Industry statistics suggest that more than 1.5 billion users across the globe own a smart phone and 900 million of this user base operated on Google’s Android. The Play Store currently has more than 800,000 apps resulting in a whooping 48 billion downloads with $900 million in developer payouts. If you are looking to start a business and have a little knowledge about computers and mobile app development, there couldn’t be a more profiting venture to step into. However, along with the huge profits and advantages, Android app development also attaches some major complication for someone beginning in this field. Here are 8 tips that would help you get your app underway successfully.

1.       Choice of IDE

Android development is mostly centered on Eclipse and some developers also prefer InteliJ IDEA’s Community Edition. The choice of IDE should depend on the comfort level of the developer. Choose one that you are more conversant in rather than the one that will take a little more time in getting a hold of.

2.       Create for the masses

Android sells the maximum number of devices and this creates the element of diversity. OS platforms are constantly being upgraded and so are the hardware components of devices. Before venturing into app development, check out the latest frameworks. It would be important to note here than an app that is coded for an earlier version will work on the new one (most likely) but the reverse isn’t true.

3.       Do away with Emulator

Emulators are painfully slow and can help you test just a limited number of things. But, if you are looking to save some precious time and minimize your waiting time, invest in a real testing device that can be connected with an USB.

4.       Make friends with XML

The complete Android framework is based upon XML scripting. While there are tools that will help with the UI, there are also others that can be confusing (Sherlock). This has been the reason that XML is not a popular platform to work on but you don’t really have a choice.

5.       Modular UI structure

Android apps that aim at a decent UI can demand daunting amount of XML. A modular UI will help you reuse components including “fragments” and “includes”.

6.       Hire a designer

Either you do that or become a creative professional yourself. Good coding needs to be complimented by the right type of interface, which would need a good designer.

7.       Android specific solutions

Android specific solutions are simpler and easier to use. Things like asynchronous processing and multi-threading need platforms like AsyncTask or IntentService before being laid alongside the java.util.concurrent package.

8.       There are no miracle tools

There is not such platform that can guarantee easier Android development. When they seem to say so, you need to check them by creating a simple app and deploy it in all of them. Now, if each of these display look like native apps, there is a minimum degree of concern.

Android app development will be an exciting experience, though there are initial challenges. With experience, you would definitely get better at the job and face the degree of success you envisage for your development agency.

Mobile Applications In The Tourism Industry

The travel and tourism is a huge 6.3 trillion dollar industry according to the 2015 statistics. A huge part of this success has been played by mobile apps. As the partnership between the tourism industry and technology grows, both of them have earned several grand slams and many more are on the way. The days of guidebooks, compasses, maps and other printed stuff have been replaced by travel apps that come loaded with functionalities.

Smartphones make it more portable to carry all the resources you need to have along your travel expeditions. Demographic statistics suggest that travel and tourism are the 7^th most downloaded app category. 60% of the global smart phone users have downloaded some kind of travel app into their devices and 45% in this group use these apps regularly to plan their holiday and travels using their mobile.

From the above facts, it can be comfortably held that the tourism industry might as well fail without smartphones and mobile apps. Knowledgeable travel companies have come to know that mobile applications are the only way to optimize and extract the expected ROI.

Travel companies that have been able to make a strong app presence have been better able to reach out to customers who is the truest sense would be “mobile”. If you are in a tourism business or planning to invest into one, it’s imperative that you should make this technology investment. Mobile apps that integrate user friendliness and other rich functionalities are more likely to attract the crowd than the travel agencies that wok through just a single brick and mortar shop. This extends to all kind of tourism business including travel packages, guided tours, car rentals, hotel bookings, ticketing, F&B, and everything else.

Founded by Deep Kalra in the year 2000 in US and then extended in India in 2005, MakeMyTrip is the largest online travel company in India and is second largest most visited travel website after IRCTC.  MakeMyTrip is a well-known name for providing services in luxurious tours and hotel booking websites. The company has branched after its inception through a series of small acquisitions.

