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Creation of games for mobile devices on Android, IOS
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Andrew Douglas

With the development of the power of smartphones, computer games have moved into the phone, and now anyone can download the application and go through a couple of levels while riding the subway or standing in line. If for people it is an opportunity to spend time interestingly, then for companies it is to make money and gain fame.

In the article, we tell you how to choose the type of future game, how to develop it, and what stages you have to go through.

Popular genres of mobile games

Knowing the basic mechanics will help you make your choice, follow other companies and understand general trends while promoting. According to Newzoo, in 2020-2021, the following genres were included in the TOP-5 genres of gaming mobile applications:

MMORPG

One of the oldest types of games stands for Massively Multiplayer Online RPG. Here, the developers create separate fantasy worlds like Game of Thrones or The Lord of the Rings with dungeons, monsters, dragons, demons and gods. Participants pump the hero, gaining skills and strength in battles with other players or invented characters. In popular applications, up to several thousand heroes can simultaneously play online in online mode, dividing into groups of 5-100 people.

Previously, only computers could pull this, but with the development of smartphones, MMORPG without problems switched to the mobile version.

Examples: Arcane Legends, Adventure Quest, Dungeon Hunter 5.

MOBA

They are a mixture of RTS (English real-time strategy, RTS) and action. A person controls one of the characters and selects skills and abilities: usually they are magicians, knights or warriors. By uniting in groups, people compete with each other for products, objects and power in the virtual world. To successfully complete the stages, you need a good reaction speed and movement of your fingers on the screen and enough patience to complete the fight.

In the mobile version, there is no such depth of mechanics and strategy as in the computer versions, but this does not prevent you from grabbing attention for a long time.

Examples of MOBA: Mobile Legends, Arena of Valor, Vainglory.

Battle royale

The idea was borrowed in part from the films “Battle Royale” and “The Hunger Games”, with players fighting with each other for ammunition, armor, buildings, etc. to stay alive. Resources are distributed across the map, and the player must collect and properly manage them in order to maintain power.

Large-scale maps, a large selection of weapons and armor make the user experience especially exciting. The main audience of Battle Royale is teenagers 8-15 years old. Almost all gaming applications do not charge, and the creators earn through advertising.

Examples: Fortnite, Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone.

Card games

To exchange cards, you need to participate in battles with other participants, earning good cards or buying them for real money.

Matches can be up to 30 minutes long, and the process includes a winning mechanic based on luck – this maintains a sense of excitement and a desire to win no matter what. Card games are usually free, but people can pay extra for a good deck.

Examples: Hearthstone, Eternal, Shadowverse, HEX: Shards of Fate.

Puzzle

They cover a large market share: more than 50% of phone owners install at least one such game application on their phone. Puzzles grab attention and require you to use ingenuity and logic to win, but they do not hurt your fingers when you touch the screen as other types, but they are no less intriguing. It can be Tetris, Sudoku, or number problems.

Examples: Cut the rope, Rusty Lake, Roll the ball, Love Poly.

Criteria for choosing the genre of the game

Budget

Now the competition in the mobile games market is quite high, so it is unlikely that it will be possible to create a project on your knees with a minimum budget. It is better to soberly assess your capabilities and, based on the estimate, choose the appropriate genre. The more complex the mechanics, the more money you will need to create it. If the budget is small, it is better to choose a light game with minimal technical requirements.

Team Capabilities

For a start, it is better to choose genres in which you have experience. You should not immediately take on a large-scale Battle Royale if the people in the team previously developed only races and puzzles.

Competitors

Study your competitors in the genres of interest. When niches are crammed with top-tier projects, it will be difficult to gain popularity. This will require a lot of money and a short time frame to have time to release the project before a competitor comes up with a more interesting version. In most cases, it’s better to choose another option and not waste the money, time and effort of the team.

Trends

The ability to predict trends will help you avoid outdated ideas that will leave marketplaces in the near future and choose promising options. For example, experts predict the growth of 3D technologies in the future. Now such applications are not widespread, but in a few years they may well take off in the ratings. It’s better to create something unique than to uselessly trying to improve existing expensive projects.

Approaches to game selection

Before getting started, developers have two choices: create a completely unique app, or use proven game mechanics. Both options can be successful and have their own merits and demerits.

Copy tested mechanics

pros Minuses
Minimal risk of failure
The technology has already been tested on users and perfected to the smallest detail

Ready design
No need to spend budget and time creating new game designs. Everything is checked and refined for you.

Short time
Development time is much lower than that of a unique game due to minimal changes to the original mechanics.

Need a large marketing budget
An analogue of a popular game is unlikely to cause a “wow effect” and will spread virally, so the main traffic will have to be attracted through advertising.

Small market share
The main competitors are already taking the main profit. Growth will be slower than with unique development.

Risk of releasing the game lateIf the development process drags on, it is likely that by the time of release it will no longer be relevant.

Create a unique game

pros Minuses
“Wow effect”
New games bring new user experiences to players, and they seek to share emotions with friends and invite them to join. This creates a viral effect when the game promotes itself without extra investment.

