App Archives - BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

Advantages of E-Learning & How To Create An App For It

Education is no more confined to the walls of schools and educational institutions. With the prevalence of smartphones and tablets, it has now become possible to facilitate learning experiences online and beyond the boundaries of schools and institutions.

eLearning has been gradually grabbing up space in the apps market and the reason is the widespread education industry. There’s literally no limit to the number of categories, learning fields, languages, or cultural peculiarities involved in it. Besides, students or young learners are striving hard too to do better than others. The idea of eLearning apps is to help them compete in the rat race by letting them read, learn, and absorb knowledge beyond their textbooks. However, getting an app developed is not that easy and instant. You need to decide first who will be the audience. Kids, young students, and grown-up are the user groups that can benefit from an eLearning app. Second, you need the conceive the idea or purpose of learning the app will serve. It can be about providing reading experiences (of any course materials, books, etc.) video-based learning, online aptitudes, tricky riddles and question-solving, language learning and many more.

If you’re thinking about making your entry to the education industry with one purposeful learning app, here is a guideline.

Decide the type of leaners to target

Among the three defined users groups, decide whom do you want to help out with your app. The kind of app you want to develop depends on that. For instance, if it targets kids, consider focussing on puzzle solving, numbers and alphabets learning through games, or elementary topics learning with fun interactions. On the other hand, engaging young scholars and adult students mean getting the app featured with any online tutorials, practice sets, eBooks and study materials, online conference or discussion form, or learning videos by teachers.

Consider the features of your eLearning app

To make your app fun as well as engaging to the users, make sure you incorporate the most interactive features.

Gamification: It avoids making the learning experience dull. Gamifying the learning process with rewards, badges, or power points will make the experience fun-filled for the learners.
Cloud storage for the database: There should be a secure database in the form of cloud storage from where learners could quickly access all whatever information they need.
Virtual classroom: In whichever category your app belongs, make sure it offers a virtual space where learners could come together and interact with each other. Besides, the classroom must be having writing tools, whiteboard, video recording, and share features.
User account and dashboard functionality: Make sure your app should enable students to maintain an independent user account, where they could keep track of their learning courses, tests attained, videos downloaded, etc. in a dashboard.
Other features: Try implementing other interactive features speech-recognition, social media sharing, push-notifications, and multi-language support.

Consider monetisation approaches to earn from your app

After settling with your eLearning app idea, it’s time for you to decide how to make money with it. Effective monetisation approaches that will let you earn some good returns are in-app purchases, freemium policy, paid subscription packs, and partnership with schools and big educational organisations. Taking with app marketers will further help you in monetising your app and can even help to optimise your app store submissions.

Hire a mobile app development firm

Lastly, to assure the success of your eLearning app and make it really big as your contribution to the education industry, partner with a competent adept mobile app development company. Surely, you need a team having technology expertise in both iOS and Android and experience in widespread app categories to kickstart your app idea.

10 Ways to Market Your Mobile App

1. App Store Optimization

App Store Optimization (ASO) requires many of the same factors that go into great SEO tactics. Things like keywords, titles, and descriptions play a role in the app store listings, so leveraging the right tool to understand these variables can really set your app for a path to a top-tier ranking.

Optimizing the keyword tags in the App or Google Play store can really benefit how your app is found. The keyword field allows you to associate your app with certain terms. The key here is to not repeat or use too many variations of the same word which could be portrayed as spam. A good tip is to conduct SEO type test to figure out the best keyword tags to use. You should ask yourself questions like “Which words describe my app?” and “Which words are my competitors using?” Once you get a feel for what words work best for you, be sure to be creative in your choices. Being unique could possibly help you drive traffic your competitors aren’t getting.

Titles are also an important aspect to take into consideration. Much like a title page for SEO purposes, the app name serves as a relevancy signal that the app store algorithms can pull search results from. Many companies include keywords into their main title to help pull their app to the top of search results within their category. A common mistake is to not include the actual name of the app into the title. The overall goal is to have a strong presence as a brand, therefore people need to know your name and not just what your app does.

