The Android app development platform is a great choice, if you are not going for cross-platform app development. They have many advantages that other platforms can’t offer. This platform allows you to develop feature-rich applications with great functionality and usability.

Android, as an open source operating system is used by the majority of mobile phone manufacturers to power their devices. This creates tremendous business opportunities and augments growth.

Most of the off-the-shelf applications available today are highly customizable products. Yet, custom android app development is gaining so much importance.

Let’s see some of the advantages that are characteristic of custom apps alone.

Android Apps Offer Perfect Solution for your Distinctive Needs:

Every business is different, and therefore needs a different solution for their unique business requirements. Packaged products often come with excellent quality and reliability, but they can ultimately be an impediment to your business goals.

Readymade products are designed to meet the requirements of a wide range of businesses. It may include many functions and services that you may not find to be useful. As a result of these unnecessary feature assortments, more system resources are used which will eventually slow down the entire process.

Most of the time, packaged app users may find it necessary to adjust and alter their business operations to accommodate the application. A custom application could always prove to be a better solution than standard solutions, no matter how much customizable it is.

Tailor-made, innovative and individualized processes gives custom apps the flexibility to suite your businesses’ in-house operations. Also, custom apps can be localized to maximize use and increase productivity.

Custom Apps can Save your Time and Money

App development costs can be highly deceptive. The cost of developing custom android app may or may not be lower than purchasing out-of-the-box solutions. But, it helps to stay on time and on budget during the development period.

Readymade apps will not include the costs for installation, customization, data import, training the workforce, and additional support. The long-term benefits of custom made business applications are far better than that of the readymade ones.

Another advantage of custom android app development is that you will have to invest only for those specific set of features that you ask for. You can also exclude recurring licensing costs that come with off-the-shelf products, since you own your custom app.

Very Few Complications and Compatibility Issues

As your application is customized and designed from the very beginning in accordance with the end user requirements, it will be quick and easy to use. Very little training will be required as the application is less likely to include elaborate and irrelevant operations.

There will be very few complications when you operate it with the business software and applications that you already use. With licensing business applications, it is usual to encounter continuous errors while working with it.

Increased Business Security

Custom applications always give you enhanced security. Your product is exclusively built for your business alone. Other application vendors and users outside your enterprise will not have any clue about the architecture of your application.

Hackers often attack the known vulnerabilities in the applications. So business security risks are very high for third party applications

Efficient and Reliable Technical Support

One of the major benefits that come with custom apps is the unparalleled technical support plan that the Android app development companies offer. You will get reliable, dedicated support from the team that was directly involved with your product development. The users are promised with quicker and efficient solutions to all the encountered problems.

BYOD Preference for Android Apps

From the market share of Android apps, it’s quite evident that it has a prominent role when compared to other platforms. Companies who wish to bring in their own policy (BYOD), it’s feasible to opt for custom Android app development as it is available for a wide variety of devices and has high popularity with users from all economic groups.

Easy Customization

Android provides the opportunity for developers to create versatile apps through their easy customisation feature. Be it a complex custom app or a web app integration, this platform provides ample space for easy customizations. This platform is designed in such a way that it can accommodate any requirements of a business and also offers flexibility to integrate multimedia tools, data management functions, and with regular updates.

Open Source and High ROI

Android’s SDK is available at free of cost, thereby minimizing the cost for software licensing. As it is a free open source framework, it enables development of apps without any extensive development costs.

Use of Wearable Devices

Among business, the use of wearable devices is flooding due to its quick communication functionality. As the market for wearable devices is considered to grow more than 45% in the coming years, Android is contributing a lot to bring in the best devices in the digital market for the sake of the users.

Conclusion:

If you have a strategy for developing a custom app and wish to choose a single and stable platform, then Android app development is the feasible option. It’s the most recommended platform because of its market perpetuation, ease of development, integration, and short span of development.

There could be different reasons for individuals or companies to create an app. May be, it is a business app or you have a great idea. But regardless of all these reasons, you still have to start from the scratch and the most important thing is choosing the right platform for mobile app development.

Xamarin has evolved to be the most preferred choice for developers who want to built cross platform portability i.e. integrate an app to all three dominant mobile platforms(iOS, Android, Windows)

Xamarin and its Three Major Components:

1) Xamarin Platform is the major part of Xamarin. It provides code APIs, code samples, runtime engines and virtual machines. The platform targets Android, iOS or Mac OS 10 apps, Microsoft Windows phones, tablets etc.

2)Test Cloud: It provides an automatic online testing harness that automates your app testing on thousands of real devices in the Cloud.

3) Xamarin Insights: It is an app-monitoring service that tracks app crashes and exceptions which helps the developers to know what is happening with app users in real time .

Benefits of Using Xamarin:

1) One technology stack to code for all platforms: To write a mobile code, you need to choose the programming language.

Cross-platform App Development Benefits your Business

Instead of using these three languages, Xamarin code apps using C# language which uses familiar concepts like links, generics, tasks etc. Here, you can write your codes in required IDE and it’s been successful. In total, Xamarin acts as a popular cross-platform toolkit.

