Mobile App Development Archives - Page 9 of 14

Posted on May 16, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

Microsoft has announced ‘Xamarin Live Player’ enabling developers to test, debug and deploy apps directly on Android and iOS devices.

The app allows developers to pair up their devices with Xamarin and Visual Studio on Windows/Mac followed by scanning the QR code and then test the apps in seconds.

According to Microsoft Corporate Vice President Nat Friedman, the new app allows developers to reduce time, to set up the app building environment and to compile apps. Cutting down the development time can create an immense enhancement for developer’s productivity.

'Xamarin Live Player' Enables Testing of Apps Directly on Android and iOS

Xamarin Live Player also supports a Live Run feature which helps developers pick specific screens within apps and then test the changes when displayed on a device.

The company has also announced changes to Visual Studio Mobile Center and XAML standard, which is a version of interface mark-up language.

Posted on May 15, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

With rising demand in popularity of apps, companies are making efforts to enhance the user experience by opting the latest technologies for mobile app development. There is a constant growth on cross-platform enterprise apps by using mobile app development tools and this has emerged as a pivotal necessity among developers.

If you are focusing on experimenting, then its better to consider building a native app and further improving the app with iterations which allow you to have complete control over the usability and design. But, if you plan for a multi-platform app, then you can consider cross-platforms and development tools.

Choosing the right tool is essential for the development of a great app. Using such app creation tools can help you save money and time as well. Most of the tools available today offer a range of choices to both the mobile app development company and the end users. Therefore, it is essential to opt the best tool that offers ideal functions.

Posted on May 3, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

In this fast paced world, the app market is expanding each day and mobile marketing is becoming more competitive. To ensure that the app is seen in such a complex scenario of app system, you need to be very particular about the approach being followed while creating an application.

Firstly, you need to have a great idea and imagination to create a great app. Decide the features to be included in the app and think how it can stay different from apps. It should provide its users benefits including reduced cost, productivity enhancements, new features and improved customer experience.

No app can stay static and be successful within no time, no matter what your industry be. So, think creatively to come out with concrete ideas and plans to better grow your app in the mobile app market.

Posted on April 11, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

To avoid unnecessary apps and to support better quality, Apple has decided to bid goodbye to 32-bit apps altogether with the release of iOS 11.

Apple started supporting 64-bit apps with the launch of iPhone 5s in 2013 and iOS developers were informed to create 64-bit apps since February 2015.

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Apple Launches App Accelerator in India to Promote iOS App Development

The company has officially launched iOS 10.3 which has major updates like WiFi calling, AirPods and SiriKit. Other updates include a new iCloud section under the Apple ID settings menu and new security features.

The latest iOS version is believed to be announced along with the 10thanniversary edition iPhone 8 launch.

Posted on April 8, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

Global tech giant, Apple has opened its new App Accelerator in Bengaluru to support India’s iOS developer community.

At the app accelerator center, experts will lead briefings and provide app reviews for iOS developers. Apple calls the mission “the first-of-its-kind facility” for the nation which already has more than 10,000 developers who make iOS apps.

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The aim of the program is to help developers in India to build high-quality iOS applications and help them promote those apps globally. The plans for the program was announced by Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook in last May during a trip to India.

India is considered as an expanding software development community in iOS app development. According to the research firm Evans Data, the fastest growing population of app developers in the world is found in the Asia-Pacific region with China and India in leads.

And this is one main reason why the major US tech powers like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon are scrambling to expand footholds in India.

Posted on March 30, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

According to reports from App Annie, Android stores are set to overtake iOS app store in 2017 in app store revenue. The biggest reason for this is the Chinese app stores that are the main battleground for other operating systems.

App Annie forecasts that Android users in China, access app stores even by using Tencent and Baidu. In 2016, Android stores only made about $10 billion, but are estimated to grow to about $36 billion by the end of 2021.

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This year the app spending on Android is expected to double. Users of Android will spend $41 billion on apps in 2017, topping iOS with a total of $40 billion. The top countries by revenue-U. S, Japan, China, South Korea, and UK. are expected to grow to 85 percent by 2021.