When you have everything above figured out, it’s now time to write the description for your app. This should not be a painful task. The key here is to keep it short and sweet. You have to keep in mind that when someone is reading this they are not going to spend a lot of time looking at the description on their phone. Leave plenty of white space so that it is pleasing to the readers eyes and less cumbersome. Bullet points or asterisks are commonly used to list benefits of which your app brings to the end user. Sentences should be broken up with a mixture of long and short (5 words or less) sentences to keep the reader engaged. If you want to learn more, we have previously written extensively on the importance of good keywords in the app store.

2. Social Media Integration

Social media integration in an application has been emerging in popularity among many app developers. Giving users the ability to invite others, share gameplay, and view leader boards is a popular and useful aspect for increasing virality. Essentially it is free marketing for your app. When a user shares their recent high score or fitness goal on their social media pages they are then spreading the word of the app to their friends. This increases the number of views and in turn raises awareness of your application. All of which happens without you lifting a finger. Another side effect from this is that it implements a type of competitive atmosphere amongst friends to outdo the other persons high score or have a longer run tracked.

3. Press Kit

Having a press kit readily available is a proactive move to help expedite your marketing efforts farther down the line. Once you have an established microsite for you application you may get a couple of reviews, but to really market your newly developed app, you need to be able to provide quality material that other people can utilize. If people want to write about you, they may not always have the time to contact you to receive useful materials for them to use.

Materials that should be included in your press kit include high-quality icon of your app along with screenshots of the app in use. These will help expedite those bloggers or journalist that wish to write about your app to have official high quality visuals that can be used in their articles or blogs.

Another essential part of your press kit should be all of your relevant press releases. This helps individuals know the “history” of your mobile app and keeps them in the loop on upcoming updates or other company news. By doing this it will also establish a rapport with your audience because they will have a better understanding of you and your mobile app.

If you really want to go above and beyond you can add a company profile page. This can detail your company history and your staff. Links to your social accounts is also beneficial so that people can learn more about you and read what other people are saying.

4. Forum and Discussion Board Outreach

Identifying where your desired audience or key demographic congregates online is an important marketing aspect to identify. There are many technology and mobile applications blogs filled with individuals that read and keep up with news on mobile applications. This is especially helpful if your app is designed for a specific group. For example, if you app is designed to assist joggers track their daily runs, then posting relevant topics about your application on fitness discussion boards or blogs can be beneficial.

When reaching out to these forums the key is to not spam the blog with your business. Many blog and discussion boards ban users who post promotional material on their comment sections. Posting beneficial information and answering any questions is a good way to start. After you have built a rapport as a thought leader then you can start back linking information to your site or post an article about your product.

5. App Profiles

When it comes to marketing a new app raising awareness is an important aspect to increase downloads. The creation of app profiles on sites such as Appolicious and others like it is beneficial to do. With these profiles you can add a description of your app along with a link to the App or Google Play store that allows the user to download it. This is a simple and easy way to increase the awareness to your desired target audience.

6. Influencer Outreach

Along with reaching out to forums and other relevant blogs, contacting industry thought leaders or influencers for reviews is another avenue to market your app. Having reviews of your app is good, having a reviews written by a respected thought leader in the industry and posted on a respectable site is even better. Many of the popular influencers in an industry have millions of engaged followers that read their material daily. So to have a review written on your app by an influencer in the mobile application industry will give you an increased amount of awareness and possibly downloads (as long as you receive a positive review.)

You can go about this by identifying them (you already know who they are) and contacting them about a potential review. You can provide a promo code or demo to access your app for free. This is where the press kit would come into play. In your request you can attach your press release with all the relevant information we talked about above, therefore accommodating them with all the information and resources they may need.

7. Social Media

It is no secret that social media is a popular medium and can be utilized as an effective marketing tool. Creating pages specifically designed for your app on all social media channels is something that is strongly recommended to really engage your target audience and see their discussions. With a plethora of possible outlets that include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, to name a few, you have access to a vast population and you have the ability to find which ones work best for you. Keep in mind that these pages should compliment your overall company social accounts. Just like the app store, make sure your company name is on these social pages so that you increase your overall brand awareness.