Within the highly competitive travel industry, having the flexibility to innovate is critical in meeting growing demands of consumers moving online to research and purchase travel products. With fluctuations in travel prices from suppliers impacting revenue, MakeMyTrip needed to maximize its margins by running efficient IT infrastructure. Year after year, MakeMyTrip has been able to capture a bigger market share through its efficient mobile application and some innovative marketing campaigns. Its revenue generation is on a steady 30% rise annually after it launched its mobile application and renewed its servers.

It is just one of the examples where mobility has given the advantage to a travel & tourism company. With mobile users increasing on a daily basis, the only way to reach out to them is to be on their mobile. Building an app with robust features and security is the only way forward in today’s era.

Get in touch with a developer / app development agency that has enough experience building mobile applications. This is an era where success doesn’t come just with hard work but smart work.

Mobile apps and app marketing is one of the guiding tools to success in the present world. 

Cross-site scripting or XSS is considered to be among the most dangerous threat for web applications. Researchers have found that XSS even attached itself to some of the most popular web platforms including Facebook, Google, PayPal, Amazon and several others. For someone conversant about the “bug bounty” program, they would know that most errors are related to XSS Attacks.

Browsers are constantly being updated with filters to prevent the attacks but XSS somehow has always been able to find a loophole. This tool is commonly used by hackers looking to spreading malware, cookie stealing, malicious redirections and hijacking sessions. Hackers will inject a malicious JavaScript code into the web platform such that the browser executed the command. The interesting part with XSS is that it is easy to detect but difficult to patch.

XSS attack explained

An obvious question in the minds of readers would be why the threat is called XSS rather than CSS. Well, it’s just about not confusing it with cascading style sheet. Moving on, an XSS error is injected anywhere in an application where the original syntax hasn’t been carefully encoded. In case, the input isn’t properly sanitized and encoded, users will operate upon the malicious program instead of the original script. Browsers have no idea whether they should treat their alien script as a part of the program or now and given the benefit of doubt.

Example:

Search boxes are common to most websites. The coded form should look like:

<form action=”search.php” method=”get”>

<input type=”text” name=”q” value=”” />

<input type=”submit” value=”send” />

</form>

The search.php page from which the query draws the results also lists the “keywords” and the “search results”. The web page will be coded like:

<h3>You Searched for: <!--?php echo($_GET['q']) ?-->

Whatever may be the search query, it will be displayed alongside the search results in the webpage. Now, what is a hacker injects this:

“><script>alert(‘XSS injection’)</script>

The browser doesn’t get any implication of encoded input or filter malicious scripts. So, it will print whatever it is called for. The result would be:

<h3> You Searched for: “><script>alert(‘XSS injection’)</script>

The above command will be executed with a message stating “XSS Injection”.

Preventing XSS Attacks

To avoid becoming a victim of XSS Attack, it is important that web applications are developed using special security development lifecycles or SDLs. The aim should be to reduce the chances of coding errors and security related design errors. SDLs will also minimize the severity of undetected XSS Attacks. Several open source libraries too exist to support the cause and include:

1. PHP AntiXSS: IT helps adding an extra layer of protection to guard against XSS vulnerabilities. PHP AntiXSS will automatically detect encoding data and filter the same.
2. xss_clean.php filter: A powerful filter, it is used by developers to clean nested exploits and URF encodings.
3. HTML Purifier: A standard HTML filtering library, HTML Purifier would remove malicious coding from inputs and prevent XSS attacks. It is easily available as a plugin for PHP frameworks

In the end, it depends on the developer whether he/she is able to come up with a secure development life cycle. For businesses, XSS will damage the brand’s reputation and customer base. Regular scrutiny keeps the chances down.