2) Native User Experience: The IDE of Xamarin enables coding in C#, which is considered to be an object-oriented programming language that can compete with Objective-C, Swift and Java paradigms. Thus, Xamarin provides a native UI access to device-specific hardware and OS specific software features.

3) Xamarin is Extensible: The component store of Xamarin platform allows developers to select from a multitude of components to customize their apps and end product. This property of Xamarin is useful for custom app development companies as it provides several extensions to choose from in order to meet client needs.

4) Capable of API Integration: Xamarin is capable of binding using Xamarin.iOS, Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.Mac, Xamarin.Windows which has the same capacities of native platforms. Its Portable Class Libraries (PCL), and app architecture enables sharing of code across all platforms.

5) Xamarin has a Component Store: The component store of Xamarin allows adding high-quality elements to the app directly from your IDE which includes web services APIs, controls and much more. It also enables integration of popular back-ends such as Microsoft Azure, Salesforce Parse, SAP etc. and also add powerful security features such as encryption and authentication.

6) Xamarin.Forms: The API- Xamarin.Forms help in building user interface code that can be shared across Android, iOS or Windows using 100% shared C#. This includes more than 40 layouts and controls, which are mapped to native controls during the runtime. Thus, Xamarin saves resource and time needed for the development of similar native UIs for different platforms.

7) Possibility to Test in Cloud: When working with a cross-platform app, developers invest much of their time to test and evaluate its performance, look and feel on different devices. With Xamarin Test Cloud, you can directly detect the flaws and bugs in the cloud.

8) Compatible with MVC and MVVM patterns: Xamarin is compatible with major software development patterns where, MVVM allows creating different projects using the same code base. MVC makes it easier for developers to keep the app logic and presentation separate which helps in accelerating the process of app development.

9) No need to Create Extra Plug-in: Developers can built apps directly without creating new plug-ins. As Xamarin apps are created with standard UI controls it gives a better user experience across various mobile platforms and these mobile programs are able to access platform-specific functionalities like Android Fragment, iBeacons etc.

10) Cost-effective: As you need not invest in the development infrastructure for Android, iOS and Windows separately, Xamarin is an obvious winner at cost efficiencies. With a single team of Xamarin developers, you need to code just once and then deploy on all the major platforms for seamless user experiences.

11) Offline App Support: Now its mandatory for app to even work offline, mainly in the remote areas its essential for enterprise apps to work also without the Internet. This can be acquired by Xamarin through its feature of Cloud for reliable data synchronisation.

12) Future Centric Apps for Wearables: Xamarin also turns out to create complete companion apps that can even run on wearables. For example: Xamarin. Glass supports on Google Glass.

13) Upgradation of Apps across Different Platforms is Easy: Xamarin’s feature of SDK integration provides support for new features and automatically updates versions to corresponding platform, as soon as they are inserted in the operating system of the device.

All these above listed features, clearly shows that for any business, Xamarin as a development platform happens to be secure, reliable and cost-effective to build apps across Android, iOS & Windows.

There is a huge boom in the growth of mobile app development companies recently. This is mainly due to the proliferation of smart phone and the mobile-first approach of the people.

As the need for apps increases day by day for carrying out multiple tasks, the growth of custom mobile app development also has a great demand. This will bring in new trends and impacts on the entire Android App Development scenario across the world.

According to a survey, the growth of mobile applications is expected to grow by 962.5% between within the end of 2017. With rapid growth and the wide establishment of technology, 2017 is considered to be a year with new emerging trends shaping the mobile app development space globally.

Let’s have a look at the latest trends in the Android App Development

1) Internet of Things(IoT) is Growing Higher

IoT is said to be the next internet or an industrial revolution by enterprise owners and consumers. A network of objects connected through the internet to exchange and collect data using embedded sensors. The growth of IoT is in the middle of a major boom.

Apps that cater and integrate to IoT will go a long way in the case of development. IOT can bring a major change in fields like education, health, security, smart homes, auto-mobiles etc.

2) Location-Based Services (LBS)

The trend of using GPS is common these days and this leads to the growth of location-based services. The service provides real-time information to users about all the whereabouts. This method can be used in key areas like travel and tourism, navigation, security systems, payments portals, retails etc.

3) Rise of Artificial Intelligence & Advanced Machine Learning

At the start of 2017, augmented reality will not only be an important part of mobile app development but also in augmenting the app capabilities. Machine learning and augmented reality play an integral part in creating robust apps that function, learn and adapt autonomously rather than just completing already set instructions.

Some of the important apps that utilize AI are Siri, Google Now, Prisma etc. By the use of advanced analytics, AI will be able to provide better and powerful insights to business users. Due to the advantages that AI have, giants like Facebook, eBay, Google, IBM etc. have started working on this new technique.

Google has declared lately that they will continue their integration of Google Assistant into Android devices in the coming year with more intellectual skills and improved features.

4) Wearables

In Android app development, the importance of wearable technology plays an important part. Smart watches have already become popular and has got good responses. Recently, several sports and fitness brands have come up with wearable devices that are sensors oriented.

Even the health care industry is very much using this technique. These days, more apps have been developed that offer the wearable version and support such devices.

5) Beacon Technology is Gaining Importance

Beacon Technology was first only available for the iOS devices, but now this tech has been introduced to the android app development trends. Multi-functionality and easy access to track the location is the main feature of this technology.