Large market share
If you succeed in creating a new gaming technology, there is a chance to immediately conquer the majority of the audience.

Free publications in the media
Gaming resources and bloggers are always in search of unique content and industry news. It can bring free traffic and organic audience growth.

High risk of failure
Launching a new product on the market is always risky and can lead to application failure.

Long development time
Building mobile games from scratch takes more time and effort to refine, fix bugs, and test.

Large investments
Developing a unique game is much more expensive than creating a clone.

Stages of mobile game development

Idea development

Research the market and genres, select the main target audience and an interesting product that they will like.

Monetization strategy

Usually, it is free to play, but inside the interface, users can buy additional features and functions or watch ads in exchange for free access.

The main monetization methods used by developers:

  • Advertising. To avoid negative reviews, players are often presented with additional per-view bonuses.
  • Subscription. The user deducts a certain amount every month and receives a premium account without ads and additional bonuses.
  • In-game currency. By investing in it with real money, users can make purchases.

Category selection

There are three main categories in the game making industry:

  • Hyper casual. A short game without a plot with easy mechanics and simple controls.
  • Midcore. Game mechanics that require more time and strategic thinking. There is an easy plot and action planning. The most popular option in marketplaces.
  • Hardcore. With a high level of difficulty and a well-developed game world for experienced gamers. Typically created for audiences with an interest in specific genres.

Platforms for creating mobile games

Developers have a wide range of programs:

  • Unreal Engine. A proven platform suitable for large and small projects on any mobile platform. From tools: C ++ and Blueprints visual scripts.
  • Unity. A platform with a large selection of tools: a graphical editor, quick debugging, support for any platform and creation of titles.
  • AppGameKit. There are many ready-made solutions for rapid development, built-in monetization technologies, and a fast compiler.
  • MonoGame. Suitable for creating cross-platform applications, will help beginners in creating their first projects: many tutorials have been written for the platform.
  • Marmalade SDK. Includes libraries, tools for quickly coding, testing and deploying applications.

Gameplay development

Giving a sense of excitement and engagement is the main task of the gameplay. To retain the audience, they use short-term levels and unlock additional functions, bonuses and secret items.

Platform

Most often, the platform for Android is chosen for the first launch – it has free publication and a larger audience than iOS. Ideally, the application can be cross-platform in order to get as much traffic as possible.

Game design

In game design, you need to work out the story, characters, small details and the user path down to the details. It is he who will distinguish himself from competitors and create a positive impression.

Testing

Before launching on the marketplace, the application is tested on a potential audience and errors are corrected in advance. The more carefully the check is carried out, the less negative reviews there will be after publication.

Where to order a mobile game

Our AppCraft studio has been developing mobile applications for more than 10 years / We take on all stages: from analytics to publication, help with marketing and provide prompt technical support.

Fill out the form below to get a free consultation and find out the cost of developing a mobile application.

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Usability audit of mobile applications
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Andrew Douglas

Companies often create their own mobile application, but it does not live up to expectations: users quickly delete the service, give low ratings in the marketplace, and the conversion falls every month. Wasted budget and resources seem to be in vain. A UX audit can cope with such a problem: professional developers, designers and marketers will objectively evaluate the interface, find errors and help make the service popular.

We at AppCraft have been developing mobile applications for more than 10 years and tell us what it is for and how the audit process goes.

What is the analysis of a mobile application for?

UX audit helps to find weaknesses that prevent a person from reaching the target action. For example, an online store has an inconvenient filter for searching for products, and the order button is too small and inconspicuous in color – this can cause a large churn of users at the selection stage.

During usability testing, each element is checked: buttons, search bars, personal account, navigation, data storage and security, screen structure, color schemes, etc. An objective and careful analysis will help to identify problematic and strengths, priority and unnecessary functions, technical errors and user friendliness.

Practical recommendations will increase user loyalty, add a competitive edge, and increase conversions.

When to apply for an audit

At the stage of prototyping. The most profitable approach from a financial and labor-intensive point of view. An audit in the process of prototyping will allow us to correct most of the errors and bring to the market the most convenient product with a minimum number of edits.

Before launching to the marketplace. A final usability check will help you re-check features and find bugs to avoid a wave of negative reviews after publication.

If you are not satisfied with the indicators. When the application is already launched, but gives a low conversion, works slowly and collects a lot of negative reviews, there is a reason to test the technical part and interface again.

Audit stages

An individual verification process is built for each service, but there are basic stages that each application goes through.

Data collection

At the first stage, interviews with the client about the existing problems and goals are carried out, after which a plan is drawn up to correct the errors.

Information is usually collected through analytics systems and / or focus group polls.

  • If analytics systems are integrated into the application, they study the metrics of interaction, engagement and conversion. The analysis will show how people move within the service, with which functions I interact most often and at what stage they leave.
  • To collect additional information or in the absence of systems, analysts organize focus groups with target users. The respondents are asked to use the app and study their user journey, ask questions and study motivation. A focus group helps to better know the target audience and find solutions to interface problems.

Technical analysis

Problems can be hidden in the code itself. For example, the developers admitted the vulnerability of the code for hacking, problems in the operation of the service and data exchange. Checking the quality of the code and auditing the security of the mobile application will help solve technical problems and improve the interface.

