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6 Predictions for Mobile UX Design Trends in 2017

1. Micro Mini Interactions

We’ve seen micro-interactions (interactions within interactions) coming into play for a couple of years now when the Google Material design guidelines showcased a correct and incorrect use of animations and movement. Apple has also started making use of these through haptic feedback, but their potential is yet to be exploited in 2017.
This trend is all about making every single user interaction (touch, scrolls, taps, clicks and pinches — among new ones to come) rich with unique feedback to enhance the user experience: vibration, sound, animation and/or movement.
Here’s an example:
A micro interaction would be to unlock your phone by pressing the home button.
A micro mini interaction would be too hard tap the home button, which is immediately followed by vibrating feedback and a home screen reveal animation.
We expect micro interaction to spread largely due to Google Material Design in the next 12 months, along with Apple who has already integrated a new haptic system into the iPhone 7 on iOS 10.

2. Design that lets the content shine

Web (and app) design has gone through many stages: From skeuomorphic (trying to reference or mimic the real world to make interaction easier – you probably remember the days when icons were 3D and there were gradients everywhere) – all the way to the flat and material design of the present day.
During this journey, designers have realised that “design’s ultimate role is to present content in an intuitive, efficient, and delightful way” (in the words of Sergie Magdalin, Chief Design Officer at Webflow.)
But how do you put content first and make design “flatter”?
Minimalism – aesthetics add to the experience but don’t distract from it.
Spacing – let content breathe, help the eye move along the page through blank spaces
Simplicity – apps that are simple are clearer and easier to use
Declutter – remove excessive bars and repetitive elements

3. Innovative new ways of navigation

If you paid attention at the LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram screenshots at the beginning you will have noticed that the biggest changes in mainstream apps have happened within the navigation. Most daily-use apps have moved to a tabbed approach, and the hamburger or home icon is taking a secondary role.
On the topic of the hamburger icon, many conversations have continued this year about it. James Archer, VP of Sales & Marketing at Crowd Favorite & UX Expert, said: “As the year goes on, we’ll start to see the hamburgers being methodically replaced with tab bars, Priority+ menus, and other alternative forms of navigation.”
One method of navigation that’s emerging and we’ll see more of in 2017 is flicking/swiping. Snapchat, YouTube and iMessenger have kickstarted this but designers might need to wait for users to catch on. It’s also a challenge because users can only navigate 4 directions from each screen, and therefore it is only applicable to commonly used apps.
Although new and exciting ways of navigation may emerge with the most popular mainstream apps, we think standard apps like those for work purposes will continue to have slide-in sidebars, since people don’t use them enough to remember a different approach.

4. Bottom navigation used more sparingly

In March 2016 Google added bottom navigation guidance to its Material Design guide, so it’s certain we’ll see a resurgence. But such a resurgence will also include many examples of bad practice, as the bottom navigation’s purpose is often misunderstood.

So for 2017 we predict that designers will strive to create journeys of discovery, as opposed to trying to lock features into navigation drawers or tabs.

5. Long screens

Slowly designers are becoming less afraid of long pages that encourage scrolling, and this is especially true for mobile apps. Users are now fully comfortable with scrolling, and collapsing/expanding animations are enhancing the experience too (remember micro mini interactions?)

6. Bold colors, gradients, shade, illustration

Flat design, the trend that’s been prevalent in web design for the last few years, promoted simplicity to the core – muted colors, vector icons and square angles. But 2016 saw some bold designers adding a little extra to enhance the experience.

5 tips for beautiful mobile app design

1. Focus on the details

Think about the most successful apps; what do they have in common? It’s likely they feature beautiful typography, empty space, and high resolution imagery. Never underestimate the value of the details; users value beauty as well as flawless navigation. In this age of the retina screen, it’s important to embrace high-resolution images from the start (you can always scale down later).

2. Incorporate your brand

This might seem obvious, but you want consistent branding and design in everything from your logo to your website to your app. Colors should be chosen with care, and you should use a logo in your app header (rather than text) to emphasis your branding and increase brand recognition. When Facebook acquired Instagram, for instance, Facebook kept the incredibly recognizable Instagram camera icon, but changed the background features of the app to the standard Facebook blue – maintaining brand recognition for both companies. You want your branding to be so recognizable that when someone sees the color or logo, they think of your app.

3. Remember that a mobile device is not a mini-computer

A common mistake in the early days of app building was to think of smart phones as tiny computers instead of entirely new devices with completely different functions – as well as different expectations on the part of the user. It can be tempting to have your app’s function mimic a website (particularly if your app was a web application first), but that is the wrong approach. When you design for mobile, you need to focus on gestures as part of the function – something you don’t spend nearly as much time considering on web apps.

4. Design for the platform and the phone

Ah, remember when you only had to design for the iPhone? Well, today there are multiple devices and platforms. When designing your app you’ll need it to work on Android as well as iOS, and it’s wise to also consider the Windows platform as the relatively new Windows phone gains in popularity. While some elements can be the same in all platforms – such as splash screens – other parts like utilities need to be handled quite differently. In addition, because phones vary wildly in size, you’ll need to design for those sizes. A smart way to do that is have three sets of graphics: high density, medium density, and low density. You’ll be glad you did.

5. Customize for your user

Typically, it’s the engineer that focuses on user experience, but a mobile app designer (and the business owner!) needs to keep the user in mind as well. Think about the context in which the user interacts with your app; will it work in bright sunlight? Is there a great deal of white text on a dark background, making it difficult for those with vision problems to read it? Does the font work in multiple languages? It’s important to keep all of these aspects in mind while designing your app. A great way to test this, of course, is to find the least tech savvy person in your family and have them test it out – you’ll get great some great insights.

