IoT (Internet of Things) is the backbone of a grand technological future. It is a concept of connecting multiple devices through the internet. Today, all industries make use of this technology and therefore have revolutionised their respective business sectors.

Taking a step further, IoT in the web and app development is making path-breaking contributions towards the world of technology. It has enabled a shift in the way users interact with websites and applications. Making the lives easier and more synchronised is the major advantage of IoT in mobile app development. As IoT begins to take over the world of technology, having a functional mobile app helps users to seamlessly connect to the world via a smartphone, a tablet, or a smartwatch.

Let us take a closer look at how IoT can impact Mobile Application Development

Enrich the User Experience

Providing a seamless user experience and keeping them engaged is one of the most important aims of the businesses and developers. With the rise of IoT, and through its continued growth we have a great advancement in the concept of everything smart – smart cities, smart applications, and smart homes.

Living in a tech-enabled world, brands today focus on enhancing the user-experience using smart applications that interact with your fitness equipment, watches, lights, speakers, and so on. This is where the IoT comes into the picture. It is IoT that keeps all these connected and synchronised to deliver a great user experience.

Open Source Development, a New Norm

Since its inception in the tech world, IoT has only grown and flourished across industries and sectors. This explosion has lead IT companies and developers to share their programs or applications openly for third parties to use. This encourages new and naive developers to build applications of their own.

Having an open-source development increases the opportunity to work with varied minds by leaps and bounds. This helps more and more creative minds to enter and develop smarter mobile applications. Bringing in transparency, companies and developers collaborating has today become a norm.

Creating New Platforms

Adopting IoT and creating apps with that at its core is a bit challenging for developers. Despite their constant and multiple adaptations, they are hindered by the dearth of the platforms. But this challenge didn’t stop them from working on their mandates, as they created brand-new platforms for their applications. This leads to the development of integrated IoT platforms, thereby enabling the developers to create more and more cross-platform applications. This trend will only encourage mobile app developers to focus on developing platforms as they offer profitable returns.

Opening up more opportunities for mobile app developers, IoT is no doubt a much-needed advancement in app development. IoT and Mobile App Development, together, will change the way we live, work, and relax. If you are planning to take some advantage of IoT and Mobile App Development, then contact us at contact@goodworklabs.com or  +91- 9863077000.

Cross-platform is commonly used by app developers to cut down on the development time and produce cost-effective results. However, cross-platform app development can lead to several performance & UX-related problems.

Cross-platform app development is the process or approach to develop applications that can run on multiple platforms. These applications use a reusable code that can reutilize to create the same form for several platforms. However, this method of approach comes with its advantages and disadvantages.

Let’s discuss in brief the pros and cons of cross-platform app development.

Pros

Reusable Code

One of the most significant advantages of this method of app development is the reusable code, which the developer can use across different platforms. Therefore, instead of developing separate applications for separate platforms, the developer can use and customize one code for different platforms. Moreover, the same code can be utilized for future projects as well.

Reduced Time

As mentioned above, the reusable code enables developers to use one code across all platforms. Doing so results in a significant reduction in development time and allows developers to complete development projects quickly.

Cost-Effective

Since one code can be used across all platforms, app owners don’t need to spend money on hiring separate developers for different platforms. Doing so saves a hefty amount of money. For instance, iPhone app development and android app development, if done separately, gets expensive.

Easy Development Process

Cross-platform app development makes the overall development process easy, resulting in a pleasant time for both developers and business owners. The cross-platform development framework supports HTML5 and CSS3, making it easy for developers to use.

Enhanced Market Reach

One of the limitations of single platform development is limited reach. If an application is developed specifically for iPhone, Android, or Windows, users will not be able to access it. And since single platform development is costly, app owners refrain from developing the same application on different platforms.

But cross-platform development enables app owners to launch the same application on all the platforms, enhancing the user base and market reach, which otherwise restricted in a single-platform application.

Integration with Cloud solutions

Cross-platform applications can integrate with various frameworks that offer several plugins to the developers for improving aesthetics, app functionality, and validity.

Simple to Update

Cross-platform applications are easy to edit and update. Since all the apps use a standard code, the update can follow across all platforms, which results in seamless operations.

Cons

Although cross-platform development comes with a bunch of exciting benefits, there are a few drawbacks to this approach as well, as discussed below.

Challenges in switching the platform

Almost all cross-platform frameworks use their JavaScript subsets, which may cause problems in the reusable code. The issues arise while switching to another platform; the reusable code becomes unusable.

Lengthy Integration Process

Another problem with cross-platform applications is the time-consuming integration process. The integration process with local settings and preferences is not easy and might require the support of third-party cloud providers to resolve the storage difficulties.

Limited Updates

The operating system may not support all the features a framework uses. For example, if IOS releases an update or adds a new element, you have to update the iOS version of your application accordingly. However, you cannot do the same with an android application until Google releases a similar update.

Sluggish Code

Cross-platform app development is not as easy as it seems, especially for novice developers. Developers need to use several cross-compliance during the development process that might lead to a sluggish code, and thereby a slow application.

The point of concern as a decision-maker or developer, how do you solve the problem of creating your mobile application for multiple platforms?

