Category: Mobility

Is custom software poised to fulfill business needs in 2021?

From small firms to established companies, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses and leaders to embrace digital transformation. Businesses are spending more on custom software solutions to ensure smooth workflow as they switch their operations to virtual workspaces. Custom software development and mobile application development have become inevitable for business growth and success. As technology advances, intelligent interfaces and highly intuitive cognitive capabilities transform businesses in unimaginable ways.

Custom software solutions appeal to tech leaders and companies of all sectors globally. In today’s dipping economy, software development companies like Fingent help businesses restart or rebuild what they lagged with custom software solutions. 

Read more: 5 reasons why custom software development is important to your business 

What is a custom software solution?

A custom software solution is the best response for both clients and customers to adapt to the new normal. Currently, many organizations are allowing their employees to work from home, thereby limiting physical interactions. Such organizations adopt customized software applications tailored for specific use by their employees. Remote working software tailored to meet specific workplace requirements and maintain privacy without affecting the workflow allows businesses to better serve their customers. 

Simply put, custom software development involves designing, developing, implementing, and managing a particular software application used by a specific set of audience, functions, or organizations. 

A software development company first analyzes the business and its product requirements to develop customized scalable, dynamic, and cost-effective software solutions. It helps meet the needs and preferences of the customers, clients, and the organization at large.

The new normal is making it difficult for businesses to obtain a competitive edge, so they resort to custom software applications rather than off-the-shelf software development. Thanks to these tailor-made solutions, work is becoming easier and enabling businesses to take a step ahead.

What is the difference between custom software and commercial software?

Custom software solutions are designed and built to adapt to the changing market demands. Off-the-shelf software allows businesses to adjust to their expertise. Commercial off-the-shelf applications come pre-packaged and are purchased by enterprises to carry out their tasks. Custom software enables you to retain only the features you use and supports scalability in the future.   

View infographic: What are the advantages of custom software over commercial off-the-shelf solutions? 

Why do businesses need custom software development services?

Custom software solutions are one of the best ways for businesses to survive in today’s uncertain market. Moreover, custom software development assures that your data remains secure and confidential as there is a high amount of data security risk with off-the-shelf software. Custom software is the best option today, considering your business’s privacy, security, and accountability. As custom software is made exclusively for in-house use, the associated risks are low.

What are the benefits of custom software solutions?

1. Improves efficiency

Custom software is designed to support the specific processes followed by a business entity and its users. Hence it improves the productivity and operational efficiency of the business and its employees. By automating mundane tasks and tweaking the workflow to eliminate unwanted elements, custom software implementation adds business value.  

2. Reduces integration costs

Most of the commercial off-the-shelf software fails to work with existing and legacy applications. If it does not comply, businesses will have to invest further to ensure that the prepackaged software operates with the existing infrastructure. On the other hand, custom software integrates well with the current environment and adapts to a business’s needs.

3. Scalability

Custom software can grow as the business expands or changes. Developers can assess future requirements and incorporate them into the application. It can save costs associated with purchasing additional licenses or subscriptions of commercial applications.

4. Profitability

Investing in custom software development increases the profitability of a business. Depending on the project’s terms and conditions, the organization that creates custom software can own it or license it or sell it to other organizations.

5. Independence

As you will be free of a commercial software vendor, you need not worry about price hikes for licensing and support or whether the vendor terminates a product or goes out of business. However, the business that develops and uses custom software should bear the cost of maintaining and supporting the software. So, every organization must carefully decide whether it’s better to buy or build.

Read more: How to Choose the Right Custom Software Development Firm 

Technologies and practices to consider in custom software development

1. Open-source

Open-source indicates that the software source code is open to the public and the development community to use. For example, Microsoft, Linux, and Google. Open source can significantly improve development productivity through software component reuse and improve interoperability by avoiding proprietary architecture.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence allows the software to replicate human decision making and learning. It can enhance the development process. For example, natural language processing (NLP) is used to analyze requirements from elaborate texts and recommends improvements based on best practices. AI technologies such as machine learning and modeling may also be incorporated into applications through application programming interfaces (API) and cloud services.

3. Blockchain technology

Developers are leveraging open- source hyper ledger technology and blockchain ledgers to build new types of secure transactional and financial applications that can boost business processes.

4. Cloud-based development

It brings the advantages of cloud computing by hosting development environments in the cloud. It supports design, coding, integration, and other development functions to build on-premises and cloud-native applications. These environments also promise cost control, speed, and on-demand convenience.

5. Mobile application technology

With the customers’ buying behavior shifting from products and services to experiences, mobile application technology is a must. So, developers have to connect mobile apps with data to improve and enrich the user experience. 

6. Analytics technologies

These technologies enable software applications and their users to understand data through dashboards, visualizations, and predictive capabilities. AI, cloud-based services, and automation make it easier to incorporate analytics into applications.

The health crises and economic uncertainties brought in by the COVID-19 pandemic have compelled businesses to adopt solutions tailored for use by their employees and customers. So, opting for custom software solutions is a wise decision as they can be customized to suit your business needs.

Read more: 5 Custom software development trends every business should know 

While the initial investments seem a bit high, custom apps will get you a higher ROI in the future. If you are looking for a custom software solution for your business, all you need to do is select a trusted and reputed company like Fingent. We first understand your requirements and help preserve your accountability in the market. To know more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Leading Mobile App Development Frameworks in 2021

The COVID-19 forced social distancing and lockdown policies are driving a steady rise in mobile usage. In Q3 of 2020 alone, 33 billion new apps were downloaded globally, according to a recent report. Mobile users worldwide have spent 180 billion collective hours each month of the third quarter, with a whopping spend of $28 billion on technology apps. Undoubtedly, the pandemic would have a lasting impact on mobile app development trends and technologies going forward, just like how it transformed the consumer mobile behavior. 