9 Best Tools For Designing a Mobile App UI

Design can never be static. Every project is different and so is the process that varies as per the product, personal preferences, team size and other relative variables, but when it comes to tools, you will find only a handful that is every designer’s pet. These tools pave the way for planning and brainstorming, help in clear communication of ideas, solve technical troubles to build mind-blowing animations and even sort interactions with the developers. Over the years, the app designers have worked relentlessly to refine their design tool kits so that they can fasten the workflow and execute right design decisions.

These tools pave the way for planning and brainstorming, help in clear communication of ideas, solve technical troubles to build mind-blowing animations and even sort interactions with the developers. Over the years, the app designers have worked relentlessly to refine their design tool kits so that they can fasten the workflow and execute right design decisions.

Yes, evaluating various extensions, plug-ins, tools and online resources have somewhat become necessary for the design cycle. The team must craft out high-performance mobile app solutions and make it a hit in the digital market.

For this, it is important to have some of the easy-to-use design tools that can transform your raw ideas in the most creative way and can collect useful feedback at an early stage of mobile app development. Here is a list of some of the amazing mobile app design tools, which will render your workflows, screens and pitches more robust with each project-

1. Sketch
Although Photoshop is a personal favorite with the designers, still some have made a switch to Sketch. This super graphic design tool possesses similarity to Photoshop but is more focused on UI/UX design. The tool is powerful, has a wide range of features and brings out professional results. It extends infinite zooming, 2x export, and styled vector shapes which are apt for multiple resolutions. Sketch offers an ‘Export All’ feature and as it is vector-based, there is no problem in exporting PDF, JPG, and PNG (optionally in 2x) files.
Generally, app designers prefer 3 different tools for 3 purposes namely Omnigraffle for wireframing, Photoshop for visual design, and Illustrator for vector logos. All these 3 tools are perfectly aligned with Sketch, thereby making one app fulfill all your needs and achieve overall productivity with no wastage of time.
The sketch is suitable to use owing to its simple operation and the feature which can design the symbols of common elements like buttons, tabs, headers etc with ease. It not only fires up the process of wireframing but also enables an easy hand-off to the visual designers. As we are employing the same tool in the visual design stage, there won’t be much trouble in updating wireframes into high-fidelity visuals.
All the changes that we have witnessed in-app designing have been made possible because of Sketch’s vectorized model, components like multi-resolution exporting and shared styles and symbols.

2. Marvel
The Marvel app converts raw sketches on paper into engaging, tappable prototypes that permit you to demo your app ideas and collect feedback from others. It works perfectly well with .psd files, so you are not required to convert your designs before uploading.
Marvel saves the testing time consumed on changes as it automatically updates them in the background. By replicating the device, the web browser can successfully test your prototype very much in the natural milieu.
Leading you towards most realistic prototyping experience, this tool also gives the benefit of custom animations and fading between screens. Marvel, being an interactive tool, enables designers to import from Sketch, build prototypes of app interactions, animations, and transitions, and further forward these prototypes with stakeholders and developers. It is a convenient way to open up an entire flow to the customer as well, without being bothered by the static user flows.
Here, designers don’t have to be equipped with advanced programs like Framer and After Effects to include animations, transitions and other interesting features in their app layouts. Marvel permits any designer to form transition-based animations over various app screens speedily. The tool is used to prototype an entire app, especially the one with basic transitions in a large number of screens.

3. POP
If you found the Marvel app useful, but you are in search for a working prototype compatible with your Android device, POP app is what you need. It is the best application for mobile prototyping and makes the transition from paper to digital prototyping very easy. All you need to do is to take pictures of your sketches to upload them to POP, or simply upload .psd files to Adobe Creative Cloud. After this, you can smoothly shift between views, gestures, and interactions. As POP is integrated with Dropbox, thus there won’t be any trouble sharing your work with others.
What makes POP app different is that it commences with the images of your hand-drawn app sketches and connects them together onto your mobile. There is no visual constraint in the app as your drawn prototype is compatible with any device.

4. UXPin
UXPin is an intensive wireframing and prototyping web tool. Its simple interface and built-in features make you assimilate a design and create highly interactive wireframes and prototypes. Having drag and drop synchronization with Photoshop and Sketch, this tool systematizes the workflow keeping all the layers of the design intact. To execute design decisions, usability testing is also present which can help to perform tasks, count the users and their clicks and display results to the team.
UXPin adds efficiency to the design, testing, and rollout stages. Here, there is a dynamic toolkit that consists of various design elements and patterns for creating brilliant designs from scratch. The UI libraries are a great source with several ready-made features including bootstrap elements.
The drag and drop interface of UXPin enables you to build wireframes and prototypes that are compatible with multiple devices with a range of screen sizes and resolutions. Other powerful components are the intuitive commenting system, real-time joint editing and easy-to-share previews. A spectacular add-on is Smart Guides, wherein you can measure the exact distance between the elements.
It is possible to edit all the images within UXPin, i.e., you can change brightness, sharpness, contrast and transparency with ease. The tool also gives the advantage of exporting the finished prototype to pdf, HTML or png formats. Thus, you can successfully execute interactions that can improve the performance of the entire project. The UXPin library supports all the three platforms-iOS, Android, and the web.

