Augmented Reality in Retail:
Use Cases & Business Benefits

Try Before You Buy: Creating Interactive Retail Shopping Experiences with AR
Imagine waking up to a record sales conversion on your eCommerce portal! Your customers are 20% more engaged and satisfied with the shopping experience. Your business gains boosted customer trust, brand value, and improved ROI!
Yes, it’s possible with Augmented Reality!
Augmented Reality in Retail is revolutionizing shopping experiences expeditiously! With AR in retail, customers can interact, customize, and engage with products better, so that they make the right purchase decisions. Nike’s Virtual View is one top example of how WebAR in Retail boosts customer engagement and trust!
But of course, it’s only natural to be a little skeptical before investing in any new business technology. That is why we bring you a detailed guide on what is Augmented Reality, and how your Retail and eCommerce firms can smartly deploy and benefit from augmented reality services !

What is Augmented Reality?

Simply put, Augmented Reality (AR) superimposes digital content and information onto a user’s real-life scenario to enhance their virtual experience of the existing physical environment. The improved version of the physical world is attained by leveraging the capabilities of the computer-generated display, visuals, sound, text, and graphics which augments the user’s real-world experience.
AR will allow you to search things visually by simply pointing out mobile cameras toward objects in real-life surroundings. The Live View feature in Google Maps is a leading example of how AR allows users to visualize their destinations in the real world. Nintendo’s Pokémon Go App and the photo filters on Facebook and Snapchat are some of the popular examples of AR today.
However, AR is not just a gaming or navigational application. Several industries today, including consumer products and retail, are implementing AR to improve their operational and marketing abilities. Leading ecommerce brands, as well as in-store retailers, are highly investing in AR to build and deliver top-notch brand experiences.
By 2024, the number of mobile AR users will reach 1.73 billion.
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By 2024, the number of mobile AR users will reach 1.73 billion.

Why Is Augmented Reality Important In Retail and eCommerce?

Millennials are the core shoppers today, and they need services at their fingertips! Standing in long queues to grab that limited offer is off the trend! Now shoppers love to book it first online.
With Augmented Reality in Retail, online shopping experiences takes a new turn. Customers get to virtually try on items, customize and interact with the products better so that they make quick and smart purchase decisions. Getting complete satisfaction with online shopping increases brand trust immensely, giving retailers an immediate boost to expedite sales! The more reasons to implement AR in Retail!
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40% of consumers say they would pay more for a product that they could customize in AR.

What are the Latest AR Trends in Retail?

Today’s customers value personalization and convenience over pricing and product. Augmented Reality allows brands to develop smart retail experiences that influence their customers’ buying decisions.
AR makes online selling easier and more comfortable by creating virtual simulations for users to interact with a product, just like how they try a fashion outfit in a physical store. Using AR, retail customers can virtually visit their favorite brand stores, try products, and make comparisons, without leaving the comfort of their homes.

Top AR Trends in Retail Today

AR will enable retailers to deliver impactful, well-timed, and relevant user experiences that increase customer value, both in physical stores as well as in ecommerce!

Enriching Customer Experiences With Smart Malls Of The Future!

Watch more on how your business can leverage AR for a unique and smart mall experience!

Why is AR a Powerful Retail Sales Channel?

By 2025, nearly 75% of the global population and almost all people who use social or communication apps will be frequent AR users. AR adoption will see growth in these four key areas:
But why use AR for retail?
Research shows the top reasons why customers return their products.
AR-integrated ecommerce websites and applications can run on any smartphone allowing customers to contextually experience every product at scale. Immersive product discovery experiences lead to better conversions as retailers can capture shoppers’ attention at the decision-making stage.
Brands that implement AR for Retail Sales will see:
AR offers shoppers innumerable options to interact with consumer products in a more personalized way. Customers aren’t anymore held back by a limited number of product images and videos. With AR, every single online session can be turned into a powerful sales channel.
Capture shoppers’ attention at the decision-making stage | Allow shoppers to personally interact with products |
Turn online browsings into powerful sales channels
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32% of consumers use AR while shopping!

How Does AR Increase Sales in Retail?

AR use cases in retail are growing in leaps and bounds. Across the B2C, D2C, and B2B realms, AR will bridge the gap between online selling and the customer experience in the following ways.

Warehouse Space Optimization

AR can improve complex warehouse operations by streamlining warehousing management activities such as order allocation and picking, inventory control, material handling, and packaging. Using an interactive 3D warehouse layout, retailers can improve their warehouse planning.
  • Locate products and process orders faster.
  • Quickly extract necessary information (order number, trolley number, deposit bin information, passage numbers).
  • Expedite loading and unloading processes.
  • Achieve zero-delay deliveries through warehouse optimization.
  • Increases your sale orders and drives revenue.

Virtual Fitting Rooms

Virtual fitting rooms allow your customers to try on clothing items, jewelry, and other accessories even if they don’t visit your physical store. Even without touching an item, shoppers can see the size, style, and fit of apparel before they buy it. According to Shopify, an omnichannel shopping experience powered by AR nudges online shoppers to spend 10% more.
  • Superimpose the visuals of your items on live video feeds for your customers.
  • Create a virtual dressing room using Augmented Reality features.
  • AR-powered virtual mirrors can save valuable retail space in your brick-and-mortar stores.
  • Avoid the need to set up separate trial rooms.

Placement Previews

IKEA Place App’s AR feature allows customers to visualize how a new piece of furniture will fit their space. After selecting an item from IKEA’s catalog, the customer can point their mobile camera anywhere in their surroundings to see the furniture’s placement, adjust it from different angles, take photos, and share it with their friends for feedback.
  • The highly interactive preview experience keeps users motivated throughout the buying journey.
  • The seamless and fluid experience will encourage customers to return for more purchases.
  • This automatically boosts customer loyalty and brand recognition.
  • Guarantees conversion ten times more.

Route Optimization

Not just online and shopping experiences counts to customers. When products are delivered quickly and smartly, there are much more chances for a customer to build their trust in brands. With AR enabling effective navigation capabilities, routes can be optimized for seamless delivery channels.
  • Develop AR-powered apps that enable the delivery teams to plan their travel smarter.
  • Plan shortest route options, traffic updates, map views, and more.
  • Support your delivery partners with additional assistance just from their smartphone cameras, leading them to the right routes.
  • Ensure no package delivery goes missed or undelivered.

Interactive AR Packaging

AR-enabled interactive packaging offers consumers a highly engaging shopping experience that will boost ecommerce and in-store sales. Customers could scan a QR code on the retailer’s package to understand the latest offers and discounts, new product roll-outs, or read the brand’s story. Jack Daniel Distillery’s smart AR packaging allows users to take a closer look at their whiskey-making process and explore their growth story.
  • With AR, product packages aren’t throwaway junk anymore.
  • Encourage users to scan QR codes on food packaging to get exclusive recipes and cooking videos of top chefs.
  • Use interactive AR techniques to encourage shoppers to recycle packages and share their product experiences with others.

Interactive Business Cards

AR takes your plain business cards to the next level by allowing you to add 3D objects, interactions, animations, and powerful virtual components on top of your physical business cards. When you point your smartphone camera toward the card, you can see an interactive display of your business profile. AR allows you to incorporate numerous features into your V-card such as videos, audio, images, 3D objects, social links, animations, and URLs, besides your contact info and designation.
  • Stand out from your competitors and provide prospects with instant resources.
  • Increase curiosity and prompts your clients to access more information about your business.
  • Immersive and unique experiences in the real world improve your business’s credibility and doubles lead capturing.
  • Interactive business cards shorten the sales cycle and increase customer appointments and engagement.

Complete Product Information

AR allows superimposing additional product information that your customers may not get easily in physical or online stores. Processing product information is the most significant aspect that influences a customer’s buying decision. Customers want to know if the products they buy will fit their purpose. Top automotive brands such as Mercedes Benz and Hyundai use AR-powered digital car manuals to explain automotive features in a highly interactive way.
  • Digitally delivering the right information will simplify the product discovery process for the consumer, boosting sales.
  • Customers can avoid scrolling through large user manuals.
  • Pointing to a specific feature with mobile cameras will provide the necessary information required to impact the buyer’s decision.

The age of analyzing products via videos and images is gone! Customers now need more! With AR, realtors can bring their products closer to their customers, enabling them to interact with the items meanwhile establishing added brand value and customer trust!

- Venkatesh Alagarsamy, AR, VR, MR, Metaverse Expert, Fingent.

Real-World Cases Of Boosted Customer Experience with AR

AR Taking Cabin Manufacturing To New Heights: Use Case

Complex designs, large customer requests, and inaccurate floor plans often challenge and restrict the operational efficiencies of shed and cabin manufactures. Leading players of the industry are now trying to implement modern approaches at each stage of their process to streamline functions and improve performance. How can AR help in this?
With a customized software solution featuring 3D web configurators
  • Customers can build and design their own sheds using AR
  • Automate floor plans
  • Reduced human errors
  • Streamline planning of cabin constructions
  • Estimate pricing accurately

AR Powered apps for E-Commerce: Use Case

Over 20% of customers deny online shopping because of the fear of wrong purchase decisions.
How can Fingent help?
  • Interactive mobile apps enabling 3D preview of objects
  • Agnostic web solution for Ecommerce
  • No restrictions on a wide range of product displays
  • Improved customer engagement and interaction
  • Personalized shopping made possible from anywhere
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61% of consumers say they prefer retailers with AR experiences.

Augmented Reality vs. Virtual Reality

Many people use Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality interchangeably thinking that both technological concepts are the same. Though both AR and VR help creates immersive and interactive experiences, both are different in their own niches.

Augmented Reality

  • Augments the real-world experience of the user
  • Creates virtual experience by overlaying digital content on top of what the user is already seeing
  • Detects markers such as barcodes or QR codes to deliver AR animations to specific user locations
  • Explored best with smartphones
  • AR SDKs empower mobile apps to detect and capture real-time user environments
  • Reflects true-to-life conditions and real-life scenarios

Virtual Reality

  • Creates a fully-immersive virtual environment
  • Total immersion is accomplished by shutting the user from the real-world
  • Virtual Reality Modeling Language or VRML experiences delivered via a client-side interface to simulate virtual environments
  • Explored best with a VR headset
  • VR SDKs allow users to navigate pre-loaded and cloud-stored streams by using controllers and environment trackers
  • Virtual representation of real-life conditions
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Augmented Reality Boosts Online Shopping Sales Up To 200% - Forbes

Augmented Reality In Retail: Why Is It Picking Up Steam In Today’s Digital Age?