Laravel 5 was released this January amidst much anticipation. The new framework for PHP developers brings along some unique features and also some modifications to the previous architectural foundations. Laravel is both trying to make it simpler and make it more challenging for developers to think creatively and develop better applications. Here are some good things you should know about the latest update.

Directory Structure

A major change has been made to the latest Laravel’s folder structure. It comes with the PSR-4 auto loading standard, meaning that all classes are automatically namespaced. Default namespace for any web application remains “app” but can be changed using the syntax “php artisan app:name <your-app-name>.

Models remain in the app namespace and will be included in the app folder. Any application’s views, assets, and language files will be located in resource folder while the bootstrap, public and vendor directory retain their previous locations. Further, storage, test, database and config directories are now placed in the root folder of projects.

Peeking into the app folder now, developers would notice several classes which are explained later.

Laravel 5 also comes with an improved environment detection. As opposed to the complex and nested configuration directories we found in previous versions, Laravel 5 comes with a new .env file at the root taking care of all environment variables. Further, the php artisan tinker now uses the Psysh package against Boris.

Method injection

Up until the 4.2 version, developers would had to request IoC container to achieve class distance. However, it can be done simpler now by just declaring the class instance into the signature of controller method. The IoC takes care of the rest, even with other parameters playing a role.

<?php

// your class at "app/Classes/your_class.php"

namespace App\Classes

class YourClass

{

// your class implementation

}

// somewhere in one of your controller actions

public function myAction(\App\Classes\YourClass $MyObject)

{

// use $MyObject just like any other object

}

?>

Contracts

Acting as interface classes, contracts are the same tried and tested process of removing class dependencies and creating loosely coupled software elements. If an application process requires catching, one can use Illuminate\Contracts\Cache instead of concrete cache class. This also allows you to plug in and plug out the cache implementation without major changes to the package code.

Route catching

Route catching with the new Laravel helps speed up the route registration of applications and has clear performance benefits. It might however require a larger number of routes to be able to monitor the change in caching. Using the syntax “php artisan route:cache” and “php artisan route:clear”, developers can turn the caching on and off.

Route Middleware

Route Middle ware in Laravel 5 adds extra layers to HTTP routes. It would be a good tool to use when you require codes to be executed before each route or specific routes.

Authentication

With Laravel 5, you will not have to spend a lot of time writing the authentication broilerplate. Laravel’s 5 Registrar service supports this ready to use authentication.

Let us know if any other feature in Laravel 5 has caught your attention.

Few would have expected the amount of tweaks and updates announced at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) currently underway in San Francisco. What has unraveled so far is a big list of updates across the board – technology, software and hardware. The new versions of OS X, watchOS and iOS were just a few of them.

Here are some of highly exciting details that hogged the limelight at the annual conference –

• Improved version of OS X– An interesting update was the release of OS X 10.11. Here the focus was on polishing the existing firmware for better user experience and improved efficiency. For instance, in Safari ‘pinning sites’ allow you to load them faster. Also audio can be muted from the tab itself rather than going to the actual webpage. Spotlight ensures better search capabilities, while Metal optimization tool will look at boosting performance on Apple devices.

• iPad split screen – What was present for last 3 years on Samsung and other Android devices has now come to iPad. Yes, iPad now has support for multiple apps on a single screen. iPad Air 2, Air, mini 3 and mini 2 users can now access multiple apps at the same time on the screen either in 50:50 or 70:30 ratio.

• Release of iOS 9– The release of iOS 9 was a surprise to many Apple aficionados. It sees more refinements to existing functionalities and UI from iOS 7 and 8, rather than wholesale updates. It comes with a reduced setup size and adds 3 extra hours to battery time with its ‘low power mode’. While the beta release is scheduled for July, it will be released publicly by the fall season.

• News App– Taking on Google Newsstand and Flipboard, Apple announced its own News app that presents highly customized news feeds and content to users (i.e. provide only from those sources that the user selects), but in a visually appealing presentation format. 

