10 Best Design Tips On How To Create Your Mobile App

A mobile application takes the user experience of your business to the next level. An app designed well, will always get more engagement and traction as opposed to a poorly designed one. Here are some tips that will help you get the best out of your mobile app design.

Design Tips For Your Mobile App

 

 

1- Logo

 

A logo on the home screen of the app, along with an icon is very useful in getting appropriate engagement. Creating an attractive logo with the understanding of your brand values is crucial too. The logo must be designed in such a way that it gels well with the app interface.

2- Consistency of Design

 

The visual elements on your mobile app must be consistent with the overall app design. At the time of mobile application development, color contrast must be used while adding call to action buttons. The call to action buttons must have the same color, throughout the application, to make maintain consistency of design.

3- Quick Responses

 

As an app designer or a planner, you need to ensure that your design talks to the audience at every step. This gives the feeling, that the app is quick and user friendly. The feedback and clicks may not always added there for a genuine reason, but adding them on every step is helpful in creating better engagement. Interactive design elements are very helpful too.

4- Font Usage

 

The font usage should be such that the content on the app is easy to read. You can also use fancy fonts depending upon the brand or the product you are designing the app for. A clean looking fancy font should be prefered over a font that’s not so reader friendly.

5- Design For a Specific Platform

 

A Windows app will always be different for an Android one, both in terms of design as well as functionality. The designer must keep this in mind and design the respective apps accordingly. For the user, however the apps should look and work in the same way. This is important to ensure consistency to the the user across devices at the time of your mobile application development.

6- Get Approvals on The Mobile Device

 

Showing the design to the client or the management, should be done using a mobile device. This helps in understanding the design better and gives a real sense of the actual app design and usability.

7- Focus On Engagement

 

Your app design must focus on engagement . It must not be too simple for the user to turn away from it soon. The idea should be to add visual elements, interesting colors and a story that can delight the users.

8- Create Experience Zones

 

Design your app like it’s a virtual place being visited by the consumer. Creating zones, helps in giving the right consumer experience. The consumers should want to stay on your app for numerous experiences that lure them to use the app for longer.

9- Plan Well

 

The user flow and the wireframe must be done well in advance. This helps in planning the app design better. The key pages must be at the beginning of the flow and must be given proper weightage in terms of design as well.

10- Design For Usability

 

A good looking app is not enough. You need to understand and test the usability to see of the design is workable or not. Test it with internal and external audiences to figure out if the design works for them. Get feedback and make necessary changes before taking the app public.

Every designer, marketer and business owner must take the app design very seriously. App design is one of the most important aspects of consumer engagement and will get rich dividends if approached strategically.

As a Mobile application development company, ValueCoders helps you in developing & designing mobile apps for your customers. Our Mobile Application Development Services cater to all the new technologies including Android, iOS, PhoneGap and so on.

Native App vs Hybrid App Development: What To Pick?

Before we dive into the discussion of Native app vs Hybrid app, let’s take a look at the current mobile market scenario. According to a latest survey, about 88% of smartphone users prefer Android OS and 11% prefer iOS. However, if you go by your market segment, it can happen that your customers are more on iOS. Some may find Android as their targeted OS. Therefore, until and unless you are certain about it, it’s better to go for both.  Hence, what to build? A Native app or a Hybrid one?

To find out who’s winning the Native app vs Hybrid app war, let’s first discuss both the architectures thoroughly. We will start with Native app vs hybrid app.

Native App Vs Hybrid App
 
Native app is the one that is coded in exclusive programming language for each separate platforms. The most popular among them is Java for Android devices and Objective-C or Swift for Apple devices. Undoubtedly, native app is way ahead with  outstanding user experience and prominent performance.

Related: Objective C Vs Swift: What Should A Startup Choose?

Merits of Native App

 

1) Native apps  mostly have fast graphics with fluid animations built in. It’s also very convenient to use with a native look and feel.

2) Native app can access OS specific APIs such as camera, push notifications,  and in-app purchases, which would otherwise be prohibited.

3) If you’re developing a native app for iPhone, you will get many resources, development tools, and reading material to help you out.

4) It is a bit less painful to develop a native app as it focuses only on one platform at a time as it gets support from respective platform.

Demerits of Native App vs Hybrid App

1) It is a time consuming process to build a native app  if you want separate apps for different platforms. Here is a time estimate for your understanding:-

 
2) Native app typically requires different codes for smartphone and tablets which makes it more difficult sometimes.

3) It costs pretty high to develop number of native apps for different platforms and maintain them separately.

