app – IT today

Andrew Douglas 3, Dec, 2021

Mobile development

The main word of the early 2020s is “pandemic”, a phenomenon that turned the lives of many and influenced literally all areas of business. This concerns mobile development to the greatest extent, because due to the fact that people are switching to a remote work format, observing the self-isolation regime, leaving home less often, the time they spend online has increased. Despite the softening of the covid restrictions, according to the e-marketer forecast, in 2022, on average, people will spend on mobile applications 90% of their daily time spent on the Internet – this will amount to almost 4 hours. The development industry should respond to this with a corresponding growth, because the statistics of demand for applications is as follows: according to a study by the Statista.com portal, in the first half of 2021 alone, the number of downloads of various applications in the Apple App Store and Google Play reached 72.5 billion.

We thought about what areas of mobile app development will be relevant in 2022, what trends await us and what features will be in the top. We do not expect innovative solutions in the coming year, it is worth focusing on what is already in demand in the market, or on those trends that are just beginning to appear in the industry, but show their promise.

1. Low-Code and No-Code Development

NCDP and LCDP platforms are gaining popularity due to the growing popularity of the mobile application development industry itself. These solutions allow even companies with limited resources to create new products. No- and low-code technologies are also good for testing a hypothesis – whether an idea will enter the market or not. The development process is greatly simplified with a variety of drag-and-drop tools, flowcharts, user-friendly visual interface. According to forecasts, revenues of the low-code development market by 2030 will reach $ 187 billion and will demonstrate more than 15 times growth in 10 years. 45% of customers already give preference to low-code development due to the fact that this solution reduces dependence on highly qualified specialists.

2. Cross-platform applications

We’ve already written about the benefits of both native and cross-platform development and which industries are suitable for both technologies. Many representatives of the global mobile development industry argue that it is cross-platform applications that will be trending in 2022, and that Flutter is the future of application development. This allows you to reach a large audience of users, optimizes the costs of launching a product, and shortens the time for its creation. And since the winner in the market is sometimes determined by the time of appearance on it, cross-platform development is increasingly chosen for developing MVP and testing hypotheses for its flexibility and compatibility. Such a giant in the market as Alibaba is also being developed using Flutter, without losing either the quality of the interface or the set of available functions.

3. PWA applications

Progressive Web Application is a technology that allows a user to install your site as an application. It has a lot of advantages – at least a significant reduction in development and support costs, the application is very small, works faster than the site and can work offline. PWA works well for brand memorability – if the application is left on the user’s device, then he will regularly see an icon with your logo. Push notifications will help you keep in touch with the customer – notifications about the status of orders or any promotions that can stimulate repeat sales. In addition, according to the study, the conversion rate thanks to PWA increases by 36%.

4. Super-appa.

This is a trend that is likely to come to the fore – multipurpose services that combine the maximum of functions. Traditionally, an application is developed to meet a specific user need: logistics, pastime, communication, education, etc. Now mega-applications are gaining popularity, covering a much wider range of tasks. Here we are talking about an environment in which all the needs of the user will be met. After all, it is much more convenient to use one application for a dozen of your tasks than to install one for each specific task.

In general, this phenomenon is not new at all, the term first sounded in 2010 from the founder of Blackberry Mike Lazaridis, who called the ecosystem of many applications a superappa. However, the new phenomenon gained popularity later, with the arrival of the Chinese WeChat on the market: the service replaced other applications from smartphones of Chinese residents. Using just one system, they were able to communicate, pay bills, order a taxi and delivery, read and watch films, and from February 2020, they could even see cities infected with coronavirus. Billions of monthly transactions conducted through WeChat and other Asian supers have pushed the trend of supers to the west.

An example of the development of such a superapp in Russia is Yandex.Go, which combines the functionality of ordering a taxi, delivering food and groceries, shopping on the marketplace, information on public transport and car sharing. However, this is still not the level of WeChat, but VKontakte is trying to get closer to it, which almost monthly adds new functions, giving its users more and more opportunities to perform actions without leaving the service. In addition, the social network is an open superapp, in which some small function (mini-app) can be launched by any developer (which, for example, Yandex does not have).

And the trend is that superapps will develop and occupy more and more market shares. Of course, it will take a long time and costly for small and medium-sized businesses to create and develop such a service in terms of financial and labor resources. However, it will be possible to adapt to the trend by integrating its services into the super-app of giant corporations, which, for example, Tinkoff said in the release of his application.

5. 3D graphics in applications

This tool will also not be innovative, it has been used for a long time in many areas of design, it is rather worth noting that in 2022 3D graphics will become even more diverse and inclusive. But the trend prioritizes the functional role of 3D and only then – the decorative one. Three-dimensional images have become much more accessible for use due to the fact that the download speed of frameworks is growing every year, and this allows the implementation of complex visual solutions. And 3D illustrations demonstrate the object much deeper and more informative, at least because they are closer to human perception than flat images. Combined with quality animation, this can be a win-win for a memorable interface.