• Transit directions in Maps– When Apple announced that Apple Maps is used 3.5x more than other similar maps apps, it made sure there was something for this app too. Now users can access transit direction to nearby places on Apple Maps. It also provides Location cards in case the destination store or restaurant is featured on iOS app store.

• Software upgrade for Apple Watch – Its been just 60 odd days to the Apple Watch launch but its already getting a major software update in the form of watchOS 2. It now gets third party app support, which means a radical explosion of possibilities to which the watch can now be put to use.

• Music Subscription– A big update, the Apple Music transforms iTunes and for a $10 monthly subscription of streaming music, unleash a host of exciting features on the subscriber; all this in a bid to win over defectors to Pandora and Spotify.

• Siri gets an update– Just like Google Now, Apple’s proactive assistant, Siri, will check data in your calendar, contacts, emails, and schedules to provide contextual information or reminders. For users wary of privacy, Apple is promising security of the data residing wholly on the cloud.

Liked any other update that you might have heard or seen of? Do write in with your comments and let us know.

Bullet is an exciting plugin developed by Richard Huang for Ruby on Rails. It reduces the number of queries made by an application. It was first used in 2009 and since then, it has proved to be a powerful gem that helps monitor Ruby on Rails applications for performance improvements. Bullet seeks several ways to notify problems including JavaScript alerts, XMPP alerts and Growl notifications. Further, it saves its bullet.log statement to trace the exact root of the alert.

Here are some interesting tips to optimize Queries in rails using Bullet.

The traditional method (sans the optimization)

This is the old fashioned method of optimization which was initially used by bullet. This example shows two models; Order and Product, wherein an Order consists of many Products. The code script should be:

In app/controllers/orders_controller.rb

class OrdersController < ApplicationController

def index

@orders = Order.all

end

end

In app/views/orders/index.html.erb

<h1>Orders</h1>

<% @orders.each do |order| %>

  <div>

    <h2><%=link_to order.title, order_path(order)%></h2>

  </div>

  <%order.products.each do |product|%>

     <ul class=”product”>

        <li><%=link_to product.title, product_path(product)%></li>

     </ul>

  <%end%>

<% end %>

Source - http://blog.andolasoft.com/2013/05/3-easy-steps-to-optimize-queries-in-rails-using-bullet.html#

This script would however generate some N+1 query issues, the reason being that we have set the query just once in order to get the orders and then separate each query to fetch the products. These are also the kinds of problems that are quite frequently and easily overlooked by programmers. Also, this is where the “Bullet” gem helps in avoiding the issues.

The gem “Bullet” can be integrated to the query in just three easy steps.

Step 1:

Add “Bullet” get to the Gemfile

/Gemfile.rb

gem 'bullet', '4.6.0', :group => “development”

Run the “bundle install” to install the gem “bullet” in development group

Step 2:

Optimize the configuration setting in the development.rb file

For slowing the “bullet” to change its configuration using the after_initialize block contained in the development.rb file. Set the alert as “true” to get the alarms via the browser.

config.after_initialize do

    Bullet.enable = true

    Bullet.alert = true

    Bullet.bullet_logger = true

    Bullet.console = true

    Bullet.rails_logger = true

  end

Step 3:

Restarting the server

You need to both restart the server and reload the page. After step 2, you would see a JavaScript alert popup in the browser with the detected N+1 query. The alert would contain the file that holds the issue and the suggestions to what could be done to override the problem.

The N+1 query can be simultaneously fixed using the following steps:

In Controller,

lass OrdersController < ApplicationController

  def index

    @orders = Order.includes(:products)

  end

end

After you have changed the statement from “Order all” to “Order.includes’ (:products), you need to call eager loading to fetch the products. The date herein would be fetched using two queries, one to obtain the orders and the other to retrieve the products in the orders.

The gem “bullet” can also point out when we are unnecessarily eager loading.