4) If you need to release the app in another app store then you might need to complete re-write the codes. 

Hybrid App

Hybrid app combines elements of both native app and Web apps. It takes most of the good features from native and adds cross browser flexibility from web apps. As a result,  you get an app that functions more like a native app with no platform boundaries. 

Merits of Hybrid App

1) The content of a hybrid app is easily portable and requires a native harness to run in another platform. Hence, it’s quick to develop and easy to maintain.


2) By using CSS, it makes the app design flexible and accommodates all kinds of device sizes. On the other hand HTML and JavaScript run seamlessly on every platform regardless of the OS. This flexibility helps you to reduce development cost.

3) Some software frameworks like Ionic or React provides flexibility act a web page like a native app. Hence, it can be distributed on the app stores.

Read more: Xamarin or Ionic, which one to choose?

4) Hybrid app has options to package locally or through servers that enables to access it online as well as offline.

Demerits of Hybrid App

1)  If the App Store recognizes that your app is not truly native, there is a chance it may deny listing from the App Store.

2)  When a new Apple iOS version is released, hybrid app developers would have to depend on a third party before they  design hybrid apps on the new OS.

3) Since hybrid app development is still new in the development space, there is not much support available for troubleshooting uncommon issues.

4)  Lack of the genuine UI assets of Android or iOS sometimes result in  slower performance and can brink security threats as well. Here are some examples:

How to decide on Native app vs Hybrid app:

 

  

Now as you have understood clearly about the pros and cons of both the architectures, this flow chart will help you to end up with right decision:

If you are clear about the requirements of your app and follow this flowchart with consideration of the merits and demerits of both the architectures, we hope this will help you to decide your match.

However, regardless of the architecture you choose, we are there to help you. At Valuecoders, we provide agile software teams for all kinds of Mobile App Development Services in India. Few of the benefits to partner with us are:

1.     Flexible Hiring Models
2.     On-time delivery and NDAs
3.     Zero billing guarantee
4.     Guaranteed SLAs

9 Important Reasons for Hiring Dedicated Developers from ValueCoders

ValueCoders offer dedicated development teams to address continual business environment changes and needs. Being agile in our approach, we consult, evaluate, plan and execute according to process. We are clear about our strengths and focused on it. Our teams, dedicated to our clients, have developed some of the best software products.

1. No Obligation & Free Trial for 2 Weeks

We can help you in growing your business with minimum stress and maximum profits with investment of very low costing services of ours. We will deliver the best results with no burden and long term contract.

2. Guaranteed Satisfaction 100%

We follow quality standards and guarantee to deliver the project on time. You can sleep safe by knowing that we are ISO 9001 Certified and can give the best results. And if any error occurs we will fix it at our cost without keeping you on risk.

3. Dedicated Resources

Your project will be completed efficiently and on time by the dedicated resources allocated for your project and will never be pulled off till the finishing of your important task.

4. Supply of A Grade Developers

If you are planning for increasing your business and want to scale up a team. Let us know the required skill set and specifications of your project, we will find you the best talent to build up your dedicated developers.

5. Reliable Communication

You can keep a touch with the dedicated resources as little and often as you want by the help of Project Management Software. They will also be available to you on Skype and Video Chats.

6. Project Tracking Automated System :

You can easily keep a track of the task and projects with the help of our time tracking system and can have a minute by minute report of how much time was spent in completing each task.

7. Protected Ideas :

Your ideas can not be stolen by any of the freelancer as all of our properties are protected and can only be signed by our employees.

8. Customizable and Affordable Pricing :

We offer our clients with a great range of flexible staffing and payment modes for all types of business. Our customer service model provides you with ideal staffing solution.

9. Efficient Management Software:

By using our web based project management system you can easily view and organize the task of your project. And can have a complete picture of all your tasks.

Hence, now if you are keen to find Dedicated Development Teams, you need not to go anywhere else. ValueCoders is here to help you out. We have a large pool of developers who are adept at all the new technologies and have experience in delivering diverse projects with varying requirements.

Android App Development : Cost Vs Functionality and Benefits

Android app development is a must for every business in gaining a strong foothold in the market. With more than one billion people around the world using smartphones and tablets you can’t afford to miss out on this target segment. Custom Android application development is at its peak with businesses wanting to manage their operations smoothly and attract new customers to the fray by using apps. This has led to newer and better apps hitting the market. These apps are user-friendly, rich in graphics and also come with highly interactive user-interface.

