AppSquadz Blog | Mobile App Development Company

The Future of Mobile Application Design in 2019

The use of mobile app design continues to grow, but analysts point to a slowdown in general and greater use of messaging and social networking applications to the detriment of other types of applications. The data also indicates that few applications are used but it is true to them.

From the point of view of mobile app developers, whether individuals or companies, there have always been complaints about the commercial limitations of mobile applications, especially for Apple:

• The time it takes Google to approve an application is usually less than 24 hours. Apple usually takes four days. If a bug is discovered in an application, even if it is corrected immediately, it will take four days to reach the users.

• For an application to be approved, it must follow rules that tend to lean more towards the interests of Apple than of the developers. The confrontation between Apple and Spotify was famous last year.

• When you buy an app, you buy it forever and for the next updates. This is negative for many companies because it does not allow them to charge for the work of developing updates. There is a solution: publish a new application in the stores, but this implies abandoning the previous application and starting again because you start with the download counter at zero and without the users’ ratings.

• Stores do not allow free trial periods. Users are reluctant to pay for an application to find out if it really interests them. Google Play allows you to cancel the purchase (and returns the money) if it has not been more than two hours since the purchase, a clearly insufficient time to test many applications. Apple Store does not impose this time limitation, but top app developers complain that many users request the return of purchases, Apple grants it, but still use what they have bought, because Apple does not disclose to developers the identity of users to those who have been granted a refund.

Despite these drawbacks, it must be said that mobile applications by UX design company have advantages, are useful and are indicated in many cases. There are many companies whose business model is not resented by the conditions imposed by the stores, in-fact there are millions of apps, but there are also other companies that faced these conditions have preferred to develop a web application instead of a mobile application, but not It is always possible because mobile app design company allow agility and performance that are not available to web applications.

Progressive Web Apps

Without going into many technical details you could define the “Progressive Web Apps” as a way to develop web applications (reside on a website and used with a web browser) using technologies that allow them to offer functions of the mobile applications that we usually install on our phones and tablets. These are the characteristics of this type of web applications:

•Findable: unlike apps, they can be indexed by search engines and easily found by users. They also include an informative file that identifies them as an application and allows them to be recognized as such, not just as a website.

•Adaptable design: its presentation in the browser adapts to the orientation and dimensions of the screen.

•They work disconnected: despite being a website, they are designed to work without an internet connection. They may have saved information locally to present it later or save user information locally and synchronize it with a server when there is internet access.

•Secure: they use the HTTPS protocol to ensure that communications are encrypted and thus protect the information transmitted.

•Installable: ‘Progressive Web App’ application can be included in the home screen of a device just as mobile applications are added.

•Progressive: the web application by mobile app design company should work on all devices, in the same way as a normal website would, and should progressively take advantage of the features offered by the browser on which it is used.

So that everything said above is possible and that despite being a web application behaves as a mobile application uses a technology called “Service worker”. A mobile application by iPhone app developers can perform tasks even if we are not using it. For example, we can have the phone in a bag or in a pocket and we get a WhatsApp message. This is possible because that application still in operation even though we are not using it.

A website that we access with a browser responds to our requests, reacts to the actions we perform with a mouse or with a finger on the screen. If we do not use a website, the browser will be waiting. Therefore, in order for a website to send us notifications or collect updated information without our intervention, and thus function as a mobile application, he must be able to perform tasks on his own, and that is where the so-called “Service worker” comes into play.

Those who have done so are adding more features of this technology progressively. Firefox, Chrome and Opera have “Service worker”. Microsoft is currently developing it for its Edge browser. Safari, Apple’s browser, does not support “Service Worker” and has not notified plans to do so in the future.

Conclusion:

The advantages of mobile app development technology are enormous. The experience for users is similar to mobile applications, they work without internet connection, and they allow notifications or perform tasks in the background, being able to perform functions while they are unattended. For companies, it is also an advantage to use the same technology for any device, mobile or not. They do not have to carry out specific developments for a specific mobile platform because everything works on a browser. They can also publish their “Progressive Web App” applications wherever they want and update them at any time, without depending on the application stores.

