Near Field Communication (NFC) in Mobile Apps Mending Payments System

Near Field Communication

With technological advancements, the daily activities carried out by the users are undoubtedly getting easier. Here we will talk about the modern technology named Wireless Sensor Network system, which was only possible due to the tremendous growth of Near Field Communication. This system uses smartphones to carry out an extensive array of recreation & business activities on all the possible levels allows users to conduct payments and transactions over mobile phones. With this, the requirement for smartphones that imbibe NFC is augmenting.

What is NFC?

NFC, i.e. Near Field Communication, is a wireless communication technology that via RFID readers and beacons lets users transmit the data among various devices that are located far away from one another. Since it is low energy and low-cost communication technology, it enables end-users to carry out the transactions without any nuisance. NFC focuses on customized communication by facilitating secured complex data transmission within the users in a less intrusive way. Along with this, NFC empowers retailers to magnify the in-store experience & knowledge too so that they cope with the endless competition.

Ease of use and time are two aspects that shape up consumers’ tastes & preferences. Buyers visit retail shops as they don’t prefer waiting for their orders to arrive at their doorsteps or they favor online purchasing as it is pretty handy. Furthermore, the chief purpose is to make it amazingly easy for end-users to complete the buying process of products/merchandise.

NFC applies electromagnetic radiations to transfer data within the devices, i.e. beacons or RFID tags that, in turn, assist users in bringing out the transactions hassle-free. In order to intensify the payment experience, a few numbers of markets across Asia, Japan, and Europe have started using NFC. However, there is still a room to embrace this technology and people are supposed to implement it extensively.

Benefits of integrating NFC in mobile apps

Offers augmented shopping experience to customers:

Zap tap employs NFC technology efficiently by connecting users to WebPages that highlight product/service data.

Enhances customer service

By taking away the hassles of paying at stores and performing productive processes, it enhances customer service. A single NFC tap from smartphones can resolve difficulties within a few seconds.

Added security

In case, your smartphone is robbed and you have added security to your wallet, the two-step authentication method prevents your money from getting fraud.

Improved convenience

For faster payments, NFC expedites up the payment method for the customers.

Cuts down the operational cost

With NFC, the operational cost is mitigated as the alternate payment processing system preserves money on paper and human resource deployment.

Implementing NFC for payment system

It is anticipated that NFC payment systems will be seeing an exponential growth soon. NFC has brought in a significant change in the retail sector since the moment Google launched NFC-oriented wallet payment systems. An NFC-oriented wallet payment system facilitates the users to carry out payment or transactions at retail stores with just a few taps on smartphones. In 2012, the retail sector attached NFC devices within commodity tags and ensemble stores with mirrors that are digitally driven to heighten customers’ experience. The innovation let them observe how each dress is crafted when they try it out facing the mirror. Multiple payment solutions can be generated that will affect the process of paying and make it easier at every NFC point with the assistance of NFC. Nowadays, numerous retail stores, petrol pump stations, and restaurants have adopted contactless payment system via smartphones.

NFC in mobile apps

As already said, the scope of mobile payment app has progressed at an exponential pace due to the massive growth of NFC infrastructure, and it won’t see a downfall shortly. These payments provide end-users with a profoundly gratifying experience as they are based out of extremely intuitive UI. This type of payment system will grow as there is a presence of different innovative components and many business prototypes which ensures the same. To be capable of making contactless payments, the users are must install the concerned applications on their Android phones. Various apps, such as Boon facilitate end-users to make non-contact payments. Once you are done with the download, you have to register yourself, and after that, you can carry out transactions efficiently in a short-term period. It heavily depends upon prepaid MasterCard and also presents users with a transparent vision of all the transactions and payments done. Additionally, the user may also scan the NFC tag to retrieve vital information, and all this is made secure with PIN protection.

Utilizing NFC effectively

Loads of departmental store in the US practice NFC to facilitate users and being informed of the latest styles and shades they offer. Besides that, it also enabled them to examine if the products are in stock on online platforms or not.

Bon-Ton implemented NFC in more than 30 stores.

Bon-Ton got positive feedbacks from customers, with the implementation of NFC in a few stores and users enjoyed the process of using NFC and discovered it beneficial. One more feature of NFC grabbed people’s attention to a large extent, and it was the ease of its usage.