Beacon technology is used for:

•  Find temperature of particular place
•  Detect danger
•  Used in retail industries like industry employing beacons, with heavy hitters like Lord & Taylor and Macy
•  Can be used in hotels to replace hotel room keys with beacons. E.g.Starwood Hotels
•  The Major League Baseball is using beacon technology to reach out to their fans to upgrade the seating facility inside the stadium
•  American Airlines uses this technology to upgrade their connections with customers inside the airport

6) AR & VR

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, both are gaining a lot of media attention lately, offering enormous growth in mobile app technology.

Virtual reality is actually the method of recreating a real life situation artificially. When you are using this tech, the user will feel and experience a situation as that in real life. In this cutting edge tech, primary stimulation is done by stimulating the user’s hearing and vision power.

VR is done by using a code language called as Virtual Reality Modelling Language(VRML). This coding language helps in creating the images and specific interactions required.

Uses of VR

• Used to enhance the imaginary reality in different fields like entertainment, games, 3D movies, video games etc.
• Can be used as stimulator’s in flight for pilots.

Augmented Reality is used in mobile apps and blended into digital components to showcase as a real thing. This tech makes the confusion in users of what is real and what is computer based. This tech enhances and stimulates the senses to hear, feel and smell.

Features of AR

• Used in Entertainment purposes- games and videos.
• Have a great potential in bringing change in the medical field. It can be used to in remote surgeries and for the treatment of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

7) Android Instant Apps

Google has developed instant apps for quick access to their android app users. With one single click, you can download the required app to your mobile like loading the web pages. In short, the entire app won’t be downloaded but only a part of it.

These instant apps would be useful at times where you need to downloaded certain apps for just one time purposes.

8) Improvement in Android App Security

App security is very important because this can effect our wallet details, personal data, hardware etc. To satisfy users, Google has brought new steps to improve the Android operating system. Thus, total security of the app will be increased and there will be more permission requests before downloading apps.

Android app security should be a big target for the coming years and Android app developers need to focus more on implementing new cyber security features within the apps.

9) Android In-App Payments

E-commerce has already become an integral part in the mobile app technology. Online payments can trigger the development of payment apps. Google has introduced a new app called the Android Pay with more secure and advantageous features. This app is considered to be perfect for storing all your credit/debit card details and personal data’s safe.

10) In-App Search

A handy feature that has been incorporated in Android phones for quite some time. Using this feature you can get information about any content on your smartphone within no time. The google search bar seen within apps which allows you search contents is an ample example of this feature.

This new feature has already been already introduced to apps like G-mail, YouTube, Spotify etc. and developers are trying to bring in the feature to more apps,

Nowadays for each and everything there is an app and they can bring you instant updates on anything around the globe. Keeping the users engaged is the main challenge that is faced by the mobile app developers.

Along with all these new trends, mobile UX design and hybrid HTML5 is to show importance in the coming years.

When it comes to mobile app development, developers cannot rely on outdated trends and tools. It is important for each and every developer to enhance their skills according to the latest android app development trends & development techniques. Hence, 2017 is considered to be a year with lots of new advancements and revolutionary changes in the Android App Development companies aiming to satisfy their users all around.

iOS is one of the two main mobile operating systems and therefore almost unavoidable when you are building an app. But unlike Android, iOS has more stringent rules in place. Here are a few guidelines to help you with the iOS app development process.

Top 9 Guidelines for iOS App Development Process:

1) Plan & Sketch your Idea: First of all, you need to plan, what is your app going to be and why would people choose your app? If these are done right, then you save a lot of time and confusion. Refine your idea and sketch technically specific documents with the guidance of a project manager.

2) Research: Find out whether there are other apps same as yours, research about the design, find information on the technical requirements and finally on how you can market and monetize your app.

3) Create Wire-frame: Wire-frames are UX(user experience) road maps that demonstrate user options and also contain an information architecture blue-print.

4) Design: To create an appealing visual design, an intuitive UI (user interface), and an engaging UX (user experience) is essential. At this part of development, the designer needs to work on screen features(icons, graphics, animations) and also generate the design prototypes for the development team.

 

Top 9 Guidelines for iOS App Development Process - Design Phase
 

5) Software Architecture Planning: During this phase, both the front-end and back-end developers collaborate which happens parallel to the design phase prior to the development process to ensure whether the software is stable and scalable for the application.

 •  Model view controller paradigm(MVC) is a core principle of iOS app development that is broken down into 3 components user interfaces, data and the software

6) Front-End & Back-End Development: Both the front-end and back-end development of the app is built as a coordinated effort. When front-end works on the development of codes to create different design elements for the app, the back-end development refers to the server part, which focuses on how the app works.