It has become an essential element for any organization, whatever its size. Some companies can focus on one operating system (operating system) and avoid all others. Nevertheless, many companies must focus on a multitude of mobile devices with different operating systems. Today, it’s vital for the app to support Android gadgets, iPads, Windows Phone, Amazon Kindle, tablets, BlackBerry, and more.

One of the most challenging situations for application developers is developing a native mobile application and using it on multiple platforms. Of course, as a business, you have to deal with different types of customers with varying types of devices. As a result, you need a mobile application that can work seamlessly on almost any platform (for example, Android, iOS, Windows, etc.).

Whether your company creates a mobile app for application stores or in-house use, you often face the challenge of developing it for multiple platforms. In general, this means targeting both iOS and Android devices.

Let’s understand cross-platform apps

In an apt scenario, cross-platform applications run on multiple operating systems with a single code base. There are two types of cross-platform applications.

1. Native Cross-Platform Apps
2. Hybrid ‘HTML5’ Cross-Platform Apps

Cross-Platform Apps

The majority of the mobile operating system has its own Software Development Kit (SDK) for creating mobile applications. These SDKs also have preferred programming languages, supported by the operating system vendor. As we know, for iOS Objective-C and Swift are the recommended programming languages ​​supported by Apple, while for Android, Java is the preferred language supported by Google. Typically, applications framed with these languages ​​using the official SDK are known as native applications.

Nevertheless, it is possible to use APIs (Application Programming Interface) furnished by the native SDK, in other programming languages ​​that are not compatible with the operating system vendor. These are the way native “multi-platform” applications created. Typically, a third-party provider chooses a programming language and makes a unified API over the native software development kit availed by the various operating system vendors. With this unified API, it is possible to cater to multiple operating systems with a single code base. Because the final application produced still uses native APIs, cross-platform native applications can achieve near-native performance without any visible straggle for the user.

Some widely used cross-platform framework include

• React Native

React native leverages the best parts of native development with React, considered best-in-class JavaScript library for building user interfaces.

React Native can use in your existing Android and iOS ongoing development projects, or you can start the development from scratch.

Consistency in terms of UI and UX on both Android and iOS across multiple devices is one of the critical benefits of react-native.

How React Native Enables Low-Cost App Development

React Native competitive advantage is its low-cost development. Following are key features which enable in cost reduction;

1. Reusable Components
2. Smooth Debugging
3. Less Operational and Maintenance Cost
4. A Single and Robust UI/UX
5. Affordable Way to Market

• Ionic

Based on: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript and SASS.

Ionic is one of the most popular cross-platform frameworks built with Angular and Apache Cordova; it felicitates the ability to develop apps for multiple mobile platforms in the most efficient manner. Apps developed using the Ionic cross-platform framework can run on iOS and Android.

Ionic apps use regular web technologies like HTML, CSS, and Angular and designed like web applications. But Cordova, which it depends on, enables it to make use of the device’s native features.

1. Hiring a new set of developers is not required. The existing web developers can transition easily to developing mobile apps with ionic since they make use of similar technologies.
2. Ionic makes use of web technologies, so it’s handy to work with it.

• NativeScript 

Like Titanium, NativeScript aims to make Web-based programming available for application development. Telerik announced NativeScript, a company famous for its suite of GUI components for enterprise applications in 2014. It uses JavaScript as its primary development language. The native script also supports TypeScript, Angular, and uses CSS for style. In comparison to the other technologies mentioned above, NativeScript is relatively new, but it has a lot of potentials.

• QT

QT is a cross-platform workstation development library in the industry, launched 21 years ago, in 1995. QT supported iOS and Android cross-platform applications in 2013. QT encompasses C ++ with Qt Meta Language or Qt Modeling Language – Which is a markup language similar to HTML for creating cross-platform applications. Still, by default, the Qt GUI components do not adhere to iOS and Android, and C ++ is not a handy programming language because of its vast syntax, manual memory management, and compatibility issues. QT can be quite productive if there are hands of experienced C ++ programmers.

• RubyMotion

RubyMotion is the primary language for development. One of the earliest actors in this field. When they announced for the first time in 2012, it was only related to iOS but has supported iOS and Android since 2014. Rubymotion needs a separate GUI code for iOS and Android. Nevertheless, business logic can be reused on all platforms.

Hybrid ‘HTML5’ cross-platform Apps

Mobile applications are graphical interface applications. Most of the mobile apps rely on core web services for much of their business logic. Approximately speaking, in mobile applications, especially in the area of business process automation, almost 60% of the code deals with the creation and management of the graphical interface.

As we know, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone all have a very advanced browser component in their SDK. By leveraging this Web View component, programmers can implement standard HTML5 Web technologies to design and program elements of their application. In the end, the use comprises at least one native frame and HTML / JavaScript code executed in a web view. That’s why they are called “hybrids.” Application features that require sensor input, such as geolocation, camera, or lower-level features, such as file system access, primarily use a native JavaScript bridge provided by the infrastructure of the hybrid application.

Apache Cordova, originally called PhoneGap (launched in early 2009), is the most popular multiplatform hybrid framework. It is compatible with most major operating systems for modern smartphones. Because in hybrid cross-platform frameworks, HTML and CSS used to generate a graphical interface, almost all of it can utilize on different operating systems.