Security concerns

Security has been the concern for the parties involved in the transaction irrespective of the mode of the payment. No matter what the mode of payment is, there are always security concerns, especially with electronic payment methods. So let us see what the serious concerns associated with NFC are.

Eavesdropping

Eavesdropping is a phenomenon which happens when someone intercepts and gets the data. However, this threat is least with NFC as the devices are to be placed closely to transmit signals, and these signals are hard to catch. The data is encrypted and decrypted with an approved device, in case of NFC based payments. NFC chips are not active always; they are only active when you want them to be active. It means when your phone is locked; the NFC devices don’t transfer data.

Data manipulation

It arises if someone attempts to corrupt or manipulate the NFC transmission data communication, yet this risk can be mitigated adequately with the use of secure channels.

Device theft

Once your device is stolen, then that person can make payments through NFC, and no encryption can protect you. Though this can be taken care of by some simple steps and one of them is to set-up a pass code. Devices having features like fingerprinting scan or lock help in eliminating the risk of NFC misuse.

Security measures

All the security mentioned above concerns is strictly observed and are dealt with appropriate security measures. The security measures stated below are inherent and made to provide that added layer of security.

Proximity

In NFC Technology, the devices must be connected inside 4 cm to communicate. Because of this proximity, it becomes hardened or impossible for cybercriminals to execute their attacks.

HCE

HCE, also known as host card emulation emulates the physical card. It saves the secure account information on the cloud rather than storing it in the device. Android Pay operates on HCE to perform protected mobile payment transactions.

Secure element

NFC runs within a safe part which is in the form of a tamper-resistant chip consisting of sensitive data in it. In NFC payments, the protected components are saved in the device, and it interacts with NFC-enabled receiver to perform the transaction.

Final thought

NFC technology is assisting many sectors for secure payment or transactions. Also, it simplifies the process of conducting a contactless payment. With NFC, users can keep their card information secures on their phones and pay in just a few taps on the smart phone’s screen or close to the NFC reader. It has not as yet adopted by many, but undoubtedly, it is going to achieve user acceptance at a more general level. If you are interested in developing an NFC based application, contact a reliable mobile application development company which can help you with the same.

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An Overview of EHR Development for Healthcare Mobile Apps

EHR Development

The healthcare sector is extensively using EHR software, and the reason behind it is it was touted as a key to increasing of quality care. An electronic health record is a systematic compilation of patient and community electronically-stored health data in a digital form. As per the reports of Grand View Research, in 2018 the global EHR market worth $20.4 billion and by 2023 it is anticipated to touch $33.294 billion. As of today, the EHR technology has grown as an upper-level system that assembles, interprets, and maintains information for prompt treatments, medical prescriptions, and much further. The application of EHR development has got lots of potentials, and we will be discussing it in detail and unveil various aspects here.

The electronic health record may comprise the below-written information:

  1. Practices demographics
  2. Information about the Insurance
  3. Medical records and procedures
  4. Health evaluation notes, graphics, health vitals
  5. Medical examinations, lab results, radiology images, etc
  6. Hypersensitivities
  7. Prescriptions and medication plans
  8. Analytical data of medical sufferers
  9. Billing and additional data for patient management

How does EHR work?

EHR software systems operate efficiently. The healthcare specialist inscribes data regarding a new patient into the EHR system, which later generates a unique digital record. This record portrays the patient’s card where the latest health status can be updated and extended in the real-time. The computerization of medical data and EHR development presents plenty of advantages for medical practitioners and patients both.

Benefits of EHR

Patients can benefit from EHR software in a few ways, namely:

  1. Track and save personal healthcare data efficiently
  2. Realize enhanced and on-time medical attention
  3. Receive a faster and better diagnosis and further treatment
  4. Have rarer mistakes in personal healthcare records
  5. Deal with wellness concerns in a cost and time-efficient method
  6. Get personalized reminders and appointments
  7. Access the patient’s portal anytime and anywhere

Practitioners and healthcare providers get the following benefits from EHR development:

  • Progress in practice and the hospital’s effectiveness and productivity
  • Simplification in the job for medical personnel
  • Enriched quality of medicinal services such as superior e-prescription abilities
  • Consolidated and updated digital medical records
  • Interoperability over diverse healthcare professionals and departments
  • Stable and uniform interaction in different hospitals, laboratories, medicine stores, insurance providers, and so on
  • Feasibility of aged patient monitoring and consultations
  • Lessened bureaucracy
  • Elimination of flaws/faults/errors
  • More meticulous patient administration
  • Option to get and assess patient data for interpretation, refined service, and more
  • Intelligence to supervise organizational responsibilities and billing

EHR software development owns several benefits, and this list can be continued. The gist is that the Digital medical records are identified to be safe, readily accessible, and united across medical professionals, practices, and patients.

