Android App Development Archives

Why is custom android app development a boon for your business?

By Potenza Mobile Apps Development October 13, 2017

Why is custom android app development a boon for your business?

Android app development has gradually become the big cheese in today’s tech-savvy era, and there is no denying the fact that android application development has turned into an integral part of the technological world and is the backbone of every business.

With the hike in the demand of customized Android applications for individual business and organizations, it is also essential to not just follow the trend blindly. Before deciding to create a customized app for your business, you must know what the rage is all about and how beneficial can a customized Android app actually be for your business. And when you are well versed about the relevance and importance of an android app for your business, you can certainly go ahead with your design and development requirements for a completely personalized app

Here we share with you a few advantages of customized Android app for your business.

1) Hiking efficiency- as we are talking about customized android apps, the application will be developed as per your requirements and functionalities in mind. Once you are done with an effective application development, the app is sure to function as expected and cater to all the needs of the client. A customized app is tailor-made to fit into your working pattern and generate optimal results. Thus, the improved efficiency.

2) Improved scalability- ordinary applications are programmed to respond to a limited number of inputs. Whereas, when you get your personalized android application made, it is made to deal with the load. And thus, thus custom-made apps are crafted keeping in mind the parameters needed and can be easily scaled up if need be.

3) Data security- regular Android applications may or may not have security features to safeguard user data and ensure that there won’t be any threat to their business data privacy. When you have a custom made android app for your business, it is also security specific and safeguarding your business data holds utmost importance.

4) Software integration- an ideal android app should be compatible with software of all sorts and function efficiently when collaborated with any of them. However, these features are promised in case of a general application. They are developed keeping just one software or two in mind. That might make you app software specific. This will turn down your business’ appeal in the market. Customized android app development can be helpful in providing you an app that is compatible and can function on all kinds of software.

5) Easy maintenance- using a regular Android app might make you risk your business into the clasps of unknown mobile app development And if at all, the developer ends up quitting, you might jeopardize your data and business reputation in the market as you will have to switch to a new business app. Customized Android app saves you all these efforts and offers ease at maintaining consistent operations.

6) Better relationships with the customer- this is a two-way If you consult an android app development company, you are their customer. While the individuals interested in your products or services are your customer. And having a customized app strengthens reliability and loyalty among the client and the service provider.

7) Real-time project access- custom-made Android app development gives you opportunities to work and experience a real-time project and learn the titbits of customized android app development.

8) Project management made easy- with customized Android app development, you can keep a check on your project’s progress and deadlines with great ease. Thus project management gets easier and hassle-free.

9) Better accountability- you can maintain an account for your customers’ ideas, data, feedback’s and much more, store them in a secure location and access them as required. Thus, accountability gets better with the custom-made android

So now, when you know the importance and efficiency of a customized Android app or a customized android app development company, it’s high time you get a personalized app for your business if you do not have one yet. Having a personalized android app for your business is quite essential and is much needed in this digitized era.

Why Building Useful Mobile App Is Essential?

Why Building Useful Mobile App Is Essential?

Building bespoke, high-performing and scalable applications is good. But, the whole worth of the application becomes zero if the app lacks utility or users won’t find it useful enough to meet their needs. Furthermore, to make the app future-proof, it’s essential that app fulfills the users’ unpredictable needs.

Certainly, to achieve the objective, you need to get teamed up with a mobile app development company. No matter whether they are superior in Android app development or iOS app development, just what you need to look at the developers are proficient in engineering the apps that your target audience like.

These things play a critical role in making the apps create a buzz in the market. Here are the things that you should consider and discuss with the development team before heading to app development.

Optimized for all the screens

In the market, from 16’ desktop size to the 4’ size smart phone is available. The range of devices makes it extremely difficult for the developers to create the applications that works perfectly well with high resolution on all the devices. This is crucial, which, if not fulfilled garnering the large user base traction remains mere a dream only.

It’s good to include the limited features on one screen so that even on the smaller screens, the users can access the app easily. Also, the images, text or other features should be optimized for the myriad of screen size.

Buttons functionality – it’s in your control

The mobile users spend 60% of the day time in using their mobile phones. So, they are quite familiar with all the buttons and the symbols used to represent them. Make sure in the mobile app all the buttons and their functions used should be similar to the icons used in the mobile device.