 

Now if you are planning to develop Android applications, two things come to your mind straightway – functionality and cost. How do you develop an app that is highly functional and adds the brand value to your business? Second and most importantly how do you keep the development costs low? At first both these seem inversely related as low cost often means compromising with the quality. Is there a way out? Thankfully there is and it lies in the adoption of new development techniques that we will discuss here.

Use of HTML5

The success and application of HTML5 isn’t restricted to web alone as this technology finds usage even in  custom android application development. HTML5 is platform independent and the same app can work on iOS, BlackBerry, Windows Phone and other mobile operating systems thereby reducing the cost of development. It also offers you a lot of additional advantages such as better memory management, threaded performance and better graphic control. It is an easy programming language and thus you can easily find a firm that offers you these services.

Having said that, keep in mind that HTML5 does also have some shortcomings. For instance it cannot be used to handle large volumes of data or make full use of device specific features. Users also don’t have the advantage of push messages which are a must in today’s world. However these shortcomings can be met with a technology that offers you better security, manage individual device features and also handle large volumes of data.

Hybrid App Container

Some of you might be new to this kind of a technology and never heard of it before. So what is a hybrid app container? It is nothing but a native application that has been designed to process generic function calls from an application. Here the container allows an application developed in HTML5 to perform functions that are exclusive to a device’s hardware and data handling abilities. In short, it makes the HTML5 app function similar to a native app on different devices. They are also very easy to adapt for any developer.

All that you will need to do is make use of native app containers and you can use the same HTML5 app across a number of platforms and offer the best experience on those devices. So you can have a native app-like experience in each device although you develop this app using HTML5 which helps cut down on costs. Hybrid app container also offers you back-end data, data access and authentication features something that apps developed on HTML5 lack.

Making Use of Low or No Cost Tools

The great demand for Custom Android Application Development has paved the way for many low cost and no cost tools to enter the market. These cross-platform tools are nothing but frameworks that facilitate the development of multi-platform apps using the same codebase. These tools not only reduce the cost of development but also make it easy for the new developers to create multi function apps with knowledge of HTML5 and JavaScript. They offer developers basic structure to develop apps that are impressive on the first look and help promote your business in the most attractive manner.

To develop apps that are cost effective as well as highly functional you can make use of this development technique either individually or all of them in the same project if you want.

App Lifecycle

Another important consideration to make where comparing the cost versus functionality topic with Android App Development is the lifecycle of the apps. On an average an app would have a lifecycle of three months after which it needs to be upgraded to meet the newer demands arising in the market. Thus for the app to be successful commercially it needs to offer better return on investment in terms of sales or brand value within less than three months. Subsequent upgrades can also cost you lot of money and there should be a mechanism for you to earn profit from the app even if you are using it purely for the branding purpose. To cut on these costs you need to foresee your app in the future and keep it ready for easy upgrades.

Hence, now you know how to develop an android application with high functionality and low cost. However you need to hire android developers from a reputed company as well. ValueCoders is one such IT outsourcing company that offers Android application development services from dedicated android developers who are well versed with all the state-of-art technologies. So, ValueCoders is the one company for you to hire android developers meeting your specific requirements.

7 Top JavaScript Frameworks List In Today’s Time

When it comes to Web Development, JavaScript frameworks are one of the most favored platform for developers & businesses. Possibly, you have had a chance to experiment with one or two of the top JavaScript Frameworks too. However, somewhere in your mind you are still a little unsure about the best one to devote yourself to mastering or suggest your developer to opt for your next web development project.

This is quite obvious. JavaScript is moving at a breakneck pace and there is constant pressure to add  new skills to your repository. In order to do that, knowing and understanding more of the top JavaScript Frameworks in today’s time is necessary. After a thorough research at ValueCoders, we shortlisted seven of them and here they are:

1) AngularJS 2.0 & 1.x

After the most awaited official release of AngularJS 2.0, the popularity of the framework has reached a new level. However, this is still a risky decision to jump to the new version if you are not so sure. Let us help your decision with this flowchart-

Credit: daveceddia.com

Whatever the conclusion you come to, you must admit that AngularJS (maintained by Google) has the capacity to build web applications like no other. With a rapid development pace, easy code integration, readiness for  unit testing AngulatJS can certainly be you choice for next project.

Read More: Top 20 latest Angular JS Developer Tools

2) ReactJS top JavaScript frameworks

One of other top JavaScript Frameworks is ReactJS and again maintained by a reputed brand Facebook.  Be it it’s ability to perform good in SEO (surptisingly being part of JS family), Simpler JSX, Virtual DOM or powerful JavaScript library, ReactJS is a developer’s choice to build dynamic & high traffic web applications.