Special features of EHR design

The design plays a crucial role in EHR development, and EHR design from human information processing and perception are equally important. Indeed, the designs contribute to the smooth functioning of the software.

Features and processes of EHR design creation

Keep in vision all the below-stated considerations during EHR design creation:

EHR design process is to be iterative

The design should be such that it initially focuses on the needs of the users. So you have to be prepared with a well-planned software concept and detailed functional documentation. So it is advised to have a consultation with medical practitioners, attendants, patients, and other parties associated with the system so that your design is apt to the user needs.

Simple documentation and recording layouts for practitioners

As the software deals with an enormous amount of data, EHR usability is crucial. So, try implementing eliminate undesirable checkboxes, optimize areas for filling in the information, exclude data replication, apply easily to manage templates and forms, etc. The layout is to be such that practitioners can document and report information easily and built-in shortcuts and search intelligence can help to limit work with documentation.

Well thought out processes, roles & responsibilities

The EHR workflow should start with a review and update (if any) in the patient’s medical records so that it can be delegated to the patient before visiting the doctor. Practitioners should not be confused with the tasks; instead, the system should direct jobs to attendants and other medical staffs to perform their part. And a smart notification system and visual alerts might play a significant role in managing the EHR software by both the parties at the specified time.

Patient-centered representation in EHR design

EHR programs take the patient’s history as the essence of the service. Collected data should be accessible, simple to review, exhibited in chronological sequence, and acceptable for doctors and patients.

Association of the mobile app developers for available EHR screen design

Last but not least, during the EHR design stage, the platform and its scalability should be examined. The assistance of mobile app developers lets avoidance of inefficiencies and expensive variations on the way which enhances the product’s operability and pace.

How to get started with EHR software development:

In the next couple of years, EHR development, particularly concerning recording apps in the healthcare system, will certainly be a lucrative segment. In the form of SaaS (Software as a System), the Web-based and mobile responsive EHR systems will offer advantages such as augmented data usage, backups, soundness & security, expense reduction, and performance competence.

It is mandatory to undertake with the following steps if you aspire to start with EHR development sensibly:

  1. Establish definite purposes for the electronic health record system.
  2. Propose the EHR program adoption in the healthcare organization beforehand.
  3. Discover an experienced EHR software development vendor who can help you with the same.
  4. Build a detailed functional blueprint along with the selected team.
  5. Conduct surveys and investigation within the target audience of your future software.
  6. Compose an inherent and feature-rich EHR software program.
  7. Develop EHR functionality that complies with the health industry’s measures and guidelines.
  8. Contemplate including technology modifications in following EHR software versions like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, the Big Data, Blockchain, and other new emerging technologies.

Last words

Technologies are advancing each sector and allowing them to furnish than ever before. In this blog, we have discussed how EHR development has supported the healthcare industry so far. To conclude, the healthcare industry is amongst those industries whose operating environment keeps on changing always. If you are a doctor or associated with this industry and convinced to get this modern healthcare solution as cybersecurity & data protection is a focus element in any Electronic Health Record system, don’t forget to reach a healthcare app development company. Discuss what to want to have an application that will serve you as well as your patients and their family members.

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Most Recommended Android App Development Frameworks for App Development

app development

Over the past couple of years, the trend of mobile app development has accelerated rapidly. Moreover, this happened as the people, especially businesses and entrepreneurs have discerned that mobile applications are an excellent idea to connect with a large customer base worldwide in the real-time. A mobile application enables you to acquire many things. Some of them are listed here:

  • Strengthen your brand
  • Stay connected to your existing and potential customers
  • Generates a loyal customer base efficiently
  • Offer more reliable customer support when it comes to availability and readiness of performance

The most outspoken form for android app development is by downloading Android Studio, which is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) having the necessary packages to assist you in android application development. Also, Android Studio is only an environment that supports mobile app development, and you must have the programming know-how for writing the required codes for developing the app.

