Imagine stepping into a bustling app marketplace, overflowing with a million shiny options. Standing out in that crowd is no easy feat! But fear not, aspiring app creators, because crafting an app that truly shines isn’t just about functionality (though that’s important too!).

Under the hood, it’s all about understanding your application users, their pain points, and offering something they can’t find anywhere else.

This guide dives into 10 secret weapons to help you create an app that meets expectations and leaves a lasting impression on its users.

We’ll start with the most crucial step: getting to know your audience like a best friend.

Know Your Audience and Their Challenges

Think market research, understanding their needs and desires, and figuring out what keeps them up at night (app-related problems, of course!). By tailoring your app to their specific challenges, you’ll create something that resonates deeply and makes them say, “Finally, an app that gets me!”

Make Your UX Impactful

Skip the frustration, fuel the fun! Make your app feel effortless with intuitive design, simple tasks, and a focus on what users crave. Leveraging design tools like Figma, alongside plugins such as DhiWise’s ‘Figma to code‘ that converts your design in ‘Figma to Flutter’, and  ‘Figma to React,’ expedites collaboration between designers and developers. With this integration you can swiftly transform design elements into code, ensuring both visual appeal and functional excellence. Overall, it helps you to enhance user experience while speeding up your app development process, reflecting a commitment to professionalism and precision in app creation.

Grab Attention With Unique Value Proposition (UVP):

Define a clear and compelling Unique Value Proposition for your app. Find out what features and services make your app stand out from the other similar apps in the market. Whether it’s a unique feature, a revolutionary approach, or an exclusive service, having a distinct UVP helps in attracting and retaining users. Communicate your UVP clearly in your app’s marketing materials to capture the attention of potential users.

First Impressions Always Matter: Design that Dazzles

Think of your app’s look as its first handshake. It needs to be memorable, easy to use, and say something about your brand personality. Invest in a design that’s both beautiful and brainy – think eye-catching colors, intuitive layouts, and visuals that work seamlessly with your app’s function. Hiring a professional designer might be worth it here, just like getting that perfect outfit for a big meeting. After all, you want users to fall in love with your app at first sight!

Speed Demons Welcome: Apps That Don’t Lag

Nobody likes a slowpoke, especially when it comes to apps. In today’s lightning-fast world, users expect your app to run smoothly as silk, no matter their phone or internet connection. So, prioritize performance optimization! Squash any bugs that pop up, test it on different devices, and make sure it zips along like a rocket. Remember, a speedy app keeps users happy and coming back for more. They’ll thank you for saving them precious time.

Utilize New Technology as Your Power Gadget

Staying ahead of the tech curve is like having the coolest gadgets in the playground. So, if augmented reality can make dinosaurs dance in your living room, or AI can whip up a personalized playlist that knows your mood better than your best friend, why not bring some of that magic to your app? Just remember, keep it practical! Fancy tech shouldn’t turn into a confusing maze for users.

Make it Yours, Not Our: The Power of Personalization

Imagine you create an app that feels like it was designed just for you. Recommendations that hit the nail on the head, a layout that reflects your style, and settings that let you tweak things to your heart’s content. That’s the power of personalization! It makes users feel valued, engaged, and even a little bit like they own a piece of the app. So, give them the keys, let them customize, and watch your app become their go-to sidekick.

Spread the Word, Not the Crickets: Marketing that Makes a Buzz

The best app in the world is still invisible if no one knows it exists. So, crank up the marketing megaphone! Tease your app before launch, get creative on social media, team up with cool influencers, and keep the hype train rolling. Show off your app’s awesome features, highlight the benefits that make it stand out, and make sure your target audience is humming your app’s catchy tune. Remember, good marketing isn’t just about shouting loud, it’s about telling a story that resonates with the right people.

Know From Users: Feedback Fuel for an Awesome App

Think of your app like a living, breathing thing. It grows and evolves, and just like any good friend, it needs your listening ear. That’s where user feedback comes in. Read those app store reviews, encourage emails and social media chats – every bit of insight is gold! Use it to fix those tiny glitches, add features users crave, and show them you care about their experience. This feedback loop builds trust, makes them feel heard, and keeps your app growing in the right direction.

From App Users to App Family: Building Your Community

Remember that amazing feeling of belonging to a club? Create that same vibe around your app! Foster a community where users can share tips, celebrate wins, and even vent about tricky bits. Social media groups, forums, maybe even the occasional online hangout – these spaces make your app more than just software, they make it a shared experience. And guess what? Happy, connected users become your biggest fans, spreading the word organically and making your app truly shine.

Wrap-Up: Your App, Your Tribe, Your Success

In a world overflowing with apps, standing out takes more than just cool features. It’s about understanding your audience, making their experience top-notch, and building a community that feels like family. Embrace user feedback, prioritize their needs, and keep innovating – that’s the recipe of how to create an app that not only stands out, but thrives. Remember, your users are your partners in success, so keep them close, keep them happy, and watch your app reach for the stars!

The post 10 Ways to Create an App That Stands Out appeared first on DesignWebKit.

Mobile apps have given a new horizon to businesses. Whether you own a small coffee shack or you are a business tycoon, mobile apps play an essential role in building your brand image. Therefore, Mariox Software stands tall as the premier app development company in Noida, Mariox develops advanced apps for its clients. With your app, you can reach the maximum target audience with one touch. Almost everyone owns smartphones today. So, you can make your business reach them quite quickly. From your brand building to marketing, mobile app development can give new heights to your business. So, here, we will discuss why mobile app development is essential for the growth of your business. Read on to know more.

1. Reaching Global Customers Is Easier Now

Developing a mobile app is the most advantageous way to reach new customers and increase your customer base. Thus, you can make your global business strong enough. As mobile apps can give a convenient user experience, these are quite popular among users. To reach your business overseas, you don’t need to travel to other countries. Developing an app can reach global customers within a moment. More and more people are using the internet today and they can access it through their smartphones, laptops, and any other smart devices. If you create an app that can be personalized and supports running on any device, you will always stay a step ahead of your competitors. So, you can always contact the best app development company. Thus, you can build a strong customer base and increase revenue too.