Usability testing

Experts evaluate how convenient it is to use the application: whether the content is clear, whether all the buttons are pressed, how quickly the pages load, and what barriers prevent reaching the target action.

Before contacting the specialists, you can check everything yourself using the questions from the checklist of the usability of the mobile application:

  • How logical is the user’s path. If the goal of the service is to get an order from a customer, it is necessary to build the correct sequence of screens, gradually guiding the person towards the purchase. An illogical page transition, unnecessary actions and an inconvenient interface can alienate a potential client. If there are many competitors on the market with more convenient services, people will simply go to them.
  • Are all elements clear and conveniently sized. Each button must adhere to the guidelines for Android, iPhone or Windows Phone platforms. For example, buttons for iOS smartphones must be at least 7 × 7 mm.
  • Whether a person can easily move between screens. If the interface does not have a button to return to the previous screen and back, or to easily navigate to the main page, usability will clearly suffer.
  • Is there a convenient filter in the search? If there are many positions of different types in the catalog, make it easier for a person to find the desired position.
  • Whether the information is retained after exiting the application. The interface will be more user-friendly if customers automatically save items in the cart after adding or data after technical failures. If you have to re-fill your shopping cart every time you exit, there is a chance you might lose a potential customer.

Design analysis

Outdated style, too invisible elements or unreadable fonts can also create problems in communication with users. During validation, professional designers and technicians examine each element and conduct A / B testing to provide evidence-based conclusions.

Report presentation

After collecting information and conducting tests, the team draws up all the data in a single document and presents it to the customer. Usually the report is divided into directions: technical part, usability, design and content, and at the end they present a technical task that will help the customer to eliminate the shortcomings.

Our team has been developing mobile applications since 2011 and knows what potential customers need. We develop services for banking, corporate social networks, instant messengers and online stores, so we can conduct a UX audit for any company and improve your application.

To learn more and order an audit, fill out the form below. We will contact you shortly.

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Creation of mobile applications for banks: functions, development stages and trends 2021

The development of mobile applications in the financial sector is one of the most popular directions in 2021. According to Insider Intelligence, 89% of banking users use mobile banking – mostly Millennials and Generation X between 20 and 55. The mobile application allows you to completely replace or reduce the load on bank branches, reduce the cost of renting premises and staff, and increase customer loyalty.

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Mobile app development trends in 2022
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Andrew Douglas

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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Creation of mobile applications for banks: functions, development stages and trends 2021
0
Andrew Douglas

The development of mobile applications in the financial sector is one of the most popular directions in 2021. According to Insider Intelligence, 89% of banking users use mobile banking – mostly Millennials and Generation X between 20 and 55. The mobile application allows you to completely replace or reduce the load on bank branches, reduce the cost of renting premises and staff, and increase customer loyalty.

What tasks does the banking application solve?

Automates processes and saves budget. With the help of the online service, a person can apply for a loan or receive a debit card, download the necessary certificates or ask a question to the chat bot without the participation of bank employees. Thus, the application avoids the factor of human error and saves money on training and maintenance of employees.

Increases loyalty. The opportunity to get any banking service at any time without leaving home gives a good competitive advantage and keeps customers among regular users.

Provides an additional platform for marketing and analytics. In the application, you can inform about new services and changes in work, hold promotions and contests, create a separate loyalty program and send push notifications with an individual offer to each client. The service also provides detailed analytics of user actions: what channels they come from, what functions they use most often, what they spend money on, etc.

Mobile Banking Features

In the process of creating mobile applications for a bank, basic functions with basic banking services are added to the basis and, depending on the preferences of the target audience, additional options are introduced.

The main

  • user authentication and authorization
  • setting up a personal account
  • support chat
  • linking bank cards
  • viewing card and account balances, expense history
  • setting a limit on spending
  • contactless payment
  • money transfers to other cards and accounts
  • replenishment of a mobile phone and housing and communal services
  • currency exchange
  • purchase and sale of securities
  • issuance of account statements, bank details
  • card blocking and unblocking
  • push notifications

Additional

  • budget statistics
  • system of bonuses and cashback for purchases through the application
  • payment by QR code
  • voice menu
  • creating a family account

Trends in the banking application market

Big data

Big Data is a large amount of data that is processed by automated tools and used to collect statistics, make predictions, and make decisions. With Big Data, the bank can analyze customer behavior, create personalized offers and make decisions on loan applications. Companies that learn how to properly sort and manage data will be able to offer better solutions to users.

Complete ecosystems

In recent years, large banks have begun to concentrate entire ecosystems around themselves with proven consumer services. For example, in the Tinkoff bank application, in addition to basic functions, you can buy movie tickets, book a hotel or sign up for an excursion and get cashback. A person does not need to additionally register on each site and fill in the card number: the data is automatically transmitted through the application.

Voice control

The function is actively moving from everyday tasks to banking products. Otkritie Bank and Citibank were the first to add voice control to the application, the rest of the companies are only developing their voice direction. In the future, this will allow you to find the necessary documents in the service, determine the nearest ATM, answer customers’ frequently asked questions and set up regular payments.