The reports of App Annie is based on data collected from economic conditions, past performances, major publishers and conversation with stakeholders.

Posted on March 21, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

Swift is a new programming language introduced for iOS and OS X mobile app development by the Apple. This program actually adopts the best of C and Objective C without leaving the constraints of C-language. Swift is used to write applications, and iOS is the operating system on which these applications run.

Features of Swift

1) Safe and easy programming patterns are followed
2) Provides modern programming features
3) Provide objective C like syntax
4) Swift is the best way to write iOS and OS X programs
5) Great access to existing cocoa frameworks
6) It doesn’t need a separate library import to support functionalities like input/output or even the string handling
7) Swift unifies the procedural and object-oriented portions of the language
8) Run time used by swift is the same as that of Obj-C system on Mac OS and iOS

The language swift adopts a safe programming feature to make it simpler, easier and fun to work with. Being easy to use, it is the first industrial quality program that is expressive and enjoyable . script-table language.

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Publicly, the program was released on 2010. It is believed that it took almost 14 years for the inventor to come up with the full version of the programme. The swift program is included in the Xcode 6 beta. The idea of the program was taken from other popular languages such as Objective C, Haskel, Ruby, Python, Rust and CLU.

Even though Swift contains the functionalities for building programs, it doesn’t handle anything like user interface, networking, audio etc.

Swift 1.2: This was the first major update of Swift which includes language features and other improvements.
Swift 2: Next major update that contains the checked exceptions and many other major improvements
Swift 2.2: This was a minor update to Swift 2.0
Swift 3: This was another major update which is used in the hacking by Swift.

Swift has been used as the main language for writing iOS and OSX apps. The introduction of this mobile app development program has brought out a main impact on the computing world and shows the long-term future of the programming languages. Developers quite like working with Swift because it motivates the starters.

Learning Swift

Before getting into Swift, you first need to install all the necessary tools that will help you to build the swift apps. Firstly, you need a fast running computer with the upgraded version of OS X. Swift comes with playground features where the programmers can write their code and execute to see the results quickly.

1) Install Xcode and create a playground: Firstly, you need to download Xcode from the Mac app store. Then, while launching the Xcode, look for the playground to get started. Playgrounds are a great way to work on codes and get results.

2) Variables and Constants: Every program will have a way to store the data and in the case of swift, it has two- variables and constants. A variable is a data store that allows the change of value any-time. But, constant is the data store which you can never change once its set. You might think then why it is important to have both the programs together.

One of the advantages of having the variables and the constants separately is that it will point out if mistakes are made. Constants are more important because they are the ones that let the Xcode take decisions on how your app should be made. In Swift, you make a variable using the “var” keyword, like: var name = “Tim McGraw”

3) Different types of Data: There are various types of data and swift handles them all individually. In swift, literally, a string of characters is known as String which can either be long, short or even empty.

4) Operators: These include the basic: +to add, -to subtract, *to multiply, /to divide, =to assign value. Another common operator that you will see is the modulus which is represented by the % symbol. Swift also has a set of operators that perform the comparison on values.

5) Arrays: Here, a group of values is collected together to a single collection, and later on, access their value by checking their position in the collection. An item’s position in an array is known as its index. Swift uses brackets to mark the start and end of an array and each time an array is separated using a comma.

6) Dictionaries: This is another type of collection like an array. But, they let you access the values based on the keys that you specify.

7) Loops: They are simple programming constructs that repeat a block of code for as long as a condition is true. Swift knows what kind of data your array holds. So, it will go through every element in the array, assign it to a constant and then, run a block of your code.

8) Switch cases: This is another type of flow control. One advantage to switch/case is that Swift will ensure that your cases are complete.

9) Functions: Lets you define the re-usable pieces of code that perform specific pieces of functionality.

10) Classes: This is another way of using this language for building complex data types. They are structurally similar but vary in certain functions.

11) Properties: Struc and classes have their own variables and constants and these are called as properties. They allow attaching values to the types to represent them uniquely.

12) Static Properties and methods: Swift lets you create properties and methods that belong to a type. Such properties of Swift are known as static properties and you create one by using the static keyword.