2. Enhancing Positive Customer Experience

Mobile apps are working better than mobile websites as the former ones offer more personalized and streamlined services to customers. The intuitive user interfaces and outstanding features are responsible for this. Today, businesses can create a smooth and enjoyable experience for the users. The best app development companies focus on creating mobile apps with easy navigation, personalized features, and regular upgradation as per customers’ choice. Therefore, businesses can easily reach their customers faster. So, mobile apps not only help businesses sustain their customer base but also build new target customers effectively.

3. Increasing Brand Awareness Is Easy Now

A business can reach maximum customers when it establishes the brand strongly and securely. Mobile app development helps businesses to do so. You can establish your business more effectively and make a place in your customers’ minds as a strong brand. When your app is easy to access, customers will spend time there. Thus, you can stay in touch with them always. So, your promotional advertisements and other updates can reach them 24*7. Thus, you will always be in their minds as a brand. So, mobile app development helps in increasing brand awareness faster.

4. Expanding Your Marketing Presence Is Simpler

One of the biggest benefits of mobile app development for increasing business growth is increasing your market presence and keeping your target audience engaged. Once you offer a mobile app to your customers, they will be aware of your brand. Thus, you can establish your brand loyalty and make new marketing opportunities. Besides, you can also collect essential data about your customers. Thus, you can bring the essential updates to your app and make it more user-friendly. Also, you can get customers’ feedback on your app so that you can make necessary changes. For making effective marketing strategies and generating more revenues, mobile app development is vital. So, developing apps is not only a trend but it is important for businesses who want to grow overnight in the digital era.

5. Increasing Sales Is Super Easy Now

A business can only grow when the graph of sales is rising for a great period. The business holders know this very well. Therefore, they need mobile apps to make the ground super strong in the industry. This is the main goal of every business, from small to big, is to increase sales. Mobile app development can effectively help you there. Today, businesses can reach their customers easily through their e-commerce stores. People can buy things just from the comfort of their homes. So, a well-developed app with easy navigation and a secured payment system can be the key to your success.

6. Bringing Monetization Strategies Increases Revenue

Mobile apps often bring new methods to increase the opportunity to earn more revenues for businesses. From making effective in-app purchasing models to designing advertisements for the target consumers, they give several strategies to increase revenues. If you build an e-commerce app, it can increase sales. On the other hand, a content-based app can help users to subscribe and increase target consumers. Thus, businesses get diverse ways to increase their revenues and maximize their profit.

7. Staying Competitive Is Possible Now

You must always stay in the competition if not leading the race. Many businesses haven’t invested in mobile app development to date. So, if you are in the same industry and want to compete, you can invest in mobile app development. You can always be trendy and edgy with your mobile app as you get the loyalty of your customers and stay in touch with them always. Thus, you can also be technologically advanced in this digital era.

8. Cutting on Investments Is Possible

You must make different types of investments for the success of your business. So, you must check where you can cut the cost a bit for the benefit of your business. The mobile app gives you the chance in the long run. You will need fewer manual marketing strategies when you have an app ready.

So, these are the reasons why you must invest in mobile app development for the growth of your business. The business world is too tough and competitive. So, you must look for ways to establish your brand and be in the competition. Thus, you can make the graph of your success always uprising.

The post Why Mobile App Development Is Crucial for Business Growth? appeared first on DesignWebKit.

With the increasing digitization we are experiencing in the current scenario, companies and entrepreneurs have to bet on innovation to avoid being left behind. They mainly have two ways of doing it, making the change internally or turning to outsiders like app development agencies for support.

The outsourcing of services occupies a very popular place today, but when selecting the digitizing agent for your project, it is worth thinking well. After all, it is a significant bet, and as experts in the sector, we want to guide you in the process.

We have prepared a list of requirements to take into account when choosing top app developers in Los Angeles (LA).

Company Overview

When doing the first research, it should be easy to find the main data of each app development agency in LA and their way of working. It consists of evaluating the information about its structure, experience, and success stories to get a first idea of its professionalism. Among the most popular information we can find:

Years of Experience

Although new companies have a lot of potential and can be just as good or better, especially in big cities like LA, it always gives more confidence to bet on veterans with stability that will ensure a long-term relationship. Looking at established and senior agencies will provide the experience you need for your project.

Equipment

It goes hand in hand with the previous point, the company’s talent must be varied and expert so that they can support you in all phases of the project. An organizational chart made up of full-stack developers, Project and Account Managers, UX/UI designers, and QA… cannot be missing.

Customers

What gives more confidence than the reviews or experiences of a third party similar to you? You can take a look at the opinions of the clients that the agency provides on its website, read its Google reviews, or consult its social networks, forums, etc. LA-based agencies that show their success stories and expose their clients’ logos show transparency and can be a good option.

Services and Products

Make sure that the services they offer fit the needs of your project and are their core business. Since it will always be better to resort to specialized app development agencies than to bet on companies that “can develop it”, but it is not their strong point.

What are you looking for? Development of custom apps, web, CRM or ERP, e-commerce, maintenance, support? There are LA-based companies that can do everything optimally and others that are only powerful in some of them. Research it!

Technologies

Rule out agencies that use outdated or unfamiliar technologies. It is crucial that the best tools for the app or web development are used and that these are updated and popular. In this way, any developer will be able to continue with your project without any problem.

Mission, Vision, and Values

Corporate social responsibility goes a long way. After all, it is always better to select companies with similar values to yours that prioritize aspects such as the environment or sustainability, etc.

Relationship of Software Development Agencies with the Client

Do you feel heard by the company? How was the first impression? Before embarking on any development, you need to request a budget for it through the briefing that you provide to the agency.

Analyze the proposal they provide you, their response times and speed, the transparency of the information, or if they make you feel their priority. Generally, if they send you an unprofessional document or do not show adequate interest in you at first, it is likely that when you become their client, the situation will not improve.

Price and Schedule

Be wary of budgets that are too low and very tight times for large projects. It’s best to check with several vendors to get a realistic idea of standard pricing and timeframes for each project. Competition among app developers in LA is fierce, forcing companies to struggle to offer the lowest prices. Consequently, the quality of their services may also be reduced to some extent. Don’t stick with cheap prices when you’re looking for an app development agency in LA!

Methodology

It consists of evaluating their way of working, and the steps they follow during each development.

Development phases

The software development agencies that offer you a 360º service allow you to centralize the entire course of the project in its different phases in a single agent:

– Analysis or consulting.

– UX/UI design.

– Development.

– Testing and QA.