Family Products

Opening an account for several people in Russia was legally allowed only in 2018, so products for each family member are just beginning to develop. For example, Tinkoff, Raiffeisenbank and Alfa-Bank have family accounts in applications. Now the market lacks a separate application for children with an educational approach and a separate set of services.

Augmented reality

The technology is still used in a targeted manner and mainly for marketing, but it has a good perspective. For example, VTB mortgage lending clients are offered a virtual tour of a property, and a virtual consultant explains the basics of investing in an app.

Development stages

The AppCraft development studio is attentive to every step: it helps us to accurately determine the client’s needs and create the desired application functionality.

Consulting and analytics

Before starting the development, we conduct interviews with a client, immerse ourselves in business goals, study the audience and communication channels, analyze competitors – this will help to correctly position ourselves with clients.

Preparation of technical specifications

We write down the project goals, interface and security requirements, functionality, development stages, team composition and budget. We sign a contract and start development.

Prototyping

We reproduce the basic logic, structure and functionality of the future application. Typically, the prototype is created in the form of screens at each stage of the user journey. It is not yet a finished product, but it helps to test its functionality in order to fix bugs and improve the user experience at the initial stage.

UX / UI design development

The UX designer builds the logic of interaction between the pages: registration and authorization screens, filling in data, personal account, shopping cart, purchase payment, order tracking, etc.

The UI designer develops the appearance of the future service in accordance with the terms of reference and the client’s corporate style. He selects a color scheme, fonts, renders icons, buttons, push notifications, sliders, etc. After approval, the prototype is sent back for review to correct the shortcomings.

Backend and frontend development

Front-end programmers develop the client interface and platform logic, and back-end developers create a server for storing and exchanging information.

Testing

To test the features, people who have not participated in other stages of development are involved – they must be impartial and with a fresh eye to evaluate every page, button and push notification. To do this, you can involve a professional QA team with their own test plan, list of features and desired behavior. In the process, they test functionality, performance and design. For additional confidence, a focus group is attracted with people who use the application for the first time.

Publication and revision

After launching in the marketplace in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, you will have access to detailed statistics: which sections are the most popular and which ones are not very popular, how many people completed targeted actions, which pages should be modified, etc. code revision and technical support.

Order the development of an application for a bank can be in AppCraft. We are ready to turn your idea into a full-fledged product that will help maintain communication with customers and increase profits. We deal with all stages of development from analytics to release, help with promotion and provide prompt technical support. For 10 years, we have created several of our own projects and more than 200 mobile applications – banking systems, instant messengers, corporate solutions, e-commerce and social networks.

Contact us via the form to discuss the details and find out the exact price.

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Mobile applications: types and principles of work
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Andrew Douglas

According to eMarketer, people spend more and more time on their phones, and the trend will only grow in the near future – according to forecasts, in 2022 people will sit on smartphones for 4 hours a day, and 88% of this time will be spent in applications. In this article, we analyze the types of mobile applications, how they work and how they differ from websites.

A mobile application is software that can be downloaded to a smartphone or tablet. It all started with simple games on push-button phones, but modern products can cover almost any need: pay taxes, make an appointment with a doctor, find vacancies on demand or a couple for the evening, order food and book a hotel.

If you plan to release your own application, we at AppCraft are ready to develop it and help with marketing – our team has been developing mobile services for more than 10 years and has created more than 200 projects for business. In the meantime, we’ll tell you what applications are and how they work.

Types of mobile applications

By business goals

Internal use

  • Services that optimize the work of employees within the company: corporate social networks and instant messengers, virtual office, cloud storage, etc.

As a marketing tool

  • Loyalty programs: discount aggregators, bonus cards and cashback systems for regular customers.
  • Online business services: programs for making appointments with a doctor, booking tours, hotels, etc. with the ability to conduct banking transactions.

In these cases, the application is used as a tool for implementing a marketing strategy – its interface allows you to send push notifications and reminders encouraging the audience to take advantage of a discount, buy a product, book a room or make an appointment with a doctor.

By appointment

Gaming

Logic tasks, races, quests, quizzes, shooters, children, adults and family games – the possibilities of modern development are almost endless and allow you to create both a simple and a complex multistage virtual reality system.

For e-commerce and service industries

Here we collect everything that helps the company to reach as many potential audience as possible: programs for ordering a taxi, making an appointment with a beautician, buying tickets to the cinema, etc.

Content

They help users to quickly receive relevant content: news from publications and newspapers, blogs with useful articles on psychology, exchanges with exchange rates and stock prices, tasks for language courses.

Social network

Services that help communicate via smartphone and tablet: VKontakte, Instagram, Facebook, Gmail, etc.

By the specifics of work

Native

These are projects that are created for a specific platform, written in its native language and provide all the available capabilities of a smartphone: camera, contact list, GPS, health and sleep data, etc. Services for Android are most often written in Java, for iOS – Swift or objective-С.

Pros: high speed and performance, the ability to implement the maximum set of functions, an intuitive interface, the ability to work without the Internet, a reliable level of security, support from marketplaces.