However, while comparing with AngularJS, ReactJS falls short in testing simplicity and component structure. Also needless to say, this does not make ReactJS to fall short from AngularJS.

For detailed comparison: AngularJS vs ReactJS : What’s good for your business?

3) Meteor.js

JavaScript is used as the universal scripting language in browsers on the client-side.  Using it on the back-end as well to save time and build expertise is one of he major ideas behind Meteor.js.

Hence, front-end developer can also work on the back-end comfortably with Meteor without switching context between Ruby/Java/Python/PHP/ and whatnot JavaScript. It gives the flexibility to use “one language  everywhere.”

Also, Meteor is perfect for those who wants to build real time web apps. All of the app’s layers from database to template update automatically. This is how it works-

Hence, user does not need to refresh the page to see the updates. Just like what you see after commenting on a Linkedin post.

4) Node.JS

The main idea of Node.js is to use non-blocking, event-driven I/O to remain lightweight and efficient in the face of data-intensive real-time apps that run across distributed devices.  In simple words Node.JS is used for specific reasons to fill out particular needs.

It helps build scalable and fast network applications, as it’s capable of handling a large number of simultaneous connections with high throughput, which brings out high scalability.

5) EmberJS

Some amazing frameworks like Ember.js allows you to develop web applications easily with a faster pace. Ember.js is many developers’ first preference because of many reasons. One is Ember.js’s router allows you to stop breaking the web. With Ember, you get URLs and a default working back button with every route  created by you, and the API is easy to use.

Moreover, the combination of Ember.js and Rails provides you more freedom, flexibility and joy to code richer and more interactive web app.

6) Mithril.js

Mithril.js has few similar features like React.js. Mithril gives you hierarchical MVC components and safe-by-default templates with an intelligent DOM difference checking for high-performance rendering just like React. Moreover, Customizable data binding, and URL routing are two of the impressive features of Mithril.js.

7) Polymar.JS

Polymar is another JavaScript framework from Google. There is no doubt that the joy for developers in Polymar is much lesser than React.js still, there are many improvements made recently.  The material design components that come with Polymer have a very high quality.

Moreover, Polymer has web components that are part of the HTML standard which promises longer existence than ReactJS. Hence, there is a low chance for Polymer to get replaced in future by another framework.

The bottom line-

Choosing the right JavaScript framework is never about the number of features that the particular framework can provide. It’s about the actual functionality of the framework and how that functionality can be utilized within your own  development project.  Hence, choose one these top JavaScript frameworks as per your project needs and save time and money.

There is another way to save time and money. Hire ValueCoders. We deliver excellent AngularJS, MeteorJS, NodeJS and ReactJS development solutions to build your web application. Our dedicated developers are well skilled and offer following benefits:

1. Zero billing guarantee

2. Pro-level Teams

3. Guaranteed SLAs

4. Flexible Hiring Models

Source: http://www.valuecoders.com/blog/technology-and-apps/top-javascript-frameworks-list-comparison/

Want To Develop An App Like Uber? See The Features & Cost

A revolutionary app like Uber has really helped consumers and businesses alike. It is a perfect taxi app that helped travelers find the right cab service with the convenience of their mobile . Uber app has taken the traveling experience of consumers to the next level adding convenience as well as choice. 

On the other hand, an app like Uber has also helped taxi owners and drivers get more business and appropriate payments for their services. There has been many businesses who have emulated the success of Uber and created similar  taxi apps, only to reap similar dividends.

Hence, an app like Uber remains the talk of the town and so does its services and business model. Before going to the cost part let’s see what conveniences an app like Uber can offer for your target customers:

#1 – Categories of Cabs to Choose From

Uber app provides wide range of  car categories for the users to choose from. With Uber app, customers can avail cabs from high end Sedans, SUVs to economy cars. Once user login from the app and start placing request from current location, by GPS tracking the taxi app shows all the available options nearby.

 #2 – Carpool Pool and Split Fare

A consumer who books with Uber app can avail the carpool service & ride sharing options too. These services excite users as  they save a big percentage on their ride fares. Besides these also help to reduce down the traffic and fasten travel times by accommodating more people in one vehicle.

 #3 – An app like Uber estimates fare

Uber fetches the current location of user and when he decides his destination, the taxi app quotes the price and tells him about the availability of the cab. The Uber app is so smart that it finds the shortest route to destination with less traffic via GPS and multiplies the distance with the per mile fare.