Besides, the font size is also taken care of as the texts should not look so small on the mobile screen, otherwise the mobile users would not remain interested in accessing the app through mobile.

Aesthetic color and contrasts

The usability quotient of the apps directly vary with the visual appeal that the mobile app offer as the pleasant combination of color, fonts, contrast and icon engages the user. It’s a good effort. However, the latest mobile devices have LCD screens which may tempt the users, but when mobile app is accessed in varying light conditions, the experience would not remain same.

The best practice to follow- leverage high contrast color schemes, simple graphics, and blocks of solid color to keep the widgets look different.

Cursors – to keep or not

The difference between mobile device and desktop is not required to be illustrated. In the era of touch screen technology, the users no more like to drag and drop the objects on the small screen size and simultaneously they find it full of hassle. Eliminate such functionalities. Instead, keep the tiny screen clickable and resizable with a single touch.

Don’t keep keyed inputs

It doesn’t matter, if the audience possesses the mobile that has a qwerty keypad or not, but the users always find it full of trouble to use the keys to the input. If it’s unavoidable, try to keep it as lesser as you can.

Takeaway

Hire Android App developers or iOS app developers are the bare bones for the mobile app development. The developers need to cater the diverse needs of the audience spanning across the globe to uplift the utility factor in the mobile application. Be it is Android application or iOS application.

In such scenario, getting partnered with the right app development team that can build the right app packed with all the usability features is a must. What’s your take? Do you find all the points important enough to focus on? Let us know your views in the comments below.

Modern Technology Used To Build Mobile Application

By Potenza E-Commerce November 3, 2016

Modern Technology Used To Build Mobile Application

The transition from mobile phones to smart technology has generated a new market niche in the mobile application industry. Smartphones now hold a unique place among the great innovations of our time. There has been a dramatic increase in demand for mobile app development since the introduction of smartphones, and this trend is expected to continue.

According to a recent study, application development is still in its inception and is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. As an example, consider Android and iOS. Despite being direct competitors, both companies have seen significant development as viable mobile platforms.

Apps have now become a part of our everyday routines for a variety of reasons. This is because mobile apps are being used by both individuals and businesses. As a result of this, the communication between a brand and its consumers can now be facilitated more effectively.

Getting a mobile application built is not enough. We think it’s important that modern businesses know which technologies they should employ to develop mobile applications for their business. We have covered some of the best technologies for mobile app development in this article; keep on reading to know more about them.

What are the top modern technologies used to build Mobile Application?

1. Flutter

Created by Google, Flutter is a free, open-source SDK for developing mobile apps. Developers can use it to build great and dynamically compiled applications for the web, smartphone, and desktop from a single source codebase using this toolkit. Like Google had promised, Flutter provides the following features:

Quick Development
Adaptable and an Intuitive UI
Exceptional Native Performance

2. Java

As a result of the open-source libraries available, Java is among the most widely used programming and inspires many developers. In addition to being an object-oriented programming language, it is also an official Android development tool. Getting an app built using Java has many advantages, not the least of which is the availability of excellent documentation and community support. This language has a lot to teach and grow from.

3. Swift

Swift is an object-oriented programming language for iOS and OS X developed by Apple Inc. It is a free and open-source programming language based on C, and Objective C. Programmers throughout the world love it because it uses a safe programming style that is both comfortable and adaptable. Applications like Hipmunk, Lyft, and LinkedIn are built and updated using Swift.

4. Python

Python is by far the most widely used language on this list. As a result, the language is both simple to implement and easy to use. Python is the programming language of choice for some of the world’s most popular web apps, including YouTube and Instagram. Python has a number of advantages that make it stand out from the rest of the list.

Massive Libraries
Secure
Modular
Effortless Integration

5. C++

C++ is an excellent programming language to use when creating mobile applications. As a general-purpose programming language, the language is considered to have low-level memory manipulation capabilities. Android and iOS app development are two of the most prevalent implementations of this technology.

