive and natural interaction model.

Enhanced functionality

AI enables mobile apps to perform functions and tasks that were once impractical. From image recognition and real-time translation to augmented reality and sentiment analysis. AI-powered features expand the capabilities of mobile apps, allowing them to address a broader range of user scenarios and needs.

Continuous improvement

Machine learning algorithms allow mobile apps to learn and improve based on user feedback and data insight. AI-powered apps can adapt to changing user preferences, technological advancements, and market trends. This is done by iteratively refining their algorithms and models. By its adaptive model of continuous improvement ensures that the user experience remains valuable and relevant.

10 Kinds of Mobile App with Artificial Intelligence

1. Personal Assistant Apps

Personal assistant apps have become commonplace on mobile devices. Their popularity is fueled by their ability to offer users a more convenient way to interact with smartphones, perform certain tasks, or access certain information through voice commands and text inputs. Examples of popular personal assistant apps include Google Assistant by Google, Siri by Apple, and Cortana by Microsoft.

These apps serve as virtual assistants, capable of performing a wide range of tasks, including sending messages, setting reminders, checking the weather, searching the web, and making calls. They utilize AI technologies such as natural language processing, machine learning, and speech recognition. This is done to understand voice commands and message inputs.

How AI Powers These Apps to Understand and Respond to User Requests

AI lies at the core of personal assistant apps, allowing them to understand and respond to user requests intelligently.

Here’s how AI powers personal assistant apps:

  • Natural language processing. Personal assistant apps leverage natural language processing to analyze and understand human language inputs, including voice commands and text inputs. These algorithms parse the syntax and semantics of user queries. They extract keywords, phrases, and entities to infer user intent accurately.
  • Machine learning. Personal assistant apps utilize machine learning algorithms to improve their understanding and response over time. These apps can learn to recognize speech patterns, understand context, and predict user intent more accurately. This is done by analyzing vast amounts of user data, including past interactions, preferences, and behavior patterns.
  • Speech recognition. AI-powered speech recognition algorithms allow personal assistant apps to transcribe words accurately into text. These algorithms can recognize and differentiate accents, languages, and dialects. They allow users to communicate with their devices effectively through voice commands.
  • Contextual understanding. AI-powered apps allow devices to interpret user queries within the appropriate context. They do this by taking into account factors such as time of the day, location, and user history. This contextual understanding allows the apps to provide more relevant and personalized responses, enhancing the overall user experience.

3. Virtual Health Assistants

AI-powered health apps have emerged as valuable tools for individuals willing to check and monitor their health and wellness. Additionally, these apps leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence to provide personalized insights, recommendations and support across a wide range of healthcare spectrum. They offer users convenient access to health information, monitoring capabilities, and proactive interventions. This helps empower users to take control of their well-being.

Features of Virtual Health Assistants

Symptom checker

AI-powered health apps often include symptom checker functionalities. These functionalities allow users to input their symptoms and receive potential diagnoses or recommendations. These apps rely on machine learning algorithms fetched from a large medical dataset to analyze symptoms. These algorithms further help determine severity and provide guidance on the next steps, such as seeking medical attention or self-care measures.

Medication reminders

Most AI-powered health apps come with medication reminders to help users adhere to their medication regimen. These apps send reminders based on individual medication schedules, dosage instructions, and refill dates. They help reduce the risk of missed doses and medication errors.

Fitness tracking

AI-powered health apps often include fitness tracking capabilities. These capabilities enable users to monitor their exercise routine, physical fitness, and overall fitness levels. These apps may utilize wearable devices or built-in sensors to track metrics such as calories burnt, heart rate, steps taken, and sleep patterns. AI algorithms analyze this data to provide insight into users’ activity levels, progress toward fitness goals, and recommendations for optimizing their workouts or lifestyle habits.

3. AI-Powered Navigation Apps

Navigation apps have emerged more significantly with the integration of artificial intelligence to provide users with more accurate and efficient route guidance. These apps utilize AI algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data, including real-time conditions, historical traffic patterns, and road closures. These apps provide users with the fastest and most reliable directions.

AI-powered navigation apps leverage machine learning techniques to continuously learn and adapt to changing traffic conditions, environmental factors, and user preferences. By processing and interpreting this data in real time, these apps can dynamically adjust routes, and predict traffic congestion. These apps offer alternative paths to help users reach their destinations with ease.

Benefits of AI in Improving Navigation Accuracy and Efficiency

Enhanced Accuracy

AI-powered navigation apps utilize advanced algorithms to analyze and interpret complex data. This leads to more accurate and reliable route guidance. By considering factors such as traffic conditions, road infrastructure, and user behavior, these apps can provide precise directions tailored to individual needs and preferences.

Improved Efficiency

By providing real-time traffic updates and optimizing routes, AI-powered navigation apps help users save time and fuel. This helps minimize vehicle emissions and reducing travel time. In addition, users can avoid unnecessary delays and congestion, resulting in more efficient and environmentally friendly transportation.

Enhanced User Experience

AI-powered navigation apps offer a seamless and intuitive user experience. They do this with features such as interactive maps, voice-guided navigation, and personalized recommendations. These apps make it easy for users to navigate unfamiliar territories, explore points of interest, and plan for multi-stop trips. They help enhance the overall travel experience.

4. Language Learning Apps

Language learning apps have undergone a massive transformation following the infusion of artificial intelligence. These apps offer learners personalized and adaptive learning experiences tailored to their individual needs and proficiency levels. Language learning apps leverage AI algorithms to track progress, analyze user behavior, track progress, and deliver targeted content that’s designed to optimize learning outcomes.