Trending Social Media Apps for Android & iOS Platform

Most of the social media revolves around communication and posting pictures and videos on a public platform. Now the smartphones come with inbuilt social media apps that allow for messaging, video calling and posting videos. But there are many more options in your store that you shouldn’t miss out on. Here are the latest trending social media apps that you can use on both Android and iOS. If you are looking for an app development company, then you might want to consider that which has worked with the following apps:

1. Telegram:

With more than a million active users, Telegram has been declared the fastest messaging app. It lets you store chat history in the cloud and share files of any size, and the chats are protected with Diffie-Hellman secure key exchange. Telegram supports GIFs, stickers, photo and video editing, and group chats with even 1,00,000 people. This free app doesn’t annoy you with advertisements and promises that it will remain free. Funded by a donation, Telegram is funded by a donation and they have declared that they will not sell user data and that generation of revenue isn’t its motive.

2. YouTube:

It might seem like YouTube is an outdated app and would not be anywhere on the trending social media apps list, but believe me when I say that it has been visited by teens almost twice in the past three years. With the brand-new vlogger base and a strong influencer instead of a mere passive content consumption website, YouTube has remained the teens’ favorite. It was voted the most popular social app in 2018 among the American teens aged between 13 to 18.

3. Facebook:

It is undeniably one of the most widely used social networking sites in the world and one of the largest as well. It is probably the first site to exceed the landmark of 1 billion user accounts. Apart from networking with your friends and relatives, Facebook also permits you to sell online through different Facebook apps. It even lets you promote your business and products using paid Facebook ads. It even has its own messaging app called Messenger which is a convenient platform to chat, voice call and video call with your friends and family.

However, it has breached the trust of millions of its users when it gave third parties access to the personal data of 87 million users. This led to the #deletefacebook campaign which encourages people to remove themselves from Facebook and use other networks instead. Many companies ask for custom Facebook like app development for their businesses, both iOS app development of this kind and Android app development of this kind can be done.

4. Instagram:

Although Facebook has reigned over the field of photo-sharing on the internet, Instagram has become more popular on mobile devices. It doesn’t reveal how many of its users are teens, but it is evident that most of its users are between the age group of 13 to 18. Instagram lets you share photos, like other’s photos, chat, video calls and even search popular hashtags.

5. WhatsApp:

It is a free and convenient social networking app and is one of the most widely used messaging apps in the world. WhatsApp lets you chat, make voice or video calls and even to share your location, photos, contacts, and documents. You will have to permit it to access your contact list such that the app can automatically update it as soon as you enter a new contact. Apart from its popularity, what attracts more users to WhatsApp is the end-to-end encryption which has been added for privacy and security.

6.Viber:

Viber is a popular app that automatically adds your contacts and permits you to share your photos, send text messages, emoticons, stickers, and to make video and voice calls. It also has a feature called the Viber Out which lets you make international and domestic calls at cheap rates. Moreover, calls from Viber to Viber are free. It also provides the color-coded encrypted messaging facility.

7. Twitter:

With around 320 million active users per month, Twitter is a widely used social networking site which lets you post short text messages, popularly known as tweets, which can only contain a limited number of characters, i.e., up to 140 characters per tweet. Twitter is commonly used to convey your message to the public. This free app also lets you promote your business and with the increasing demand for online shopping, it lets you shop directly through tweets as well.

8. Hangouts:

Available on both Android devices as well iOS, Google Hangouts can be set as the default messaging app on Android devices. It can also be used on your laptop or PC. Hangouts have become one of the common ways to chat with your family and friends. However, you need a Google account to operate on Hangouts. This app provides a wide range of facilities including sharing photos, GIFs, making video calls and group calls as well. Hangouts are popular for its convenient since it can be used both on the desktop as well as on your mobile phones.

9. Snapchat:

The youth and the celebrities have embraced this social networking app and have made it immensely popular over the years. Like most of the other apps, it lets you share your photos and videos which self-destruct after a definite period of time. There is also an option where you can send your friend a “snap” for a short period of time, after which it disappears. What has made Snapchat popular throughout the years among all other social media apps is its feature of a wide range of funky filters. Snapchat also lets you edit your photos, and has been established as the most fun way of socializing.