Managing these accounts is another aspect of social media. Making sure you devote time and effort to monitor your different pages is crucial to really benefit from social media. Think of it as a window into viewing your consumers thoughts and concerns. The better you monitor and all the comments and questions the better you can learn how to improve your product which in turn will increase brand loyalty.

8. Teaser Campaign

Whether it be creating hype over a potential release date or providing an incentive with a promotional campaign, a teaser campaign is a good way to get your audience excited and engaged. This can be done as simple as producing a short teaser trailer paired with a “Coming Soon” animation on your microsite. If you have the resources you can also run a promotional contest or giveaway. To manage this you may even collect email addresses to keep people informed on updates. The more people you drive to your site and social media accounts the bigger the engagement and therefore building a community of followers.

9. Set Up Google Alerts

Setting up Google alerts can be beneficial to track what people are saying about your product. This beats visiting each individual site separately to see if there is a new review of your app. These alerts can can also help you research the app industry or competitors. Instead of doing extensive research across different sites to keep tabs on your competitors, you can simply set up an alert to advise you when any relevant news surfaces about your search query. All this information is easily emailed to you with the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc… ) based on your queries.

10. App Discounts

Lastly, individuals like to get things for free or for a discount. By providing discounts on specific days related to your application is a good way to get your followers engaged and excited. The key is to be creative. For example, if you have a zombie based mobile game, a good time to provide a promotional offer would be in October – around Halloween time.

There you have it. A complete top 10 list of ways to market your app. Of course there are hundreds of potential ways to market your mobile app, however this is a solid start. Stay tuned for more updates to come on how to get the most out of your mobile marketing efforts.

Where to Start Learning Android App Development?

When it comes to mobile development, there are a lot of options out there. React Native? Sencha? SDKs? APKs? Xamarin? It can all seem a bit much. Hopefully this guide gives you a good idea of what you are facing when you develop your first Android Application, and it basic steps it takes to get from an idea, to a Playstore listing.

The Idea

The first step to any mobile application is the idea. Think of something that you, or someone you know, would find useful to have on their phone. This could be something simple, like a new way to browse your favourite website, or something more complex, that might even involve a bluetooth device. You don’t always have to innovate, you just have to do something better than what is out there.

The User Experience

Don’t make the mistake of underestimating the value of your user’s experience within your application. If a user gets frustrated with your app, they are likely to stop using it. Have a look at your favourite applications. What makes them pleasant to use? Ask your friends to try the app out, look for feedback and utilise it.

It may help you to visualise the interface and use of your mobile application using “frameworking” and “timeline” software, but you can also just do it by hand on paper.

The Design

The design of your application is also very important. This includes the development of a “Brand”, a consistent design throughout your application and store listing using Logos, colours and fonts.

The Money

No one likes adverts. It’s the painful truth. Ideally, you should avoid trying to monetise your application too early as you may scare away potential long term users. It’s what Amazon did, they took (and are still taking) hits with their business in order to secure long term customers.

The Language

Despite what some people may try and tell you, the ability to write your own software is critical to a well designed application. It may seem scary to start with, but there are a large number of guides out there, such as Codecademy, or scotch.io, that will help you. Don’t try to run before you can walk.

As for which language you should learn, it comes down to what you want from your application, how much you are willing to spend, and what you are most comfortable with, which will be discussed below.

Your application will have to be well developed in order to succeed. After you feel comfortable developing in your chosen language, it is time to move to mobile development.

You have a number of options here, some easier than others.

One option is React Native, which is written using Web technologies, such as JavaScript, JSX and HTML. This is a version of Facebook’s React framework that can run “Natively” (in the operating systems own language) which generally increases performance. It can be very difficult for beginners.

Another option is Xamarin, a framework recently purchased by Microsoft, which uses C# and Visual Studio.

Yet another option is ExtJS developed by Sencha, which is again, JavaScript.

The most popular IDE for Android App Development, and the one I recommend for this guide, is Android Studio, which is multiplatform (Windows, OSX and Linux), and is developed by Google.

