Tag: mobile application

15 Tips for Ensuring Top-Quality Mobile Apps

15 Tips for Ensuring Top-Quality Mobile Apps by John Barnett.  Available from <http://www.business.com/mobile-apps-and-tools/john-barnett-app-making-tips/> [December 30, 2016]

When developing an app for your business, one of the top priorities is creating one that people actually want to use. Unfortunately, there is often a significant disconnect between what a target audience needs and what a mobile app offers. Keep the following mobile app development tips in mind to ensure the utmost quality.

Be Proficient with All Target Platforms

All too often, developers favor one mobile app platform over another, and it shows in the quality of their work. Ideally, mobile apps should be developed by professionals who understand the unique aspects of all of the platforms that they are targeting. Read user interface guidelines carefully to understand the available features for each platform. Being familiar with the visual and behavioral differences and similarities of various platforms allows you to put them to use more effectively.

Don’t Be Biased

Make an effort to learn to appreciate all of the most popular mobile app platforms. Sure, you probably prefer one or two over others, but all platforms have their strengths. By embracing differences between app platforms, you will get enthusiastic about designing for each. This enthusiasm will result in products that are truly out of this world.

Don’t Sacrifice Performance for Analytics

For many businesses, mobile apps are more about collecting useful information than about providing services to customers. Still, resist the temptation to bog down your app with too many SDKs (software development kits). Apps that are bloated with excessive SDKs tend to run slowly, crash often and drain battery life at a remarkable speed. No one likes apps like these.

Keep Scale in Mind

There is no telling how popular any given app will be. It pays to design apps with the assumption that they will go viral. That way, there’s a minimal risk that your app will fail due to thousands of concurrent users. Always develop apps with a huge scale data distribution in mind.

Build Native User Interfaces Last for Cross-Platform Apps

The vast majority of apps are cross-platform ones, which makes sense if you want yours to be accessible to the largest number of people. Save yourself time and effort by modeling the programming logic off as local web services and building native user interfaces last.

Avoid Redundant Tracking

Going overboard with tracking can be highly problematic. Repetitive, redundant tracking makes it more difficult to maintain the underlying code as your company expands and evolves and as developers update their APIs.

Use It Yourself

If you’re not already comfortable with all of the platforms that you are targeting, try your hand at all of them to get a feel for how they work. The same applies to your app. Try to put yourself in users’ shoes. Would this app address your needs? Would you keep it on your smartphone and use it, or is it a waste of time?

Enable Easy App Integration

Don’t assume that users won’t be interested in sharing information from your app through other apps like Facebook or Gmail. Make it easy for users to do this by enabling app integration in your mobile app. A little extra work is involved, but it will make your app more useful and help you avoid going back and doing it later.

Accommodate for Different Design Styles Across Platforms

What looks amazing on an iOS device may look anything but that on an Android or Windows OS device. Different platforms have different aesthetic qualities, and it pays to understand these parameters before developing a cross-platform app. Carefully consider how your branding will translate across platforms and design your app accordingly.

Make it Simple

The best apps are easy for just about anyone to use. It’s easy to lose sight of how people with varying degrees of technical prowess will interact with an app, so make sure to include non-tech-savvy people during the testing phase. Is the design intuitive enough for newbies? Is the written content easy to understand? Where do users seem to get stuck?

Take Advantage of the Latest Features

Your new app shouldn’t be outdated. Avoid this issue by always using the latest client device SDKs. It also pays to stay up to date regarding the latest changes and advances in various platforms. By including cutting-edge features in your app, you’re more likely to attract a wider audience.

Test Often

Apps are often rushed, and testing is the step that developers are most likely to speed through. What’s worse is they complete a single round of tests and call it good. It pays to test early and often — especially when it comes to cross-platform apps, which can quickly cause issues.

Plan for Offline Use

A mobile app isn’t truly “mobile” if it ceases to function when the device is offline. The best apps boast a decent offline functionality, so be sure to include it in yours. Data should be saved to local storage so that it can be restored when the app is opened again. Any changes can then be synced, for the user to have a seamless online/offline experience.

Have One Purpose

As tempting as it may be to cram a ton of features into your app, it’s far better to focus on one and to really make it shine. Make it something that you’re truly good at and that users will actually benefit from. That way, they are less likely to get tripped up on unhelpful, confusing features that never belonged there in the first place.