5. Proto.io
A great zero coding wireframing tool, Proto.io makes highly engaging prototypes that have the look and feel similar to the mobile apps you are building. Also, this tool can be utilized for testing your prototype designs on multiple devices. Another gripping feature of Proto.io is that there are actions which add to the efficiency of the application. Some of the fascinating features are Dropbox sync, Adaptive UI libraries, Material Design UI Library and Offline mode etc.
Here, you can have swift screen transitions, make orientation changes or touch gestures and even test each prototype on any device iPhone, iPad or Android to suit the complete purpose. Initially intended for mobile apps, Proto.io has found its markets in other emerging internet-connected devices like smart TVs, refrigerators, alarm clocks and cars, gaming devices and Google Android Wear. It is a fairly functional app for the designers as they can incorporate quick changes and further, pass on the prototypes to other members conveniently.

6. Zeplin
Zeplin is a plugin and web app that is compatible only with Sketch. It combines all the attributes of the shortlisted elements into a collective specifications sheet, which clearly explains the handoff between the design and developer teams. With this app, you can frame living, breathing, and interactive specification sheets. Zeplin is useful as the designers are not required to wait until the end of the design process to hand over the specs to the developers.
The developers can be introduced to the process much earlier and then iterations can be done as per the need of the course. The app can cut the speccing time to a great extent and thus, enhance the overall app speccing process.

7. Axure
If you are looking to create fully interactive UI mockups and wireframes, Axure is the wireframing tool just meant for you. Being a zero coding platform for wireframing websites and applications, Axure consists of all the documentation tools that are needed to pass the design choices and document the layouts.
You can opt for either the Standard edition or the Pro edition which has extra collaboration and documentation elements. It is indeed the largest application devised for advanced prototyping solutions. Speed is the best characteristic of Axure as you can quickly form prototypes of responsive websites and mobile applications.
You can easily add interactions, make Master pages and choose ready-made elements and patterns from Widget libraries. Additionally, you can import images, add colors, gradients and maneuver the transparency of each object. The version 7 of Axure supports excellent framework that has unique web fonts, events, string functions and convertible prototypes.

8. JustInMind
A wonderful prototyping tool, JustInMind allows better and faster prototyping for websites and mobile apps. Created in 2008, the best feature of JustInMind is that it can be downloaded to your computer, not the just browser, which gives the option of working offline. Not only you can design self-explanatory wireframes, but receive feedback on the same instantly. Being a dynamic prototyping tool, JustInMind is accompanied with a superb widget library that permits you to enter HTML, videos, online widgets, docs, interactive maps and online/offline content in your website or application.
From websites to advanced administration, the application does its wonders for everything you want to create. You can add elements from UI libraries and build Master pages easily. A big merit is that you are able to download add-ons through ready-made modules, which has bootstrap elements too. Also, now conveniently share mobile prototypes with other team members and conduct testing on your smartphone. Simplicity works in favor of JustInMind, but there are times when a lot more is expected from the performance.

9. HotGloo
HotGloo is a robust wireframe UX prototyping tool that gives you the control to prototype any type of mobile application which needs a particular user interface. Developed with extraordinary interactive features, HotGloo allows more than one app designer to collaborate on a single app wireframing project. Through this tool, you can work on your wireframing project anytime anywhere around the clock, without the barrier of the browser or operating system you are accessing.

Top 10 tips for building better mobile apps

Tip No. 1: Beauty is relative to the platform

The image below shows the Evernote mobile app running on iOS 8, Android 4.4.4, and Windows Phone 8.1. These screenshots show the main screen of the app, logged in as the same user at the same time, so the data is exactly the same.

However, as you can see, the user interface is completely different across the platforms. They are each beautiful and well designed, but the concept of a “beautiful Android app” is very different from that of a “beautiful iOS app.” That’s because beauty is relative to the platform.

Before you design your apps, take a step back, learn how your target platforms work, and implement your branding around their specific parameters. And remember that even if your app renders differently across platforms, with Appcelerator, you’ll still be able to use a single code base and have a very high percentage of code reusability.

Tip No. 2: Code reuse is for your app’s logic — not necessarily for UI

There are many misconceptions about code reuse with Appcelerator or any cross-platform tool, for that matter. Expecting 100 percent code reuse isn’t reasonable because it not only means you’d have very little control over your app’s UI/UX, but also your app would look the same across all target platforms.

Of course, some people think this is the ultimate goal of a cross-platform tool, but that’s misguided. That’s the goal of a Web browser. High reusability, however, is desirable with your app’s logic (which I explain in more detail in Chapter 7 of the book if you’re interested).

Tip No. 3: Always think “Web service”

Because we’re developing cross-platform apps, I recommend you build your code to be completely abstracted, as if it was a Web service (a local Web service, if you like). Make all of your programming logic completely independent from the screens or even the platform in which it will run, so all of your programming modules are platform-agnostic and, most important, reusable across platforms. Then build the native user interfaces, which will consume these “local Web services.” Using this architecture, you can make sure all the user interface code is completely decoupled from the logic, and both can flow independently.

It took me a while, as a former Web developer, to recognize and accept that, when it comes to building mobile apps, I always need to think “Web service.” However, making that mental shift is worth the effort, and your apps will be better for it.

What’s more, with this approach it does not make any difference if you’re using a TabbedBar on iOS or a ViewPager on Android. After all, the user interface code is simply a consumer of your app logic.