The Backend

Depending on which type of application you are looking to build, you may need a “backend”, basically a computer which deals with all the data your application requires, and generates. Applications that require a backend include a social network application, or a chat application, whereas applications such as a calculator or similar generally do not require any backend code.

Generally, this is written using PHP, NodeJS or some other code that sits on a server somewhere, usually with some sort of database such as MySQL or MongoDB. If you aren’t willing to purchase and run such a machine yourself, there are options out there such as Amazon Web Services or DigitalOcean, which only charge you for the resources you use!

The Testing

Ideally, it helps to have a test device, which could be your own device. To enable development on an Android device, simply click the “Build Version” within the phone’s settings, in “About this phone”.

If you don’t have a device at hand to use, that’s okay as well. Most Integrated Development Environments (IDE), including Android Studio and Visual Studio, include a device simulator for their respective operating systems. This can be useful to try different phones with slower hardware and different screen sizes, to make sure your application is widely accessible.

The Packaging

For the Google store, you have to create a “Signed APK”. The APK is created by the IDE, and then “signed” using a keyfile that is generated using your information. This key is unique to you, and makes sure that no one else can upload a copy of your application with embedded malicious code.

Google Playstore has it’s own guidelines and procedures that you must follow for it to be accepted, and it is not uncommon for applications to be rejected, so be careful.

If everything goes well, you will be able to see your application in the store of your choice. Good luck!

Mobile App Development – Trends to Watch Out for

Mobile devices have become more main-stream and more and more businesses are adopting the mobile first mindset. Mobile applications are no longer considered as an optional investment, but a necessity. Many businesses depend on this channel to boost revenue and meet customer demands. Ever since the business practices have shifted to a more mobile approach, mobile apps are in great demand and user expectations from mobile apps are higher than ever.

Going beyond mobiles

As smartphone users continue to surge, the numbers of mobile apps present in the market are increasing at an exponential rate. In today’s world, mobile apps are developed not only for the smartphones, but also for a myriad of other smart devices that are interconnected – such as smart TV and other IoT enabled devices.

Progressive Web Apps gaining in popularity

A progressive web app is an application that runs on a web browser. This means that as soon as users access the mobile app, they can instantly start using it, as opposed to native apps that users need to download and install before they actually get to use it.

Android instant apps becoming more common

Google recently announced Android Instant Apps which enables Android apps to run instantly. The good part is that these apps do not need to be downloaded and installed on the mobile device. They run instantly. For example, if you receive a link from a friend, you can instantly view the app without having to install an app for it. This means that these apps are run-only-as-you-need and are a new revolution in the app industry as a whole.

Beacons and location based technology will continue to rise

Location based beacon technology has been on the rise in the past few years and has been a boon to many businesses. Beacons especially enable retailers to bridge the gap between the in-store and the online experience for their shoppers. They collect valuable data, send location based push notifications and can also be used to send customized notifications to potential customers and attract a whole new set of return customers too.

The rise of augmented reality and virtual reality

This is the very obvious new trend – AR development will definitely be the future of mobile development. It can be used to influence the customers in engaging and meaningful ways. AR will not be limited to promotions and marketing, but also will be integrated into a number of utility apps and functions.

IoT apps will surge with smart home technology

Smart homes include smart devices all interconnected to function well. IoT apps will definitely see a surge as more and more smart devices are connected.

App security is a top priority

With all the interconnected devices working seamlessly, data can be accessed from anywhere and at anytime. This makes security of your application a top priority while development.

Well, mobile apps development is an ever evolving field and you must ensure that you are up to date with the latest trends in this field.

5 Most Common App Development Mistakes You Need To Avoid

Having a mobile application has become imperative for every business today right from startups to SMEs and enterprises. Mobile apps have made life easier and faster than ever before. And today almost every smartphone user prefers using an app for almost everything they need right from buying their daily grocery items to other essentials, garments, booking tickets for movies, planning trips, reading news, playing games, and more. And it’s because an app can be opened and used with just a tap on the device. This increasing use of mobile applications has also made millions of businesses have an app on one or more platforms. As per Statista,

More than 5 million applications are already there on the App stores serving the users in different ways.
The Google Play Store has over 3 million apps today, and
The Apple App Store has more than 2 million applications.

