Month: November 2017

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Do you feel that every business should have an app? Certainly not necessary. But if you already have an app, do you need to bring it in front of your potential customers? Certainly a YES. With millions of apps launching and competing every day in the market, a good app strategy will help you get to your destination.

Since a good app strategy is a topic that someone can write a book on, we are here to describe some interesting tips and tricks for launching your next app. This blog is drawn from the best practices seen in the development and launch of apps in the real world and gathered from the web.

We will divide the blog into 2 sections for launching of an app:

  • Tech/Developer Preparations
  • Marketing Preparations

Let us see them in details:-

Tech/Developer Preparations

A successful strategy of launching your app starts even before you actually launch it. Your developing team should keep in mind the following points just before they submit their app for launch.

a) Controlling Source/Version code: 

If you aren’t using the source control of your app, start using it right away. This allows the developers to control and manage any future versions and changes made to the app so you need not build a new app every time your business expands.

b) Using the Latest Technologies: 

iOS and Google are busy researching and bringing out new and latest features every another day. Make sure your app is built on the latest features offered by these operating systems to avoid getting outdated.

c) SEO/Link building for Different Users: 

Every user has a peculiar preference for searching his app on the app/play store. Make a thorough keyword research and customize your app according to various user requirements. Also, linking the app creates a great user experience.

d) Push Notifications: 

Incorporate push notifications for your app. They are one of the most effective and loved tool for your customers. This can prove a good strategy for re-engagement of your audience. But make sure you do not use this plan to annoy ad irritate your user.

Marketing Plan

There are 5 simple steps you need to follow for achieving your marketing target. Before you go through the points, it’s important you study the basics of about marketing techniques.

a) Researching Competitors: 

A recent study shows that almost 50,000 apps are launched every month. Before you launch you app, ask yourself, “Are you offering something unique and new to your customers?” Research and document all the things your competitors offer and what makes them stand out to the audience.

b) App Marketing And Discovery Platform: 

Platforms like ‘Preapps’ and ‘appnext’ offers sharing of your app ideas and experience to a community of similar interest before your app hits the market. This helps you to make creative and strategic enhancement to your ideas and leverage your network.

c) Optimizing app store listing: 

Similar to optimizing your website through SEO/SEM activities, a mobile app also needs optimization on play/app store. There are many tools like Sensor tower and Mobile action that can help you optimize your listing. You can also google other tips for app store listing tips.

d) Setup social platform accounts: 

An optimized mobile app is incomplete without its presence on social media. When a user searches for your service, it’s important they recognise your brand and connect with you instantly. Make sure you have an active social presence to connect with your audience in no time.

e) Beta test: 

Are you sure your application is free of bugs and serves it purpose? Before you release it to your actual users, release a beta test of the app for a selected group of people so that you know your app behaves the right way it should. Ask them to review your app while using it so that you are able to make any necessary changes and bug fixes.

Conclusion:

The above tips are just a few ways you can make your app stand out of the rest. There are numerous other things you can do, but without these key steps those aren’t fruitful. Since now your strategy is upgraded, you are ready to rock!

Keep in mind that every business is different, each has its own culture, brand and approach. Customize your brand strategy in such a way that your users feel the need to be connected with you whenever they need. Make sure you get back to us.

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As more and more apps are finding their way in app stores, getting your mobile app design loved by users is most crucial. Users want to see brilliant design elements in your app. However, no mobile app design is complete without consideration of best user experience.

While designing mobile app architecture, you are also at times designing the future user experience.

This clearly indicates that an app must deliver user-friendly experience in the first place. Poor user experience means a lot of disappointment and frustration coming your way. Designing an app for better UX is a key to getting competitive, noticed and viable in the crowded app market.

So here are 10 great tips to design an app for delightful user experience:

1. Simplicity and Minimalism

A UX design that offers simplicity and minimal steps for users to fulfil their purpose is an ideal structure of a successful mobile app. Simple content with clear graphic explanation is what users want especially when the app is focused on multiple tasks.

Too much flash and glamour can distract users and send them away. Extra colour and glitters can even discourage app users to take desirable actions. Apart from that, unnecessary images and shine can even affect the speed at which app loads.

Minimal design approach and its simple presentation can keep users’ focus in the right place and lead them to the final action in fewer steps. It also helps your app load faster so that users won’t think of switching to other rival apps.

2. Preferential UX design

Recently, the new trend has picked the nerve of mobile app design. Unlike conventional interface, many apps have designs that are tailored to appear according to users’ personal taste, likes and tendencies. With such extraordinary design shift, the old approach of one-size-fits-all is getting older now.

This kind of intelligent app design may be termed as adaptive UX design or preferential UI. It takes advantage of users’ personal information to deliver customized experience.

This unusual UX design is commonly found in Travel apps or Real Estate search apps. The design of such mobile apps accommodates all the correct information before users even demand. This is possible because of app’s ability to learn users’ preferences and interests based on previous search history and location settings.

3. Silent Magic of White Space

The empty space found between in-app elements of a page layout is ignored and seen as being negative. Many of us like to believe that whit space through the app content is useless and pointless, and that it needs to be eliminated.

This is a serious practical mistake a designer would ever do. On the contrary, white space (infamously known as negative space in the world of mobile app design) helps bring positive results.

We often underestimate the magical power of negative white space. However, you can use negative space to create more interest and draw more attention.

Seemingly considered as a passive element, this white space is actually an active hero that silently enhances the ease of reading, priority of interesting content and betters and visuals of the layout. It even makes it possible to notice the highlights of the content, resulting in the simplicity of viewing.

4. Great Visuals, Better Influence

Human eyes are the first place where images are primarily processed and briefly approved. In fact, we have a common proclivity to choose something that has ample aesthetic value. Mobile apps are one of such things as mobile app designers will highly concede.

Despite being virtual, mobile app design intrigues users as if it is tangible goods. Users download an app because of its usability and design splendour. Text-centric apps are not welcome, but apps with remarkable visual elements are.

Having an appealing mobile app often results into higher user engagement, better influence and pleasant user experience.

5. Keep a Sharp Eye on Market

Before you design or redesign your mobile app, make sure you dedicate an eye to the relevant market. Find out what is brewing in the market and what trends people tend to embrace most. This will set you on the heavy quest for scooping up the hot trends making signatures on the face of mobile app design.