In hybrid applications, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code furnishes with the app. As a result, there is no lag in loading UI-related code, as you experienced when loading Web sites on the network. On powerful and modern phones, it is possible to create a user-friendly interface with HTML5 technologies. With Cordova, primarily for B2B applications, it is possible to reuse the code between 80% and 90% on all platforms.

On the contrary, some programming languages used in native app development are:

1. Java
2. Python
3. PHP
4. Ruby
5. C++
6. JS

The Ending Note

Cross-platform development is a breakthrough technology that allows small business owners to reach a large number of the target audience with a single application. Moreover, this process helps them save a significant amount of time and money, as well. It is also a lot easier to make a mark on app marketplaces of google play store and apple app store. It has a broader user base owing to the opportunity to reach a more general audience.

However, in the case of a few businesses or applications that offer a plethora of sophisticated features, cross-platform development can have some challenges. Therefore, it is essential to contemplate the pros and cons before selecting a suitable development process for your application.

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Xamarin is the undisputed leader in cross-platform development

With a boom in the use of smartphones among customers, application development has been growing at a rapid pace. Different devices, carriers, and software have created their own identity in the everyday lives of people around the globe. Almost anything gets done with the help of a smartphone.

In terms of global market share, Android tops the list. The next in line is Apple’s iOS and Windows, respectively. As a mobile app developer, it gets confusing at times to choose the best platform for an application, other than its native platform.

Learning a new language, the API’s, and other related stuff is not only tedious but can keep you stuck on your platform. Xamarin can help you there. You can build cross-platform mobile applications to facilitate similar functions like platform native apps.

Know Xamarin

Xamarin is the name of a software company founded in the year 2011. Acquired in 2016 by Microsoft, Xamarin provides tools to developers to help them create cross-platform mobile applications. All these applications have their natural features intact while sharing a standard code set at the same time.

Xamarin tools are readily available, and they get downloaded with Visual Studio. You can directly develop apps for Android, iOS, and Windows apps from the Visual Studio itself.

A significant part of the standard code gets written in C#, eliminating the need to learn any other language like Objective-C, Swift, or Java as well. Using Xamarin instead of the usual learning procedure will prove helpful to you in learning app development on multiple platforms.

How Does Xamarin Work?

On a very elementary level, Xamarin converts the total iOS or Android SDK to C# to facilitate coding in a more familiar language for the developers. With one style to code for both platforms, you do not need to remember too much of syntax as well.

This makes it easy to access any Android or iOS API through Xamarin tools.

Benefits of Xamarin

There are several reasons Xamarin is used by a lot of companies, with brands like Trello, Slack, and GitHub a few of the ones.

We bring you some of these profound benefits Xamarin has over other technologies-

– Single Tech Stack for Coding on All Platforms

Xamarin takes the help of C# integrated with a.Net framework for creating apps for a mobile platform. Through this, you get to reuse about 96 percent of source code leading to a speedy engineering cycle. Xamarin also does not need to switch among the development environments.

All of the Xamarin apps can be entirely built in Visual Studio, a replacement for the Xamarin Studio. The tools to facilitate cross-platform development come without any added cost.

– Performance Almost as Good as Native

With the traditional hybrid solutions based on web technologies, a cross-platform app can never get the classification as native. With Xamarin, however, a cross-platform app can still get classified as a native app. The performance metrics can be easily compared with those of Java for Android and even Objective- C, or Swift to create a native app for iOS.

The performance of Xamarin is also improved continuously to meet the standards of native application development. Visual Studio provides a total option to build, test, and track the performance of an app.

– Native User Experience

With Xamarin, you can create a superb experience with the help of platform-specific UI elements. A lot of simple apps for iOS, Android, and Windows get designed with the help of Xamarin.

The use of Xamarin with the Forms tool brings about a significant increase in the pace of application development. With such a speedy process of development, it becomes a fantastic option for business-oriented projects.

However, you might always have the chance to see a slightly depleted performance, due to the presence of an extra abstraction layer. For a customized user interface and increased performance, you can use Xamarin for iOS and Android separately to get the best out of it.

– Total Hardware Support

Xamarin provides your solution with native-level app functions. The tool eliminates every hardware compatibility issue through plugins and particular API’s. This allows Xamarin to work with conventional device functionality across all platforms.

With access to platform specific API’s, Xamarin provides the function of linking native libraries. It gives a better degree of customization and a native-level functionality with just a little added cost.

– Open Sourced with Strong Corporate Support

When Microsoft acquired Xamarin in the year 2016, the licensing policies underwent quite a lot of significant changes. Xamarin SDK, with runtime, command line tools, and libraries have all become open sourced and available as per MIT license through Visual Studio.

The cost of license tends to be a significant barrier, and by eliminating this, Microsoft opened up the doors to further development of this platform.

– Ease in maintenance

Because of its cross-platform ability, Xamarin makes maintenance and providing updates easier. Developers can deploy the changes or updates to the source file itself. These updates then automatically get applied to both the iOS and Android applications.

It is important to note that this only works for the applications running on Xamarin. In short, with Xamarin, you save a lot of time and money spent on keeping your apps up to date.

Conclusion

Ones above are just a few benefits of Xamarin for mobile app development, there’s a lot more which makes Xamarin the undisputed leader in cross-platform development. The feature-rich layout and subsequent benefits make Xamarin an almost perfect option for cross-platform development.

