If you’re looking to make your mark in this dynamic industry, you’re on the right page. Read on to better understand the idea of app design cost.

Having an app that can either entertain, help or educate your audiences is likely to keep profits skyrocketing. Data shows a steady increase in mobile app downloads, with predictions of 181 billion downloads by 2026.

With such projections, researchers predicted the total revenue of the app development market to reach around $400 billion in 2024.

Source: Statista

With a total of 26.3 million developers in the world just last year, startups are faced with the problem of how to choose a partner designer.

Adding up to that are the factors and processes that drive the total app design cost. From the conception of your ideas down to software updates, each step affects your balance sheets. It’s crucial to know how to estimate the cost of a mobile app design.

Let’s get started.

What Factors Determine the Cost to Design an App?

Whether you’re running a seasoned app company or a startup, developers have to make efforts to ensure the following: 

• A reasonable timeframe for development and launching
• Zero bugs, errors, and any other issues
• Users are willing to pay for your app, in-app purchases, and/or a subscription

Each application software has a unique purpose, set of features, and target audiences. That’s why the total mobile app design cost also varies. While there are quite a few factors that affect your expenses, there are also things that you can do to manage both these determinants and your expectations better.

Complexity

Logically, a more complicated app will lead to a higher app design cost. 

With a basic app that has limited features and functionality, developers need less time. Complex applications often contain more features, advanced algorithms, and powerful integrations. 

Actionable insight: Consider whether your app needs features like live chat, payment gateways, third-party app integrations, or customized add-ons, as these tend to ramp up overall expenses.

Platforms

Your chosen platforms – iOS, Android, or both – will considerably shape your app design cost. Designing for only one platform is considerably cheaper; however, targeting users of both platforms ensures you have a bigger customer base and larger profits. 

Here, the main reason for a higher mobile app design price is the programming languages for these two operating systems. This means designing for both platforms simultaneously may require separate teams or developers with cross-platform skills, which can inflate costs further. 

The choice between native or web apps also impacts the budget. Since native apps – where mobile apps fall under – are defined as those built for certain device types, they’re more expensive to develop. 

Actionable insight: Take time to analyze your target audience. For example, if your intended users would benefit from an on-the-go app, opt for mobile-only software. You can justify cross-platform development later should you think your audience tends to use your software across all devices.

Design Elements and User Experience

The cost of app design also depends on how recognizable your brand is within the app. Your app should be consistent with your brand’s look and feel. This includes logos, colors, and fonts. 

One key factor here is the user experience (UX), which is the overall flow and ease of navigation. Part of UX can also be impactful visual aesthetics, too. These include the user interface (UI), animations, and in-app interactions, which developers may meticulously design.

Actionable insight: Your app should be well-structured, meaning users can simply navigate. Doing so provides users with a positive experience. While giving them such ease, you should also focus on staying true to your brand. Balancing this may incur costs, but satisfaction and user retention can make it worthwhile.

Team Type

Whether you hire freelancers, an in-house team, or outsource to an app development agency will affect the overall cost. Here’s a quick list of these team types’ cost levels, pros, and cons for you to weigh your choices:

• Freelancers 
  • Cost: Low
  • Pros: This tier has the most flexible rates for startups with less complex app needs. Note that there are freelancers who have diverse skill sets that can help with sudden changes in development. 
  • Cons: Due to the lack of supervision, quality can be unpredictable. Moreover, potential timezone problems may cause challenging communication and updates.
• In-house Team 
  • Cost: Mid to High
  • Pros: Since this will be your team, there’s the potential for excellent collaboration and more control over the project. 
  • Cons: The cost of hiring and maintaining an in-house team can be steep due to overhead expenses such as office space, equipment, and training.
• Outsourced Agency 
  • Cost: Mid to High
  • Pros: Here, you’ll access a company’s broad professional skills and resources. They can even offer an all-in-one solution, from idea conception to post-launch updates.
  • Cons: Can be more expensive than hiring your team. Timezone complications might also occur when working with overseas agencies.

Actionable insight: You should define your desired work quality of work and the level of control you wish to maintain over the project. Regardless of who you hire, don’t forget to check portfolios and reviews to see whether you’re speaking with the right professionals.

Team Location

As mentioned, geography can also affect the overall app design cost due to time zones. More often than not, developers in North America and Western Europe charge higher compared to those in Asia. 

These discrepancies are often due to differing costs of living and market standards. 

Actionable insight: Choose a partner developer that’s able to align with your time zone. Remember, while an agency or freelancer may be overseas, they can bring fresh perspectives to your projects. Ensure you clarify some information about your target audiences, including their potential expectations, needs, and values.

Your average mobile app design cost depends on these factors – but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s still the steps of the process that set the base prices.   

App Design Cost Breakdown

While various components make up the actual mobile app design cost, understanding them can be easier as you see the price of each element. Take these – all while considering the factors mentioned above – to get at least a rough estimate of how much your total spend will be.

Pre-Design Costs: Market Research and Concept Development

Market research lets you have a view of your demographics and some information about them. These bits of info, in turn, solidify your knowledge of your target audience’s wants, needs, and behavior, which you can later use as the foundation of your app’s concepts.

As shown in the table below, there are around 800,000 market research analysts in the U.S., with the population growing at a fast rate.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, most industries make use of market research, highlighting the potential increase in demand and median pay in the following years.

This usually takes 6–7 weeks, depending on how large the sample population is. If you expect one researcher to work on your project for at least 40 hours per week, the average could start at around $1,500/researcher for one entire research process. However, keep in mind that not every software development contractor conducts this type of research, so you might want to consider services of a specialized market research vendor.

Once you know about your audience, you can now conceptualize your app. This includes drafting its primary features and user journey. This is when you want to start working with software development specialists. In most methodologies, this stage is called the Discovery Phase. It includes close interaction with business stakeholders for understanding the business logic and offering the best solution in terms of the app experience.

Overall pre-design costs: Market research starts at $1,500 per researcher, Discovery Phase – $10,000-$15,000.

Core Design Phases: Wireframing, Prototyping, UI/UX Design

This is where the concepts are brought to life. When researching the idea of app design cost, you’ll see the use of terms like wireframing, prototypes, and mockups. The core design phase starts with wireframing, similar to blueprints of architectural structures. 

In wireframing, you lay out the structure of the app and determine the functionalities for each part. This usually comes as the easiest core design phase, which doesn’t require heavy designing. All it usually takes to create a wireframe is the following: 

• Content blocks, such as placements for logos, artworks, or text descriptions
• Navigation menus
• Buttons

After finalizing these on a piece of paper or sketching app, developers then put them into prototypes, which turn the blueprints of navigation into actual app interactions. You can usually do the wireframes on your own, but they often come in a package with prototyping and mockups. 

While prototypes have the actual interactions, mockups are where the UI/UX design shines. Here, designers discuss with you the colors, fonts, and images of the app, showing its complete visuals. To make sure that your users get the best experience, you might need to start from working with a business analyst who helps you create requirements for UI/UX.

Wireframes can cost you anywhere from $2000 – this also depends on whether the freelancer or agency you hire charges per hour. For example, you might need to hire both the designer and the business analyst for 20 hours per week each. Prototypes start at $4,000, while mockup designs range from $3,000 to $15,000. 

Overall core design costs: Starts at ~$7,000

Post-Design Costs: Testing, Revisions, and Final Touches

Regardless of whether you outsource only UI/UX design or the app development and deployment altogether, you need to perform the quality assurance phase. Developers typically test apps for bugs, compatibility issues, and performance loopholes. These issues cause apps to lag, one of the top reasons people uninstall their apps. So, while visuals and the intended experience might be appealing, the most important consideration is for all your ideas to perform seamlessly before the app gets out there on the market.

You need to ensure that your app undergoes all kinds of tests, such as:

• Performance and function
• Security
• Installation
• Device compatibility
• Usability

That’s why testing costs can start at $5,000. The only test not within the scope of developers is usability, which real test users should take. However, agencies sometimes handle this part as well.

To reduce the costs of testing an app, you can ask the agency to start testing during the development’s early stages. Sometimes professionals call it “shifting left”.

Making necessary revisions and fine-tuning to ensure optimal user experience can require an additional $1,000 to $2,000. Wrapping up with final touches to perfect your app might entail a further $500 to $1,000.

Overall post-design costs: $5,000+ depending on complexity

Maintenance and Updates

Though not traditionally part of the design process, maintaining the app and rolling out timely updates keeps the app functional and relevant. This can incur a recurring cost of about 20% of the total app design cost annually.

Custom Features & Design

Additional features such as push notifications, geo-location tracking, or third-party integrations will increase the price of the app. Of course, you need those to fit well into the overall UI/UX, and if you need custom design, this will increase the cost as well. 

Pricing for these vary widely depending on the nature of the feature and the complexity involved in its integration. It could range anywhere from $1,000 to $30,000 and higher, depending on the complexity, whether or not you need business analysis, the number of features, and so on.

To give you a quick look, here’s a quick app design cost calculation if we were to base it on a really basic app: 

• $1,500 (Pre-design) + $7,000 (Core design) + $6,500 (Post-design) = $15,000
• $15,000 (Design) + $7,500 (Post-design) + 8*$3,000 (eight custom features) = $46,500

Remember, these figures are mere estimations and can fluctuate based on various factors such as project scope, timelines, and the expertise of your design and/or development team.

How Does the Design Process Affect an App Design Price?

As previously mentioned, this is the longest part of the core design process, which means it also affects the overall cost to design an app.

There are two primary cost-driving factors here: UX and UI, the cornerstones of an exceptional app design.

UX design focuses on the interactive component of the design process. This is the main reason you do your market research, hence its effect on the mobile app design price. 

With knowledge about the users and their needs in mind, developers then draft wireframes and make prototypes. The mockup is then tested by real users who provide feedback about your app. 

On the other hand, UI design gets into the detailed visual and interactive aspects of the app. This phase is where the prototypes and mockups come to life – all with the help of a style guide established by you and your partner developer. 

It’s the overall design, including the setup of buttons and icons, that makes UI quite a more expensive part of the process. Whether you hire animators for better transitions, buy stock photos, or have your creative team provide you with content, it’s going to cost you money. 