Front-end app development includes:

• Caching of database
• Synchronise database
• Development of mock-ups and wire frames
• UI design and development
• Improvements are done if needed
• Testing
• Deployment

Back-end development includes:

• Setting the back-end structure
• Management of user accounts and authentications
• Maintain server side functions
• Customization of user experience
• Data integration with third parties through social networking sites
• Push notification services

7) Testing Phase: As Apple’s approval and submission process is tougher, this part can be crucial. Here, the developer goes through the following functions screen by screen, to ensure that there are no bugs and the app works smoothly:

• Test case preparation
• Automated script identification & modification
• Manual & Automated Testing
• Usability testing
• Performance testing
• Security and compliance testing
• Device Testing

8) Submitting App to the App Store: Getting your app live in the App Store isn’t easy as it takes a few steps:

•  Create an app Id or Identifier
•  Create an iOS provisioning profile for distribution
•  Configure your target’s build settings in Xcode
•  Create an App Store Listing
•  Create a Release Build
•  Fill in the Version Information
•  Submit Version for Review
•  App Release

9) Maintain App with Regular Updates: Once the app is done, keep an eye to maintain regular updates to ensure that your app supports all the latest iOS updates and developments.

From the first idea to its completion, it’s a long road ahead, but planning every step can increase your chance for success!

Thousands of apps are being released to major app stores every day. Yet, most of them wither before they even have a chance to bloom.

The effort, money, and time that is put into developing apps are enormous. Once you’ve got a lot of negative feedback from the users, there will be hardly any second chance given to prove the worth of your app. So ensuring security should be a major step taken by app development companies.

Security check is implanted into all the latest releases of Android app development to bring in a number of features for its users.

As security has become more of a concerning element for Android users, Google has launched a new security-focused page on Android developers site. This site provides tips for app creators to make their apps free from issues.

Some of the most common security vulnerabilities of android apps include the following:

1. Inadequate Transport Layer protection
2. Client side injection
3. Poor authorization & authentication
4. Security decisions through untrusted inputs
5. Broken cryptography
6. Lack of binary protections
7. Improper session handling
8. Unintended data leakage
9. Insecure data storage
10. Weak server side controls

Android operating system has several built in security features which makes attacks less frequent. These features allow enabling security easier during android app development. The main in-built security features include the ones given below.

•  Android Application Sandbox can be used to isolate the app data and code execution from other apps.
•  Data can be protected using an encrypted file system in case of device loss or theft.
•  Application data can be controlled by enabling application-defined permissions.
•  It enables user granted permissions. This will restrict access to the user data and system features.
•  Includes technologies to reduce memory management errors which include ASLR, ProPolice etc.

Since ensuring the safety of user data is a very crucial step in confirming your app’s success following the given below security check-list is important for every app developer:

1. Apps should use permissions that are necessary for integrated features. Developers should pay more attention to the permission factors that are used by the app’s libraries

2. The registration and activation process should be well made.

3. Never store sensitive information on external storage, since the data will become very easy to exploit.

4. Network transactions should be adequately protected as it involves transmission of private data.

5. Strong input validation is very important for app security.

6. When using native code, attacks that can be induced from data coming over a network or IPC should be controlled by carefully handling the pointers and managing buffers.

7. Use parametrized queries to submit to SQL database in order to stay safe from SQL injection.

8. JavaScript injection is a common web security issue when using the WebView as it makes use of website content that will include HTML and Javascript.

9. Use authorization token instead of frequently asking for user credentials so as to reduce fishing attacks.

10. Android offers a lot of methods to protect data, such as data isolation, entire file system encryption, cryptography, and secure communication channels.

11. Its better to use Android based Intent, Binder, or Messenger than Linux based network sockets and shared files to execute IPC.

12. In Android, Intent is preferably used towards an application component for asynchronous IPC.

13. For RPC related IPC, using Binder or Messenger is preferred, which can ensure mutual authentication of endpoints.

14. Loading code from outside of your application APK, can increase the risk of code injection.

15. Use of sensitive APIs and data from external storage should be verified as safe enough before using it in an app

16. Properly configured SSL should be in place to secure communication between clients and servers.

17. A new building block is introduced for anti-abuse- SafetyNet attestation(it’s an API for developers to vaguely evaluate whether the used Android device is genuine)

18. As several untrusted contents are handled in web view improvements are made in Android Lollipop. Now the Web View is showcased as an independent APK with regular updates

19. Mandatory use of application sandbox (a security mechanism to separate running programs to execute untrusted programs/codes)

20. Enhance security with Device Management Solutions

21. Methods to defend users against PHAs (Potentially Harmful Applications)using Verify Apps, which potentially enables steps to validate threats targeting the system

22. Verified boot is a protection layer that help to improve security checks using cryptographic integrity to detect changes in the operating system

23. Android O has now introduced “seccomp” (a security measure used in Linux kernal) which stops the exploitation by potentially harmful apps.

These are the few best practices that needs to be considered to maintain security while Android app development. Whether you are an Android developer or an entrepreneur, knowledge on a few caveats is important to set the right place in app market.

“Where to start android app development?” This is a question that every budding developer has faced in the beginning of their journey. App development is not just about learning the code syntax. There are a whole lot of tools and Android app development software that you need to get familiar with.

This article will help you to get started.

The Android Software Development Kit

The SDK comprises of a collection of tools that helps you in android app development.

The IDE is a part of the SDK, and is the main program that lets you write code, organize and edit various files, call libraries, perform testing etc. There are two important IDE for Android, viz., Eclipse and Android Studio.