10. WeChat:

Most popular in China, WeChat has around 700 million users in China. Although it offers the usual features of every messaging app like sharing photos and making video and voice calls, it also provides you features like People Nearby, Friend Radar, and Shake which aids you to find your friends who are nearby.

11.Tumblr:

With around 555 million active users per month, Tumblr is a social media platform as well microblogging platform that can be used to find and follow your favorite things. Owned by Yahoo since 2013, Tumblr can be used to post anything from multimedia to a short-form blog. It also lets you customize anything and hence is popular for its flexibility.

12. Skype:

With around 300 million active users per month, Skype has become one of the most popular communication based social networking platforms. Owned by Microsoft, it allows you to connect with your family and friends through voice calls, video calls, as well as text, messaging. It also has the feature of group conference calls. The best feature of Skype is that calls from Skype to Skype are free of cost, even if they are international calls.

Therefore, you can get the best of these applications through social media apps development services offered by the top app developers in the USA.

Tips for Trending Technologies in the Mobile App Development Success

Today’s Worldwide mobile operating system market is ruled by Android. Similarly, Google App store dominates the market while Apple App Store and Window App Store have a less mobile app in the market. As there is a competition between Big companies, there is a competition within companies as well, like, the individual market share of Android 6.0 Marshmallow and Android 5.1 Lollipop is bigger than Android 7.0 Nougat, for now. With the developing world and increasing competition for mobile app development, the users have a variety of choices to choose from, there is a wide range of Android devices of different companies with differing screen sizes, resolutions, and hardware features. Therefore, your App must be at its best, it must provide an optimal experience to the user to get and stay popular in the market. There are few tricks and tips that you can keep in mind while developing your app and deliver the competitive app.

• Frameworks and development tools:

You can use frameworks and development tools to add features and functions without having to add any code. It makes it easier to test, build and maintain your Android App. You can implement the UI/UX Design for your mobile app development according to the guidelines provided by Google. You can go for Open source android app development tools.

• Android design guidelines:

Google provides Android Design Guidelines to help developers to do a strong and healthy mobile app development. It keeps updating the Guidelines at frequent intervals to make sure that UI and UX are intuitive and appealing. Google recommends developers to build apps with material design and provides with a new set of tools to apply the material design guidelines. Though, you can still choose to create an app in your own way without following guidelines by Google. But you must create mobile apps based on the latest Android Design Guidelines to deliver a smoothly functioning app.

• Cloud technologies:

With cloud-based technologies, you can overcome the problem of device and operating system fragmentation issues as you develop and test the apps. The Cloud-based trending technology also helps you in building mobile apps without creating and maintaining physical infrastructure. It provides you with tools that will make it easy for you to make your App responsive and provide a similar user experience on different versions of mobile. You can use the tools of cloud-based technologies to customize the Android App automatically for different devices.

• User input target:

To have your user get crazy for the android app you provide, it must make them special. The app must have a feature to input rating, feedback or comment for the user to input their opinion. But, you should also understand the users need through their feedback and apply it to enhance your app. It is difficult to get user input while developing the app but you can go for crowd-sourced testing to involve the user and get their feedback.

• User interface fast and responsive:

In today’s fast-moving world, the user of Android app hates the slow response. Therefore, you must find ways to make sure that the UI of the app is fast and responsive. It is easy to keep the UI fast and responsive and that is by keeping the layouts simple and moving the long-running process from the Main Thread. During coding, you must remove the nested and deep layers or recode them into a simple one, to get fast output. Also, check the running time of individual operations and remove the time-consuming tasks from the Main thread.

• App security:

Now a day, most enterprises allow their employees to access the business app on their personal mobiles. Therefore, the smart user analyses the security features of the app and then decide to download. You must embed strong security features into the app to keep the information of your user safe despite the data breaches and malware attacks. Make sure to do security testing and find the loopholes that make app vulnerable to attacks.

• E-Commerce features and mobile payment:

New world’s user prefers to make online payments and thus prefer apps with such features. So, you must keep an option to access E-Commerce features in your Android App. The App should enable the user to buy the products and services he/she need. Plus, you should provide with the option to make online payments through wallets or other banking options.