AR will boost your customers’ trust and drive their purchasing confidence.

Real-time product visualizations and virtual trials ensure that retailers are able to deliver products that match their customers’ expectations. AR reduces your marketing costs and increases your customer satisfaction.
AR retail experiences will eliminate the friction between sellers and buyers and maximize the probability of purchasing. When customers receive their orders as expected, it will decrease your product returns.
The rise in ecommerce demands delivering more successful online experiences. Retailers leveraging augmented reality can rest assured that they aren’t left behind in the competition.
Interactive virtual experiences arouse your customers’ curiosity and motivate them to explore your products. AR experiences such as virtual try-on persuade customers to come back and shop for additional products.
AR-enabled shopping experiences collect insightful data on customers’ shopping patterns, buying behavior, interests, and preferences. Retailers can use these insights to run targeted marketing campaigns and develop more personalized products.
The demand for contactless experiences triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic is here to stay. As people are more concerned about their personal hygiene and contamination risks, retailers can employ AR to connect with their customers and keep the show running.
Customers place emphasis on the value they get when buying from you. CX is the key brand differentiator that boosts customer loyalty today. With AR, you can optimize every customer touchpoint to deliver unmatched CX.
AR ecommerce apps can serve as your shop assistants and sales agents that take you through product features and benefits. You don’t have to hire expensive labor for showing the customer around, as AR does the heavy lifting.
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71% of consumers say they would shop more often if they used AR.

Fingent’s AR-enabled Applications for Retailers

Be it in-store or ecommerce, Fingent top custom software development company, enables retailers to deliver seamless shopping experiences to their consumers by leveraging technology to the fullest. Our AR retail solutions effectively bridge the gap between consumers and sellers:

Augmented Reality Reshaping eCommerce!

What more on how you can smartly and seamlessly deploy AR for your eCommerce!

How Fingent Can Help Your Business Build Intuitive Apps With AR

With our expertise around ARKit for iOS Platforms, Spark AR, Lens Studio, Vuforia, Web AR Solutions, and AR Core for Android Platforms we help create powerful user experiences that fetch a competitive edge.

eCommerce

Bring the “Wow” factor to your eCommerce with virtual try-ons, preview placements, AR filters, and more!

Healthcare

We help you deploy AR to improve medical training, pediatric MRI evaluation, venipuncture procedures, dentistry, and more!

Equipment Maintenance

With AR connect faster with your machines to work smarter at reduced costs, and effective time management.

Most Common Q&As on AR in Retail

Augmented Reality streamlines retail operations to make shopping easier and convenient for both online and offline buyers. AR replaces physical fitting rooms with virtual try-on solutions and allows consumers to configure products based on their preferences. AR modernizes retail marketing through personalized content delivery and offers contactless purchasing options which will boost online sales.
3D product visualizations and “try-before-you-buy” digital experiences allow retailers to reduce the cost of returns that affect their ROI. Retailers can develop 3D animations and visual simulations to improve consumer awareness and influence buying decisions. AR helps retailers analyze customer behavior, test their product samples, boost brand engagement, and augment sales.
Full-fledged 3D experiences can improve product research and discovery which will result in more sales. Retailers selling automotive, home furniture, consumer electronics, and lifestyle products can drive traction and make unique selling pitches through AR. Studies prove that AR increases the average product (images and videos) viewing time from 30 seconds to eight minutes. Linking purchasing decisions with the shopper’s emotions will eliminate their doubts about the product and increase your sales volume.
According to Snapchat, 76% of consumers believe that AR will play an integral role in future shopping, with 57% of consumers planning to increase their AR usage in post-COVID times. AR improves a retail brand’s discoverability and increases a consumer’s likelihood to purchase after an immersive experience. AR experience educates and motivates customers at multiple points in the shopping journey, thereby influencing their purchasing decisions.
Today, every retailer needs to pursue an omnichannel retail strategy that revolves around customer-centricity. This requires retailers to personalize their offerings in the best way possible. AR can simplify your personalization efforts as it’s a highly user-centric technology that tremendously transforms the way you market and sell. Augmented retail strategy improves both your business’s bottom line and customer experience.

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      Web Application

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      • A web application is interactive and responds to user input.
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      Website

      • A website basically contains static content.
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      • Authentication is not obligatory for informational websites.
      • The functions of a website are relatively simple.
      • A website does not need not be pre-compiled.
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      Conceptualize

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      Facebook is a free social networking website that allows people to connect with others online. It lets users share photographs, post comments, post links to interesting content on the web, live chat, and watch videos. Facebook's success is attributed to its ability to appeal to both people and businesses and its ability to interact with websites around the web by providing a single login that works across multiple sites.

      Whatsapp

      WhatsApp is a free, multi-platform messaging app that lets users make video and voice calls, send text messages, share their status, and make payments, all with just an internet connection. The most appealing feature of this app is that it works on various phones and computer operating systems, which bestows uninterrupted conversations anytime, anywhere. WhatsApp serves more than 2 billion people in over 180 countries, with over a billion daily active users.

      Uber

      Uber is a transportation company that has developed an app to allow passengers to hail a ride, and drivers get paid. The app integrates with Google maps for tracking locations, routes and directing people to their destination. Uber uses smartphone app technology to connect passengers and drivers via a car-for-hire method. Most people love the simplicity of opening the app, telling where they want to go, and then seeing an Uber driver show up in a matter of minutes.

      Instagram

      Instagram is a free, popular photo-sharing app that Facebook acquired in 2012. It allows users to edit and upload photos and short videos through a mobile app. Like other social networking platforms, Instagram users can like, comment, share and bookmark others' posts. It also includes a feature of private chats and video conferencing with friends.

      Tiktok

      TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create and share short videos. A young crowd commonly uses the app as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comics, and lip-syncing, making fun videos and sharing them across a community. In addition, users can follow other users, like, and comment on other users' videos. TikTok app quickly soared to popularity and amassed over 500 million monthly active users, the US being the most popular country where it is downloaded over 80 million times.

      What Can A Web Application Do for Your Business?

      With the internet being commonplace for most modern-day businesses, web applications are a quintessential tool for better growth in their market share. If you need to bring your company or business before the right users, the secret is to be found online with a creative and engaging web application. Web applications are of paramount importance than official websites when it comes to winning business goals and generating profits. Let’s explain the different areas a web application can help your business.
      First Point of Engagement

      A web application is the first point of access to your business and brand for your customers. Your app is the place that reflects what you do, your services, products, and your reputation. You can stand out from your competitors by having a web application that looks interesting and clearly communicates quality information to your customers. Therefore, hiring a professional web application development company is judicious to understand your vision and shape the application accordingly.

      A company or business without a web app or website may question the legitimacy of the business. So, having an app is an opportunity to build a great first impression and give people assurance that you’re a genuine business.

      Boost Online Brand Visibility

      Web applications play a crucial role in the branding process of a business. Showcasing your brand to your prospective customers is the key to positioning your business in the market. A web application is an underlying framework for branding your products or services because branding acts as the bridge to maintain a proper communication channel between potential customers and your business.

      Clearly conveying to the customers who you are, what you provide, and what your brand represents raises your business popularity coupled with building a customer base. A web application is your brand's voice that reaches out to the world through multiple social media platforms.

      Improve Customer Loyalty

      Your app is one of the most powerful assets for helping business owners improve customer relationships and increase efficiency. In addition to showcasing your offering or describing who you are, your application is one of the key tools for connecting with your existing customers and keeping them engaged. In order to create customer loyalty, you need to give your customers a reason to return.

      Web applications come in handy with a lot of scopes to build customer loyalty programs to win customers’ hearts. Even simple changes to your app can go a long way toward building your brand and encouraging more customers to use your app frequently. Your application can be the key to increasing customer loyalty, a critical piece of the puzzle.

      Easily Customizable and Scalable

      As your business expands, your web applications need upgrades. Off-the-shelf applications are neither flexible nor scalable, limiting their capabilities. Custom web applications are developed specifically to suit your business requirements. It is completely scalable and flexible, harmonizing with your business growth and demands. Custom applications grow with your business without any hassles of switching to new applications or extra license purchases. Moreover, the advent of cloud-native apps further enhances the flexibility and scalability of applications by adding more value to the business.

      Enhanced Customer Support

      The prompt and user-friendly customer support offered by web applications becomes more approachable and less intimidating for customers. So, the users of the app feel more comfortable with the company and are likely to stick on for a long time.

      Web apps help to create an engaging space for customers to interact with brands and provide a dedicated space to track and manage all the customer support queries. The beauty of web applications is that they can be accessed at any time from any location. Hence, providing any customer assistance is never an obstacle.

      Why develop your Web Application with Fingent?

      Web application development is a mandate for your organization to lead the digital space and reach out to more customers in the future. Fingent provides a wide array of software development services from software customization to building Web, Mobile, Enterprise, and Cloud applications across various industries.

      Fingent is a high-end custom software development company that has been helping businesses -small and large- across the globe with innovative solutions. We help build your brand, increase your brand identity, promote your products and services to help you gain a competitive advantage.

      Explore our range of services.

      Our web application development services are specifically designed to help you meet your goals, considering your business infrastructure and key facets of your industry.

      18+

      Years of Experience

      8

      Centers of Excellence (CoE)

      800+

      Completed Projects

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      Dedicated QA Practices

      Most Common Q&As on Web Development

      What is better: Multi-page Website or Single-page Website?

      While both are good at their place, most people prefer the single-page website. This is because a single-page website offers ease of interaction and access compared to a Multi-page website.

      If your business has a lot to do with queries and solutions or customer interactions, it is recommended you get a chat window.

      For quality web application development, you should include both to help you avail more benefits. A combination of frameworks and pure codes will work as it will take less time and ensure quality development.

      Some of the renowned web app development technologies are:

      • Models:
          HTML, XSL, XML
      • Animation:   AJAX, Flash, jQuery UI, ActionScript, JavaScript
      • Databases:   MS SQL, MySQL, Microsoft Access, SQLite, Oracle, PostgreSQL
      • CMS:   WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Kentico, Sitecore, Sitefinity, Sanity
      • Programming:   C#, PHP, ASP, ASP.NET, ASP.NET+MVC, Python, Ruby, Django, Go
      • Payment Systems:   PayPal, Assist, MoneyBookers, SMS, OSMP

      The choice to outsource or hire in-house solely depends on your specific business situation.