This huge number of applications already existing on the App stores has already increased the level of competition. Having a flawless and user-driven app is important today to stay ahead with the maximum number of users. And for this, it is essential to create completely bug-free and high-performing apps overcoming all the challenges and complexities and avoiding all common mistakes during the app development process.

Here are the most common mistakes app developers need to avoid to end up with an ROI-driven and user-friendly mobile application.

Avoiding these following mistakes can help developers create a device compatible, user-friendly, secure, and competitive application keeping the business requirements, target users and the current market demands in mind.

Not doing proper market research:

Doing proper market research is important before getting started with app development. The App Stores are over-flooded with different types of applications. And staying above the competitors is not that easy. Doing thorough market research can help you to get an idea of what are the strong and weak points of the similar competitive applications already existing on the App Stores. And knowing what the competitors lack and what they have can help you to include better features and functionalities in your app keeping the current market demands in mind. And this can ensure more user retention and user acquisition of your application.

Overloading the application with too many features:

Many of you may think that adding too many features can make your application more detailed and powerful. But this is not the fact actually. Adding too many unnecessary features can simply make your application heavy, slow down the loading speed and can deteriorate its performance at the same time. Keeping minimal features can make the app look cleaner, clearer, lightweight, and can enhance its performance and loading speed as well. Also, the fewer the features, the less confusing it will be and the less the chances will be to install it.

Building the app without considering the target audience:

One of the most vital factors you need to consider before getting started with the process is to know for whom you are building the application or who are the target audiences, what are their tastes and preferences. One of the primary objectives to build and launch an application is to gain the maximum user engagement and this makes it essential to consider the target users and their needs and expectations first.

Not considering the OS and device compatibility:

No matter you are creating the application for iOS, Android, Windows, or for all, you need to ensure that the application offers the same look and feel on all devices. This means you have to build a device compatible application considering the OS on which the application will be launched. You need to be aware of the market fragmentation of the Operating System and then create the application for all the devices supported by that OS. This will increase the user base and will ensure a great user experience irrespective of the device one is using.

Not paying attention to the current updates:

The process of application development does not come to an end once the application is launched. Regularly updating the application is also important. New technologies keep on emerging in the app market and staying updated with these is crucial to stay ahead on the App Stores and to ensure your application is always up to date.

Developers need to consider several factors in mind to give a competitive edge to their applications like application performance, the mobile application design, app optimisation, troubleshooting, proper testing of the application, the app icon, bug fixes, user engagement, user experience, security of the application, etc. Building a successful mobile application is not that easy today and this makes it important to consider these factors and identify and avoid all these above-mentioned mistakes during app development.

DuoSense Review – A Free iPhone AdSense App That Rocks Your Earnings

Are you aware that your iPhone have other features that can actually allow you to monitor your AdSense earnings? If you think that is all your iPhone can do, think again. Since Apple has introduced and released better versions of this smart phone you can now enjoy various applications and even make use of applications which you make use of for income purposes.

Most of those who own websites themselves enroll in this Google program so they would be able add video, images and text advertisements to their own websites. This as serving program owned by Google is one of the most popular programs online where webmasters will be able to get a chance of gaining popularity online through the use of banners and other forms of ads online. Now, isn’t it great news that you will be able to get access to this program through your very own iPhone.

This time iPhone made it possible for online business owners like you to track and analyze your own AdSense income through the use of an advance AdSense application called DuoSense. Through this application, you will be able to get access to your regular earnings on PPC, CTR and other means of online earnings through the use of this Google program.

DuoSense can give you an excellent overview of what is currently happening to your earning even if you are not in front of your computer. The first thing that you may look into is getting daily reports on your earnings and on another tab, you will be able to get access to details regarding your earnings in a plotted form for better analysis.