6. Dark theme

After the appearance of dark Instagram, and after it a number of applications in development, they began to pay special attention to this, and now even the operating systems themselves have found dark mode. Someone just likes this theme more, someone it reduces the burden on the eyes, someone is comfortable to “switch to the dark side” when they use a smartphone in an unlit space, and more and more developers are introducing this mode into their products – this is almost a must-have element in 2022.

7. Voice control

In a world where people are faced with the need to do several things at the same time, voice commands are becoming indispensable, so more and more applications give the user this opportunity. Integration is possible with the voice assistant of the operating system itself or with Google voice search, for example. The advent of Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri has revolutionized user interface design. Even just taking notes using voice commands can sometimes be necessary. Moreover, voice control will be important for those who have vision problems.

8. Gestures and swipes

And this is a tool that distinguishes a mobile device from a personal computer, on which it is simply not available. Daily scrolling, scrolling of pages has already become a habit, and the less additional actions need to be performed, the more the user likes it. Some app developers even advocate not using buttons, as if they create a mess, take up a lot of screen space, and suggest replacing their functions with swipes (for example on Dribble), adding good animation. Many are well aware of this action for the most ordinary readers. And on some Honor models, the entire interface for navigating between applications is built on swipes, there are simply no “back” buttons and go to the open applications panel, and this is another trend that will only gain momentum in 2022.

9. Virtual and augmented reality

These two technologies open up very cool sales opportunities. Many brands are already using AR (augmented reality) in their virtual fitting apps (like Lamoda). And facial recognition technology lets you try makeup or accessory options from the comfort of your home. So, for example, Sephora in their application presented a virtual artist who helps to scan a face and demonstrate different images on it. IKEA has also long ago embraced augmented reality by launching an app that shows how furniture will look in different places in the home. Moreover, statistics say that 66% of shoppers will be very interested in using AR technology in online shopping.

IKEA Place im Test: Nur wenige Geräte unterstützen die App

10.5G is coming

By the end of 2021, about 692 million 5G connections are projected worldwide. The launch of 5G networks in Russia is supposed to be done only in 2024, however, in the global mobile development industry, it is assumed that next year this technology will be a new industry standard.

New speeds will provide an increase in the functionality of applications – new features will be added without sacrificing performance. Users expect fewer disconnections due to lower network latency (17-26 milliseconds versus 36 + 48 milliseconds for 4G). In addition, the 5G standard will be distinguished by more accurate geolocation, which is also important for many functions of the application.

What follows from all this?

The direction in which the industry is developing is definitely worth paying attention to. However, this is not the ultimate truth, and when developing your product, the most important thing is to offer a working solution to your user’s problem, think over how your idea will differ from others on the market, and choose a team with a sufficient set of competencies to implement it. It is quite possible that testing your hypothesis does not require virtual reality technology or voice control at all: the performer’s experience can help to determine which trend features should be present in the application: the Appcraft studio has developed and successfully launched more than 200 client applications and is actively developing 4 of its own projects. … We discuss each project individually, share with our customers insights concerning not only the technical implementation or design, but also the features of user behavior and various business models.

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Andrew Douglas 2, Sep, 2021

Mobile development

As of Q3 2019 on Google Play posted about 2.7 million mobile applications, and the App Store has about 2 million applications. Quite a lot, right? But don’t think that launching a mobile app is easy. You must be competitive and stand out from the millions of mobile apps in the industry… You need a working strategy that is thought out to the smallest detail to ease the path to success. So how do you launch the application?

Application launch strategy has a significant impact on user acquisition and retention. It is a marketing effort that requires extensive research and ongoing work to achieve results. To improve your chances of success, we’ve compiled a list of six steps that we recommend you follow at each stage of the startup process. By following these guidelines, you will develop a strategy to maximize user retention, daily product use, and reduce post-launch uninstalls.

Step one: know your audience

The first step in preparing a mobile app launch strategy is market research and understanding your audience (e.g. demographics and pain points). Feedback is very important, knowing your audience’s desires will help you better understand how your product fits their pain points and fits into their daily life. In addition, these studies will provide insight into what they dislike about the applications available on the market. Important reveal the main reasons for user frustrationstudying his behavior and attitude. To do this, you must know the answer to a number of key questions:

Who is this product for?
How to solve the user problem?
What benefits should the product bring?
What type of content would be most appropriate?
What tone, voice, and style of content resonates well with your audience?
Are there any visual branding patterns among the audience?
What are the best platforms to use for paid ads?

If you don’t have a clear understanding of who your audience is, you won’t be able to properly target users with your launch strategy. Investing in market research will provide you with a solid foundation to launch your mobile app. Before developing an android application or developing an ios application, ordering audience research or doing it yourself is the right decision.

Step two: positioning

After the market research is completed, you need to turn all the collected information into a result. The knowledge gained about the strengths and weaknesses of your product needs to be communicated to the team and key stakeholders.

Positioning will help determine what sets your app apart from the competition. This is especially important for new applications, as consumers tend to evaluate new products against what is already on the market.

For example, users won’t appreciate a new dating app without comparing its features to Tinder. Is the new app easier to use than Tinder? Does it have a superior algorithm that will lead to better matches? If not, users are unlikely to download the app and instead use what they know.