The foremost thing to bear in mind before you think of user experience is the understanding of your own prime audience. The trends you learn from the app market are representative of customer’s behaviour, tastes and preferences.

Develop use cases that help you go still closer to your audience and help you design a user-focused interface for your app. The more interactive the interface is, the better will be the user experience.

6. Minimize the Burden for Users

Any veteran mobile app designer could not deny the importance of having a clean, clutter-free user interface. Every page you design for the mobile app must contain straight-to-the-point content and single call-to-action option. Users believe in limited attention span wanting their options quickly.

While designing an app, the best approach is to get users what they really want with minimal efforts.

This principle is highly appreciated for purpose-oriented apps. For instance, if it is a hair salon appointment app, it should process users’ preferable timings, style preferences and match it with availability of services to suggest the best solution.

In some cases, the app also detects the user’s location through GPS to tell the distance between their home and salon. The whole process should be kept simple and light, with minimum time-consuming content.

7. Effortless Navigation

Navigation holds immense importance especially if the app is aimed for ecommerce, social media or finance industry. Since much of user experience depends on the navigational ease, your app must comfort users while they flow or switch from one page to another.

If you are a Mobile app designer, you must know that users want the navigation to be simple, accessible and self-evident. Ideal navigation system of an app is the one that liberates them from using great efforts to understand it. So make it easy to discover despite the fact that mobile screen offers small screen.

Tab bars designed with suitable names of for each page can be a best solution to effortless navigation. It offers one tab selection to navigate across different pages.

8. Clever Push Notifications

In 21st century, due to pushy marketers, people tend to avoid countless messages coming from every corner of the consumer market. Mobile users avoid getting distracted by bombardment of push notifications on their digital devices.

Nobody is interested in your other products, discounts or information of your partner companies when all they want is to get straight down to the action.

In most cases, such exasperating push notifications can encourage users to quit your app forever.

So make a practice of sending only selected custom messages to users. Don’t ruin their busy hours by sending irrelevant messages. Instead, send messages of value on a certain intervals that won’t plague them.

Instead of giving them a rush in a short while, try to channel your messages in multiple slots like email, push notifications, in-app messages, etc. This will save both your reputation and brand.

Conclusion

While designing a mobile app, designers must remember the purpose of the app and how users are going to interact with its various elements and features. You can include these tips in your next mobile app design strategy to build a compelling mobile app. You must ensure that your app has the reason for users to use it and requires minimal time and effort to understand it. Whatever you do with your design, make sure your app retains its usability and has potential to deliver intuitive user experience.

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You might consider user acquisition as the most integral part of mobile app success. But, how can your app thrive without users actively engaging with your app? High number of downloads is not a perfect measure of your app being all the rage in the market. User Engagement and retention are key drivers of a successful mobile app.

While app user engagement mainly reflects user interactions with a mobile app, app retention fairly means a number of customers who return to your app after abandonment.

Poor app engagement and user experience can lead to high user abandonment rate. Hence, you must increase engagement and retention to get more loyal users.

Here are the best practices for improving engagement for your app users:

1.  User On-boarding Made Fast & Simple

User onboarding experience is perhaps the first conversation you will spark off with your app users. The main purpose of user onboarding is to get users to take a walk into your app and prepare them for more interesting elements within your app.

Don’t:

  • Make on-boarding experience a tutorial or serious app education
  • Make it look like an attempt to increase users’ familiarity with the app
  • Bore users by introducing fancy screen shots of interface and features
  • Overwhelm users with too many information fields
  • Prolong their sign up steps

Do’s:

  • Educate users about main app benefits
  • Present them the unique value your app brings
  • Minimize the number of steps for sign up process
  • Eliminate confusing factors that result in app abandonment
  • Offer flexible registration options

User on-boarding is all about making the first impression last. Seamless, intuitive on-boarding experience means letting your users settle in your app comfortably. Avoid as many troubles as you can for them especially when they sign up.

Let them learn more about your app features when they actually begin to explore more in detail. This will help reduce abandonment rate.

2. Push Notifications

Push notification is often seen as a fair practice for increasing user retention rate. Statistics confirm that users that choose to receive push notifications tend to engage with 88% higher than those who haven’t.

The concept of sending push notifications to users has evolved a lot. These messages are much more tailored, meaningful and quite customizable, and appear relevant.

Push notifications are crucial in fulfilling several purposes for your app. It acts as a reminder to users that they have downloaded and are using your app, which in turn helps beat the competition through psychological effect.

Push messaging, if done consciously and based on users’ preferences, can capture massive attention of the app audience. Such messages can convince users of reasons to continue to use app that has very specific functions.

This is the idea championed by Single Grain’s Guide to Mobile App Advertising that suggests how push messages can persuade users to run straight to your app for specific actions.

3. Personalization of App Interactions

Mobile personalization has a lot to do with improved user experience and user engagement. Mobile app users seek the kind of experience that incorporates their personal needs, likes and preferences.

This is why mobile app developers are compelled to build apps that use user’s data to display relevant, customized content in the app. Customized content means personalization of app interactions that delivers additional value to app users.

Localytics suggests that push messages that are tailored to user interests have a 54% conversion rate. However, send personalized messages carefully as any irrelevant messages may make users abandon your app.

Useful Tip: If you have known user behaviour, use it to segment your app audience. Divide users into multiple segments and align their preferences with customized user experience. Send each of them relevant messages through different channels of communication like social network, in-app messaging, push notifications and measure its effect.

 4. Incentivized User Engagement

Everybody loves rewards and your mobile app users are no exception. Giving users certain incentives to encourage them to use your app can help drive user engagement and retention for your app.

Create special content that users would like to access. Or treat them with reward points, coupons, promotions, freebies or other thinkable gimmicks that will increase their interaction with your app.

Tip: While implementing incentives, try to make it look natural and interesting. In-app s with special discounts work well for some apps while others can opt for usage-based encouragement. Suitability of incentivized engagement ultimately depends on the nature of your app.

5. Speed Up Your App Performance

Now that our world is processing data at fastest speed to save time and efforts, people are growing more demanding than before. E-commerce retailers make the same-day delivery while international travels are booked in a matter of a few seconds.