Cons: high cost and long development process, expensive maintenance.

Mobile web apps

It can be called a site adapted to any phone. The web service can be set as a bookmark in the browser and used regardless of the platform, without downloading to the phone and without wasting memory.

Pros: simple and inexpensive creation process, no need to go through moderation and publish in every marketplace, easy access for users.

Cons: Internet connection required, limited interface, poor performance and speed, push notifications cannot be sent.

Cross-platform

Universal services that are created for two platforms at once: iOS and Android and combine the features of web and mobile applications.

Pros: low cost and high release speed, cross-platform, offline updates.

Cons: the speed is lower than that of the native ones, incorrect work in the case of a bad Internet, limited visual capabilities.

How mobile apps work

How do they differ from websites

Mobile services are more difficult and more expensive to create, but they allow high-quality interaction with users – their costs quickly pay off and help build a loyal audience.

  • Notifications. Through the application, you can send push notifications and reminders, even if the person does not open the service, perform functions in the background and without an Internet connection.
  • Prompt feedback from the company via chat and technical support.
  • Individual service. It is possible to use geolocation, a person’s biological rhythm, data on interests and queries in search engines to offer an individual service: call a car to the house, create a diet and exercise regimen, offer the necessary analyzes taking into account medical history, or find a suitable pair according to interests.
  • It is more convenient to use: the application interface is adapted to user actions and has a clear structure with buttons.
  • Detailed analytics. With the help of statistics in the application, you can analyze the behavior of the target audience, draw up a more detailed portrait of the client and select effective marketing strategies.

Architecture

There are two main blocks here: front-end and back-end parts. They act as a split system and interact with each other, transferring information and ensuring the smooth operation of the product.

Back-end the part is not visible to users, but it is on it that the entire logic of the site rests, data is processed and reactions are sent. Backend developers ensure the correct functioning of the interface, force each button to transfer a person to the desired page, make payments through banking systems and collect data.

Front-end provides the look and feel of the interface that users interact with. These are the design of pages, buttons, push notifications and other graphic elements, a map of the user’s journey and interaction with functions.

In which programming languages ​​are they created

Java

Most of the Android apps in the Google Play Market are written on it.

Java is used for development for Android, cross-platform and hybrid interfaces, but in the latter two cases, you will need to use other languages ​​to take into account the specifics of each operating system.

Kotlin

It was created to overcome the shortcomings of Java and is used to write code for almost all new services on Android.

Objective C

It began to be used in the 80s of the 20th century. It was built on top of C and Smalltalk, and in 2008 Apple released the iPhone SDK 2.0, allowing you to create programs for iOS. At first it was considered an add-on to C, but when NextStep and Apple licensed it, Objective C became the official language of all iOS interfaces.

Swift

Swift has not only adopted all the advantages of Objective C, but also has been endowed with new features that make it easier to write and implement code.

Rust

Rust began in 2006 by developer Graydon Hoare, who wanted to combine the speed of C ++ with the robustness of Haskell. In 2009, Mozilla joined him, and a year later he was presented at the Mozilla Summit. Rust is now one of the most popular among developers. Used to create native and web applications on Android, iOS, Linux, Windows and Unix.

WITH#

Used primarily for Windows Mobile, but recently C # has learned to work on Mac, Linux, IoS and Android. Due to its convenient syntax, strict structuring and a large number of libraries and tools, you can write different types of interfaces on it and solve any problems with less time and resources.

When is it necessary for a business

If users use a phone more often than a computer. You can track statistics through Yandex.Metrica or Google Analytics. If more than 50% of customers visit your site via a smartphone, this is a sign for action: provide users with convenient conditions for ordering, before competitors do it.

There is a loyalty system. Replace plastic cards and paper coupons with stickers with a convenient online service (ideally, it will work even without the Internet). Offer customers an electronic bonus card with points, a discount for downloading the application, and a convenient personal account for tracking activity.

Competitors are already using the app. If the market has already begun to use mobile technologies, it is definitely not worth waiting for. Explore the offers of other companies, come up with additional features for your own product and start developing so as not to lose customers.

We need new sales tools. The service allows you to implement marketing campaigns: hold sweepstakes and promotions, talk about new products and services, remind you to register and offer individual conditions for each person.

Application creation – a complicated process, but in the hands of an experienced team, everything is created quickly without loss of quality and at every stage is tested on a real target audience.

The AppCraft team deals with all stages of development: from analytics to release, provides prompt code improvement and technical support.

Over 10 years of work, we have created several of our own projects and more than 200 applications – messengers, corporate social networks, systems for banking products and online stores. If you want to create your own mobile business application, we are ready to turn your idea into a functional and popular product.

Contact us via the form to discuss the details and find out the exact price.

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Mobile app launch
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Andrew Douglas

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?
Market research and understanding your audience

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.

Encourage users to use your app

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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5 main metrics to control the quality of a mobile application
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Andrew Douglas

“What can be measured can be improved,” said Peter Drucker, the father of modern management theory. But what exactly does a startup measure in its product? How do you differentiate actionable, fact-based mobile app launch metrics from “vanity metrics” that can only flatter a developer’s vanity?