Eclipse: It is the default IDE for Android, which allows you to work with Java and XML files.

Android Studio: Android Studio is a good alternative to Eclipse, though it can’t be used for every need that you may have, currently. The IDE is directly developed by Google at present, and is in the prolonged beta.

Here are some great resources for you to start learning the basics.

Android Developer Hub

Android developer hub is Android’s official developer website. You can get access to awesome tools & downloads, a never ending list of library items, code samples, training and everything related to Android here.

Codementor

You can get a lot of tips, tutorials, and expert advice from experienced Android developers in Codementor. The site will also allow you to sign up and receive email updates.

Android Weekly

This is your ultimate source to get free subscription to weekly newsletters and content rich articles, tutorials, videos, and more.

Udacity

This is an 8-week online class to learn android app development. The course is taught by Google engineers, which helps you to learn some of the core concepts better.

Android Debug Bridge

The ADB is a command line tool that allows you to communicate with a plugged-in Android device. The client-server program will let you make changes to the device. Here are some helpful resources.

Vogella: This will start right from the basics and takes you through the working of the ADB and the different scopes of using it.

ADB User Guide: This resource comes as Google’s official documentation and gives you a detailed idea about using the tool.

Android Developer Guidelines

Google gives you a great number of tutorials and guides, so that you can understand how to program your apps. Some sections are:
Google services, where you get features like map & locations, sign-in services etc.
API Guides, where you can read about adding tons of functionalities, such as basic animation and connecting to the web.
Sample Codes, for adding various functions.

Android Design Guidelines

Just like Apple’s User Interface guidelines, Google has it’s own set of design guidelines for it’s developers. Here, you can read the instructions and tips related to different topics on creating application interfaces such as animation, usability, layout, style etc. For e.g., the guideline details how you can design an interface that adapts not only to the mobile phone interface, but also tablets, TVs, and even watches.

Google has also come up with a new design metaphor, Material Design, which will add innovation and the possibilities of technology & science into it.

Git

Git is a version control system that can be directly integrated into the Android IDE. You can manage old and new project versions with the help of Git, and use it as a backup tool. Two of the most popular Git repository services are GitHub and BitBucket.

Vogella, Bitbucket Tutorials, and GitHub Guides contain a lot of guides and tutorials for people who want to get trained in the area.

developer.android.com: This is one of the best place to find Android related resources. This site contains a vast supply of information with detailed contents for the beginner level in addition to some of the more experienced developer content.

Know the basics of Java : To be successful in Android app development, every developer needs to have a good grasp of Java language, Android app architecture and Android API. Java is a language used in Android and once you learn it, connect your concepts with XML designs to apply with Android principles.

Envatotuts+ : It’s a free resource with written tutorials. There is a huge selection of tutorials and courses which range from a general view to more specific tasks. It also contains general Java tutorials, geared up specifically towards Android app development.

Udemy : This is a free solution for learning Android development. It contains different courses of varying lengths, where the contents are taught by talented and experienced instructors.

While you are certainly heading towards Android development, a look through the materials illustrated above will definitely help you to collect a little background knowledge.

Xamarin is a mobile app development framework that allows you to create simple form of native apps that can share codes across Android, iOS and Windows.

Xamarin opens possibilities to aim at different mobile platforms by sharing up to 90% of the created codes. It provides a full access to Android and iOS APIs, using the same language and data structures on all platforms.

Platforms Supported

Xamarin mainly offers three main choices:

1) Visual Studio: Helps to develop Android and iOS apps.

2) Xamarin Studio: Xamarin’s own IDE, which provides high quality to accelerate mobile app development processing.

3) Xamarin Studio: Best at developing apps for both Android and iOS. Xamarin’s combination with Xcode does make testing and designing of iOS app development more easier.

Based on C# along with NET Framework, Xamarin makes works easy for developers to create apps for cross platforms. About 90% of the source code can be reused which results in speeding up the development part of the app making process.

There is no need to switch between different development environment as it works on both Visual Studio (for Windows) and Xamarin IDE (for Mac).

To build native apps (Android, iOS, Android) you need:

1) To start working with Android and Windows apps you need a windows computer with Visual Studio and Xamarin installed. And in-case you are working on iOS apps, a Mac with Xamarin and Xcode should be installed.

2) After Setup and installation, verify whether everything is ready for development procedure. Once verifications are completed, you can step on to the next steps:

•  Learn basics with Xamarin.Forms

•  Start building apps with native UI using Xamarin

3) Set Up a Solution– Steps to create solution with native UI:

•  Firstly, you need to create a Blank app solution by using Visual Studio and name the app

• Click OK to create the solution. At this time, different projects are showcased, with access to native designer for the corresponding platform. Platform specific screens can also be implemented in this part.

•  Add NuGet and Newtonsoft.Json package to the PCL project. This is used to retrieve information from the data services. This step is repeated several times and then install the Microsoft.Net.Http package.

•  Finally, your solution is built for the app and verify that there are no built errors.

4) Write & Share the Data Service Code

For any app development using Xamarin Cross-Platform Development, the code is written on the portable library class(PCL) that can be shared across different platforms in future. PCL are automatically included in packages built by Android, iOS and Windows app projects.