You must tell your audience why your application is the most valuable. The message will not be heard if you just describe the functions of the application. Instead, focus on how it differs from any other product on the market.

Product positioning needs to be determined

Step three: define the criteria for success

The success criteria for android or iOS app development is what your product will be compared against to determine if the app has been successfully launched. To show stakeholders key information about your success or failure, you need to at first set some goals and define how they will be measured… For example, Active Install Metrics, Number of Reviews, and Average Rating. If you want to be successful on a project, you must define what the success of your project looks like.

Step four: promotion of a mobile application

Have you done market research and identified the criteria for success? Now it’s time to focus on the mobile app launch itself. For everything to go well, there must be a marketing plan in place to ensure that every step is taken in a timely manner and completed properly.

What should a marketing plan include?

Content promotion

“Content” is a pretty broad term that encompasses almost everything: blog posts, social media posts, landing pages, ebooks, white papers, examples, customer testimonials, newsletters, emails and videos.

Press Release Creation

To maximize your chances of getting press coverage, make it as easy as possible for bloggers and influencers to present your app. Structure all of your resources on a website or online directory so that they have easy access to the information they need to promote your product. Here’s the minimum you should include in your press release:

Graphics and creatives (logo, icon, screenshots and promo video)
Description of your application
Links to your website, social media accounts.
Contacts

Optimize your product description

Think carefully about your product description to convince users to download your app. For example, on Google Play and the App Store, users only see the first five lines of your descriptionif they don’t press the button: read more. This means that you have to interest the user literally from the first lines.

Launch the mobile app on Android and iOS platforms

Step five: launch the mobile app!

Now it’s time to finally publish your app on Google Play or App Store. At this point, you should be aware of the submission rules that your app must comply with before submitting them to any app store. The Apple Guide can be found here, and the Android Guide can be found here.

You will need a lot of materials: an application icon, screenshots, a description of the functionality, an advertising description, keywords, a link to the privacy policy (required for the AppStore) and the application itself itself, loaded through platform-specific development environments.

Step six: post-launch follow-up

According to a Localytics report, 21% of users uninstall apps after the first launch. Advertising and user purchases are important factors, but retention of those users is even more important. Therefore, it is imperative that your application makes a good impression within the first few days, demonstrating the most value and providing a good user experience. If you can’t get users interested right away, you will likely lose their interest.

There are several techniques you can use to increase user engagement and retention. One such technique is to encourage users to use your application. Incentives can be anything you want: rewards, access to specialized content, coupons, special promotions, and other offers. All this will give users a reason to choose your application, help increase conversion and stimulate engagement. We talked in more detail in engagement article…

Read also: Disadvantages of a mobile app that affect its success

You can order the development of an application for mobile devices on our website, appcraft managers will answer all questions, and you can read about the price of developing applications for iOS and android in the article.

Final thoughts

The release of a mobile app is not a one-time event. There will always be room for improvementthat make release a cyclical process requiring revaluation as the market changes. Newly launched mobile apps should be regularly updated and re-released. And for the best results, your launch strategy should create multiple touchpoints that potential users can explore before the product is available for download. Raising awareness before launch gives users an idea of the purpose and benefits of the app, so when they land on the store listing, your product will not be overlooked.

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Andrew Douglas 25, Aug, 2021

Mobile development

Very often, aspiring entrepreneurs who come up with a business idea in the field of developing mobile applications, the first thing they think about is the need to get a patent for their invention as soon as possible. Such a desire is understandable, because there is a feeling that immediately after the start of work and the promulgation of the idea, anyone can bypass you at the turn, taking advantage of a new vision of the potential of the idea.

In this article, we will summarize the reasons for not patenting your idea.

What is a patent

A patent is a title of protection certifying the exclusive right, authorship and priority of an invention, utility model or industrial design. In the case of the development of a mobile application, which is software, it will not be possible to obtain a patent in Russia and Europe for the algorithmic part (the program itself): Article 52 of the European Patent Convention directly prohibits the patenting of computer programs.

Therefore, in the case of mobile applications, as a rule, it is not the product itself that is protected, but the general idea of the service functioning, reflecting some novelty of the approach to solving a particular problem. It is also possible to patent the code, but only in some jurisdictions, for example, in the USA or South Korea.

It is long and expensive

Obtaining a patent for a mobile application takes up valuable time, which at the start of the product is better spent on testing a hypothesis about a working business model.

You not only need to find a patent attorney who can take on the job of describing and formalizing your idea, but also pay for his services, pay patent fees, a translator, and so on. You will spend at least 50-100 thousand rubles (if you do part of the work yourself) and at least 3-4 months if you do everything very quickly.

After that, you may receive a refusal to register from the patent office, because the description is not detailed enough, does not contain innovation, duplicates existing patents, etc. Only 56% of patents are registered, respectively 44% are rejected.

At the same time, according to statistics, 97% (!) Of patents generate profit less than the cost of their registration.

An article about developing mobile applications for ios…

You are patenting the wrong thing

Almost always, the desire to protect a business arises at the stage of the first idea. As soon as enough time has passed to think over the plan, the thought immediately arises of protecting another future enterprise. The desire is understandable, but the idea and its implementation are always different things.

