“There’s an App for that.” This catchy slogan redefined the world of mobile applications. With over 16 billion mobile devices being in use right now, and over 1.6 million Android Apps in market, it can be safely said that the app market is exploding. If you want to explore the world of apps, this blog is exactly what the doctors prescribed for you. But wading into the world of apps isn’t an easy task. You need to be able to shine from the horde of apps or risk getting deleted. You need to be on top of your game when it comes to quality and execution. Long gone are the days when a mediocre app could stay installed on the phone. Today if you create an app and if it is not up to the mark, there are higher chances of it getting lost in the sea of apps. If you are looking to develop an Android app, here are five things you must include in your android app development.
Create an app to provide solution to an existing problem
Your app must offer solution to an existing problem. Create functionalities that deliver a good impact rather than adding unwanted and useless features. If you identify a problem that your customers may be facing, build ideas to create an app that can solve that problem. Your app’s functionality must provide values to your target audience. If you think few functionalities included in your app are not useful/efficient, remove them or reedit them until they are perfect. A good app is enjoyable to use and offer some value.
Include Gesture Recognition
Today’s smartphones are coming to market with new features every day. One must-have feature for cameras is gesture recognition. Gesture control features in your apps can optimize user experience. Camera features can be controlled with just few swipes or taps. This gesture control feature can be used in an innovative way to provide great experience to users.
Build an app based on your target audience
Just identifying your target audience is not enough. Your app needs to cater to your target audience in every way possible. If you are creating an app for children, needless to say that animation works well. Similarly, if you are building an app for professionals, the design should be neat and customizable. The idea is to let your app speak to your target audience. Looks of your apps icon help you create your very first mobile impression, so the design should be good enough to make the users download the app.
Enterprise Features
If you are creating an app for any organization, then include features for remote access with stability, accuracy and performance. As organizations needs their employees to use app to access their business information anytime. Applications like CRM, ERP and SAP integration capabilities works better for enterprise apps. An app which saves time of the employees is likely to get more downloads.
Keep it Simple
This factor is applicable for all kinds of apps. An app should be as simple as possible. If you want your app to be successful then it should be simple enough to use, by all age group people. App’s features should be easily understandable and non-complicated. Your app should attempt to solve an existing problem, not create a new problem. The UI should be simple and easy to play around. A good app has a proper balance of aesthetic, power and simplicity.
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Hey all,
We went to the Yetizen "Android-i-fied" event and learned a ton about building games on Android, but if you happened to miss it, then we did a quick write up of what we learned. We put it below because we hoped that it would help you guys
Now, on to the event!
Charles Hudson kicked off the talk with some choice words:
ANDROID IS HARD!
Charles Hudson was not shy about his experiences building on the Android platform with his game studio, Bionic Panda Games. There was little sugar-coating of the six major challenges that Android developers face, especially when compared to iOS. He did have great suggestions for tackling each one, which we wanted to pass on to you. His six tips are below:
1. Fragmentation
Problem: Unlike the iPhone, there are many types of Android devices, which leads to OS fragmentation, varying screen size and resolutions, and types of hardware. This means that the user experience can vastly differ from user to user. Also, developers can drown themselves in work trying to make their game compatible with everything.
Solution: Charles suggests that you test your game on multiple devices to make sure the user experience can consistent across a sea of devices. He said that he bought old, “well loved” Android phones from resellers to cheaply test his game on each type of hardware. As for OS, if you need to draw a line in the sand and not supporting older OS versions to provide a consistent experience, then do so. According to Ngmoco, which spoke later in the evening, 94% of Android gamers are on 2.1 or above, so you won’t miss many customers by cutting out the troublesome 1.6 and 1.7 versions.
2. Development & Testing
Problem: Because it is so easy to launch new applications and versions on Android - you are essentially just one button away from pushing new versions - developers can sometimes get trigger happy. This can overwhelm users and stop them from updating your game.
Solution: Android users typically don’t update their apps as often as iOS users, so Charles recommended a minimum period of one week between app updates, excepting urgent bug fixes of course. And as we mentioned before, you should test your game on each major type of phone and supported OS version before an update goes live. This can prevent unforseen hiccups and help you avoid those urgent bug fixes.
3. Metrics
Problem: Developers are typically flying totally blind when it comes to the way that users are interacting with their app, especially on Android.
Solution: Look into integrating with an analytics platform that fits your budget. Google Analytics is free, but can be a trickier integration as it isn’t built for mobile. If you are looking for an easier and more mobile-friendly solution, there are mobile game analytics platforms that may be worth the cost such as Flurry and Localytics.
4. Platform Wars
Problem: 23% of all smartphone customers are on iOS devices, and conventional wisdom states that iOS users are more likely to pay for apps and complete in-app purchases than their Android counterparts.