It is true that a well engaging and standout business app will enhance branding and retain customers. Every business that wants to sell its products, extend assistance, offer service, or share information will definitely strive to make its mobile app user-friendly and accessible to customers. Besides identifying how your mobile application will function or what resources you’ll require, it’s important to figure out which mobile development platforms or technology in mobiles will serve your needs better. 

Watch Video: How to choose the right mobile app development approach

Let it be Android mobile apps development, iOS, hybrid, or cross-platform, you need to familiarize yourself with the mobile development application tech in vogue. 

Five major programming languages used to develop mobile apps today

The five major programming languages that are largely used for mobile app development include:

1. 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. 

2. C++ 

C++ forms the simplistic base for most of the programming languages and possesses the power to create dynamic technology apps. C++ is highly sought after today to develop multi-platform apps. You can write code in C++ to develop the application once and use it on different platforms (Android, iOS, and Windows) without sacrificing the app’s performance or security. The simple and effective compiler-based approach makes it a versatile tool that can be used for multiple platforms. Its sister language, Objective-C, was earlier used for app development in Apple systems, prior to the introduction of Swift in 2014.

3. Java 

Since the introduction of Android in 2008, this object-oriented programming language has been the popular and official language for Android mobile app development. An extremely versatile language, Java helps keep your app flexible, modular, and extensible. Java is easy to handle and many open source libraries are made available for users to choose from. 

4. HTML5 

There is no better technology to use than HTML5 if your organization is looking at developing web-frontend applications for mobile devices. Organizations that consider cross-platform mobile app development as a daunting task often resort to HTML5 as it helps you deliver the right functionality and exceptional user experience. The “write-once-run-anywhere” advantage offered by HTML5 accelerates your time to market, improves your app’s visibility, makes development affordable, and supports offline browsing. 

5. PHP 

A rather easy language to learn, PHP is object-oriented and uses a three-layered model to help create dynamic mobile apps and web applications. It is highly suitable for apps that require database integration. Popular PHP frameworks such as Laravel, Lumen, CodeIgniter, and Symfony are being used extensively for building mobile apps that require complex backend and exhaustive data migration. Large scale app projects prefer this open-source language a lot as it simplifies caching, authentication, and even routing. 

A host of advanced technology tools are available for those who are looking forward to creating their own mobile apps using these programming languages. These developer tools are perfect for building mobile apps from scratch and even offer multi-platform capabilities for reaching larger audiences.

Read more: How to Empower your Business with an iOS Application

Top tools that can help you get started with building your own mobile app 

1. PhoneGap

PhoneGap, also known as Apache Cordova, is an open-source mobile app development framework that uses CSS3, HTML5, and JavaScript, to create native applications for Android, Windows, and iOS. This framework allows mixing native and hybrid code snippets which results in apps that are neither truly native mobile nor web-based applications. 

2. Appcelerator 

This open-source framework is the best choice to develop hardware-based apps. The framework uses HTML, PHP, and JavaScript to create native apps for iOS, Android, and Windows UWP.

3. RhoMobile 

RhoMobile Suite is based on the powerful Rhodes open-source framework that supports native app development for multiple platforms. It’s highly used to build cross platform and native consumer and enterprise mobile applications. RhoMobile uses web technologies like  CSS3, HTML5, JavaScript, and Ruby to build apps for most of the operating systems including iOS, Android, and Windows.

4. WidgetPad 

WidgetPad is one of the best open-source frameworks for cross platform mobile application development. It uses web technologies like JavaScript and HTML5 to offer a multitude of options like source code editing, versioning, and distribution. This open-source framework enables developing applications for platforms like Android, iOS, and web.

5. MoSync 

MoSync is an open-source multi-platform mobile app development kit that utilizes programming languages such as JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, and Python. It is integrated with Eclipse-based IDE and enables native mobile app development for multiple platforms using C/ C++ programming.

Case Study: Explore how a Video Making Mobile App developed by Fingent transformed our customer’s experience. Click here to download the case study!

Leading mobile application development frameworks that developers need to explore in 2021

1. Flutter 

Flutter is the new trending cross-platform mobile application development technology in town. It uses “Dart” as a programming language instead of JavaScript which facilitates rapid and effective analysis, fabricates UIs, includes highlights and fixes bugs in milliseconds. The open source cross-platform SDK by Google extends a wide range of plugins backed by Google and allows mobile apps to be built for both Android and Apple iOS platforms.

2. React Native 

This JavaScript open-source framework has become the most preferred native mobile app development technology. It offers ample support to IDEs and other mobile app development tools and enables the development of native apps for iOS and Android platforms. ReactNative framework allows to build native mobile apps with JavaScript, using the same design as React. Apps built using React Native are real mobile apps, that cannot be distinguished from an app built using Objective-C or Java or Swift.

3. Ionic

Ionic uses the HTML5 programming language and is widely preferred for mobile app development today. It combines HTML, CSS3, and JavaScript to build native apps and create their UI functionalities with ease. This mobile app development technology works on iOS’s UIWebView or Android’s WebView. 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.

4. Xamarin 

This cross-platform framework with coding advantages of C# uses single code across iOS, Android, Windows, and other platforms. With the benefits of code sharing, Xamarin builds applications that render exact native app experience. It is the most time and cost saving framework for mobile app development. Xamarin allows you to deliver native Android, iOS, and Windows apps with a single shared .NET code base. The framework offers access to the full spectrum of functionality exposed by the underlying platform and device, including platform-specific capabilities. 

Get your FREE mobile app specification template here!