To help you on this journey, I created an app template you can use every time you create a new app (see below). This template is written using Alloy, Appcelerator’s MVC framework. The template provides the MVC architecture needed to maintain platform-specific user interfaces, with content and logic reusability. You can download the app template from GitHub.

Tip No. 4: Remember that tabs can be deep or shallow

iOS tabs have a built-in NavigationController, which allows multiple levels of navigation inside each tab. Android tabs, however, are shallow and should have no in-tab navigation.

To illustrate this, I’ll show you how the Facebook app for Android had approached this incorrectly (it has since been fixed). The image below shows the former Notifications tab of the Facebook app for Android.

Tip No. 5: Know your target platforms

The tab example above is one reason it’s important to know your target platforms. And the best way of knowing what’s available to your app, and what you should and shouldn’t do, is by reading each platform’s user interface guidelines.

Unless you use the operating systems you’re targeting on a daily basis, and you feel like you thoroughly know their behavioral and visual similarities and differences, I suggest you take time to read the guidelines in full.

Check out the iOS guidelines and the Android guidelines. After reading through these documents, you’ll have a wealth of information that will help you understand each platform, design better user interfaces, and know what to look for in the Titanium API or, alternatively, in a third-party module.

Tip No. 6: Work with your design team

If you’re a graphic artist, make sure you learn about each platform, their navigation paradigms, and their visual language. You will find subtle differences that make a great difference in usability.

If you’re a programmer with a graphic artist in your team, or you’re working as a contractor/freelancer for an agency that is giving you mockups of the app to be built, learn to work with the designers and educate them. Help them understand that each platform has a native way of displaying information, laying out screens, and implementing navigation, and these differences go far beyond Android having a Back button and an ActionBar. Mobile platforms are different, so by definition, your cross-platform apps will look slightly different across platforms.

Tip No. 7: Don’t fear modules

The goal of Appcelerator has never been to expose 100 percent of each native SDK supported, but rather, to provide a comprehensive, top-level, cross-platform API. To cover the features not officially exposed, it offers a Native Module Development Framework, which Objective-C and Java developers can use to expose additional features and functionality. These modules can dramatically enhance the overall quality of the app and therefore the user experience. Learn to find modules, use them, and embrace them.

Tip No. 8: Love your target platforms

Don’t let your personal preference influence the design, functionality, and quality of your cross-platform apps. If you love iOS, that’s no reason to show more commitment to your iOS app, leaving behind your Android users. Learn to love each platform with its strengths and limitations. Learn to compare the platforms, but not to criticize them. They are all good in their own right and in their own contexts. Always try to build the best possible app for the platform you’re targeting.

Tip No. 9: Test often

Since your cross-platform app will have both cross-platform and platform-specific code and components, make sure you test often. Don’t spend days working on the Android version, then finally run it on iOS and discover the object positions are off, the fonts need adjusting, or the app simply crashes on load. My recommendation is to test often; if something breaks on one platform, you can immediately identify the problem.

Tip No. 10: Be your user

Your user is the most important consideration when it comes to building your app. Be a user of the target platform and know how the platform works. Be a user of your app so that you can experience it for yourself. Look around, examine other apps, compare and analyze as honestly as you can.

When you’re testing your app, ask yourself: Would I use this app? Does this app feel right? Make sure it conforms to your own standards. If you love your app, most likely your users will love it too.

We live in an age when no company can afford to ignore the transformative power of mobile or the expectations and demands of mobile users. Learning how to correctly develop across platforms is an important skill that will help you (and your company) get ahead in this climate. With these 10 tips, you should be well on your way to achieving mobile success.

10 Biggest Challenges Faced by Mobile App Developers

1. Creating Apps which Get Noticed: There’s immense competition in the mobile app market and honestly, it’s very crowded. Thus, there’s a constant pressure to create apps which get noticed. After all, you don’t want to get lost.

Solution: Create an app which looks great. Include graphics, usable features, and intuitive design. Aim at providing a wholesome experience. Take cues from successful apps in your niche to understand what clicks with users. Answer the following questions, and you’ll know if your idea can crack into this competitive market.

Who is my target group?
What is the aim of the app?
Which function does the app have?
Is the app absolutely new or does it improve an existing one or is it an add-on etc.? (Analyze the innovation level, do some research!)
Is there a market for the app? (Do a competitor and/or benchmark analysis or user survey!)
What will be the price of the app? (Analyze the profitability!)
Where will the app be sold? (Selling via the most popular app stores or via extra channels and other/own websites?)
What is it that I am offering and no one has offered before?

Remember – make an app which makes life simple, productive and pleasant.

2. Getting the App Funded: Now that you have a killer app idea, how do you get it funded? Depending on the nature of the app, the cost of development can be anywhere from $3,000 to $150,000. How do you get the money?

Solution: Before you meet the right investors, there are several ways you can raise funds. Approach your social circle, apply for loans, ask friends and relatives and look for joint venture companies which invest in such apps. You may also try crowdfunding – platforms like Kickstarter and AppBackr are great starting points. App contests can also be the way to go if you have a winning idea in mind.

3. Dealing with the Screen Real Estate: Users have many different devices with different screen sizes. And designing only for the latest platform is a big no-no. So the challenge is to create an app which can run across as many devices as possible. Countless mobile platforms have different limitations based on screen sizes, OS requirements, embedded technologies, pixel intensities etc. However, it’s not only about the devices. You need to consider the OS as well. iOS, Android and Windows – each of these three main systems has its own UI objects and patterns. So be prepared for some bug fixing every now and then.