Both UX and UI design play off each other, forming a cohesive aesthetic and functional identity for your app. That’s why it’s only vital that you understand how these two affect your total mobile application design cost.

Tips on How to Save on App Design Costs

There’s no need to be intimidated by the cost to design an app. With a few simple tips, you can save a significant amount of money and avoid unnecessary costs.

• Prioritize the key features; you can build on them later.
• A well-researched project can save redesigning costs and ensure clarity as you relay information to your partner developer. 
• UX matters, so Invest in good interactive design from the beginning. It pays off by reducing troubleshooting costs later.
• Cheaper isn’t always better.
• Opt for agile development, which lets you test features, fix bugs, and make improvements more affordable over time.
• Optimize for maintenance. The better the initial design and development are, the lesser you need for pricey updates and bug fixes later. 
• Evaluate your in-house capabilities. For some, in-house design may save costs, but outsourcing can offer superior quality and speed.
• Use generic and reusable elements in design where uniqueness is not required. This can reduce the graphic design time and cost.
• Keep the design and functionality intuitive and straightforward. Complex features can drive up costs without necessarily increasing user engagement.

Each of these strategies can help reduce upfront and long-term costs. They can grant your developer more time to prioritize important tasks, including crafting better UX. 

How to Choose the Right Partner for App Designing?

Selecting the right partner developer influences three things: how much it can cost to design an app, the length of the process, and the resulting product quality.

To choose the right partner for your app design journey, you can start by looking at the track record of whom they’ve worked with. Doing so lets you see what they’ve done for their clients so far – all transparently presented in their portfolio.

A versatile mobile app development partner can work on every step of the design process. At Intellectsoft, we use the Agile approach to software development. This means you enjoy more transparency and on-time delivery from start to finish. 

If you have other software needs, we can help with those, too. Be it hybrid TV apps, software on wearable devices, web apps, or even IT consulting, you can rely on Intellectsoft. 

We take pride in having serviced companies from a diverse set of industries, including the following: 

• Construction
• Fintech
• Mobile Health
• Travel and Hospitality
• Retail and Ecommerce
• Insurance

Remember, a successful app is not simply functional; it must delight users with its aesthetic appeal and seamless operation. Intellectsoft has been recognized for consistently achieving this delicate balance, making us a great choice for your app design partner.

The post How Much Does It Cost to Design an App? appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

Its dominance is well-deserved thanks to multiple advantages, high performance, and wide customization possibilities. Additionally, Android is backed by a creative and dedicated community and many IT giants, most notably its creator, Google. 

Due to the immense popularity of this operating system, there is a high demand for powerful software development tools, including Android IDEs (Integrated Development Environments). As a result, there are many Android development IDEs that offer different sets of features to conform to different requirements and conditions. In this article, we will review several popular mobile IDEs and try to determine an optimal Android IDE.

What is an IDE?

An integrated development environment (IDE) is an application suite of basic tools that help software developers get the work done consistently and quickly throughout the software development life cycle. Every IDE is a framework that enables developers to build, run, and test applications on mobile devices running Android. The design of IDEs also enables a very comfortable and effective workflow for developers. 

New Android IDEs continue to emerge, and the old ones evolve. In other words, there are many IDEs to choose from. To help you choose the right one quicker, we have put together a list of the best integrated development environments to build apps for Android devices.

What Criteria Did We Use to Select the Best Android IDE?

To create the short list of best IDEs for Android development, we took into consideration several criteria, including:

• Key features of IDEs. More features mean more possibilities for developers.
• Supported programming languages. More languages allow the use of a wider range of developers and technologies. 
• Owners or developers of IDEs. An Android IDE created or supported by an IT enterprise evolves faster and more effectively.
• Target platforms. Many IDEs allow developers to create software for other operating systems in addition to Android or reuse code for cross-platform development.
• License and pricing. This factor directly impacts the cost of software development.

Additionally, we considered other factors, including the age of IDEs, their skill requirements, how often they are updated, and so on.

5 Best IDEs for Android Development

Before we start the detailed description of the five best IDEs, here is a brief and illustrative comparison table of all participants in the list. 

Android Studio

The official IDE for Android, Android Studio, is a software suite built by Google that has everything that will help you develop a solid Android app. It is known as the world’s third most famous IDE and is capable of accelerating the development process without sacrificing quality. This IDE is ideal for those new to programming as it has app-building tutorials that help to grasp mobile and enterprise software development.

Key features of Android Studio

• Flexible build system. 
• Real-time analyzer. 
• Intuitive visual layout. 
• Smart code editor.

Visual Studio with Xamarin

Visual Studio, or simply VS, is Microsoft’s integrated development environment that is often regarded as a top IDE for Android development. Equipped with robust tools for swift coding, this Android IDE enables developers not only to develop eye-pleasing mobile apps but also to test different functions. VS also gives analytical data to developers, helping them boost app speed and perform bug fixes quickly. With Visual Studio, software developers can build efficient and error-free apps for different operating systems.

Key features of Visual Studio with Xamarin

• Integration with .NET.
• Code sharing for cross-platform development.
• Tools for building both native and hybrid apps.
• Automated UI tests.
• Real-time analytics.

Eclipse with ADT (Android Development Tools)

Eclipse is a free, open-source IDE used to build applications in Java and other programming languages. It is the second most popular IDE in the world. It has a vast support community and numerous plugins and configurations available. This Android IDE is highly customizable and can be used with many programming languages with the help of additional plugins. Eclipse is one of the best IDEs as it provides developers with a powerful and rich-featured tool for the development of advanced Android apps.

Key features of Eclipse with ADT

• Advanced editor with syntax checking and code completion tools.
• Multiple plugins to extend IDE functionality.
• Fast evolution thanks to a large community of developers.
• Separate pre-configured installation packages for different types of development.

IntelliJ IDEA

This Android IDE from JetBrains comes in several editions that provide different functionalities at different prices. Its pricing and licensing models offer certain flexibility for individuals and organizations. IntelliJ IDEA may be an optimal choice for developers who specialize in Java and Kotlin. Even the free Community edition has impressive functionality and many convenient features right out of the box, while the paid Ultimate edition delivers the full power of this IDE.

Additionally, this IDE is not limited to Android coding. It can be effectively used, for example, for web development with such powerful technologies as Javascript, Typescript, Node.js, Angular, and more. IntelliJ IDEA is highly customizable, and thousands of available plugins can extend its functionality even further.

Key features of IntelliJ IDEA

• Smart editor with AI assistance, code completion, quality inspection, and more. 
• Shared sessions make collaboration and teamwork much easier. 
• Supports many programming languages and frameworks.
• GitLab integration.
• Highly customizable UI.

Cordova

Cordova is a powerful tool for building hybrid web applications and can be used as an Android IDE. It allows combining the code written in Javascript, HTML, and CSS with the native Android Webview. Several plugins provide additional functionality to Cordova. For example, they enable access to smartphone hardware, including a camera, microphone, accelerometer, and more. 

Similar to other IDEs described in this list, Cordova supports several operating systems. It can be used to develop cross-platform apps or software for Android, iOS, Windows, and Windows Phone. As an Android development IDE, Cordova requires skills in Java Development Kit, Gradle, and Android Studio in addition to programming languages.

Key features of Cordova

• Allows reusing code for several platforms.
• Easy access to device hardware and native APIs.
• Employs web technologies to build mobile applications.
• Over 7000 third-party plugins available to developers.

Summing Up

Considering the wide selection, it is hard to choose one Android IDE that would fit all scenarios. Each IDE has its pros and cons that make it optimal for some projects and less effective for others. Additionally, every software development company has certain preferences depending on the team’s expertise, which also affects the choice of a suitable Android IDE.

As an additional factor, different projects have different challenges that require different tools to solve. So, the best IDE for Android development must be chosen based on the project specifications, team experience, and other factors. 

At Intellectsoft, we closely follow the trends in mobile development to employ the most effective technologies. That’s why our developers have the experience and skills to pick among the best IDEs for Android development to deliver the best results.

We offer a wide range of Android app development services for all kinds of supported mobile devices: smartphones, tablets, TVs, and wearables. Such diversity is possible thanks to our skilled experts and their knowledge of Android development IDEs. If you need a top-quality mobile app for your business needs, contact our managers, and we will provide the solution.

The post 5 Best Mobile IDEs for Android Development appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

However, creating Android apps may be difficult, especially for newcomers. That’s where Android development frameworks come in. They are an organized body of pre-written code that can be utilized to accelerate and streamline the development process. 

According to statistics from Statcounter, over 70% of the overall market share of mobile operating systems belongs to Android.

There are different frameworks for Android app development available. And each of them has its unique features, advantages, and disadvantages. Yet, whatever one you select needs to be the right framework. This is crucial to the success of your project as an Android developer or someone with a plan to create an Android app.

The finest Android frameworks that will enable you to create reliable and effective apps in 2023 are what we examine in this article. This review will help you pick the best framework for Android app development that meets all your requirements.

What is an Application Framework?

An app development framework, as you might have figured, is a unique tool that offers pre-made templates, components, and structures that can be utilized to create apps. Frameworks for Android app development offer pre-written code that may be reused, which may accelerate the development process. Its main goal is to create the architecture for different types of applications by offering standardized procedures and guidelines. Additionally, it can help increase the quality of applications. Some of the various software architectures it focuses on include:

• The native OS-specific apps for different operating systems
• Hybrid applications (multi-platform apps)
• Web applications (accessible through a web browser)

Android development frameworks have a component structure and customizable front-end interface. It enables easy designing of an app and code reuse, with the base code centralized in one location. In summary, Android frameworks help programmers create apps faster.

The creation of numerous Android frameworks that can standardize and accelerate deliverability to Android devices is thus based on the popularity of this mobile operating system. Flutter Framework, React Native Framework, Ionic Framework, Xamarin Framework, NativeScript Framework, and Cordova Framework are some of the well-known Android frameworks that developers may now select from.

Focusing on the most admired Android frameworks is undoubtedly necessary to find the best resources for creating high-quality Android OS applications. Let’s now look more closely at the best frameworks for Android app development to see which ones will enable you to produce worthy Google Play apps.