And most importantly – why?

The answer is simple: then, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your product. You will never correct the latter if you collect erroneous data or process correct data in the wrong way. In order not to ruin your startup at the very beginning, we recommend tracking 5 key performance indicators of a mobile application from our article. But before moving on to them, we recall that any company needs to first of all monitor financial metrics, including:

  • Fixed and variable costs;
  • Cash balance;
  • Capital burnout rate;
  • Break even;
  • Cash flow;
  • Profit.

1. Average income from one user and the total profit from cooperation with him

Total profit per client – one of the main indicators of the success of your chosen business model. When applied to mobile development, it speaks about the financial value of your company, showing how much each user contributes to it throughout the entire time of interaction with the application. Josia Humphrey of Appster proposes to predict the total revenue per user by multiplying the annual cost of services (for example, an app subscription) by the number of years that you think the user will stay with you. For example, if, on average, your client spends 1,200 rubles a year and uses the application for 5 years, then the total profit from it will be 6,000 rubles.

Young people define the concept of a new beautiful mobile app

In the case of startups, this formula may not work due to the lack of sufficient data. Therefore, instead of your own statistics, you can use the statistics of the closest competitors in order to understand which indicator you need to strive for. In any case, entrepreneurs agree that in order to ensure the company’s profitability, the total profit per user must exceed the cost of attracting it at least three times.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) Is a metric related to the purchasing behavior of your audience. It is needed to analyze the source of the company’s income. Including, its changes from each new installation of a mobile application or a purchase made in it. From this metric, investors draw conclusions about the potential profitability of the project, and developers – about its shortcomings. Overall, increasing both metrics along with expanding your user base is in your best interest.

2. The cost of installing the application and the cost of a loyal user

Installation cost (CPI) Is the amount you spend to get one person to install your mobile application. You advertise in various media to increase installs and pay a fixed or floating rate to install the app. Organic installs are not included in this metric.

The install cost is calculated as the ratio of the advertising campaign budget to the total number of app installs. For example, if you spent 300,000 rubles on advertising and got 1,500 installs, then the cost of one will be 200 rubles. Loyal User Cost (CPLU) Is the amount you spend to get a “loyal” or “active” user who has logged into the application more than three times.

The student installs a mobile application during an interesting lecture

This metric shows how much you should spend in order to reach an audience that actually uses your app after installation. In conjunction with the average income per user, it will help you calculate:

  1. Return on Investment Ratio (ROI) – the ratio of funds earned to invested funds;
  2. The break-even point is the number of mobile app installations at which the sum of the company’s fixed and variable costs is equal to its income. When it exceeds costs, you start making a profit.

Fiksu DSP statistics at the moment are as follows:

  • The average cost of a loyal user in the mobile app market is $ 2.51;
  • Average cost to install an iOS app – $ 1.88
  • The average cost to install an Android app is $ 2.42.

3. Audience retention

Today, more than 6 million mobile applications are available in the Google Play and App Store. However, users spend almost 85% of their time on smartphones on just 5 of them. And the likelihood that your application will be removed after 72 hours of use and never installed again is 4 out of 5. This means that people are content with a small set of favorite applications and are not inclined to expand it. Obviously, in such conditions, audience retention is becoming a serious problem, especially for mobile startups. Apptentive estimates that only 4% of iOS and Android users have been using the same mobile app for over a year. Josia Humphrey of Appster believes that “the moment you get a new user, you should do your best to ensure that they stay with you as long as possible.”

Man makes a fateful decision

Inc.com and Molly Galetto define the term “audience retention“As” the company’s ability to build and maintain long-term relationships with as many customers as possible. ” But why keep users on a mobile app? Alex Waltz is sure that knowledge of this indicator is an excellent indicator of the success of the application and the number of its real users. Based on this data, you can improve your marketing strategy and make the promotion of the application more targeted, as well as calculate the total profit from cooperation with each client and the total income of the company.

4. Audience engagement

Involvement – not an empirical indicator. It can be assessed by tracking and collecting various data:

  • the duration of the session;
  • preferred ways to interact with the application;
  • the number of transitions to the application via push notifications;
  • the total number of screens viewed per session.
The story of turning off notifications during a meeting

Engagement is important because it speaks to the quality of a mobile app, complementing quantitative assessments. Active users not only increase audience retention and total profit, but also contribute to the viral spread of the application through social networks. Therefore, the largest mobile apps like Facebook have a very high engagement rate.

We discussed the issue of engagement in more detail in an article on this topic.

5. Consumer loyalty index

Consumer Loyalty Index (NPS) Is one of the most effective indicators of user satisfaction and mobile app virality. It can be measured by asking the audience the following question: “On a scale of 0-10, what is the likelihood that you will recommend our app to friends, colleagues and family members?” If you want to know the reasons for this or that attitude towards your product – ask one more question, but no more.