Additionally, Xamarin has a community of more than 700,000 developers. This number is only increasing as collaboration and enhancement of software becomes more comfortable than ever with Xamarin as the app development tool.

At GoodWorkLabs we’ve highly skilled developers who’ve delivered critical solutions based applications, for enterprises from different domains.

Please write to us today at contact@goodworklabs.com to discuss your requirements.

React Native Or Xamarin for App Development

The number of smartphone users has remarkably increased over the years which is evident from the pace at which this generation is going tech-savvy. The smartphone industry has seen a growth from around 2.1 billion users in the year 2016 to nearly 2.5 billion users in 2018.

Globally, over 36% of the world’s population owns a smartphone now as compared to just 10% in 2011. Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are the most popularly used operating systems in the industry. Android leads the market with approximately 80% smartphone sales and on the contrary, iOS holds a 15% market share.

With this increasing demand for smartphones, the demand for mobile applications has grown to monstrous proportions today with more and more companies investing in them. Every day, thousands of apps are launching on both the platforms – Android and iOS. In 2017, Android users were able to choose from 2.8 million apps while Apple’s App Store had over 2.1 million apps.

The need for developing apps that work well over different platforms has increased. It makes it very important for developers to make their apps stand out in this overly crowded pool of apps. To develop great applications, a developer must be aware of the right set of tools required.

In the past, Android applications were written using Java while iOS applications used Objective-C and Swift. Currently, there has been a shift in this trend with the introduction of cross-platform development tools like React Native and Xamarin. Cross-platform development is basically designing applications that work well for both Android and iOS and other operating systems like Windows.

Earlier, developers had to write similar codes twice that would work for different platforms. With React Native and Xamarin, the development process has become easier. Not only are they cost-efficient but also save time and shorten the development cycle considerably.

The question that remains is which one between React Native and Xamarin serves as a better development tool.

For answering this, let us take a look at the detailed comparison between the two and then choose which one suits your needs the best.

Introduction to React Native and Xamarin

React Native is a cross-platform development tool that allows you to code using JavaScript while Xamarin uses C# for creating user interface codes. Big brands like Facebook, Instagram, Airbnb, and Tesla are using React Native and brands like Slack and Pinterest prefer Xamarin.

The key difference from the monetary perspective is React Native is a free tool that can be used to build applications while Xamarin does not offer a lot of features for free especially if you’re designing for a big enterprise.

7 detailed comparison between React Native and Xamarin

Here, we have outlined other differences for your perusal.

1. Development Environment

Both Xamarin and React Native are open source frameworks but the environment required for development is different for both.

For using Xamarin, you will have to download Microsoft’s Visual Studio. Visual Studio includes Android SDK which is a tool required for creating Android applications. For iOS, XCode is required which is only available for Mac.

For React Native, you will need to install Node and any other development environment tool to write JavaScript like Visual Studio and Atom. If you want to use React Native in a native way, you will have to download Android SDK and XCode, similar to Xamarin.

2. Performance

Xamarin allows you to run the fastest code for both platforms. Applications built on 64-bit code are faster as compared to  32-bit code. Xamarin supports 64-bit mode and it also provides the fastest UI by allowing developers to use native tools directly.

On the contrary, React Native does not support 64-bit mode on Android. It does not give very good results on iOS as well when it runs the fastest code but it does give you an option to custom UI designing frameworks which can use fast native widgets.

3. Code Compilation

React Native uses Just-in-time (JIT) compilation which converts program source code into native machine code just before the program is run. This cannot be done in iOS apps, so the developer needs to go back to the Android code and it does not happen the other way around.

Xamarin uses Ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation since JIT is not valid for iOS. AOT means that the code is compiled before starting an application. The reason behind this is security features don’t allow writable executable segments. This makes Xamarin a better choice.

4. Compilation Time and Development Speed

As your Xamarin app grows in size, it will require longer to compile. A bigger project means more compilation time, increasing the development time required as well as the cost.

On the contrary, React Native serves as a better tool since it does not require compilation as it uses JavaScript and it is scripted. It gives you the feature of hot reloading, which means you can simply reload the JavaScript by refreshing the app. It serves as an advantage since it allows you to test and modify React Native apps rapidly.

5. Debugging

Debugging an application code in Xamarin can be easily done since the debugging can be done in the same way as that of a .NET application using Visual Studio. This makes it a positive aspect of Xamarin.

Debugging with React Native is similar to debugging web applications. You can use the Chrome developer tool and also use third-party tools to debug such as Reactotron or Redux development tools.

6. Design

Xamarin allows you to design the UI in either a platform-specific way (by using XML for Android and storyboards on iOS) or you can use Xamarin. Forms which allows you to share the code for both Android and iOS.

React Native, on the other hand, allows you to customize visual components easier as compared to Xamarin, thus making React Native a better choice for developers because in any project a great extent of focus is stressed on the UI.

7. Framework

React Native uses a more modern one-way data flow for its development while Xamarin works with the MVVM framework style. Both frameworks are equally useful, depending upon the requirement of a project’s code.

Concluding the comparison between the two, it mostly depends on either a project’s needs or an individual’s requirements. However, if compared on the basis of their features, Xamarin can be a more preferred choice by developers as it provides a faster framework along with a classical approach. The biggest drawback of React Native is low performance and that it does not offer the native look and feel that Xamarin offers.