• Wearables Compatible App:

There has been an increase in the number of people using wearable devices. At the present time period, the user doesn’t have any option to install the app on a wearable device but they can connect the app through their smart phones to a wearable device. You must take this option into consideration, if your app will be wearable device friendly then there are more chances of it being used by users.

• Emerging Trends:

To keep your app into the market for the longer period of time, you must keep it up-to-date with on-going trends. You can even take help from big data analytics to understand the needs of the target users of the Android app.

• Test the App:

Even after putting your best efforts, you might not be able to make the flawless app in first go. You must keep testing it and running it through time to time. Through this process, you can keep an eye on the defects of your app and repair them while it is in a market.

If you are looking to develop or design a Mobile application, please contact us for any support.

Know Your Mobile Phone’s Strength with ‘Android One’

The Android One is one of the built-in software product by the tech giant, Google which adjusts along with adapts with the needs of the user’s usage of android apps for better usage and improvised facilities. It was first presented by Sundar Pichai CEO, of the tech giant, Google. It was made keeping in mind the latest Android users in 2014. It was initially released in the rising market accompanying the budget and lesser powered devices with the Indian market kept in mind but then gradually, it branched into most of the South-Asian countries such as Nepal, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Philippines, Indonesia etc.

Google teamed up with Micromax, Spice, and Karbon for the launch. But now, the system is available with various ranges of mobiles. It does not come with the most advanced Android version, which is the Pie. It accompanies every existing Android version on which our phones run on currently, i.e. Android 8 Oreo and above.

Although, certain companies are finding it difficult to support previous versions of Android to be used again because android pie mostly offers irreversible updates and any discrepancy can cause complicated issues. The supreme goal of the introduction of Android one is to build a dominated and controlled Google Android products, which are sold through the other hardware partners and not Google directly. The focus is on smartphone manufacturing companies who will join Android one and provide the customers a secure and firm version. Every smartphone will be free from duplicate applications extra services apps bloatware and only include what the manufacturers have put in.

That means the phones won’t contain additional services supplementary keyboards or news apps. Google directly maintained the systems and security of the earliest launched devices. In 2016 phones with the Android One, were introduced in Japan with the support of Softbank and now it remains to be the best-selling mobiles in mobile stores across our country. The most fundamental offering from this product: according to Google, it is probably the most refined form of Androids and it is the most efficient Android version. 

It fundamentally includes every positive aspect of Google plus a concrete operating system that is the core. Its phones have their set of features such as efficient power conservation tactics by prioritizing background activities and leading to a longer battery by google but at the same time, these are quite different from pixel phones which come with its off the ordinary features such as pixel launcher and pixel camera which is unavailable on other devices.

Some Google-controlled properties of Android one smartphones include

Google-apps: The device has inbuilt Google apps such as maps duo and YouTube, even Google-play, with service of security to prevent malware from hijacked applications. Basically, it offers every Google service.

Google-Assistant: Android one comes with an upgraded and optimized service of Google Assistant which can be utilized for calling locating and other purposes.

Google support: the manufacturers of the devices only have a small role in managing the phone’s software and also, they hardly alter the software for Google to easily give out upgrades. Hence, with the devices of this OS get upgrades for two years and three years of Android monthly updates for security claiming the devices that are most secure in the ecosystem. A user would have android Q if he bought the device at Android 8 Oreo.

The updates are really fast reported Nokia users since one doesn’t have to wait for the manufacturer’s update notification. Update speed is also probably the biggest perks of android one. But recent reports show that the update adoption rates are extremely low, almost 19.2 percent of all active users and android members has opted the option to get Android 8 through upgradation.

Devices for Android One

Hardware Manufacturer support: It provides software support to hardware parts of a phone allowing additional features and respective software. For example, Nokia phone might have their own customized camera with features such as specially set pro modes other than the normal Android camera. The user might be able to capture splendid pictures on their device manufacturers’ camera and also utilize the vast experience of default gallery which is Photos to ensure storage high quality and other purposes. The HTC u11 added a squeezable frame with the controlling software. Likewise, speaker, cameras and other hardware parts are also supported by android one.