Solution: Responsive Design. It gives screens more liquidity and thus can be adjusted to suit different formats and various screen sizes. Facebook is a great example.
To deal with technical OS issues, having a marked testing phase helps. Releasing a beta version of the app is also recommended.

4. Making the App Interactive: Interactions are just as important as responsive design. Mobile devices today are laden with high-tech sensors, thus offering a plethora of opportunities. So make the most of these sensors! Creating interactions, however, is time-consuming and can be a challenge to deal with during the design phase.

Solution: Consider interactions well in advance to save time during the design phase. And aim for a comprehensive app experience. Don’t restrict yourself to tap and swipe gestures. Use buttons with various click options and consider overlays to display additional information. Bring more tangible interactions like titling, shaking and flipping into play, which allow the app to respond to position, direction and environment of the device and trigger some action.

5. Keeping it Simple and Clear: An app that makes users think isn’t a good app. The challenge is to design an application which is self-explanatory. But keep in mind that if the functioning of the app is clear to you (the developer), it isn’t necessarily clear to the users as well.

Solution: The trick is to use a simple and clear structure and give brief instructions, tutorials etc. explaining what needs to be done and how. You may use thumbnails and icons to display information in a compact manner. However, make sure these icons correspond to the native UI elements of each OS. You can refer to the UI guidelines provided by platforms like Android, Apple iOS and Windows to chose UI patterns users are already acquainted with.

6. It’s Performance vs Battery Life: Besides, design and interaction, app performance and battery consumption are also important aspects of mobile app development. The challenge is to design a well-performing, bug-free app which runs on minimum possible battery. Performance, however, is solely considered to be a development feature and hence dealt with late during the design phase. Plus, different users perceive app performance differently. And then there are the devices. The app might function well on the latest device, but a lot of users are still running on older devices. Too many images or visual effects, flooding the cache, or using integrated sensors may disrupt the performance of your application on older versions.

Solution: Make sure the development team is a part of the prototyping efforts. Besides, set up a beta version to run test cases with test users to avoid any performance trouble in the final version.

7. Mobile Content Management: The need for mobile app content is ever growing. The call of the hour is to include rich content – videos, images, animations etc. However, the performance fails of wireless networks and frequent connection drops make it difficult to deliver reliable yet rich content that consumes a lot of bandwidth. Besides, app stores like Google Play require you to bundle all your rich content into monolithic expansion files. This means whenever you want to update your content, you need to release a new version of the app.

Solution: Mobile content management solutions. There are various systems in the market which aim at simplifying content management for mobiles. They help in optimizing bandwidth usage and delivering content reliably. Alfresco, MobileIron and AirWatch are some examples.

8. Connecting with the user: The mobile app market is changing rapidly. Innovation and creativity have made this ecosystem highly active. Thus connecting with the users is crucial. And no, it is not just about the features you include in the app.

Solution: Make a positive first impression. This is essential to all relationships. The key is to make your users feel comfortable. Think beyond user-friendly design and interactive features. Give them a recognizable design, colors and logos etched in their memories, or typical fonts. You may even look at your competitor’s app – not to copy the design or flow, but to see what users find interesting and create something unique on the same lines. Besides, it is important to be there for the users always. Listen to their feedback, pay attention to the smallest issues, thank the ones who find them, and provide immediate help. This is the key to winning happy and loyal users.

9. Promoting and Marketing the App: It’s a cliche that most developers don’t care about marketing their apps. However, it’s not true. There are several challenges which developers face while taking their apps to the market. The bottleneck competition, tight timelines and lack of right platforms push developers into keeping app marketing on the back burner.

Solution: A successful app is about 90% marketing and 10% development. So look for the right tools and platforms which can simplify marketing for you. AppTamin, AppScend , MobileDevHQ, and Smore are some tools you must check out. Besides, you can take help from professionals, some who has the required experience and expertise in marketing mobile apps.

10. Lack of Transparency by App Stores: How your app will fare depends partially on the app store you are submitting it to. However, app stores aren’t 100% transparent. There is no way of knowing the market size for different categories or which category is trending globally. In other words, is there a market for the app you are developing? If yes, where is it? Without knowing such basic facts you can only depend on your gut instincts to market the app.

Solution: The only way out is to research. Go through the reports released by various app stores. Based on the data you can get an estimate of where and why your app is most likely to sell.

The future of mobile app development: Omnichannel, cognitive and self-adjusting

It’s hard to see changes when they advance gradually. A few years ago, enterprises were just setting out on their mobile journeys. They had to learn what it meant to
support multiple platforms, how to leverage smartphone features and how to distribute apps in app stores.

Fast forward to today, and companies have been largely successful at overcoming these challenges. Now that the basics are mastered, we will enter a new phase of
innovation in mobile app development. Here are three trends that will transform the apps we use:

1. From enabling the mobile channel to perfecting omnichannel

With the proliferation of digital interfaces, from mobile and web to kiosks, wearables and chatbots, it’s becoming clear that enterprises must learn how to interact
with users across these touchpoints. The fact that the user experience is split across channels is an opportunity — each touchpoint can be exploited for its particular
conveniences. To develop for all of these channels, enterprises are standardizing on a common platform for interaction, even as they customize the front-end experience
for each form factor.