5. NativeScript

Originally developed by Progress (Telerik by Progress), NativeScript is one of the most desired open source frameworks to develop Apple iOS and Android apps today. NativeScript allows developers to build mobile apps using JavaScript or by any other language that trans-compiles to JavaScript (eg: TypeScript). Native API reflection, Angular integration, and Vue.js integration are some of the notable features of NativeScript. The framework also allows developers to re-purpose third-party libraries from Maven, npm.js, and CocoaPods into their apps without using any wrappers. 

6. Felgo

Felgo, previously known as V-Play Engine is a popular cross-platform development framework used to create mobile games and apps. Felgo uses Qt as its core framework which simplifies the development of games and apps. With Felgo, you can create flexible and modern apps compiled natively from a single code-base for Android, iOS, Desktop, Web, and Embedded platforms. 

7. Mobile Angular UI

Mobile Angular UI is an open source mobile framework that combines the best features of Angular js and Bootstrap 3 syntax, including the missing components of Bootstrap. It provides fresh UI components such as navbar, sidebars, modals and overlays, switches, etc. Since it makes use of Angular js and Bootstrap, it’s easy for developers to learn the framework and get started. Mobile Angular UI allows businesses to build HTML5 hybrid mobile and desktop apps with less effort. 

Are you looking forward to building an innovative mobile app to boost your revenue?

Get your FREE mobile app specification template here!

Trends that will dominate the mobile app development arena in 2021

• Chatbots and voice assistants will automate the most frequent human interactions. AI integration will improve user engagement and save businesses a lot of money. It’s reported that by 2025, 95% of all customer interactions are expected to occur via channels that support Artificial Intelligence (AI). 
• Statista reports that by 2022, the global AR headset shipments will cross 30 million units, which is 12 times more than the figures recorded in 2020. As Augmented Reality becomes highly pervasive today, critical industry fields such as training, safety, industrial maintenance, education, and healthcare will have to adopt AR-powered mobile/tablet apps. 
• Increasing initiatives undertaken by e-commerce players in the recent years have spurred the growth of mobile wallets/ digital wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal, and Amazon Pay. In the United States alone, mobile wallet market size is set to register a CAGR of 15% during 2020-2026. Convenience, ease of use, availability of inexpensive smartphones, and extensive promotion from banking service providers are some of the reasons that encourage shoppers and consumers to adopt mobile wallets. 
• The increasing consumer demand for faster data speed, low latency, enhanced user experience driven by Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), UHD videos, seamless video calling, and gaming experience will forcibly drive 5G adoption in 2021. Research discloses that the 5G services market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 43.9% during 2021-2027, with a revenue forecast of USD 414.50 Billion by 2027. 
• Loading time affects your bottom line terribly. An e-commerce site that makes $100,000 a day will lose $2.5 million sales annually, even if there is a 1-second delay in its loading time. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) plugin launched by Google is becoming a mandatory factor that determines your mobile site’s ranking. AMP-optimized web/ mobile pages will rank faster and better and own the double-chance of converting visitors into customers. 

Read More: Mobile App Development : 4 Tips To Consider

Thus, we come to the conclusion that mobile apps have become the most convenient source of contact between businesses and customers. But when it comes to choosing the best technology to create exemplary mobile apps, there are multitudes of options. The best way is to have a ground plan and seek the help of a custom software development company like ours that offers full-cycle app development as per your requirement. Talk to our expert right away! 

One platform to accelerate learning & skill development

Skill Lake hosts different learning modes that help your employees master the needed skills and expand their knowledge for higher productivity at work.

Try Skill Lake

Top Digital Alternatives to Go Paperless and Survive the Recession!

• Introduction
• Document Management Software
• Electronic Invoicing System
• Digital Signature
• Remote Work Collaboration Software
• Virtual Hiring and On-boarding
• Workflow Automation
• Mobile Payments
• Choosing the Best Way to Implement Paperless Initiatives

Concerned about app development costs? Here’s all you need to know!

There will be more people with access to smartphones in 2021 than with access to running water! Well, then there’s no questioning the fact that app development has become the need of the hour to capture the huge rapidly growing market. Investing in app development is valuable to establish yourself as an authority in your industry. As much as you would like to build an app, you might have many queries. One most pertinent question is: How much does it cost to create an app? This will be answered in detail in this blog. 

How much does it cost to create an app?

Some people think that creating an app requires a gigantic investment and that the cost of app development is an expensive affair. The truth is, not all types of apps require a princely budget. There is a lot of thought and work that goes into building an app from scratch, so the cost may vary. But looking into what is involved will help us make a fair estimate.

It is important to understand that the cost to build an app depends on various factors like the type of app, the platform you choose, the design, and the number of pages required. For instance, an app that doesn’t require back-end features like an email subscription, calendar, or social login, and API integration will not need a huge budget. On the other hand, multi-lingual support, custom features, and real-time updates will need resources in terms of the development budget. Each app is unique and the cost of making an app is based on the time and effort required to build an app. 

HackerNoon rates Fingent in the Top 20 when it comes to Mobile App Development Services. Our mobile team has years of experience working with a range of cost-effective mobile application projects. We’ve helped some of the world’s biggest companies create applications to enhance user experience and integrate new-age technologies. 

What Are Some Major Factors That Affect the Cost to Build an App?

Let’s look at some of the specifics that we need to consider, that may affect the cost of building an app. 

1. Functionalities, Scope, And Features of the App

The cost of building an app is going to depend on what you are trying to accomplish. Determining that will give a measure of clarity to the scope of the project. If the business is looking forward to a broader scope and returns from the app, it will have to be extensively developed with many functionalities. However, if the purpose of an app is to just establish a mobile presence and develop another channel to connect with end-users, then a limited feature app would suffice. When the goal and overall business purpose is clear to the development team, they will be able to accurately estimate the cost of developing an app.