Embrace Analytics

While you shouldn’t overdo it with the analytics, you should monitor them regularly to see how people are faring with your app. How are they using it? Which devices are they accessing it from? Are there features that seem to trip users up and make them abandon the app? By keeping an eye on your analytics, you can respond swiftly when issues arise.

If you find yourself going for custom app development versus out-of-the-box one, keep these tips in mind to create a product that your audience will rely on and become loyal to.

15 Tips for Ensuring Top-Quality Mobile Apps by John Barnett.  Available from <http://www.business.com/mobile-apps-and-tools/john-barnett-app-making-tips/> [December 30, 2016]

Top 4 Application Development Resources You Can’t Miss Out On

Top 4 Application Development Resources You Can’t Miss Out On by .  Available from <http://www.lifehack.org/511189/top-4-application-development-resources-you-cant-miss-out> [Dec 27, 2016] Photo credit: startup ideas via alltopstartups.com

The development of applications has several stages, and each stage is important for successful development of an app. When creating an application it is essential to have a good understanding of the process, methodology, tools, and available resources; being aware of the tools and resources available is a key to developing a good and efficient app, and understanding how apps are built.

There are several platforms, such as the waves platform that can help in understanding the resources, and using them to your benefit. There are also guides available for android and iOS app development.

These guides provide details about designing and distribution of the apps, and are able to provide all the fundamentals, including the intents, filters, compatibility of a device, activities, interfaces, and resources.

Here are some of the resources that can help you a lot in app development.

1. Stackoverflow

Stackoverflow is a site that is able to provide answers to all the questions you might have about the development of apps. With the help of this website, you can get help from professionals. The best thing about this platform is that you can get expert perspectives and opinions of your problem, as most of the questions are answered by experts and professionals. You can always review all the answers and implement the best options available to you.

Stackoverflow has a library with detailed answers about different stages of programming and application development.

2. Android Developer’s Blog

If you are developing an app for android devices, then this blog is an excellent resource at your disposal. The content of the blog is written by the employees of Google and is full of useful content.

There is a mixture of technical topics and informational content on this blog, and it is an excellent way of learning about any new developments that are being introduced in operating systems; it shows the developers’ ways of incorporating new features in app development. It also provides inspiration by sharing success stories, as well as providing a lot of information about analytics, new courses, event listings, and more.

3. iOS Dev Weekly

iOS Dev Weekly is an excellent resource for iOS developers. It is another effective resource, as it is a blog that provides all the latest updates about the industry.

You can gain knowledge about every latest development in Apple and operating systems through the blog. New content for this blog is published every Friday, which makes it easy to follow all the new content and take advantage of all the new information.

This blog allows developers to search through the latest tools, marketing, code designing, news articles, and videos. It also helps developers in finding job opportunities, as it lists any available positions that are iOS related.

4. Tuts+

Tuts+ is a website that is full of practical tutorials. There is an extensive range of both written and video tutorials; if you want tutorials about photography, design, illustration, web design, craft, game development, etc., then you will be able to find useful tutorials on this site.

All the tutorials are free, and are extremely useful in learning and polishing creative skills; and, they don’t just include step by step instructions, but also display screenshots to make things easier to understand. It also offers the latest news about the new trends in application development in the code section.

These are some of the resources that are very handy in the development of applications. They offer a better understanding of app development, and make the task easier to accomplish. Any newbie in app development can easily learn and use these app development frameworks to get a good understanding of them, and maybe even become a top developer.

Top 4 Application Development Resources You Can’t Miss Out On by .  Available from <http://www.lifehack.org/511189/top-4-application-development-resources-you-cant-miss-out> [Dec 27, 2016] Photo credit: startup ideas via alltopstartups.com

Safety Tips For Online Shopping

Safety Tips For Online Shopping.  Available from <http://asianetindia.com/safety-tips-for-online-shopping/> [December 07, 2016]

E-commerce or shopping online provides a exit. Given the near universal accessibility to Internet connectivity, consumers save your time and efforts by internet shopping. More and more merchants are realising the enormous potential from the medium of Internet and therefore are gearing up to present products and services.As the potential of internet shopping is being grasped, the potential for loss are going up too, particularly for consumers. Sadly, many online shoppers disregard the pitfalls , nor follow even minimum risk protection norms. If anything, buying online frauds tend to be more dangerous, because in the event the security is breached, fraudsters can siphon off a lot of cash without the victim realising it.Here are some safety tips for online shopping.