      Hiring an in-house developer will ensure that you have complete control over the entire development process, which is definitely great for some businesses. But it also calls for long preparation time and extra expenses. On the contrary, outsourcing cuts down costs and avoids hiring new employees altogether – which can be very useful if you are short of time or money.

      If your outsourcing partner is a reputable and experienced agency, you can rest assured that they will care for all your web development needs without sacrificing quality.

      Get Latest Insights on Web Application Development



      Top Technologies Used to Develop Mobile App

       



      Progressive Web App Development: 10 Benefits – Fingent

       



      How Mobile and Web Apps Increase Customer Engagement

       

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        About the Author

        ...
        Vedavyas Shenoy

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          A comprehensive guide to web application development in 2021

           

           

          Introduction

          A decade ago, web pages were mostly static, with a few images and videos thrown in here and there. In 2005, however, thanks to Ajax, it made it possible to create better, faster, and more interactive web applications.

          In 2021, though web application development has reached its peak of fame, web apps have become so common that they often go unnoticed. With a reputed web application development partner like Fingent, you can develop intuitive and custom web applications that simplify your day-to-day operations.

          Read more: Fingent Ranked as India’s Top Software Developer for 2021  

          top software developer

          Web apps help integrate the tailored experience of native apps with easy access on a website browser from any device. LinkedIn, Basecamp, MailChimp, or even Facebook, all have web apps that provide immersive and tailored experiences like the native apps directly from the browser. That is why web application development is gaining a lot of popularity in almost all industries, including banking, eCommerce, education, healthcare, and more.

          What is a Web Application?

          Also known as a web app, a web application is nothing but a computer program that uses a web browser to perform a specific function. Contact forms, for example, are web apps present on many websites.

          As a web application is a client-server program, it has a client-side and a server-side. Here, the client refers to the program the individual uses to run the application. It is a part of the client-server environment where many computers share data. A typical example of a web application is the database. Here, the user enters data through the client-side (front-end), while the server-side (back-end) of the application stores and processes the information.

          Both enterprises and individuals develop web applications to fulfill different purposes.

           

          Case Study: How we built Ambit AI, a light-touch AI-powered web application for processing workers’ compensation claims. Download Now!

           

          What is Web Application Development?

          Web application development refers to the process of using client-side and server-side programming to develop an application that is made accessible over the web browser.

          In the initial phase of the web application development process, the developer tries to find a solution to a specific problem and then designs the web app by choosing the appropriate development framework. Later, the developer tests and deploys the web app.

          Read more: The 101 Guide to Web Application Development 

          Web Apps vs. Mobile Apps

          While web apps and mobile apps are similar in many ways, both are different in many ways.

          Mobile apps are made exclusively for mobile gadgets and are suitable for Android, iOS, and Cross-platform operating systems. Usually, mobile apps are mobile-first, meaning they work effectively on smartphones, tablets, or other handheld mobile devices. Most mobile apps work offline too. Examples include Google Maps, Amazon Kindle, Uber, etc. On the other hand, web apps function only when you have internet connectivity. A web app functions in real-time in a web browser with CPU resources. As long as you have adequate internal storage, you can download a mobile app from an app store or play store.

          Read more: How are Mobile Apps Different from Websites  

          web app Blog cover

          Types of Web Applications

          Typically, web applications are classified into three categories based on the tools and technologies it uses.

          1. Client-side web application

          Client-side refers to everything the user sees at the end-user side, such as text, images, videos, forms, and the other UI. Client-side web applications are written using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and they work in a web browser. Angular js, Vue js, Ember js, Backbone js, Node js, etc., are some of the popular JavaScript libraries used for front-end development.

          You can consider client-side web app building when you don’t need to preserve the user information for more than one session. It is perfect for easy games or image editors. Google Earth is a leading example of a client-side web application.

          2. Server-side web application

          These are web apps that can be coded in several programming languages such as Python, C+, Ruby, PHP, etc. If you develop an app with just the server-side, then the outcome of any changes in the form submission, sections, and data updates will create a new HTML file and cause the web page to reload.

          Server-side programming is beneficial if you want your web application to deliver information tailored for individual users. For instance, e-commerce applications like Amazon use server-side programming to create product search results, offer product suggestions based on past buying habits, enhance user experience, and simplify the purchasing process.

          3. Single-page web application

          Single-page applications are designed to work in a browser and do not require reloading while in use. Most of our daily apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Drive, Gmail, etc., are single-page apps. Single-page web applications offer an unmatched user experience as the user doesn’t have to wait for page reloads. Single-page applications are highly responsive to user queries as they do not depend heavily on client-server communication.

          Read more: A Detailed Guide to Types of Software Applications  

          types of software

          Technology Stacks for Web Application Development

          The following web development technologies enable you to create a high-performing, fast, and advanced web application.

          1. Database technologies

          Due to its simplicity and multifunctionality, MySQL is one of the most preferred databases utilized for web application development. Other popular database technologies include Oracle Database, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, MongoDB, and RavenDB.

          2. Front-end technologies

          To develop the client-side of an app that the users interact with, you can choose highly efficient front-end JavaScript frameworks such as:

          • React JS: This is a robust and most widely used JS framework for developing large-scale and complex dynamic web apps.
          • Angular JS: A popular front-end framework by Google, Angular JS is suitable for building dynamic web apps, using HTML for static web pages.
          • Vue JS: Fairly new, this JS framework does wonders for applications. Vue JS provides an ecosystem of assisting libraries and an accessible primary library for applying huge complex page apps.
          • Backbone JS: This lightweight JS library has a RESTful JSON interface that follows the MVC (Model-View-Controller) application design standard. Backbone JS helps develop and structure the client-side applications that run in a web browser.
          • Node JS: It is a cross-platform, open-source JS runtime that runs on the V8 engine and is designed to build scalable network applications.
          • Ember JS: It is an open-source JS framework ideal for developing single-page applications.

          The above list features only some of the leading JavaScript frameworks used for client-side programming.

          3. Backend Technology

          Frameworks such as Go, Ruby, Java, Django & Python are some of the most powerful back-end development technologies.

          • Ruby: Ruby is an open-source, general-purpose, object-oriented programming language used to build highly secure and fast web applications.
          • Java: A multi-purpose programming language, Java is leveraged for Android app development, desktop apps, and web app development. Java offers excellent security and stability.
          • Django & Python – Python is flexible, advanced, and has a low learning curve. This programming language covers back-end web development. Python, along with its framework Django, can meet back-end development tasks efficiently.
          • Go: Designed by Google’s developers, Go is an open-source programming language that is fast and statistically compiled. It helps build simple, reliable, and concurrent web applications.

          Read more: Top 6 Stacks That Reign Software Development in 2020  

          Benefits of Web Application Development

          • Speed and cost: Web application development is faster and more economical than building native apps. If your primary goal is to accelerate time-to-market, then web application development is the best choice.
          • Cross-platform capabilities: Web applications can be programmed to run on any operating system. Due to their cross-platform capabilities, web applications can adapt well to Android, iOS, Mac OS, and Windows phones. Device responsiveness of web applications helps you get rid of OS dependencies.
          • Browser compatibility: A web application runs on the device’s browser using an accessible URL. Modern web applications are compatible with all browsers, such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Bing. So, you don’t have to face software compatibility challenges.
          • No downloads needed: Web apps don’t need to be downloaded from app stores such as Apple’s App Store or Google Play. This helps save money since having a direct link through a web app is free.
          • Easy to update: Updating web applications is easy, as only the server(s) would require upgrades.
          • Cut operating costs: Web application development is a great way to cut operating costs. You can eliminate unnecessary expenses such as hardware purchases, frequent device updates, and maintenance of numerous systems.
          • Custom web applications: Custom web application development offers several benefits as you can tailor the features for the users. These applications are easily accessible via browsers with a stable internet connection. Custom web apps help cut unnecessary expenses and save time as you only need to develop the required features.

          Read more: Custom Software Development is The Ideal Way to Build Business Apps in 2021  

          Custom software

          A custom web app can significantly improve your business traction, brand awareness, communicate your brand ideology and help you gain a competitive edge in the chosen target market.

          Web Application Development Process

          Here is an overview of the steps we follow at Fingent for developing web applications.

          1. Conceptualize

          The first step is to define the problem you want to solve with a web application and collect all the relevant information needed for app development. A well-defined problem will give an excellent head-start to the project and help you identify the best solution. Next, clarify the purpose as well as the end goals of the application.

          Ask these questions during the planning phase:

          • What app do you want to build?
          • What features and functions should it include?
          • What is the audience of your product?

          2. Design and build

          The designing phase involves creating a wireframe for communicating the solution to target users. Then, the developers can consider designing elements that will provide an enjoyable user experience to the target audience.

          Post-design, the next step is to build (develop) the application. The following steps will happen in this phase.

          • To create a database for storage, the developers need to determine what data and data types are required for the application to perform well.
          • Based on the elements approved by the users during the wireframing process, developers will create the front-end application. For this, the developers need to identify the best frameworks for front-end development.
          • Developers will create interaction between the user and the server.
          • Developers can either code from scratch or use front-end and back-end frameworks to develop the web app.
          • Based on the application type, that is, client-side/ server-side/ single-page, programming is done.

          3. Test and implement

          Whether it is an automated or manual web application, testing for the web application is an ongoing process throughout the software development lifecycle.

          • The Testing (QA) team will have to test the app for usability, compatibility, functionality, security, and performance to eliminate bugs and ensure that the application works without any glitches.
          • Testing also helps identify any possible improvements and upgrades to make in the future.
          • Once the testing is completed, you can finally implement the application in your company or customers.
          • When using it for your company, you will have to train your employees to use the app productively (if the app requires training).
          • For customers, you will have to create a communication strategy and decide on the appropriate timing to launch the application in the market.

          At Fingent, we help you perform all the mandatory software and usability testing to ensure that your web app functions seamlessly. We also provide training and support to use the apps effectively.

          4. Hosting and Maintenance

          You must buy a domain and choose a hosting provider to create a server location for the app. We help you choose shared hosting, dedicated hosting, or cloud hosting based on your requirements.