Paul Graham, one of the most famous entrepreneurs in IT and the founder of Y Combinator, says that in his experience, from 70 to 100% of projects have different key ideas at the start and after 3 months of operational work.

This is due to the fact that business is a solution to real problems. It develops and grows in synergy with the needs of people who:

a) you are completely unknown at the idea stage
b) change over time
c) they decide the way they want, not you.

As soon as you start launching an idea, with a probability of close to 100%, you will have to, if not completely change your idea, then significantly rework it. Why, in this case, patent at the very beginning something from which you yourself will later refuse?

The main thing is forgotten

And the main thing is the speed of testing hypotheses about working models, collecting feedback from potential customers and implementing MVP. Anyone who works in the same market and does it better will get ahead of you despite having a patent. Because, firstly, he understands the market better, and secondly, the more efficient model he discovered will probably not coincide with your patent.

By focusing on defending an idea, you immediately lag behind in the speed of its development and implementation.

An article about the development of android mobile applications.

A patent is not the only way to protect yourself

If a patent is an ineffective way to protect a business at the very beginning, this does not mean that no defensive measures should be taken at all. Due to their simplicity and low cost, you can use the following methods:

Buy a domain with a product name. A good name has a strong effect, and when resolving any dispute, buying your domain earlier than a competitor’s trademark solves many issues.
Create social media groups with the name of the project. As in the case of a domain, good names also have good search positions, and are well remembered and become inaccessible to competitors.
Register your trademark. This is not fast in some jurisdictions (for example, in Russia), but in many countries it is carried out within a few days and at minimal cost.

Total

Patenting inventions is important and necessary, but it’s not at all the first thing to do when you’re starting a startup. Many companies only started to deal with intellectual property protection after they started generating profits.

At the very beginning, you should completely focus on the idea of the product itself, its verification, thinking through virality and creating an MVP, while being in constant, as close contact with your future customers as possible.

You can find out more about the development of mobile applications on our website, and we have written a detailed article about the price of developing mobile applications.

Subscribe to our Telegram channel: every day we publish interesting materials about creating a business and developing mobile applications. More about mobile app development and

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Andrew Douglas 24, Aug, 2021

Mobile development

What is native and cross-platform development

Native development (from English native – native) means the use of original languages and tools for developing a mobile operating system.

Development of applications for ios takes place in the Xcode development environment in the Swift language (and earlier – in Objective-C).

When using the technology for developing mobile applications on the Android platform, the Android Studio environment and the Kotlin language are used (until 2018, the main language was Java).

An article on building android apps.

Each development environment contains a whole set of utilities for writing code, interface design, debugging, profiling (monitoring) and building applications. Both the environment and the corresponding set of utilities are created specifically for each mobile operating system, and are the most convenient and powerful tools for developing mobile applications.

Cross-platform mobile application development technology implies the use of special frameworks to create an application based on the JavaScript family of languages. All the structure and logic of the application is created using such tools (React Native, Flutter, Ionic, Xamarin, PhoneGap, etc.) in JavaScript, and then wrapped in a native trigger, i.e. integrates into base project for XCode or Android Studio. This allows you to create project assemblies with the same logic for several operating systems at once.

A simple analogy can be seen in the case of personal computers: MS Word, Skype, mail agents, calendars – these are natively developed applications for the desktop operating system. Everything that happens in the browser (websites, online text and graphics editors, social networks, chats, forums) is cross-platform technologies.

Xcode and Android Studio logos

Pros of native mobile app development technology

The development of a mobile application in native technologies and languages for iOS and Android has the following positive aspects:

1. Application speed

Since the application is created using the original development tools (Xcode, Android Studio), the resulting compilation of the project code is optimal for this platform.

The application receives full hardware support for the device (the processing of the same images is carried out by a separate processor specially designed for this – the GPU), multithreading is used to implement complex tasks and load content in the background.

During the development process, programmers can measure the speed of work of all sections of the code and, if necessary, optimize them. They also have tools at their disposal to monitor the use of RAM, search for possible leaks, etc.

2. Flexibility in implementation

In contrast to the limitations in the construction of the interface and the complexity of visual effects imposed by frameworks for cross-platform project assembly, in the native technology for developing mobile applications, you can implement everything that the technologies of a particular mobile operating system are capable of.

3. Use of the latest technologies and dependence on cross-platform frameworks

New software and hardware functionality provided by the device and operating system manufacturers becomes available for implementation immediately after the release of the corresponding updates.

For example, iOS 9 includes the ability to search within apps. Each of them must implement a special method that returns results for a specific search query. As a result, for those native iOS applications in which this functionality is implemented, the ability to search for content through the system search section in iOS is available. In the same place where the search for applications, contacts, events and other information is carried out.

In the case of cross-platform technology for developing mobile applications, to implement such functionality, you will have to wait not only for the release of iOS 9, but also for the update of the corresponding framework, and it is impossible to predict when support for certain new features will appear and whether it will appear at all.