5) Design UI

Next design the user interface, connect it to your shared code and run the final output. At this part you need to set properties like layout, background, text view, text colour, text style etc. Once the properties are fixed, save the file and switch to design view and finally, the UI appears.

In iOS, connect to a Mac on your local network with Xcode and Xamarin installed. After this directly use iOS designer in Visual Studio.

6) Consume the Shared Code: Open the file of the App project in the code editor and replace the generated C# code its contents with the codes.

7) Run the App

•  Set it as the start up project in Explorer
•  Select an appropriate target/device, then start the application

8) Testing app on Android

Testing Android app using a Visual Studio Android Emulator is an easy technique. Firstly, you have to select the app project, choose a device to emulate and then click to start. The Android emulators are generally slow and should take some time to load. If everything is built properly, your app must run on Android perfectly.

9) Testing app on iOS

Testing on iOS is little difficult when compared with Android devices, because it requires a iOS Mac to provide the emulator. Follow the official instructions given to set up and connect to Visual Studio. Then, select the app project, switch the design plan to iPhone Simulator, choose the version of device used and click Play. Thus, your app test is done.

I guess, now you have a basic understanding about Xamarin Cross-Platform Development. Due to its properties like code sharing, efficiency, use of single technology stacks, native-app like performance, reduced cost and time to launch a product, many entrepreneurs, start-ups mainly the enterprise mobile solutions and Xamarin developers has started to prefer this platform.

Apps built on each platform is unique and Xamarin understands features for each platform. However, business strategies are reusable and this is where Xamarin Cross-Platform Development comes in handy.

Technology has made life simple and easy. One of the greatest innovations in today’s world is the introduction of mobile applications. Mobile apps have taken over our life. Today one could easily communicate with their families, friends, colleagues and other important people with the help of mobile apps. Mobile app development has become a top priority in many reputed companies.

iPhone is the most innovative Smart phone available in market today. With the past few years it not only revolutionized the world of smart phone but also became a trendsetter. It is well known for its quality and user –friendly features. There is a great demand for the applications made by iPhone Development Company.

Sophistication is an added advantage of iPhone Development Company. Consumers, enterprise and many businesses are always in need of iPhone applications. This is because their requirements are fully satisfied by the applications. Business professionals always prefer dedicated, passionate and experienced iPhone Development Company.

These are the key benefits of approaching an experienced iPhone development company:

1) Expertise in technicalities

An expert organization will have strong technical background and vast knowledge on app development. Strong technical knowledge is what matters for an important design. To implement user-friendly functions and to create error-free apps, experience is necessary.

Pick an organization that is not only experienced, but also reflects well planning, specializations and sound learning. Specialized expertise is important as it will deliver all your goals and meet different areas of brilliance and enhance skills with the latest technologies.

2) Better Infrastructure

A well-reputed iOS app development company will definitely have a great and well maintained IT infrastructure consisting of latest tools and technologies. Better office set-up and technical facilities of a professional team will always be aimed at maximizing employee productivity. Their desire to complete projects in the given time brings way to their success and strong customer base.

3) Exposure

Experienced iPhone Development Company would have worked with both complex and simple projects. The developers will have experience in developing dynamic and creative applications. Using the latest technologies they make applications more user –friendly. They will be capable enough to design better apps and superior intuitive UI for iOS apps. It’s important to utilise the latest technologies and high-end development tools to bring out the world-class mobile apps.

4) Scalability

An experienced iOS development company will have the benefit of scalability also. Their expertise provides dedicated services with full control over resources and project. Also the company fulfils the business requirements along with growth needs of the enterprise.

5) Flexibility

An experienced iPhone development company will provide various flexible hiring models which can be chosen as per the business requirements. One can choose the best for their business.

6) Timely Delivery

An ideal or experienced iOS app development company is known for cost effectiveness, best market timing, and boosting up returns on investment. They have abundant experience in meeting the deadlines and hence delivering the apps at the right time.

7) Communication and Support

An experienced iPhone development company will have good rapport with their clients. They value their clients and know exactly the importance of maintaining a good relation with them.

A well-maintained iOS app development company will certainly assure you support in the future for app maintenance. Professional companies value their customers’, quality feedbacks and in return provide a transparent approach to keep you updated throughout the development process.

8) Versatility

This is one of the main reasons why we prefer an experienced agency. Their dedication and complete control over each project make their mission a successful one. When a project is given, first they try to understand the product before engaging in the work.

9) Freedom of Choice

In an experienced organization, you will have different choices of hiring options, be it on an hourly basis or for the entire project. You can choose the most suitable option according to the business requirement. Discussions can be done about the project that can bring best design and profit to both the parties.

10) Dedication

As an experienced company, you can be sure that your project will be completed in the given time. They would have a professional approach combined with complete dedication towards the project. As a big team, they plan accordingly, work intact and sort tasks beforehand to bring out the best output.

11) Cost Effective Solutions

If the company you choose is experienced, then they will have effective solutions for completing the project at stipulated time period. Rather than engaging experts to develop iPhone apps, it would be better to hire an agency which can provide you quality work, spare finance, time and energy.