Read more: Mobile App Development: 4 Tips To Consider

2. Number of In-App Pages

Another vital factor that determines the cost of building an app is the number of screens in the app. The more the number of screens, the more extensive the work required from the designers and UX experts. More screens would also mean higher interlinking of pages through the app, which requires adjustment of conditions so that users can easily access any particular in-app page. Such complex apps demand more time and effort from app designers and developers.

3. Platforms and Devices

The complete cost of developing a native app for a specific platform is different from developing a hybrid app that runs on multiple platforms and devices. Further, the app development cost also depends on the type of device the app is developed for. 

Making an app for devices running on Android, iOS, Windows, or Blackberry needs different sets of integration for each type of device. Additionally, supporting different generations of the same device can be another factor that increases the cost of building an app. iOS apps will need to be built to support the latest as well as previous iOS versions. The complexity of the Android market adds to the difficulty in determining a single standard cost of developing an Android app.

Read more: White Paper- Choosing The Right Mobile App Development Approach For Your Business

4. Type of App Development Team

Based on the complexity of the project, the app development team may comprise a project manager, designer(s), developer(s), and quality assurance engineer(s). You also have the choice of opting for a basic team with a backend developer, admin panel designer, Android or iOS developer.

5. Elements of App features

• Third-party integrations: Mobile apps require third-party libraries, frameworks, and services. 
• Backend development: Backend implements the app’s business logic enabling the exchange of data between the mobile and database.
• Hardware components: Identifying the right approach for communication between hardware and software components will make a difference in the cost of building an app. 

6. Database

Apps that allow end-users to upload videos, photos, and submit comments or reviews take more time in development. This would increase the complexity of an app because the user’s information must be stored and made available for future use. Obviously then, the app development cost and time for database-driven apps would be more.

7. Post-launch Expenses

The total cost of creating an app includes the money spent on actual programming as well as post-launch maintenance and updates like cloud hosting, backend server maintenance, and app marketing.

8. App Type

Choosing the right type of application for the project will have a massive impact on the overall cost to create an app. Apps can be categorized as:

• Web Apps: Web apps use a responsive design for smooth user experience across various screen sizes and operating systems.
• Native Apps: Native apps could be more expensive because they are optimized for high performance on a specific platform.
• Hybrid/Cross-platform Apps: This approach is best suited for the needs of a large audience across different platforms. The development and maintenance costs of this approach are lower when compared to the other approaches.

Read more: Hybrid Mobile App Development: When and Why To Choose For Your Business?

9. License and Legalities

Businesses that want to protect app features that could be knocked off by competitors may want to obtain a Patent, Copyright, or Trademark which increases the cost of building an app.

10. Support and Maintenance

Adding new features and refining existing features of the app will cost you. This is unavoidable because technology is constantly changing, and new updates will have to be made for your app to function seamlessly. 

Are you ready?

As of August 2020, there are 3.50 billion smartphone users in the world. As mentioned in the outset, Cisco Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast says that there will be more people with access to smartphones in 2021 than with access to running water. Additionally, App Annie forecasts that consumers will be willing to spend a staggering $157 billion on mobile apps by 2022, an increase of 92% from 2017. Now, these numbers should leave you with no doubt that you must make full advantage of this trend by building an app for your business. 

However, having a great idea for an app is one thing but making it available to end-users is another. This guide detailed the cost of making an app, with varying features, technologies, platforms, and more for you to make an informed decision, but if you have any questions or you want to get started on building that app, give us a call. 

Cloud and Mobility: The two pillars to recession-proof your business

• Introduction
• How Does the Recovery Shape of The Coronavirus Recession Look?
• What is a recession-proof business?
• What can business leaders do now?
• How Do Enterprise Mobility Solutions Help in The Current Crisis?
• Five Unique business benefits of enterprise mobility during recession!
• Recession-proof your business by embracing Cloud
• Cloud is not a future aspiration rather an urgent mandate
• How can you capture the full value of the Cloud to recession-proof your business?
• Staying Afloat Despite the Crisis
• Are You Keeping Up with The New Normal?

All that you need to know about React Developer Tools

React is an incredible framework for frontend development. It also facilitates mobile app development for multiple platforms. React was a game-changer for IT companies in the USA and across the world, and developers were thrilled when Facebook announced its launch. This post explores the features of React developer tools. 

If you are into React development, you must have tried the official chrome React developer tools. This React devtools extension lets you debug your components and is available even as a standalone application. React developer tools help us smoothly create interactive UIs and React is able to reconcile changes to the DOM in a performant way. 

The React Developer tool is undergoing constant development with new features added to it regularly. It is an essential instrument you can use to inspect a React application. This article lists out the features of React Developer Tools that you might like to try out and also discusses the best IDE for React. 

Read more: React Native App Development – React Native Or Flutter – The Better Choice For Mobile App Development

Inspect and Debug

It is possible to use breakpoints, step-through, and logging to debug a React app. But it can become difficult especially if you have to debug an application that you haven’t seen before. By installing React developer tools, you can overcome some of these challenges. 

Installing React Developer Tools

You can install React developer tools on the browser you are using to run the application. One of which is the chrome React developer tools extension. It is available in the appropriate extension store. Once it is installed, either as a browser developer tool or as a standalone application, two new tabs will become available: Components and Profiler.

Components Tab

The Components tab allows you to see the root React components that were rendered on the page and the subcomponents that they rendered.  You can inspect and edit its current props and state in the panel by selecting one of the components in the tree. It allows you to inspect the selected component, the component that created it, and the component that created the second component and so on. 

While inspecting a React element, switching over to the React tab will automatically select that element in the React tree.  

Profiler Tab

The Profiler tab is an incredibly powerful feature introduced in 2018. React Devtools provides a profiling feature that allows you to see a summary of how your application re-renders. Just like the regular JavaScript profiler, you will have to “record” a set of interactions. Once you start the recording, React Devtools will automatically gather the performance information each time your application renders. You can continue to use the app as you normally would. Once you’re done with profiling, click the ‘stop’ button. Now you will be able to see a visualization of each re-render with accurate timing information and color-coded flame graphs. 