4. Ease and quality of testing

In addition to the toolkit mentioned in clause 1 for monitoring the use of the device’s hardware resources by the application, developers and testers have a whole range of technologies at their disposal.

Firstly, all system parameters are controlled automatically during the operation of the application. If an application uses more memory than expected, or more CPU resources, it will not go unnoticed.

Secondly, the possibilities in the widespread use of unit tests – automatic testing of almost every method in the application. If some part of the application stops working correctly due to any code changes, the new version will simply not be compiled, and the programmer will immediately see the reason.

Thirdly, there are ample opportunities for integrating remote error monitoring systems. In each native project, the corresponding functionality is built in, which allows you to see the error and its cause that arose on the device of any user.

5. Full support from App Store and Google Play

Both companies are committed to ensuring that users get the most positive experience possible when using applications on their respective platforms.

This means that the application should look as high quality as possible (if the screen has a high resolution and the images are blurry, the App Store will simply not let the application pass), work as fast as possible (if the application displays a small list of items in 20-30 seconds, it they will not miss it), and in general everything should be nice and comfortable.

If any of these parameters are too low or not met at all, the application will not be allowed to enter the store. If they are not up to par, which is extremely difficult to achieve with cross-platform technologies for creating mobile applications, and often impossible in principle, your application will never be considered by the relevant companies for placement in special advertising sections (Featured).

Among the applications in Featured sections of both the App Store and Google Play, there are none made using cross-platform technologies. Except for game projects in which the interface is not systemic.

Pros of cross-platform mobile app development technology

The cross-platform development environment has the following positive aspects:

Less resources are required to implement an application for several platforms at once. This, in fact, is the essence of the cross-platform technology for developing mobile applications on the android and iOS platforms – the same code runs on both platforms. There are exactly half the number of programmers involved in the project. The designer only makes one set of graphics. All this reduces the number of working hours and the project budget.
Less development time. Due to the lack of unique interface elements and simpler technologies for developing cross-platform applications, the time for creating simple products is usually less.
Simplified product update cycle. If you need to add something to the project or fix some mistake, this is done immediately for all platforms to which the project applies.
The ability to use the mobile version of the site. In most cases, languages for cross-platform technology for mobile application development are part of the JavaScript family of languages. Therefore, if you already have a mobile version of the site, a significant part of the code and materials can be used in the application without changes.
Using a single application logic. The logic behind the application will work in the same way for all platforms. Quite often, this can be a disadvantage due to the different architecture of operating systems.
A prime example is the Back button in navigation between screens. Android has a hardware Back button for this. On iOS – swiping your finger from the left side of the screen, or having a button on the left side of the navigation bar. If you don’t do the button at all, iOS users won’t be able to go back. If done, but in the wrong place and looking out of the box, iOS users will be unusual and inconvenient; and if done as in iOS, it will be unusual for Android users.

However, once written and debugged, the logic contains potentially fewer errors and discrepancies in its work. Therefore, you do not have to do the double and triple work of finding problems on each platform.

conclusions

From a technical point of view and from the point of view of the quality of the interface being created, the native technology for developing mobile applications has much more advantages. However, there are areas in which cross-platform technologies are justified: the gaming sector and test projects.

Most modern games are written on cross-platform technologies. This greatly speeds up development without sacrificing quality. in this case, special graphics frameworks are used (the most popular is Unity 3D).

If a project needs to be done quickly to conduct any tests, and the situation requires the project to work on several platforms at the same time, a cross-platform implementation may be the best solution.

If the project is not a game project, aimed at long-term development and requires a positive user experience, then it would be more rational to create a mobile application in a native way. Once the development method has been chosen, it is time to discuss the cost of developing the application.

Andrew Douglas 30, May, 2021

Mobile development

A strategy is a deliberate, prioritized plan that can lead you to a goal. She helps answer questions:

What result do you want to get and what are you aiming for?
Why are you creating a specific product?
What’s the best way to achieve your goals?

So that the developed application does not turn out to be a waste of time and your budget, it is important to take into account all the information received not only before starting development or during testing, but also for further promoting the mobile application.

Step 1. Get started

Strategy is work that requires the collection of a lot of data.

Here are a few points to get you started:

Market analysis. What do users want, what do they need, and where can they find growth points? By starting with external analysis, you can work around your own misconceptions and find new opportunities. Of course, this method is best combined with your insider knowledge and data. Keep up with the news in your industry, conduct customer interviews and research your competitors for a complete picture of the market. Think about how your application differs from competitors in the market and what user problems it solves.

User interviews. Talk to your target audience and users. Ask about their lifestyles, problems, jobs and needs using empathy and intuition.

Data analysisFind trends and patterns in metrics by user type, country, platform, and industry. Write down the expected result, taking into account the amount of effort that the project may require. This could be something other than revenue or engagement: for example, customer satisfaction (short term), development speed, etc.

Article: How to upgrade CustDev using user interviews

Step 2. Determine the criteria for success

What is success and how can you measure it? Many people express it in terms of increasing revenue or audience engagement. These metrics are important, but not the goal. Success criteria should take into account both the long and short term and reflect a clear vision for product development.