Why not apps fulfil the same requirement? App users want to experience significant speed as they jump from one page to another or open a feature or app itself. App lovers want their app to run, load and process information in countable seconds. This is only possible if the back-end of the app is working efficiently.

If your app has core features that deliver fast performance, you are most likely to observe more users depending on and interacting with your app.

6. Mistake Correction & Feedback Management

It is quite understandable that your app might not come out perfect in the first shot. There will always be certain a scope for betterment and improvement, which is clear when you receive honest feedback from app users.

It is important to listen to what your customers are saying about all the wrongs with your app. However, most unhappy app users refuse to show their dissatisfaction and leave. Hence, it is important to pro-actively ask them about their experience and anticipate their exact needs.

Tips:

  • You must learn, adapt and implement. Apple, for instance, is a proactive player known for making innovative products long before consumers voice their needs. You can also solicit feedback from your app users and incorporate their requirements in your next update.

  • You can integrate SaaS CRM in your customer relation management system to monitor individual customer choices and behavioural pattern. Now that such CRMs are evolved, even SMBs can afford using it.

7. Deep Linking works for app engagement

We already saw how precise, relevant and customized push messages can increase user engagement for any mobile app. Deep linking goes one step ahead and helps strengthen the power of push notifications or SMS.

Deep linking can be effectively implemented with the idea of inviting new users to your app. In mobile app terms, it is a URL for a mobile app that sends users directly to a specific page inside an app when opened for the first time.

Big names like Google and Apple are also the believers of deep linking power and encourage the adaptation of this practice for enhanced user engagement and retention.

The practice enhances user experience, saves time spent on navigation and engages users.

8. Update the Product to Attract and Retain Users

After a certain period of using the same app with old features and content, users tend to get slightly indifferent with your app and want to experience different material. This is why one needs to regularly update their apps and enter new exciting features and contents to keep surprising users.

Even if your app is quite polished, functional and trendier than competitors, you will have to realize the potential of delighting users with more personalized contents. This is also an effective way to capture users’ interest and retain them for longer period.

Take for example how Facebook reads their users’ taste and preferences and continues to introduce fascinating updates to their app to keep users delighted and stuck to their mobile app.

Core benefits of regular app iterations:

  • Refined user experience and in-app journey
  • Satisfied and excited customers
  • Significant improvement in user engagement
  • Better customer retention
  • Increase in customer LTV (lifetime value)
  • Minimal chance of app abandonment

Tip: Make use of app analytics to monitor users’ behaviour so that you can process the statistics to update their experience inside the app with valuable iterations.

Conclusion:

These are just a few of greatly impactful user engagement and retention tactics you can consider for your app to gain loyal, delighted brand app users. However, there is no magic formula for making your app rise in the market. You may try adopting one or two of these methods at times along with the recommended tips to see how it works with your app. It will take some time before you find out which ones have better impact on your business. You can then optimize your strategy accordingly.

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2017 is finally a mobile year with 4.77 billion users worldwide. In a recent study, 2 out of 5 visitors to your website are mobile users. As a business baron, it is surely a challenge to promote your app to the right audience, at the right place and at the right time. This predicts that you certainly keep in mind your mobile application for 2/5th of the population that look for the businesses like you.

This blog will take you on a journey which will teach you everything you need to do to promote your app to ensure that you are easily accessible through the app/play stores.

1.App Store Optimization (ASO)

Just as in website optimization and SEO, app store optimization includes activities to optimize you app store listing deciding your apps’ rank on the stores. This is considered as an important aspect of pre-launch strategy. Not following these steps can do no good to your business.

App store optimization includes the following basic tasks:

  • Understanding your competitors : Research and analyse what your competitors describe their app, what keywords are they using, who are they targeting etc.
  • Choose the perfect name for your app by researching on relevant keywords
  • Create a grappling description which will serve as a call to customers
  • Design a unique and captivating icon following proper guidelines and details
  • Release a beta-test app to know your customers preference and likes.

2.Promote app on Social Media

Not promoting your app will tend to lose your potential customers. Nobody will visit unless you follow a proper promotional strategy of your business app. Writing engaging reviews and attractive content to draw the attention of user that are looking out for services like yours is more important than any other tasks.

Other ways include creation of campaigns with discounts and cashback making them getting connected with you without a second thought. The whole idea is to get customers know you and build their trust with the valuable content. App developers and marketers can make of social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

3.Reaching out to Publications and Influencers

There are many publications and influencers related to your niche who has a huge fan following. Ask them to publish your blogs and share your ideas through their platform. Make sure you target the right audience that are engaging.

Many influencers ask for monetary needs to share your materials. If you have sufficient budget, it would simply be a clever idea.

4.Local Ads

Connect with your local customers by listing your business on the radio/newspaper channels. This has proven beneficial where your customers will learn a lot more before stepping up on your app.

Run an ad campaign with your local radio station, tv channel. Give away promotions like 10% off on your first order through the radio/newspaper channel.

5.Mailing Lists

Still ranking high, email marketing has a great potential in reaching and converting your audience to buy your services. Follow a few steps to create an email campaign at least once in a month and convince your buyers that you are always set to serve them high.

Tools like mail chimp can help you get started with your first mail campaign and encourage people to visit and signup for your services.

6.Affiliated Marketing

Affiliated marketing has been an age old tradition of promoting your brand and this hold true even today in the online world. It’s a process where a person/medium sells your product and they receive a commission for it.

You can simply sign-up for a marketplace and get your products tracked whenever someone advertises it. If anyone buys your services, they earn a part of your earnings.

7.Reviews and Rating

Allow testimonial to be displayed on your website and market it as much as possible. People tend to believe others who have already used your service and are satisfied with it.

It also allows you to know what your goodwill is among your customer base. Knowing your client is satisfied and is reacting well is all you need for staying motivated.

Conclusion

Each website you browse to know the various ways to market your app will have different ways to explain. It depends on every business vertical and what they are looking for. Following the above steps will certainly help you take the first step into the marketing world. You can also opt for working with an agency that will do these things on your part.

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https://www.redbytes.in/contactus/?utm_source=Header&utm_medium=Button&utm_campaign=ContactusRecently, app monetization is the hottest topic in the world of mobile app development. If you are looking to build a mobile app, you would not want to make it just for fun. Of course, you should have a proper app monetization model and thoughtful strategy to increase ROI. There are many app monetization options available in the market. Choosing a few viable monetization plans can increase your chance of making more revenue in the app market.