Safety tips for online shopping are:

1.Link Of A Website: Avoid gonna an shopping online site by having a link or pop-ups, howsoever interesting the offers are. Always type the web page address into your address bar. Be wary of tempting offers, because they may be from fraudsters who’ve created a fake site.

2. Look For The Image Of A Lock At The Bottom Right Corner: To make sure your site is safe, search for the image of the closed now you should the browser window. Click on the icon and be sure the security certification is displayed. You are prone to identity theft when you’re entering your details on a spoofed site.

3.Check Privacy Policy: Are you sure the seller of your website the place you have given personal details isn’t sharing them others for cash? Check the Privacy Policy on the website to ensure that what the property owner will and won’t do with specifics about you.

4.Be Wary Of e-mails: You may get an e-mail that looks like it is from the vendor that you have shopped online. You could be asked for your very own information to “verify” the accounts or “clear-up” errors which may have occurred. Before responding, reconfirm with the vendor. Call up and ensure if necessary, or send a mail and act only as soon as you get a response.

5.Secured Programs: If the purchases are by having a debit or debit card, then make certain that you sign-up for that “verified by VISA” and/or “Master secured code program(s)”. Each transaction will be authorised only by you.

6.Anti-Spyware/Trojan Software: Make without doubt the latest version of antivirus, anti-spyware or anti-Trojan programs were installed on your PC or laptop and they are regularly updated.

These are the safety tips for online shopping.

Safety Tips For Online Shopping.  Available from <http://asianetindia.com/safety-tips-for-online-shopping/> [December 07, 2016]

3 Tips for Increasing Mobile Commerce Sales

3 Tips for Increasing Mobile Commerce Sales by Taz Lake.  Available from <http://multichannelmerchant.com/ecommerce/3-tips-for-increasing-mobile-commerce-sales-21112016/> [Nov 21, 2016 3:54 PM]

With the continued growth of the handheld device market, mobile commerce continues its rapid rise. Many millennials use their smartphones as their primary internet connection, and mobile internet traffic actually surpassed desktop traffic in 2015. This increase is traffic has also led to a rapid increase in mobile sales. A recent BI Intelligence report states that mobile commerce will represent a $79 billion market in 2016, and will make up 45% of all ecommerce by 2020.

The mobile market is clearly growing by leaps and bounds. With over half of all internet traffic coming from mobile devices, what are some of the tips for maximizing mobile commerce opportunities? As someone who has evaluated thousands of websites, I would like to share the following trends and advice:

Mobile Apps Are Not Always Necessary

Many retailers feel that they always need a mobile app to maximize mobile sales. That simply is not true. Today’s mobile devices and browsers have advanced to the point where they can handle most of the functions of the top mobile applications. For example, with the right equipment, location information can now be captured through a browser.  A mobile app is only needed if the incremental spend is justified by a business case.

The key is to treat your website like a product with mobile as a feature. You should dedicate programming resources to it and update it frequently to continually improve commerce opportunities. It is also very important to review your website periodically for errors and bugs. These would ideally be caught before production, but website owners often focus on adding new functionality to their sites, but never clean them up. Websites can easily get bloated this way.

Size Matters

Mobile connections are typically not as fast as wired desktop connections. Therefore, if a website becomes very large and there is no alternative mobile version, you run the risk of losing mobile traffic. It’s great to have a feature-rich desktop version of the site, but it is important to turn some of these features off on the mobile site.  You don’t want to block or delay customers from the main call to action which is to buy your products.

For example, I recently read an article on how Nordstrom added some advanced 3D virtual reality features to their website. Shoppers could use this technology to create 3D models of dresses and preview them in a virtual environment. This feature was a great from a functional perspective, but it was so complex it slowed the site down to the point where it was actually impacting conversions and had to be taken down.

Navigation Is Key

Navigation is one of the biggest challenges in mobile website design because there are so many different products and so little room to properly display them. Navigation control and design is one of the main reasons many of the largest retailers develop mobile apps.

When you build a website, there are ways to enable and disable features on mobile devices based on what’s called a “user agent”.  This technology can tell what type of device and browser you are using, and then the web application tunes certain site features to make the user experience more appealing.

For example, let’s say your desktop website has a fairly complex “megamenu” – a menu that presents sub-menus when the user rolls over specific words or icons.  This feature is not going to work on a mobile device. If you have this feature, you will need to ensure an alternative mobile navigation gets people to where they need to go while still preserving some level of interactivity.