AI-powered language learning apps use machine learning techniques to adapt to each learner’s learning style, pace, and preferences, offering personalized learning to each student or learner. These apps can dynamically adjust lesson plans, provide customized feedback, and recommend supplementary resources. They do this by simply analyzing data such as performance metrics, user interactions, and proficiency levels.

5. AI-Enhanced Photo Editing Apps

Photo-editing apps have evolved with the integration of artificial intelligence, offering users the ability to edit apps with unprecedented ease and precision. These apps leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning, and AI algorithms to analyze images, identify scenes and objects, and automatically apply enhancement and corrections to achieve professionally-quality results.

AI-enhanced photo editing apps employ a wide range of techniques, including image recognition, semantic segregation, and neural style transfer to streamline and automate the editing process. By analyzing vast amounts of datasets and learning from professional editing techniques, these apps can intelligently enhance photos and provide users with creative tools to express their artistic vision.

6. AI-Powered Virtual Shopping Assistants

Virtual shopping assistants leverage AI to provide users with personalized recommendations, guidance, and support. These AI-powered assistants analyze user preferences, browsing behavior, and purchase history. Essentially, they mimick the role of an in-store shop associate in the digital realm.

By using predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms, virtual shopping assistants can understand individual user preferences. Additionally, they can identify browsing patterns, and anticipate user needs and preferences. These assistants use this information to recommend products that align with users’ tastes, preferences, and needs. In short, they enhancing the relevance and effectiveness of product recommendations.

7. AI-Based Financial Management Apps

AI-based financial management apps revolutionize the way people manage their finances by using artificial intelligence to provide personalized budgeting, financing, and savings advice. These apps analyze users’ spending data, income sources, and financial goals to offer tailored advice and recommendations aimed at improving the users’ financial health.

AI-based financial management apps utilize predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms to forecast future cash flows, identify trends in spending behavior, and optimize budget allocations to help users achieve their financial goals. These apps may also provide investment advice based on users’ investment objectives, risk tolerance, and market trends, enabling them to make informed decisions about their finances and investments.

8. AI-Driven Entertainment Apps

Entertainment apps have optimized artificial intelligence to deliver personalized and immersive listening experiences to users. These AI-driven apps leverage sophisticated algorithms to analyze user preferences, and user behavior, enabling them to recommend content, customize experiences, and enhance engagement across various forms of entertainment, including video streaming, music streaming, and gaming.

By harnessing data analytics and machine learning techniques, AI-driven entertainment apps can understand users’ tastes and preferences, enabling them to curate personalized content recommendations, tailor user interfaces, and optimize user experiences. These apps strive to create a more engaging and enjoyable entertainment ecosystem by leveraging AI to anticipate and fulfill entertainment needs and preferences.

9. AI-Powered Security Apps

AI-powered security apps leverage artificial intelligence to help with threat detection and intrusion prevention, safeguarding users’ digital information and sensitive financial information against cyberattacks or unauthorized access. These AI-powered technologies employ advanced algorithms to detect anomalies, analyze patterns, and identify potential security threats, enabling proactive mitigation measures and ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of users’ data.

By using natural language processing, machine learning techniques, and behavioral analysis, AI-powered security apps can identify emerging threats and detect suspicious activities. These apps provide users with comprehensive security solutions that combine malware detection, threat intelligence, encryption control, and encryption, and access control to protect digital assets and identities.

10. AI-Powered Mental Health Apps

Mental health apps leveraging artificial intelligence have emerged as valuable tools for providing emotional support and cognitive therapy to individuals coping with mental health problems. These apps offer a wide range of features and functionalities tailored to individuals suffering from mental health problems, including stress management, mood tracking, cognitive behavioral therapy, and personalized interventions.

By using AI models and algorithms, AI-powered mental health apps can analyze users’ behaviors and emotions, and provide personalized recommendations, coping strategies, and therapeutic interventions tailored to their unique needs. These apps offer a convenient and accessible way for individuals to manage their mental health and track their progress over time.

What’s The Future of AI-Powered Mobile Apps?

Looking ahead, it’s clear that the future of AI-enabled mobile experiences is boundless. As AI technologies continue to evolve and mature, we expect to see even more innovative advancements and innovations in mobile app development. From more sophisticated personalization and predictive capabilities to seamless integration with IoT and augmented reality (AR) experiences. AI-driven mobile apps will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible, revolutionizing the way we talk, work, communicate, interact, and entertain ourselves on the go.

NS804 – Delivering Superior, AI-Powered Apps

NS804 is a leading provider of custom-built mobile app solutions. The company understands the changing landscape of mobile app development and offers superior AI-powered apps designed to suit your business needs. Whether you’re a small start-up or a large organization seeking a robust app with AI capabilities, we have you covered. We offer superior, excellent, and affordable mobile app solutions that are tailored to your individual needs. Our commitment to service excellent and unwavering dedication to customer service ensures that we offer a timeless app that solves real problems.

Contact us today for inquiries and questions about our AI-powered mobile apps.

Mobile App Development Mistakes: Impact Of Choosing The Wrong Developer

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One of the costliest and most disastrous mobile app development mistakes you could make is to hire the wrong developer. Unfortunately, it’s an easy trap to fall into, given the plethora of app studios and freelancers vying for your projects. These entities will try to convince you they can complete your projects quickly and cost-effectively. 

In some cases, this is true, yet it’s the more established and experienced developers who make good on these promises. You can check if they’re up to the task if they have a comprehensive portfolio of completed projects, positive customer feedback, and even acquired awards for their work. Established mobile app developers like NS804 tick all these boxes, as we’ve built a reputation for creating phenomenal apps for our clients and have the acclaim to prove it. 