Top 8 Android Frameworks in 2023

Different Android frameworks offer different strengths and features. Because of that, it is essential to take certain things into consideration before choosing the most suitable for respective projects. Some typical things that must be considered are performance, cross-platform compatibility, user-friendliness, and availability of community, to mention a few. However, here are the best frameworks for Android app development in 2023.

Flutter Framework

This first framework on our list is developed directly by Google. The Flutter framework is designed to assist developers in building progressive cross-platform applications. It uses a single codebase to produce apps for different platforms. This makes it a great choice if you want to create a single app or program that can be used across numerous platforms.

Apps built using the Flutter framework frequently outperform native apps in terms of speed. This is because Flutter employs an operating system-integrated graphics engine called Skia. With this, Flutter apps are able to utilize the device’s native hardware to produce slick and responsive user interfaces.

Flutter is also renowned for its stunning and expressive user interface. Programmers can take advantage of the Dart programming language, which enables the creation of incredibly configurable and dynamic user interfaces and is used to generate Flutter widgets.

Key Features of the Flutter Framework

• Apps built on Flutter apps are often high-performance, and they can be as fast and sometimes even faster than natively built apps.
• The Flutter framework builds apps on a single codebase for different operating systems, including Android, iOS, web, and desktop. This means developers can save time and money by not having to work on new codes.
• The Dart programming language allows developers to create highly customizable and interactive UIs for the widgets.
• A large and active community of developers means there are always new plugins and features.

The Flutter framework is a great choice if you need a high-performance, cross-platform framework that also offers a beautiful and expressive UI. Flutter also has a sizable and vibrant development community that can offer guidance while learning to use.

React Native

JavaScript programmers can construct native mobile apps using the open-source framework React Native. It was created by Facebook in 2015, and since then, it has become especially popular as an Android framework.

React Native uses the JavaScript library to create user interfaces. Its apps look and feel like native apps since they are rendered using native UI components. This makes React Native an excellent alternative for apps where the performance is critical or needs to be integrated with native features.

React Native is renowned for being simple to use, so developers who are comfortable with JavaScript may pick it up fast. Many Fortune 500 firms and major firms like Instagram, Walmart, Airbnb, and Tesla utilize the framework to create native mobile apps. The React Native framework community is still expanding, and 14% of the top 500 US applications currently installed use the framework.

Key Features of the React Native

• Uses Code Push feature – an option that helps to push out the app updates immediately, without the user having to consent and reload the app on his Android device.
• Supports incorporating external third-party plugins.
• Spot the bugs much easier with the use of the declarative programming approach.
• The “Hot Reloading” feature speeds up building new features and bug fixing.
• The possibility to share non-UI dependent codes.

If you are looking for a framework that can help you launch customized, cross-platform, high-quality apps much easier and faster, then React Native is a great option.

Ionic Framework

Ionic is another well-known open-source Android framework. It is publicly approved by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and makes it possible to build hybrid apps using web technologies like HTML and JavaScript. Another benefit of this framework, apart from its cross-platform functionality, is the large size of its developer community. It is especially advantageous for new users because they can get support there. It also has the capacity to incorporate AngularJS. These things put together have given it a reputation for simplicity among developers.

The Ionic framework powers 15% of the apps in the Google Play Store and also claims to have around 5 million developers worldwide, according to Ionic.

Key Features of the Ionic Framework

• The framework extends capacitor with a large collection of mobile-optimized UI components in addition to using web technologies that are familiar to the majority of developers. It integrates with JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue, making it incredibly user-friendly for developers.
• A sizable and vibrant community of Ionic developers constantly creates fresh resources, plugins, and components. This implies that there are many options available to you when designing your app, making it simple to acquire assistance and support when you need it.
• Apps built using Ionic may be designed to feel and appear native. This is because Ionic uses native APIs to access the hardware and OS of the device.
• Ionic also makes it possible to view changes to the app immediately through a feature known as hot reloading.
• Ionic apps are modular, which means they are composed of a number of tiny, independent parts. This makes it simple to reuse code and make necessary app updates.

Ionic is a wonderful option overall for creating hybrid apps. It is simple to learn and use and has a sizable developer community. It can be utilized to produce high-quality, cross-platform apps for various startups and web development firms across industries, from the health and insurance sectors to hospitality IT.

Xamarin Framework

If you decide to use Xamarin to build your app, you will get a great tool for cross-platform mobile app development. Because of that, you can create native programs for Android and iOS that share code written in C#. Most companies prefer this framework when they want cross-platform functionality but don’t want the stress of having to maintain the creation and storage of separate codebases for each one. Xamarin also comes with thorough documentation, and this makes using the framework simple to learn.

Key Features of the Xamarin Framework

• Apps perform like natively created ones as they are built in C# and then compiled into native code for each platform.
• Developers are able to share up to 90% of their code between platforms, thus saving both time and money.
• Developers can use simple visual designers to create user interfaces.

• There are built-in debugging tools for troubleshooting your mobile application.

Because of its reliability, major corporations like Microsoft and Kellogg’s often use the Xamarin Framework in creating programs. Data also shows there are over 13,000 apps built with this framework. Indeed, if you are looking for a cross-platform app development framework that offers native performance and cross-platform development, or you are looking to develop a mobile app for your business, Xamarin is a good option to consider.

NativeScript

NativeScript is an open-source framework that helps programmers create native mobile apps by utilizing Angular, TypeScript, and Vue. Although Progress Telerik originally created it, nStudio currently maintains it.

One of NativeScript’s standout features is the access to native Android APIs it gives. This means that NativeScript apps can be just as quick and effective as native Android apps when using the platform’s native offering engine. Numerous native Android features, including geolocation, push notifications, and camera access, are also supported by NativeScript.

The use of JavaScript by NativeScript is another unique feature of this framework. Due to its popularity, developers generally find it easy to learn and use NativeScript. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that several major industries, like Microsoft, Walmart, and IBM, also depend on NativeScript.

Key Features of NativeScript

• Apps created with NativeScript are potentially as quick and responsive as native-built Android apps due to their use of native Android APIs.
• NativeScript is built with JavaScript – a popular and widely used programming language.
• NativeScript supports TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript that ensures type safety.

Is what you’re after a hybrid solution — one that allows you to incorporate the best of both native and web application development? If so, NativeScript is worth taking a closer look at – it offers a unique platform capable of helping you create cross-platform apps using third-party libraries!

Apache Cordova

This framework was formerly known as PhoneGap. Apache Cordova is an open-source framework that allows developers to use web technologies to build hybrid, cross-platform apps. Apps are developed using a container that displays web content in a native app. As a result, it’s possible to develop and deliver apps fast.

This Android framework is well-known and is a popular choice for enterprise app development. Major companies like IBM and Cisco also use it to create their mobile apps.

Key Features of Apache Cordova

• Development and delivery of cross-platform apps are possible on this framework.
• It is great for new programmers.
• Native plugins can be used to augment Cordova apps.
• Cordova is a well-known framework with a significant developer community. It is simple to locate assistance and support when creating Cordova apps.

Framework7

Framework7 is considered a relatively recent Android framework, though it allows the development of cross-platform apps. It is already popular among mobile app developers due to its array of distinctive features. In fact, Framework7 is the top-ranked cross-platform mobile framework on GitHub.

Key Features of Framework7

• Both Android and iOS devices have a natural look and feel when using Framework7 apps because Framework7 leverages native components and APIs.
• A rich UI library with over 60 components, including buttons, forms, tables, and more.
• Robust routing mechanism that makes switching between screens simple.
• Built-in state management system to monitor the status of your app.

According to a recent poll among developers, apps built with Framework7 are of very high performance, usability, and design level. This Android framework is perfect for someone who needs a user-friendly but feature-rich tool. Regardless of one’s competency in programming, this option is a suitable choice for all.

JQuery

JQuery Mobile is a framework for Android development that employs HTML5 technology to develop incredibly responsive platforms that can operate on an assortment of systems, from Android and iOS to Windows, Symbian, and Blackberry. It is built on the JavaScript jQuery framework. According to a 2023 Stack Overflow study, JQuery is recognized as the third most popular framework and is used by 22.87% of developers. It is also used to run some popular mobile applications, such as the Foursquare and Starbucks apps.

Key Features of JQuery Mobile

• The layout of JQuery Mobile applications is automatically changed to fit the size of the screen they are being presented on. This implies that regardless of the device’s screen size, your app will look amazing.
• JQuery Mobile API makes it simple to design compelling and interactive user experiences, even for beginners.
• JQuery Mobile apps load content and switch between pages using AJAX. This gives your app a quick and responsive feel.
• You can utilize the theme roller feature included with JQuery Mobile to alter the appearance and feel of your app. And if you’re in the mood, you can even develop your own themes.
• For JQuery Mobile, there are a variety of plugins that give the framework further functionalities. For instance, plugins that increase support for charts and social media integration.

The JQuery Mobile provides a powerful and easy-to-use mobile framework for Android development.

Wrapping Up

With this overview, it’s clear choosing the best Android framework for your specific needs and requirements can be a tricky task. But you don’t have to let this overwhelm you. If you are seeking the ideal framework for your project or Android frameworks that ensure high performance and support cross-platform usage, Intellectsoft will help you! We provide top-quality Android app development services. Rest assured, we will deliver high-performance apps and programs with cross-platform features. 

Backed up with over 15 years of knowledge, Intellectsoft is a front-runner in the mobile app development sphere. Our experienced developers are experts in identifying the latest Android frameworks that would satisfy your peculiar needs. 

Allow us to aid you in deciding the best framework for Android app development to employ for your future software product. Our team of experts will ensure you have an app that ticks all the boxes of your project needs. We guarantee that your app will have all the functions needed to reach the aims of your project.

The post 8 Best Android Frameworks for App Development in 2023 appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

This article will cover many benefits of applications for book lovers and describe some new features and improvements over reading traditional paper books. We will provide the list of best book apps for iPhone and Android devices for you to choose from. So, if you are a book enthusiast, here is our guide on finding the best ebook app to enjoy literature, manage your digital library, and discover new levels of reading experience.

Reading App – What Is It?