Also, many retail websites provide cross-selling opportunities on certain product pages. This works well on a desktop browser, but screen real estate is limited on mobile devices. Let people focus on each product and give them the ability to add to cart easily if they choose.  Your customers will appreciate not having to scroll through all of this extra information, as well as the faster, uncluttered mobile experience.

Whether this is their first foray into ecommerce or they are considering a retail website redesign, most small and mid-sized retailers should build their websites with mobile first in mind. Mobile technology is the present and the future of e-commerce. More and more consumers are choosing to do their online shopping away from their desks, and the mobile commerce market will doubtlessly continue its rapid growth. Building a feature-rich, yet lean mobile commerce experience is a wonderful starting point for a desktop website.

3 Tips for Increasing Mobile Commerce Sales by Taz Lake.  Available from <http://multichannelmerchant.com/ecommerce/3-tips-for-increasing-mobile-commerce-sales-21112016/> [Nov 21, 2016 3:54 PM]

3 Mobile Friendly Website Design Tips You Should Avoid

3 Mobile Friendly Website Design Tips You Should Avoid by Zaid Ammari.  Available from <http://www.business2community.com/web-design/3-mobile-friendly-website-design-tips-avoid-01709938> [November 18, 2016]

By now, everyone understand the importance of having a mobile-friendly website. More people are using mobile devices to access to Internet each passing day. As a result, these users can account for anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of a site’s total visitors. With that said, making the transition into these sites is challenging. Business owners are designing with general advice that actually hurts their site’s performance. Here are three common design tips you need to avoid.

1. Converting Desktop Websites into a Mobile-Friendly Version As Is

Too many business owners think that all they have to do is convert their regular desktop site into a mobile-friendly one. While this seems like a logical decision, they are forgetting that this doesn’t translate well. You have to adapt to the devices that are being used and focus on serving to the user’s needs rather than trying to maintain a certain standard.

Mobile-based users spend less time and have a lower attention span than desktop users. The devices they are using often have smaller screens and are being used while they are on the go. So when the users are presented with a content heavy and graphic heavy website, they become overwhelmed and will more likely than not, abandon the website.

You also need to remember that the Internet connection on these devices is far slower than desktop devices. Users understand this intuitively and are looking for a quick solution that loads quickly. You need to design your site to provide what these users want to see and present them with a focused navigation path to help them find what they need. You also need to make the content more concise and focus on conversions rather than entertaining or educating the user.

2. Designing the Mobile Version of Your Site Based on Your Desktop Site’s Analytics

While there is a lot of advice given about using your analytics to adapt your design, not enough people are telling you to dig deeper into the performance on mobile-devices. You’ll quickly learn that how people behave on your desktop will be drastically different from how people behave using these devices.

That’s why making design and structural changes based on the analytics data for your desktop is a bad choice. You need to collect data on mobile-only users and use that exact data to adapt the design and structure. Don’t forget that users are browsing the Internet in a completely different way when using devices. They’re using their thumbs and pointer fingers to browse, sliding their fingers to scroll, and pressing down parts of their screen.

3. Setting Up a Separate Mobile-Dedicated Site

One of the worst advice that marketing firms have made in the past is pushing their clients to set up a mobile-dedicated site that is separate from desktop site. This meaning that both sites will have different URLs. There are numerous downsides of implementing this strategy.

First of all, you may face search engine penalties for duplicate content. If you want to avoid this, you will have to go back to rewrite your archived content or produce two pieces of content every time you want to put up something new for your site.

Second, if you’re planning on getting traffic from the search engines, you’ll have to double your efforts since the search engines will see both sites as two separate entities. You’ll have to build separate links, have separate Google Authorship accounts, and have separate content. This is a lot of work to undertake.

Third, promoting your brand and taking part in any kind of offline advertising for your business site will become a headache. You want to get the brand value out of your advertising, but having two distinct websites will make it confusing for your target audience. The bottom line is that it’s a better idea to use responsive or adaptive web design.

Switching over to a mobile-friendly site is no easy task. Part of creating a site that works for both audiences means avoiding critical mistakes that hurts the user’s browsing experience and making it easier for you to promote your site.

3 Mobile Friendly Website Design Tips You Should Avoid by Zaid Ammari.  Available from <http://www.business2community.com/web-design/3-mobile-friendly-website-design-tips-avoid-01709938> [November 18, 2016]