# 4 – Discounts and Online Payments

As an Uber app user, one can avail the convenience of getting discounts while booking from the app. The app gives the feature of adding promo codes while making the booking and availing the current offers. Apart from that, there are host of options to make online payments to Uber like debit cards, credit cards and payment gateways.

#5 – Share Feedback and Cancel the Trip

With Uber app, user can easily share the ratings and feedback after the journey. The App also allows  to make a cancellation with a no cancellation charges. These factors also affect the driver ratings.

Everytime an user rates a cab driver low, the chances of getting the next customer becomes harder for the cab driver. The Uber app not only finds the nearest cab, but also prioritize cabs with highest rating.

#6 – Drivers can Request and Accept Orders

Drivers on Uber can easily know if a customer is looking for a cab in their location. They can place their request and accept orders if they are free to serve the customer at the desired time. They have a limited time to accept the order and the whole process provides convenience to both drivers as well as consumers.

#7-Access to Maps and Easy Communication

The driver can access the route map on his Uber app account and easily arrive at the customer location. The app automatically informs the customer upon the arrival of the driver and makes the process simpler. The driver too can rate the rider and share concerns regarding the rider or the fare.

 # 8- Drivers Receive Online Payments

The Uber app helps the drivers to maintain and account with Uber and get paid online for their services. The convenience of the app makes it very easy for drivers and car owners to partner with Uber and run a profitable business.

The Uber app is an idea that has worked well for consumers across the globe. Similar apps are also getting a decent share of the business. Developing an app like Uber cost upwards of $60,000 depending upon the functionalities and services provided.

If you have an idea for developing a business app like Uber or an exiting game on android or iOS platform, we are there for you.

ValueCoders, an Indian IT outsourcing company where you can Hire Dedicated Android Developers in India.

Application Maintenance: A Cost Saving Way To Secure Your Web & Mobile Applications

In today’s digital era, your business is completely dependent on Web and Mobile applications.  Therefore, application maintenance appears to be a primary concern to get things going. Now, you must be thinking why should you do that? well, let’s dive deep then.

Think about the following issues:

1. Who takes care of your website, software and apps when they crash?
2. Who resolves the issue when they catch a bug?
3. Do you update your website, software or apps at the right time?
4. What will you do when your Website gets hacked?

Most of the people Outsource a Good IT Company to develop their applications, post blogs on a regular basis and stop worrying about everything else. That’s it, right? No! certainly not. Some extra care is needed. A Deloitte report says that 60% of the outsourcers prefer to hire Application maintenance & support.

So, what is Application Maintenance?

A common conception is there that Software Application Maintenance is all about fixing bugs. However, it’s much bigger than that. It takes care of the visual branding of your website. It manages  Web/Android/iOS updates that your mobile app needs.

Sometimes, maintenance means modifying a software system or application, work on software performances, monitoring lifetime as well as optimize up-time & downtime.

Importance of Application Maintenance:

Let’s take an example of your house. After buying or building it, do you just forget about it? Or think about budgeting your time and money for ongoing utilities,  repairs and renovations? Undoubtedly, the second one.

The same concept is applicable for your applications. Every project of yours is going to require at least some amount of  ongoing maintenance. However, maintenance is not only about maintaining, it’s also about improving and evolving gradually.

In technology, you are either enhancing yourself or you’re falling back. Here, you can’t just stand still. User needs are changing everyday and if you  don’t have a regular maintenance strategy in place, you’re lagging behind. Hence, Application Maintenance is important. Really important!

 

Benefits of Application Maintenance:

Now that you know Application Maintenance is important, you need to know what are the benefits too. Here are few of them-

Scalibility and Security:

 

Regular maintenance makes sure  your application is secure from all external threats. At the same time, your applications become much more scalable. It enables to accommodate larger workloads while keeping consistent and acceptable levels of performance.

Cost saving:

 

It is not a cost saving plan if you buy new software or develop from the scratch whenever it crashes or catches bugs. It is way better to maintain the same on a regular basis to enhance the lifetime and reduce future costs.

Customer Satisfaction:

 

Application maintenance improves the quality, web presence and response time of your apps and websites. This does not only help to evolve with time but also fulfills customer requirements better. As a result, the satisfaction level also improves.

Peace of Mind:

 

Once you know your mobile software applications are in safe hands and you do not need to do anything extra for upcoming few years, peace of mind automatically comes. Hence, you can focus on other attributes of your business.

Wrapping it up:

 

No legacy can go forever, it’s important to know when to update or upgrade. That’s why Application Maintenance is necessary and you need a professional to do that.

Article Source: http://bit.ly/2auiCHm