Very loyal mobile app user

An article about the features of creating applications for android help to develop a product that satisfies users as much as possible applications on this OC…

Based on the answer, Netpromoter.com categorizes users as follows:

  • “Distributors” – put 9 or 10 points, ready to make purchases in your application and support it in every possible way.
  • “Passive consumers” – they give 7-8 points, they are satisfied with the work of the application, but they may well go to your competitors.
  • “Critics” – put below 6 points, are not satisfied with the application and can ruin the reputation of your brand, leaving negative reviews on the Internet and in life.

The final consumer loyalty index is calculated as the difference between the number of “critics” and the number of “distributors”.

Whatever the outcome, it will give you an idea of ​​the audience’s impression of your app and help you:

  • understand if your product meets market demands;
  • measure the value and viral potential of the application;
  • evaluate whether users want to share your application with other people, making them your potential customers.

On the site, you can leave a request for the development of mobile applications in Moscow and Russia (if you are from another country – also write), and in the blog you can find out about the prices of developing an application for android and ios.

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Development of mobile applications for iOS
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Andrew Douglas

According to the App Annie platform, iOS app users spend almost twice as much on the Apple App Store as Android users on the Google Play Store – in the last quarter of 2020, the Apple App Store earned $ 19 billion, and Google Play $ 10.3 billion. …

Apple owners are more solvent, which means that an application on IOS can bring more profit. If you want to attract new customers and make the buying process more convenient, the AppCraft team will develop a product from scratch that will take your business to the next level.

Development of a turnkey IOS mobile application – from 600 thousand rubles to several million rubles.

Who needs IOS app development?

Big business

It systematizes the work of all structures within the company and branches, automates interaction with customers and helps to quickly receive feedback, analyze the effectiveness of employees and eliminate costs.

Online stores

The application will attract buyers and increase the number of repeat sales, allow you to set up individual Push notifications for each user and create an effective loyalty system. The application can be integrated with CRM, enterprise management and accounting systems.

Startups

It will help you quickly attract the target audience and get the first profit, bypass competitors with the help of modern technologies and present your product to potential investors.

Why do you need to develop an application?

  • App Store users download more paid apps than Google Play, so a product with a paid download or in-software purchase will be a profitable investment in your project.
  • The target audience of IOS applications is people with above-average income who are actively buying new solutions on the market.
  • IOS applications allow you to implement a large number of useful functions for different requests.
  • Fast product development time: Apple devices are unified and have fewer versions than Android, so they take less time to build.

Appcraft studio has been developing applications for companies for more than 9 years, their further support and promotion in the App Store. We have assembled an experienced team of developers and marketers who will take into account the specifics of your business and make it convenient for your audience. We are based in Moscow and work with companies throughout Russia.

Order the development of a mobile application for IOS to increase the profit of your business.

Specificity of mobile applications on iOS

The first and main distinguishing feature of ios applications is that the number of devices is much smaller than the number of Android smartphones. This means that it should be easier to adapt the appearance of a mobile application to the current iPhones on the market.

At the same time, with the release of each new device and the update of the operating system, the vast majority of mobile applications need to be adapted to new conditions. App Store statistics show that iPhone users are eager to update to the latest version of the OS. Therefore, applications must comply with its requirements, for example, support the dark theme introduced in devices in 2019.

The diagrams below show that in one month since the presentation of iOS 13, 50% of users have updated to it… This looks especially interesting in comparison with the statistics that we provide in the article on development for Android.

Operating system update statistics on iOS devices as of October 15, 2019

At the same time, the screens of modern iOS devices have a good resolution. This allows the use of thin fonts: they are not distorted, as is the case on low quality displays.

Also, the device architecture of the same type allows not to carry out additional checks at the start of the application: there is no need to check the presence of a camera, GPS sensor or accelerometer.

Features of development and creation of applications for IOS (iphone)

And yet, despite the fact that the base of devices on the iOS platform is much smaller than on Android, there are a lot of nuances of creating and developing applications for the iphone. Design, up-to-date code, and the use of smartphone features in the creation and development of applications for the iphone can greatly increase user loyalty, which will lead to an increase in the rating of the application in the store. But first things first:

When developing applications for ios, it is necessary to take into account not only screen sizes, which is important when designing an application, but also hardware differences of each device…

In our studio, applications are developed in a native way – this is writing a program in the base language for the iOS platform – Swift. Apple strongly recommends using native technologies for the fastest, most intuitive app and the latest operating system features.

Let’s return to the diagrams with update statistics: it turns out that when a new version of the operating system is released, most users are almost immediately updated to it. But the new version may be very different from the previous one, and some functions of the application may not work correctly or not work at all.

Respectively the code needs to be kept up to date, while Apple does not provide a complete list of all the innovations in advance, giving access only to beta versions with unfinished functionality, the implementation of which may differ in the end. Therefore, within a few weeks after the release of the final version of the new OS, you need to test the mobile application and quickly adapt it to the new conditions, if necessary.

Dark Theme Presentation at 2019 Apple WWDC

The addition of new features in the latest versions can be attributed to the same topic, since progress does not stand still, and Apple tries to be in trend, introducing the top inventions of the technology world into its product. For example, in iOS 13, it became possible to forget about entering different applications by phone number or social network account, not to mention the long-forgotten username and password: now you can simply click the “sign in with Apple ID” button and, without filling out anything extra, get into the application. Moreover, the user can choose the option to hide his Apple ID, and no one will get access to his e-mail.

