Today, a business cannot actively develop without creating mobile applications. Such solutions can provide new opportunities for interaction with customers, guarantee greater convenience and comfort. After all, the phone is always at hand and the user can study offers for goods and services. How to develop an application correctly and which platform is better to use for this? It is worth considering in detail the main options and their features.
Purpose of mobile application development
Customers typically interact with businesses using the internet. The development of business-specific applications that are installed on mobile phones allows you to get certain advantages:
- enhancing the company's image. A high-quality application demonstrates the modernity of the business and the willingness to enter into long-term partnerships with the client;
- stand out from competitors. How do firms promote their services, goods, communicate with customers? Most companies use SMS notifications, flyers, and advertisements for this purpose. It is worth paying attention to the modern channel of interaction, which will distinguish the company from the rest and present it in a more favorable light;
- increasing customer loyalty. Using the application, you can launch various rewards for users, loyalty programs. There is no need to issue bonus, club cards that were used before. It is enough to have a smartphone and a mobile application that will always be at hand;
- modern service. Thanks to notifications, all customers will know the latest news, company activities, current promotions. Also through the application you can track the readiness of your order;
- work for the interests of the target audience. The application covers an audience that is interested in the services of a particular business or a particular product. That is, work takes place with “warm” clients;
- conducting marketing campaigns. We are talking about promotions, discounts that await owners of mobile applications. This solution is a new way to interact with customers;
- increase in sales. The services offered, the goods are at the customer's fingertips. He is in touch all the time. The company has the ability to take action to incentivize a future purchase.
Who should develop and launch a mobile application
Mobile application development is very relevant today. It is especially popular among the following institutions, institutions:
- fitness clubs;
- beauty salons;
- food delivery;
- online shopping;
- medical institutions;
- startups;
- ONE HUNDRED;
- security companies;
- cafes, hotels, restaurants;
- taxi, etc.
A mobile application is necessary for almost every business, because it helps to expand the audience, increase demand for a product or service, and increase sales. This is a convenient device, thanks to which a person can always be aware of new products, quickly discover and use profitable offers.
Application development for iOS and Android
The market, where operating systems are presented, is dominated by developments created for iOS, Android. In the world market, the Android platform occupies more than 80%, and iOS - more than 10%. Android has a large share (about 2,5 times more than iOS), but in the United States, both systems are in almost equal shares. It's not just the place the platforms occupy in the market that needs to be considered. Additionally, you need to explore the benefits application development for IOS and Android separately. And only after working through, analyzing all the details, we can talk about a high-quality mobile application.
Android app
The advantages of such a development include the following points:
- system openness. Clients have access to the internal functions of the system. With this accessibility, developers can create different features, run them, and in the case of iOS, there will probably be some restrictions;
- flexibility. Android involves the use of open source software. This guarantees a low entry threshold. Crowdsourcing plugins, frameworks can be involved, experiments with functions are allowed. Such actions provide the platform with great flexibility. But because of this, the development process will be more complicated;
- design. Google provides extensive guidance for those involved in design. Thanks to them, a layout is created that has an attractive appearance, and an Android interface that is simple and understandable;
- Release. Publishing apps on Google Play is a quick and easy process. As soon as the APK is loaded, the app launches within a few hours;
- fragmentation. Android makes it possible to create applications that touch a wider range of equipment, such as systems in cars, TVs, streaming, wearable devices.
As for the disadvantages, it is worth mentioning fragmentation and testing. Different devices differ in screen sizes, resolution, which leads to a more complex design of the application, interface. Android has many versions, devices, so it takes a lot of time for specialists to check the quality of the application. Indeed, during testing, the application is checked in relation to all models.
In addition, the development of mobile applications for Android is more expensive, since it all depends on the complexity of the product. Specialists will spend more time, effort and money on this procedure.
Apps for iOS
It is worth noting the following advantages of this solution:
- performance. iOS is considered a simple, stable, closed-source platform. Apple creates hardware and software here, so you can enforce strict rules. The platform is quite flexible, has a fast click, allows you to quickly create applications and prevent piracy;
- integration with different devices. There are 20 types of such devices in iOS (there are thousands of them in Android). Due to less fragmentation, attention is not so focused on resolution, screen sizes. As a result, development will be faster and much easier;
- understandable UI/UX. It is always important to pay attention to iOS users, their satisfaction. Apple has created a separate guide with which developers will make an original interface for users. Reliable provision (hardware, software) is guaranteed here, where constant maintenance of the application is assumed. Each device of this company is characterized by impeccable work.
iOS development makes it great for developers who are just getting started with apps or have limited resources.
There are also some disadvantages that should not be forgotten. The AppStore has strict validation rules. Due to vulnerability, lack of useful content, low performance, the application may be rejected altogether. Also, it must be checked (it takes several days). iOS also has a lot of restrictions, so setting up the app is quite difficult. Its popularity may suffer due to its lack of flexibility. iOS app development can use frameworks, but most of them are licensed and increase the cost of development.
Conclusion
It is not recommended to chase a specific platform. You can study Android carefully for a long time, and later switch to iOS. All knowledge will be kept. Initially, they will be enough to manage and use on another platform. But here the target audience and the type of product being promoted must be taken into account.
When developing a new application, it is best to use a cheap version of the platform. When this is successful, you can run the application on another site. It is important to analyze the advantages and disadvantages. To do this, you need to create a detailed TOR for the application.
If the developer has not previously encountered work in this area, then it is necessary to undergo training. Today there are a large number of courses, you need to start learning everything from scratch. If you have a ready-made idea, but lack knowledge in the field of programming, it is recommended to contact qualified specialists who will develop the application on a turnkey basis.