You may start with a free application that has certain premium features, in-app s and clever advertisements. Free apps are also more preferable than paid ones nowadays. But how exactly would you approach the idea of making money from your mobile apps?

Let’s explore how you can make it happen:

Your main app monetization strategy must include:

  • Advertising
  • Subscriptions
  • In-app s
  • Freemium plans
  • Affiliate marketing and referral scheme

App monetization revenue model:

Here is the most viable app monetization revenue model that will help you generate unstoppable income from your mobile app:

1.Advertising

Since almost 70% of app owners use it, Mobile advertising proves to be the most functional and profitable app revenue generation model in 2017.  Just display a commercial in your app and start getting paid. There are top 3 methods of in-app advertising as used by developers:

Interstitial ads:

This format contains full screen pop-ups that occur at specific time intervals. Users can close the ad either by selecting the displayed page or by choosing a close button in the top ad corner. Interstitial ads are organic revenue boosters for app developers.

Banners ads:

It appears at the top or bottom of the screen in varied sizes. They are small and do not cover the whole mobile screen, thereby being less intrusive to users’ interaction with the app. App owners can tailor ad banners for specific target demographic of users considering their past behavior. The lower half of the app screen has highest effects on users.

Native ads:

This type of ad can perfectly fit into the original app design and flow, acting as a sponsored material for product promotion. Native ads work like a natural app element, so users do not feel irritated. Eventually, developers get nice revenue stream and engagement through native advertising.

Incentivized ads:

Users usually like reward apps more than apps that just contain ads. These types of ads are driven by tools that make it possible to reward consumers as they complete certain in-app actions or survey steps. This tactic results in better user engagement, customer loyalty and brand image.

According to statistics disclose the Nearby Live on Android, a social network app, makes around$4,000-$5,000 per month using Facebook native ads.

Researchers say that by 2020, mobile apps would generate 188.9 billion U.S. dollars in revenues via app stores and in-app ads.

 2.Subscriptions

Subscription is another monetization models for free apps with restricted content and features. After the free trial period, users can pay fixed charges to get full access to all premium app features and contents. The revenue model is commonly found in apps with exclusive news material, special reports, streaming (audio/video) privileges, ebooks, blogs and magazines, etc.

Apple and Google enable subscription transactions. Apple takes 30% of subscription revenue for first year and then 15% for the following years. On the other hand, Google takes 15% of the app revenue each year.

Despite being a little less famous in the app development market, subscriptions are still a vital monetization model for many leading premium-service apps.

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Spotify are all big names using subscription based revenue stream model, offering various subscription tiers to their users.

 3.In-app s

More popular in mobile gaming apps, -in-app s is one of the most successful app monetization models that enable users to sell assorted virtual items. With in-app s, users can win:

  • Exchangeable game currency
  • Buy extra bonus points
  • Access premium content inside the app
  • Unlock new features or higher game levels.

According to current app market scene, more than 50% of top apps capitalize on in-app s to generate a dependable stream of revenue. This model is found quite successful and is likely to dominate in future, especially for game developers.

The concept of virtual currency as a part of in-app s creates exciting user experience, which is more suitable for gaming apps. The world’s leading Supercell earned $1 million a day from in-app s in their Clash of Clans game. Pokemon Go users spend about $1.5 million on in-app s on daily basis.

4.Freemium Model

According to Gartner Research group, customers are likely to spend 24% more on in-app s than on paid-for apps. This suggests that people will tend to generate transactions within the app and pay for in-app features, once they are confident that the app can bring real value.

This principle is highly applicable for freemium app models. Unlike paid apps, freemium apps can be used with no charge. However, it contains paid or premium features that are in-app s.

Users have a benefit of downloading the free version to assess the worth and value of the app. If they are satisfied, they will commit to pay for its exclusive sister version with high-grade features. Developers see this as the easiest monetization model where apps have both light and full versions.

15% of apps are focused on this popular mobile app revenue strategy.

AppsFlyer states that the average iOS freemium app generates $1.08 per month per user, and the average Android freemium app generates $0.43 per month per user.

Spotify is one great freemium app that allows users to create personalized play-lists on their mobile device with its premium version unlocking more exclusive features for users.

 5.Affiliate Marketing and Referral Scheme

You can be a part of affiliate marketing to promote someone’s products and services for split revenue. Money comes from a number of clicks or installs received from pop-ups and banners used to promote their apps.

Amazon store offers tremendous space for affiliate marketing. You can choose any product and advertise it through your apps. You get revenue from qualifying s and clicks on advertisements done by users.

In this model, you can promote other apps or advertise products through pop-ups and banners. Rovio, the leader in mobile gaming, used Google AdMob network to boost their Angry Birds downloads among Android users.

Final words:

Apart from the above illustrated app monetization tools and tactics, there are still more effective ways to monetize your mobile app. However, among all other app revenue models, according to sweet pricing, in-app advertising covers 65% of all major apps in the market. In-app s is also another success bringer. Some developers blend several methods to experience faster, better results. All it takes is careful planning and competitive marketing strategy to reap massive profits and app-engaged customers.

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Mobile devices look incomplete without mobile apps. If mobile devices account for communication, apps drive engagement.

This is why businesses worldwide develop mobile apps to reach their potential prospects, establish personalized interactions and attain business growth.

And how to make sure your mobile app is perfect and persuasive to customers?

The answer lies in the standards of mobile app development process. A thriving mobile app is the product of flawless app development methods and rigorous testing format.

Through the entire process of mobile app development and testing, consumers are the biggest influencers.

Hence, your app testing must integrate customer’s perspective and business objective. Here is all you need to know about precise app testing process:

Types of Mobile App Testing

To maintain the technical aspects of the app, we recommend these major types of mobile app testing:

  • Usability testing – Checks the mobile app for its ease of use and overall user experience.

  • Compatibility testing – Tests the application across various mobiles devices, browsers, OS versions and screen sizes.

  • Interface testing – Tests the appearance and navigational aspects of the app such as menu options, buttons, tabs, white space, responsiveness, bookmarks, history, settings, etc.