The standard Android application language is Java, which is backed by Google. Java is employed to build the backend, whereas XML is applied for outlining the layouts of Android app. So ideally, android app developers should be well-versed with Java and XML if they are looking forward to android app development using Android Studio. You can use various SDKs, for example, the Android Native Development Kit in incorporation with Android Studio, if you are competent with C#, C++, C, or BASIC.

Written below are the most recommended Android app development frameworks:

Xamarin

Xamarin is a blessing for C# app developers for the development of android apps without diving into Java. Since it is one of the best Android app development frameworks, it is practiced by 1.5+ million users as of now. It presents a comprehensive set of C# codebase for native app development not only for Android but also for other mobile operating systems. Applying .NET codebase, Xamarin as Visual Studio is practiced by Android mobile app developers widely for native application development.

React Native

The open-source version of Facebook’s JavaScript framework to develop native mobile apps has been used by numerous Fortune 500 companies such as Instagram, Tesla, and Walmart, for mobile application development. Users cannot differentiate amid apps built on Java & React Native, and this is because React Native’s fundamental building blocks are the same as native apps. By attaching codes in other languages such as Java, Swift, or Objective C, you can optimize your React native app manually.

Ionic

Ionic is licensed under the MIT License, which is a free and open-source app development framework and will remain open always. Using Ionic framework, you can build progressive web and native mobile apps. The framework is cross-platform; enabling quick development of mobile apps for Android, and then you can convert it to other platforms as and when required. But one problem with Ionic is its poor documentation. Ionic demonstrates to be an exception here by conceiving documentation with real-life examples.

Cordova

Mobile applications are the native extension to web applications. Considering this as the base, people behind Apache developed a free and open-source development framework using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Cordova as a mobile app development framework lets developers build multi-platform mobile apps applying a single code base. The app can access native device APIs, which makes it tough to locate if the app has been developed using native languages or not. Despite the fact, it was initially invented for developing online apps; Apache Cordova presents assistance for offline situations also, addressing it an excellent platform for desktop app development too.

PhoneGap

After Apache Cordova, the same team built another mobile app development platform, Adobe PhoneGap. Using Adobe PhoneGap framework, web app developers can speedily transfer their skills to mobile app development. PhoneGap is nothing but Cordova distribution with various tools and plugins launched. With PhoneGap, you can build cross-platform apps with a single base code as it provides an intuitive desktop app. The popularity and ease of usage ensure its ever-growing maintenance community and vice versa.

Titanium

Titanium, an open-source mobile app development framework has a mobile-first approach at its essence. It enables developers to create clean and visually attractive apps that have not only native looks but also has native-like functioning. Titanium incorporates API Builder with Hyperloop, all available for the Titanium developers.

Unity

It’s a Microsoft game engine used by programmers widely for developing 2D and 3D games. Other than this, it can be employed in cross-platform app development. It is ideal to start with mobile app development when incorporated with C# as it has an IDE just like Android Studio.

The App Builder

It is an online application development framework that possesses stimulating clients in building brilliant looking apps without any knowledge of the design. So, if you cannot distinguish or determine where elements of the app should lie for better designing, this framework is for you. The applications built on app builder are very interactive and synced instantly with all the devices the user is logged on. In-depth analytics open to the app developers empowers them in making strategic decisions like retaining features that are embraced by the users while discarding the features which slow down the app.

Conclusion

There are many android app development frameworks available today, and the big decision is to pick the best amongst them for your application development project. Whatever framework you adopt, you have to first create a layout of your app with details such as sections, features, and design elements. These details in turn will decrease the development time whatever the scale is. All the Android app development frameworks explained above are free and have burgeoning community support to assist the users when they stuck. You can also grab the opportunity of android app development by hiring an android application development company which can do wonders for your business.

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Android Q All You Need to Know About Google’s Next Mobile OS

Android Q

The launch of Android Q Beta Operating system by Google was an overwhelming revelation for the Android users. In this advanced update, there are various more useful features you can suspect from ease-of-use to the security. We have incorporated all the fundamental features/elements and aspects of Android Q here.

Android Q release date

On July 10, 2019, the Android Q Beta 5 update was launched still; the date for the release of the final version is yet to be announced by Google. It is contemplated that the complete version will release in August this year. This latest version update is available for Google Pixel devices at present.