However, many developers are not in our position and are willing to oversell to secure client work. While we can all understand why they do this — it’s not in your best interests to work with them — and here’s why. 

With freelance developers, many are in the process of learning fundamental skills and building up their portfolios. It’s common for newcomers to follow several Udemy app development courses and then set up an account on Fiverr to sell their services to unsuspecting clients. These individuals are neither professionals nor comprehend software development best practices.

Then, many overseas and fly-by-night studios offer competitive rates but have poor code quality and less-than-stellar support. The potential cost savings, if any, will lead to a frustrating and stressful app development experience. As a busy appreneur or business leader — you don’t want this — so avoid the following mobile app development mistakes listed below.

 

USE OUR APP COST CALCULATOR TO ESTIMATE THE COST TO BUILD YOUR APP!

 

Misunderstanding The App Industry Leads To Costly Mobile App Development Mistakes

About a decade ago, anyone with rudimentary coding skills could release a fun and quirky application in the app stores. The barrier of entry was so low that bedroom coders and startups released tons of apps at negligible cost. Of course, the quality of these apps was often questionable, but these early efforts helped developers earn money and stardom. 

Most app users during that era were willing to put up with subpar apps since smartphones felt novel. Thus, they would download and try out the latest apps regularly, which created a near-endless demand for new apps. But the allure would fade since too many cruddy apps started ruining the user experience. 

Eventually, users became picky about what apps to install and soon lost interest in low-quality or uninspired efforts. Smartphones and tablets also became more standardized, leading to a homogenized look, feel, and feature set among brands. While consumers never truly lost interest in smartphones and apps, they did lose some excitement. But this is not necessarily bad, as it signals a maturing market. 

Sadly, many who wish to enter the app industry today haven’t fathomed these changes. They assume that the barrier of entry is still low and that a simple app developed in a few days or weeks could lead to vast fortunes. 

They haven’t considered the increased demand for quality from users and the app stores. App development today requires testing, a better user experience (UX), and a greater focus on marketing. Then, there’s the high cost and effort associated with user acquisition (UA), which is unavoidable in today’s super competitive app marketplaces. Therefore, it’s better to partner with a reputable studio to help you navigate the app industry as it is today. 

The App Stores Have Raised The Bar To Deter The Wrong Developers

Apple and Google don’t mess about when it comes to increasing trust with users. Both tech giants have taken bold and long-needed steps to diminish the number of low-quality apps from reaching the App Store and Google Play. They’ve long been aware of the glut of buggy, poorly developed, and opportunistic cash grabs filling their app stores.

Besides, many apps from unscrupulous developers also pose significant security risks, which have no place in app marketplaces. There’s always been a troubling amount of apps with malware and trojans available that unsuspecting users download onto their devices. Considering that many users do banking on their smartphones, these infected apps threaten their financial security and privacy. 

One of the most detrimental mobile app development mistakes you could make is to hire such a developer on a lark. The damage to your reputation and business would be monumental, not to mention the legal action against you from users. The developer you hire may not even be malicious but overlooks potential security vulnerabilities that could lead to a similar outcome.

Due to these issues, Apple and Google have constantly improved security measures in their respective app stores, operating systems, and software development kits (SDKs). But they’ve also raised the bar on what they expect from developers with tighter regulations. 

A good example is Google Play’s recent requirements for new Android app developers and those with personal accounts. These developers must have 20 or more people test their apps for at least two weeks before release. Understandably, many developers are venting their frustrations on Reddit and attempting to build test groups on Discord. But studios that have set up effective mobile app testing pipelines won’t face any issues with compliance.

Mobile App Development Mistakes Due To Unsuitable Tooling

You may work with a developer who uses no-code tools to build your app. The developer may insist on using such tools due to the increased speed they offer or because they lack programming experience. Either way, this isn’t necessarily a good idea, as no-code platforms often introduce performance bottlenecks.

While newer no-code app builders offer performance improvements, they still don’t produce apps that hold up to native-developed apps. And if your brand’s reputation hangs on the quality of your app, you shouldn’t cut corners. Work with a studio like NS804, renowned for building apps using native languages like Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android. 

The snappy performance, consistency, and native user interface (UI) make the additional cost and effort to produce native apps worthwhile. It’s also much easier to debug, test, and scale native-built apps than those made with no-code solutions. 

One of the drawbacks of no-code solutions is that they’re rather esoteric and often made by smaller niche tool developers. Thus, documentation, code examples, and support are not on the same level as that provided by Apple and Google. It’s also harder to find tutorials and other training materials from third parties and online teaching platforms. 

Should you want to update or scale your app at a later stage and be unable to work with the same developer, you’ll be out of luck. You will need to rewrite your app entirely from scratch, preferably in a native programming language, to avoid this same issue in the future. You can diminish the potential for mobile app development mistakes by ensuring the developer you hire uses the tooling, programming languages, and best practices recommended by Apple and Google.

The Wrong Developer Relies Heavily On ChatGPT

You’ve probably heard of ChatGPT and the impact of the artificial intelligence (AI) platform on programming and other disciplines. As a tool to help developers write boilerplate code and conjure up solutions, it’s a fantastic time saver. But as some kind of silver bullet for developing complex, robust, and mission-critical apps, the answer is not so straightforward.

While ChatGPT can make all types of apps, even complex ones, it won’t necessarily deliver the best and most solid apps. That partly depends on how well the developer understands ChatGPT’s large language model (LLM) and what prompts to enter. Then, the developer’s comprehension of the code that ChatGPT generates also comes into play. 