Through these dual features, you will then be able to take advantage of various benefits which includes being able to identify which of your ads contributed to your top earnings on a weekly and monthly basis. From here, you will be able to track your development of your Pay Per Click activities and identify any possible problems. Another is that you will also be able to detect possible changes on your Click Through Rate easily.

Knowing that your iPhone can do this all for you, it would definitely be an advantage if you could get access to this free iPhone app and be able to monitor your AdSense activities anywhere you go. This time around, you will not have to worry about not getting any updates regarding your AdSense earnings.

The Advantages of Android App Development

In the mobile operating systems division, software giant Google’s Android OS is gaining great market share. Many mobile manufacturing giants have applauded what Google has done with its world-class open source mobile technology in the Android OS.Be it a business presentation, sales presentation, entertainment, game, a universal application, an android development team is available for to work with each individual’s customized requirements for the app.

Android is very famous amongst the Application markets because these apps are made for ease of use. Development of Android applications has unlimited benefits to your business or organization. And with developers being specialized in the most current operating systems, they will make sure your app is up to par with the rest, taking in all of your suggestions.

There are thousands of Android apps in the market place. The great thing is that the market has been transformed as it has grown. This is making it easier to access the apps you are directly looking for. Or put your app at the forefront of the market, and make it be found. This will turn visitors into customers. The new Android Market has each category sectioned out as soon as the marketplace is open. Once in the app, the download process has been made easy by having the link placed directly at the top. If the link being directly at the top of the screen isn’t convincing enough for people to purchase, a link will be added. To help you promote your product more effectively, the page now includes a thumbnail link to your product video, if that is supplied with the application at submission.

The Android mobile phone market is growing 32 percent every month, with new handsets being released all the time.Android will connect using WiFi, Bluetooth, and wireless data over a cellular connection, such as GPRS, EDGE, and 3G. This cutting edge platform provides seamless integration with Google Maps to display an address directly within an application. Support for location-based services, such as GPS and accelerometer is also available in the Android software stack.

This isn’t all. The advantage of Android development is endless. Here are additional reasons to go ahead with android app development. These reasons are for the developer and the consumer advantage. Theses additional advantages include the following; send and receive data across mobile networks through GSM, EDGE, CDMA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, EV-DO and UMTS technologies, widespread libraries for 2D and 3D graphics, a wide range of libraries for image, audio and video files, features of video camera, touchscreen, GPS, accelerometer and magnetometer, P2P using Google Talk, and SQLite for data storage. This is only the beginning on Andriod’s reign over the mobile phone market. The Android OS will control the market before we know it.

10 Key Steps to Turn Your Mobile App Idea Into Reality

Many people and companies are coming up with new mobile app ideas to make it big in their field. They either want to reach a new audience or better serve their existing customers.However, people are relatively unaware of the steps or process needed to turn a mobile app idea into reality. Due to lack of ability and information among startups and established companies, most of them don’t know how to go about shaping the app idea.

I have helped several companies build their mobile app. Here are the 10 key steps I have followed in my 6 years of experience. I believe that my list can help anyone from any industry get their mobile app idea turned into reality.

Step 1: Write down your feature list

Conceptualize your idea begins by taking some notes. Before doing anything, you should write whatever comes to your mind. Writing down the feature list on a piece of paper helps you focus on your idea and expand on it. I recommend writing your idea several times and in many ways. This list also will be helpful when you are discussing with your co-founders, designers, investors or developers; they all are going to ask for it. Note that you should have them sign an NDA before you share your feature list. Your feature list should be clean and easy to understand. Also make sure it has popular and unique features, which will play the major role in success of your product.

Step 2: Do the market research

After writing your strong list of features, you want to do market research to find the competition, trends and market needs. Make sure there are no similar apps in the market. If there are, find out their reviews, ratings, feedback, and what is missing in them. Add features in your app that would make it unique and more attractive to the audience. After doing market research, you should update your feature list.

Step 3: Identify the users/audience

It is very important to find who would use your app and who the audience would be for your product. Your users are from a particular industry, gender, region, age group, existing customers, income group, specific profession, or any other group. Once you identify some demographics about the audience, you can find out what people from these demographics prefer or like. Knowing your audience helps you re-engineer your app and the features in it to cater to them. Your whole project moves around user engagement. You can also conduct focus group studies to find out what your audience may like or dislike. Your audience will decide your product’s success, and this insight from focus study can go a long way in defining product success.