For example, if you only have high user engagement in your success metrics, you may be missing out on other opportunities, so aim for complex strategies.

Answer yourself the following questions to avoid myopia in terms of goals:

What is our mission? Why is this important and how do you broadcast the mission through the app? Try saying out loud, “What will the world be like if comes true?”
What basic human need do you satisfy?
What success rates can be calculated in 6 months, 3 years? Different periods of time will help answer different questions.

Step 3. Select ideas

When you have a clear idea of the goal and the necessary information, it is time to form your own vision and strategy. You may have a lot of good ideas, but it is not enough to simply distribute them on a timeline – you cannot build a long-term plan out of this.

Here are some common mistakes when formulating a strategy:

Do only what the users / team / managers ask for
This is a safe path: it helps to easily create a roadmap and makes everyone happy at once, but only in the short term. Most of the time, people will ask for incremental improvements rather than leaps and bounds, but this is a dangerous strategy: the feedback from such users will be short-sighted and unlikely to lead you to your goal. Don’t ignore this source of feedback, but know that it is more about customer retention than about strategic change.

One big brilliant idea
Sometimes we fall in love with an idea so much that we want to go to great lengths, ignoring the risks. This strategy can be used if the company is small and has not yet had time to gain a foothold in the market. For example, the decision to go into VR technology in most cases will be the wrong strategy, since it is associated with great risks without the right amount of data and testing – this is not a reasonable risk.

Change everything at once
This is often due to technical debt and the need to clean up a large codebase. Changes to the product and code base are necessary, but doing everything at once without clear goals and results is dangerous and time-consuming. A new design can lead to frustration among users and the team, and in the long term, nothing will change.

Step 4. Visualize the strategy

Presentations and other documents to summarize and publish the product strategy provide clarity and concreteness without being distracted by visuals. Typically, a strategy document is 2 to 6 pages long with the following sections:

Key players: who will implement the strategy.
Context: Research and analysis, user interviews, and other data you relied on to create your strategy.
Plan: what activities it includes, and why you chose them.
Metrics for measuring results: short and long term indicators of success.
Key risks and their mitigation: is the company ready for such risks and can they be controlled.
Collaboration: What kind of help you need from other teams and partners.
Evidence that your strategy will be successful.

Analysis-based and well-articulated mobile app marketing strategy – the basis for the success of the product. Think about strategic positioning, learn all about your target audience, conduct competitive analysis and define performance indicators.

Of course, real life is much more complex and includes many subtleties with limitations, and it can also be difficult to find a balance between ambitious, interesting and achievable. You can endlessly hesitate and read tons of books on strategy, but just getting started is enough to strategize and bring your best ideas to life.

Creation of applications for an online store

With the advent of Aliexpress, Ozon, Wildberries and other popular Internet applications, people have fully experienced the convenience of a quick order in a few clicks and are no longer so willing to access sites. If you have an online store, it’s time to think about its mobile version, so as not to lose your own audience.

Andrew Douglas 9, Mar, 2021

Mobile development

In 2021, there will be about 7 billion mobile users on the market and it is projected that on average 90% of their time will be spent on mobile applications. Apps have long been a part of everyday life and provide almost all basic services: making appointments, ordering groceries, learning languages or booking a restaurant table.

Market statistics clearly show that mobile applications are one of the most profitable niches for development and investment:

On average, smartphone users install 60–90 applications per month and spend about 2 hours and 15 minutes on them.
By 2022, consumer spending in app stores worldwide will increase by 92%.
App users spend 77% of their time on the top three apps and the rest of their time on the top ten.
87% of users check their phone an hour before bed, and 69% of them check their phone 5 minutes before going to bed.
75% of applications are opened only once and are never used again.
On average, 100,000 new Android apps are released each month in the Google Play Store – three times as many as in the Apple App Store.
In 2019, users downloaded 204 billion apps.

Looking at the statistics and changes related to the coronavirus, we can say that 2021 will change the mobile app development industry. Thousands of projects are already being released on the market every day, and this number will only grow.

If you are also looking for a million dollar mobile app idea, we suggest exploring 12 mobile app development ideas from various fields.

Ideas for developing mobile apps for business

Augmented reality for e-commerce applications

Mobile e-commerce sales will reach $ 420 billion by 2021, and 82% of users will shop online in the near future.

You can take these statistics to the next level by developing an app with built-in augmented reality (AR) technology. Create an interface with which you can try makeup, try on clothes, or see how furniture will look in the interior.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Chatbots

Improve customer relationships by instantly resolving customer issues. With the increasing competition in the market, users have many options to choose from, so they don’t want to wait long for an answer to their queries.

In this case, AI-powered chatbots will help you instantly answer questions and add support to your application.

According to research, more than 50% of users prefer to interact with companies that operate 24/7, and 30% of customer support costs can be reduced by using chatbots.

Using a bot, you can interact with customers without human intervention and not get tired of a large number of requests.

Service marketplace application

On-demand applications are rapidly changing and changing the world around us, whether it is ordering a taxi, hiring a professional, finding the best salon or a master.