Benefits of optimization

1. No need to search each line of code to figure out inefficiency in database query
2. Automatic notification / alert messages
3. Prevent inefficient database query like N+1
4. Detect unused eager loading

Mobile testing is becoming a fast paced industry that is driven by constant evolution. The increasing adoption of mobile devices and changing technologies have brought a whole new set of challenges for the testing world. End users of apps aren’t forgiving and even the most minor issue will lead to customers switching to a different app immediately. Consequently, every mobile website and app placed in the market needs to be “rock solid” in terms of looks and performance. Smartphones have become the primary tool of communication for both individuals and businesses, across the globe.

According to Cap Gemini’s Quality Report on Mobile Testing, about 18% companies feel that they don’t have the time to test their mobile apps and further, about 65% say that they don’t have adequate tools for testing. Every week, new devices are being launched into the market and newer applications are designed to deliver complex set of functionalities over simple platforms. This diversity and increasing expectations present unique challenges for mobile testers.

1.       A multitude of devices

Since Google launched the Android 1.0, more than 500m devices have been shipped. For Apple, the numbers close in to more than 220m. Smart devices capable of running applications span across smartphones, tablets, iPad, watches and each of these categories further include thousands of devices, each with different screen sizes, operating systems, and other capabilities. It is a real challenge to be able to create an app that would run smoothly across devices and platforms as you never know which device your target user is on.

2.       Device fragmentation / different OS platforms

Device fragmentation is probably the most challenging aspect of mobile testing. The iOS device matrix has been growing but when it comes to Android devices (which again have a larger share in the market), fragmentation can be a major issue. In July 2013, OpenSignal, an analytical firm reported more than 12,000 Android devices as opposed to just 4,000 in 2012. It is not just the changing hardware but also the constant upgrades and different mobile operating systems that add to the challenge.

3.       Types of mobile apps

Mobile apps can be categorized as being native, hybrid or web apps. Both the implementation and testing process of each app category is different than the other.

4.       Varied test interfaces

Mobile simulators and emulators are crucial testing tools as they help verify regular regression tests and general app functionalities. However, the advantages are limited in scope and would never be a substitute for real world scenarios.

5.       Varied testing tools

If the complexity of automation wasn’t enough, testing labs are also challenged by the variety of testing tools spanning across free/paid, native/web, android/iOS, etc.

The solutions

•   Mobile test labs: Cloud testing labs like SauceLabs, MobileLabs and Xamarine Test Cloud have been able to create effective sampling and cover a large segment of devices. They also cater well to the changing OS, screen, memory, fragmentation and device types.
•  The perfect testing solution: Solutions like Appium, Robotium and Calabash are open source platforms for app testing. Commercial alternatives include perfecto, eggplant, etc.

However, it finally depends upon the app strategy, the target market and the quality of app to be able to create a successful campaign.

Retail apps

In the modern day and age, many sections of the industry have been remarkably transformed, thanks to the advent of smartphones. The world of retail has seen similar change over the last few years, owing to the power smartphones have provided modern day shoppers with. With price-comparing apps gradually paralyzing brick-and-mortar establishments, many companies in the retail sector are feeling the need to venture in the world of mobility.

The companies that have completed the transformation successfully currently find themselves in a strong, viable position in the market. This is down to the fact that there are numerous possibilities and benefits that mobile apps can bring to the retail sector. Currently, many companies are using the mobile platform to sell their products and services, communicate with customers, provide personalized services and manage relationships. The mobile platform is being leveraged to address a number of problems of the retail industry, and the benefits it brings to the table can no longer be ignored.

Here are some of the most convincing ways that retail companies are using custom developed mobile apps to succeed in the competitive market –

• Immersive Shopping Experience – Every purchaser wants comprehensive information about the products they are about to purchase. As a retail company owner, you can ensure the delivery of that information with your own retail mobile app. You can list your products with a full set of features and specifications, include pictures and videos, and also integrate user reviews which give purchasers a fair and unbiased idea about the product they are about to purchase. Such wealth of information is what often tips the balance and closes the deal.