These days, Google Play, App Store, and other application marketplaces contain many software products for book lovers. They appeal to various tastes and preferences by offering a wide range of literature genres for young and adult readers. However, unlike traditional libraries or bookstores, most book-reading apps also give access to audiobooks and text-to-speech engines. This functionality brings a whole new level of experience, immersion, and convenience to literature lovers in comparison with the “conventional” reading of printed books.

So, as you can see, the name “reading app” is an homage to traditions and does not reflect the full range of features in modern software products developed for book enthusiasts. Today, the best ebook apps offer their users many ways to enjoy literature in different formats on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other digital devices. 

The choice of a favorite software product to enjoy books now depends on the user’s personal preferences. For some people, the best book reader app is a tiny software that is focused on imitating an ink-and-paper look of traditional books on a device screen. For others, the preferred ebook app is a modular software suite that supports dozens of file formats, allows both reading and listening to books, has a built-in shop and a library of purchased books with a rating system, and many other features.

How Can a Book App Enhance Your Reading Experience?

These days, various software products that provide access to digital books offer their users many ways to enjoy literature. The most crucial change is the possibility to listen to books or even switch between reading and listening modes. This allows users to enjoy better immersion in storytelling and offers more convenience due to a hands-free experience.

Book apps also have many useful features for enthusiasts who are devoted to “traditional” reading. Those features may vary from small quality-of-life improvements to new possibilities that bring the reading process to a new level. For example, a small but convenient feature of changing the font and adjusting its size has a huge benefit by making reading much more comfortable.

Some of the best book reader apps have integration with online stores that sell digital books. This feature allows users to purchase rare works of literature that may be hard to find in traditional bookshops. Usually, similar to other types of stores, they have ratings and user comments to help users choose literature according to their tastes.

One of the most popular features in most ebook reading applications is the library which stores downloaded books. This way, users can have hundreds and even thousands of books on a single device. Before the age of smart devices, such an opportunity was unthinkable, and now it is a mundane reality we have already gotten used to.

7 Best Apps for Book Lovers: Subscription-Based Choices

Let’s take a look at the top 7 paid reading applications that are well worth their price. A little warning for you: some of them are technically free to download. However, you will have to pay to use the intended features of these apps. So, consider the pros and cons of each application and make a choice based on their prominent features and your preferences.

1. Amazon Kindle – an Obvious Choice for Amazon Users

One of the most feature-rich apps for book lovers.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Subscription price: Kindle Unlimited – $9.99 per month, Amazon Prime – $14.99 per month or $139 per year.
• Interesting feature: You can sync and track your reading progress on multiple devices.
• Pros: A well-designed environment to choose, buy, borrow, and read books.
• Cons: Many synching and performance issues.

The Amazon Kindle software has been around for over a decade and still remains one of the best ebook apps. Two types of subscriptions offer different levels of in-app access to the content, and you can buy books directly from Amazon. The app has many features for convenient shopping and reading on a wide range of supported platforms.

2. Blinkist – the Best Reading App to Discover New Ideas

One of the best reading apps for fans of nonfiction literature.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Subscription price: $14.99/month without a trial period or $89.99/year with a 7-day free trial.
• Interesting feature: Gives users 15-minute versions of concentrated insights from books and podcasts.
• Pros: Offers many titles on self-improvement and science.
• Cons: The “free” plan is extremely limited, and subscription plans are costly.

Blinkist is the top choice for people who like to get useful insights on a regular basis. The app has crash courses on a wide range of topics. Users can read and listen to full-size books and podcasts or extract the main ideas from them.

3. Bookly – a Reading App That Tracks Your Reading Sessions

An excellent choice for people who are interested in building a reading habit.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Subscription price: $19.99/six months.
• Interesting feature: You can track your reading time and set goals for further reading.
• Pros: The app has ways to motivate and reward its users.
• Cons: Time tracking may be distracting for some users.

Bookly is a convenient app that will keep you motivated to read. It tracks your reading sessions and shows you the time you have spent reading, the number of read pages, and the amount of pages left to reach your current goal. Similar to other book-reading apps, it has a bookshelf and a rating system, so you can sort and rate your digital library.

4. ComiXology – a Top Choice for Comic Book Fans

The best collection of content from the most popular publishers of comics and manga.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Subscription price: $5.99/month with a 30-day trial.
• Interesting feature: You can link your Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime accounts to get access to even more titles.
• Pros: An all-in-one app to read digital comics and build your personal library of purchased titles and editions.
• Cons: Somehow, Amazon managed to make this app worse with the recent updates.

Many comic book lovers will say that ComiXology is the best book app for iPhone and Android devices. Its library has over 230,000 comics, graphic novels, and manga from such famous publishers as DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, and many others. You can read the all-time classic issues or the latest stories about your favorite superheroes.

5. Epic: Kids’ Books & Reading – a Fun Ebook App for Young Readers

The best book reader app for kids. 

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Subscription price: $9.99/month and free for educators and students during the school day.
• Interesting feature: Dictionary lookup, quizzes, award badges, and reading buddies for better learning and entertainment.
• Pros: Personalized profiles for up to 4 children, multilingual books for reading and listening.
• Cons: Some content may be restricted and unavailable in some countries.

Epic is a kid-friendly, teacher-approved digital library that offers over 40,000 books, learning videos, audiobooks, and other content for children. If you want to get your kids into reading, this is one of the best book apps in this category.

6. Scribd – a Massive Library on Your Device

The top subscription-based choice that is well worth its price.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android, Fire OS
• Subscription price: $11.99/month with a 30-day free trial.
• Interesting feature: Unlike other apps, Scribd also offers a large selection of documents and sheet music.
• Pros: Over 1 million titles of fiction and nonfiction works, 60 million documents, and other content.
• Cons: Drains your device battery rather quickly, especially when playing an audiobook.

Scribd is a comprehensive library app that offers millions of books, magazines, audiobooks, podcasts, and documents. The cherry on top is the selection of sheet music, which is a rare sight in other reading software. All these features make Scribd one of the best subscription-based reading apps on Android and iOS devices, as well as Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets.

7. Wattpad – a Reading App That Supports Aspiring Writers

One of the best cross-platform reading apps for book lovers and storytellers.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Subscription price: (Optional) $4.99/month for Premium or $7.49/month for Premium+
• Interesting feature: Writers can join writing contests and win partnerships with publishing houses.
• Pros: A lot of original content written by app users.
• Cons: An abundance of in-app ads, most books require purchase, and the free version has severely limited functionality.

Wattpad is a bustling community of readers and writers that offers many ways for talented authors to get discovered and make money. On this platform, you can publish your work and even get a partnership with publishing companies or movie studios. If you love to discover original works from talented but unknown authors, Wattpad is one of the best apps for book lovers.

Top 5 Best Free Apps for Book Lovers

Let us review the five most popular free book apps for Android and iOS. Though they may lack certain features in comparison with paid software, these free applications are solid choices for any book fans.

1. Goodreads – a Great App for Discovering And Reviewing Books

Join the most popular online community of book readers using Goodreads.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Interesting feature: Users can scan book barcodes or covers to add them to their lists.
• Pros: Personalized recommendations, billions of book reviews, and many social features.
• Cons: You cannot read books directly from this app.

Goodreads is the most popular online service that unites millions of book fans. Though this app does not have reading functionality, it is almost essential for any book enthusiast who wants to stay in touch with people with a similar passion for literature.

2. Hoopla Digital – a Free Library App with Incredible Functionality

If you want an all-in-one software suite for ebooks, audio, and movies, this is your choice among the best free book apps.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Interesting feature: In addition to mobile devices, this app is adapted for Android Auto and Apple Carplay.
• Pros: Incredible selection of content in various formats.
• Cons: Users cannot preview books before borrowing them.

Hoopla Digital makes the most out of your library card by offering tons of content for free and without ads. This app has everything for you to enjoy novels, comics, magazines, audiobooks, movies, and other works available in libraries.

3. Inkitt – an Altruistic App for Readers and Writers

Top choice for people who love modern independent authors and finding hidden gems.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Interesting feature: The app has a vast library of free novels and stories in different genres that are exclusive to this platform.
• Pros: Completely free and without ads.
• Cons: Most books are written by inexperienced or independent authors.

Inkitt is an app that offers many fiction books for free. Besides, it allows its users to join a community and share feedback on independent literature. The hand-picked selection of stories and many features for comfortable reading make Inkitt one of the best free reading apps that also allows publishing stories.

4. Libby by OverDrive – For Users Who Still Have Their Library Cards

This is one of the best free apps for book lovers to enjoy the services of local libraries.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android.
• Interesting feature: Use your library card information to borrow books, magazines, and audio content.
• Pros: A large catalog of free content for reading and listening.
• Cons: The book search functionality needs improvement.

Support local libraries with the help of this amazing app. Libby allows you to borrow and read books and magazines using your mobile device and library card. It also supports audiobooks and allows listening to them on your smartphone or using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

5. Serial Reader – a Small App for Fans of Classic Literature

Break down classic literature into 20-minute reading episodes per day.

• Available platforms: iOS, Android
• Subscription price: Free, several optional features unlock with a one-time payment of $2.99.
• Interesting feature: Users can sync their reading progress with their Goodreads accounts.
• Pros: You can add your own DRM-free books in the epub format.
• Cons: Offers a tiny selection of books compared to other reading apps.

Serial Reader is one of the best book apps to make a habit of reading in small amounts. The digital library contains only 900 classic titles, but you can add your own books, and this app will divide them into short issues for daily reading.

Summing It Up

Ebook reading apps remain one of the most popular types of software for mobile devices. If you want to create such an app with a custom set of features or an innovative approach, Intellectsoft can do this for you. Our expertise in iOS app development and Android app development allows us to deliver a wide range of solutions, as proven by our cases.

We have over 15 years of experience, which allowed us to gather a solid team of experts and hone our skills. So, if you need custom book-reading software, use our extensive mobile app development services. Our specialists will take care of all aspects of the development process, as well as perform consulting, post-release support, and other vital steps. Contact our managers and let us turn your idea into a top-quality software product!