We made our points, now the choice is yours! 

Hybrid Mobile App Development

In 2019, the number of mobile phone users is estimated to reach 4.68 billion.  Hence, this is enough reason to stress the importance of having an online presence in the form of mobile apps. Now the next and major question is which approach to choose for app development, native or hybrid?

We understand that picking the perfect mobile development approach is a tough task. That’s why in this post, we have tried to clear the confusion by laying down circumstances in which Hybrid app development makes sense.

Why is Hybrid mobile app development more preferred?

As stated by the Ionic Developer Survey 2017, in which 13000 developers participated, 32.7% of developers are expected to completely abandon native app development for Hybrid app development. Also, there was a 700 percent decrease in developers developing exclusively with native tools.

Why Hybrid mobile app development outscores Native mobile app development?

Hybrid app development utilizes web technologies such as HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS while providing access to native platform features. The best examples of successful Hybrid mobile applications are Instagram, Basecamp, Yelp, and Uber.

These apps can access the native features like camera, contacts and at the same time, it runs on both Android and iOS.
With the advent of Hybrid mobile app frameworks such as PhoneGap, Ionic, and React Native, the options in mobile app development have diversified.

There are sizeable advantages for opting hybrid mobile app development.

To start with, the talent pool of Hybrid App developers is bigger than the native app developers, thus making Hybrid app development a cheaper venture than native apps. And you already know that every penny saved is a penny earned.

With Hybrid app development, multiple app platforms can be targeted without the requirement of maintaining multiple code bases. This, in turn, reduces the time to market and enhances the outreach to the users.

The following are key benefits of using Hybrid application development:

• Fast track development: single code base for all the platforms
• Easy to test and implement changes and scale to other platforms
• Inexpensive in all the aspects
  

Just like how every coin has two sides, there are some cons of opting for hybrid mobile app development as well. Consider this as well before opting for hybrid application development.

Disadvantages of hybrid mobile app development

Since a single code is used for all the major app platforms, it is difficult to match up with the performance of native apps. There are also some performance issues because of some device constraints in Android and iPhone. 

With the tech world evolving at a drastic rate, it will be difficult for organizations to stay updated with the latest features and hardware capabilities when they choose the hybrid framework. It is both a time consuming and cumbersome process altogether.

Why choose Hybrid App development?

Hybrid app development solves the chief purpose of fast-track development and a quick launch in the market. The added advantage is that it is inexpensive and there is no functional or visual difference to users.

Furthermore, hybrid apps are perfect for startups who desire a quick lane to market. Quick prototyping helps in getting an early feedback, so that unnecessary expenses on development can be avoided later. All you need is to build a Hybrid MVP and test your concepts, if it satisfies all the standards, move ahead with developing the Hybrid app or migrate back to the native app.

It is a general perception that hybrid app development has several constraints with custom features and that developers can only use the features that can be wrapped in a native container. But, the real fact is Hybrid app can cover up to 90% of standard features.

Also, the possibility to create something new with the modules already written in native for specific platforms is very high.

Another great usage of hybrid development is when you need an inner ‘corporate’ purpose app like conference apps, events and such. These applications are distributed via links and not uploaded on the Google Play or App Store.

How to decide whether Hybrid is the right choice for your business?

There is no clear choice when it comes to native or hybrid. No matter which option you pick you will have to make certain compromises. Your decision should obviously be based on your requirements, skills of developers, and budget.  Also, there are few mandatory questions that you must ask yourself before arriving at any decision.

Do you have strict budget constraints? If yes, then the hybrid app development will solve your purpose. On the contrary, if your app requires a lot of unique features in your app then native app development should be your first choice.

Summing-up

The decision of choosing the right approach for app development is not an easy one. It is like choosing between an iPhone or Android phone. The best approach to choose is to make a list of priorities and then test both app development approaches for appropriateness.

Also, the choice of app development approach varies with the project complexity. With all the pros and cons of hybrid and native app development in mind, you can make an educated decision.

If you would like a FREE consultation on the best approach for your App development needs, then drop us a quick message here

Flutter in Mobile App Development

Cross-platform app development is not just a buzz anymore. The industry has accepted it as an inherent property required for today’s market. Flutter is one software developer kit helping developers in this direction.

Working as one of the most reliable open sources, Flutter is applicable for both iOS and Android application development. Google has created Flutter with current digital app demands in mind. This SDK has proven to be helpful for online businesses in sectors such as e-commerce, food, and shopping. Flutter allows businesses to create mobile applications with advanced features such as geolocation, camera, storage, network, and much more.

Why is Flutter required in today’s market for App Development?

Flutter is soon gaining traction among developers for its ease in app development. Here are 5 reasons why Flutter is required for App development in today’s market.

1. Vast widget catalog

Using Flutter allows you to access multiple widgets in one catalog. Finding every widget organized in one place makes selection hassle-free. You can decide features and functionalities of your app and conveniently pick widgets. Dart helps you write app code and you can even include IntelliJ plugin to your application.

2. Open source enhances accessibility

Open-source development is another reason why Flutter is needed right now. Easy accessibility decides the success of any app. Which is why open collaboration brings user-friendliness to the table. An app design achieves a whole new level of scope with open source development. There is no other platform where you can find as many choices as in Flutter.