          We also help you maintain the web application. Some of our application maintenance services include:

          • Ongoing QA testing
          • Bug fixes and improvements
          • Addressing changes and adding features based on user feedback
          • Providing regular updates and technical support

          Read more: Cloud Service Models SaaS, PaaS, IaaS: Choose the Right One for Your Business  

          Web Application Development Validation & Deployment

          Once your web app is developed and ready to be launched, remember it must be tested to ensure that the app functions correctly before its deployment. Bug fixing alone is not sufficient. Testing is vital to web application development.

          We perform standard web application testing, such as:

          • Usability Testing
          • Performance Testing
          • Application Security Testing
          • Quality Assurance Testing and Bug Fixing
          • Browser Compatibility Testing
          • Responsiveness Testing (Responsive Web Design)

          After completing the quality assurance process, your web app is ready for launch. You can use GitHub, Beanstalk App, and Bitbucket App to deploy the web app to your servers. Any new features, changes, and improvements to the deployed application are implemented according to the user’s feedback.

          With over a decade of experience in web application development, Fingent helps you cover all these processes.

          Read more: Offshoring Software Development: Here’s All You Need to Know  

          Offshoring software development

          Stay up to date on what's new

            About the Author

            ...
            Vinod Saratchandran

            Vinod has conceptualized and delivered niche mobility products that cater to various domains including logistics, media & non-profits. He leads, mentors & coaches a team of Project Coordinators & Analysts at Fingent.

            Talk To Our Experts

              Mobile App Development – Complete Guide for 2025

              Introduction

              Mobile applications aren’t anymore a luxury or simply a channel to tout your business. More than 70% of our digital media time is consumed by smartphones today. Mobile apps claim 93% of the total time spent on a smartphone, while the remaining 7% of mobile time is consumed by web browsers. This proves why the demand for mobile application development services is intensifying year over year.
              A well-structured native iOS, native Android, hybrid, or cross-platform mobile app boosts your digital engagement, leading to long-term bottom lines such as unswerving customer loyalty and recurring sales. Though an astounding number of small and large businesses are experiencing the benefit of mobility, some are yet to build the right strategy. If you are planning to build a mobile app for your business or want to enhance your existing application, you’ve come to the right place.
              This blog covers the key aspects of mobile app development, including the development process, approaches, platforms, cost of development, and the tips to avoid failures and attain success with mobile app development. Let’s get started without further ado.

              What is Mobile Application Development?

              Mobile application development is the process of creating specific software applications that run on a mobile device (such as applications for smartphones and digital assistants), and utilize a network connection to work with remote computing resources. The development process involves creating installable software bundles, implementing backend services, and testing the application on target devices. In short, mobile app development is the strategic process of designing, building, and launching a mobile app successfully.
              The importance of building a business mobile app is growing rapidly as businesses across industries aim to meet user expectations and seek real-time, convenient ways to conduct transactions and access information. By the end of 2023, it is estimated that the total number of mobile app downloads will amount to 299 billion, worldwide.
              Data Source: Sensor Tower
              A well-structured mobile app helps you leverage all the benefits offered by the mobile device and the OS for which it is developed. The development process takes into account the limitations of mobile devices and allows you to balance cost with functionality.

              Top Mobile Application Development Platforms

              Mobile application development platforms bring together all the tools you would require to build your app from start to finish under a single umbrella, as a unified software offering. A mobile development platform saves your developer from juggling different software to complete various tasks involved in the development lifecycle. This prevents data loss and eliminates the risks caused by the wrong classification of data. Using a single software package to carry out the development process – from planning to UI/UX design and testing – saves your cost and time.
              Mobile application development platforms differ according to the operating system (OS) they cater to. Here is a list of the top mobile app development platforms:

              1. Android

              Sponsored by Google, the Android mobile OS is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. As of July 2022, Android holds 44.46% of the mobile OS market share in the United States. The biggest advantage of Android OS is that its source code can be downloaded, customized, and distributed by anyone at no cost. The Android OS supports running multiple apps simultaneously on a single mobile device and offers immense flexibility to customize the UI during development to get the desired outcomes.

              2. iOS

              Unlike the Android OS that can run on numerous hardware brands, the iOS operating system is a proprietary software that runs only on Apple’s devices, such as iPhone or iPad. Developers can leverage the iOS Software Development Kit (SDK) to create mobile apps for Apple devices and distribute the apps through the App Store maintained by Apple Inc. As of July 2022, Apple’s iOS holds 55.22% of the mobile OS market share in the United States.

              3. Hybrid

              As the name suggests, a hybrid mobile application blends both native and web programming capabilities within a single application. It allows developers to build applications for multiple operating systems on a single platform. A hybrid application is written using the web technologies – HTML, CSS, and JavaScript – and then the code is embedded into a native application wrapper, which gives it the power of a true native application that can work efficiently on any native platform. Hybrid mobile development platforms are used by organizations that wish to reach a large audience base within a short time, so they don’t have to build two or more separate but similar applications for each OS type.

              Mobile Application Development Approaches

              Here are the top four mobile application development approaches adopted by businesses worldwide:

              1. Native Mobile Applications

              Native mobile apps are platform-specific applications developed using the programming languages, SDKs, tools, and frameworks provided by the platform itself. These apps are designed to run natively on the operating system (OS) of the device such as iOS or Android. As they are built to work on a specific OS or platform, native mobile apps are faster, more reliable, and offer offline capabilities.

              2. Hybrid Mobile Applications

              Hybrid mobile applications are built using standard web technologies such as JavaScript, CSS or HTML5. These apps combine the elements of both native as well as web applications. Some of the world’s leading apps such as Gmail, Twitter, Amazon, etc. are examples of hybrid apps. Developers can leverage plugins and APIs to integrate web technology with native app features. Hybrid mobile apps are faster to develop and easier to maintain.

              3. Cross-platform Mobile Applications

              A cross-platform mobile application works across platforms using a single code base which makes it compatible to run on different operating systems like Android, iOS, and Windows. A cross-platform app can be written using different programming languages and frameworks, but it’s compiled to run like a true native application running directly on the device’s OS. It’s easy to build and maintain cross-platform apps.

              4. Progressive Web Applications

              Progressive Web Applications (PWAs) present an alternative approach to traditional mobile app development by avoiding the need for app store delivery and installations. PWAs are cheaper, more secure, faster, and easier to develop. They operate via a browser, but act like native apps. PWAs provide users an “app-like” experience by leveraging a set of browser capabilities such as performing a background process, adding a link to the device home screen, and working offline.
              Each mobile application development approach has its own advantages and disadvantages. So, choose a method that matches your business purposes and strategy. Right choice helps you achieve the desired user experience and build the native features needed for your application.

              Top Mobile App Development Technologies

              Mobile app development technology refers to the various tools, frameworks, programming languages, components, libraries, and other technologies used to create applications that work on smartphones and portable connected mobile devices. Let it be native Android or native iOS, or a cross-platform app, you need to familiarize yourself with the leading technologies and frameworks that power your app.
              Here are some of the top mobile app development technologies that dominate the market in 2022:
              React Native

              React Native offers a best-in-class JavaScript library for building native user interfaces for your iOS and Android apps, using a single code base that can be shared across all platforms. It allows developers to iterate at lightning speed and create truly native apps without compromising your user experiences.

              Flutter

              This software is distributed freely to the users on a trial basis, usually with a limited-time offer. After that, the users are expected to pay if they want to continue to use this application software. Some examples of shareware are WinZip, SnapTouch, and Adobe Acrobat.

              Xamarin

              Xamarin is an open-source mobile app platform for the .NET which offers tools and libraries specifically for building apps for Android, iOS, tvOS, watchOS, macOS, and Windows.

              Swift

              If you are building something specific to Apple OS (native to Apple), Swift is the language to seek. Swift is a popular iOS application development language that offers advanced features with minimal coding that can be easily maintained. Swift is a powerful and intuitive language loved by Apple developers who use it for macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and so on.

              Ionic

              Ionic is a modern, open-source mobile development framework that offers seamless app UX across iOS, Android, and the Web from a single shared codebase. Ionic is built on top of Angular JS and Apache Cordova. Ionic is the easiest way for web developers to build, grow, and scale cross-platform mobile apps.

              Apache Cordova

              Apache Cordova is a free and open-source mobile development framework that leverages HTML, CSS, and JS to target multiple platforms with one code base. The framework is an ideal choice if you want to extend your application across more than one platform, without having to re-implement it with each platform's language and tool set.

              Sencha Ext JS

              Sencha Ext JS is a highly comprehensive JS framework for building data-intensive, cross-platform web and mobile applications for any modern device. It offers numerous enterprise-ready tools, components, and libraries to create stunning mobile and web applications.

              The list of mobile app development frameworks and tools is expanding day by day. To choose the right development technology for your mobile app, you need to consider factors such as platform feature support, speed considerations, cost of development, security risk, efficiency of the app, and after launch updates.

              Mobile Application Development Process

              With all the facts and trends substantiating the significance of business mobile apps in 2022, it is important to look at the mobile application development process step-by-step.
              Here is an overview of the mobile app development lifecycle:

              Mobile Application Front-End and Back-End

              Front-end and back-end are two interconnected core components of a mobile application.
              The mobile front-end (client-side rendering) is the visual and interactive part of the mobile application that a user interacts with, while the back-end (server-side rendering) stores, secures, and processes the data.
              Some of the key front-end jobs include web designing, UI designing, UX designing, and front-end development. Back-end developers create the services to process the business logic and access the database, cloud services, and file servers to render the app on the server-side.
              For applications where there is no interaction with a server, front-end and back-end developer roles can be performed by one person. For applications that require internet connection and interaction with a server, you need to hire separate developers for developing each component.

              End-to-end Mobile Application Testing

              To stay on top of competition in the mobile application market, you must test your application before starting the actual sprint. Here are nine steps to ensure the success of your mobile application:
              These steps of mobile application testing ensure efficient performance of the entire software system.

              White Paper

              Have you selected the right mobile app development approach? If not yet, download our white paper to learn more about native, hybrid, cross-platform, and progressive apps.

              How Custom Mobile Apps Help Grow Your Business

              Custom mobile apps are tailor-made applications created to address the requirements of a specific audience rather than a massive group of people. Custom mobile app development provides the functionality and features that plain off-the-shelf solutions cannot. Compared to pre-packaged, canned solutions, customized applications offer the following benefits:
              Custom mobile app development reduces your TCO by automating repetitive manual tasks, increasing employee productivity, lowering integration costs, and quickly accommodating new changes or processes. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of our prominent customers, reported an 80% increase in productivity and a 67% faster ticket resolution rate after Fingent helped them implement a mobile-based smart ticketing system.
              If you are looking for a tailor-made mobile app that can simplify your business operations and enhance your customer experience,
              take a look at our case studies.