The post 12 Best Reading Apps for Book Lovers: Get Millions of Free Books appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

The digital wallet has emerged as a frontrunner in this evolutionary process. As society begins to lean more towards a cashless future, these digital wallets signify not only convenience but embody the ambition of a progressive society.

Imagine the last time you tapped your phone at a checkout or sent money to an overseas seller with a mere click. These simple and easy acts underscore the relationship between our evolving needs in the digital age and technology.

Digital wallets are no longer just a novelty or restricted to the domain of big business. They’re everyday essentials that reflect the broader societal shift toward efficiency and digital reliance. 

In this article, we delve into the inception of the digital wallet, their journey to ubiquity within society, and the promises they hold that will inevitably shape the future of money as we know it.

The Evolution of the Digital Wallet

In the world of finance, we’ve witnessed groundbreaking transformations, especially over the past decade. The rise and subsequent evolution of the e-wallet have been a pivotal component of that narrative. 

Let’s dive into this fascinating timeline, tracing the roots and progression of digital wallets and understanding their impact on consumer behavior today.

The Early Days

Back in 1997, Coca-Cola pioneered the first iteration of mobile payment by allowing users in Helsinki to purchase a drink with an SMS message. While not technically a digital wallet, this innovation hinted at the future to come with the innovation of mobile transactions.

Fast forward to 1999, PayPal emerged. It revolutionized online shopping by offering a secure intermediary for e-commerce payments that effectively shielded personal bank details. 

A decade later, in 2009, the world was introduced to what was to become the single most important driving factor in the evolution of the digital wallet – Bitcoin. 

Beyond being just a cryptocurrency, Bitcoin ushered in a novel payment system devoid of central oversight, prompting the rise of specialized “crypto wallets” to manage and transact in this new digital asset. 

These early ventures – Coca-Cola’s mobile experiment, PayPal’s secured online transactions, and Bitcoin’s decentralized finance system – collectively paved the way for today’s multifaceted digital wallets, shaping how we engage with our finances in the digital realm.

The Mobile Wallet Genesis with Google

In 2011, the idea of replacing the good old leather wallet with a digital counterpart seemed pretty far-fetched. It was during this period, however, that Google introduced what is considered to be the first digital wallet – ‘Google Wallet.’ 

What Google actually created was a ‘mobile wallet,’ or a wallet that can only be used on a mobile device. It was an ambitious feat at the time and an attempt to pave the way for what we now know as the digital wallet. 

In the initial rollout, the Google Wallet was only compatible with one card – a MasterCard issued by CitiBank. Nonetheless, the mere concept of paying using a smartphone was revolutionary at the time. 

The Surge and Beginning of Mainstream Adoption

Between 2016 and 2022, digital wallets experienced a meteoric rise. By 2022, it was estimated a staggering 45% of consumers in China were using a digital wallet, with only 6% in the US and Canada. 

Businesses who were keen to stay current integrated wallet-friendly payment systems enabling swifter transactions. 

The subsequent years underscored diversification within this realm, particularly as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum gained prominence. Modern digital wallets transcended their original design, evolving into multifunctional platforms catering to both traditional fiat transactions and the blossoming decentralized finance sector.

Where Are We Now?

Digital wallets have journeyed from Coca-Cola’s first SMS-based vending machine transaction concept to today’s multifaceted financial hubs. Digital wallets are no longer futuristic – they’re entrenched in our daily lives and routines. 

They offer services from peer-to-peer transactions, online shopping, integrations, and cryptocurrency management, reflecting our adaptable dynamic financial zeitgeist.

By the year 2025, it is predicted that over 9 Billion US dollars will be transacted using digital wallets, with a significant portion of those being conducted in the Far East and China.

Advantages and Disadvantages Compared to Traditional Payment Methods

The way we view money and payments is undergoing a seismic shift. Today’s digital realm is dominated by digital transactions, and it’s imperative to understand the merits and drawbacks of using a digital wallet.

Advantages of Digital Wallet

1. Convenience. There’s no need to rummage through a wallet for cash or cards, a simple tap or scan suffices.
2. Speed. Transactions are processed instantly, which cuts down on wait times at checkouts.
3. Adaptability. Digital wallets cater to a range of financial activities, from bill payments to online shopping and even cryptocurrency management.
4. Compactness. Reduces physical bulk, eliminating the need to carry hefty wallets or purses.
5. Global Transactions. Facilitates seamless cross-border transactions without the hassles of currency exchange.

Disadvantages of Digital Wallet

1. Security Concerns. Vulnerability to hacks and breaches is a genuine concern.
2. Tangibility. Some people prefer the tactile assurance of cash or cards as a measure of control.
3. Dependence on Technology. If a device’s battery dies or if there’s no internet, access to funds can be restricted.
4. Potential Misuse. If lost, smartphones with digital wallets might be misused, leading to unauthorized transactions.
5. Limited Acceptance. Not all merchants, especially in remote areas, accept digital wallet payments.

Super Apps: The All-In-One Digital Powerhouses

As the digital landscape evolves, super apps have emerged as a contemporary juggernaut of the ecosystem, but what is a super app?

A super app is a holistic digital hub, it encompasses a myriad of services, be they gaming, shopping, transportation, or payments – super apps unify these functionalities. 

This transforms your devices into versatile tools for every conceivable daily need. These super apps are often referred to as ‘multi-service tech platforms’ or a marketplace for micro apps. 

Super apps come with a single sign-on experience meaning users only need to remember one password and can switch seamlessly between applications.

Examples of SuperApps

The rise of super apps, predominantly in Asia, symbolizes the convergence of services into unified platforms. These digital behemoths have expanded far beyond their initial functionalities, creating ecosystems that cater to a plethora of user needs, from mundane tasks to complex financial operations. 

Here’s a closer look at some global frontrunners:

• WeChat (China). Starting as a mere messaging service, WeChat’s metamorphosis into a super app is truly remarkable. WeChat’s users today can indulge in online shopping, make payments, access entertainment, and even book doctor appointments all within a single platform.

• Alipay (China). Initially rooted in payments, Alipay has branched out significantly. It now offers utility bill payments, investment services, and travel booking making it an essential tool for millions.

• Grab (Southeast Asia). Ride-hailing service Grab’s foray into the super app world has seen it delve into areas like food delivery, digital payments, and even insurance services.

• Omni (Central America). Serving Central America, Omni combines essential services like transportation and delivery with digital payments, creating a unified experience for its user base.

• Revolut (Europe). Though primarily known as a fintech solution, Revolut’s ambitions continue beyond banking. The platform has expanded to offer cryptocurrency trading, stock trading, and even travel insurance, emblematic of its super app aspirations.

Broadening Horizons: The Ever-Evolving Digital Wallets

Once seen as mere tools for performing transactions, digital wallets are undergoing a renaissance. As the future of payment technology unfolds before our eyes, these wallets have taken on new roles that surpass financial boundaries. 

Some additional functionality is becoming evident in several ways:

• Loyalty Programs Integration. There’s no longer a need to juggle multiple loyalty cards and apps. Digital wallets are seamlessly integrated programs such as reward points and cashback that are instantly credited and easily redeemable. 
• Ticketing Systems. Whether it’s for movies, concerts, or public transportation, digital wallets are simplifying ticketing processes, allowing users to book, store, and even share tickets all in one place.
• Government Services. Some advanced digital wallets are bridging the gap between citizens and governments. They facilitate processes such as tax payments, license renewals, and even paying fines.

This paradigm shift is a testament to the underlying goal of digital wallets – evolving from simple transactional platforms to multifunctional hubs that cater to everyday needs. 

Blending Boundaries: Digital Wallets and the Confluence of Modern Technologies

As digital wallets continue their march towards becoming more sophisticated and essential tools, they are increasingly intersecting with leading-edge technologies. 

The incorporation of Blockchain, for instance, moves beyond its well-known connection with cryptocurrencies. In the realm of digital wallets, it promises enhanced transparency and rock-solid security by leveraging decentralized ledgers, making every transaction intrinsically trustworthy and tamper-proof.

Simultaneously, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is injecting a new level of intuitiveness into these wallets. Instead of just facilitating transactions, AI-equipped wallets now offer personalized spending insights and robust fraud detection, tailoring the experience to each user’s patterns and needs.

And then there’s the broad universe of the Internet of Things (IoT). No longer are digital payments an exclusive feature of smartphones. IoT is expanding the scope of digital wallets, embedding them in wearable tech, home automation systems, and even our vehicles. 

This seamless integration across devices paints a future where payments are as ubiquitous as the technology we interact with daily. These tech integrations are reshaping both the landscape of digital wallets and how we perform financial transactions. 

Opportunities and Emerging Digital Wallet Trends

The landscape of digital payments, much like the broader spectrum of technology, is in a constant state of evolution. As we gaze ahead, a multitude of digital payment trends emerge, promising to refine our transactional experiences and heighten the functionalities of digital wallets.

• Predictive Analytics. The infusion of data science into the realm of digital wallets presents a game-changing opportunity. Through predictive analytics, wallets can now anticipate user needs, tailor offerings, and ensure that each transaction or service feels individualized and intuitive.
• Biometric Authentication. Gone are the days of cumbersome passwords. With biometric authentication, security takes a quantum leap forward. Whether it’s fingerprint scans, facial recognition, or even voice patterns, this trend guarantees that access to one’s financial assets remains both convenient and iron-clad in terms of security.
• Crypto Wallets. As the world warms up to cryptocurrencies, digital wallets are expanding to embrace them. Now users can not only store their traditional currency but also manage their cryptocurrency portfolios seamlessly, integrating with the decentralized financial ecosystem.
• Virtual Cards. The tangible plastic card is undergoing a virtual transformation. Digital wallets now offer virtual cards allowing users to transact without revealing their primary card details, ensuring an additional layer of privacy and security.

Navigating Challenges in the Digital Wallet Odyssey

The horizon for digital wallets teems with promise; however, it isn’t devoid of challenges. 

In a world awash with information, data privacy becomes a huge concern. Digital wallets and mobile applications must ensure that financial details remain confidential and secure. 

Security breaches are, unfortunately, not just theoretical risks. As “digital wallet security concerns” rise, it’s imperative that digital wallets and mobile applications ensure that financial details remain confidential and secure. This necessitates continuous upgrades in security protocols to stay ahead of potential threats.