3. Easy app editing

While developing, an app has to go through multiple edits. Some features are added while others a removed. Flutter makes these changes easier. The platform provides Visual Studio code as well as Android Studio code. Using these integrations makes developed product smarter. Different variable types, function definitions and modules are used to create changes. In fact, a developer can also conduct push or pull via SCM service.

4. Dart matches Java features

Flutter gives you Dart that matches with Java in terms of feature similarities. That similarity allows developers to make a shift without any trouble. Editorial integrations, widget quality, and application features come together to make it a perfect kit for mobile app developers.

5. Single codebase for Android and iOS

With Flutter, mobile applications can achieve cross-platform functionality. A single codebase works on Android as well as iOS. So, there is no need to worry about shifting from one platform to the other and write the app from scratch. The app codebase works on both platforms, making your app more secure and protected in terms of patents.

All in all, Flutter is here to improve the standards of mobile app development projects. It is giving superior UI experience to the apps and providing feature addition capacity during an ongoing development project. The compatibility reaches the roof with Flutter, as it comes with customizable widgets.

However, all the benefits of Flutter come down to the expertise of the developers. Your team of mobile developers has to understand this technology and apply themselves completely. Companies that know how to leverage Flutter will lead mobile development to its future.

Hopefully, you feel ready to leverage this mobile development technology to your business advantage.

Creating The Perfect Android App For Beginners

Building an Android app comes down to two major skills/languages: Java and Android. Java is the language used in Android, but the Android part encompasses learning XML for the design of the app, learning the concepts of Android, and using the concepts logically with Java.

Once you learn Java and XML; XML is really easy to get used to, and you should learn the language as you program your app rather than learning it beforehand like you would with Java. You need to learn how to connect these two using Android principles.

Now for a total beginner, we recommend YouTube tutorials to get the basic idea of how to install Eclipse (the Integrated Development Environment, or IDE, for Java) and the Java Development Kit (JDK). It also helps to get the basic idea of syntax behind Java concepts, such as for loops and if statements.

Here is an example: Click to watch video 

But from then on, after you have learned the very basics, we HIGHLY recommend ditching the YouTube tutorials in favor of a book or a lecture series. YouTube tutorials very often do NOT give intuition behind important concepts.

Keep these following things in mind as you venture on your journey of building a successful Android App.

7 things to know before building your first Android App:

1. You need to learn Java, there is no way around it. Knowledge will only help you through the process of building an app.

2. Android part encompasses learning XML for the app design, understanding concepts of Android and using said concepts programmatically with Java.

3. Beginners should probably use an IDE. It is really useful and lets you experiment.

4. Building your first app is time-consuming: it won’t happen overnight. This is not a project for those looking for a shortcut to success.

5. When stuck on a problem which will inevitably happen, turn to Stack Overflow. Utilize Google, and have no shame in asking assistance from the experts.

6. Before hitting the market and start developing an application you should conduct a proper market research. Analyzing the market thoroughly will give you insights about your competitors, their strategy, their strengths and weakness too. This information will prove to be useful as you can avoid repeating the mistakes your competitors made.

7. Defining your target audience is very important as the audience plays a huge impact on the development of your mobile application. All these questions such as who will be using this app, and how is it going to help them, should be answered well before hand.

Best Of Luck.

Predictions For 2017-18

Disruption has moved from an infrequent inconvenience to a consistent stream of change that is redefining markets and entire industries. In 2016, we saw the astonishing rise of Pokémon Go, which demonstrated accelerated digital change in areas such as augmented reality. Gartner’s top strategic predictions for 2017 and beyond describe not only the disruptive effects of digital business innovation but how secondary ripple effects will often prove to be more disruptive than the original disruption.

Three high-level trends emerge from the predictions:

• Digital experience and engagement will draw people into non-stop virtual interactions
• Business innovation will create extraordinary change from mundane concepts
• Secondary effects will be more disruptive than the initial digital change

Gartner’s Top 10 Predictions for 2017 and Beyond

1. Immersive Shopping Experience – By 2020, 100 million consumers will shop in augmented reality.

Whether they allow you to try on makeup or place virtual furniture in your home, immersive technologies such as AR increase consumer engagement by enabling them to fully explore features and conveying additional information that can aid in a buying decision. Popular applications, such as Pokémon Go, will help propagate the technology and bring it into the mainstream. 1 in 5 global brands will use AR for shopping by the end of 2017.

2. Voice First Browsing – By 2020, 30% of web browsing sessions will be done without a screen.

Many teens already use voice search daily and new audio-centric technologies, such as Google Home and Amazon’s Echo, are turning “voice first” interactions into ubiquitous experiences. By eliminating the need to use your hands and eyes for browsing, vocal interactions extend the web experience to multiple activities, such as driving, cooking, walking, socializing, exercising, operating machinery, etc. By the end of 2017, watch for room-based screenless devices to be in more than 10 million homes.

3. Mobile Apps Decline – By 2019, 20% of brands will abandon their mobile apps.

Many brands are finding that their mobile apps are not paying off. They simply haven’t delivered the level of adoption and customer engagement that companies expected. App stores are crowded and the cost of application support in not only maintenance, upgrades and customer support but also marketing to drive downloads, exceeds original ROI calculations. Google’s effort to make the mobile web more “app like,” will gain traction, and companies will opt to reduce their losses by allowing their apps to expire. Watch for Apple’s reluctant embrace of the mobile web as a vehicle for customer engagement.