Android Q features

As of now, that we have studied the date of release and the compatible devices now let’s have a sight at the vital feature of Android Q this update carries:

Smart reply for messaging apps

Maybe you have used this characteristic already in the apps launched by Google. The current update ensures all the messaging apps on your smartphone gets loaded with Smart Reply- suggested response feature. It means while you are on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and other similar messaging apps, you will get suggested responses. Smart reply ensures that better responses can be sent to the receiver apart from saving your time.

Live caption

Google worked with the deaf community to create a feature that adds captions to video or audio played on your device. Live Caption feature will work on applications such as YouTube, Pocket Casts, Instagram, along with the video chat applications, namely Google Duo, and Skype. The best part of this feature is, you do not need the internet to leverage the support of this feature. Even in the offline mode, it relies on machine learning to operate flawlessly.

In order to enable this functionality, users have to turn this functionality on from accessibility settings of their smartphones.

Dark theme

For all those who are tech lovers, Dark Mode is the most impressive feature of this OS update that enables you to use the device in a low-light environment efficiently. The energy usage of smartphones is decreased significantly, though it differs by the screen technology of the phones. Due to this feature, users with weak vision or those with bright-light susceptibility will be benefitted the most. Furthermore, the theme can be applied to the apps working on the smartphone and the Android System User Interface.

Parental control

There is good news for all the parents who are always concerned regarding mobile usage by their kids as with this update; a built-in parental control feature is also there. Parents can examine everything their kids are using, and that too, with the duration of the usage. Through the Family Link feature, this functionality is made possible that lets parents to set the everyday screen time limits and allow app installs. Through this feature, additional time request can be demanded by children for using the apps, and the parents have the authority to accept or deny the same.

Gesture navigation

Locating the navigation drawer inside applications is enhanced with adding on more beneficial controls for the back gesture. There were glitches in this feature in the starting, and most of them are now fixed in Beta 5 release. It is challenging to swipe in diagonally from the lower right or left-hand corner for accessing Assistant.

Better support for foldable phones

Google has taken foldable phones as a serious matter of concern. It may be possible to pause/ stop the app by folding the app and resume the same when the phone is opened again. The strength of the app to be resized will also be viewed, something the potential users of Huawei X and Galaxy Fold will admire a lot.

What will Android Q not possess?

The NFC (Near-field Communication) peer-to-peer sharing method, which was the section of the previous version, will not be covered within this latest update. Google-authenticated that putting smartphones back-to-back will not result in data transfer in beta and final software both.

Android Q compatible devices

Various smartphones have compatibility with the developer preview of this update, and some of the same include:

  • Asus ZenFone 5Z
  • Nokia 8.1
  • Xiaomi Mi 9
  • Essential Phone
  • LG G8
  • Oppo Reno
  • Vivo X27
  • One Plus 6T

Final words

The technological world keeps on altering itself for better and bringing something new for the world. Android Q is the one which will bring a change for the better. The features of this Google’s Android Q update testify that it is a revolutionary change from the realm of smartphones, not just a regular update. The features of the latest version will benefit many not only the users but also android application developers along with android app development company as well. It is suspected that other smartphone models have compatibility too with this update, and we wish the same happens.

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Why do Businesses prefer Progressive Web Apps over Native Apps?

Progressive Web Apps

According to the data from Statista, nowadays, mobile currently accounts for over 60% of total internet usage. The chief reasons for it are ease in accessing the internet, portability, and cheap hardware. In this situation, UX obtains huge significance, and progressive web apps can aid in enhancing UX as they optimize websites on Smartphones. Flipkart, Twitter, Pinterest, and many more big businesses generated progressive web apps. These PWAs integrate characteristics of the web along with the mobile app, delivering the native or hybrid app-like User experience. Applications that offer an optimized website for mobile devices are referred to as Progressive Web Apps.

PWAs give access to the users to content via browsers and let users download the content whenever and wherever they browse. Native app development is suitable for a specific platform, whereas Progressive web apps are devised for usage in a browser. PWAs function similar to native apps almost, but they don’t command the complete hardware of the device.

Real-Life PWA Cases

Numerous well-established businesses adopted PWAs. The following case studies will present you with a better insight into the effectiveness of Progressive Web Apps.