Another challenge for not only digital wallets but decentralized finance is the ever-shifting regulatory landscapes across the globe. Adhering to these regulations without compromising on user experience can be a delicate balancing act. 

Finally, the rapid pace of technological evolution requires that digital wallet providers remain ever-agile and ready to adapt. These dynamics are not just about security but also reliability in an always-changing digital environment.

Conclusion

As we’ve journeyed through the evolution and potential of digital wallets, it’s evident that the blend of innovation opportunity and challenge will continue to shape our financial interactions. 

If you’re seeking expertise in navigating this dynamic landscape of financial software, choosing the right partner is paramount. 

Choose Intellectsoft for top-tier financial software development services ensuring a future-proof solution tailored to your needs. Join us in defining the next chapter of digital finance.

The post The Future of Digital Wallets: From Payments to SuperApps appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

Enterprise software development is more complex than creating an eCommerce app because you cannot just look at similar products your competitors have made for their internal use. In this article, we’ll cover the most crucial challenges of creating enterprise software, strategies to overcome them, and, of course, solutions.

Challenges of Enterprise Application Development

The main challenges of business software development are finding the optimal ways to ensure the following features.

Software Flexibility and Scalability

Even though an enterprise is a big company with a well-tailored business strategy and processes, the pandemic showed that owners should be equally ready for both growing and downsizing. For this reason, your enterprise software must be ready for the upgrade when new features or functions that optimize certain processes for your employees are painlessly added to the app. At the same time, your enterprise software should allow turning off or removing modules and features that are no longer required without impairing the performance of other remaining parts of the software.

Making an enterprise app properly scalable requires extra knowledge and attention to its complex structure, technologies, and other resources.

Changing Business Requirements

This one is probably the most challenging for your development team. It is crucial for the development process to define what problems your enterprise software should solve in the present and in the future. Constantly changing requirements will very likely affect:

• deadlines;
• budget;
• motivation of team members to continue working on your project;
• overall efficiency.

You may think that you’re suggesting a minor change. However, when a complex enterprise application is half or almost finished, even a minor change in requirement leads to significant changes in code and additional testing.

Enhanced Security

Enterprise software often handles highly sensitive information that is extremely valuable and must be protected by advanced technical means. Usually, there are specific regulations and standards that govern the implementation of security measures in enterprise software.

A vulnerability in one application may compromise the security of the whole corporate network. That’s why ensuring the highest security standards is the top priority and one of the biggest enterprise application development challenges.

Data Storage and Processing

Proper data storage and analysis remains among the common challenges of business software development, including such businesses as enterprise. This is a challenge because enterprise software generates, processes, and stores massive amounts of data. In addition to high-volume and secure data storage capabilities, this software must retrieve necessary data from the storage fast. 

This one is especially challenging when all or the majority of this data is unstructured. So, without a carefully elaborated application architecture and infrastructure, your enterprise software won’t be as efficient and fast-working as it should be. 

Integrations with Third-Party APIs, Systems, or Other Software 

Many enterprises use legacy systems with monolithic architecture that was made years or even decades ago. Monolithic legacy systems are very challenging to enhance with complex integrations with third-party software products or application programming interfaces (APIs). 

In case your enterprise business goals and needs cannot be fulfilled without integrating data processing, AI-enhanced, or other systems in your legacy, you need to consult with a reliable CTO (Chief Technical Officer) first to come up with the most effective enterprise app upgrade or development strategy. When it comes to outdated legacy systems and integrations with modern APIs, very likely you will have to start with legacy upgrading and transforming its architecture to microservice-based.

Finding Experienced and Reliable Technical Specialists

Even though the number of software development specialists around the world continues to grow each year and is reaching 28 million, it is still challenging to find tech experts fast for your project, especially when you want to hire specialists for your in-house team.

Not all tech specialists on the market are experienced in enterprise development and your industry. So, finding the ones who fit your project perfectly may take weeks or even months for your recruitment department.

Strategies for Overcoming Enterprise Challenges

There are hardly any specific strategies that fit exclusively for enterprise application development. Instead, there are some commonly accepted universal approaches that have proven their effectiveness in software development regardless of its type. Here are several strategic steps that can help in dealing with challenges in a fast and cost-effective manner.

1. Define the technical and business requirements for your enterprise software.
2. Consult with professional and reliable software development experts on software infrastructure, technologies, databases, team composition, and many other crucial factors before initiating the development process.
3. Research and analyze the software products created or used by other enterprises, especially in your industry. Yes, it may be difficult because such software is mostly for the company’s internal use. However, if you cannot accomplish difficult tasks, you wouldn’t be fulfilling your current position in the enterprise company.
4. Make sure your enterprise app is user-friendly for employees or its target audience. User experience and user interface are equally important, and make sure an app is intuitive and easy to use. In case the enterprise app’s interface needs to be complex, someone from the development team will have to create a user guide or teach staff how to use this software.
5. Select the optimal tech stack depending on the platform.
6. Log the development process and prepare exhaustive documentation. You will 100% need it in the future for upgrading your software or detecting weak spots or flaws.
7. Perform extensive testing and collect feedback from your enterprise application users.

Executing these steps carefully and consecutively will drastically decrease the number of potential obstacles during the development process.

Solutions to Common Challenges in Enterprise Application Development

Choose a Reliable and Experienced Team

This is the core solution to most challenges. While finding skilled tech specialists for your in-house team may be challenging, you have an even better option to hire a dedicated team or staff augmentation specialists from a software development company. This alternative offers multiple benefits for businesses of all sizes, including enterprises.

Adopt Modular Architecture as Soon as Possible

This will help to achieve advanced scalability and facilitate the integration of modules and systems into the application. Always ensure that the security measures of your application override the corresponding measures in integrated parts. This way, the vulnerabilities in third-party solutions will less likely compromise your software.

Do Not Use No-Code or Low-Code Approaches

They save time and money at the cost of security. These approaches may be trendy and have undeniable benefits. However, even if your project budget is low, these software development approaches will bring you a fair share of drawbacks in software cybersecurity, scalability, and overall performance.

Choose the Most Efficient and Safe Data Storage Solution

Companies can choose between storing data locally or in clouds. Local data storage is more secure and self-sufficient. Cloud storage is generally cheaper and more convenient but is also more vulnerable to data breaches. Besides, it makes your enterprise too dependent on third parties, such as Internet providers and cloud service providers. A good solution would be using both cloud and local storage options by dividing the data according to its importance. This way, you can store the most confidential information and vital backups locally while sending low-priority and harmless data to cloud storage.

Try Not to Change Requirements After the Development Process Starts

You are the boss of the project, so you can request changes at every stage of the product development process. However, you should do your very best to define what exactly you want from your new enterprise app and what functionality it should have. Otherwise, every change will result in project deadline prolongation and budget increase. In case you don’t want or cannot provide a final set of requirements at the initial stage, you may consider starting with building an MVP version.

Even the biggest challenge has at least one solution when you consult and work with professionals.

Final Words

All the enterprise application development challenges listed in this article may seem difficult to overcome. However, if you know what exactly you want as the ultimate result, have at least a basic understanding of software development processes, have a trusted tech expert to consult, and can gather a top-quality team, building an application for your enterprise will go smoothly. 

As a company that has been providing software development solutions for businesses from startups to enterprises since 2007, Intellectsoft offers high-quality enterprise software development services for various industries. Even though our domain focus lies in fintech, insurance, healthcare, and construction, we have successfully provided and continue to provide web and mobile solutions to many other industries as well. 

If you’re looking for a reliable and professional enterprise application development partner, we look forward to receiving your requirements. Just contact us via the registration form and tell us what your business needs to grow stronger, and get a bespoke and efficient solution from our team.

The post Top 6 Challenges in Enterprise Application Development & Their Solutions appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

The digitization of the financial sector is surging and has created an immense opportunity for tech entrepreneurs and businesses to exploit. 

But what does it take to bring these innovative digital services to market? The focus of this guide is to shed light on and break down the costs of building a fintech application.

Factors Affecting the Cost to Develop a FinTech App

So, how much does it cost to build a fintech app? It’s important to be aware that it is not a flat-rate venture, as numerous factors play their part in determining the final cost.

The scope and complexity of the project, regulatory compliances, and secure payment gateway integration all play a significant role.

In 2023, a global surge in fintech startups with North America and the EMEA leading the charge has created an intensely competitive environment. In this landscape, it is essential to build an app that not only stands out but fulfills a unique requirement. Often this comes at an extra cost.

In addition to increased competition and the need to create a niche market, numerous factors also come into play with it comes to the price tag.

Features and Functionality

Fintech apps often come with complex features such as payment gateway integration, real-time analytics, security protocols, and more. More advanced features will inevitably escalate development costs.

UX/UI Design

User interface and user experience design is crucial in fintech applications. An aesthetically pleasing and intuitive design not only enhances user satisfaction but also boosts product functionality.

Security Measures

Given that fintech apps handle sensitive financial information, they require robust security measures. The implementation of such measures, including encryption and secure payment gateway integration, adds to the development cost.

Location and Structure of the Development Team

Whether you choose in-house development or outsourcing can significantly impact your budget. The location of your team also plays a part. Developers in North America and Western Europe, for instance, typically charge higher rates than those in Eastern Europe or Asia.

Maintenance and Updates

Post-development apps require regular updates and maintenance to keep up with changing user needs, regulatory demands, and technology trends. This is an ongoing cost that must be factored into the overall budget.

Outsourcing vs. In-House Development

A vital aspect of the fintech app development journey involves navigating the decision between outsourcing and in-house development. The preference for either approach will ultimately shape the trajectory of the project and impact both the overall cost and the quality. 

The decision is contingent on various parameters, including cost, control, expertise, and scalability.

In-House Development

Owing to having direct control over project aspects from conception to the final product, in-house development might seem like an appealing choice. This control allows for real-time monitoring, immediate feedback, and actionable quick iterations – giving you an intrinsic sense of involvement and ownership of the process. 