4. Algorithms at Work – By 2020, algorithms will positively alter the behavior of over 1 billion global workers.

Employees, already familiar with behavior influencing through contextual algorithms on consumer sites such as Amazon, will be influenced by an emerging set of “persuasive technologies” that leverage big data from myriad sources, mobile, IoT devices and deep analysis.

JPMorgan Chase uses an algorithm to forecast and positively influence the behavior of thousands of investment bank and asset management employees to minimize mistaken or ethically wrong decisions. Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic uses influence algorithms to guide pilots to use less fuel. By year end 2017, watch for at least one commercial organization to report a significant increase in profit margins because it used algorithms to positively alter its employees’ behaviors.

5. Blockchain Grows Up – By 2022, a blockchain-based business will be worth $10 billion.

Blockchain technology is established as the next revolution in transaction or event recording. A blockchain ledger provides an immutable, shared view of all transactions between engaging parties in a distributed, decentralized network. While the Bitcoin blockchain ledger is itself well-understood, blockchain remains an immature technology. By 2020, new businesses and business models will emerge based on smart contracts and blockchain efficiencies. These smart contracts automate at a reliability, customization level and speed not achievable with traditional business systems.

6. Digital Giants Everywhere – By 2021, 20% of all activities an individual engages in will involve at least one of the top-seven digital giants.

Many of us interact with at least one of the digital giants (by market capitalization: Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) in our digital worlds of web search, mobile, social networking, messaging and music streaming. As the physical, financial and healthcare worlds become more digital, many of our activities will be connected and within reach of the digital giants. Note that collectively, the digital giants will have direct and indirect knowledge of what we do as individuals and the fundamental issue will be what they do with the data.

7. Innovation Requires Greater Investment – Through 2019, every $1 enterprise invest in innovation will require an additional $7 in core execution.

Many organizations have adopted a bimodal style of work to jumpstart innovation. While exercises are designed to experiment and “fail fast,” those that do receive approval for implementation involve a level of complexity, scale, and business change ramifications that may not have been considered in the initial planning stage.

8. IoT Saves Trillions – By 2022, IoT will save consumers and businesses $1 trillion a year in maintenance, services, and consumables.

Digital twins capture real-time data, allowing smarter maintenance and service schedules for physical objects such as large pumps, airframes, and turbines. When the sensor-enabled real world twin sends data to the digital twin, it can simulate the physical state, allowing the digital twin to be inspected instead of the physical object. This would be helpful for a submerged sewage pump or any other asset in which on-site inspection is inconvenient, costly or hazardous.

Consumers, too, will benefit when they can extend the life of the oil in their cars from a prescriptive replacement “every 5,000 miles” to replacement triggered by a measurement of the engine’s performance.

Emerging and established companies need to keep in mind these predictions, especially the tech leaders during hiring and procurement. Investments need to be smarter, better and more calculative in nature.

Source: Gartner

Understanding Offshore Development

You’re comfortably relaxing on your couch and enjoying a football match. The television suddenly switches off and the switch box explodes with sparks flying around. You have no clue what has happened and you look up on the internet searching for an electrician. The local electrician is charging $100, whereas a veteran electrician from the neighboring community is ready to visit your place and rectify your electrical setup for just $30.

Whom will you call?

Keep these options in your mind as we dwell into the concept of offshore development.

From the past decade or so, an unexpected trend has arisen in the technology sector. Multi-national companies, start-ups, and even local businesses have started adopting the business models of offshore development services. Offshore development was something that only large global companies engaged in many years ago due to the geographical and language challenges that existed. Today, these are not a factor as communication and transparency challenges have been both negated due to the technology that has come into everyday life.

First, let us discuss what exactly is offshore development as well as why it has become such as a popular option for companies worldwide.

Offshore development means the process of outsourcing your development needs such as web, mobile or even custom software to countries such as India, Philippines, China and so on. The reason why people look at offshore web or software development is mainly because of the cost-savings and the time that can be saved. Also, it minimizes internal overhead costs. The offshore model has been around for a long while but with the world becoming more global and technology making it easier than ever before to communicate to anyone no matter where they are located, the demands for offshore development have increased substantially.

The Offshore Development model is used for multiple things: offshore software and offshore web development or services such as customer service, data-entry, cold-calling along with BPO or KPO processes. The main reason is that a person in India or any other developing country will cost significantly less when compared to the US, UK or Australia. The bottom line is that if you are able to find a good offshore development partner, you can really save yourself time, money, HR hassles and other operational expenses. The key is to find a good offshore partner who has the experience, expertise and technical skills to accomplish what you need. Ranging from a simple website or even a fully operating customer service center, your offshore partner must be well equipped to handle your requirements.

Professional offshore development can be beneficial in the following ways:

Reasonable services :

Not all the countries boast of a talented pool of web developers and designers in abundance which makes it difficult to get work done at a nominal amount. The reason being that they charge substantially as they develop products knowing that they are in monopoly. It turns out to be quite expensive build a website or mobile app. Offshore development can disrupt the monopoly and be more cost effective.