This not only streamlines development and facilitates reuse, but it also enables new types of cross-channel interactions. For instance, a user may start booking travel
on the web, continue her reservation later on her mobile device and receive flight notifications on her smartwatch. She may access the lounge with her smartphone,
which recognizes her gold status and unlocks the door. Or, she might verbally agree to pay for her extra luggage while her identity is confirmed in the background by
non-obtrusive biometric authentication. Multiple channels work together to create a seamless experience.

Omnichannel touchpoints go hand in hand with developing a common set of microservices (back-end functions) that decompose and isolate features. This allows delivery
streams to be autonomous and to auto-scale different components of the application independently, depending on fluctuating capacity demands. Specific microservices can
be added to a particular channel experience without needing to deploy a completely new back end, reusing capabilities across channels.

2. From predefined interaction patterns to customer lead engagement

Mobile apps used to be “me too” entities, mimicking the tried-and-true web interaction patterns with a little extra mobile flavor, such as push notifications. However,
we now understand that mobile enables a completely different style of interaction. The key insight is this: Instead of the app dictating when and how the user should
accomplish a task, the app enables customers or employees to choose when and how to engage and can also proactively guide users as they try to accomplish particular
tasks.

To do this, the app leverages the rich world of data, both on the phone and on the web (given user permission, of course), to understand the user’s current context and
to anticipate what the user needs next. For example, a hospital app can inform a patient arriving at the hospital that there is a longer-than-expected line for his
first appointment and that he should proceed first to the blood lab. Such an interaction can improve hospital efficiency and make the patient experience more pleasing.
An app can also give users the flexibility to choose how to engage.

A fan at a golf tournament might use a tournament app to follow only her favorite players, rather than everything that is happening at the tournament. She can get
notifications when these players are about to tee off, read statistics about them and interact with other fans rooting for those same players. With the advent of
cognitive services, the ability for apps to identify the user’s intent and garner the right experience will become even easier. By knowing what a user is trying to
accomplish at any given moment, you can also simplify the interface so it’s easy and rewarding to use. Cognitive services, personalization and event-based programming
models are key technologies to build this new breed of apps.

3. From inflexible, hard-to-customize apps to continuous experimentation and adaptation

It’s not always obvious what users will and won’t like. And the answer is never final — user preferences and expectations change over time. Therefore, we must view
mobile app development as a continuous, agile process with no clear-cut boundaries between analysis, development and deployment. Setting up a continuous cycle of
experimentation, feedback and adaptation is key.

However, adopting this framework for mobile is especially challenging, since the process of updating the app, delivering it to app stores and coaxing users to download
the latest version can be lengthy. New technologies have evolved to assist with these challenges, including those that support the incremental rollout of app features,
collecting rich usage metrics and then deciding to either proceed with a rollout or to retract changes. Other technologies enable turning features on and off with the
switch of a button — known as “feature flipping — distributing different feature sets for different user segments and dynamically updating content and app
capabilities. Imagine an automotive app that dynamically configures itself for the specific car you are currently driving, or an app that automatically presents a
credit card tab right when your credit card application is approved. These kinds of optimized user interactions require continuous analysis of how features are being
used, how users are engaging with the app and whether different capabilities are having the desired impact.

Mobile app development is moving in two complementary directions. As the need for more omnichannel apps grows, technologies for scaling development and deployment
become more important — hence the rise of DevOps, microservices and continuous integration. In parallel, users will naturally gravitate to applications that are
engaging and help them accomplish what they are trying to do. This means that applications will make better use of user context and technologies that support
adaptation such as feature flipping.

Supporting these trends means taking a data-driven approach to app development, continuously experimenting with new features and experiences, measuring outcomes and
adjusting development priorities based on outcomes. Combined, these trends will usher in the next generation of apps.

Latest Trends in iOS App Development

1. Beacons Technology

In this technology, a developer does not need to have an additional license. You need to get start work included in the iOS SDK. Beacon Technology is an existing technology enabling new location awareness possibilities for apps. It helps to merge online and offline differences for event management, finance, and retail sectors. This technology integrated into kitchen appliances, lighting, washing machines and much more. That will shows the information about a nearby shopping mall, restaurant to the users.

 

2. iOS Enterprise

Apple’s iPad and iPod are very useful for enterprises and business applications in these days. The high spot days of iPad in 2014 are long gone now. The app development activities will increase the iPad sales in this year. iOS app development will increase with big data, IOT and enterprise mobile app. The android has always won the battle of volumes as compared to iOS. But iOS wins with great revenue generation from its quality of devices and functionality in it.

 

3. Use of IoT in apps

Now IoT trend comes up in the iOS app development arena. The iOS application developers make use of the internet enabled devices to make use of IoT. A user needs to connect their device with internet enabled devices. For e.g. A care needs to on the internet connection and enable the IoT app which would sense the traffic signal and get weather related information through it.

 

4. Touch sensibility on iOS app

The feature of finger point had been included in iPhone 5s launched and Since then, many application has been developed with the access of touch ID. This would be helpful to expand security for online shopping and banking. The developers can do more usage of the feature of the fingerprint.

 

5. iOS using cloud based application

The cloud-based application is more beneficial for the iOS developers to share app on cloud computing. That will help to iOS developers to sync their app across various platforms in cloud computing. The limitations of space storage can use cloud storage to backup extra data. Cloud computing provides features like social networking and location-based security tools.The wearable devices require cloud support to access the app information. Online games require handling huge incoming data on servers. Cloud computing is the solution to maintain data effectively.