12) Get a Global Experience

Working with a company with an impressive portfolio, global experience, and a high number of downloads for their apps is certainly a benefit. Working with such a reputed company with relevant certifications can provide the right price and product quality in the projects they do.

Experience Counts

Working with an experienced company can prove to be advantageous in this complicated mobile market scenario. So always choose an experienced iOS app Development Company if you need on time delivery with high quality. An ideal iPhone development company provides customer satisfaction, best-quality, custom-built designs and creative iPhone apps over low quality apps with unsure user-engagement.

iPhone app development is highly profitable in the market today. Today it’s hard to imagine a life without apps. Apps are now available for doing almost everything right from traveling, shopping, dining, cooking, exercising, banking and the list goes on. But in order to be successful, one should make the right app with right functionality, right support, and right roll out. You can measure the success of the iPhone app, depending upon the results they achieve on the clients.

The greatest challenge for iPhone app developers is to reduce the time lapse between concept to creation. For a developer a good blog can be a lifesaver. Sometimes it provide accurate and appropriate information to the developers. It also provides hints, tips, practical resources and help in creating codes. There are certain blogs which provide tools and techniques for mobile web and app development.

Here are the list of ten must follow iPhone app development blogs that can be helpful for developers:

1. iOS Dev Weekly

iOS Dev Weekly is technically not a blog but there will be regular updates every week by Dave Verwer. Best iPhone app development links can be obtained from here. Usually it is published on every Friday. It is free.

2.Mike Ash Blogs

Mike Ash Blogs is published by Mike Ash. He is a programmer in Plausible Labs. This blog is really good for learning low level stuff.

3.The Apple Blog

The Apple Blog mostly focuses on informing us about the latest happenings in the world of Apple and providing some of the most helpful tutorials. It is possible to checkout on Adding Analytics to your App.

4.iCode Blog

iCode Blog provides not only tutorials on iPhone but also provide commentary which gives announcement regarding Flash CS5 which makes it possible to export iPhone apps.

5.iPhone SDK articles

iPhone SDK articles provides tutorials on iPhone. The articles will be mainly for adjusting apps to local language, currency and timezone.

6.Cocoa with Love

Cocoa with Love usually provides the cocoa and C-programming tutorials both for Mac and iPhone. It mainly deals on optimizing loading of large tables on the iPhone. It is the best iOS blog by Matt Gallagher. The purpose of this blog is provide information to those people who want to develop an iOS application which pulls data from Rich Site Summary feed, displays it well and put things on map.

7.NSHipster

NSHipster is a journal which contain overlooked bits in Objective- C, Swift and Cocoa. It is updated weekly by Mattt Thompson.

8.Cocos2D iPhone

Cocos2D iPhone is the official blog for the Cocos2D iPhone open source game engine. It is said to be the future home of programming guide. This blog is particularly helpful for getting started with games on the iPhone.

9.Mac Create

Mac Create provides news on iPhone and also it provides a brief summary of interview conducted with developers. Hence this can be a very useful blog especially for beginners.

10.MK Blog

MK Blog is published by Mukunth Kumar. He runs one-man consulting and training company. The blog is all about iPhone development and usability guidelines. He also mentions about product development, in-house training, web service software development kit, web service application programming interface design consultation, other consulting, retainer contracts, blog sponsor ships etc in his blog.

11.Big Nerd Ranch Blog

Big Nerd Ranch Blog, one of the pioneers in blogging on iOS app development was founded by Aaron Hillegass. The blog aims at subjects related to iOS, Cocoa and Objective-C. It contains a number of must-read blogs for iOS developers, which is easy to understand and contains useful codes.

12.RAY WENDERLICH

Ray’s blogs are useful for both a naive or an experienced iPhone app developer. This blog shares useful and latest information. People can also share their thoughts and ideas with others through this platform. Apart from the blog, his tutorials can certainly help beginners to start their venture of app development.

13.Cult Of Mac (iOS)

This is a great place to keep up with the latest updates related to iPhone app development. Cult Of Mac contains all the latest news and tips related to iOS for developers. A daily news website that provides every information about Apple.

14.EDUMOBILE BLOG

Specifically contain blogs and tutorials for iOS app development. EDUmobile Blog can guide developers to learn more about iOS technology from the primary level. You can also software development learning programs from here.

15.OBJC.IO BLOG

objc.io blog provides in-depth knowledge about developing iOS applications and OS X development. Tips and advanced techniques from other developers can also be seen on this site. Contains high-quality videos with live coding and discussions.

16.BLUECLOUD SOLUTIONS BLOG

Blue Cloud Solutions created by Carter Thomas is a good and reliable resource for iOS app developers to get through all the aspects of iPhone app development.

17.APPCODA

This is one of the leading tutorial sites for app developers and anyone who would like to know more about programming. AppCoda has information related to iPad, iPhone, iOS programming, Swift, Objective-C, and building iOS apps.

18.iOS Goodies

This blog is curated by Rui Peras and Tiago Almeida. iOS Goodies is another informative space, which contains high quality posts on iOS, Xcode, iPhone app development, marketing trends, etc.

19.Little Bites of Cocoa

This was created by Jake Marsh. It contains tips on iOS and Mac development for developers. The main concept of Little Bites of Cocoa is to provide the reader a brief overview of a new concept, tool or technique related to iPhone app development.