If the developer can understand, tweak, and implement the code to fit the app project, the results will impress while cutting costs. But if the developer hasn’t taken the time to learn the nuances of ChatGPT, it will have the opposite effect. It’s also crucial that the developer has a good comprehension of the programming languages used in development, especially after the introduction of new updates and standards. 

Nevertheless, the developer should have the skills to complete apps without ChatGPT or any other AI platform. An overreliance on these platforms isn’t ideal, as the developer must know and trust the codebase. As impressive as these AI platforms have become, they don’t always generate the right solutions.

So, never trust a developer who relies exclusively on these AI platforms to make your app. Or a developer who gives a single glance over the AI-generated code before inserting it into your app during production. And you certainly don’t want your banking or internal business app to have code that hasn’t been thoroughly inspected and tested.

Partnering With A Developer With Little Mobile App Development Experience

It’s not uncommon for developers to jump across industries for various reasons. For example, web developers often become disenchanted with building websites and decide to try their hand at mobile app development. They may assume this route will be more fun or earn them more money. 

While web developers possess several skills used in mobile app development, it’s not always a smooth transition. App development is often more challenging than web development due to the differing hardware considerations and increasing requirements imposed by the app stores. The Android platform alone requires that developers test on a wide variety of devices, while web developers only need to test their websites on several browsers. 

Web developers use languages like JavaScript, PHP, HTML, and CSS to build websites. While it’s possible to develop mobile apps with JavaScript, it’s not a first-class citizen and will seldom deliver the performance of native languages. Another shocker for web developers is the higher costs and more involved procedures associated with app development. 

If you’re considering hiring a web developer who has recently transitioned to mobile app development, think twice before proceeding. You don’t want to work with someone likely to make common mobile app development mistakes. It’s also unlikely that this developer has enough expertise or understands the nuances between Android and iOS.

Instead, opt for an established app development studio that has dedicated Android and iOS developers on the team. You’ll have the peace of mind that your app builds will be equally good on both platforms. And when you need to roll out updates and patches, you have a team on hand to do the heavy lifting.

 

SCHEDULE A CONSULTATION WITH AN APP DEVELOPMENT EXPERT TO GET A CUSTOMIZED QUOTE!

 

Working With A Developer Lacking The Necessary Resources

Mobile app development is not cheap, so every competent developer must have the necessary resources to complete their projects. These resources include the funds, staff, office space, hardware, and development tools available to the developer. If the developer lacks these, they won’t be a good candidate for your next project.

But how can you tell if the developer has the necessary resources to tackle your project? It’s not possible to know every aspect of the developer’s business, but there are a few tell-tale signs you should look out for. 

Check if the developer operates from an office that you can visit if you’re nearby. If you can stop by the developer’s premises to meet the team and discuss your project, that’s a positive sign. And if the team lead gives you a tour of the office and a rundown of the development process, that’s extra reassuring. A well-run and properly equipped development studio means you’re dealing with a credible developer. 

But be sure to ask the developer what contingency plans they have in place should they fall behind schedule. Consider all scenarios that may cause delays, including outages, app store policy changes, API updates, staff turnover, testing issues, etc. Mobile app development mistakes often happen when teams haven’t prepared for unforeseen events or allocated the relevant resources to deal with these issues.

In Conclusion

Mobile app development mistakes often happen when dealing with inexperienced or incompetent developers. But you can avoid regretful outcomes by working with an experienced and established studio that has built a reputation for delivering high-quality apps. Contact NS804 today to learn why we’re one of the best app developers in Richmond, Charlotte, Denver, and beyond! 

Mobile App Developers In Charlotte, NC

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Charlotte, in North Carolina, is a populous and exciting city. It currently has a population of approximately 899,000 inhabitants and is ranked as the third fastest-growing city in the United States. Not bad, considering it had little more than 11,500 inhabitants in 1890. 

But where does this bustling metropolitan area get its name from? Surprisingly, it owes its name to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, a German princess who became the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland in 1761. And even the local public school education agency is named after this Queen.

While Charlotte boasts a fascinating past, it’s also a city set to succeed now and in the future. And that’s because it’s a major financial hub, with Bank of America, Truist Financial Corporation, and Well Fargo & Company having headquarters here.

Furthermore, all these financial institutions have embraced mobile app technology wholeheartedly. And to serve their clients efficiently, quickly, and safely — all three institutions have released mobile apps of extraordinary quality.

However, Charlotte’s not only a wonderful home for banking giants but also for other key players. Adecco Staffing, American Airlines, Atrium Health, Daimler Truck North America, Duke Energy Corporation, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Lowe’s, Novant Health, and Wal-Mart all have a strong presence here.

All these companies, and even smaller businesses and startups, require the services of reputable mobile app developers to remain competitive. And since NS804 has an office in Charlotte, we can conveniently offer our expertise and services locally.

But what should businesses expect from one of the leading mobile app developers in Charlotte, NC? Below, we’ve compiled a list of what we can provide to all our clients.

1. Cross-Platform Development Experience

One of the perks of working with NS804 is that we’re a cross-platform mobile app developer. And beyond that, we also specialize in native app development, which means that we can deliver maximum performance to both your iOS and Android apps. Moreover, we ensure that the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) remain native to the target platform.

2. Custom Apps That Suit Your Business

NS804 develops apps predominantly for small and mid-sized businesses, including startups. And we have a deep understanding of what makes these businesses tick and what kinds of apps will help them succeed. Should a store owner need a retail app to serve clients, we’re able to build a custom app that’s crafted to the store owner’s specifications.