 

6. Profitable Games

Gaming applications have included various category such as puzzle, racing, action and more. A list of upcoming games in this year has been already predicted by iOS user. The developers are also trying to improve the visibility of premium applications. iOS App Development companies are now offering in-app purchasing to the users. Free iOS game applications are very becoming successful and making huge profits for developers.

 

7. Be aware of updates in iOS development tools

The tools and frameworks for iOS app development are always changing and becoming more advanced. There are plenty of other high-end iOS tools and frameworks available, end developers need to be prepared to learn constantly. Testflight is a native beta test distribution framework. It is the most suitable network, REST APIs can be tested with the postman. Cocoa-Pods is a dependency management system for iOS Apps. Jazzy is a command-line utility that generates documentation for Swift or Objective-C.

 

8. Revolution changes after Swift applied in iOS

When Swift launched as development tool or platform. It proves revolutionary changes in coding. A developer prefers swift language instead of C for developing any iOS App. The swift 3 involves the standard library adopting consistent naming conventions across libraries. The Swift programming language is indeed the most developer-friendly version.

 

9. Latest UI-UX in iOS

The end User-Experience is must be successful in development task by delivering smart navigation-friendly design, layouts, graphics and quality animation for advertising supported applications. Uploading a new app in the store to download and using it – the entire process must be one smooth journey.

 

10. Better strategies in ASO

Today, the competition among iOS apps is increasing all the time. Overall excess of 2.2 million applications and it is not easy to the developer to stand out with a product in the crowd. They have to understand and implement updated App Store Optimization strategies – from creating detailed, description of the app, select the best app name, select attractive app icon, uploading the required app screenshot and including the important keywords in the description. The competition is with the big crowd and developer/App Store Optimizer need to work on marketing strategies continuously.

Top 8 iOS App Development Trends to watch in 2017

1. Swift Coding
Swift broke on the coding world last year with a whole new set of coding methodologies and frameworks that were more inclusive. This programming language continues to be much talked off amongst app developers and is both and application and systems language. Built on the modern compiler infrastructure, it enables developers to write reliable codes using Xcode tools. It is currently used for developing apps for apps on iOS, WatchOS and tVOS. This trend will continue through 2016, in fact, it might be driven to become the primary tool for developing Apple apps, replacing Objective C for good. What’s more, Swift 2 has been released with more developer-friend features that are fast gaining traction amongst the developers worldwide.

2. Watch OS2
Apple Watch 2 will be launched in April this year and is expected to be the top brand in the wearable device category. The development and growth of the Watch OS2 will push the market for apps for this device dimensions to the next level. From making extensions to the existing apps for the iWatch, there will be a new scope for development, exclusively for the Apple Watch. Until last month, there were 10,000 apps available for the iWatch, this number is expected to treble within the first half of 2016.

3. Free Apps for all
As per current trends, close to 75% apps are free, and as per a Gartner report, this figure is expected to touch 93% by the end of year 2016. For iOS app developers, in-app purchases will be the revenue-drivers. Hybrid apps are also witnessing rising demand amongst customers as a solution for multiple platform reach. Hence, iOS platform applications will witness less exclusivity in foreseeable future.

4. iBeacon for Geolocating
With the iBeacon, Apple has facilitated the way for making smarter applications with location support. iOS app developers have the opportunity to create sophisticated e-commerce and m-commerce apps that will personalise services to a great extent. However, they will have to figure a way of making iBeacon apps less battery draining in order to make them truly effective.

5. Emphasis on M-commerce
With a greater part of the internet users and online shopping customers placing their orders from their mobile devices, m-commerce is growing at an amplified rate. Mobile technologies such as beacons and wallet are providing better incentives to users. For iOS app developers, mobile apps for eCommerce websites will be a big earner. This implies, better integration with the iOS device system to fully exploit the device features.

6. iOS9 and App Security
As per Gartner App Security Report 2015, more than 75% apps failed to meet basic security measures. With the iOS 9, Apple played heed to the findings and has compelled app developers to inhibit requisite security standards in devices. This will be further strengthened with the iOS 10, especially for apps where personal and relevant data sharing will be required.

7. Cloud-based app development
Cloud-support will enable app developers to reduce the app size, freeing space in the limited device confines. Further, it will enable smart sync across multiple devices. Thus, such applications are expected to gain popularity amongst iOS and OS X users this year onward.

8.  iOS 10, iPhone 7, 7Plus and iPhone 6C
All of the above are much awaited for release in the coming year. Although, most of them are confirmed rumors, characteristically, Apple hasn’t revealed much yet. We can expect better system and more work cut out for app developers as more revolutionary technology comes to the fore.
Even after Steve Jobs, Apple has continued to maintain the buzz and the excitement amongst its users. Apart from its splendid architecture, the marvelous app offering is what keeps this brand going. Here’s to an exciting 2016 with more buzz from the Smartphone giant!

Mobile App Development: 8 Best Practices – Part II

5) Test, Test, Test

There are lots of arguments to be had about testing. Who should do it? When it should be done? What’s the best methodology for doing it? What’s not up for discussion is whether you should be doing massive, iterative testing to begin with. The answer, in case you were wondering, is “yes.”

It is a shame that users have become accustomed to acting as beta testers for every new app. Break the pattern. Make sure your app is solid and reliable before releasing it to your users. Test functionality, test performance, test security, and test everything else you can think of. And don’t stop testing just because the app has been released. Platforms, networks, and user patterns change. Keep testing.