The approach, however, comes with a unique set of challenges. Training, hiring, and retention of talent all contribute to the costs associated with building a highly skilled development team. In addition to these factors, the costs of maintaining infrastructure workspace and advanced software tools can quickly add up.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing opens the door to a global pool of seasoned professionals all with the required skills, experience, and tools to turn your fintech vision into reality. 

Outsourcing alleviates the burden of hiring and training costs, and the requirement for constant infrastructure and software tool updates, patching, and maintenance.

Interestingly, a growing trend within the United States hints at the increasing popularity of this approach. According to Grand View Research, the custom software development market has witnessed a steady climb, with a projected growth rate of 22.3% by 2030. 

This surge in outsourcing application development suggests that businesses are beginning to recognize the value and convenience of external expertise.

In a 2021 report titled “Global Shared Services and Outsourcing Survey Report,” Deloitte reveals that 65% of information technology is currently being outsourced. 

Again, this significant figure underscores the trust businesses have placed in outsourcing, appreciating both its cost efficiency and the readily available access to specialized expertise.

While outsourcing may seem promising, it is not without its challenges, and diligence is required when choosing the right partner. Careful evaluation of their portfolio, reputation, communication skills, transparency in cost estimation, and – most importantly – specific experience in fintech should constitute a large part of the selection process.

This meticulous approach ensures you reap the benefits of outsourcing without compromising on quality, security, or functionality.

The Hidden Costs in FinTech App Development

The costs associated with fintech application development don’t stop with the completion of the development project itself. One must not overlook the additional ongoing costs that arise post-development. 

Understanding these costs is key to efficient budgeting and ensuring the longevity of the app. Here we’ll devolve into these essential aspects and discuss strategies for cost optimization.

Marketing & User Acquisition: The Gateway to Success

As discussed earlier, the marketplace of fintech apps is rapidly becoming overcrowded, and standing out is no easy feat. Investing in a comprehensive marketing strategy and user acquisition is non-negotiable. 

Whether leveraging social media, search engine optimization, or paid advertising, every marketing strategy entails additional costs. Additionally, attracting and retaining users necessitates a budget for customer relationship management tools, promotional offers, and loyalty programs.

Operational Costs: The Steady Stream of Expenditure

Running a successful fintech app goes beyond the realm of technology. It involves the day-to-day administrative costs, employee salaries, office rent, and utility bills. 

These operational costs, while seemingly mundane, are critical to the smooth functioning of your business and must be factored into the overall budget.

Legal & Compliance Costs: The Price of Integrity

The financial industry operates within a web of regulations. Staying compliant is not an option but a necessity to avoid heavy penalties and maintain user trust. 

Whether it’s data privacy laws, anti-money laundering regulations, sanctions, or banking standards, compliance involves costs for legal counsel, audits, and implementation of necessary security measures.

App Store Fees: The Unavoidable Expense

Hosting your app on platforms like the Apple App Store and Google Play is unavoidable and comes at a price. Apple charges a developer fee paid annually of $99, and Google Play requires a one-time fee of $25. 

In addition to these upfront costs, both platforms claim a percentage of every single transaction performed within the app. 

These expenses can add up significantly over time and must be incorporated into your financial strategy.

Strategies to Reduce FinTech App Development Costs: Making Every Penny Count

Despite the mounting costs, there are strategic approaches to managing your budget effectively. Here are the two main approaches:

1. Prioritizing Features: The Minimalist Approach

Starting out straight away with a full-fledged app can quickly become an expensive venture. Instead, focus on developing core features that solve a specific problem.

This Minimal Viable Product (MVP) approach allows you to launch your fintech app fast while gathering valuable user feedback. 

Based on these user preferences, future updates can be rolled out, ensuring that every feature added contributes to functionality and user satisfaction – avoiding unnecessary expenditure and lowering costs.

2. Choosing the Right Development Partner: The Path to Quality and Efficiency

Choosing the right development partner is vital for cost-effective, quality fintech app development.

An experienced company prevents issues like poor-quality code or security vulnerabilities. But expertise should also extend to emerging technologies such as blockchain and smart contracts, crucial for enhanced security and streamlined transactions in fintech. 

The right partner thus not only saves costs in the long run but also ensures a high-quality and technologically advanced app. Paving the way for success in your project and the dynamic fintech industry.

Conclusion: Deciphering the True FinTech App Development Cost

Building a fintech app is a multi-faceted approach, and the costs associated with building it depend on many factors. Understanding these variables is essential in estimating the budget accurately. 

Amidst all the number crunching and cost optimization, the quality of the application should never be compromised. 

A well-built fintech app can be an absolute game changer, especially when designed to facilitate a niche market. It offers seamless services to customers and disruptive competition to traditional financial market players.

Trends indicate a bright future for fintech apps, making it a worthwhile investment. 

When considering the potential costs involved, it’s crucial to consider all aspects – the development strategy, ongoing and post-development costs, selecting the right vendors, and keeping up with emerging technologies.

When equipped with this knowledge, you can venture into the fintech world prepared and confident.

Why Choose Intellectsoft for Financial Software Development Services?

Discover why Intellectsoft is the ideal choice for your financial software development needs. As a leading software development company, we specialize in creating secure and user-centric fintech applications across various industries. 

With our extensive expertise, we offer the perfect guidance and services for your fintech app development journey.

From inception to implementation, Intellectsoft delivers end-to-end solutions that guarantee a seamless and successful fintech experience. 

Embrace the opportunity to explore our cutting-edge financial software development services today and transform your fintech idea into a groundbreaking app that reshapes the digital financial landscape. Let’s work together to drive innovation and elevate the financial industry to new heights.

The post The Comprehensive Guide to Understanding the Cost to Build a FinTech App appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

Let’s take a close look at the trending mobile app development technologies that will set the rules and offer new possibilities for both users and software developers.

Internet of Things

The concept of “smart” devices is gaining recognition among users, bringing more examples of useful and convenient appliances controlled with mobile applications. The current mobile app development trends include standalone software for separate smart products and complex suites to bind multiple devices into one infrastructure, implementing the idea of a “smart home.”  

Different wearables remain highly popular among users due to their convenience and versatility. Thanks to new technologies, smartwatches, and fitness bracelets are gaining new functionality using new sensors and processors. One example is the long-waited blood pressure monitoring realized in the latest models of smartwatches from Huawei and Samsung. The job of mobile software developers is to implement such new features in an easy-to-use format. 

The abundance of smart things and associated software is overwhelming. From speakers to lightbulbs, almost every item in your house can eventually become “smart.” All it needs is a battery, a Bluetooth transceiver, hardware, and a custom mobile application. Ozmo and Ember have proven that even mundane items like cups can become intelligent. Yes, people can own self-heating cups paired with a mobile app. They can maintain the desired temperature of a beverage, remind you to stay hydrated during the day and offer more features via specialized software.

No one can predict where the trend of IoT devices will lead us. Will we wear smart clothes, sleep in smart beds, or use smart plates to eat? One thing is clear: we will continue to monitor and control our nearest environment from our mobile devices.

AI-Powered Apps 

Very few technological breakthroughs had the same impact on the IT industry as the wild popularity of ChatGPT and similar AI models. They have proven to be incredibly efficient, even as standalone text chatbots. Their potential increases even further when such AI and ML tools are integrated into specific applications and solutions. For instance, a chatbot, as a part of customer support service, collects and analyzes users’ complaints and requests. After analysis, such a chatbot can provide customers with required information by itself or transfer gathered information to a specialist in a customer support department.

Another AI feature that complements both desktop and mobile software is AI-assisted search. It has a better understanding of the context of a request, so it can provide a more accurate and detailed answer. One of the most prominent examples of such technology is the AI generative search developed by Google. 

Search engines that use Artificial Intelligence can also perform predictive analysis to model further user requests and prepare answers in advance, improving user experience. Pairing with voice recognition and speech synthesis technologies brings this impressive functionality to a new level. You can talk to your smartphone, and engage in a meaningful dialogue, giving the illusion of speaking with a human being. This way of communication between cross-platform devices and users defines the future of mobile app development. Due to these impressive functionalities and skyrocketing popularity, the revenue of the worldwide chatbot market is expected to reach 1.25 billion dollars in 2025.

E-commerce

Electronic commerce is one of the major industries utilizing modern mobile software development solutions. The convenience of online shopping tends the industry players to adjust the power of mobile technologies and appropriate software. These days, mobile app developers make sure that their E-commerce software becomes a part of a complex infrastructure that involves search engines, advertising algorithms, and user behavior analysis models.

To maximize profits, e-commerce apps must offer the best possible user experience. That is why software developers creating such applications should always keep an eye on the latest mobile app development trends and newest technologies. This way, users will enjoy a convenient and secure shopping application that will drive better lifetime value and retention rates to businesses. Moreover, they may further promote their app by leaving positive comments, reviews, and posting their purchases on their social network accounts, and sharing links with their friends. This way, satisfied users participate in word-of-mouth marketing by endorsing both software and goods.

Modern applications for online shopping should also use the functionality provided by mobile hardware. For example, geolocation services allow it to show the nearest shops and delivery points. With the help of a smartphone camera and augmented reality technologies, users can try on clothes or fit a new piece of furniture into their homes virtually. On top of that, fingerprint scans and face recognition can add extra layers of security to digital wallets used by e-commerce apps.

5G and Wi-Fi 6

The newest wireless communication standards play an essential role in mobile software development. Faster networking speeds mean that mobile applications may retrieve more information from cloud storage to store less data locally. This advantage reduces mobile apps’ overall size and latency while improving their performance. 

Higher speeds also allow more effective communication with other services that contribute to the functionality of a mobile application. These include personal user cloud storage, advertisement services, search engines, streaming services, payment systems, and more.

Cross-Platform Apps

When software engineers need to build a mobile application, they choose among native, hybrid, or cross-platform approaches. While native and hybrid technologies have undisputed intrinsic benefits, cross-platform mobile app development offers a wider range of advantages. 

Comprehensive tech vendors can develop mobile apps that are supported by different mobile platforms. This approach allows developers to cover Android and iOS audiences simultaneously, which is especially effective in the case of a limited budget.