– Deployment – launch.

– Medium.

– Hosting.

– Maintenance.

Security

They must have clauses that guarantee the security of your project data, either through security certificates, end-to-end encryption, etc.

Agile methodologies

With traditional development, you didn’t see your project until it was completely finished. However, you are in continuous contact with the app development agency in LA thanks to agile methodologies such as SCRUM. Being aware of development progress and giving your feedback to them.

Payment method

Flexibility is a fundamental value. Therefore, it is important to opt for payment methods divided according to the effort of the company in each phase of development. One-time payments at the beginning of the payment can lead to delays or deprioritizing the customer. You live in LA and are looking for an app development agency in LA. That doesn’t mean you have to trust them completely. There’s always a chance they’ll depreciate you.

After all, if you want to have more possibilities of making the right decision, you must know how they cover each of these issues before giving the final OK to any company. Technology is always an investment that presents risks and benefits. Choosing a good app development agency in LA greatly minimizes the drawbacks.

The post How to Choose the Best App Development Agency in Los Angeles appeared first on DesignWebKit.

With over 6.3 billion global smartphone users, it’s no wonder the mobile app performance optimization industry is growing rapidly. It’s estimated that the market will reach $935 billion this year, 2023.

With so many companies vying for their piece of the pie, staying up-to-date on the latest trends is essential to succeed in this competitive landscape. In this article, we’ll go through some of the most crucial mobile app performance trends you need to keep an eye on in 2023 and beyond.

AI-driven Automated Testing

AI-driven automated testing improves an app’s performance and user experience, reduces cost, and makes it easier for developers to find bugs in their code. This is because AI uses machine learning algorithms that can learn from previous experiences.

AI-driven automated testing tools allow developers to create tests without writing code manually. They can also help developers track how much time each step takes before executing a test again. Hence, if something goes wrong with one of them during execution, there won’t be any unexpected delays later on when running through all steps again (which may cause issues such as loss in productivity).

AI also employs real-time analytics from users of the application. For example, many Australian blog owners search for the best SEO agency in Brisbane. Based on this real-time behavior analysis, the AI-driven automated testing tool will automatically provide information that matches their needs and inclinations.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Many consumers are becoming more accustomed to AR apps and games. It won’t be a surprise if they expect that same level of interactivity from every other app they use on their phones. It’s also expected that AR will be used in many different areas, such as education and healthcare.

Many consumers are becoming more accustomed to AR apps and games nowadays. It won’t be a surprise if they expect that same level of interactivity from every other app they use on their phones. It’s also expected that AR will be used in many different areas, such as education and healthcare.

Gamification

Another way to boost user experience is through gamification. It uses game elements in non-game contexts to improve engagement, retention, and other aspects of user experience. It can be used in many different ways, from simple leaderboards and achievements to more complex systems involving virtual currencies and rewards for completing tasks (or even just playing).

For example, suppose you have a goal-oriented app (like an exercise tracker). In that case, gamification could motivate users by awarding points for each activity they do on the app. Alternatively,  you can offer them rewards when they reach certain milestones in their fitness journey.

In-app Purchases and Subscriptions

In-app purchases and subscriptions are an excellent way to monetize apps. First, in-app purchases allow people who have already downloaded an app to access additional features without reinstalling or updating anything else on their devices. It ensures that all users stay current with updates while providing more options within their experience and opportunities for customization or personalization based on previous purchases made within past versions.

There are different types of in-app purchases, including:

• One-time purchases that users can make from within the app itself, such as unlocking premium features or buying virtual currency
• Subscriptions that offer recurring revenue, such as a monthly subscription service (like Netflix) or a daily deal site (like Groupon)

Subscriptions can also be used to offer recurring revenue for an app service or product. This is great for apps designed around a subscription model, such as SaaS (software as a service) apps. For example, if you’re making an online video streaming service, then offering subscriptions would make sense because it allows users to pay monthly rather than paying once and then having access forever after that point in time, which makes sense since the user isn’t receiving new content every month.

Azure Active Directory for Secure Mobile Access

Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is a cloud-based identity and access management solution that allows you to manage users, applications, and devices from a single place. It can be integrated with other Microsoft cloud services, including Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Azure. This seamless integration enables administrators to configure permissions easily based on group membership and manage many users at once.

Another perk of Azure AD is its enhanced security through multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA uses multiple verification methods before granting access to resources, such as apps or websites (in addition to passwords or PINs). This makes it harder for attackers who try to guess them by brute force attacks like dictionary attacks or rainbow tables.

Final Thoughts

Mobile app performance optimization is critical for mobile apps to gain a competitive advantage in the industry. Overall, it improves the user experience, increasing engagement and retention, and helps to reduce the cost of customer acquisition by improving the conversion rate.

The post Mobile App Performance Optimization Trends for 2023 appeared first on DesignWebKit.

Quality at speed is what enterprises and small medium sized businesses are looking for while developing apps. Time To Market (TTM) becomes exceptionally essential in a rapidly changing business environment because you always wish to move ahead of the competition. Be it about releasing apps, addressing customers, or providing updates.

Whether large-scale enterprises or startups, all watch out for the tools and techniques that can accelerate their app testing process and development. When we talk about on-premise testing, you might agree that scalable infrastructure setup and continued and complicated maintenance could significantly escalate your burn rate.

Whether you’re a small Quality Assurance team with all members seated in the same ambience or a vast team spread across distinct locations. It is beneficial in solving the enormous remote testing challenges.

Cloud testing is majorly leveraged for simulating test automation on the cloud. In this guide, you’ll learn about what cloud testing has significant benefits and types. So stay tuned with us!

What is Cloud Testing?

Cloud testing is leveraged to access web apps for security, reliability, scalability, and performance. It is performed on a third-party cloud environment, enabling the needed test performance infrastructure.

The multiple types of cloud testing procedures enable you to test hardware and software without the constraints of geographical issues, limited budget, cost running high per test, multiple test cases, etc.

Here, this cloud testing tutorial will be beneficial for you to understand different aspects of cloud computing and leverage it to scale up your current test cases.

Why Choose Cloud Testing Automation Tools?

There are numerous advantages of app or web testing on the cloud. We have listed down the prime reasons for choosing cloud-based testing via test automation on the cloud. It might help you accelerate your app or web app testing. Here are some reasons why and how to go for cloud-based testing.