 

6) Listen

Back when I said that you should know your users I mentioned the importance of listening. Well, it’s so important that I’m giving “listen” its own spot on the list. Ask your users for feedback, give them a mechanism to make talking to you easy, and then really listen to what they have to say. It’s not easy, but if you can get this one right you’ll create much, much better apps.

It’s easy to become defensive when people are telling us about shortcomings in our work. Don’t do that. Stay open to what the users are telling you and listen hard for the meaning behind the words.

Users will use confusing terms and the “wrong” words to describe what’s happening, but really hear them and you’ll find cases you didn’t test, assumptions you made in error, and odd stuff that shouldn’t be happening but is. In all of those cases, if you really listen, your users will end up happier because you’ll end up creating a much more successful app experience for them.

 

7) Performance Matters

No one likes a slow app. Sure, we can all tell stories about how things were when we were getting started in IT, when we would leave our stack of punched cards to be read and come back a few hours later for the results. But no one wants to go back to that. Each and every user wants results right now — maybe a little sooner.

There are a lot of things that can have an impact on app performance. You should constantly monitor the app, the networks, and the server to make sure there aren’t problems. Set up alerts so you know about issues before they become problems that become angry phone calls to support.

Design performance in and make sure that performance stays within design parameters. Yes, I know that I’ve wandered squarely into DevOps territory, but if that’s what it takes, then you should embrace the discipline and make sure that no user has to wait on an app to get his or her job done.

 

8) Remember The Network

If we’re talking about a mobile app, then it’s a lead-pipe cinch that we’re also talking about a network app. It’s the rarest of enterprise apps that live on their own, so you need to decide early on what your app will do if it can’t find the network.

The answer will, of course, depend on exactly what the app is supposed to do. It might be that the app will locally store enough data to allow it to function for a short time away from the network. It’s possible that the app can go into store-and-forward mode until connectivity is restored.

It might be that you just need to come up with a really nice “waiting for the network” screen. In any case, you need to respond to network connectivity with the proper results.

You also need to take the network into account when it comes to performance and security. It can get complicated, especially when you’re talking about large user populations and apps that can hop from 4G to WiFi networks without missing a beat. Regardless of the complication, you must be willing to make the effort to get it right. You do remember all the testing we talked about a few moments ago, right?

Building a successful mobile enterprise app isn’t simple but it is do-able if you take the time to walk through the right process. These are some of my key steps in that process: Now that you’ve seen them, what do you think? As I said at the beginning, I’d love to know your top tips. I’ll listen if you tell me that mine need improvement. I’ll see you in the comments.

Mobile App Development: 8 Best Practices – Part I

Creating great mobile enterprise apps isn’t necessarily easy, but it can be easier if you follow these critical tips.

 

If you’re in enterprise IT in 2016, the odds are pretty good that you’ve already been tasked with building a mobile app, or that you’ll get that type of project sometime in the next few months. We get it. Mobile apps are cool. When you’re asked to build an app for the first time, it’s natural to start looking at all the things that are different between building an app and developing an enterprise application. You might look at frameworks, languages, APIs, and SDKs.

 

We have put together the following list by talking to developers, looking at stories of how successful apps were developed and drawing on our own experience of managing application development.

 

1) Start With Security

If the app you’re building matters to the company in any way, then it’s almost certain to involve sensitive information or information that is private to the user. In either case, you need to keep that information secure. You should start the process of thinking about security at the beginning of the development process, not the end.

Thinking about security from the start means knowing what kind of input you’ll be dealing with so you can build data testing into the app. It means understanding the network components and communications mechanisms so you can secure the data in transit. Security means knowing what authentication mechanisms are in place and what ones are available for use, so you make sure only authorized users get involved with data. It means a lot more, too.

Ultimately, though, it means building security into the app rather than bolting it on at the end, and that’s the critical difference. So make sure that the very first whiteboard at the start of the project has “security” on it — your users and your organization will be grateful you did.

 

2) Know Your Audience

Apps don’t live in a vacuum. Even if they’re designed to the most flexible HTML5 standard, the platform on which they run will matter. So will the expectations of the people using the app. So will the way those people use the app. All of it matters, but too many developers act like they simply don’t care.

The first thing to do is bring users into the process early — before the first line of code is written. Talk with them about the app and really listen to their answers. Then, don’t stop listening. Make sure that there are feedback mechanisms built into the app and that your team is paying attention to the information coming back via that mechanism and others.

You should pay attention to support logs. You should run regular analytics (more on that, later). You should make sure that someone from the user community remains part of the development team as long as the app is in the field. I guarantee it will change the way you view the work you’ve done.

 

3) Plan Ahead

No matter how agile you become, if you want to create reliable, successful code, you need to do some planning ahead. If nothing else, choose key pieces of the application framework and decide what they will be and how they’ll be implemented. Then get flexible with what goes on between them.

You can (and should) build the user story into the planning, and you should allow for the flexibility required to deal with new conditions or unexpected results from testing. But all of that flexibility should come within a known framework. Plan ahead. You’ll really be much happier if you do.

 

4) Build From The Core Out

We like blinking lights and pretty pictures. We get it. And we understand that each week brings something new in the way of an interface to copy or an app that is the new definition of perfect. I’m here to tell you that none of that matters as much as the functionality that goes on at the core of your app. Get that right, and the pretty interface will follow.

By “core” we mean the essential business function of your app. Make sure that the app processing is rock solid, that the interface to the backend database is absolutely locked down, and that the results returned to the app are correct. Make sure all of that is working perfectly and then the time you spend working on the bells and whistles will be seen as a solid investment.