Twitter Lite

Twitter ranks amongst the most popular social apps, with 328+ million users per month, and approx 80% of them access Twitter on mobiles. In April 2017, Twitter named PWA the default mobile mode for producing mobile quicker and more trustworthy for users.

Doing this, they realized:

  • A decline in Bounce rate by 20%
  • Posted Tweets progressed by 75%
  • Pages per session multiplied by 65%

Pinterest

Moreover, as PWA is just 600kB compared to the downloaded version, which is 23.5MB, Users save on their data plan with Twitter Lite. It takes only 5 seconds on a 3G network if you are downloading the first time and the app loads in less than 3 seconds for each return.

Pinterest is an image-based platform; assists users in making their catalog of ideas and has more than 200 million active users each month. In order to enhance user experience and augment the conversion to higher than app installation, the application development team revised the mobile website as a PWA.

They got tremendous results:

  • Weekly active users rose by 130%
  • Pins views number improved by 401%
  • Logins raised by 370% and new sign-ups rose by 843%
  • Page payload deducted from 490kb to 190kb
  • User engagement grew with an average session period surging by 296%

Flipkart Lite

Flipkart decided to close their mobile website tentatively and offer an app-only interface when India’s largest e-commerce website suffered the issue of addressing users with seamless experience because of various variables of network connectivity. They rethought their strategy and developed Flipkart Lite, a progressive web app as the PWA features replicated the native experience, and the consequences were significant.

The results were:

  • Time the users spent on the site increased by over 3x.
  • The re-engagement rate raised by 40%
  • Data usage diminished by 3x among users who visited the site through the option of Add to Home Screen
  • Conversion rate advanced by 70%

When to Consider Progressive Web Application development?

PWAs may not be a good option for the business whose customers don’t visit their website often as the app is not evident on app stores. Users become urged to download PWAs only if they are on the home screen. You must consider these points before deciding whether to go for Progressive Web Apps or not.

  • Customer acquisition cost: PWAs are vital for businesses looking at minimizing customer acquisition cost. Not all company can bear the high cost of user acquisition that native apps necessitate. PWAs can lessen customer acquisition costs can be reduced by ten times approx.
  • Importance of app store presence: Games and social apps that are special categories of apps are likely to be downloaded from app stores. Hence, if your company falls in a category that has more probability of displaying in web searches by keywords, then PWAs will helpful.
  • Processing requirement: While PWAs are accessible offline, so they are available in a limited version. They work well for e-commerce platforms, education portals, and other business websites that can operate with offline content.
  • Dependence on native features: PWAs gives push notifications that let businesses in reminding customers each time they advertise new content to launch a new product. In terms of accessibility, PWAs have limitations to access features like geofencing, accessing contacts/calendars or mobile payments and if these features are necessary for your app, go for native apps over Progressive Web Apps.
  • Existence of a mobile-optimized website: If your business has a mobile-optimized site already, then it would not be much expensive to convert to into a progressive web app as compared to building a native app from scratch.

How Do Progressive Web Apps Work?

Native apps can work without an internet connection as basic elements like UI components and data are stored on the device when a user downloads and installs them. The same goes with PWAs as well. By saving CSS files, HTML files, and images in the cache of the browser, Service Workers can be employed to provide developers full charge over the network call. When a user visits a website more than twice or thrice times, it implies they are interested in seeing content from the specific page. Browser is authorized to verify if the user visits adhere to decided frequency standards, following which the user gets a message to preserve the website as the app on the home screen. The user can visit PWA any time once the site is collected, even if they are offline, giving them a responsive and fast experience.

Will PWAs Replace Native apps

With a responsive design, the mobile web experience has been significantly enhanced. However, many website designs are not conceived as mobile-first as of which the experience lags in terms of speed where PWAs can help you to bridge the gap. Undoubtedly, Native apps provide a superior experience on mobile, but until your app stands amongst the top in its category, the high development and management cost is justified.

Progressive Web Apps: The Future for the Web

Despite the growing prevalence of native apps, there are numerous causes why Progressive Web Apps will be the future of the web.