1. Automation achieved by leveraging cloud-based testing tools helps maintain collaboration between team members and diverse teams. It becomes a piece of cake to check other’s activities, which is fruitful in averting ‘activity overlap’ between the team members.
2. The software and hardware resources that offers access to cloud-based automation testing tools are accessible 24*7. It’ll improve the collaboration between geographically test teams and dispersed development because resources are available whenever they wish.
3. Cloud-based automation testing is beneficial in vanishing environment-related delays. An environment that offers mobile test apps on the cloud can be provisioned efficiently and rapidly, destroying the requirement to share environments amongst teams.
4. The total cost of ownership of test tools automation on the cloud is necessarily lesser than the in-house infrastructure. Most cloud-based testing providers leverage a model, ‘pay-as-you-go,’ which means you save costs when the testing tools are not in plan or usage to lower testing activity because of business reasons.
5. Using a cloud-based testing infrastructure for cross-browser testing is a technically or economically viable option rather than strategies for an in-house testing infrastructure.

• Cloud testing automation tools are handy for examining performance glitches in a web app. It is feasible to scale the app to many concurrent customers that access the web app resources on the cloud.
• There are cases where testing on actual devices is not needed in mobile web testing. If we talk about cross-browser tests, you try to identify whether the logic flow and interface of the web app are working as per the tester’s expectations on distinct combinations of browsers.
• These testing platforms offer excellent scalability and reliability. You can also execute tests much faster because of the parallelism trait provided by cloud testing providers. Test coverage leads to improvement in multifold as massive testing is performed across distinct platforms, mobile simulators, browser combinations, and desktop devices.

Types of Cloud Testing

Cloud testing ensures that both the functional and non-functional testing requirements should be met. Let’s glance at different types of cloud testing while testing an application.

1. Functional Cloud-Based Testing

Functional cloud-based testing ensures that complete services are provided to the user who is paying for them. Also, make sure that the business needs should be fulfilled.

Here’s the list of some functional cloud-based tests:

• Interoperability Testing: An application should be flexible enough to work without technical glitches. It’s the same for distinct platforms but should seamlessly work when traveling from one cloud infrastructure to another.

• Acceptance Testing: Cloud-based solution is taken over by customers to guarantee that it should meet their expectations.

• System Verification Testing : Guarantees whether multiple modules are correctly functioning with one another or not, ensuring that their behavior is as per the expectations

2. Non-Functional Cloud-Based Testing

Non-functional cloud-based testing primarily focuses on web app tests, guaranteeing that their desires will meet.

Here’s is the list of some non-functional cloud-based testing:

• Performance Testing: Authentication of the response time should be done to guarantee that everything is complete despite having plenty of requests to be satisfied. Another critical factor that can evaluate performance is network latency. Also, workload balancing should be done when there’s a decrease in load by deactivating resources. Therefore, stress and load in the cloud guarantee apps that optimally perform with a rise/reduction in stress and load.

• Security Testing: Extremely essential to guarantee that the app’s security is up-to-date, plus the data present in the app is always secure. It benefits in minimizing and identifying security vulnerabilities in apps.

• Disaster Recovery Testing: The methodology guarantees that you do not face other critical results or lose data if there’s a cloud outage(or downtime).

• Multi-Tenancy Testing: Similar to stress testing, Multi-Tenancy testing guarantees that the security and performance of applications should be top-class. Also, ensure that everything is smooth when many concurrent customers are accessing the application simultaneously.

• Scalability Testing: Testing ensures that the offering can facilitate users with level-up or level-down facilities according to the requirement.

• Availability Testing: The app’s admin needs to guarantee restricted or no outages if the functions frequently change on the cloud provider’s side.

Sum Up

Efficient mobile apps testing on the cloud can help avoid glitches or bugs for the app’s betterment. Talking about today’s super-competitive space, companies need to use leading cloud-computing technologies to save on infrastructure costs.

Cloud-based testing is one procedure that can escalate the testing process plus lower the overhead costs of managing the in-house infrastructure.

For cloud-based cross-browser testing, pCloudy is the best platform because it enables you to test your website or app across 2000+ device browsers on public clouds. Also, companies can improve the quality of products and push their testing efforts. So, contemplate accordingly and go for the best cloud testing!

The post What is Cloud Testing, and How to Get Started with it? appeared first on DesignWebKit.

People today can ease their lives and make them more efficient with the integration of IoT software development services which in turn help save time and effort on certain repetitive tasks. What is an example of IoT? What is IoT and how to develop an app to serve the convenience of life? In this article, we will guide you through the most incredible physical devices called to ease the life of humanity.

The article will tell you more about the IoT, what it is and how to become a step closer to the developments of today’s technology sector. Let’s start and see what you didn’t know about the Internet of Things to create a useful app to serve the future.

What is IoT: the Main Aspects

IoT, or the Internet of Things, is not a new technology, but there are still lots of people who consider this term to be a totally new thing. However, the Internet of Things is quite a simple concept that has been present in our life for years now. What are IoT development services? These are the services that help design, create and employ the applications to manage technological devices with ease.

In short, IoT is the technology that connects devices to the phone, so that users can easily control their home devices remotely. You might have noticed it already with the use of automated house cleaners, phone assistants, or even remote curtains. There are plenty of examples of how technology can be used. It’s a handy way to delegate chores, ease some repetitive tasks and make life at home more beneficial.

IoT Real-Life Examples

In the same regard, there are more IoT software development company like jatapp activities occurring these days to introduce even more useful applications to the public. Do you want to get inspiration and see where IoT technology is usually used? Here are some of the most common ways to use IoT:

• Healthcare is the first industry to evoke interest in IoT. The reality of our lives brings people to the conclusion that even doctor’s appointments should be automated to some extent. In this regard, the healthcare industry right now is benefiting from wearables, scales, and remote tools for patient data analysis to make better predictions.
• It’s clear that the entertainment industry is full of IoT tools. When you are at home, you can enjoy video games or VR tools for an enhanced gamification experience. Remote cleaners, assistants, and many more tools make the routine at home or at a party well-diversified.
• Logistics and automotive are also the industries to benefit from the IoT. The technology helps tremendously with all the logistics process, introducing temperature lasers, trackers, and other useful devices for enhanced routing.