  • Services testing – Tests available services of the application in online and offline mode.

  • Performance testing – Tests the performance level of the application (battery usage, file sharing speed, data usage) when switching its network connection from 2G, 3G, 4G to Wi-Fi.

  • Operational testing – Tests the data backup, loss and recovery options in case of battery problems or app upgrading process.

  • Installation testing – Checks the installation behaviour of the app by installing and uninstalling it on different devices.

  • Security Testing – Tests if the application is capable of protecting private information of users or not.

Mobile App Testing Strategy

Mobile application test strategy ensures all the standards of quality and performance are properly maintained. It usually contains:

1) The Device Selection

While choosing the device for testing, the main consideration should be of popularity of the devices. Run your eyes through the market to figure out which devices are widely preferred by users. Clients or app developers are the deciders for this.

Apart from popularity, other factors that drive the device selection could be:

  • Operating System
  • Form factors
  • Screen resolution
  • Memory capacity
  • Connectivity

Testing must be handled across all widely used OS versions for different screen size and resolutions of devices in use. Check the functioning and compatibility of apps for various memory and connectivity options for accurate analysis.

2) Emulators

Emulator is a system where the app is passed from one environment to another without making any changes to the original version.

Emulators duplicate the features of the app and give a real system to work on. The use of emulators is conducive to primary stages of app development as they assist with:

  • Agile testing with great efficiency
  • Basic app functionality testing
  • Network bypass,
  • Creating an artificial live environment
  • Test scripting languages.

During various phases of mobile app development, three major types of emulators needed for testing are:

  • Device Emulator
  • Browser Emulator
  • Operating systems Emulator

Some of the free open source mobile device emulators are:

  • Mobile Phone Emulator
  • iPad Peek
  • BlueStacks
  • MobiReady
  • Screenfly
  • Responsinator
  • Jar of Beans

3) Cloud Computing For App Testing:

With cloud computing, application testing gets further easier to manage with infinite combinations of testing scenario. Devices are run on multiple systems or networks enabled by internet to deploy, test and manage applications. In order to run tests, it creates a simulated web based mobile environment for a developer to access on-demand mobile devices.

Benefits:

  • Automatic Backup and easy recovery and restoration of app data.
  • Gives the advantage of unlimited storage capacity
  • Highly synchronized, efficient and pre-configured structures
  • No need for creating time-eating on-premise test conditions
  • Quick, location-independent and full access on different devices
  • Controls project costs and increases ROI
  • Speedy and quick deployment.
  • Supports most complicated mobile apps with huge scalability
  • Quick and easy online solutions for defects found
  • Can support multiple for running the same script
  • Reduces TTM (time to market) and accelerates testing pace

Demerits:

  • Due to third party services, users have limited control and access over various functions for testing

  • Since the set-up is entirely on internet, unstable network connections compromise testing process and functioning

  • The entire set-up is on internet, which means security risks and chances of data theft are high

4) Automated and Manual Testing

When it comes to effective regression testing in development phase, automation testing wins over manual one. However, automated testing comes with significant amount of investment.

Choose manual testing if:

  • The application has new functionality
  • The application needs not more attempts of testing

Automated testing is preferred when:

  • There are repeated attempts for regression tests
  • There are complex scenarios that may consume more time if manually executed

There are two types of automated testing tools:

  • Object based mobile testing tools (e.g M-eux test, Rapise, Ranorex, ClicAutomate, Batik)
  • Image based mobile testing tools (e.g Egg Plant, AppVerify, AppLoader, Sikuli, JAutomate)

5) Network Configuration

Network testing for mobile apps validate the application consistency on various popular network connections such as 2G, 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi.

Network connectivity plays a vital role for apps that are hugely dependent on its online status. There are many mobile apps that need proper internet services to ensure healthy functioning.

This requires QA testing experts to test mobile apps for real network environments to measure application’s actual behaviour.

To simulate network environment, many handy tools are available that helps check app’s performance against network speeds, connection failures, bandwidth limitations and other practical scenarios.

Testing process gets more precise with network simulation technique as it determines how the mobile app under the test will perform in real-time network conditions.

6) Mobile App Performance Testing

Mobile application becomes complex software when it gets integrated with a device environment and interacts with its various functionalities. Therefore, it is advisable to test the application for its practical performance when run on the device.

Users store ample amount of data on their devices that have generous storage capacity. This is likely to mean that your mobile application’s performance is subject to the volume of albums, files, messages, images and other content in the app. This is highly important when your app houses user-generated data.

For this reason, the app must be tested for its behaviour and responses in heavy-content scenarios. If the application has a component on its server, the performance must be checked for varying number of users.

7) Mobile App Security Testing

Security of user data is the most crucial part when it comes to building expectations of app usability. Users are so quick to disapprove your application if they encounter security loopholes or vulnerabilities in your app.

Users are possessive about their credentials, so you must remain careful about providing unbreakable security standard for your mobile app.

Some of the checkpoints of mobile app security testing are:

  • Secure network protocols
  • SSL data encryption for enhanced security
  • Storage of payment information inside the app
  • Number of steps or permission levels for full access
  • Use of quality and high-security certificates
  • The process of user authentication and its complexity
  • Number of permissible login attempts

For your app to meet high security level, it must encrypt intimate credentials of users such as username and passwords. To strengthen the security, mobile app development companies nowadays use several modern authentication methods and testing scenarios where apps are tested on Proxy servers.

Special Test Case Scenarios

Some of the other essential scenarios for which your mobile app should be tested are:

  • Battery usage: To monitor the battery consumption while app is being run on mobile devices.
  • Data requirements: To determine the data required for installation and check if the users with a limited data plan can download it.
  • Response Speed of the application: To checkthe application for the time it takes to respond on different devices against parameters like memory capacity, network types, etc.
  • Functionality of the application: To ensure application runs healthily and does not collapse in adverse or changing network conditions.

Your Takeaway

It is hard to build a perfect mobile app without fostering the clear idea of precise mobile app testing. The app testing steps discussed above are core essentials of smooth mobile app testing strategy that drives success.

However, there are many other real-time scenarios that come to challenge the developers and testers throughout the various stages of development. Careful selection emulators and physical devices, manual checking and exhaustive app testing strategy create a ground for launching a high-quality app.