  • Mobile websites with native-like experience: Native apps are preferred interface for seeing content, and this is likely to change as more businesses are adopting PWAs. They offer it all that users admire about the native interface like Offline access, app shell, navigation bar, and telephony, with other features.
  • Congested app stores: Competition is intense in the app stores, and almost impossible to compete with the giants like Facebook, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, Google Search, Google Maps, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Google Play. Leading categories of apps when talking about share of minutes are Entertainment, Social Media, Instant Messaging, and Games. If your app does not fall in one of the categories stated above, it doesn’t make sense to spend on native app development.

Progressive web apps rank in Search:

The main advantage of PWAs is they rank in search engines, making it simple for businesses practicing SEO services for their website ranking. New apps won’t have the harm of the shortage of reviews/ratings, as well as the link of the website can be shared efficiently.

  • User retention and commitment: Native app development demands a substantial investment, and it isn’t simple to retain users, even if the initial downloads seem much promising. Native apps are reliant on users. Progressive web apps are more convenient as users not require to commit to downloading or to maintain the app in their home screen.
  • More revenue generation: Besides in-advertising, in most native apps, the app owners suffer a sizeable reduction in revenues as a portion of it is being payable to the app store owners for paid downloads, subscriptions and in-app purchases, among other sources. But with PWAs, all the revenue produced rests in the hands of the business.

Native, React-native or PWA, what to choose?

All frameworks have pros and cons that are to be evaluated before deciding on the most suitable option for your app.

Native Apps: Pros

  • As native apps development employs a language that is simple for the hardware to get, it makes it effortless for the developers to build features that the OS allows.
  • Performance is superior

Native Apps: Cons

  • As each platform expresses a diverse language, you have to study the language that the platform demands.
  • The app has to be developed independently for all platforms.

Progressive web apps: Pros

  • It runs across all devices and platforms
  • No limitations in style or design
  • Runs on all types of hardware
  • No requirement to be on the app stores

Progressive web apps: Cons

  • The app stops when the user closes the browser tab
  • It isn’t possible to administer background processes, so features like geofencing cannot be included.
  • It cannot be found on the app stores except Windows App Store

What features should Progressive Web Apps have?

Let’s see why web app developers are talking about progressive web apps being the future of mobile and the ones which are missing in non-progressive apps. Following are the features making the experience much better:

  • Reliability: Loading of pages is almost instantaneous, even when the device is not connected to the internet or connected on a low-speed network.
  • Speed: The transition and scrolling within pages are very smooth, accommodating users with a more satisfying experience.
  • Responsiveness: The app can respond across various devices, allowing fluidity in the design irrespective of the device utilized.
  • Easy to install: For PWAs to match native-like app user experience, they should be installable and accessible on the home screen of devices like native apps, enabling users to access them by a single click.
  • Splash Screen: The appearance of a splash screen at the startup can provide the PWA the native-like feel.
  • More engagement: PWA must have characteristics such as offline first, push notifications, and home screen icon that magnifies user engagement.

Technical components that form the foundation of PWAs

PWAs demand some components that run in sync to power them, which include Service Worker, Manifest file, and HTTPS.

  • Service Worker: It is a JavaScript code that works as a proxy between the browser and the network which stores resources in the cache of the browser during the first-time load. It also handles push notifications & works towards creating an offline-first web app by applying cache API, which speeds up the app performance.
  • Manifest file: It is a config JSON file with information for the application that could include details like featuring the icons on the home screen, when the app is installed, background color, theme, or any other information.
  • HTTPS: Service workers conduct actions on the client-side, like intercepting network requests and modifying responses. So, all PWAs require a secure protocol HTTPS.

Conclusion

If you are a business owner or an entrepreneur, this blog will help you allocate, which is better for your business. Progressive web apps have a bright future in the tech world, and this could be observed as businesses prefer Progressive Web Apps over Native apps. Before heading towards progressive web apps development, contact a mobile application development company that understands your client’s needs and your business needs. The company must be such that it can recommend the best framework for developing your app as per your budget and app strategy.

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Few Reasons to Pick Ionic Framework for Hybrid Apps Development

Hybrid App Development

Companies do understand the dominance of mobile apps, so they are finding all ways to provide the convenience of using their services/products and approaching them to the customers on a single go. With mobile app development growing as a trend, various frameworks, technologies, languages, and paraphernalia are accessible in the market. The big decision is choosing the right one to develop the application for the companies as each has its pros and cons. From the beginning of mobile application development, native apps had the edge over hybrid apps. But things have radically changed and, so is the scenario for hybrid app development since the advent of the Ionic platform.