There are plenty of ways to use the technology for personal or commercial use. For this reason, more and more IoT software development services appear on the market. People take interest in the development of handy tools, and we are going to describe how this process happens in practice.

How IoT Works: a Simple Explanation from the Tech Side

There are 4 main areas to be included in IoT creation. If you deal with the IoT, you will most likely identify the following parts of the structure:

• Software is all the applications that allow IoT to function seamlessly.
• Hardware refers to physical devices that can be easily controlled remotely.
• The cloud helps analyze and store the data from all devices.
• The network is the final link that is a mediator between all the IoT examples you deal with.

The structure of the IoT is rather simple, so now we can move on and see what the processes of app creation are.

How to Create an IoT App: a Step-by-Step Guide

Is it easy to create software for IoT? Like in any other case, you need to have the knowledge and practical experience to develop an app. However, with the IoT, things happen a bit differently. Let’s take a look at the brief app development process and spot the difference.

• The second step is prototyping. It’s very much the same as with regular application development. You can’t move to the development phase without a good-looking and well-built prototype.
• The third step is clear, and it’s a development that makes the previous ideas a reality with the help of proper coding.
• The last part is testing and maintaining the tool. Designing the ideas and developing them is an interesting and creative part of the work, but testing and maintenance are critical to making the users satisfied with the final results.

This is how the process of IoT software development looks from the inside. A guide such as this one is a more in-depth source if you wish to learn more. Whenever you take the IoT tool, you should keep in mind how many stages the team has gone through to come to the endpoint with the ready-to-use item.

Final Thoughts

Do you want to become a developer and bring some use to the industry? Here are plenty of ways to create something meaningful if you deal with the IoT industry. This field includes a wide range of devices and directions developers can take. People will always cherish the easier ways to make their lives more convenient. For this reason, there will always be some jobs for high-quality IoT application developers.

The post How to Develop an IoT App in 4 Easy Steps for Beginners appeared first on DesignWebKit.

So, let us talk about a few of those remarkable healthcare application development companies that are offering us some of their excellent and feature-rich healthcare app development services.

Top Healthcare Application Development Companies

1. Hattrick IT

This is one of those famous healthcare application development companies with a dedicated team of developers, engineers, and designers committed to assisting institutions in building feature-rich and innovative web and mobile apps that can improve people’s lives.

The developers and designers of this company can design healthcare apps and products while thinking about the needs of physicians and patients. The employees of this company are the best at finding a commendable balance between functionality and aesthetics.

Moreover, the experts of this company are great at building user-friendly and accessible Android and iOS apps for any healthcare organization. Just by trusting Hattrick IT, you can get the right solution to meet all your healthcare services needs.

2. App Maisters

It is one of the leading healthcare application development companies in Texas that can offer some remarkable services to its clients. This IT company has served its clients with various services, such as IoT, AI technologies, business intelligence, blockchain, and many more. Some notable clients of this reliable company are Enterprises, Startups, Government Agencies, etc.

From on-time deliveries to affordable solutions, there are multiple reasons which made this company one of the best among its peers.

3. Groovy Web

Groovy Web is one of the notable healthcare app development companies that is headquartered in India. This company has a great record of offering its clients affordable and robust digital products and apps. The client list of this app development company includes organizations of large, mid, and even small scales from all around the world. This company has already partnered with more than 250 clients.

With the assistance of its teams of experts, this IT company has delivered more than 500 projects with great success. Thus, Groovy Web has already established itself as one of the most reliable and fastest-growing healthcare app development companies not only in India but also in the world.

4. Appinventiv

It is one of those few famous healthcare app development companies that holds thetitle of cent percent client satisfaction, along with innovative and comprehensive digital solutions. Professionals of this institution, including testers, designers, analysts, and developers, have a great understanding of the recent requirements of the healthcare industry. They are ideal in offering top-notch healthcare app development services as one of the most reliable app developers.

This app development company has worked on multiple large-scale projects with various brands around the world. They are excellent at offering highly-efficient IT solutions to their clients.

5. Apzumi

Apzumi is a Poland-based company that was founded in 2013. This amazing healthcare application development company has some passionate members with different expertise and backgrounds and can offer different kinds of cost-effective products. The quality of this institution remains sustainable and robust, along with being an affordable company for large enterprises and startups.

It is a company that can assist you with custom software development, mobile app development tasks, AR/VR development, etc. Therefore, if you are looking to get some excellent healthcare app development services, you can go through the reliable and expert IT companies mentioned above.

The post Healthcare Application Development Companies appeared first on DesignWebKit.

Improve Customer Connections

As a result of Covid-19, the global market has moved towards preferring digital communication with businesses. Having a dedicated mobile app puts you in a great position to connect with customers on a dedicated platform. According to Clutch.io, the majority of businesses view their apps as a means of improving customer service. However, there’s much more you can do with a mobile app. If you need help developing a more feature-rich app, utilise mobile App development from soVision IT.

Higher Engagement Levels

To drive customer interaction up, you need to make the first move. Traditionally, this involved placing ads in magazines and on billboards, but this was expensive and soon went out of date. Fortunately, with mobile apps, you can interact with customers easily and keep them updated with a simple edit and publish.

The aim of a mobile app is to place your business in as close proximity to your target audience as possible. To do this, you will need to ensure the following traits:

• High-quality support with instant messaging functionality.
• Around-the-clock visibility for new and returning customers.
• Quick one-touch payment options for a seamless experience.
• Having different payment options for in-app purchases.

You can elevate your user engagement level by integrating your app with social media, personalising the experiences with favourite products, and allowing a review platform. According to Oberlo, nine out of ten people inform future purchases by searching through reviews, which means visible positive reviews through your app will be beneficial.

Experience Personalisation

Personalised shopping experiences are highly sought after in 2022, with an estimated 33% of businesses in the UK spending over half of their marketing budget on personalisation. When it comes to mobile apps, businesses can grant users the ability to alter the experience according to their preferences, which is achieved through artificial intelligence (AI).

Launching Loyalty Systems

Offers are a great way to boost customer interaction with your business, and you can leverage mobile apps to make them more accessible and enjoyable. For example, if you take a look at Taco Bell’s reward system, they’ve gamified the experience by creating simple puzzles to unlock rewards. Your mobile app can boost loyalty by using a simple format such as:

• Cashback systems. Whenever a purchase is made, credit a loyalty account with points that can be used on future purchases.
• Personalised product recommendations. By carefully analysing the way users engage with your app, you can promote relevant products to keep them coming back and becoming loyal customers.