According to the latest report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), the mobile app market in services will reach $ 335 billion by 2025. In addition, users in this niche spend an average of $ 57.6 billion per year, which presents good opportunities for startups.

Regardless of which sector you plan to invest in, marketplace apps can be developed across multiple domains and integrate with different technologies to ensure a seamless experience across multiple platforms.

Medical and fitness applications

Traditional medicine app

One day in life, there comes a moment when we begin to miss grandma’s health advice. You can solve this problem using an application that will tell you the right folk remedy for treatment. But be careful: make sure your app makes recommendations based on different geographic and cultural data of users, and analyzes their age and symptoms well. You can also add a Call Doctor button to quickly access an ambulance in an emergency.

Health Tracker & Nutrition Planning App

Apps can help you check your health every day and keep track of your diet to help you create your ideal diet. You can expand the app’s capabilities to include nutritional tips, simple recipes, or a list of low-carb diet foods suggested by a professional nutritionist.

Let users choose their own meal plan that best suits their health conditions, and partner with grocery stores to get the groceries they need.

Food delivery app

There are many food delivery apps, but each one has unique features to offer as the food delivery industry opens up new business opportunities in 2021. For example, you can add customization to a dish with a choice of ingredients, and then it will be cooked at a nearby restaurant.

Restaurant booking app

In a modern and rapidly changing world, no one has time to wait at a restaurant to eat their favorite dish. Offer people a mobile app to help them book a restaurant table on a specific day and time.

You can hire developers to make the application more interesting by adding a new set of features. It will be able to integrate customer reviews, ratings, reviews, images or restaurant panoramas to help users make a choice.

Educational Apps

Book exchange

A book sharing app can be an indispensable companion for book lovers who don’t have the ability or desire to buy new books or subscribe to them.

You can create a common platform for people to collect books and share them with registered users. This can be implemented as the idea of a simple mobile application, or complicated. For example, in the application, you can create book-type categories, add a chat option, arrange meetings or hold online meetings (very important in 2020).

Finding an online tutor

The wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the entire education system and transferred traditional schools to online learning. Pupils and students now need extra help from a mentor to cope with their curriculum.

Offer them an option to help them find the best tutors based on location, experience, skill, industry, and hourly tuition fees. Invite teachers and students to the same platform to avoid mediation. You can earn by charging a service fee each month through tutors or by requesting a portion of the tuition fee.

Applications from various fields

Dating apps

Now it’s not so difficult to find your soul mate – in online dating apps, people are more comfortable communicating with new people. This segment is projected to reach $ 2,725 million in 2020, with an annual growth rate of 11.6%.

Given the popularity and growth of such applications, it makes sense to hire developers now to develop an application for ios or android in order to build an interface with unique functions.

Job search with flexible terms

During the pandemic, many brands and businesses were closed, and people were left out of work. So developing a mobile app that offers jobs to a large number of people around the world would be a great idea.

You can create a common platform where employers and job seekers can help each other. Companies will be able to post vacancies for certain working hours or on a contract basis, and specialists will look for work, filtering offers by skills, experience, knowledge and form of employment.

Travel planning

It is difficult and time-consuming to explore each country and city, taking into account your budget and free time, but with the help of the application, the user can quickly draw up a travel plan and make the necessary lists. With the help of the developers, you can create an application that will offer complete travel packages or destinations according to a person’s request.

Regardless of which android or iOS app idea you choose, success will depend on the skills of the team and the experience of the programmers. Sometimes a mobile application with a brilliant idea cannot reach the market due to its complex functionality, while a simple but carefully designed project will immediately conquer the audience.

It will be useful:

In the online calculator, you can calculate the cost of developing a mobile application, and the article “Cost of developing a mobile application for iOS and Android to order in 2021” will help you figure out what this cost consists of.

Andrew Douglas 9, Mar, 2021

Mobile development

2020 taught us a lot of things to do online: work, communicate with friends, watch movies and find couples. So if you are planning to launch your own application, dating service is a great option for an investment of knowledge and investment.

In this article, we analyze the main stages of creating a dating application – from market analysis to launching and finding the first users.

Market research

The first thing to do is research the market and conduct a competitor analysis. Highlight the biggest players and niche apps that target narrow audiences: dating based on political beliefs, sexual orientation, or favorite music. Explore general trends in online dating, audience needs, and the functionality of popular apps.

The better you know the market, the easier it is to find your own niche and develop your app.

“The online dating market is extremely competitive and users are very selective and prefer well-known brands. Advertising is expensive. Therefore, if you decide to create such a service, do not underestimate the importance of competent marketing and having a sufficient marketing budget right at the start. It will not work to launch a dating project with little money, since you need to immediately attract a critical mass of users. If you decide to make an analogue of existing services, be prepared to compete with the advertising budgets of the market whales. If there are no such resources, it is worth examining the existing services and choosing a direction in which no one has yet dared to start work. This will not reduce the need for marketing to zero, but it will partially simplify the task. “

Yana Kashaeva, Business Analyst at AppCraft studio

The target audience

Market analysis will help you find free niches, determine your target audience and functionality that can satisfy its needs.