3. Expert Implementations

Whether you need to integrate a relational database or implement an application programming interface (API), you’ll need the expertise of a professional studio. These implementations are complex and can pose a significant security risk if not done correctly. So, never go it alone, and instead, rely on the expertise of a professional developer to handle these tasks for you.

Why Mobile App Developers In Charlotte, NC?

If you’re located in Charlotte, then it’s better and more convenient to work with a developer established in your city. But more importantly, you need to work with a mobile app developer that’s built a reputation for professionalism and quality. Contact NS804 today to learn how we can help you create phenomenal apps that will help boost your business!

Transitioning to Apps? Tips for Training Employees

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The Technology Adoption Model TAM answers perhaps the trickiest question about tech adoption: why are employees reluctant to adopt technology or unwilling to partake in new technologies?

Based on documented research and empirical evidence, two factors propel people to adopt new technology: perceived usefulness and ease of use. People adopt technologies if they perceive them as handy and easy to use. Your employees are likely to adopt mobile apps if they perceive them as useful or easy-to-use.

So, when deploying a new technology that’s complex or sophisticated, you’ll find that your employees are somewhat reluctant to adapt or learn. While the ever-evolving and improving access to new technology, including mobile apps, is critical for businesses, it’s frustrating for employees.

The key is knowing how to train and equip your employees with the right skills. So, if you’re transitioning to mobile apps, here are some tips for training your employees.

Tips for training employees:

1. Trainers need to know the mobile apps themselves

A vital part of successful change management training is equipping trainers with the relevant skills, knowledge, and proficiency. Your employees cannot excel in mobile app training if the trainers are not competent in handling this transition.

So, in conducting an organizational-wide overhaul of mobile app training, ensure that your trainers are competent professionals proficient in high-end software and best-in-class hardware.

2. Make training a priority

A majority of organizations assume that by asking their employees to reserve time off and learn new software, the employees will automatically alter their schedule in favor of education or learning.

The truth is that employees will forgo learning in favor of their daily work. To succeed in a solid change management training plan, you must allocate the resources and time required for employees to learn.

Make learning a priority by ensuring that the training program is carefully packaged, well-designed and comprehensive in its reach and scope. In addition, offer incentives for the training by conducting tests and rewarding the winners. Incentives will encourage active learning and training.

3. Set realistic deadlines and roll-outs

It’s crucial to set clear and realistic deadlines on project deliverables. Ensure that your employees understand the training aims and goals and meet the underlying course objectives.

For instance, if you’re training them on mobile app security, ensure they can spell out mobile security measures and implement security practices around mobile app use.

Engaging your employees to gauge their understanding of mobile apps is crucial in evaluating the impact of the training. In addition, when rolling out a new mobile app, ask your employees to download it and interact with it days before launching it.

4. Improve learner engagement

Last but not least, improve your learner engagement. That will help your employees appreciate your mobile app transition. Your employees don’t want to be stuck for hours learning how to download, deploy, or manage mobile apps.

Instead, they’re interested in what the mobile app can do in real-time. So, request your employees under training to order product(s) from the app directly and schedule deliveries. You can use these deliveries as incentives to reinforce the learning and training. You can introduce creative and exciting ways to learn, including active demonstrations.

NS804 – Transforming Your Mobile App Experience

NS804 offers custom-built mobile apps for businesses of all sizes and sophistication. Inquire from NS804 the solutions and offers they provide if you’re embarking on your next mobile app design project.

NS804 guides clients, organizations, institutions, governments, and businesses on mobile app design and development. We help clients curate the best-of-breed apps for their establishments, regardless of purpose, sector, or size.

And if you’re transitioning to mobile apps, we advise that you equip your workforce with the relevant mobile app training and education. The forever-changing mobile landscape demands that employees remain proactive to new solutions.

Contact NS804 for inquiries and solutions on mobile app design and development.

Engagement and Apps: 5 Reasons Why You Need One

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The mobile app creation journey is a challenging but exciting exercise. Creating a successful mobile app needs talent: it needs you to examine and solve a market need. Successful mobile apps satisfy a specific need; they also have simplicity and customization. Social integration, superior performance, and security are other high-ranking features of a successful mobile app.

It’s important to ask ourselves what makes an app successful. What features, attributes or functions substantiate an app as successful? Well, to answer this question, we must first ask ourselves why apps are designed and why organizations invest thousands (if not millions) in app design, deployments, marketing, and maintenance.

The purpose of any app is customer engagement. All apps aim to connect the target audience to a specific brand, be it the app itself, an organization, a product, or a service – all apps aim at creating reputation and hype around a brand. So, the primary purpose of a mobile app is customer engagement.

So, if you’re one of those people who’re running a start-up, you know just how vital engagement can be, especially when starting. Having a customized mobile for your business helps you reignite touches with clients. A custom-built mobile app lets you access remote markets digitally, connect with customers on social platforms, and build trust with stakeholders.

Here are five reasons you need engagement and apps:

1. Customer visibility

You cannot access customers without mobile apps. That is why top boy retail outlets like Amazon, Costco, Walmart, and Target are utilizing mobile apps to keep up with new customer demands. With mobile apps, your business can access online customers, reignite touches with social media users, and ultimately strengthen its brand through new outreach.

2. Remote accessibility

Mobile apps can be accessed remotely with the help of an internet connection. Easy accessibility to your business merchandise, products, or services via an app is what makes mobile apps a prime highlight of the modern-age business landscape.