Some of the most notable advantages of C++ include:

Diverse collections of features
It’s also case-sensitive
A plethora of built-in features
Extremely adaptable

To Sum It Up

Since each programming language has its own set of advantages, it’s hard to pick a winner from this list. Modern languages like Flutter have begun to show their worth as the world of technology continues to advance. However, Python, C++, and JAVA continue to be the constant choice of technology for mobile application development. We would be happy to assist you if you’re unsure of what kind of technology to use to develop a mobile application for your business.

Effective Use Of Polymer Toolbox For Building Mobile Applications

By Potenza Mobile Apps Development October 15, 2016

Effective Use Of Polymer Toolbox For Building Mobile Applications

Trust Google to come up with tools to simplify and improve the conditions for web designers. And this is what exactly is being done through their Polymer App Toolbox.

This Toolbox emphasizes the Progressive Web Apps Mantra of Google and is used for building native like mobile Web Apps with Google’s Polymer library.

What actually is a native mobile web app?

A native web app is the app which has been built specifically for the mobile and its user interface. These apps are developed using the specific OS as the guide and thus are mature and follow user experience guidelines. These apps perform better on the OS they are built for and all the apps that are native to a system feel connected. Thus, with Polymer App Toolbox, Google has set out to provide web developers a chance to create apps that are native-like in approach and can be built easily and with less hassle. Native user interface helps the users to learn the working of the app easily and get used to the interface quickly. These apps are easier to locate and have access to device hardware and the software alike. The example of native apps are the simple clock apps, the reminders etc that one is able to set on their mobile phones.

What is the Polymer App Toolbox and what all does it consist of?

As Google has quoted, this Polymer App toolbox provides the developers with a set of loosely coupled components and tools to build a Progressive Web App using all the modern platforms available. Basically, it is a toolbox that has set of components and tools based on web platforms that are primitive but it can be used to produce cutting edge and progressive web apps, as remarked Taylor Savage, Google product manager for Polymer Toolbox.

Polymer Toolbox has included components for layout, routing, localization, and storage along with the command lie-in tool which is used to tie in everything altogether. Polymer also comes with a library to leverage Web Components, a standardized platform which is used for extending HTML and other componentizing apps.

What is the inspiration for coming up with Polymer?

Mobile apps have come a long way since their launching and this has what prompted Google to come up with a web based platform for development of mobile apps. Web platform has generally not been great for delivering immersive experiences as the lowest level of visual primitive that was available to a web developer is HTML tag, according to Taylor Savage. HTML has not since evolved much but the users and their expectations have gone through the roof.

JavaScript on the other hand has gotten more powerful with the times and it has been used as an escape hatch to create app-like experiences on the mobile web. Meta-platforms, runtimes, frameworks and tool chains have been built around JavaScript, which worked for the desktop applications but the changes in the mobile web has led the strategy of over-reliance on JavaScript obsolete.

So, now Google has come up with Polymer Toolbox which makes it easier for the web app developers to use what is already available in the browser to build their desired apps that have native like experience. They have provided building tools and libraries to leverage the new powerful features to build lower-overhead, higher quality applications through the web interface, explains Taylor Savage.

Google is also offering guidance on introduction to the Polymer App, getting to know it through experts, and learning the installation of the Polymer CLI, initializing project templates and serving projects.

Why Android Apps Development Rules Over IOS Development

By Potenza Mobile Apps Development February 9, 2016

Why Android Apps Development Rules Over IOS Development

You must be having this thought that why one should use Android for app development rather than iOS. Well, the question has an obvious answer and the fact that Android app development is always better cannot be denied.

One should always start development in iOS first so that your app can gain fame and earn money. But then gradually one should plan to shift to Android. This article is especially for those who fear the shift and have concerns like development cost, Android market fragmentation, and return on investment in their minds. This is to prove that Android app development is not that bad as it seems.

Porting to Android from iOS:

Both, the newbies as well as the established companies like to target the Western Market like US, Australia, UK, Denmark, Canada, Japan etc because of the popularity that iOS has amongst them. Entrepreneurs prefer iOS for their application development initially despite of Android’s dominance because of their target audience which uses the App Store of Apple for downloading various apps and also because the average revenue per user in this market is quite high.