In addition to major players, niche applications have gained popularity in recent years, where you can find a partner who is close in political beliefs, interests, specific appearance, food preferences, profession, income level and nationality.

Here are some examples of apps with a narrow audience:

Hater – if you want to find someone who hates the same as you.

Tastebuds is for those who are looking for like-minded people in their musical preferences.

Trump Singles – for Donald Trump lovers.

Parikhozhane.ru – dating for Orthodox Christians.

Bristlr – for men with beards and their female fans.

Vegan Dating is an app for vegans.

Twindog – dating for dogs.

Anaem is a site for dating Tatars.

Tall friends is an app for meeting tall people.

Choose several categories for your application at once – your audience should not be too large and scattered, but also not too small for the application to gain popularity.

Monetization options

Decide in advance how the app can be monetized. Here are some basic ways:

Subscription for premium features. Users will be able to connect paid services (view closed user pages, hide information about themselves, connect an unlimited number of likes, etc.) for a month, six months or a year.

Gifts. For a fee, you can give bouquets, emojis, compliments and other ways to remind you of yourself.

Advertising. Advertisers love dating services for the ability to show ads to well-defined people, as developers have detailed information about each audience segment.

Partnership programs. Collaborate with flower delivery, restaurants, taxi services and entertainment venues your users may need.

Application development stages

Building interactive prototypes

An interactive prototype is a visual representation of all pages of the future application. It helps to test all the features of the service, ease of use, see errors in functionality and plan the cost and timing of work. Also, the prototype is shown to potential investors and users in order to assess the relevance of the project.

For dating applications, several prototypes are usually created at once in Figma or Marvel services. It can be with or without design – the main thing is that with the help of it you can see the algorithm for using the future product.

This article explains how the prototype is useful.…

Team building

The team is created individually for the project, since each service requires narrow experts and specialists with certain experience. In the process of work, the team can be supplemented by other people, but the main composition must be determined at the beginning of the project. Usually this:

Project manager

Communicates with clients and the team, coordinates common actions, controls timing, resolves conflicts and manages risks.

Programmers

They think over the architecture of the application, write the code and, together with the manager, decide how the service functions will be implemented.

UI / UX designer

Thinks over the interface design and plans the user experience.

Testers

Check if the application is working properly.

Design

Mobile app design isn’t just about colors and fonts. UX designers think through to the smallest detail how the user will navigate through the application, which button is more important and how quickly to get to it, and make it so that a person can easily navigate the application, and all buttons, forms, fields and data are convenient.

Development of

At this stage, programmers think over and create the architecture of the service, create databases, develop the main functionality and make up each screen of the future product according to layouts, adapting it to different sizes of devices for each platform: iOS and Android.

Application launch

Testers extensively test the application more than once. After that, it is sent to the stores for verification – for this, you need to register a developer account in Google Play and the App Store in advance.

Maintenance

After launching the application, work on it does not end: over time, the application will need to be optimized, new features added and removed, and the application tested and updated. Manufacturers of smartphones and operating systems regularly roll out updates for which you need to adapt some functions of the applications so that they work stably and meet modern requirements.

Application structure

Basic functions

It includes essential features that enable people to perform basic actions and use the product:

User registration
Filling out and editing the questionnaire
Setting up search for other users
View other profiles
Chat with couples and tech support
Geolocation
Push notifications
Integration with social networks

Paid Features

These features are usually paid and provide additional benefits to users and an opportunity for developers to monetize.

Here are the main ones:

Raising the profile to the first place and in the TOP, additional promotion of the profile, etc.
The ability to hide your location and age, anonymously visit other profiles and not show the time of the last visit.
Disabling any ads
Ability to change swipe and re-view another profile
Gifts for other users.

Engaging an audience

It is important for the application to constantly increase the base of new visitors in order to maintain the interest of existing ones. The cost of promotion will depend on the country and region, the type of platform, advertising platforms and other parameters.

Partnership with other applications. Popular dating services offer affiliate programs. They give you a base of profiles in exchange for traffic and share the profits.

Viral mechanics. Get people and the media to talk about you. Leverage the unique features of your app and create creative ways to tell your story.

Advertising. This is the most expensive but fastest way to reach early adopters. Post ads on social networks, search engines, app stores, local publications.

Application policy

How do you plan to react to aggressive actions of users, scammers, advertisements for intimate services and mentally ill people? All this needs to be thought out in advance so that you have a plan of action for such cases.

Timing and cost

The full development cycle of a mobile dating application takes 4-6 months. We at AppCraft understand that during this time the market and audience can change, so we try to create and test the application on real users as quickly as possible. It is better to make the minimum version in a month and a half, release it to the world and gradually improve and add new functions, instead of immediately developing a large number of additional functions with unknown value (after all, you can understand what exactly users like only after the product is launched).

The cost of developing an application is from 2 million rubles – it all depends on the type and complexity of the application and its functionality. In our article, we describe in detail what constitutes the cost of developing mobile applications.

The AppCraft team has extensive experience in mobile app development. We create and launch our own applications for iOS and Android, design, web. If you are thinking about developing a dating app, write to us – we will help you bring your ideas to life and share ideas and best practices.

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