              The Cost to Develop a Mobile App

              Mobile app development cost hinges on several factors. Arriving at a ballpark figure depends on whether you want to develop the app in-house or outsource your project to an external app development agency, or if you want to modernize your existing legacy system. Building an in-house team incurs additional costs, such as renting an office space, hiring new employees, and meeting hardware and software requirements.
              The cost of developing a mobile app largely depends on its features and functionalities. The price also hinges on various other factors such as the development team’s size, number of devices and platforms supported by the app, and more. Here are a few aspects that decide the cost of your mobile application.

              1. Features of The App

              Before starting the development project, find out what you expect the application to do. What type of features do you like to include? What are the different functionalities that you are planning to cover? Having more features and functionalities means paying a higher price to your developer. Make a precise list of features and functionalities you would like to include as it influences your app development cost.

              2. Different Devices and Platforms

              Regardless of the type of application you develop, ensure that your app is compatible with the latest and earlier versions of the device’s OS you are opting for. If your app has more screens, you will need better design and user experience to make your app easily navigable. So the development cost also depends on the device OS and platform selection.

              3. Native or Cross-platform Development

              Both native and cross-platform development methods have their own pros and cons, specifically with respect to the development cost. Cross-platform gives your mobile app a uniform look and feel across all the OS that you target and is highly reusable through multiple OS. A native app, on the other hand, offers 100% hardware support and allows you to access the inbuilt capabilities of a user’s device, without sacrificing on the design elements unique to the native platform.
              Native mobile app development cost is higher than cross-platform or hybrid due to its exceptional personalization features, speed, performance, and platform-specific advantages. However, if you want to launch a mobile app quickly at minimal development cost, a cross-platform approach is the right choice. In simple words, the cost of developing a mobile app differs on a case-to-case basis.

              4. In-house Development or Outsourcing

              Arriving at a ballpark estimate also depends on whether you want to develop your mobile app in-house or outsource your project to an external app development agency. Building an in-house team incurs additional costs such as renting an office space, hiring new employees, and meeting hardware and software requirements.
              When you choose to outsource your work to a mobile app development company, you can enjoy cost efficacy and competitive advantage. Consider the agency’s location, technical and industry expertise, previous projects, size, turnaround speed, and references from their clients before engaging them. You should also define the scope and complexity of your app and back-end scalability requirements before employing a third-party developer.

              More insights on mobile app development cost:

              Are you planning to develop a mobile application for your business? Explore our template and share your requirements with us. Our team will get back to you with a ballpark estimate.

              Five Reasons Why Mobile Apps Fail and How to Prevent the Letdown

              Though mobile application development technologies advance year over year, failure of mobile applications is a major concern for entrepreneurs. Only poorly-executed and ill-planned apps are subject to fail in the market. Here are five pitfalls you should avoid to prevent your app from losing out:

              1. Lack of Market Research

              If your mobile app does not address the needs of your target market, it will not enjoy sufficient downloads. Data shows that 80 to 90% of mobile apps downloaded are abandoned after the first use.
              The solution?
              First, do not rush into creating a mobile app just because your business needs it. Conduct a detailed market study to understand what your users actually need. Ask yourself, “Which solution should my app provide that my target audience needs?”
              To answer that question, you must define your target audience and analyze their buying patterns, online behavior, and overall customer habits. This will help you create a mobile app tailored to your goals and customer needs.
              Second, know who your competitor is. Do a competitor analysis to improve your mobile strategy and connect your idea with your target audience.

              2. Absence of a Robust Mobile Strategy

              A poor strategy can fail your app. It takes a bit of creativity and thoughtfulness to incorporate customer needs into a mobile app that can accomplish a specific task quickly and effectively. Proper goal setting improves your mobile app strategy. Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
              Clearly defined goals are crucial in mapping out a robust mobile app strategy.

              3. Poor App Design

              Users will ditch your app in the first eight seconds if they find your app’s design and usability unappealing. Substandard coding and outdated technology can cause epic failures.
              What can you do?
              Remember, great designs bring happy customers. Nearly 58% of iOS apps failed in 2021 due to insufficient testing. Smart mobile app developers take time to conduct several QA tests throughout the different phases of app creation. End-to-end testing ensures that your app is bug-free, user-friendly, and intuitive.

              4. Failure to Execute the Plan Precisely

              It’s common for new business owners to encounter aggressive competition, manage conflicting priorities, or run out of cash. How can you resolve these predicaments and launch your mobile app?

              5. Failure to Market Your App

              After all the hard work, it might still fail if you do not market your app rigorously. Here are a few tips to boost your marketing efforts:

              Tips to Build Successful Mobile Apps

              billion
              $ 0

              According to a report from data.ai, the global app downloads reached 37 billion in the first quarter of 2022, with the biggest ever consumer spending on apps hitting a whopping $33 billion. The message is clear. There is hope for every mobile app. Here are three important tips to help you approach app building with confidence.

              Staying agile and responding quickly to the ever-changing customer needs take you to success, but it comes with a price. It is important to know when to be agile. So pursue realistic goals.
              It is good to be enthusiastic and optimistic about your product, but be wary of the risks and problems. Identifying the risks early will help you react faster and more accurately.
              Make your users feel unique and appreciated. Transparency and trust boosts genuine interactions between your application and its users. To achieve this, you can create a trustworthy rating or review system and a functional service system.

              Develop Your Mobile Application with Fingent

              As we enter the second half of 2022, it’s evident that mobile is the key to success. Investing in a mobile app is the most effective way to match your business model to your key audience’s behavior. If you are an influential enterprise with an active mobile app in the market, your mobile app growth strategy should focus on improving your existing product and deliver more value to customers.
              Fingent specializes in mobile app development and our experts can position your app for success, right from idea to launch. Leveraging insights from the above mobile app development tips and guidelines can help you get a leg up on the competition, cut costs, improve your brand’s visibility, and engage your customers in incredible ways. Contact us to know more.

              Stay up to date on what's new

                About the Author

                ...
                Girish R

                Girish R, Programmer for 17 yrs, Blogger at Techathlon.com, LifeHacker, DIYer. He loves to write about technology, Open source & gadgets. He currently leads the mobile app development team at Fingent.

                Talk To Our Experts

                  Progressive Web Apps: New Cutting-Edge Trend in Web Development

                  Speed and convenience have become crucial in keeping online shoppers engaged. Progressive Web Apps development is a solution that allows the shopper to enjoy an app-like experience via a website (using web browsers). Users can install the PWA application from the browser window and access it just like a native app. In addition, progressive web apps improve the quality of your web applications, making them reliable, fast, and engaging.

                  Are you considering PWA for your business growth? Is it worth exploring this option? This blog will help you take a closer look at why Progressive Web Apps are turning to be the new cutting-edge trend in web development.

                  What is a Progressive Web App?

                  Frances Berriman and Alex Russel coined the buzzword “Progressive Web Apps” in 2015. To date, PWA has been a big player in this mobile-first world. Progressive Web Apps (PWA) have caused digital marketers to rethink how they design and deliver sites.

                  Progressive Web Apps can deliver a blazingly fast and slick app-like shopping experience to the end-user. It combines the best of two worlds: your website and the native application. It can be called a hybrid app as users can now browse your website on their mobile. Besides, PWA promises to solve two vital issues:

                  1. Performance and usability
                  2. Mobile-web conversion rates

                  Read more: Native Apps vs. Web Apps: Choosing the Best for Your Brand

                  Native vs web app

                  Business Benefits of Progressive Web Apps

                  Several companies that focused their efforts on PWAs instead of having a separate native app have experienced increased conversions. A best case in point is the world’s largest online B2B trading platform, Alibaba.com. Alibaba.com increased its conversion rate by 76% across browsers after upgrading its website to PWA.

                  Here’s how your business can benefit from PWA:

                  1. High-performance rate

                  Response time is crucial for audience engagement and better conversion rates. PWA responds quickly as the browser uses caching to save the elements of the layout that are repeated in the template. This improves the speed of downloads and reduces page load time. Subsequently, better performance leads to a better user experience, which in turn increases customer retention rates.

                  2. Ease of use across multiple devices

                  Progressive Web Apps are built with a responsive layout in mind for an improved user experience. A responsive design will fit into any size of the screen with ease. In other words, PWA will adjust the experience as per the device screen size. You can further improve the user experience with a PWA manifest file that controls the full-screen view.

                  3. Seamless browsing experience

                  A traditional website is virtually useless without a stable internet connection, but not a Progressive Web App. PWA can be easily viewed offline as service workers automatically cache important application features and information from the user’s last online access. This way, the user can access it without any network. Plus, you can add a brand logo, product descriptions, and few advanced features to your offline page.

                  This is an additional incentive for shoppers to choose businesses with a Progressive Web App over those that use native apps. Such a seamless browsing experience rewards you with better engagement rates and customer retention.

                  4. Resembles native-built applications

                  PWAs can be designed to look and behave like native apps, or they can be designed to let users know they are browsing the Progressive Web App. Regardless of the developer’s choice, it can contain a complete set of traditional app functionalities with database access. The best part is that you can seamlessly integrate the application into an existing website or an app.

                  Watch Video: Fingent software development experts can help you choose the right mobile app development approach by evaluating your requirements.

                  5. No installation is needed

                  Shoppers can download your app directly onto their devices. Once downloaded, it gets its own icon on the screen, just like a traditional mobile application. This will avoid the slow and complex installation process, improve user experience, and reduce user abandonment.

                  Here is another way it can benefit you: users can easily access the PWA via a URL. In other words, a user can easily share this link with a friend contributing to increased leads.

                  6. No manual updates are required

                  Native apps must be updated periodically through mobile internet or a WIFI connection. Such updates can consume large amounts of data, which may be costly for some users. Fortunately, Progressive Web App updates are performed “on-use,” much like how a website is updated.

                  7. Low development cost

                  Developing a mobile app can be a costly process, especially for small businesses and startups. Thankfully, PWA development is much cheaper than traditional app development but provides a better option for companies to generate a positive ROI.

                  Read more: Mobile app development: 4 tips to consider 

                  Mobile app development

                  8. Wide range of features

                  The most prominent feature of PWA is push notifications. Publishers and developers can use this feature to implement creative advertising solutions. As the push notifications appear on a shopper’s device screen, it is read more often than emails or updates on social media. This can lead to valuable brand awareness and promote products or services.