But this strategy does not work everywhere and there Android app development makes good sense. The countries which have a higher Android market include South Korea, India, China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Brazil. Porting from iOS to Android here will be a great move to increase your user base. When you have a strong user base, you will automatically have good revenue no matter whether your user is using an Android device or iOS.

No need to fear Android fragmentation:

If you think that Android app developing is a pain then you surely need to review your thought. The vast diversion and fragmentation of Android market has been elegantly tackled by Google now. You can give different UI layouts for various screen sizes and also manage the pixel density without changing the codebase.

While porting from iOS to Android remember to make your app compatible with KitKat (4.4 version) and Lollipop(5.0-5.1 versions) which are being used by 36 and 33 percent of the users presently. You can also make your app compatible with Jelly Bean in some of the areas. However, you can wait for Marshmallow to become more frequent before making your app compatible with this version. So now you can very well see that using Android for app development is not that tough.

Android app development costs almost the same as that of iOS:

Yes, that’s true that Android app development will cost almost the same as that of iOS. While developing an app in Android you don’t need to focus on all the devices and OS. Instead you can use the Google provided data to check which OS and devices to focus on. When you support less OS and devices, you will automatically take less time and less cost to develop your android app.

The landing page of the App or a direct conversation with the users can help you analyze the devices owned by your target audience. This data will help you develop your app effectively at lesser cost and time.

Also, publishing your app on Google store is not that difficult and the Google approval time is also very less. Apple store takes weeks to approve your publish whereas Google takes only a little time. Therefore, it is an added benefit to work on Android for your app development as it saves on your time.

Get paid for your app on Google play:

The fact that Apple store earns more than Google play cannot be denied but gradually Android is seeing better revenue with the improvements in their device quality and OS. The tiny flaws which the Android apps face can be used to our own advantage by adding some features which are otherwise hard to implement and make them available at a particular cost on the Google store. For example, porting a video editing app from iOS to Android is difficult because of the lack of some features and libraries used for advanced video recording and editing.

So, now you can invest a little money to develop these features and make it available on Google play at a particular price. This is possible because Google play lets you price tag your apps or provide them to the users with a promo-code. This strategy will not only help you make money but also attract audience toward your app which is now providing some special features which are not there in other apps. Adding a video functionality to your app is definitely a great idea to improve your revenue. This is because reports have shown that many of the users are much interested in sharing and viewing more of videos.

Also, according to reports, in 2015 Android saw greater ad revenue as compared to iOS after excluding the Chinese Android App stores as Chinese market has banned Google play. But still people from Chinese market download Android apps from other stores.

Some Android features which iOS doesn’t provide:

When porting from iOS to Android, keep the following features in mind to get a positive stand for Android.

Widgets

Widgets are something which is very much in use in the Android apps and they are helpful for the users of the devices as well. Android allows the application of widgets on the home screen letting the users to gain more information and quick access to various apps. For eg, an app for task management can provide a widget which shows the daily tasks to the user and a news app can provide a widget which shows the daily headlines from the user selected category. You can also make these widgets paid if the information provided is important enough.

Push notifications

Although both the platforms provide push notification but those in Android are a lot better than iOS. This is because, the notifications do not show up on the lock screen and also don’t light up your screen in Android devices. This maintains the privacy of the user in public. Another advantage is the facility to use more symbols in a notification as compared to iOS.

The back button

This is a very useful feature in Android as it lets you navigate through your app, page or menu history when you click on it. This helps the user to go back to a particular page which you left in between. Whereas in the iOS you will have to follow the whole process because you are made to exit the app once you exit a page.

Android intents

Intent is a superb feature provided by android which helps the user to choose the software in which a particular thing can be opened. For example, if your device has three photo editing softwares, so your device will always show you a dialogue box asking you which software you would like to use to open your downloaded picture in. Including this feature is very easy as you just need to register some intent filters so that the OS can know the functionality of your app.

Your app can be chosen as the default app:

Android provides you the flexibility of making an app as the default one if the users love using it. This is quite a common practice incase of many messaging apps.

Android wear

Nowadays the android market is coming up with many android smartwatches and other android wears which are compatible with both android as well as iPhone. The watch face customization options in Android Wear are better than that of Apple Watch. Also the battery life of Android wear is longer than Apple Watch.