Strengthening Brand Awareness

There’s a direct relationship between product value to customers and the strength of a brand. Without a conscious branding effort, it’s impossible to deliver a quality customer experience. Mobile apps allow marketers to send brand messages straight to their customers’ hands, thanks to the rise of smartphones.

Outside of useful app features, like loyalty programs and booking engines, marketers need to use colours and logos to solidify the brand. For a great example of this, take a look at L’Oreal’s Genius app, which targets its young audience with a heavily branded app. As well as this, celebrities including Dwayne Johnson have created apps like Project Crushed that have strong branding across the entire UI.

Gaining Customer Feedback

Mobile apps are stacked full of tools and data-collecting systems. In particular, customer feedback opportunities add enormous benefits to your business and potential customers. But what is the best method of customer feedback collection?

• App rating prompts. Almost every app has a rating system, which pops up during use to ask for a quick star rating. Despite being intrusive, it takes practically no time out of the customer journey.
• Surveys. After customers have used your services, have them fill out an optional survey. If you give them an incentive – like discounts – they’re more likely to take time to fill it out.
• Widgets. Feedback widgets are one of the most popular collection methods. Instead of collecting quantitative data, widgets help gather qualitative accounts.

When collecting customer reviews, it’s important to respond and use any collected information. For example, if you receive any negative feedback, you need to acknowledge it and consider changing your systems to make services better.

Gather Useful Customer Insights

Operating a successful business is impossible without customer data and insights. When creating a marketing strategy, it needs to be intrinsically linked with current consumer behaviours. By creating a valuable mobile app, you can collect high levels of customer data that will inform service improvements.

Countless analytic tools will take care of all the analysis. Our go-to is UXCam, which will generate plenty of insights including:

• Retention rates.
• Demographic information (device type, gender, age, etc.).
• New daily, weekly, and monthly users.
• Downloads rates and uninstall data.

This information can be collected from countless points, including device permissions. However, the most common way is to have users fill out a mandatory form during registration. This won’t take much time away from your customers because the majority of smartphones have auto-fill.

Greater Call to Action

Potential customers visit websites and mobile apps to simply browse, but they don’t always convert. Fortunately, with mobile apps, you can improve the quality of calls to action, which will help boost conversion rates. As app visitors scroll through information at rapid speeds, a well-placed call to action can help slow them down and sway their decision.

Mobile apps make it easier for customers to interact with businesses and vice-versa. Improved communication with customers, loyalty schemes, and personalised shopping experiences are just a small number of benefits that come with mobile applications.

The post How Mobile Apps Can Help Grow Your Business appeared first on DesignWebKit.

Still, the solutions available on the market didn’t fit all of Mike’s needs. To his mind, Apple Music had a bad recommendation engine. Spotify and Pandora weren’t available in his region. And Tidal was a bit expensive for him. What should he do? Mike was in despair. Until that day when he came up with an idea for his own, ideal music streaming service… Millions of people want to listen to high-quality music without interruptions and problems with storage, and this number is growing every year.

According to Statista, the number of music streaming subscribers worldwide amounted to 487 million in the first quarter of 2021, up from just under 488 million at the end of the first quarter of 2021. In this article, we examine how the music streaming market works and what you should know before starting music streaming SaaS app development. This analysis will help answer how you might enter this market with your own streaming solution.

Types of Music Streaming Apps

There are two major types of streaming services: radio and on-demand. Radio streaming services are mostly associated with music discovery, with an app acting as a DJ who picks what songs to play and in what order. On-demand services are characterized by user-created playlists that can be shared with others. Let’s talk about these two types of streaming services in more detail.

Radio Stations

The best representatives of radio apps are Pandora and iHeartRadio. These services aren’t designed for listening to the one specific song you want to hear right now. They call themselves “radios” because they play songs you might like based on your personal preferences. You can’t select a specific song with on-demand radio stations like Pandora, but you can create your own stations based on genres, songs, albums, artists, or bands.

Radio station apps have licensing agreements that don’t allow them to play songs on demand. These licenses allow radio stations to keep their costs down compared to on-demand streaming services.

On-demand Streaming Services

Examples of on-demand audio streaming services include Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal, all of which let users play songs of their choice instantly. Similar to radio station streaming services, on-demand streaming services also offer recommendation and discovery features based on what users like to listen to.

Given the growing desire for on-demand music, Pandora launched Pandora Premium, a $9.99 per month streaming service for smartphones, tablets, and the web that competes directly with Spotify and Apple Music. Pandora Premium allows users to listen to Pandora radio while also creating their own playlists. To develop its on-demand streaming service, Pandora needed to sign licensing agreements with major record labels as well as independent distributors.

The streaming services also have to play the SaaS game to make certain subscribers don’t churn as well as join other streaming solutions. In lots of aspects, the artists themselves become creative for iTunes, Spotify as well as others, similar to engineers and item designers who are the rock stars behind various other SaaS companies, such as Uber and Airbnb. So SaaS software development has become more and more popular in the music industry.

Licensing Agreements

To make a music streaming app, you need to get rights on sound recordings and compositions (songs). Rights to sound recordings and compositions can be owned by multiple rights holders. For example, if an artist signs a deal with a label and records his or her song in the label’s studio, then this recording belongs (at least partially) to the label.

The song itself (the composition) belongs to the songwriter, although a songwriter can have a publisher manage those rights. Managing rights to compositions means issuing licenses for the use of songs, collecting royalties, dealing with accounting, and managing other administrative issues. Often, songwriters sell their songs to a publisher.

Every internet radio station and on-demand streaming service needs to pay copyright holders for the right to reproduce or make copies of sound recordings and compositions. These payments are called royalties. However, internet radio stations and on-demand streaming services require different licensing agreements and must strike these agreements with different organizations.

For Radio Stations

Radio stations pay government-approved organizations that in turn pay rights holders: labels, music publishers, and songwriters. Radio royalty rates in the US are set by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). If you want to develop your own radio station, you need to get licenses from the following agencies:

1. SoundExchange for sound recordings. SoundExchange compensates labels and individual artists.
2. Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) including ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC for publishing licenses. These organizations pay royalties to publishers and songwriters.