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If you have never attempted for building a mobile app, the idea of building one now may seem a little more challenging. Let’s face it, if you are going to make an app from scratch, you will encounter tons of advices and recommendations. Of course, you can think of hiring an app development company. However, one must realize the purpose of building the app.

Do you want to become an app entrepreneur, or resolve a certain problem? You must have a clear idea in your brain before you venture into the domain of mobile app development. Once you do, you can gather strong insight to make your vision a reality.

To give you a brief sketch, here is the list of steps you need to build a successful mobile app:

1.Put Your Objectives on Paper

Before you start thinking about complex coding and design elements, define what you wish to achieve. The technology part comes much later. First, some of the questions you need answers to are:

  • What is it that your app would do for you?
  • What problems is it going to address?
  • Will users fall for your app design or idea?
  • How will it add value to the life users?
  • Have you thought about app marketing?
  • How a mobile app will drive growth to your business?

These questions are goal finders and will help you come up with a strong strategy to achieve it. A lack of direction and vision means fruitless efforts. So try to define the clear objective of having an app.

To envision the app success, first try to figure out your audience and why they would interact with your business. Whether online or offline, users want to see what benefits they would get from it. If they find none, they will simply abandon your app.

After the audience comes your own business plan. Your future app can touch many areas of your current business like customer retention, ROI, repeated business, brand engagement, productivity, operational cost and brand awareness.

2.Define Your App Functionality & Features

After following the first step, you are sure about what you want to accomplish by making the app. Now its time to consider the internal content of your app. At this stage, you can go on to be creative and define your mobile app’s scope that includes most functionalities and features. Note down all these essentials you need to perfect the solution and achieve desired goals.

You can do as much as you imagine especially when nowadays there are many paid as well as open source plugins shared by online community. Make sure you add features that truly add value to customers.

The mantra is, to first start with all the typical elements followed later by innovative tweaks that can interest and engage the audience gradually.

3.Wireframes and Use cases

Wireframe means a lot in the world of mobile app development as it adds vivid clarity to the app making idea. Wireframe is a stage where foundation of your app is built. With a mature, well-shaped sketch of what your app will look like, Wireframe contains the skeleton of your design and its functional elements. It walks you through your app’s layout and flow.

As you go online, you will discover a reliable amount of wireframing websites that help you bring your idea to life and see the possibility becoming a reality. You are through with the objectives and desired functionalities of your app and have done your market research.

The visual guide of your wireframe helps you:

  • Measure what all users can achieve
  • Clarify your app’s future potential
  • Grasp the thought process involved in use cases
  • Understand the stages and steps required to complete each task
  • Optimize the flow and user’s journey to fulfil each goal
  • Revamp the design layout and find the most functional screen
  • Eliminate unnecessary flaws and confusing elements
  • Reduce development hours and even resultant cost

You can prepare the wireframes both online and offline. Offline method involves pen and a paper or ready made templates. Some of the thinkable online options include: Fluid UI, Adobe Suite, Proto, Moqups, Gliffy, Mockflow, JustinMind, Pidoco, Protoshare etc.

For better results, you may try one mock-up for each use case which includes the entire screen flow users take from opening your app to completing a task.

4.Shape the back-end of your app

At this stage, you go a step beyond building a wireframe and truly start developing your app. Using the storyboard of app functioning, you can design back end and examine the functionality.

Create the clear flow of diagrams that contains servers, APIs and database. For this purpose, you can either choose do-it-yourself app builders or go for tools that do it for you. Alternatively, if you are fresh in the business, you can ask reliable back end service providers that offer services of hosting and app data usage.

Don’t lose the clarity or add confusion in this phase. Create clear diagrams so that everyone working on the project can work in precise directions. In case of technical struggle, your wireframe should reflect the changes.

Here are the good examples of back end services for you: Parse, Kumulos, QuickBlox, Amazon AWS, Appery.io, Kony, Microsoft Azure etc.

5.Test the Wireframe

Before you move on to the next crucial phase of app development, it is time to test the user experience and flow of your app based on its visual representation.

Testing the wireframe will result into understanding of the ease of screen flow, detailed use case analysis and areas where improvement is needed. This exercise will save you frustrating repeated hard work in the future.

Testing Solutions

There are certain online prototyping tools that allow designers to generate highly interactive wireframe. You can even connect the static mock-ups and use cases with its online capabilities to simulate the wireframe for the purpose of testing.

All you have to do is simply put your project in there and create a new prototype and start testing the screens. Some of them are all-in-one tools that also enable you to share it with your colleagues and customers to assess users’ full journey in the app. Some of the useful tools for use case simulation are InVision, Justinmind, Marvel, Photo.io, Sketch etc.

6.Build the app

This step is the most crucial to seeing the well-determined face of your mobile app. At this stage, a lot of things are mulled over before implementing any app development action. One of the points of brainstorming while building the app is whether to choose Native app development or Hybrid apps.

            a) Native app development:

Based on a chosen operating system, you build your app from scratch for separate OS. In native app development, it takes heavy coding efforts as one needs to focus on both Apple app store (iOS) and Google Play store (Android) independently.

Despite being gruelling and expensive, native apps will result into robust and reliable performance. The downpoint is, two separate developer teams are employed for both the platforms for separate code bases. For this reason, any custom feature will take a few weeks or months before its deployment.

            b) Hybrid apps:

It uses cross platform mobile app framework that allows you to build apps across multiple platforms. The pro is that the same code base is distributed across different OS.

If performance is not a big problem for developers, Hybrid apps offer amazing ease and speed of app development. They work on a single code base that is deployed on both Android and iOS.

Some of the widely preferred framework options for hybrid apps are Xamarin, Phonegap, Ionic, Framework7, Appcelerator Titanium, Onsen UI, Sencha Touch, Kendo UI.

With the help of app builders, the puzzle will make sense as database, server and APIs are synchronized to work together. During the app building process, you may sign up and make an account in Play store or Apple store to launch the app in time.

7.Create User Interface

Creating a finest UI for your app is again one of the most critical stages of app design and development process. Here designers will use their creative knack and imaginative mind to carve the design of interface that can attract millions of users.

Always remember that UI is not just about creating fascinating aesthetics, but it should also reflect how easily app users can navigate. Try to process every feedback you received from testers so that your final interface design reflects them and leaves no scope of disappointment.