Imagine having a catalog of products or services that can be accessed remotely via a mobile phone or a tablet? Your customers, suppliers, employees, and partners can order or receive anything regardless of where they’re.

3. Innovation culture

Engagement apps can positively impact your company’s culture. Employees see it as modernizing the workplace and they will be readily willing to undertake new technologies in the future. The technology acceptance model TAM states that two factors drive people to adapt to new technology: ease of use and perceived usefulness.

So, by introducing engagement apps, you’re essentially setting your employees up for success as far as future technology adoption is concerned. You’re building a culture of innovation and adaptability.

4. Remote metric measurement

Today, most decisions are data-driven. Organizations are relying on readily available data to make marketing, procurement, and hiring decisions. Data runs strategic business functions: marketing, sales, research, operations, and human resources.

An engagement app allows you to collect, collate, analyze, and report critical metrics, including user patterns, product adoption trends, price changes, and customer feedback. Apps provide you access to actionable metrics that you can use to bolster business performance and productivity.

5. Streamlining communication

Mobile apps are robust platforms to support both internal and external communications. Mobile apps can offload the work done by internal email support, including giving feedback, sending guidelines, sharing projects, and clarifying issues.

Mobile apps provide an additional communication channel to organizations struggling with few communication layers. Start-ups especially can use mobile apps to bolster their communication with customers.

Mobile apps are evolving as robust and efficient customer relationship solutions, strengthening bonds between brands and their most valued customers.

NS804 – Leading Mobile App Solution Providers

NS804 is a leading provider of custom-built mobile apps. With years of experience designing, curating, and reviewing mobile apps for individuals and businesses, NS804 is a renowned and reputable service provider.

Contact NS804 to know how to get started with engagement and apps.

4 Reasons Why Retailers Should Be Using Mobile Apps

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Retailers don’t have it easy, as they need to navigate a competitive and uncertain business environment. And considering how much Covid-19 has impacted the retail space, the old ways of doing business no longer apply.

So what should business leaders do to sail the rough seas and come out ahead on the other side?

Firstly, all business leaders should learn about and embrace the latest mobile technologies. Secondly, they should assess how these technologies will fit their business needs and fulfill goals. And thirdly, they should work with an experienced developer, such as NS804, to create the right solutions for their needs.

For retailers, mobile apps can radically transform their businesses for the better. These apps can automate and enhance specific business processes, excite and expand the customer base, and introduce several m-commerce opportunities.

But it’s not only brick and mortar businesses that can benefit from mobile apps but also online retailers. And by online retailers, we don’t only mean those that sell and ship physical goods but also those that sell digital products. The versatility of mobile apps makes them ideal for a variety of businesses.

Now, we understand that it’s not always easy to pinpoint how mobile apps can serve your business. So we’ve compiled this handy list to help you identify the pain points your business and customers may experience and how mobile apps can mitigate or solve these issues.

1. Build An Ecosystem That Serves Your Business Entirely

Have you noticed how big tech companies have built walled gardens to herd their customers? Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others have gained tremendous leverage by locking users into their platforms. And even smaller players such as Funimation, Netflix, and Spotify have monopolized specific segments of the media streaming market.

Sure, all these platforms offer numerous opportunities for savvy businesses. But consider for a minute that you’re running an indie record label that has signed up several promising artists. You decide to make available recordings of these artists on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube Music. And this isn’t necessarily a bad move, as all these platforms have huge audiences you can reach.

However, you’re also driving business to these platforms, diminishing your brand, and limiting your potential revenue. And that’s because your customers can only get hold of your music on these platforms and not directly from you. Furthermore, the branding of each platform holder will always overshadow your brand. And with streaming services such as Spotify, you’ll receive a pittance every time a user streams songs from one of your artists.

The good news is that you can avoid all these issues by building a mobile app that your customers can download. Within the app, you may allow your customers to download or stream music and even purchase physical copies (on CD, tape, and vinyl) of albums. And any time you release a new album, you can notify your customers via in-app and pop-up notifications.

Ultimately, you’ll establish an ecosystem that serves your business and yours alone, which means that your customers remain yours. And a third party doesn’t get to determine how much you can earn, how you market your music, and how you reach fans.

2. Increase Your Cross-Selling Capabilities

Let’s stick to the indie record label example for now. And let’s consider how a mobile app can increase cross-selling of your products.

But you may ask, “How does cross-selling benefit a record label?”

It’s likely that fans will want to purchase merchandise such as caps, t-shirts, and posters of their favorite artists. It’s even possible to upsell, such as enticing a fan that has added a digital album to the cart to purchase the limited-edition vinyl release at a reduced price.

And how you go about cross-selling merchandise can take several forms with a mobile app.

You may notify fans with in-app and pop-up notifications whenever you have new merchandise available. And if these fans have opted in to receive emails, you can cross-sell merchandise via this additional avenue. When done right, an email marketing strategy can effectively drive customers down the sales funnel.

But since your mobile app will also have a database on the backend, you’ll have an accurate record of all your customers’ purchases. For customers that have bought one or more albums of a particular artist, you can target these customers specifically with merchandise. Thus, you don’t have to waste your marketing efforts on customers that prefer other artists or don’t bother purchasing merchandise.

Another way this data may aid you is by identifying the locations of your most loyal customers. And if you have the necessary funds available, you may decide to have artists perform gigs at these locations and set up a merchandising table at all live venues.

You may also set up a pop-up shop at a fair or mall for short-term selling and cross-selling purposes. In all cases, your app will serve as the hub to inform fans and merge your digital and physical endeavors.