                  9. Improved app and data security

                  Security has been a concern for both users and developers. According to new standards of web design, all customer information must be moved to HTTPS. So it is highly convenient to launch Progressive Web App within a safe environment. Moreover, it builds customer confidence in the security of their personal information as they enter sensitive data into your PWA.

                  10. Low data and low storage

                  Data is costly in some developing nations. That is why it is a bonus that Progressive Web App consumes only a fraction of data usage compared to native apps. Moreover, it does not take up significant storage space on devices, so users are more inclined to use a lighter app on their smartphones. Also, it contributes to better performance.

                  Read more: Building a Business Mobile App in 2021? Here’s What You Need to Know 

                  Mobile App

                  Progress with Progressive Web Apps

                  Progressive Web Apps are the future of web-hosted apps as they can overcome the inherent limitations of web performance and insufficient or unavailable internet connections. Since PWAs can run on any modern platform, soon they will overtake truly native apps. Yes, PWAs have the potential to change the way the web works. However, Progressive Web Apps will not replace websites and mobile apps altogether. It is still in its infancy. To know which option is best for your business, have a chat with the technology experts at Fingent.

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                    About the Author

                    ...
                    Sreejith

                    I have been programming since 2000, and professionally since 2007. I currently lead the Open Source team at Fingent as we work on different technology stacks, ranging from the "boring"(read tried and trusted) to the bleeding edge. I like building, tinkering with and breaking things, not necessarily in that order.

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                      Which Is The Right Technology Choice While Developing A Client Mobile App?

                      In this digital era where mobile applications are omnipresent for every single requirement, and with the wide adoption of smartphones, more than 5.6 million mobile-specific software applications are available for download via the marketplaces, Google’s Play store, Apple’s App store and Microsoft’s store. Knowledge of niche technology is crucial for an enhanced mobile app development capability. Businesses require robust and efficient mobile applications. For this, they prefer cross-platform mobile app development to leverage all essential features.

                      Industry’s Perception Of Cross-Platform Development

                      In 2012, Facebook had an issue with their cross-platform mobile application due to its unique complexity, scalability constraints and also not being able to meet user expectations. This made Facebook abandon their Hybrid-based cross-platform mobile application and take up Native cross-platform mobile application development, making the reputation of Hybrid mobile app development a debatable topic altogether.

                      When it comes to mobile app development frameworks, React Native and Flutter are those that compete with each other at the technological forefront, to prove their worth. React Native was introduced by Facebook and Flutter is Google’s new fledgling.  

                      Now, to gauge the current pros and cons of both, it is essential to deeply know the important features of the host of cross-platform mobile application development today – Flutter for hybrid application development and React Native for native. To know more about features based on critical factors, adoption, the popularity of these platforms, and other critical aspects, let’s get started!

                      Related Reading: Read along our Whitepaper to know how to choose the right mobile app development approach for your business. 

                      1. Programming Language Used

                      Flutter is a cross-platform framework used for mobile application development. It uses Dart language and is reactive, that is, it solves the problem of responding to incoming asynchronous data. It supports the ‘Hot Reload’ feature where your mobile application can be rerun that accelerates development. Visual Studio Code, Android Studio and IntelliJ Idea are current official supporters of Flutter.

                      React Native is no newbie in mobile application development and is considered as the king of cross-platform mobile application development. It is built on the React library and uses Javascript data flow is unidirectional and makes the components stateless by managing all incoming data at one single place. This javascript framework works on a single code base for iOS and Android applications. Airbnb, Instagram, and Facebook are key users.

                      Key Point: React Native adopts Javascript, which is easy to learn and adapt. On the other hand, since Dart has lesser adoption among the developer community, React Native is definitely the winner here.

                      2. Architecture

                      Flutter being a newbie makes everyone confused about implementing it for their mobile application development. With more than 1450 packages available on Flutter, it seems to pick up more momentum. The main architecture of Flutter is the Business Logic Component or BLoC. The Dart framework that is adopted by Flutter makes use of Skia C++ engine that includes all protocols, and contents.

                      React Native is no beginner and the main architecture patterns being Flux, by Facebook and Redux, the option most preferred by the user community.  

                      Key Point: React Native relies on Javascript bridge to connect with the native modules, whereas on the other hand, Flutter that uses the Dart framework, has most of its components in-built and so does not always require a bridge for communication with its native modules.

                      3. Development

                      Flutter has widgets as building blocks which are ready-to-use widgets, but since these are not adaptive in nature, the difficulty lies in the need to make its adaptation manual. These widgets propose a material design, prompting you with the need to make changes manually.

                      React Native, on the other hand, provides a library of web components for development. Development with React Native is pretty simple as it the create-react-native-package that needs to be installed has a provision for Expo Integration. This means that the code can be run on your device as simple as just having to scan a QR code that appears on the screen.

                      Key Point: React Native allows you to write code once and components will have to be loaded depending on the OS. So first the decision to be made is whether your requirement is for an app that has to look the same on both operating systems or take the advantage of individual features of each OS.

                      Related Reading: Check out the top technologies used for mobile app development.

                      4. Performance

                      Flutter, being fully compiled by the arm C/C++ library, Flutter has got a good performance though there are many factors involved.

                      React Native, on the other hand, is not compiled by C/C++. React Native performs much faster and better than other hybrid applications such as Cordova.

                      Key Point: The major difference is in how Flutter and React Native compile their code. Flutter can be considered less complex as it compiles Dart to C/C++ library, which tends to communicate faster by native code rather than having to bridge with Javascript. However, React Native is a more mature app development framework as it uses Javascript to handle Android, iOS and also web applications, making it a better choice especially for smaller mobile application development.  Though in React Native, developers face problems with hybrid app development, in case of native apps, seamless and reliable performance is offered.

                      5. Level Of Ease To Start Learning

                      The documentation of Flutter is pretty good and helpful, but it is difficult to start learning, which is pretty obvious if you are a beginner into development and Google tells you so when you ask it how to Learn Flutter.  

                      React Native, on the other hand, is much easier to pick up and is a piece of cake for developers, especially for those who have their hands on React or Javascript beforehand.

                      6. Clientele Support

                      Flutter clientele support is not as much as that is available for React Native. The team for Flutter is present at the rate of over 30k stars on Github, over 740 users of a Google Group, 4.5k users on subreddit and of course on Stack Overflow.

                      React Native, on the other hand, is backed by the huge community support of over 9000 users, 68k stars on Github, 14.5k users on subreddit and even has more third-party plug-ins and libraries than Flutter.

                      Related Reading: Can adding speaking and listening abilities to your mobile app pull in more customers?

                      Summary – Is React Native Superior To Flutter?

                      In a nutshell, React Native is more stable for mobile app development than Flutter as it showcases its page of apps that enjoy the support of a very large clientele and Flutter is still new in the technological forefront. Also, considering the aspect of a mobile application that interfaces with banks or large enterprises as such, Native stands in the front row.

                      Also, Security poses a critical factor as hybrid applications can access all features from the device’s hardware layer such as camera, GPS, microphone, etc.

                      Native applications are up-to-date in terms of platform changes, whereas hybrid apps have a sense of uncertainty. Also business would consider the resale value as a key factor as it is important that a potential buyer gets the feeling that the platform adopted for his mobile app is future-proof and will not require frequent re-coding.

                      As for all these reasons, React Native is considered a more viable option and is highly recommended for cross-platform mobile application development than Flutter. To know which mobile app development approach suits your business, get in touch with our tech experts today!

                      Stay up to date on what's new

                        About the Author

                        ...
                        Girish R

                        Girish R, Programmer for 17 yrs, Blogger at Techathlon.com, LifeHacker, DIYer. He loves to write about technology, Open source & gadgets. He currently leads the mobile app development team at Fingent.

                        Talk To Our Experts

                          This month we are covering how creating and fostering mobile-driven digital ecosystem help grow your customer base and provide services effectively. We will also be discussing how zero code platforms ease the pain of mobile app development. Lastly, we cover what happens when Machine Learning meets the business world.

                          Zero-Code Platforms Ease the Pain of Mobile App Development | Business.com

                          Enterprises find themselves plagued with issues like apps not performing as expected, apps scoring low on user experience and more. But with the benefits of zero-code being obvious to more and more businesses, more platforms are on its way to becoming mainstream.

                          Where Do You Fit in the Mobile-Core Digital Ecosystem?| Clutch

                          With the global proliferation of mobile users, enterprises must now focus on mobile-centric solutions. Such a rapid increase in global mobile usage points to a paradigm shift in the future of digital communications.

                          Mobile devices now act as the medium for facilitating all kinds of communications and services within an ecosystem. In addition, their improved connectivity options and versatility makes them ideal for all kinds of digital ecosystems.

                          When Machine Learning Meets the Business World| DZone

                          Let’s discover what happens when Machine Learning meets the business world. Take a look at how it will transform businesses as well as how it will minimize risks.

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                            About the Author

                            ...
                            Tijesh Babu

                            Tijesh has been working as an ERP Business Analyst since 2009 and is currently a part of Fingent's Project Management Office (PMO). With an experience of over 7 years, Tijesh is responsible for analyzing the needs of the business and its customers and providing solutions to business problems.

                            Talk To Our Experts

                              iOS App Development: Grow Your Business With An iOS App

                              With smartphones and tablets emerging as the device of choice for most people, apps are in a boom phase. Businesses are joining the bandwagon in a big way, rolling out apps that offer a world of convenience to their customers and employees alike. However, while doing so, they need to be wary of losing focus.

                              Apps are not just another channel to execute the entire gamut of organizational functions. The most effective apps serve specific purposes, and in the process empower the business.

                              Businesses also need to take a serious look at iOS application development, considering iOS apps have proven to be very engaging. An average iPhone user spends about 75% of her time on apps, probably owing to iOS applications being able to leverage the advanced features and functionality of Apple devices.

                              iOS Application

                              Here are some ways in which you can empower your business, using iOS application.