Ask your graphic expert to give you high resolution screens with impressive visual appeal from the wireframe you prepared earlier. To reiterate, always prioritize the need of users when working on the look and feel of your app. User feedback are indeed the best resort for building an impeccable UI.

8.Test your app

After your have accomplished developing the mobile app, it is time to test your product. This is to ensure your app is bug-free and delivers intuitive user experience.  There are two types of tests: internal and external.

Internal testing has you and the people from your own team pretending you all are users. It helps identify any bugs or UX problems.

In external testing, people who test and try your app are not familiar with your app. This tests help scoop up the kind of bugs and UX flaws that you could not detect through internal testing.

Some eminent app testing tools you may consider are: Katalon, Appium, Ranorex, eggPlant, Calabash, Sauce Labs, Robotium etc.

Live Environment Beta testing

You have already filtered your app through many stages of testing to produce an excellent, fully functional app. Now you need to test it for the live environment.

For Android app, the process is simple unlike iOS where the environment is austerely controlled. For Android, just upload your app apk file on any Android device and start testing it.

For beta testing, iOS urges you to use a special platform called TestFlight. Apple believes in specific discipline and precise directions to use its beta platform. Here you have an opportunity to get reviews about your app from beta testers so that your app will be polished further before going live.

9.Release and Launch

At this point, you can see your app idea transformed into an app reality. Hopefully, your app will solve users’ problem or has features that will attract them. Now the product is ready to venture out in the world. So start distributing.

When it comes to marketing and launching your app, Android and iOS both work differently. It is easy to release the android version to Google Play store and see your app getting downloaded. In Apple store, your app will be reviewed first. Hence, it may take a week or so before it goes live in iOS market.

To make your app visible and searchable in the app store, you will need to optimize the app for respective stores, which is called ASO (app store optimization). Many a time, ASO tricks are enough to get your app to be noticed by users within the store.

However, there are many other ways to promote your app outside the app store such as:

  • Email Marketing
  • Content Marketing
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Press Releases

Last Word:

Either your hire an app development company or do it all yourself, make sure you have all the knowledge and resources for building a successful mobile app. You must be conversant with what all the efforts that go into creating a functional, aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly app. You will find a wealth of resources and community online to usher you down the path. Hopefully, the steps explained here will ease your concerns and enlighten you.

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The retail fashion industry has seen a tremendous change in 2017. Digital strategies are revamped every now and then to influence the shopping habits of people. Discounts and offers made everyone go mobile for their favourite choices, making renowned brands to capture 40% of the sales. Today, the retail fashion industry has made everyone a mobile app savvy with a wide variety of choices online.

Today, the fashion industry is growing with an ever increasing number of designers, brands, wholesalers and retailers on the online platform, especially the social media.

If the same continues, it will be a high time that all the famous luxury brands will shift their focus from the traditional physical shops, to a more sophisticated mobile app platforms and social medias.

Fashion Industry and Mobile App Technology

According to Gartner, the mobile industry is going to see a rise of 1.5 billion by 2018. So keeping this in mind, the online retailers should manage and develop a mobile strategy for their online selling.  Social network will see a high use due to the rapid expansion of content marketing to lure more users to the apps.

Besides providing data to users through push-notifications and SMS’s, the mobile apps will provide the ease to engage audience and make them without any hassle at the e-commerce store.

And what does all this mean for local shops and retailers? Modern people will find it easier shopping for their favourite brands from the kitchen table or couch,  but certainly that doesn’t match with the fun shopping your parents did physically by going to the market.

Fashion Products and Mobile apps

Fashion products go hand in hand with mobiles. With the ever increasing use of mobile phones around the world, has encouraged the top brands fashion industry to modify their business for the mobile generation.

The features a mobile app provides are as follows:

1.Smart Filters:

The smart filter feature in the apps gives an advantage for the users for finding exactly what they wish for. The filters is divided into factors like avg. customer reviews, price range, colour, size etc. So finding the right size of brand is now hassle-free.

2.Latest Trend News:

A recent study showed that people spend more time looking for a product on the fashion apps when they read about a new trend in the market. This triggers the urge for buying products. Business now use this tricks to attract their customers.

3.Virtual Trial Room:

Well, this theory has been long waited for by many. A virtual trial room uses Augmented reality (AR), where a user can upload his/her pic and try on the item they are looking at. Currently many businesses are using this in their app, one of which is lenskart where you can try out their frames by simply uploading your face picture.

4.Offer and Deals

This certainly turns on the women. Offers and discounts offered on your favourite brands is all you ever wanted. Businesses now market their strategies though SMS’s and emails.

Conclusion:

The IT industry never halts, and hence the market for Mobile app development. Looking at the current fashion trend, we can certainly expect a lot more changes to happen in the coming years. These trends will allow the retailers to offer some entirely new experiences while shopping.

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Smartphones, as the name suggests, performs operations in smartest possible ways, faster than human. Due to the rise of innovative applications and their interactive capabilities, smartphones have penetrated users’ lifestyle. With almost 75% of the world population relying on their smart digital devices, business owners have also begun to take the power of smartphones more seriously.

Whether it is Android or iOS app development, these handy devices offer incredible opportunities for companies to engage their customers. But a recent 2017 survey reveals that Apple store contains 2 million apps, and businesses prefer iOS platform and iOS app development services for capturing their target audience.

So the question is, why iOS apps are preferred over any other platform for business promotion on global platform? Here in this blog, you will get the ultimate answer.

Outstanding Benefits of Choosing iOS apps for Business Promotion

Apple, as the whole world would concede, is the world leader, not only in the matters of weaving revolutionary innovations but also as a pioneer of changing the way we live life. Time after time, ever since its establishment in late 70’s, Apple has been a benchmark in presenting ground breaking approach towards using the technology. Therefore, iOS app development has grown enormous. When it comes to enhancing business growth and giving it a global value, iOS platform offers everything customers need.

Here are some of the benefits of choosing iOS apps especially for business promotion:

1) Solid reputation and market domination

History of mobile technology is a proof to how Apple’s iOS platform provides a solid ground for businesses to develop their apps. Of all platforms, iOS is the one with gigantic customer base and influential reputation as the best ever platform in the world. Despite the fact that Google’s Android owns more users than iOS, it still remains the most bragged about platform in the eyes of trust seekers. Due to impressive base of elite customers, iOS is regarded as the platform that helps businesses boost their sales and ROI.