Quality:

One of the best things about the offshore software companies is that they have a vast pool of talent and can render top notch development services. This ensures that the quality of the projects is superior and also matches the international standards.They also ensure that they utilize the best tools and technologies to create highly competitive products.

Communication:

Technology has ensured that there is no delay in any communication between the client and the developers. Offshore developers tend to be more approachable and communication friendly. This ensures that the process does not go haywire during any stage.

No deadline delays:

Following deadlines is a big aspect when it comes to product development. The entire marketing and operations of a company depends on the product being delivered according to the stipulated time. Offshore development can cut down these hassles as they have the flexibility of employing more resources at a lower cost.

24×7 availability:

Round the clock availability sometimes becomes a norm for a global company and offshore centers offer workflow accordingly which might not be possible in the parent country due to cost and labor-force constraints.

Conducive Environment:

Outsourced processes, usually are very strenuous in nature. The workforce needs to be seated in an environment that can boost productivity and reduce stress levels. It is one of the main factors why Offshore Development is a good option since infrastructure is available cheaply as compared to the parent country.

Security:

Security of confidential data and client properties is a buzzing concern when dealing with offshore companies. Most of the offshore development companies offer high end security protocols and systems to ensure the client’s data is never compromised.

And now, back to the electrician conundrum. If a veteran electrician with years of experience is ready to travel to your house at a cheaper rate, any sensible man would choose him over the $100 electrician. The same logic may also be applied to the concept of offshore development.

So, sit back and relax as your offshore partner takes charge of your processes and product development and frees you of the basic organizational hassles.

Offshore development may seem a far fetch off for most of the most organisations, but if the current global trend is to be observed, it is one of the most trusted and cost effective options for an organisation that is looking to cut down on costs and build quality products.

Challenges for a UX Designer

According to LinkedIN, there are 900,000 UX designers in the world. How strong willed are you to be one of the best in the long run?

“ Determination is the wake up call to the human will”

A designer is a commercial artist confined by factors such as economical efficiency, technological constraints and most importantly a client’s requirements.  A UX designer is more skilled in the techniques and the process on a whole new level which we will not dwell into. And as seen with artists and designers, even UX designers can lose their way in between or simply succumb to mental fatigue unless the work flow is organised and their creative persona is kept alive.

So, what exactly are the obstacles a UX designer faces?

To answer the above question, let us just assume you are 6 years old and in elementary school. The task at hand in the art class is to draw the conventional scenery with a sunrise and a small house.

You have an hour to complete the task and your creative and young mind sketches out generously on the canvas. Agreed, it will not be the best work of art but for a 6 year old child, it is commendable.

Now, let us add factors one by one to transform the 6 year child into a UX designer.

1. The client, the teacher in this case, wants an enhanced amalgamation of colors that are soothing to the eye.

2. Instead of crayons, you will use the latest tech available to make it more interactive: the fish in the rivers should pop out when touched, the canvas should have interchangeable themes according to the time of the day and everything should look lifelike.

3. Instead of an hour, you have a week, in which you have to start from the scratch. Create a storyboard, research how different users react to the design, predict how users are going to interact with the picture on different levels to name a few.

4. And now, most importantly, you are not supposed to cross a fixed budget, redraft the design until the client likes it and stick to a deadline.

5. You’re in your 20’s now, you have had experiences as a human being and your creative side sometimes has a slightly different point of view.

And thus begins the constant battle between your creativity and someone’s exact requirements. Being a 6 year old was fun, being a UX designer is much more fun stacked up on a heap of obstacles and opportunities. So, how to go through the ardent process while enjoying it and keeping your creative ego on a standby?

Remember:

You are special. You are sketching the future of technology. It is a part of you that people will see when they access the digital world. You have already predicted what they will feel, how they will react and that is nothing but pure magic! Not an illusion, not a cheap trick, but a result of your skills and ingenuity. So, as far as you keep this in mind and adjust to a few requests, you are already strong willed to be one of the best in UX designing.

Still, here are a few tips to keep yourself clutter free and determined:

1. Ask yourself why is the client/business spending money on UX design? If it is so important can I afford to lag behind and deliver an under-performing product?

2. It is good to have infinite concepts for a project but stick to a concept, believe in it and keep refining it. The more choices you have, the more fatigue you will experience even before starting especially when you have a deadline.

3. When we are unsure of what to do, we usually look towards a social behavior to guide us. Avoid that. It is your design, a proof of your brilliance.

4. People not only perceive object shapes better, they respond better to action oriented stimuli. Allow this thought process in your creativity.

5. Be clear of what exactly you want from your design, see your design on an emotional level for the future user.

6. Every process has its hardships, but visualize the end result that will boost your confidence.

7. Anything beautiful and alleviating takes time and effort to be created. It is your mind, your space and your canvas. Realize it proves your worth as a person and as a professional.

8. Divert your mind from social and family matters and engage in healthy conversations with your co-workers.

Being a UX designer, perhaps no one will ever know who designed the masterpiece android/iOS mobile app that they have gotten addicted to. You are designing for everyone and no one at the same time. Either your passion for designing and challenges provide the spark for you or it is the growth opportunities. There will be times when you will be agitated, every creative soul goes through that. In fact it is imperative. All that pressure, all those suggestions and yet every time if you come up with a design that startles everyone, you will be the silent guardian that ensures the success of products.

A creative knight in the shining armor of technology.