Nokia is the most leading device seller of Android one along with HTC and LG. HTC u11 is the prime handset after that came Nokia 6.1, 7 plus and then LG g7 one. Xiaomi a1, Xiaomi m1, mobile x1, moto x4 general mobile gm6 general mobile gm5 and general mobile gm5 plus has this Android OS.

Since arrival of ‘Android Go’ much modern technology which allows maximum Google-based apps on a minimum storage and larger experience on smaller hardware android one was expected to witness a downfall since ‘Android Go’ seemed to be a slimmer and handier technology for a faster function smartphone but the recurrent upgradations offered and features seems to be keeping it active in market. This is the most popular framework to be used by any Mobile app development company.

If you are looking to develop or design a Mobile application, please contact us for any support.

Is Apple’s Core ML 2 better than Google’s ML Kit?

The last two months have been exciting for developers as both rivals, Apple and Google introduced their Machine Learning Kits named Apple’s Core ML 2 & Google’s ML kit. This marks as a new phase of development and it won’t be late now that some really advanced applications will venture into the market.

The focuses to develop these kits have been to reduce the pressure on implementing large data sets which are typically required for AI and ML development. Both Apple and Google have released the kits keeping developers in mind who are not very proficient in their coding.

First, let us look at Apple’s machine language it and following that the Google’s and compare which one is better.

Apple’s Core ML 2

This allows a robust integration of different models in machine learning. Using this framework, it is possible for developers to write machine learning applications with the least code possible. According to Apple, this Core ML 2 is 30% faster thanks to the capability of batch prediction and it can compress the models in machine learning by almost 75%. Batch prediction is the process of identifying several images at the same time, rather than trying to predict each of the image one by one. The models in machine learning can be compressed by representing the weights in fewer bits.

This framework for development allows the usage of deep and convoluted neural networks. and they support the different ree models as well as linear regression. This new version of the Core ML can also load the different models from cloud platforms such as the AWS and Microsoft Azure during the runtime. The Core ML is built on low – level technologies and thus, it ensures the minimal usage of the CPU and GPU while providing the maximum efficiency. The developers can almost run all their ML models onto the device so that the data will not be needed to leave the device, according to Apple.

Apple also said during the release by stating an example of a company called Memrise who have used the machine learning framework to build a website where people learn multiple languages. During the past, the developers would take almost 24 hours to train their AI to identify 20,000 images but with these frameworks, the time is brought down to just around 48 minutes. Also, the size of the models of the machine learning is brought down from somewhere around 90 megabytes to just around 3 megabytes.

The Machine Learning Kit from Google

During the conference by Google during the last month, they released this kit for developers who are not very strong with the implementations of Machine learning models. It is a type of cross-platform development framework along with the firebase development platform. Creating the ML requires a lot of work, as you will need to learn how to determine the exact weights, to use the different libraries and also acquire the sufficient training data to even build the most simple of the models.

Both the Firebase and the Android development kit makes it very easy for the developers to implement their models by allowing only some features of the machine learning to be called on the fire-base platform.

According to Google, one would not have to have the deep knowledge about deep neaural network and model optimization if they need to use this framework; they can achieve the task in a short span of time using minimal lines of code.

The framework supports certain ML features such as scanning the barcode, landmark, facial and text detection. Also, this model helps operate in both offline and online conditions. For instance, the offline version will be able to identify a particular image as that of a dog while the online version will be able to specify the breed of the dog as well.

So which one is the right for you?

Choosing between these developmental kits at the end of the day is purely a preference of the developer. The developmental kit from Google, although it is still in the Beta version, offers so much for even the amateur developer through the use of models, and pre-exists that if you want to get into the world of machine learning quicker, then this must be the option for you.

On the other hand, Apple’s framework is not as efficient as that of Google fist, mainly because it does not operate on multiple platforms. And second, it can only be operated on iOS devices and also is not a cross-platform suite which decreases its efficiency. But Apple has been claiming that their second apple updates the developmental kit is more efficient. It is to be waited and seen if that is truly the case.

Apart from these two, there are core machine language kits released from both Intel and NVidia. The former is free of cost and is great for students and scientists to test and conduct experiments related to machine learning. The latter on the other hand is a great tool for advanced users of Machine learning. Make sure that you choose the right one according to your needs.