3. AR & VR Benefits Clothing Retailers

Now let’s shift gears and focus on a more traditional business, such as a clothing retailer. If you’re running such a business, it’s likely that you’re operating out of a physical location such as a store in a mall or shopping street. And most, if not all of your customers, need to visit your store to try on and purchase your clothes and accessories.

While this is a common way clothing retailers do business, it’s not very efficient or forward-looking. But what will it take to change course and deliver a more convenient shopping experience to your customers? Thanks to the advent of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), it’s now possible to serve customers that live far away from your store.

You can craft a mobile app with AR or VR functionality that contains accurate 3D models of all the clothes and accessories you have in stock. And if the app has AR functionality, it will utilize the accelerometer and cameras of the phone to detect the customer’s physical form, angle, and view orientation.

Then, the customer will pick a clothing item displayed on the app, which will then show the item superimposed on top of the customer on the phone’s screen. The customer will also have the ability to adjust the fit, size, and color (if available) of the item on the fly. Once the customer is happy with how the item looks on them, they can add it to their cart or initiate a one-click purchase.

Now, you can ship the order and conduct an in-app survey soon after the customer receives the item to ascertain their satisfaction or lack thereof. Having this information will help you make changes to the products you offer and service levels if necessary.

4. Mobile Apps Power Up Fast-Food Restaurants

Finally, let’s focus on fast-food retailers of all shapes and sizes. Mobile apps have already proven their worth in this particular market segment. And with the many excellent food delivery apps available, customers have a growing appetite for quick and convenient food purchases.

A well-conceived fast-food mobile app allows customers to view an outlet’s menu and place orders with as few clicks as possible. Furthermore, all food items, descriptions, prices, images, and UI elements must be clear and crisp so that elderly customers and those with vision impairments can easily discern these and place orders.

But this mobile app isn’t only for placing orders, it’s also a powerful promotional tool. Instead of printing thousands of expensive full-color glossy flyers, you can promote your latest gourmet burger directly inside your app. Moreover, you can utilize animations, motion graphics, sounds, and a step-by-step video of how you make your gourmet burgers.

Not only is this more impactful than using printed materials, but customers can also tap on this visual promo, which will take them directly to the checkout page to complete their order. And that’s powerful because fast-food restaurants rely heavily on impulse sales.

In Conclusion

Traditional brick-and-mortar businesses through to online retailers can all benefit from having their own custom mobile app. The examples we’ve described above present a few of the possibilities that help enhance businesses. Contact NS804 to learn how we’ll help you create a mobile app that can transform your retail business for the better!

Do You Need A Custom App? Here Are 5 Signs That You Do

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Deciding if your company needs a custom app may seem like a no-brainer. Then you come across online articles that sing the praises of off-the-shelf solutions. And these articles may convince you that the cost savings and ease of implementation of these turnkey solutions will have you covered. 

But that’s not entirely true, especially if you need a solution that must address specific business processes unique to your organization. That doesn’t mean that you should never use turnkey solutions, but keep in mind that these have a one-size-fits-all approach. 

So, they may be good at addressing problems experienced by businesses in general. Yet they seldom solve problems exactly the way you want, as they pertain to your organization’s needs. Thus, there are many ways your business will benefit by going with a custom app, which we’ll cover in more detail below. 

1. A Custom App Will Address Unique Business Needs

Every organization is different, so why rely on generalist solutions? And that’s also a question you should be asking if you need to solve complex problems. 

Let’s assume for a minute that you need to develop a mobile app that must collect a lot of data. Not only that, you want the data made available in JSON, XML, and your in-house encrypted and proprietary file format. And you want to retrieve, store, and transmit these files seamlessly across all your existing systems. Systems that may be outdated but still serve your needs perfectly. 

Now that’s a cumbersome problem — but will you find turnkey solutions that will solve it? If you look hard enough, you may find several off-the-shelf solutions that may work. And you’ll likely need programmers to make these diverse solutions function correctly. 

But things will get messy, and you’d better hope your in-house programmers or outsourced team are up for the task. If competent, they’ll likely cobble together a workable solution, but one that’s a Frankenstein of a creation. But if that’s not the case, you’ll have sunk time and money into a failed project. 

However, you can avoid such an outcome by working with professional custom app developers, such as NS804. You can discuss and outline your needs and the specifications that the custom solution must meet. And you can rest assured that the finished app will have all the features you need while meeting and even surpassing your quality standards.

2. Scale Your Custom App Only When Necessary 

Developing a custom app gives you total freedom to decide its future. Perhaps, you’re happy with your app and have no plans to scale up for the foreseeable future. But if you go with an off-the-shelf solution, you may not have this luxury. And the reason being is that many turnkey vendors like to lock in customers to the way they do business. 

Many operate as a Software as a Service (SaaS) and rely on subscriptions with a tiered pricing model. So, you may miss out on features or receive additional features that you don’t need based on your tier. Worse still, vendors may remove mission-critical features or enforce version upgrades at the most inopportune times while offering no tangible benefits. 

And then, there’s no guarantee that these vendors will be around for the long haul. You may want to scale up your app two years down the line but find out that the turnkey vendor has gone out of business. Or they may abandon specific APIs and toolsets essential to the continuous development of your app. In some cases, they may break compatibility with earlier versions of their own solutions or even operating systems, such as Android and iOS.

In a nutshell, relying on off-the-shelf solutions presents many risks. And if you’re a startup, you shouldn’t be wasting money on solutions that bring too much or too little to the table. It’s better to work with a custom app developer to scale up your app only when necessary, as this will free up funds that can go into other areas of your business.