13) Access Control: This feature lets you specify what data inside the strucs and classes should be exposed to the outside world, and you can also choose clarifier’s accordingly.

14) Closures: This is another type of data which is extensively used in Swift. These are quite complicated, but, still expressive and powerful. These are widely used in Cocoa touch.

Swift has now turned to be the most important topic among the top mobile development companies. This is considered to be the most featured and approachable coding language for iOS development companies. By the end of 2016, Objective C is already taken over by swift and is believed to conquer the coding by 2017.

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Best Features of Swift

Open Source: It is an open source programming language that is easily accessible and is less costly for the ones who are trying to step in the platform of iOS development. Swift is already available within Linux and initiatives are taken to bring it to Windows.

Take less time to market with easy coding methods: With the use of Swift, the work can be done within stipulated period of time and can help you utilise different packages to assemble the app at a reduced time.

Least Error Prone: Since this is a functional programme, it supports functions in the form of variables. It generates generic codes which are efficient enough to do amazing things along with the reduction of repetitions as well as efforts.

Easy Maintenance: Safety has been the most crucial concept not only for the start-ups but also for the leading mobile companies. It can handle the functions and is safer than Objective C.

Cost Effective: If you are looking for an iOS app developer to develop native apps, then, Swift can be your ultimate choice. Since Swift comes with combined codes then it can save the enterprise money.

Multiple Faceted Language: Swift is considered to be a multiple faceted programs which enable the iOS app developers to develop all types of apps starting from commonly used enterprise apps to the latest low power apple watch apps.

Initial App sizes can be trimmed down by using Dynamic libraries: By using Swift, you can directly upload to the memory by trimming down the initial app size which increases the final product performance.

Innovative: It includes the best features of all the existing languages and mainly aims to help the developers for mobile app development that is innovative and interactive. It is considered to be the high usability programming language in the future and can solve almost all programs while programming.

Use Latest Research: It takes the positive features of all the existing languages and incorporates them.

High Potential: The easy usability of the language helps even an average developer to develop apps for iOS and also, fix issues with minimal effort.

Use Simple Grammar and Syntax: The programming language Swift can join all the keywords and there is no need for the programmer to end the codes using a semicolon. The grammar and syntax used are much easier than other programming languages.

With the future outlook, it seems like the Objective-C is the past and Swift is the future as far as mobile app development is concerned. The app developed by utilizing Swift is fast, with upgraded quality and offer better performance. With the help of robust community support, Swift is turning to be a smart programming language which manifests a better connection between the app developer and the target user.

Posted on March 1, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

The secret to an app’s success is not just how well you make an app. There is more to it that requires effort. So, what else is it that plays an essential role in the success of your application? What is required for an mobile apps, to be at a place with increased number of downloads?

Importance and Benefits of app store optimization

App Store Optimization(ASO) is the best answer to all the above questions. ASO is certainly the new trend to simply improve chances of getting apps in the spotlight. One of the most effective, overlooked, marketing strategies for mobile app developers is known as app store optimization.

Forrester reports shows that 63% of apps are discovered through app store searches. According to latest trends, users tend to search mobile apps using keywords. At this point, ASO will guide users to your product and let it stand out from other rivals.

Recap:

5 Awesome Optimization Tips for iOS App Development Companies

Goal of ASO

The goal of ASO is to increase the searchability rate of your app within app stores to get higher downloads and more users. Higher ranking in search results can strongly impact your download numbers. ASO can be seen as a foundation for all of your app marketing activities.

Factors affecting ASO

ASO is technically a form of search engine optimization which is used for ranking mobile apps in the app store. The higher you rank your app, the more it will be visible to audience and will receive more app downloads. As per reports, more than 63% of customers prefer browsing in the app store to discover new apps.

Reasons why ASO is getting more important:

1. Improved app search results
2. Increase app ranking through recommendations in category and sub-category
3. Help brand recall, increase conversion and rapid app comprehension
4. Increase app sales and search discovery

When you try to promote an app, there are many factors that could affect its visibility. For this, you need to work on ASO, know about the competitors, users and also know about the key app tools.