If you are looking to develop or design a Mobile application, please contact us for any support.

How will Mobile Apps be Affected By 5G Network in 2019?

Just in a month’s time, we will be entering a new era of technological advancement. It will mark the beginning of the world of wireless 5G network which will work towards supporting in making the perfect combination of data computation with some several millions of devices and that too within some fractions of seconds.

Let’s take an example… the time you need to blink of your eyelids within that short period more than millions of data will get transmitted right from the device you own to uncountable numbers of connected devices of this world. So how will that be possible will be the question in your mind. Well, all thanks to the powerful and effective technology of 5G Wireless Networks. This network was is a discussion for long and all set to alter the world of mobility.

After checking the potentiality of 5G technologies which it is promising to offer it will be wrong to call it only a network. The 5G can is, as the underlying fabric ideal for the complete ecosystem which is designed to make a perfect connection between devices. 5G is going to make huge changes in business and economic policies. The valid reason for which 5G has managed to make its place among Top 10 tech trends in the coming time is that it promised to make 180-degree changes in the business protocol. This transformative technology witnessed interest from several businesses aside to the charts which are drafted for estimating the number of subscriptions.

The pattern shift in which 5G technology is showcasing presents the scenario which will create a lasting effect spreading across multiple industries in such promising ways that it will open up doors of innovation and transformation. Earlier things that were assumed to be highly difficult to reach can now be achieved. In short for 5G technology we can say that it brings a shift which will help in speeding up faster than time.

We already mentioned that 5G manages to create a huge impact on several industries so here we will make an attempt to understand how it affected various industries. Taking into account all industries will make it difficult for us to explain and so we are picking the mobile app economy as an example.

In recent times the phone designers of any Mobile App Development Company, as well as the telecom providers, are edging towards making the deployment of 5G. But do you have any idea as to what 5G actually means to the mobile developers and its millions of end-users who all are looking for benefits with new mobile experiences? Undoubtedly fast mobile internet is something which all surely expects, but is that all? Well, definitely not as it is only one of the many benefits it promised to offer. Before you get an idea as to what are the impacts of 5G you need to understand as to how different it is from 4G via a comparison between 5G vs. 4G.

5G VS 4G: Understanding why 5 G is better:

• 5G offers faster fiber comparable speed minus wires

• Low in latency – which means less delay and interference

• Offers excellent wireless power which gives the opportunity to allow several devices to stay connected via an IoT network

• Offers brilliant experience with multiple coverage option and facilities

• Excellent opportunity with wireless connectivity

How it is going to benefit the industry of Mobile apps?

Excellent speed: The fast download speed which will represent the 5G technology will make it easier for app users to make fast downloading of apps in friction of second even when the MB size of the selected app is huge. It will be like a genie in the lamp for businesses which are banking on in-app download based monetization plans.

Fast Transferring of file: With fast speed, the user can make fast transferring of files, money or absolute anything which is transferable in nature. The 5G mobile app is going to create a revolution for those mobile apps which follow the business module where it needs to make the transfer of money or data from one account to another in the fastest possible time.

Latency moved to almost Zero: Delays turn deadly for your business if you’re trying to manage machines for taking critical decisions in the fastest possible time. 5G is promising a feature to offer near-zero latency. The quick app download is something that is much in demand. It is highly beneficial for AR/VR based mobile apps.

Excellent user experience: Don’t you feel the above 3 factors are sufficient enough to justify that it’s an ideal choice for the best user experience? One of the biggest advantages with 5G is the clarity it offers in internet speed. The effect you will notice in the app UI will be an elevated one to a large extent when the same is used or streamed using 5G networks.

So by this time you are sure now as for how will Android application be affected by 5G network in 2019? If you ever tried using your mobile internet in any crowded place you will understand how important connection density is. The 4G network can max support 2000 devices with its current capacity within .38 square miles.

With the increase in the number of devices, you will notice a sudden fall in the capacity as it turns inadequate. But with a 5G network, things will show a rapid change and can manage more than 1 million devices in the same space. This is certainly great news for the developers of IoT (Internet of Things) and for any Mobile App Development Company.