                              Roll Out Customer-Facing Apps

                              Customer facing iOS app is a good idea, considering Apple devices, such as the iPhone, has more than a 15% share of the total smartphone market. Such apps not only promote sales but help in engaging with customer better. Marketers may send out push notifications on key milestones, keep track of customer behavior, issue special offers when a customer is in the vicinity of a store, and do more. Customers may be given several self-service options, from keeping track of loyalty points to access of neutral product reviews, and more.Customer Facing iOS Apps

                              Empower Internal Teams

                              Imagine the world of convenience when the salesperson, on meeting with a potential or existing customer, pulls out the iPhone, opens an app that draws on data from the CRM, and gather all details about the customer, right from his purchase history to open inquiries, his preferred channels of communication, and so on. The salesperson also gets highly customized tools and relevant insights, such as market surveys, reports, and more. iOS apps facilitate similar empowerment across all functional area, be it accounts, HR, logistics, and other teams.Consumer Buying Behavior

                              Forge Deep Relationship with the Ecosystem

                              More and more businesses seek to develop apps that help the company forge deeper relationships with their ecosystem partners, such as suppliers, contractors, and others. An app that makes explicit real-time stock levels and issue alerts would prompt suppliers to make timely deliveries, and improve the efficiency of their business as well. Contractors could log into another intuitive iOS application to get a list of open projects, deadlines, billing, and more. Channel partners could also gain from first-hand access to a ton of resources, and all the information they require, without having to make follow-ups, or spend time seeking information.

                              Facilitate the “Internal” Customer

                              An iOS app could likewise benefit the “internal customer” of the enterprise. Employees could, for instance, use an internal employee app to make leave requests, access their payroll details, stay updated on everything from upcoming team meetings to office parties, and more. Such apps eliminate complicated and time-consuming paperwork, be it filing trip sheets, expense reports, or appraisal forms. With the bulk of information readily available at their fingertips, employees can focus wholeheartedly on their core tasks, improving their productivity manifold.

                              Internal Customer

                              Streamline Internal Processes

                              Many enterprise apps streamline internal workings and deliver big productivity gains. Employees starting a task could hook up to an iOS application that guides them through the specific process flow, helping them complete the task without being bogged down by doing things the wrong way, or seeking instructions. The app could also facilitate electronic submissions of documents and bills associated with the task, and make sure the next in line gets a notification to process the same. The benefits are multifold and include reduced paperwork, better productivity, faster turnaround time, and cost-cutting. Still better, employees are empowered to do the task from anywhere, at any time.

                              Promote “Smart” Work

                              Apps can help employees work smarter instead of harder. A case in point: the average employee attends 62 meetings a month, wasting a whopping 31 hours in the process. A collaborative app that enables managers to set targets, notify team members of their targets and deadlines, allow team members to submit their results, and do more can eliminate a good chunk of such meetings, and save considerable time. Such app based internal communications is also a good way to overcome silos, a big stumbling block for the free flow of information.

                              Work Smart

                              Transform Organizational Processes

                              Rolling out iOS applications could even eliminate certain traditional functions altogether. For instance, a training app that delivers instructional videos, handbooks, and other resources to the employee’s iPhone could completely eliminate the need for training sessions. The cost saved in terms of arranging training resources and the trainer’s time alone would repay the investment in the app many times over. Employees could also leverage such apps to unlock training and development opportunities not available before. The impact on employee performance and commitment are worth its weight in gold.

                              All the possibilities come to pass only when the app development is done right. iOS developers would do well to customize enterprise apps by giving it a distinct look and feel that resonate the brand image, offer appropriate options such as choice of languages, flexibility to enable or disable certain features, location mapping and more. The ability to customize the app and the presence of value-added features make the employee feel more connected and enhance the worth of the app.

                              Development of iOS apps is a far more straightforward process, compared to developing Android apps, as Apple provides standardized SDKs, APIs, and IDE needed for the application development. However, Apple’s app store discards apps that do not meet its guidelines, and as such iOS app development requires a much more concentrated and focused effort. A partnership with a reputable company to develop the iOS application helps pass the iTunes test and ensure the effort invested in the app development process does not go waste.

                              Stay up to date on what's new

                                About the Author

                                ...
                                Girish R

                                Girish R, Programmer for 17 yrs, Blogger at Techathlon.com, LifeHacker, DIYer. He loves to write about technology, Open source & gadgets. He currently leads the mobile app development team at Fingent.

                                Talk To Our Experts

                                  Write once, run anywhere – the alluring catchphrase of Java still seems relevant. Since Sun Microsystems unveiled Java, it has remained the most popular programming language in use. Object-oriented and class-based, Java stood its ground even when the development space became saturated with a plethora of new languages. However, with time, programming languages do get phased out once newer and better platforms take over.

                                  And then came Kotlin. The search for a tenable Java alternative reached fruition with Kotlin, a statically-typed programming language running on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Essentially, Kotlin stripped Java of its complexities and came up with a refined alternative that is as versatile as its predecessor.

                                  The Czech software company JetBrains unveiled Project Kotlin in 2011 with the objective of coming up with a better alternative to Java. They looked to Scala, another Java alternative with support for functional programming, but were taken aback by its slow compilation times.

                                  Kotlin Goes Public

                                  In 2016, JetBrains launched Kotlin v1.0, its official stable release to the public. Kotlin immediately gained traction among the Android development community. They lauded its refined framework and faster compilation times, complete with added tool support, as a significant advantage over Java. Things gained momentum when Google announced Kotlin as a first class language for developing Android apps at the I/O 2017.

                                  What followed was an outburst of mainstream apps all written fully or partially with Kotlin. Kotlin had everything that developers couldn’t find in Java or any of its alternatives like, JRuby or Groovy. It is concise and 100 percent interoperable with Java. Added to that, Kotlin came with extensive compatibility with Android Studio in which IntelliJ IDEA, JetBrains’ own Java IDE serve as the backbone.

                                  With interest in Kotlin skyrocketing, global adoption rates point to a widespread disruption.  From freelance developers to software development houses, the adoption of Kotlin has increased manyfold.  In the Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results of 2018, Kotlin is just behind Rust as the most loved programming languages. In the near future, Kotlin could become the de facto standard in Android development.

                                  Kotlin’s Development Philosophy Strikes a Balance

                                  Andrey Breslav, Kotlin’s lead language designer at JetBrains highlighted that the goal of Kotlin is to serve as a general-purpose language, which is concise, adaptable and fully interoperable with Java. By giving these extended set of functionalities, JetBrains intends to push the developer to migrate into Kotlin. Plain old Java has numerous flaws and the developers at JetBrains couldn’t conceive things as they wanted. For them, greater interoperability and productivity in the language is the need of the hour to quickly compile and execute code.

                                  When working with Kotlin, we could easily pinpoint its structural similarities with its parent language, Java. The brains behind Kotlin did not just want to create a new language, but one which is in all ways a “better language” than Java. Platforms like Scala, although they offered extensive feature list and functionality, failed when it comes to build times and tool support. Kotlin managed to tick all the right boxes and struck a balance on how an ideal Java alternative should be.

                                  Kotlin borrows some elements from Scala to bring out a more upgraded version. In fact, one could find that Kotlin does contain certain instances from other programming languages as well. Pascal, an early procedural and imperative programming language remained fairly influential in the development of Kotlin. Certain elements of it, like parameter lists and variable declarations with the data type following the name of the variable could be found in Kotlin too.

                                  Bringing Full-Scale Interoperability with Java

                                  What distinguishes Kotlin from other languages is its full interoperability with Java and the Android runtime. It is easier to call existing Java codes from Kotlin and Kotlin codes from Java. Developers could use all the Java frameworks to build highly responsive and feature-rich apps. Both the platforms, Kotlin and Java, identify each of their classes as their own, which enables seamless interchange and compatibility. This interoperability with Java could be demonstrated with a few lines of Java code as listed below:

                                  MainActivity.kt

                                  class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
                                  
                                  override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
                                  
                                      super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
                                  
                                      setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
                                  
                                      // accessing "getSum"  method from a java class
                                  
                                      val result = SumHelper.getSum(1, 2)
                                  
                                  }
                                  
                                  }
                                  
                                  

                                  SumHelper.java

                                  public class SumHelper
                                  {
                                  
                                  public static int getSum(int val1, int val2){
                                         return val1+val2;
                                  }
                                  }

                                  Fig 1. Kotlin – Java Interoperability

                                  This extensive interoperability of Kotlin with Java owes it to the fact that JetBrains worked on all the limitations of Java and sought to bring out something more refined. Together, the team worked on a new version that is different but still has Java as its backbone. Besides, Kotlin fully supports Java 6 and 7, the current versions used by Android developers.

                                  Java Lacks Key Elements that Current Developers Need

                                  Java has been around for more than two decades. Developers still continue to build great apps using its highly versatile and robust framework. Like every language, Java too has its limitations chiefly because it is old. Even though numerous updates were released over the years, they failed to address some essential problems associated with coding using Java.

                                  When it comes to Android development, Java lacks support for key elements like lambdas, streams, method references, etc. Null Pointer Exception continues to be a fundamental flaw of Java, particularly in the way it handles them. Null references in code often referred as the Billion Dollar Mistake is the key reason why several apps written in Java still undergo occasional crashes.

                                  Moreover, Java is verbose and takes a lot of code to get even a simple program up and running. The APIs involved in Java get rather complicated as the developer is forced to go through multiple steps, which take more time. Kotlin, on the other hand, requires lesser coding than Java by reducing both redundant and boilerplate code, making development a whole lot faster.

                                  A Class Declaration in Java

                                  public final class PersonJava {
                                  
                                  private final String name;
                                  
                                  private final int age;
                                  
                                  private final String email;
                                  
                                  private final long phone;
                                  
                                  public PersonJava(String name, int age, String email, long phone) {
                                  
                                  this.name = name;
                                  
                                  this.age = age;
                                  
                                  this.email = email;
                                  
                                  this.phone = phone;
                                  
                                  }
                                  
                                  public String getName() {
                                  return name;
                                  
                                  }
                                  
                                  public int getAge() {
                                  return age;
                                  
                                  }
                                  
                                  public String getEmail() {
                                  return email;
                                  
                                  }
                                  
                                  public long getPhone() {
                                  return phone;
                                  
                                  }
                                  
                                  }
                                  
                                  

                                  In Kotlin

                                  data class PersonJava(val name: String, val age: Int, val email: String, val phone: Long)

                                  Fig 2. Side by Side Comparison of Kotlin and Java Code

                                  Lesser code means developers can write a program in lesser time and the code has greater readability combined with fewer chances of bugs or manual coding errors. Memory leaks are also a frequent problem with Java due to the way it implements anonymous inner classes and nested classes.