Here, we will look into the factors to perform app store optimization to improve your app:

The relevance of keywords: These are words which are used in the search bar to find your app. This has a great effect on ranking and visibility. Researching on keywords is relevant for your app. Also, check and modify your keywords regularly to get better visibility. Your main keywords must be included in the full name of your app. Make use of the store’s search auto-complete option to help you recognize popular keyword combinations that you might have missed.

Title: The foundation of any app is its title. The words you add in the title act as keywords. So be sure that you add high ranking words. Also, be sure that the keyword has a good balance between keywords and branding. The title should be short and must give a clear idea about the app to the user.

App Description: Like the meta description tag on a website, clearly and effectively explain what exactly your app is, how it works and its benefits. Choose keywords while writing the description because without doing any research on keywords, most apps are seen hidden in the app stores.

App Icon: It is an important step in the commercialization of your app. It is important to have a very sleek, simple design and must represent your logo or brand.

App Screenshot: This feature can make your app more attractive and interesting. Labelling and describing parts of the app as screen shots is a good practice. It is important to give the users some idea about the app they are going to download by uploading screen-shots of your app.

Video Demo: This is the most interactive way to present your app to the audience. Creating a video and showcasing the details and working of your app can help you get more downloads. In Google Play, you can upload a video of your app through YouTube and Apple, on the other hand, allows you to upload the video directly to iTunes Connect.

App Stats: Tracking the overall stats of an app can help you to use it to influence the ranking.

• Number of installs: Number of people installing your app is an important metric to increase ranking to get more installs
• Number of uninstalls: Used to measure user retention
• Revenues: The income made by your app might also contribute to better ranking
• Usage frequency: Tracking an app’s user activity can help you to avoid manipulation
• Application package size: Bigger files take longer time to download and will consume more mobile data. So, it is always better to go for an app with reduced package size

Reviews & Ratings: This factor is purely the reflection of the user experience. Higher the rating, more will be the positive reviews. This can increase the quality of the app in the store. Developers should encourage their customers to give reviews and try to resolve negative issues as soon as possible. Keep communication channels open to users for feedback.

Knowing the right basics of ASO is very important to plan on how to take advantage of the app market and run it simultaneously with SEO strategy.

ASO Tools

There are certain tools specific to app marketing that can be used to search for keyword suggestions. Both free and paid tools are available on the market. Depending on the kind of investment and development idea, choose the right tools.

The most used tools are:

• Sensor Tower
• MobileDevHQ
• Appcod.es
• Searchman SEO

Each has functions for initial app optimization, analysing keywords, tracking and competition analysis for ongoing optimization.

1) Sensor Tower: This is one of the best tools available for ASO, which has literally changed the world of optimization. It’s features include:

• Easy user-interface
• Ideal tool for start-ups
• Review the analysis tools
• Supports iTunes and Google Play

2) MobileDevHQ: It’s very easy to use and provides a quick dashboard to see how things are going within your app.

• Learning is easy and interesting
• Good data
• Daily chart ranking updates by email
• Downloadable CSV reports?—?for use in your own custom charts
• Support multi-platform
• Additional non-app store marketing focus

3) Searchman SEO: The workflow and UI of this tool is just plain. Although the tool is great for tracking, it is not fast and effective for keyword research.

• Need a long learning curve
• Difficult to use but still powerful
• No multilingual supports
• works with Multi-platform

4) Appcodes.es: It’s an affordable ASO tool which is also easy to use. At the moment, it doesn’t support Google play, but, it is still an interesting tool.

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Methods of ASO

App store optimization includes two main components-keywords and posts search elements (description & graphics). This can help you a lot to convince the target audience to download your app.

Certain methods to be used in ASO are:

1. Keyword Optimization
2. Asset Optimization

1. Keyword Optimization

Keyword optimization is the process of researching, analysing and selecting the best keywords. This is done mainly to target traffic from search engines to your website. With keyword research, you can predict the needs in demand and respond to changing market conditions.

Keyword Optimization includes different steps:

1) Keyword research: This is basically about finding keywords that match with your app and also with the high number of other user queries. Continuous research and regular updating are required to find relevant keywords for your app.

2) Keyword Set-up: After researching for the right keyword, you have to carry out the monitoring process using keyword tracker App Radar to make this process convenient.