Step 4: Identify the monetization strategy

Making money is the biggest reward and energizes for your idea. You can make money from your app idea in several ways: subscription fee, in-app buy, in-app ads, user data, sponsorship. You want to know which one works for your app, audience and market. Launching a paid app does not work these days, but you can make the app free with in-app purchase option for more functions. In-app ads are also losing their shine these days due to user experience. Having user data is becoming a big monetization technique, as you can use it to make indirect money. You can find sponsorship for the app; this works for an app with a social mission. It is important for you to select 1 or 2 techniques that would give you good return on investment.

Step 5: Create a rough sketch/wire frame

You may not have done it before, or may not know how to do it. However, the rough sketch or wire frame helps you define the concept and refine the requirements of your product. You can draw a rough sketch using paper and pencil, while a wire frame can be created using online tools. When you start doing the sketch/wire frame, you will be able to polish your app idea and features list further. Also, this helps you decide the proper navigation of the application. You don’t need technical skills for this step, but you need to have a common-sense understanding of how navigation works. Your wire frames, along with your feature list, will create very good specifications for you to build the mobile app.

Step 6: Approach local mobile app developers and get estimates

Once you have your first version of the feature list and wire frame, you want to start identifying vendors who can build your mobile app in a high-quality, cost-effective way. You should search for local vendors and some global vendors and reach out to them. Once you shortlist 5 to 6 good vendors, have them sign the NDA and send them the project details. A good vendor should check your details and ask you lots of questions. You should make sure to answer them in detail so that your idea is fully communicated. A good vendor should also be able to give you some suggestions to improve your idea. You should get proposals from multiple vendors, with time and cost for development, and compare them. You should check the vendors on past performance, process, price, time, testimonial and their eagerness to work for you. Finally, you should be able to select one vendor and start working with them.

Step 7: Complete the UI/UX

Once you have selected the company, you should work with them to create the UI/UX of the app. You should have them first create the detailed wire frame of the application so that you can visualize each screen, function and flow of the application. After review, you can decide to add or remove features. Once the wire frame is complete, you want them to create the visual design of the application. It should give the color, theme, fonts and visual appeal for your idea. This step will give you a near-final picture of what your mobile app would look like and how it would flow. After completing it, have your vendor reevaluate the development plan, time and cost. If the first estimate of time/cost has increased, get more funding or cut some of the features. You want to pay the right value to your mobile app developer.

Step 8: Get the app developed and tested

Have your app developer start building the app for you. They should be able to send you the app (in progress) every week and you should be able to test and give them feedback. It is very essential for you to QA the app as they develop it, as this helps you control the quality, cost and timeline, and learn whether the mobile app needs some tweaks. You can involve your friends in the testing as well. If you come up with new sets of features during the development, discuss those with your app developer and get the time and cost estimate. If it fits your budget, get it done right away. If not, wait for the next phase.

Step 9: Launch the app and market it

Once you are satisfied with the app, launch it in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store. You should also start marketing the app. Get some consulting from experts on app marketing. You can also do self-marketing. Start on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as this is an easy way to spread the word about the app. You should also reach out to reporters and bloggers who may be interested in your app and write about it. A press release on free sites or a paid site can be very handy. If you have more in your budget, you can hire a PR or app marketing company.

Step 10: Gather market response and prepare for the next phase

After the first launch and marketing, you can collect user data, market response and demand. If you receive a good response, you can plan the next phase for the app. Repeat Step 1 through 9 for the next phase. This time, you should be able do them a lot faster and more efficiently. If the app is not received well in the market, find out what is hampering growth and have a plan of action.

The App That’s Selling You

I just spent a week in lovely Costa Rica. My family and I swam, sailed, snorkeled, communed with wildlife and parasailed high above the Pacific Ocean.