2) Enterprise-centric nature of iOS apps

iOS apps are designed to fulfil the business needs to reach and acquire valuable clients and increase ROI. With one after another innovations updating the app store, businesses at large find it convenient to promote and advertise their products and services using enterprise-centric iPhone apps. Due to high demand and use of iOS apps, businesses owners tend to look for iOS app development services to build a mature, fully fledged app.

3) Innovations at large

Apple has a worldwide reputation of offering devices that bring flexibility and freedom for business owners to engage with their clients from any location. It is known for remarkable innovations that attract more and more customers to its app store. For instance, Apple pay enables paying money with utmost ease, making it flexible for iPhone users to shop at ecommerce stores without any hassle. Such apps pique the interest of maximum users and increase the customer retention rate.

4) iOS provides highest security standards

The reason why people from developed countries – UK and US and Europe – trust Apple is that iOS guarantees uncompromised security. With the help of an iOS app development company, you can build a robust, secure app with sophisticated features. While using such apps, users can share their personal information without a fear of outside threats, virus or malware. Hence, the amount of security iOS offers is one of prominent aspect of iOS.

5) Global business growth

iPhone, because of its capability and potential, is most celebrated in many developed countries in the world, especially in USA and UK. That is why choosing iPhone app development will give you a unique edge in the market, knowing that your apps will be recognized by high-paying customers. The citizens of these countries are glued to their iPhone devices, which means you can gain the best chance to appear big in the global market.

6) Maximum downloads and revenue generation

Compared to other apps, most iOS apps come up with better revenue generation and monetization strategy. Since each app has outstanding features and world-class offerings, iPhone users do not hesitate to pay a small chunk for such apps, which ultimately results in higher number of downloads and considerable revenue. Apple is determined to bring stunning updates for their loyal customers, and encourage businesses to develop delightful functionality in order to appeal to more and more users. Many apps in Apple store has in-app rewards or other significant perks – which keeps more users coming and using the app.

Conclusion:

Above discussion makes it clear that iPhone and other Apple devices epitomize trust and quality, which means users are smitten by iOS apps. This allows businesses to take advantage of its massive usability of iOS apps and its growing potential in the world market. For any business to grow global, iOS app development services provide the perfect business environment where innovations contribute to consistent revenues and higher customer engagement. Corporate companies and startup businesses can think of iPhone apps as a reliable opportunity to connect with their world audience and develop their business globally. Apple store contains apps that are clean, organized and feature-rich, and best loved. By making a grand business app means approaching your future customers with an unfailing promotional and advertising tool.

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Xamarin is a cross-platform technology that makes the development of simple form of native mobile apps for Android, iOS and Windows. Using a shared codebase, Xamarin allows the development team to build mobile apps with the help of skills they already possess, thereby, spending lesser time on writing code for each platform.


Xamarin provides its users a complete access to Android and iOS APIs with making any change in language and data structure. To ensure a smart and easy flowing visual studio mobile app development, it is important for an individual to follow certain steps as mentioned below:

1. Setup and install Visual Studio and Xamarin

The first step towards building an Android or Windows app using Visual Studio and Xamarin is to ensure that these two are properly setup and installed in the system. In case a person is working on developing an iOS app, then he/she needs to ensure a proper installation of a Mac with Xamarin and Xcode.

Once the setup and installation of the two is successful, the next step is to confirm and verify whether everything is setup for development procedure to start.

2. Create a solution

The next step is to create a Xamarin solution using native UI. This can be done by following a few simple steps as mentioned below:

  • Create a new blank app solution and name it as Weather App. One can easily find this template by searching for ‘Native Portable’ in search engine
  • On clicking Ok, one gets to see a number of individual projects such as WeatherApp (Portable), WeatherApp.Droid, WeatherApp.iOS, etc.
  • Add Newtonsoft.Json and NuGet package to the PCL project that can be used to process information obtained from weather data service
  • Once Newtonsoft.Json is installed successfully, one must find and install Microsoft.Net.Http package
  • Once the above steps are complete successfully, the system is ready to build a new solution.
  • On successful completion, one must ensure to confirm that there are no build errors in the development

3. Share the data service code on different platforms

The best aspect of developing any app using Xamarin is that the code is written in portable library class (PCL), which makes it easier to be shared on different platforms. In case of an Android, iOS and Windows apps, PCLs are automatically included in the package.

4. Design the look and feel of the app

Design of an app plays an important role in its success or failure. Therefore, one must be extra careful when designing these apps. To design the look and feel of the app, one needs to follow a few simple steps as mentioned below:

  • Go to the solution explorer, expand the WeatherApp.Droid>Resources>layout folder to open Main.axml and the file in the visual designer
  • Delete the default button present in the designer
  • Open the toolbox to drag a RelativeLayout control on the designer. This control will be used as a parent container for all other controls
  • Go to the Properties window to set the background property. This should be followed by the pulling of Text View control onto the Relative Layout control that can, the, be used to set various properties such as zipcode, number, etc.
  • Finally go to the properties window and sort the list as per one’s own choice

5. Replace shared code

Once the solution is ready, one can open its file in the code editor so as to replace the automatically geneayed UI code

6. Run the app

The app is now ready to use. One can opt to make it a start-up project in explorer or use it on the most suitable device.

7. Test the app

Checking an app developed for Android is easy as one needs to use Visual Studio Android Emulator. All one needs to do is select the app project, choose a device to copy and then click to start. The app is perfect to be used by all if it runs perfectly on Android device.

Testing an app for iOS is a bit different as it requires an iOS Mac to copy the content. One needs to set up and connect to Visual Studio followed by selecting the app project, switching the design plan to iPhone Simulator and then finally, choosing the version of device used and click Play. X`

On successful completion of the above mentioned steps, one gets ready with an app that has been developed on Xamarin. Since the platform is rich in its properties such as code sharing, efficiency and use of single technology stacks, the platform is getting preference among the developers. The apps developed for each platform are different and unque, including visual studio mobile app development. Therefore, it is better to use Xamarin Cross-Platform Development rather than taking a new sort of risk.