3) Keyword Monitoring: App Store Optimization is a complex process. Regular monitoring of ranking and analysing your competitors is the most important task in the process. By tracking and analysing how you rank for specific keywords, you take an important step towards optimizing your app store performance.

4) Optimise your Keywords: At this step, you need to replace the keywords with the optimal ones. Keep a regular check on keywords so that you can list out the high-rank ones and also replace the other ones with alternative keywords that have better ranking chances.

2. Asset Optimization

It is used to make sure that everything in your app’s layout is giving all the possible impression to downloaders. It is also a kind of sales optimization. Asset Optimization consists of an appealing icon, screen shots, promo videos etc. When a user first looks at your app, the icon, screen shot and the video are the first things to be noticed. Only if these factors are appealing, the user will download the app. Tools that are available to help testing the asset optimisation are the A/B testing and Sketch tool.

A/B Testing: This includes the testing of two versions of an app or web page to check which one works better. This allows you to make required changes to the user experience with the result of data available.

Sketch Tool: Sketch tool usually helps to keep the image size of your app small and optimised. The two official plugins of the sketch tool- Sketch image compressor and SVGO compressor, are used to automatically optimize images to PNGs, JPGs and SVGs.

ASO for iOS or Android?

Before you start optimization, it’s important to know about the two platforms. In the case of Google Play, it works only with keywords within the app description. But in Apple Store, title and keywords in the meta section of iTunes connect is considered. Using these keywords ,you can rank both the platforms for a series of potential combinations.

Comparatively, the ranking of Google Play keywords is more complex. Since, the keywords are the part of the content, there are certain factors that make differences in ranking:

• Content Length
• Density of the Keywords
• Context of the Keywords

Google Play Store works more like a real search engine and provides more precise results than iOS which is driven by phrases. Display of search results is also different in case of Android and iOS. In Google Play Store, when the user searches something, the results in a page consist of 5-6 apps per page but in Apple Store, only first search result is visible completely.

If you want to have a successful app with lots of downloads and visibility, you have to work hard on app store optimization. ASO is a continuous step of tracking and testing. Therefore, it’s important to attain the ranking of the keywords and get more downloads with proper ASO strategy. ASO may not be the complete solution for all app problems; but, it is definitely a great way for developers and entrepreneurs to find their own market and increase app downloads.

Posted on February 3, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

Apple’s manufacturing partner Wistron is setting up a plant in the tech capital of Bengaluru to assemble iPhone in India by the end of April.

The news just comes after the speculation the Apple’s plan for the market, which is led by the rival Samsung Electronics Co.

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A California-based company Cupertino is said to put forward a long list of demands, including 15-year tax holiday to import equipment- in negotiations with the central government.

Apple has shipped 2.5 million iPhone’s in the country in 2016 which is considered to be the best year ever in terms of sales and revenue. Local manufacturing will make Apple products cheaper and this would make its products more competitive in the Indian market.

According to the company, it accounts for less than 2 percent of shipments in India, where approximately 750 million smart phones will be sold by 2020.

Posted on January 10, 2017 by rbsupadminnextjssite

The parent company of WeChat, Tencent Holdings launched a suite of cloud based smart phone apps called ‘Mini Program’.

As iPhone marks its 10th anniversary, Tencent, the Chinese internet giant introduced its take on apps within WeChat, its best chat app with 846 million monthly users.

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The program launched is essentially more-basic, stripped-down versions of iOS and Android apps that downloads instantly and can be stored within WeChat. The programs provide small but useful functionalities, similar to the simplified apps on the iMessage App Store.

They look and feel like apps, but Tencent calls them ‘Mini Programs’ because Apple doesn’t let it to be called as an app.

Developers can use official accounts and bots to interact with users away from the mobile app. There’s no app store to house the program so instead, they are found by searching inside WeChat or scanning a QR code.

WeChat has absolute dominance in its focus market, which means that Mini Programs will surely become part of any developer’s strategy where the app can work with both iOS and Android WeChat users.

WeChat can provide a bridge between the two platforms that picks up additional users and in the future as mini programs become more sophisticated, it can compete head-on with iOS and Android.