To develop its on-demand streaming service, Pandora needed to sign licensing agreements with major record labels as well as independent distributors. As a result, about 70% of revenue from Pandora’s subscription service goes toward royalty payments to songwriters and artists.

For On-demand Music Streaming Services

To develop an on-demand streaming app, you’ll need to license content from the following organizations:

1. Major labels such as Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Bros
2. Independent aggregators such as the Merlin Network, which represents indie artists
3. Publishers such as Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony/ATV

All of these organizations require direct licensing deals, which typically take one of the following forms:

• Per-stream rate
• Percentage of revenue
• Upfront payment for future streams
• Equity

The rules on the streaming web and mobile app market aren’t very friendly for emerging digital businesses. To make things even more troublesome, there is no global standard for music licensing, and therefore you need to license country by country. Dealing with boring legal matters isn’t the only challenge a music streaming app developer needs to tackle. The next challenge is choosing the list of features that will make your app the ideal solution for music lovers.

How to Create a Music Streaming App: Features Your Mobile App Can’t Live Without

Regardless of the type of music streaming app you choose to create, all apps of this type have a common set of features that are necessary. Here’s a list of them.

Large Music Library

A large library of songs for all tastes is a must-have for any music streaming platform. You should ask yourself four main questions.

• What music should I offer? To avoid legal issues, license music and avoid downloading pirated music.
• Where should I store data? The most common solution is Amazon S3 or any other cloud service with a Content Delivery Network (CDN).
• How should I stream music to users? You also need to decide how to stream data. Streaming involves sending information from the server to users. To provide users with seamless streaming, you should choose the right streaming protocol. For instance, TCP’s congestion controls and the ability to resend lost packets made Spotify choose the TCP protocol for streaming.
• Which format is the best for storing music? There are a plethora of music formats, each offering different sound quality. Below, you can see a diagram that shows how music formats affect streaming quality. Now let’s discover what formats famous applications use. Tidal, a famous app owned by Jay-Z and available for iOS and Android platforms, supports FLAC, ALAC, and AAC. Pandora uses only AAC, while Spotify supports Vorbis.

Registration

The first step toward providing a highly personalized experience is collecting and analyzing data about users’ musical preferences. The perfect time to do this is at registration. Applications like Spotify and Pandora, for example, ask users for their zip codes and birth years. With the help of this information, the application can recommend tracks popular in the user’s region and among users of their age group.

Some digital music services ask users direct questions about their favorite genres and artists. Your primary goal for this section is to create a clear and appealing design that doesn’t annoy users with questions. Look at how the onboarding looks in Apple Music. To make a new user’s experience more personalized, music app developers can use Facebook’s API to get access to data about a user’s likes and other music-related information in their profile.

Search

If you decide to develop an on-demand app, you may need to provide your users with an advanced search feature. Let users search for playlists, tracks, genres, and artists so they can easily find a track they’re looking for. In addition, you can let them search for music by mood and activity, as Spotify and Pandora Premium do. After acoustic fingerprinting, each track gets its unique International Standard Recording Code (ISRC). With the help of this code, an app can distinguish the original song from remixes and edits.

Recommendations

After you acquire a sufficient music database and user base, you can start thinking about developing a more advanced recommendation and discovery system. Apple Music seems to be a good app, but a lot of users complain about its poor recommendation engine. It’s one of the main reasons why users opt for Spotify or Pandora Music. Most online music streaming services use both audio analysis algorithms and human curation for a more advanced recommendation and discovery system. Let’s scrutinize the recommendation engines of Spotify and Pandora, the top players in music streaming. Spotify, which owns Echo Nest, uses this company’s API. Echo Nest uses data mining and machine learning techniques to gather information from the web about songs, albums, artists, and genres.

The technology that Echo Nest provides can capture live playback behavior (artist plays, song plays, skips, bans, favorites, and more) and use this behavioral data to personalize playlists. The system generates playlists using similarity searches on cultural text data from the web, audio data from tracks, and user behavior. Pandora’s recommendations, on the other hand, are based on the Music Genome Project, an automated musicological analysis that ignores genres, user connections, and ratings. The idea behind this project is to figure out what you like (not what the market might like) by analyzing the musical structures in the songs you like and then playing other songs that possess similar traits. This approach is definitely interesting, but it does distance users from the tastes of their friends, peers, and critics.

To develop their algorithm, Pandora employs trained experts who tag songs with dozens of pieces of metadata. This metadata includes specific tonal qualities, instruments played, rhythmic nuances, and hundreds of other details. Pandora is conducting ongoing experimentation on its vast user base to figure out how best to deliver music to its listeners. You can read more about their intelligence algorithm here.

Music Streaming – Possible Sources of Revenue

From the statistics we showed earlier, you can see that music streaming solutions may be rather profitable. Now that we’ve discussed the features for your app, let’s find out what monetization models can be applied to it. Most apps of this type rely on a mix of the following business models.

Charging Listeners in Music Streaming

This is the most profitable and hence the most popular way to monetize music streaming apps.

Subscriptions

There are two possible ways to handle subscriptions. First, you can provide users with basic features and charge them if they want additional functionality. For instance, Spotify Premium lets users listen to saved tracks offline, skip an unlimited number of tracks, and play any track in high quality. For this, users pay $9.99 per month. There’s also a Spotify Premium Family plan that lets up to five family members at the same address use their personal Premium accounts for only $15.99 per month.

Pandora offers Plus and Premium plans. With Pandora Plus, which costs $4.99 per month, users get unlimited replays and skips and the ability to listen to offline stations and create personalized stations. Pandora Premium costs $9.99 per month and includes all the features of Pandora Plus and also lets users download tracks to their devices, create playlists, and search through Pandora’s great music library.

Second, you can provide access only to users who purchase a subscription. Tidal only has paid plans but provides users with high-definition music curated by experts. Tidal Premium costs $9.99 per month, while Tidal Hi-Fi with master-quality audio costs $19.99 per month. In all these music players, users are able to start with a free trial. Before starting a trial, however, users need to enter their card information. After the end of the trial, they’re automatically charged. In case users don’t want to subscribe to the paid version of an application right away, many music applications integrate an additional business model for deriving revenue: advertisements.

Ads in Music Streaming

We won’t talk much about this business model, since it’s a traditional way to monetize a freemium app. While listening to free music streams, users may be exposed to small banner ads on their screens or audio ads between tracks. If users don’t want to see and hear ads, they may upgrade to paid accounts. Below, you can see the revenue that Spotify and Pandora get from advertisements and subscriptions.