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

Best IDE for React

A good IDE for React is a must to get started with the React ecosystem. Selecting the best IDE for React from among the many that are available out there can be a daunting task. This section will help you make a choice from both the free as well as the paid IDEs.

1. VS Code

VS Code is a Microsoft product and is available for free under open-source MIT license. You can download and set-up VS Code on Mac, Debian, Windows, Ubuntu, Red Hat, SUSE, and Fedora. It can be used for various programming needs. Being the most used free IDE, it is loaded with many useful features. 

The plugins enhance JavaScript programming as well as the development experience with React and React native and more. 

2. Reactide IDE

Reactide is comparatively new but is gaining popularity among the community of React web app developers. It focuses on web apps development. It is entirely dedicated to React-based application development. It is a one-click setup that installs and runs a custom browser simulator. It spares you from switching between code files and the browser to check the changes made. It is a cross-platform, open-source, free tool. 

3. Atom

Atom is among the most popular open source text editors for modern programming. Built by GitHub, Atom comes with Git control and hence fits seamlessly in the GitHub ecosystem. It is a desktop-based application that is used for building apps using web technologies. 

4. Rekit studio

Rekit studio is focused specifically for developing apps using React. It works both as an IDE and as a toolkit that can be used for developing scalable web apps using React Router, React, and Redux. Since Rekit has its own Rekit studio, things remain simple and controlled. It is a favorable solution for small scale developments. 

5. VIM

Although it is one of the oldest IDEs, VIM has remained the favorite for some developers. Its popularity can be gauged from the fact that Facebook developers used it in the early days. It comes with many features for fast code writing using a keyboard. Using various available plugins for JavaScript and React, VIM can be transformed into a powerful IDE.

These are some of the features that we hope you will find helpful. If you have any questions on React Developer Tools or want to see how this can benefit your business, please let us know.

How AR and AI work together to build unique mobile experiences?

The intriguing partnership of Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a match made in the digital heaven. An AR application can become more beneficial when AI is incorporated into it. The natural bridging of AR and AI enables mobile app developers to build more interactive and intriguing apps. This article explores a few practical ways in which AR and AI can be combined to build incredible mobile experiences.

Awesome Ways AI and AR Complement Each Other

The partnership between AR and AI is likely to have a profound impact on customer experience. Companies are developing next-generation applications for mobiles that employ AR and AI technologies. In fact, AI is the heart of AR platforms.

Related Reading: How Top Brands Embrace Augmented Reality for Immersive Customer Experiences

Though Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality have distinct technologies, they can sync with one another on a variety of applications. They can leverage each other’s best features and aspects building incredible mobile experiences. AI enables AR to have a multidimensional interaction with the physical environment. It allows you to manipulate 2D and 3D virtual objects with your words, eyes, and hands. 

It is anticipated that the demand for AR apps is bound to soar in the next four to five years. Hence, the search for appropriate software development kits (SDK) and application program interfaces (API) for AI and AR is on.

Current State of SDKs and APIs For AR and AI

As the capabilities of current SDKs (Software Development Kits) and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) rapidly expand, the number of commercial opportunities increase exponentially. Consider a few examples:

• • Vuforia: It is an Augmented Reality SDK that enables app developers to build mobile-centric, immersive AR experiences. It is capable of supporting both IOS and Android, allowing brands to develop apps with minimal commercial and technical risks. 
  • ARCore: It is Google’s proprietary AR SDK. It enables developers to get their AR apps up and running on mobile devices. ARCore supports IOS devices and allows developers to build rich and immersive AR experiences supported by mobile devices.  
  • Core ML: It is a Machine Learning framework used across Apple devices. This API allows you to perform real-time predictions of live images on your device. Its low latency and near real-time results are its biggest advantages. Core ML is an application that can be run without network connections. 
  • TensorFlow Lite: It is an open-source deep learning framework focused on mobile device inference. TensorFlow Lite enables developers to insert their own custom models.

Practical Ways to Combine AR and AI

The marriage of AR and AI opens up endless opportunities. Here are a few ways in which this combination is working to create digital miracles.

1. Speech recognition: As an AI model listens to what you say, AR effects appear in front of you. For example, if you say ‘pizza,’ a virtual pizza slice appears in front of your mouth. 

2. Image recognition and image tracking: It allows customers to see how an object would look and fit in a given space. Combining AR with AI technology allows users to move still photos of items into a still image of a room and assists them in making a decision. Example: IKEA Place. 

3. Human pose estimation: It is a technique that detects human figures and poses. It predicts the positions of a person’s joints in an image or video. This can be used in controlling AR content. Yopuppet.com is one example. 

4. Education: It allows students to have new perspectives through interaction with virtual reality. For example, it enables them to visualize and interact with a 3D life-size version of the human body. 

Related Reading: Impact Of Augmented Reality In Education Industry

5. Recognizing and labeling: When the camera is pointed to a scene or an image, the AR app displays a label that indicates the object or the item when it recognizes it. 

6. Car recognition: Using a smartphone camera, it allows its customers to sit inside the car and explore the car’s interiors. There isn’t even a need to download the application. 

7. Object detection: AR-AI combination can be applied to automatically learn and detect the position and extent of the objects within an image or a video. This mobile-friendly model facilitates interaction between physical and digital objects. 

Take Away

The bridging of AR and AI is offering businesses an opportunity to empower their customers more than ever before with information shared in captivating ways. Together, AR and AI continue to enhance mobile experiences.  It enables developers to design richer and more intuitive, relevant experiences for their diverse consumers. As we noted earlier, the applications of AR and AI are numerous. 