• Personalized Services – Keeping customers interested and loyal has been one of the main problems of the retail industry, and the mobile platform provides a great solution- providing personalized services in the form of deals, discounts, reward points and loyalty programs. Providing incentives to customers who stay loyal is a great way to sustain their interest and build a fruitful relationship. Having your own mobile app makes it easy for you to plan and deploy loyalty programs, showcase new products and run product promotions, making things lucrative for your customers.

• Marketing – The mobile platform has now been widely recognized as one of the most efficient marketing tools currently available. You can now showcase your entire range of products and services, and allow users to bookmark products they like, and share their preferences on social platforms. With the integration of social media, you can spread information about your brand and products to large masses with half the hassle and cost that is usually involved in marketing efforts through other channels.

• CRM – Mobile apps can help you smoothly manage customer relationships. You can use your app to get feedback, address complaints and answer queries. Apps can be configured to send push notifications on the launch of new, important products. For regular shoppers, there can also be speedy channels of purchase integrated into your app. All this facilitates the building and nurturing of fruitful customer relationships.

See any other ways in which mobile apps have influenced the retail sector? Do write in to us and let us know.

Android attracts the majority of app developers, thanks to the continuous innovation of Google Play. Apart from providing an open-source environment, the Play Store has definitely become a refuge for those who have been overwhelmed by the strict guidelines of the iOS App Store. Also, the lack of any definitive approval process makes it easier to submit your application and invest your time and money in the development process. However, if you are daring enough to look beyond these loose ends, there are special Android development platforms that can give wings to your imagination.

However, given all the opportunities present in the Google Play Store, there are hurdles to be crossed by the developer to create a smash hit mobile app. When it comes to the hardware, Android can be provokingly fragmented, leading to manufacturers having their own proprietary modifications (HTC Sense).  Here’s a list of the top 5 Android Development Platforms:

1.       Android SDK

The basic Android ‘Software Development Kit’ can be the go-to platform for any developer looking to start his career with app development. The platform offers easy tools for API documentation, debugging, system images that support testing, and other tools that perfectly integrate with the Google ecosystem. Android SDK further includes essentials like licensing and Google Play billing that enables an easier and more secure app sales and distribution.

2.       Titanium Mobile SDK

Developers are specifically interested in platforms that help them maximize their effort in reaching out to maximum users across a wide range of devices. For developers interested in crafting apps that can reach out to both iOS and web users, the Titanium Mobile SDK can be a game-changer. Developed by Appcelerator, Titanium SDK supports a minimum of 5,000 different devices and mobile OS APIs. It gives developers the freedom to run their applications like the native apps for both Android and iOS. Titanium SDK even goes a step further by offering device-agnostic HTML5 applications that will be compatible with any device, increasing your audience reach in the process.

3.       Gimbal Context-Aware

Mobile applications that are based on geography and user experiences can not only impress developers but can be life-changing for end users. Gimbal, developed by Qualcomm integrates context awareness and offers a platform that is secure and resource-efficient. Using web-based dashboards; developers can easily set up Geofence locations that identify hotspots in-app interactions. Gimbal further tracks web activity and user preferences to customize the application experience for individual users. Additionally, there are some strict regulations to user privacy and developer controls.

4.       Vuforia Augmented Reality

Another android development platform by Qualcomm, Vuforia has impressed many developers. Augmented Reality promises developers a tech vision that recognizes and produces real-world imaging and 3D targets. For developers building a game for Android, Vuforia can be the perfect solution to the desired AR experience.

5.       AppMachine

An easy to use developer platform, AppMachine supports designing and development of native apps for both Android and iOS. Developers simply need to combine building blocks across features that include photos and videos. Developers have complete control over fonts, icons, colors, navigation paths, and the overall layout.