Additional Sources of Revenue

Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) is Chinese music streaming company. Taking into consideration the cultural background of their target audience, the company came up with a brand-new revenue stream. Chinese people are great fans of karaoke, and many spend their leisure time in karaoke bars. The QQ Music app, owned by TME, allows users to sing karaoke and Livestream it. In this app, users can buy and send coins or gifts to their favorite singers during live streams. These social activities bring TME approximately $1.21billion in the third quarter of 2021.

In Google Play Music and Apple Music, if an unsubscribed user wants to listen to a particular song or album, they should purchase it. In this way, these services get additional revenue by selling particular songs and albums instead of selling unlimited access to all songs in the catalog.

Charging Artists in Music Streaming

Besides paying artists for songs, some streaming services also charge them for additional services.

Monetizing Songs

SoundCloud is often considered the best place for new artists to promote their songs. This service is also known for its paid artists profiles that provide singers and managers with additional capabilities. It has three Artist profiles  – SoundCloud Basic, SoundCloud Pro, and Repost by Soundcloud. The first one is free and enables newbie singers to view songs statistics and upload tracks with a total duration of three and more hours.

With the second plan, artists are able to monetize their tracks, turn off comments, upload music with a summary duration of six hours, and view advanced statistics of their tracks. It costs €8.25 per month. Repost by Soundcloud allows you to distribute unlimited tracks to all major music services and promote your tracks on SoundCloud discovery pages. Its price is €2.5 per month.

Promotion with Music Streaming

Spotify helps artists promote their albums and songs. Spotify Ad Studio is a convenient service for creating and managing ad campaigns for a price that depends on the targeting selection. As you can see, digital streaming services are a profitable distribution channel for record labels and publishers, but the streaming market isn’t the easiest to enter. To build a native app for this market you need to have both a thoughtful business strategy and advanced technology. Remember Mike? Let your app be loved by users like Mike all over the globe.

The post Legal and Tech: How On-Demand Music Streaming Works appeared first on DesignWebKit.

What Is Web Application Security?

Web application pentesting is a process of testing the security, functionality, and accessibility of web applications. It often revolves around assessing how secure an organization’s website is from cyberattacks by hackers. Web application security is a subset of general information technology (IT) security. It focuses on the protection and safekeeping of web applications. They are related to business activities carried out through websites or other electronic means. The importance of protecting these applications cannot be understated. They store critical data that can impact the safety and well-being of people around the world.

Web applications handle and store a wide range of personal data, including credit card numbers, social security numbers, biometric identifiers like fingerprints and faces, and more. Identity theft, fraud, and other serious crimes could result if this information fell into the wrong hands. So, what can one do to keep these apps safe? Web application pentesting is one way to ensure that web applications are safe for use. However, before the pen-testers can begin their work, they need to understand what makes these types of applications vulnerable in the first place.

Understanding Weaknesses Within Web Applications

Web app vulnerabilities stem from two different places: mistakes made by developers while writing code and backend configuration errors/misconfigurations. The first type of vulnerability is called a “code flaw”, while the second one goes by the name of “configuration error”.

There are four main types of vulnerabilities that can be found in web applications, including:

• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)- occurs when a web application sends user input to a browser without first validating or encoding it. This allows attackers to inject malicious code into the website, which could lead to identity theft and other cybercrimes.
• Injection Vulnerabilities- When an attacker is able to inject fraudulent data into the application in order to execute unauthorized instructions, these flaws occur. This could result in information disclosure, loss of funds, or even a takeover of the web application itself.
• Broken Authentication and Session Management- When authentication and session management technologies in web applications are not operating as intended, these sorts of flaws occur. This could result in attackers being able to access or misuse sensitive data, take over other users’ accounts, or even gain full control over a website’s backend
• Insufficient Authorization and Access Control- these vulnerabilities are caused when an application does not properly check whether a user is authorized to access certain data or resources. This could lead to unauthorized users gaining access to sensitive information or taking over the account of an authorized user.

The OWASP Top Ten Vulnerability List contains all the details on these issues. It’s crucial to understand how they function so that you can safeguard your online applications from them.

Types Of Web Application Pentesting Done By Pen Testers

Now that we have some idea about what web application pen-testing is and what types of tools can be used for this task, let’s take a look at the different types of pentesting that can be done. The first type is known as “white-box testing”, which means that you have unlimited access to source code and other data about the application before doing your penetration test/pentest. In order to properly do white-box web app pen testing, you need to have a deep understanding of the application and how it works.

Another type is grey box testing. This means that pentesters only have limited access to app data before they begin their penetration test/pentest. Gray-box web application pen testing can be performed in two different ways: with publicly available information about the target or with information that has been provided by the target organization. The last type of pen-testing is black-box testing, which is the most common type. In black-box pentesting, pentesters have no access to any data about the application whatsoever before they start their assessment. Each of these types of pentests can be used in different ways to test the security of web applications.

5 Best Tools For Web Application Pentesting

The five best tools for web application pentesting are

Paros Proxy

This proxy is based on Java and can be used to test a wide range of web applications. It may be utilized for both black box and white box testing. It also comes with a built-in webserver to help you generate your own code on the fly or steal data from other sites.

Burp Suite Pro

An integrated platform designed to test web apps with a suite of tools that are available in one single program. This includes the intruder tool. It is for performing automated customized attacks against web applications.

OWASP Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP)

This is a free, open-source web application penetration testing software that may be used to check the security of online applications. It includes features like spidering, scanning, and a proxy server to intercept traffic from the target app.

Astra Pentest

This is a web application security scanner for scanning for vulnerabilities in the client-side code of applications. The benefits of choosing Astra include easy installation and use of the tool, which does not require any programming or scripting skills.

AppScan Standard Edition

IBM’s commercial web application security scanner can be used to find vulnerabilities in applications like OWASP Top Ten, buffer overflows, and cross-site scripting. These are just a few of the many tools that are available for pentesting web applications. Each tool has specific characteristics and a distinct target audience.

Web Application Pentesting – Conclusion

In this post, we have looked at what web application pen-testing is and some of the tools for exploiting vulnerabilities in these types of applications. We also took a look at the different types of pen tests and their performance.

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