3. Enhanced Security That Surpasses That Of Turnkey Solutions

As a business leader, you want your mobile app to have the tightest security possible. That’s especially true if you need to pass around valuable company data or handle payments. But that’s only possible if you have a clear understanding of the underlying technologies and security protocols. 

That’s the beauty of custom app development, as you’ll know exactly what technologies power your app. And there won’t be any hidden surprises if the custom app developer and your in-house security team work closely. Furthermore, they can further tighten security immediately after encountering a vulnerability. Something that’s not always possible if you were to rely on turnkey solutions.

Apart from the additional control over your security, you’ll also enjoy the benefits of improved integration. There’s no guarantee that off-the-shelf solutions will integrate with your existing systems. And even if they do, it’s unlikely that this will result in an elegant and optimally secure process.

4. Unlock A Plethora Of Marketing Opportunities 

Your mobile app won’t only help promote your brand but also give you a direct marketing link to your users. And you may decide to initiate your marketing campaigns via well-planned push notification strategies. After all, push notifications are powerful at delivering value, driving sales, and enhancing brand loyalty.

But if you take the custom app route, you can optimize your direct marketing endeavors. And you can increase or widen your marketing pipeline according to your needs and do this at any time. Furthermore, you won’t deal with any limitations imposed by turnkey vendors or wait for them to introduce the marketing features that you need. 

Another reason why you want to have complete freedom over your direct marketing channels is that you want to build long-term relationships with your users. Thus, you don’t want a third-party vendor to become an intermediary that gains access to your users and their data. There’s always the risk that they turn out to be a bad actor or suffer from security vulnerabilities down the line. And it’s not just their reputation that will suffer, but yours too.

5. Deliver A Superior User Experience

Nobody knows your users better than you do, so you’re in a position to create an app they’ll find appealing. So the most sensible choice is to develop a custom app that will meet or surpass your users’ expectations.

You want to create an app that allows users to complete tasks with as few taps as possible. A quality app with a well-designed user interface (UI) will reflect positively on your brand. Moreover, this will build brand loyalty and help with retention, so getting repeat business will be much easier.

And you can also improve the perception of your organization by allowing users to connect via the app. Thus, allowing them to communicate, give feedback, and lodge complaints, directly and quickly. If users see that they can resolve issues inside the app without being inconvenienced, they’ll likely keep it installed on their phones and recommend it to others.

The Bottom Line

Developing a custom app is usually the right choice for most organizations. And that’s because the end product will be far superior to that made with turnkey solutions. It will be more secure, run smoother, have better custom marketing pipelines, offer scalability when necessary, and deliver a better user experience. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you create cutting-edge custom apps that will engage your users! 

Incorporating User Testing Into Custom Mobile Apps

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Creating compelling custom mobile apps is only possible when incorporating an effective Beta Testing program. It’s a difficult but necessary step that will help you retain users and further grow your app in a competitive marketplace. 

1. What Is Beta Testing And Why It Matters

Whether you’re specializing in consumer or custom enterprise apps, you want to release quality products. But how do you know that you’re achieving this goal? Well, you’ll know if your app is truly high-quality when your users download it, evaluate it, and give you positive feedback. However, a rigorous Beta Testing process is essential to reach this point.

So what is Beta Testing, and how does it benefit the development process? Firstly, it allows you to gain an understanding of the user experience before releasing the final product. Secondly, you can test your app’s compatibility across browsers, devices, and operating systems. Thirdly, you can quash bugs and fix any issues that testers find before making your app available to end-users. Finally, Beta Testing commences soon after the Alpha Testing phase, and the app should be stable and at least 90% complete. 

2. How To Test Custom Mobile Apps Remotely

You may have an in-house group that handles Beta Testing. But you may not have the office space and resources available to have in-house testers. Furthermore, you’ll likely not have access to the wide range of devices to test your app on, especially when dealing with the Android platform. 

But you can solve some of these problems by recruiting remote users that can test your app. And you’ll need to incentivize these users with money, gift cards, or freebies to make it worth their while. Ensure that you’ve defined your goals and all actionable tasks, and communicate these clearly to your testers. Moreover, regularly hold video meetings with all remote testers to discuss their user experience in depth.

3. How To Choose Testers For Customer Mobile Apps 

Ideally, you’ll want to build a community of beta testers loyal to your brand and excited to help improve your products. And you’ll find many capable testers on social media and software collaboration platforms, such as GitHub. You’ll also need to decide whether to run a public or private beta program, with the latter better suited for custom enterprise apps.

Make sure to create a beta page where testers can learn more about your beta program. Let them know what type of app they’ll be testing, the duration of the test, what you’ll require of testers, what types of tasks you’ll assign, how they’ll submit bug reports and feedback, and what will happen when the beta test ends.

4. How To Gather And Analyze User Feedback

Use Google Forms or Survey Monkey to draw up surveys and Q&As for your testers to complete. If you need to beta test multiple custom mobile apps, create a beta program for each with an accompanying survey form. Then, ask your testers to fill the relevant forms after completing specific tasks.

You may also want to set up a Slack workspace, which will serve as your central feedback channel for all testers. Here, you can collate and analyze user feedback and manage your beta community.

5. How Often Should You Test Custom Enterprise Apps

Depending on the complexity of your app, the test period can range from two to twelve weeks. But even if you’re building a simple minimum viable product (MVP), make sure not to go below two weeks, as this won’t be a sufficient amount of time for Beta Testing. And the frequency of tests will depend on how often you release builds introducing new features that require testing.

Developing custom enterprise apps is a long and complex process. Contact us today to learn how NS804 can help with your mobile development and Beta Testing needs.