Solution: To paraphrase Charles Hudson, “it is better to build a great game on one platform instead of a mediocre game on two platforms.” Each platform has different capabilities, so focus your resources in building an awesome game on one platform before you worry about iOS. Bionic Panda is an Android only game studio, so Charles clearly practices what he preaches.
5. Distribution & Discovery
Problem: Discoverability on Android depends less on category ranking compared to iOS, and getting Featured on the Android Market is just as difficult as it is on the Apple App Store. Also, Android does not have a united social graph like Facebook or Apple’s Game Center, so it is hard to lean on viral mechanics to acquire users.
Solution: There tends to be higher search activity on Android (as Charles pointed out, “it is Google product”), so make sure your app description is accurate and hits all of the important keywords that users would use to search for a game like yours. Also, he could not stress enough the importance of having a well-designed app icon that draws users in. This icon and your app title are often all the user sees before making his decision to download, so use that space wisely! Also, fortunately for Android developers, Android still allows incentivized installs, so jump on the ad networks such as Tapjoy and Admob to help capture your seed group of users. Assuming you’ve made a compelling app, once you get the seed group of users you should be off and running.
6. Monetization
Problem: It is conventional wisdom that iOS games typically generate more revenue when compared to Android games. Part of the story behind this is that in-app purchases on iOS is much easier than the severely fragmented Android payments.
Solution: Count on an eventual consolidation of payment methods on Android, and Google Payments is a good default because they will always be around. The key with monetization is to provide compelling reasons for users to buy in, and then they will find ways to do so, regardless of the difficulty.
We released BravoSE which is a popular app search client among Android users. Through our efforts of several months, iBravoSE.com is online today. Besides retaining the major features of BravoSE, iBravoSE.com increases more information of apps and enhance interactive experience. iBravoSE also allow users to share apps to SNS, like Facebook.
Our aim is to become an app search and discovery platform of high quality. We have developed a creative scenario-based service which can change the way of app recommendation and improve recommendation accuracy. In addition, the search service for iOS and Windows phone OS will be available later.
If you’re looking for a way to search apps easily or you want to experience wonderful app recommendation service, there is no doubt that iBravoSE is your best choice. The website and the mobile client complement each other and make up the integrated app search system together, which will bring people more awesome apps.
In future, we will think more about how to construct a good communication platform between users and developers, improve the quality of developed apps and help developers to promote their apps efficiently.
Social media and mobile apps seem to be the new buzz words over at Silicon Valley. In fact, such apps are now a dime a dozen and one could imagine Apple changing their popular catchphrase “There’s an app for that!” into “There are a thousand different apps for that, all of which have the same basic features, but subtle useless differences.”
The problem isn’t that we are approaching the boundaries of utility as far as mobile apps are concerned, it’s just that once an app or social service gets popular, developers start crowding around its concept and make thousands of clone apps, with little in terms of differentiation. We need more unique and original apps that stretch the boundaries of what we can accomplish with our phones and tablets and make you think “Wow! Who would have thought I could do that with this little thing I carry around with me?!” What we’re getting are the same basic concepts, re-hashed to such an insane degree that app stores get crowded with half-baked clone apps and the really amazing ones are drowned out in a sea of filth.
In my opinion, developers should ask themselves three basic questions before designing an app or a social service:
“Has this been done before?”
“If it has, can I do it in a way that is better/more pleasant to use?”
“If no, would I be able to introduce any sort of useful feature except a wacky name?”
And if the answers to all three questions are unfavourable, then the developer should think twice about coding such an app. It would only add redundancy to the app store and contribute to the rising app discovery epidemic.
I shudder to think about all the high quality apps made by independent developers all over the world that haven’t been popularized simply because of an overly saturated market. The amount of lost potential in app markets today is simply staggering.
Apart from market saturation, redundant apps also tend to cause mental saturation. In this day and age, who among us has the capacity to remember a billion app names? If we can’t even remember such a numerous volume of apps, how can we aspire to use them?
In my opinion, authorities like Apple and Google should monitor the apps in their stores not just for quality, but for identity of vision as well. Apps that feel like cheap copies of pre-existing apps need to be banned! I, for one have had enough of my normal friends playing ruddy Fruit Ninja clones and asking me why it doesn’t look as good as it does on my phone!
There are shining examples of how stupendously done apps with a clear and fresh vision can go viral within days of conception. They are the intellectual property of individuals that have worked hard to develop not just the code for their apps, but the core concept as well. And we owe it to those striving developers to make sure that the integrity of that core concept remains preserved.
k33t said:
Social media and mobile apps seem to be the new buzz words over at Silicon Valley. In fact, such apps are now a dime a dozen and one could imagine Apple changing their popular catchphrase “There’s an app for that!” into “There are a thousand different apps for that, all of which have the same basic features, but subtle useless differences.”