To know more about how Fingent can help you build incredible mobile experiences by combining AR and AI, get in touch with our experts today!

You are planning to build an app for your business. You zero in on the app features, then develop it and finally release your app to the respective stores. You actively monitor your app’s usage and analytics. Your users are happy and they actively use your app. After a while, you notice a dip in the curve. 

Your app starts falling behind in-store listings, garners poor user reviews, becomes frequently prone to errors. Then one day you get an email from the respective app store that your app might be removed if it does not meet the latest requirements of the app store.

So, what went down?

Well, did you ever take the effort to continue maintaining the app? Delivering updates on a timely basis so that your app stays compatible with current requirements and is well ahead in terms of features, functionality, security, and performance is a vital part of app development. 

You might have built the perfect app, but how long can it remain active and not pass out as obsolete without proper maintenance?

As an enterprise app development company, our experience has shown us that creating and deploying an app is sensible and profitable in the end only if you tie it up with a regular update cycle. We put equal stress on pairing a solid maintenance contract having timely release cycles into every mobile app that we built and always insist on our clients on the importance of having one.

Ongoing maintenance remains indispensable in app development 

In 2016, Apple made a relentless push clear its App Store for all outdated apps, delisting 50,000 apps according to a report by Sensor Tower. It further revealed that 51 percent of apps haven’t received any updates in a year. 

Source: Sensor Tower

Earlier, you build an app and launch it. You only need to focus on developing the app in the best possible way. However, things have changed. Ongoing maintenance is so important now that almost 80 percent of developers release some form of updates to their apps every month. 

Performing maintenance constantly, reinvent your app’s functionality and fix any bugs or other latent issues. It’s unlike the build and deploy once approach that was employed traditionally. 

To keep up with the ever-changing user and app store requirements, you should not only build, deploy and optimize your app for the store listing but also improvise it by regularly issuing new updates. Like a newly constructed house that requires additional investment and efforts at maintenance like cleaning, painting and other upgrades, your apps should similarly go through a regular upkeep cycle to keep it active.

Besides, setting up a maintenance plan is so important for your business as several external variables are prone to changes that can affect your app’s functioning. These include: 

• Mobile hardware: As handset manufacturers keep releasing newer models each year, mobile apps can become incompatible with the latest mobile hardware, causing them to fail. With a maintenance plan, you can continuously deliver new updates that extend support to all the latest mobile hardware specifications. 
• OS versions: Android and iOS are evolving with new version upgrades every year and your mobile app should take into account these changes to extend support and compatibility with upgraded OS versions. 
• User Interface: Material Design, Google’s visual design language, marks the change from Skeuomorphic principles towards a fresh approach to user interface design. Keeping up with the current user’s preferences meant adopting newer UI/UX design standards for the app interfaces offering immersive digital experiences. 

• Security: With data breaches now commonplace, you should integrate all recent security protocols into your apps to uphold privacy and security. 
• Programming languages: Programming languages use to build apps also undergo changes and your apps should stay updated considering these variations. 
• Software libraries: Third-party software libraries and dependencies used in apps go through frequent changes, which affects your app’s functioning and cause it to malfunction if they are not upgraded.
• Licensing: Apps that you build has to be tied down to licensing agreements and certifications. These agreements are a limited time offer and therefore need to be renewed periodically to keep the app intact and functional throughout its lifetime. 
• Hosting infrastructure: The platform where your app’s database and backend are hosted such as AWS can also be subject to changes throughout the year. 

Signing maintenance contracts save your app from getting outdated

Post completion, your vendor may ask about maintenance contracts for your app. Most businesses decline to sign up for a maintenance contract, because to them, the idea of paying extra amount for an already launched app sounds absurd and unconvincing. However, considering the necessity of app maintenance, it is mandatory that a maintenance contract is bought in and formulated alongside the actual development. 

Once you sign up for a maintenance contract, you get the dual advantage of both support and regular updates. Every issue that crops up will be dealt with immediately by the development team once you enroll for a maintenance contract, thereby significantly reducing your app’s downtime. Besides, when platform changes occur, such as new OS versions or hardware, your app development partner can review them in advance and plan all future updates accordingly. 

Understanding maintenance costs

Maintaining your app continually comes with its costs, which can vary depending on the scope and functionality of the app.  Clutch, in one of their surveys, outlines that post-launch maintenance can cost anywhere between $5000 – $10,000, a year after launching the app, which varies based on the vendor opted. 

However, maintenance costs follow the standard industry norm, which is 20 percent to that of the initial development cost. For instance, if your app costs about $10,000 to develop then maintenance would run around to $2000 a year. This is subject to vary as it takes into account several other factors like the type of app – native or hybrid, additional features – (push notifications, payment gateway), backend hosting platform, use of third-party analytics tools, etc. 

So, what real benefits does your business gain by signing up for a maintenance contract with an app developer? 

• Lower Uninstall Rates – AppsFlyer in their newest report shows that the global uninstall rates for apps in a month account for about 28 percent. Timely maintenance can come to the rescue by promptly applying all the first time fixes to the app, which retain your active users lowering the chances of uninstalling. 
• Sustained User Loyalty – Constant maintenance does finally pay off via sustained user loyalty across the app’s entire lifetime, which is one crucial ingredient that defines your app’s success in the long run.
• High Rankings in Store Listings – Keeping up with ongoing maintenance ensures that your app adheres to quality guidelines and is constantly optimized based on updates and user feedback for properly ranking in the store listings.
• Adaptation Centered on User Feedback – Recurrent maintenance helps monitor usage patterns to retrieve business insights and create individual user funnels. Using in-app analytics tools, developers can analyze the app’s functioning and resolve any crashes or bugs for flawless user experience and improved retention. 
• Increased ROI – With a solid maintenance plan in place, your app can achieve long term benefits for your business by reaping higher financial gains, leading to increased ROI. Besides, you can decrease the overall costs by monitoring the app post-launch and removing redundant features that most users ignore or skip by. 