We didn’t see any Pokémon. That’s because, unlike much of the rest of humanity, we weren’t looking for any using the app that’s taken the world by storm: Pokémon Go.

Surprisingly, my preteen daughter didn’t object to our Pokémon-free existence. To my great satisfaction, she appears to enjoy more cerebral pursuits… mostly.

But even if she’d begged me, I’d have refused to cave in. No Pokémon Go for us. That’s because I don’t fancy turning my family into tradable data points… and neither should you.

Unfortunately, Pokémon Go is the least of our worries in this respect…

Pokémon Go: The Product Is YOU

Old-timers like me remember actually paying for software. Remember upgrading to a new version of Windows or Microsoft Office every year or so? In those days, getting complex applications for free, like those available for today’s smartphones, was unthinkable.

That’s because, up until about five years ago, the software itself was the product from which developers made their profit. It was no different from selling cars, refrigerators or any other complex manufactured product.

No more. I still pay a nominal fee every year to “subscribe” to updates of some software products, but many that I use daily come completely free.

It’s not that they’re cheap to develop – quite the opposite. Today’s software is orders of magnitude more complex and powerful than the stuff for which we used to pay hundreds of dollars.

That’s because today’s software isn’t the revenue-generating part of the business model. It’s not the main thing being sold for profit.

You are.

Beware Geeks Bearing Gifts

Over the past few years, I’ve warned repeatedly that hacking is only one part of the digital-age threat. Less obvious – and more insidious – is the process by which you are turned into a commodity to be traded for profit by the companies whose products you use.

The best-known examples are big online outfits like Google and social networks like Facebook. Both provide their user-facing services for free. Both, however, spend most of their efforts not on improving those services, but on harvesting information about you that can be sold to the highest bidder.

My favorite example is the poor fellow who searched Google for “pancreatic cancer” and started seeing online ads for funeral homes. Another is the father who received a mailer from some company with the words “DAUGHTER KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT” printed on the envelope. Some idiot had misconfigured the marketing algorithm, and the targeting criteria were being printed on thousands of mailers.

Google and Facebook (and many others) started out making money by selling microtargeted online ads to third parties like those funeral homes. But they quickly learned that they could make even more money by selling the data that advertisers use to do that microtargeting. Precise figures are hard to find, but given that marketing companies report 200% to 300% increases in revenue using such data, it’s safe to say that the big data harvesters are coining it by selling you to them.

Pokémon Go takes this one step further. It doesn’t have any adverts at all. To the user, it appears completely ad-free. But advertisers will still be paying to get at those users… in a much more dangerous way.

Boldly Going Where No App Has Gone Before

Pokémon Go has been downloaded 20 million times in the U.S. It’s just rolled out in Asia and Europe. Nintendo’s stock price has soared by more than 50% in two weeks. Pokémon Go has already overtaken Twitter in daily active users and is even closing in on Facebook.

While the app is free, users can make in-app purchases like lures to attract Pokémon to your location or “cages” to keep them in. However, the game is about to unleash one of the most potent advertising campaigns in digital history… all by selling frighteningly detailed information about its users.

For example, the app will soon offer “sponsored locations” to paying partners. Geotargeting and geofencing technology will allow advertisers to target specific buildings and match that to signals from mobile devices. Advertisers will know exactly where you are and serve ads based on your precise location – just like that infamous shopping-mall scene from Minority Report.

By paying Pokémon Go’s developers a big fee, a brand like McDonald’s (whose logo has already been spotted in Pokémon Go’s code) will be able to turn its stores into desirable locations in the Pokémon virtual universe. That will draw players to those locations, where they will be tempted to buy stuff “IRL” – in real life. Advertisers will be charged on a “cost per visit” basis, similar to the “cost per click” Google charges advertisers.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All

Initial reports that Pokémon Go harvests detailed Google account information, like the contents of emails, seem to have been incorrect.

But the app’s owners don’t need that stuff. They’re going for something bigger. They want to know your location at all times so they can sell that information to the highest bidder.

Justice Louis Brandeis once defined privacy as “the right to be let alone.” If that’s what you want, it’s up to you to ensure it happens.

Tag: App