                                  Kotlin Edges out over Java in Conciseness

                                  With Google’s official endorsement, Kotlin has become the most commonly used language for Android development. The simplicity and robustness of Kotlin means both proficient and novice developers can write and debug applications with ease. Generally, Kotlin requires fewer steps or ceremonies when writing code, which simplifies the process altogether. Compared to Java, Kotlin has:

                                  • More concise class declarations because of primary constructors and properties
                                  • Robust type interface eliminates the need for repeating the same types again
                                  • Function parameters with default values mostly do away with delegating overloads
                                  • Availability of top-level functions substitute static utility classes

                                  Being more concise than Java, Kotlin edges it out when it comes to ease of coding. It takes a redefined approach to programming to untangle several complicated workflows that developers face when using Java.

                                  Meanwhile, Kotlin’s less verbose coding decreases the time taken to code and enhances the readability while also reducing the chances for any errors or bugs. Writing lesser code means developers can reduce the number of boilerplate codes while improving their productivity and avoiding tediousness.

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                                  Kotlin is Nothing but an Improvised Version of Java

                                  A notable benefit of Kotlin over Java is that it does not sway from being completely independent of the latter. In fact, Kotlin is an improvised form of Java, with all its limitations sorted out. Kotlin still relies on Java libraries but refines them all together to improve their functionality.

                                  In the existing Java ecosystem, Kotlin manages to integrate each of its elements like the Java libraries, APIs and frameworks. In fact, Kotlin incorporates Java’s procedural and functional programming aspect at the right balance. Besides, its lightweight framework combined with modern features make it a refined version of Java that is in every way better than the original.

                                  Android Development Gets Swift and Efficient with Kotlin

                                  Kotlin aims at being pragmatic and productive at the same time all the while serving itself as a general purpose language fully compatible with Java. Owing to its compactness, Kotlin has proved itself a workhorse among the Android development community. It steers clear of all the limitations of Java with its full interoperability with the existing ecosystems of libraries and code. Here are a few reasons why Kotlin remains the ideal platform for Android development currently.

                                  Developer Friendly:

                                  Novice developers can easily learn and adapt Kotlin owing to its simplicity. It takes less time to learn to code with Kotlin due to its uncomplicated learning curve. Developers already proficient in Java would appreciate the familiarity of its coding process and streamlined approach to programming. Meanwhile, the availability of existing Java libraries, frameworks and lesser coding, amps up the speed of coding, allowing developers to conceive applications faster than before.

                                  Excellent IDE Support:

                                  IntelliJ IDEA, JetBrains’ own platform serves as the base for Android Studio and thus offers extensive IDE support to Kotlin allowing developers to seamlessly build apps. This ready integration with the IntelliJ IDEA framework enables access to its wide range of productivity tools. Configuring Kotlin plugin could be undertaken within minutes in Android Studio. Besides, every single process of coding in Kotlin from writing, navigation, debugging and unit testing happens effortlessly with the improved support offered through the IDE.

                                  Enhanced Versatility:

                                  Kotlin was designed to address some of the fundamental flaws in Java and it did well. Integrated into its framework is a built-in null checking feature that helps avoid frequent errors. Kotlin’s compiler also includes a feature that automatically corrects mistakes in the code simultaneously while it is being written in the console. These rich features negate several issues in Android development giving developers a clean and versatile platform to work with. Besides, it allows developers to streamline the production process through its features like search and auto-completion of code.

                                  Open source:

                                  JetBrains announced open source status under Apache 2 for Kotlin in 2012. The Java to Kotlin converter tool can seamlessly convert an existing Java project into Kotlin to save on time and work. Besides, it is completely free to use for any developer wishing to expand their skill set or get acquainted with its refined framework.

                                  Summing Up

                                  Every new language introduced into programming has the potential to disrupt it. Developers, when faced with limitations while working on their existing language readily adopt a new language that mitigates these issues. And Kotlin proved to be just that with Java. Its swiftness and concise nature proved instrumental in its widespread adoption among the Android development community.

                                  For them, Kotlin seemed a better Java and its great interoperable support combined with expressive nature meant they could code just like they did with Java but in a fast and efficient manner. That does not mean that it will completely phase out the former. Java will still be around as a versatile language for years.

                                  In times to come, newer versions of Kotlin gets released, which would be more developer friendly and complete with added features and support. More apps will utilize Kotlin to develop Android apps and there will come a point where it will ultimately substitute Java. Moreover, the steep adoption rates signal an increasing prominence of Kotlin for Android development in the near future.

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                                    About the Author

                                    ...
                                    Girish R

                                    Girish R, Programmer for 17 yrs, Blogger at Techathlon.com, LifeHacker, DIYer. He loves to write about technology, Open source & gadgets. He currently leads the mobile app development team at Fingent.

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                                      DevOps is a markedly different way of doing things compared to traditional software development, with an overriding focus on high velocity. Enterprises adopting the DevOps approach use tools, techniques and practices in a way to deliver services and applications at a fast pace, without compromising quality.

                                      While DevOps is the flavor of the season owing to its obvious advantages, very few enterprises are actually able to execute it right. For the majority of the enterprises, their efforts fall short of expectations. A recent Ponemon Institute survey reveals 74% of surveyed enterprises believing that Hybrid Cloud and DevOps enablement capabilities as essential, or important for their enterprises, but only one in every three enterprises believing they actually have the ability to execute it. Likewise, a whopping 80% of enterprises believe microservices and container enablement to be essential, very important, or important for their enterprise, but only one in four of them believing they have the capability for it.

                                      Here are the key reasons why enterprises struggle with DevOps and hybrid cloud.

                                      The Trappings of Culture

                                      Legacy systems and entrenched work culture pose a big challenge to the successful implementation of DevOps.

                                      Quali’s 2016 annual survey on DevOps and cloud computing ranks company culture as the biggest barrier to DevOps. For DevOps to succeed, enterprises need to inculcate a collaborative culture where stakeholders have shared goals, and are willing to take the initiative. This includes identifying employees ready to be DevOps champions in the organization and entrusting ownership of DevOps initiatives to them. There is a need to sell the initiative to the rank and file employees, convincing them of what is in it for them, and buying their support. The buy-in should be backed up by robust training programmes on the new methods and initiatives adopted.

                                      The Menace of Shadow IT

                                      Shadow IT is a major reason why cloud implementations, and by extension, DevOps end up more costly and less effective than expected.

                                      Many employees, owing to practical exigencies, deploy ad-hoc tools and create silos, incompatible with the rest of the enterprise systems. Such end users bypass the enterprise level IT and cloud management technologies, and communicate directly AWS, Microsoft Azure or other clouds, using native APIs or their own public cloud accounts. The net result is a patchwork mess.

                                      With shadow IT in vogue, the enterprise cloud becomes complex and opaque, and almost impossible to manage. Several CSOs find themselves unable to implement the required security protocols and watch helplessly as things go out of control. They are unable to identify the location of their machines or worse, even their data. They have little or no control over the network layer and even the application layer. Such lack of visibility and control expose the enterprise to cyber-attacks and other shocks.

                                      In an ideal cyber-world, enterprises have a single integrated user interface through which they can view and control the entire environment. The Ponemon Institute survey reveals 68% of respondents lacking such capability.

                                      The Problem of Legacy System

                                      Quali’s survey on the major impediments to DevOps lists testing automation, legacy systems, complexity, and budget constraints in the pecking order of the major impediments to DevOps, after culture. For a majority of the enterprises, success depends not just on delivering on new innovations but also the extent to which they can modernize or upgrade their incumbent software and systems.

                                      About 44% of enterprises find their traditional IT environments too complex for the cloud. Installing new hardware or software to coexist with older systems is always difficult.  However, the hybrid cloud model, where some applications reside within the traditional data center and other applications are hosted on public cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, offer a viable solution. Such a hybrid-cloud based model co-opts legacy infrastructure and applications in the DevOps plans. Cloud Technology

                                      Hybrid IT usually develops organically, without the involvement of IT or security, as shadow IT sets in.  It requires management with an iron first to end turf wars and demolish silos.

                                      Enterprises which succeed in DevOps display a high level of hybrid cloud maturity. They use an integrated cloud management platform (CMP) for provisioning, capacity rightsizing, automation, cloud governance, workflow orchestration, self-service, single-pane-of-glass visibility, and cost management. Newer CMP 2.0 platforms go a step ahead and reduce the friction and complexity associated with microservices, containers, cloud-native applications, and DevOps.

                                      Challenges of Integration – Hybrid Cloud and DevOps

                                      Developers deploy different tools for their DevOps efforts. The most popular tools in use include Jenkins, Docker, Puppet, and Chef. the favorite tool of the developer may however not be the best to integrate various systems and applications running within the enterprise. The net result is a fragmented toolset adoption, which leads to loss of control, and also adds to the costs.

                                      Lack of central governance and automation are key stumbling blocks towards the smooth implementation of DevOps.

                                      A sound DevOps plan requires:

                                      • A clear and solid architecture based on on-premises, cloud, and containers, early on in the process.
                                      • An action plan co-opting milestones and well-defined deliverables
                                      • Standardized and automated cloud sandboxes and other tools.
                                      • Due attention to test automation

                                      Cost-Benefit Analysis

                                      While DevOps and the cloud offer many benefits, implementation comes at a price. Many DevOps initiatives can be pricey, and failing to factor in the price upfront can lead to the project stalling midway, and a half-baked implementation, which may make things worse than before.

                                      While many open source solutions abound, does not mean free. The enterprise still has to pay development and often support costs as well. Most enterprises also underestimate the cost to integrate the existing enterprise ecosystem and resolving the ensuring operational complexity.

                                      The average DevOps and microservices enablement costs of an enterprise is $34 million per year, which works out to about 23% of the average per-capita annual enterprise cloud management budget.

                                      Related to the budget is top management support. Getting top management buy-in upfront is an important prerequisite for DevOps success. Top management listens to numbers, and as such, the benefits need to be quantified, in terms of dollar spend. Done right, DevOps offer innumerable benefit to the enterprise, but done wrong, the investment and the effort go down the drain!

                                       

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                                        About the Author

                                        ...
                                        Sreejith

                                        I have been programming since 2000, and professionally since 2007. I currently lead the Open Source team at Fingent as we work on different technology stacks, ranging from the "boring"(read tried and trusted) to the bleeding edge. I like building, tinkering with and breaking things, not necessarily in that order.

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