Conceive a maintenance plan by collaborating with your app development partner

Finding a reliable app developer with expertise in building enterprise applications helps kick start your app’s development and maintenance cycle. Once signed up, the development team assesses your app’s performance after launch. Taking incoming feedback from users and identifying the potential issues mentioned, the team adopts an end-user development approach to detect bugs and other performance issues beforehand and proactively fix them. 

You can get the best in class maintenance support for your mobile app with our application development services. Talk to our consultants today and see how Fingent helps you conceive the right maintenance strategy for your app that yields new revenue streams and enhance your business outcomes. 

Choosing The Right Mobile App Development For Your Business

In this digital era of advanced business-technology trends, enterprise mobility is of prime importance. Mobile App developers are constantly on the hunt for the best platform for developing their applications. With more and more B2B enterprises adopting the mobile-first strategy, businesses choose the best mobile application development platform after evaluating their business goals and technical requirements.    

Enterprise mobile applications are categorized into three, namely, Native applications, Mobile Web applications, and Hybrid applications. Native applications are built for a specific platform. For instance, Facebook has individual applications for Android as well as iPhone users. 

Mobile Web applications, on the other hand, can be described as websites that are mobile optimized. Hybrid mobile applications, however, are a blend of both Native and Web technologies. Hybrid applications best suit cross-platform requirements and also ensures a cost-effective solution for businesses. 

Developing Native and Hybrid Apps 101

Why Opt For Hybrid Mobile App Development?

According to a survey by the Ionic Developer in 2017, 32.7% of developers among over 13,000 developers had completely abandoned native app development and were in favor of the Hybrid approach. What makes the native application development wane, compared to Hybrid mobile application development? It is the huge benefits of the latter, which we will be discussing below:

• A hybrid mobile application is a native web application wrapped up within a native application. Technically, it is written using HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript. This is then compiled into either a native iOS, Android or other mobile platforms, using a wrapper technology such as Cordova or PhoneGap.
• Hybrid applications make use of web technologies such as Javascript, HTML 5 and CSS3. Additionally, it can also access features from the native platforms. That is, hybrid mobile applications can access GPS, camera, contacts, etc and also being able to run on both Android and iOS platforms. 
• Since hybrid platforms make use of a single code base to run on multiple platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows OS, these applications are platform-independent and require less development time.
• Hybrid mobile applications support offline features such as local storage capabilities as it supports SQLite database.

Instagram, Yelp, Uber, BaseCamp, etc are examples of hybrid mobile applications. The major hybrid mobile application frameworks widely used are Ionic, Onsen UI, React Native, Apache Cordova or PhoneGap. With the advent of these frameworks, mobile application developers can now write code once and run anywhere.

When To Choose Hybrid Mobile App Development

Hybrid mobile applications can be a great option to choose based on several factors. One should consider the functional advantages as well as impacts of the selected approach, implementation methods, challenges, etc. Other key parameters to consider are development, implementation, cost, time-to-market, usability, and so on. 

The biggest advantage of a hybrid approach is that the shared code can be deployed across many platforms. This saves time and cost of application development. So when do you choose a Hybrid approach over native app development? Here’s what you have to ask yourself:

1.  Are you testing a hypothesis?

Consider the initial phase of developing your application. Deploying a hybrid application can be a better cost-effective solution over a native application. The choice is significantly valid when it comes to situations where you are running short of resources, you require user validation and feedback, and when you are aiming at a quick go-to-market strategy. 

2. Are you developing an enterprise application for internal use within your company?

The ‘Write Once And Deploy Anywhere’ functionality of hybrid applications is the best choice for internal users. There would not be a need to develop 2 separate applications, developed in each platform as the application requires just the basic functionalities. This also avoids the need to employ additional resources to deploy separate applications, as well.

Additional decision-making factors can be the following:

• If your objective is to target multiple mobile platforms.
• If you want to leverage additional benefits such as geolocation services, accelerometer, and so on.
• If the mobile application needs to be used even under offline circumstances.
• If advanced graphics capabilities are not major criteria.

Related Reading: You may also like to read about how to use mobile app data.

Advantages Of Hybrid Mobile Applications

1. Multi-platform Support

Hybrid applications can run on multiple platforms. It is just that a specific native container or a module must be developed for each platform. This could be challenging for old browsers as they do not support rich HTML features, hybrid applications can still make use of device detection technique to trim the feature for low-end devices.

2. Code Reusability and Duplication 

A hybrid application utilizes the same HTML content for all platforms. Thus, it leverages common server-side components. This is unlike native applications where code needs to be rewritten for each platform-supported language. This is why native applications require quite a lot of code duplication, which hybrid applications do not. 

3. Time-To-Market

Since hybrid applications are not platform-specific, it does not require to be tested and certified before hitting the market, unlike native applications. This saves time to develop and deploy. 

4. Usage Analytics

Working with hybrid applications makes usage logging easier. This is because the usage statistics of the existing web/ server-side applications can be used as such. This means that additional storage space to collect data, as a result of analytics performed, is not required. Thus, hybrid applications avoid the need for statistical data archival and purging tasks, unlike with pure native applications. 

5. Future Enhancements

Improvising existing features are simpler in case of hybrid applications. This is because it does not require any client application distribution. This feature helps users continue using the application even in cases of app updates. It also saves users from facing the threat of security patches.

6. Security Features

Since enterprise apps are exposed over the Web, there are risks of data thefts. Hybrid applications utilize the HTTPS protocol and make sure no sensitive data is stored on the device. 