Low-Code and No-Code Development

Often, software developers have to deliver a mobile app within a limited time and budget. Low-code and no-code development approaches help engineers mitigate such constraints and meet client requirements. Although such approaches are rarely suitable for complex applications, they can fit to handle basic projects.

The recent breakthroughs in AI technologies offer new possibilities for software developers. Even though Artificial Intelligence cannot substitute a skilled specialist, it can become a valuable assistant. Using these approaches combined with AI, mobile software developers will be able to streamline their work. 

Augmented Reality and Other Camera-Oriented Apps

Modern mobile devices usually have at least two cameras with relatively high resolution. That’s why most mobile applications have various camera-oriented features. First and foremost, video conferencing apps and messengers include video call functionality, like Skype or Zoom. They were essential communication tools, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and still remain popular. In particular, their effectiveness in remote business management fuels the further growth of the video conferencing market.

Social networks such as Instagram and TikTok also rely on video content. Thanks to the newest camera sensors and imaging technologies, content creators can realize their ideas more spectacularly and with higher quality. To do so, they require mobile apps with powerful video editing abilities. 

Augmented reality is another mobile trend that makes use of device cameras. It shows its best for entertainment and educational purposes. However, software developers also integrate AR into e-commerce and other business domains. For example, such software allows users to try new clothes or haircuts. It can also show how a user’s home would look with different furniture, wallpapers, or paint colors. Thanks to many current and potential implementations, AR software will continue to be among the most popular mobile application development trends.   

New Challenges for Mobile UI/UX Designers

Most mobile devices may look similar, but UI/UX designers know there is a difference when it comes to mockup, wireframe, and prototype. Even the same mobile phone manufacturer can have different screen sizes, resolutions, notch shapes, and other properties for their various models. This condition creates multiple challenges for mobile software developers who must ensure the best user experience and maintain certain styles and design standards, such as Material Design. This is especially difficult in the case of cross-platform apps because they have to be tested on many devices with individual characteristics.

The latest developments in screen display technologies define the rising trend of foldable mobile devices. While the number of existing models is still limited, much more similar devices are set to appear in the near future. At this point, UI/UX designers will face the challenge of adapting future mobile software to both conventional and folding screen types.

Enhanced Security

As mobile devices become more functional and essential for everyday life, they tend to contain more personal data that needs protection. That’s why the demand for security features in mobile apps is constantly growing. Both hardware and software engineers work hard to invent and integrate new security measures in addition to or as an alternative to conventional passwords, PIN codes, fingerprint scans, face recognition, etc. 

For example, Google, Apple, and Microsoft joined their efforts to create and implement a “passkey” feature into their products to reduce password usage. And when such industry giants start a trend, software developers usually have no other choice but to follow it.

Cloud Computing and Data Storage

Cloud technologies have become almost essential for software development, especially for mobile applications. This established trend will continue to grow as more and more apps rely on cloud computing. One of the most essential advantages of keeping information in cloud storage for end users is the ability to share data across several devices. Additionally, a cloud-based app consumes less internal memory and computing resources, so it does not impact the performance of a mobile device. 

As for software developers, cloud-based technologies bring benefits such as increased computing capabilities, smaller app size, more secure, spacious, scalable data storage, and much more. 

To Sum Up

Any software development company must keep an eye on established and emerging trends. Knowledge of trends helps to streamline work processes, choose optimal tech stacks, and estimate the demands of potential clients.

In Intellectsoft, we keep up with the crucial trends in the software development industry. We can create custom mobile software using cutting-edge technologies and the latest standards. So, contact us if you need a quality software product for mobile devices. We will use our expertise and knowledge of trends to meet your demands.

The post Mobile App Development Trends of 2023 appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

What Is Mobile App Localization?

The process of software localization is no longer limited to merely text translation, as it was common decades ago. Instead, modern-day localization is a complex set of measures aimed at adapting a software product to different markets and cultures. Usually, the localization plan is detailed long before the product release, and the software development process takes this plan into account.

The core of the localization process is still the translation of text throughout an application. This includes the app’s interface, text on images and videos, and on any external resources, for example, PDF files or web pages that have links leading to them from within the app. This is the case, for example, when various documents, such as a user agreement or license, are presented as external files. This way, it is easier to amend them when necessary without extracting the required text from the application.

Cultural peculiarities are very important for localization. For example, this involves the support of different types of script, such as Latin, Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, and Japanese characters, and so on. Even the same language may still have large and small differences in various countries. They include spelling, the meaning of words, and other linguistic features created throughout the history of a particular language variant. Developers must also take these differences into account. That’s why, for example, Google Play supports seven variants of the English language, three variants of Chinese and Spanish, etc.

Another important element of localization is the choice of measurement units. Nowadays, the Metric system is generally adopted worldwide. However, three countries, including the USA, still officially use the Imperial system. Several states, such as Canada and India, occasionally use the Imperial system in certain contexts. For example, even though such countries adopted the metric system, inches are used there to measure the diameter of pizza, wheel rims, pipes and tubings, etc. This cultural feature may be important if a software product is targeted at those markets, especially in the case of online shopping or other retail apps.

If an app has audio speech resources, they may be localized as well. For most purposes, modern text-to-speech engines provide sufficient quality at a relatively low cost. Real voice recording is expensive, especially when it is performed by professional actors in specialized studios. Usually, only large development companies that release AAA-class mobile games, such as Activision Blizzard or miHoYo, have budgets for several voice-over language options. Their strategy is to offer users the best possible experience in their preferred language and maximize customers’ satisfaction that can lead to higher profits.

Localization also involves adapting software to those methods of payment and delivery services that are popular in the target region. For example, Mastercard, Visa, or Paypal may not be available in some countries, so an application must substitute them with local equivalents. The format of postal addresses also differs in many countries, which is important for retail applications.

And last but not least, in the case of mobile software, localization must include adapting software to the relevant requirements of Google Play and Apple Store. This process includes a translation of in-store titles, descriptions, and text on screenshots, adding keywords, and so on. If done properly, this will increase the ranking of the localized application, which will lead to more downloads.

Why It’s Important to Localize Your App for Different Markets

Localization is essential to make a software product available in its target markets. If a mobile application supports many languages, it can cover larger audiences, earning more money. Moreover, it offers a better user experience and makes it much more comfortable to use the application. And a handy application is likely to become preferred among users and gain a competitive advantage over rivals.

Additionally, a well-performed localization shows users that the owner of an app decided to adapt it specifically for them. This means the owner increased the app’s budget to improve the experience of potential users as a sign of respect, to acknowledge the importance of that audience. This way, potential customers feel that this particular software is targeted at them and its owner is interested in their appreciation and support.

Benefits of Mobile Application Localization for Businesses

Software localization is a reasonable investment that greatly improves the final product and offers valuable advantages. They can be presented as three main benefits:

• Ability to reach a wider audience.
• More market coverage.
• Better user experience.

Together, these perks lead to more downloads and higher user count. Better user involvement leads to more profits from sales, advertising, or other monetization strategies utilized by an app. If it is an enterprise-oriented application, localization may improve productivity and interactions between offices and branches of a multinational corporation.

Technical Aspects

Localization (often shortened to “L10n”) is more effective if it is planned in advance together with internationalization (i18n). Here, internationalization refers to designing a future application in such a way that allows easy adaptation to different languages. That is, i18n is the development approach that promotes the L10n of an application without engineering difficulties.

Software developers have to foresee the necessity of editing the localized resources after the release. So, they have to find a way to extract only the required part of those resources, such as one string of text or one image. Additionally, specialists need to implement the possibility of integrating new localized resources into the existing application in a fast and seamless manner.

Extracting the text is just a part of the process. To make localization easier and more effective, it is necessary to maintain the original structure in the extracted text. This way, the localizing specialists will be aware of the context throughout the translation process. This is especially true when the interface has a lot of options, dialogue windows, or separate text elements, such as labeled buttons.

If software has a lot of text, especially in the case of mobile games or educational apps, developers need to ensure the consistency of terminology. This means the same specialized term or a proper noun must have the same translation throughout the whole text. Otherwise, users will be confused, for example, if they notice that the same interface menu is referred to as “Options,” “Settings,” and “Preferences.” One of the most effective ways of working with terminology is the use of translation memories and termbases that are stored in the cloud.

Tips and Best Practices of Localization for Mobile Applications

Here are a few tips to consider before planning localization for your mobile application.

1. Research and select your target markets carefully. Extending the market coverage of a mobile application is tempting, but it is also costly and time-consuming. As a potential owner of a future mobile application, you need to devise its strategy. So, first of all, you have to decide whether you want to focus on one local market, several markets, or go global.
2. Choose languages for your software. Usually, those are the languages of your initial and potential target markets. If you intend to launch your mobile app globally, you should consider covering at least five or six most spoken languages: English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, French, and Arabic.
3. Prepare your software for localization. The ability to add localized resources must be provided by the design of an application. If this feature is implemented properly and in advance, it allows extending the market coverage of your mobile software even after its release.
4. Choose a mobile app localization service provider depending on the budget. The process of software localization has changed a lot over the past years. Nowadays, it involves far less manual labor and more automation of routine and time-consuming tasks. This includes analyzing the software design and determining the resources that must be localized. Then, specialists need to extract those resources carefully to preserve their structure. The localization may be performed by the development company that builds your software if it has a relevant team. Otherwise, it may be done by a separate company that specializes in localization services. Crowdin, Onesky, Trados, and POEditor are among the most popular translation providers these days.
5. Ensure the quality of localization. Quality assurance also applies to localization and should not be neglected. Translations should be approved by skilled editors and native speakers. The user experience of localized versions should be on the same level as in the original application.

Conclusion

Adapting software to different markets involves a lot of steps, so this brief article described just the tip of the iceberg. The process of localization is rather complex, even with the help of modern automated tools. It requires dedication and knowledge. It involves the hard work of translators, copywriters, editors, and other localization specialists.

To fully enjoy the benefits of mobile application localization, you need a competent team. Intellectsoft specializes in mobile development services and has experience in delivering software solutions for worldwide or local audiences. If you need a top-notch mobile application with the potential to go global or focus on a particular market, contact us.

The post Mobile App Localization: Definition, Advantages, Methods appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.