Demand for iPhone developers has been increasing for the past few decades. Through these blogs developers can easily figure out the latest technology trends in iPhone app development and its usage. The above mentioned blogs would be helpful for the developers if they are looking for the resources which can sharpen their skills and help them to further develop themselves.

Xamarin is an API which is important for iOS, Android, and Windows app development, The most astounding factor about Xamarin is that it helps programmers to write codes for different framework, yet all of them can be brought to one space.

Xamarin can certainly be considered as a revolution in mobile app development. While .NET and Java are competitive, Xamarin is something that helps developers to connect in cross-platforms. With consumers present in all platforms, It is not commercially viable and practical to develop apps for a single devices. Even enterprises need to think more about cross-platform development, which is pretty challenging, considering that each OS has a different environment.

Features of Xamarin

1. Xamarin Cross-Platform Development is a framework with its own IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
2. Compiles apps in a native form
3. Xamarin has a library which allows you to write native UIs for once and then these can be shared and converted to other platforms
4. Supports Android, iOS and Windows platforms
5. Greater amount of resources which is got for free
6. Focus of Xamarin is mainly on UI and back-end logic
7. C# is the commonly used language allowing bugs to be caught at the time of run.
8. Has an advanced development tool system and process control such as inversion of control, mocking, unit testing etc
9. Xamarin do not share codes outside Xamarin environment for native/ HTML5 development
10. Good Microsoft support.
11. Shorter and simple learning curves
12. Overall cost is low

Importance of Xamarin for Mobile App Development

Here are some of the reasons why you should be using Xamarin for cross-platform development:

1) C# The Apt Language for Mobile App Development

Xamarin utilize C# as the code base language from which applications are designed. The fact is that C# is the best code for cross-platform app development.

Reasons why C# is increasingly the programming language of choice in Xamarin:

  Object -oriented programming and encapsulation making it • easy to structure the code for      maximum reuse
•  The cutting edge of the program allows the developers to write code that is highly
    expressive and easy for maintaining
•  Advanced run-time
•  Easy to use
•  Reliability
•  Faster program execution

2) Use Similar Codes in Crosswise Platform

When an application’s code is created using Xamarin, about 75% of the code is shared crosswise. Xamarin uses. NET and C# for any platform.

With the same code base, Xamarin creates a native app experience across Android, iOS and Windows. There is no need for transfer between environments as it works with Xamarin IDE (Mac) / Visual Studio (Windows).

The basics of business, networking, error handling, model and navigation are shared among different version of the app. It doesn’t affect functionalities and it helps developers detect bugs during app development.

3) API Integration

Update in apps are more frequent and regular phenomenon in both Android and iOS. In-case of iOS, updates are quite regular but in Android its unpredictable. Therefore, it’s important for frameworks to support the newly updated version of each platform. And Xamarin Mobile App Development has always proven to be best in handling this.

Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS and Xamarin.Mac helps in binding UI controls and APIs. It shares codes across Portable Class Libraries and mobile platforms. It’s unique feature of binding, provides a link to support latest packages for Android and iOS releases.

4) Native Experience in UI

Developers use Xamarin to create a smooth experience for their application. Xamarin convert the UI components into specific interface elements. Therefore, making it easy to customize the UI. This increases, the speed of the app and it serves as a better option for business-oriented projects.

5) Added feature of Visual Studio

Xamarin is now added to Visual Studio. This allows development and publishing of native apps for Android and iOS with C# or F#. In this program, there are no restrictions regarding the apps actual size.

6) Bugs Free Apps

In Xamarin apps, less codes are written and this is the main reason for low amount of bugs. It allows developers to code and then share across both iOS and Android. Developers can write a single and more reliable set of test easily, instead of wasting time on writing huge test programs.

7) No need for Additional Plug-In feature

Apps made with Xamarin uses standard UI controls and gives greater experience in different platforms. iBeacons and Android Fragment are functionalities that support these programs and no extra plug-ins are required.

8) Fast Development

Xamarin assures fast app development in the shortest time limit. You might think why? Well, actually you don’t need to search for SDK, native coding and the environment for development when you have expertise by your side.

A developer only has to code using C# and add some binding code with respective to native packages. There is no need to duplicate or recall the process of designing, coding and examining.

9) Cost-Effective Platform

If you don’t want to spend more money on mobile app development, then Xamarin is the best choice you have in the market. There is no need for investment in the development of infrastructure or spend on an individual team of developers. All you need is a single team of Xamarin expertise developers. The cost for development is less because you develop once for all the target devices.

10) Stands for Platform Originality

Unlike other competitors, Xamarin has unique characteristics for each existing platform which helps Xamarin Developers to share programs within other platforms.

Xamarin is clearly a product to pay attention to which opens up a world of new possibilities. It has been a successful tool that cuts off both cost and development time without compromising on product quality. In contrast to other hybrid application development frameworks, Xamarin Mobile App Development prefers up-to-date technologies and tools. It gives a 100% satisfactory user experience.

If you desire to try new programs, then you may definitely switch to Xamarin, based on your project and requirement. It can make development simpler and more productive.