Unlike the days, when hybrid apps were criticized for sluggish performance and immature user interface, Ionic has succeeded to overcome these drawbacks of hybrid application development. Ionic has streamlined multi-platform application development, presenting a classy feel to the space of hybrid apps. In this article, we will see why web app developers should choose the Ionic Framework for hybrid app development. Before proceeding to the benefits of ionic app development, let’s look into what ionic framework is.

A brief introduction to Ionic-

It is an open-source User Interface (UI) toolkit used for building a high-quality desktop & mobile app which employs a combination of web technologies like HTML/CSS, and JavaScript. The main focus of Ionic app development is on the frontend UI interaction (looks), i.e. gestures, controls, animations, and the user experience. The best feature of the Ionic framework is that it can be integrated with other frameworks and libraries efficiently. Also, this can be used as a standalone framework that helps you get the best user interface for your targeted audience. So, if you are developing a visual app, Ionic app development is best for you will focus mostly on the looks.

Here are a few reasons to pick the Ionic framework to build your next mobile application:

It is more obvious to migrate across platforms

If you are planning to get an app developed that can work across all major platforms instead of focusing on a single OS, then Ionic Framework is your go-to platform. Ionic gives the ability to convert from one OS to the other with the option of languages more easily. You will have to spend a little more time and money in developing the app as well as learning each language for each platform by selecting a native language instead of a hybrid language.

It is free

This is one of the best benefits of using the Ionic Framework. Building an app is quite expensive usually being beginning with research and ending in a marketing campaign. You might have to spend a cost around $1000 in general for a framework, but with Ionic Framework you do not have to pay a single penny for it. So the fact that Ionic is free will undoubtedly ease some of the burdens. Instead of spending the money on app development, you can utilize that in research and marketing ad campaigns.

The user interface will turn out as a piece of art

As we mentioned it earlier, that if you are in the hunt for a beautiful app, Ionic Framework is the way to go for you. CSS and JavaScript features incorporated in Angular allow you to customize the app with different buttons, menus, color schemes, etc. This framework gives a lot of options in this area that enables Ionic app developers to create an app that looks not only good but also has high standards regarding the UI.

The Ionic framework is open source

Open-source means instability, which can be the fact that the Ionic framework can be a hindrance while it is valid for many but not for Ionic Framework. It is true that usually, open-source frameworks are unstable, but the Ionic framework is a very stable platform. The Ionic app developers can assure the stability of the app that is created on this platform and does not encounter any stability concerns.

The base framework of Ionic is Angular

Angular is a trendy framework for creating mobile applications and web applications both. Therefore, even if you have not learned this programming language before, after working with it, you will also be able to build web apps. It has a lot of other additional benefits like the choice to extend the syntax of HTML so that components can be incorporated within the application you created, as well as data binding.

Ionic uses Cordova plugins

Plugins is a piece of code attached to your app that is coded in JavaScript that is the most beneficial and inherent features in developing apps. This code is attached to the app that allows you to do several things because it is close to the native language of the platform you are working on. The ionic framework uses Cordova Plugins that enable you to access various features of an OS, like Camera, Battery, Geo Location, and so many others. By applying one or more of these features of the OS, this type of plugin allows you to build an app that may reach its optimal working capacity.

You have a big community to talk

It is a tough job to start with a new framework to figure out things even if you are a champion in web app development and mobile app development. Ionic is built on the top of successful technologies such as Cordova and Angular so has a vast and active community. They are an enthusiastic group of developers and users who are always ready to help you with any issues and questions. These people keep on posting and updating regarding the Ionic framework, Angular and associated subjects on different forums or specialized YouTube channels. You will find Ionic founders on social media if you search them, and if needed, they will also help you.

Conclusion

Compared to the iOS app or any Android app, Ionic Framework, when integrated with Angular JS and Cordova, provides a perfect platform for hybrid application development. Also, with Ionic app development, developers ensure maximum exposure and help in easy creation and deployment of the application. If your business demands a robust hybrid platform app development, you can consult a web and mobile application development company that follows the latest trends and features. Besides, you need a passionate team of web developers having the know-how of the Ionic framework and who would be able to create stunning hybrid apps that work best in the market.

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