The problem isn’t that we are approaching the boundaries of utility as far as mobile apps are concerned, it’s just that once an app or social service gets popular, developers start crowding around its concept and make thousands of clone apps, with little in terms of differentiation. We need more unique and original apps that stretch the boundaries of what we can accomplish with our phones and tablets and make you think “Wow! Who would have thought I could do that with this little thing I carry around with me?!” What we’re getting are the same basic concepts, re-hashed to such an insane degree that app stores get crowded with half-baked clone apps and the really amazing ones are drowned out in a sea of filth.
In my opinion, developers should ask themselves three basic questions before designing an app or a social service:
“Has this been done before?”
“If it has, can I do it in a way that is better/more pleasant to use?”
“If no, would I be able to introduce any sort of useful feature except a wacky name?”
And if the answers to all three questions are unfavourable, then the developer should think twice about coding such an app. It would only add redundancy to the app store and contribute to the rising app discovery epidemic.
I shudder to think about all the high quality apps made by independent developers all over the world that haven’t been popularized simply because of an overly saturated market. The amount of lost potential in app markets today is simply staggering.
Apart from market saturation, redundant apps also tend to cause mental saturation. In this day and age, who among us has the capacity to remember a billion app names? If we can’t even remember such a numerous volume of apps, how can we aspire to use them?
In my opinion, authorities like Apple and Google should monitor the apps in their stores not just for quality, but for identity of vision as well. Apps that feel like cheap copies of pre-existing apps need to be banned! I, for one have had enough of my normal friends playing ruddy Fruit Ninja clones and asking me why it doesn’t look as good as it does on my phone!
There are shining examples of how stupendously done apps with a clear and fresh vision can go viral within days of conception. They are the intellectual property of individuals that have worked hard to develop not just the code for their apps, but the core concept as well. And we owe it to those striving developers to make sure that the integrity of that core concept remains preserved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah kind of like the lack of remotely interesting original posts on this forum, verses the viral like increase in nonsense that seems intended to do nothing but allow some forum users to boost their post count ....
I think the main problem with this fragmentation is that it is in the nature of Social Discovery apps that there is some uniformity in use. To be able to actually find people through it requires that a lot of people are using the same one.
Only people use them for different reasons and therefor there is an app for any of those reasons. Like some want to use them just to stay in touch with their friends and family, others to meet new people (like me when I am going to a new place) and than there is a group that uses them for flirting or organizing sexual encounters (I am not judging)
I think the best innovation for companies would be to invent an app that combines these functions. I haven't been able to find one.
If you know one, please let me know.
Thank you, I enjoyed reading your view. I do share all your points other than the 'vision policing' part.
"In my opinion, authorities like Apple and Google should monitor the apps in their stores not just for quality, but for identity of vision as well."
If the vision could have been identified by the platform's creator then there wasn't a need for the App Store. The platform creator would have created every possibly visioned apps for its platform and not bother about the participation of thousands of developers on its ecosystem. Basically, to identify the visions one would restrict 'ideas' in which it does not go well with the creativity nature of mankind.
I found something on which you can have several profiles. So you can create one for every function you can have for a Social Discovery app. I think its sort of a good idea, because you don't need like ten thousants of profiles spread around over the net. Just use it however you want. I like that idea.
For me it's perfect because I always have a hard time remembering my passwords
It's called Evry'U. I found it through their facebook page that a friend linked me.
Did anybody heard of it?
Appideas is a storage as well as a support for creative developers with ideas for apps and game. No matter where you are when the inspiration comes along, with this app you will not lose any ideas.
Select a category, where the planned app belongs to, choose a name, describe the basic idea and save the base frame until you find the time to develop the project.
App Ideas also offers you support your running projects. Changed your idea from the theoretical state into practical development, you have the ability to note individual subgoals as well as emerging bugs and work through it step by step and fix it. The development is divided into 2 stages, called Alpha and Beta, so after the first goals have been achieved, you send your app in the second phase and can register new destinations and mistakes. Futhermore you can stay connected with potential partners and mutually transmit tasks.
Has your idea become a finished app, it is stored in the Release-folder.
You can use App Ideas, made in beautiful material design for free up to four ideas. If you need more capicity, you can aquire the Pro-version. This is possible in two ways, which are explained to you in the menu of the free version.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mt.appideas
Apk
With booming App business people are coming up with new innovative ideas to launch unique Apps to gain attention of keen smartphone users. These days Mobile Apps offer more sophisticated features for almost every category including Travel, Entertainment, Utility, Gaming and Productivity. People interested in launching new app have to explore what features they can incorporate in their app to make it more successful. Apprasoft, a renowned app development company offers an easy to use App estimator tool which helps users to explore all kind of features for iOS and Android such as location based navigation, real time synchronization, monetization methods or in app loyalty and reward programs to engage user, all step by step and generate a cost estimate giving them a better idea for launching a more successful app keeping in view the ongoing trend in the market.