It is important to take this nuance into account not only when developing applications for ios, but also in a marketing strategy, since collecting such data for their further use is a frequent practice in promoting applications. You can send a letter to the pseudo-address generated by Apple for the user through a specialized channel, but mass mailings will not work this way, at least until popular mailing services provide this feature.

Another block of features of developing ios applications from scratch is design… The visual component has always been a priority for Apple, so the audience of users is used to stylish interfaces, intuitive application controls and an obvious layout of sections. Moreover, there is a strict guideline, which must be adhered to in order to successfully pass the verification for publishing an application in the App Store.

Sometimes, when creating a new product, customers ask us to make as many unique icons, buttons and fonts as possible, while the platform requirements are the opposite. But the most important thing here is user experience, and practice shows that the user can get to the profile faster if he is uniquely identified by the icon.

What icons shouldn’t be used in the iOS interface

Another feature of the development of mobile applications for iOS is the implementation of the dynamic size of the system font. IOS device users can change the OS-wide default font size. If your application does not dynamically change the font and displays it at a fixed size all the time, it will be perceived as a low-quality product for this segment of the audience.

When developing a design, it is also important to consider that some users open the application in the mode tablet compatibility… On some iPad models, the resolution of the work area becomes the same as on older iPhone models: 4 and 4s. Apple’s App Review Service often does just that: even iPhone-only apps are checked on the iPad.

This means that you need to consider the layout of the interface of applications and on screen sizes of 960 × 640 pixels, not just on the iPhone 6 and above. Many elements may overlap each other, text will not wrap correctly, etc.

Apple’s App Store Publishing Policy

After you have developed the application yourself or ordered the development of an ios application, the moment of publication comes. The App Store has stringent requirements that must be followed when publishing an app. It is important not only to comply with all style guides when developing a design, but also to ensure the confidentiality of the user’s personal data, the stability of the application during operation and, most importantly, its usefulness.

One of the reasons for the refusal to publish may be that the reviewer considers the application useless, or not useful enough against the background of many similar applications in the App Store. In this case, the functionality of the application should be revised, adding to it, among other things, elements affecting the innovations of the operating system. Such applications are readily passed on, encouraging developers to continue to support the latest OS features.

It is worth noting a number of formal points that are very important to take into account when creating a mobile application for iOS:

  1. To place a product in the App Store, you need to register as a developer, pay a fee of $ 99 per year and correctly fill in all the data about yourself. If you plan to release a product as a legal entity, the registration procedure will take longer, and you need to lay down on this process from a week to a month. Therefore, we advise you to create a developer account as soon as development has started – this will help to place it in the store without unnecessary delays by the time the application is ready for launch.
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  2. It is necessary to prepare materials for the application page: screenshots of a strictly specified format and size (even 1 extra pixel plays a role and pictures will not be accepted), advertising and general description of the application, keywords, privacy policy (write and place the file so that it is accessible by link). And you also need to provide for an easy entrance to the application for verifiers, since if it is necessary to register with a phone number with SMS confirmation, they will not be able to get inside and check the application, and they will immediately reject it. Usually we generate a given phone number and a code by which you can enter the application, bypassing the receipt of SMS.
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  3. The application itself can be validated from one day to a week. In exceptional cases, this period may be longer, but, as a rule, the application is verified within a few days. This is also worth considering when planning a marketing campaign – it is worth leaving a margin between the day of sending for verification and the start of advertising at least a few days.

Apple’s requirements are not limited to the side, for example, placing the button “Download on the App Store” on your landing page is also regulated by the rules, so it will not be possible to paint it in the colors of the product.

Although there are many rules and conditions for placement, you just need to act according to a verified plan and follow the recommendations, then the risk of encountering problems will be reduced to a minimum.

conclusions

When developing ios applications from scratch, it is important to consider the following features:

  1. The device park is relatively small and they have the same architecture – this is good.
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  2. At the same time you need to ensure comfortable work with the interface and on small screens, in compatibility mode with which applications open on tablets.
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  3. Devices are updated to the latest version of the operating system quickly – this is wonderful.
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  4. All current devices use high-resolution Retina display… You can use thin fonts and elements, and not be afraid of their incorrect color or outline display.
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  5. When designing an interface must follow Apple Human Interface Guidelines…
    •
  6. When publishing an app all requirements of the App Store Review Guidelines must be considered, there are many of them and they are very diverse.
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  7. You need to prepare for publication in advance: it may take 3-4 weeks to get the required DUNS number, check the documents and the application itself.

The list of requirements is quite extensive, in addition, for each type of application it expands into its own specifics, but following these development principles allows us to make really high-quality products. In our studio you can always order the development of ios applications in Moscow and Russia.

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Why you shouldn’t apply for a patent for a mobile app idea
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Andrew Douglas

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.

Knowledge and experience

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

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Mobile app development technology: native or cross-platform development
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Andrew Douglas

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.