Related Reading: Know which is the better choice for mobile app development: React Native Or Flutter

Don’ts While Using Hybrid Mobile Applications

Writing code once and being able to use it multiple times is a positive feature. That being said, make sure not to rule out the following before deciding to develop on a hybrid platform:

• Do not intend to develop animated or graphic oriented applications.
• Do not integrate heavy plug-ins, libraries like JQuery, and frameworks.
• Do not try to load all views at once.
• Do not choose a hybrid platform to develop complex multi-purpose applications.

Effective deployment of hybrid mobile applications can serve you as a boon. Be sure to understand the key Do’s and Don’t Do’s while deploying a hybrid platform for your application. 

Call our experts right away to learn more about why and when to choose a hybrid platform for developing your mobile application.

Five Ways AI Is Accelerating Mobile App Technology

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has permeated the tech world. It is enhancing everything from your car to your toothbrush.  It is influencing the decisions that affect your life. Artificial Intelligence is the term used to define a machine’s ability to simulate human intelligence. Actions which were once considered unique to humans are now being stimulated by technology and used in every industry. This includes mobile app technology. 

Mobile phones have been using AI for some time now. The earlier generation of phones was cloud-based and Internet-dependent. The difference today is that the latest smartphones integrate cloud-based AI along with built-in AI. The rate at which AI is expanding is accelerating. 

Let us now discuss how AI is enhancing mobile app technology.

Related Reading: Take a look at the top AI trends of 2019.

AI is the Catalyst in Mobile Apps

As per a study by McKinsey Global Institute, AI expansion brought in an investment of $39 billion back in 2016 which was three times the amount invested in AI three years prior to that. Acting as a catalyst, AI is continuing to enhance mobile apps. It empowers the evolution of mobile apps by making them intelligent pieces of software that can predict user behavior and make decisions. AI allows mobile apps to learn from data generated by the user.

Mobile developers are adapting quickly to changing innovations. There are over 5 million apps in the leading app stores, which stands to show how AI is creating personalized app experiences for users and is adapting to various situations due to automated learning capabilities. Here are five specific real-life benefits of AI on mobile apps. 

1. The Wrapping of Artificial Intelligence with the Internet of Things (IoT)

The combination of AI and IoT is powerful in creating a personalized experience for users. A large amount of varied data is collected from the customer in real-time as he uses the device. Each usage has commands or interactions that are being used with mobile apps. AI can then leverage this real-time data to deliver an enhanced personalized experience.

IoT reduces app development time significantly. In mobile app development, IoT along with Artificial Intelligence can lead to better utilization of resources and higher efficiency. Together they free up a good part of employee bandwidth. It delivers modified and more efficient apps and strengthens data security measures, which is vital because the future of mobile apps will always be revolving around connected devices.

2. Enhances Search Engines

Text and voice have been the traditional search modes. But say, you saw something you would love to buy, but you don’t know what it is called or how to find it. Visual search helps you find what you want even when you don’t know the words to describe it. The smartphone is the best launchpad for visual search technology. An example of this is Google Lens. 

In some cases, visual search is more accurate and faster than a voice or a text search. Due to integrated AI in mobile applications, android developers are bound to develop an image recognition system and a voice recognition system. To increase conversion rates AI will provide localization of applications.

Related Reading: Learn more on how to build an intelligent app ecosystem with AI.

3. Empowers Real-Time Translation

There are so many translation apps which enable translation. However, most of these apps do not work without the internet. AI could enable your smartphone to translate different languages in real-time without the need for an internet connection.

Much like a digital version of what interpreters do, Artificial Intelligence can provide a simultaneous translation tool which allows sentences to be translated almost instantly without a time lag. AI allows the translation tool to be adjusted for latency. This would mean that a user can set the lag between a spoken word and its translation. This would be especially useful for certain languages which would require a longer time lag for better translation. Example: Baidu.

4. Improved Security with Face Unlock 

Face Unlock was launched in September 2017 by Apple. Combined with Apple’s elaborate hardware, Apple iPhone X uses an AI-based algorithm for its face unlocking system. Using AI processing, the phone can easily identify the user’s face even with facial changes like specs or beard.

Recently, Google announced radar-based, hands-free gestures to face unlock. With its hands-free system, unlocking the phone would be easier, faster and secure. It claims that it can unlock the phone almost in any orientation.

5. Enhanced Mobile App Authentication

As AI is becoming easily available as a commercial technology, both criminals and organizations are taking full advantage of it. There are predictions by cyber-security experts that the world might witness many AI-powered cyber-attacks in the future. This necessitates the development of more sophisticated cyber defense systems. Also, with the increasing use of smartphones, we all need an advanced level of data security. Security has been one of the biggest concerns for Android developers. 

Thanks to enhanced artificial intelligence with machine learning and deep learning algorithms we can look forward to a time when authentication becomes a smooth experience, which allows users to enjoy security without trading convenience. AI can be enabled to give alerts to users about possible threats. AI can also add a level of augmentation to biometric authentication which makes it almost hack-proof. Another benefit of AI algorithms is that they can find and alert potentially compromised accounts in real-time.

A Guide for AI-Enhancing Your Existing Business Application

AI With You Now and Into the Future

AI presents numerous possibilities for innovation in the mobile app industry. AI is the future of mobile app development. Artificial Intelligence is changing how users interact with app services and products. Mobile app users will be linked to an ecosystem of intelligent applications and will work together to deliver a personalized user experience. 

Businesses developing AI-enhanced mobile apps will benefit from the predictive analysis these apps can create. According to a study conducted by Callsign, the user preference for authentication is shifting. Such changing preferences would mandate further enhancements in the development of mobile apps.

An intelligent ecosystem will gather a large pool of social data and behavioral interest, which can be used to further increase revenue and improve user experience. It is not an exaggeration to say that the smartphone industry is being revolutionized by AI. This makes it important to enable AI in your business and mobile applications. Give us a call to discuss how this can be done.