Robin Williams famously said that words and ideas could change the world, no matter what people say. Every ground-breaking innovation, every pioneering startup, and every popular app started as an idea. But ideas alone aren’t enough—one also needs to know how to turn them into reality. When it comes to mobile app development, it’s paramount to get the right essentials, which represent the bare minimum modern users have come to expect from mobile apps.
Intuitive UI/UX Design
With around 5 million apps in Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store combined, there’s no room for poor user interface design and sub-par usability. Users expect to see apps that adhere to the latest design standards, and they avoid everything that looks like it hasn’t been able to keep up with the times.
Android, Apple, and Microsoft have put together detailed design guidelines for developers to follow. Those who do, end up with apps that fit in with the operating system and the wider ecosystem, making it easier for end users to understand how to use them.
Of course, good UI and UX design aren’t just about pretty graphics and unified appearance. It’s also about fast loading times, easy access to features, and attention to detail.
Security
A month doesn’t go by without a huge malware outbreak costing companies and individual users millions of dollars. McAfee Labs sees mobile malware continuing its growth in 2017, with ransomware, banking Trojans, and remote access tools among the leading threats, according to their 2017 Threats Predictions report.
Virtually all flagship mobile devices and a growing number of mid-range and even budget smartphones come equipped with fingerprint readers and front-facing cameras capable of instantaneous facial recognition. Given that more than half of all internet users use the same password for all websites, the use of biometric security mechanism can greatly improve your users’ security, protecting them against their own mistakes and negligence.
Notifications
Most apps implement push notifications in one way or another, but only a few do it the right way. If you’re still wondering whether notifications are a good idea or not, wonder no more. The benefits of push notifications are countless. They keep users coming back, they allow you to greatly extend the functionality of your app, and they can form an integral part of any multichannel marketing strategy.
We know 78 percent of users turn off push notifications if they don’t find them useful. What’s worse, users who immediately don’t figure out how to turn push notifications off often delete the troublesome app altogether. As such, push notifications should always provide value and lean on the side of scarcity rather than abundance.
Social Integration
Social media sites are the key to viral marketing. Even in the day and age of targeted advertising and in-depth user behavior analytics, no other marketing channel is more powerful than word-of-mouth. When you give users the opportunity to share from your app on social media, you essentially empower them to run your marketing campaign for you. As long as your app is compelling enough for users to keep coming back, you will be getting your name out there without even trying.
Cloud Integration
With cloud integration comes the ability to seamlessly backup and restore users’ data and integrate with third-party services, such as Google Drive and Dropbox. As the whole world moves away from desktop computers, users want to easily move data across multiple devices, and they prefer apps designed with mobility in mind.
The good news is that it’s no longer necessary to invest money into expensive hardware. Companies like Amazon and Google offer infinitely scalable cloud hosting solutions for companies of all sizes.
Performance and Analytics
Napoleon Bonaparte said that war is ninety percent information. If you want to win the great app war and see your app succeed, you need as much information as you can get. Monitor your users’ behavior, ask them for feedback, and conduct testing sessions. Use the gathered information to increase the performance of your app and enhance its usability.
Author
Venkat is highly passionate about solving Business challenges using Technology. He has been instrumental in bootstrapping the company and is currently responsible for leading strategies and innovations to help customers enhance operations and improve efficiency. Among several key projects he was involved over the years, developing an award winning IoT solution which monitors Food Safety, both while in transit and in storage for Emerson Electric has been very close to his heart. Currently over 500+ businesses across the globe are using this solution to track real-time location, temperature and safety of perishable and high value shipments.
