Characteristics of Mobile Application Development

In contrast traditional desktop applications, mobile apps demand service every month to provide an immersive user experience to valuable customers. Here is a list of challenges posed for top mobile app development companies while using Agile approach:

• Short life cycles
• Short development cycles
• Limited hardware
• Frequently changing user demands
• Must be easily updateable
• Must download quickly

All of these characteristics collectively bring more tension for top mobile app developers to carefully choose an approach which can reduce wastage of labour & time while bringing a sign a relief for both clients and development agencies. But how it would be made possible to build high-quality mobile apps across such mayhem around development approaches? The answer is Agile development.

What is Agile?

Agile application development is the approach of developing a product where the whole process is divided into a series of development cycles. In fact, when using Agile for mobile app development, the entire array of tasks is divided into multiple sub-tasks, each of which is a separate mini-project for the development team.

Assignments are distributed to the concerned team of experts as well as teams are also divided to follow the agile methodology. Each assignment is a piece of job and treated as a unit of an independent project. Under the influence of the agile approach, companies successfully reduce the scope of development risks, including errors to a great extent.

Agile applications development also accounts for regular communication within and between groups; constant interaction, both in project development environment and between customer and contractor. This means that if a customer or project leader suddenly raises new demands to the product, it bears virtually no effect on the time spent and app marketing. Changes that are commanded, as a result, are further assigned to one of the teams which do not slow down the project as a whole.

Why use Agile?

When choosing a development approach, it is equally important to understand the advantages. With the Agile methodology, below are the following qualities :

• Constant supply of valuable client software;
• Ability to make changes to the project and to put forward new demands to it at any stage of development (even before the release);
• Constant close contact between the customer and developers at all stages of the project;
• Regular delivery of the project’s software elements;
• Comfortable working conditions for both developers and the customer;
• Priority information exchange method is a personal conversation, which gives opportunities for all participants of the project;
• The main indicator of Agile implementation success is the high-quality working application;
• Developers, customers and sponsors have the opportunity to control and maintain a constant pace of work;
• Constant contact and control gives possibilities for permanent improvement of the product at the design stage;
• Usage of self-organizing teams to minimize the extra work;
• Self-organizing teams performing particular tasks, often give better results than a large team dedicated to everything at once;
• The presence of individual units that perform individual tasks is a guarantee of rapid adaptation to any new conditions to the project.

Developed and formulated in 2001, Agile Approach has been in use for 15 years to the day, during which it proved to be functional, effective and relevant. The method was used in the development of many projects, including most successful and well-known. Today, the Agile method is the basis of productivity in many prosperous IT companies.

How we follow Agile?

When we begin a mobile app development project at BrainMobi, we break down functional requirements into user stories, which then become the foundation of our app development schedule. We usually work within the framework of two-week sprint sets and iterate continuously until we reach substantial milestones on the mobile app. Sometimes this includes an incredibly large number of business requirements. We’ve worked on projects with as many as 3,500 requirements. Agile development makes it possible to break down all these requirements into smaller, manageable chunks.

Don’t forget to share your experience while using Agile Paradigm across your project in the comment section below.

Request a quote for your next Agile based mobile app development project: sales@brainmobi.com

The post What Is Agile Development for Mobile Apps appeared first on Mobile App Development | BrainMobi Blogs and News.

Before That we Will See, Why There is Actually a Need to Port iOS App to Android?

If we see the previous year statistics, we will find that there is a significant increase in the number of android users. More and more people are showing interest in Android devices, which resulted in huge investment in Android version of iOS apps. The owners of iOS apps are discovering that they are missing out on a large market, and it is must to port iOS app to android. It is better to focus more on freemium strategies and in-app purchases rather than making it a free app.

Android market is open to all and there is no restriction on what your app can do. This might affect how you want your android app to be designed. The app updates are almost instantaneous, which means there will be only a few users who are not satisfied with your app.

Things to Consider When Porting iOS to Android

You need significant adaption when porting iOS app to android. We recommend you not to use design tools that are intended for iOS. Most of the common app design tools provide iOS templates and you may think that they fit the android platform as well. However, one should know that porting iOS app to android will lead to conflicts between the ported app interface and design of the android device. There are many contradicting features between iOS and Android, such as – buttons, lists, tabs, date/time, widgets, navigation etc.

The next thing to consider is fragmentation that is derived from different screen resolutions. You should consider app’s data and graphics to be displayed both on small and large screens, considering vertical as well as horizontal layouts. Though you can ignore some of the older versions, you should consider 10% of screen resolution. Some of the popular versions of android system are – Ice-cream sandwich and android 2.X, KitKat, Jelly Bean, Lollipop and Marshmallow.

Android Design

Now, once you have decided to port an iOS app to android, you should consider thinking android design. The problem is that there are many iOS tools that have iOS templates and designers use them to design android apps. However, the designs conflict with the feel and look of the app. It will take a lot of effort and time to implement. Moreover, there are problem areas such as round buttons, tabs at the bottom, lists with right pointing arrows and so on.

To avoid these problems, the first thing you need to do is avoid using iOS design tools. Just use drawing tools such as Photoshop, Visio, Balamiq next etc. If you want to get a quick overview of android UI, you can check the official website of Android. Google also has created a page describing how to design for pure android app. 

Should you Adapt New UI?

With the changing algorithm of Google, it changes the way apps can be architected internally for smartphone and tablet layouts. Google provided compatibility library that allow the latest UI elements to run on new and old android devices without changing the look and feel of the app. When re-designing the app for android, you should focus on how the data and graphics will be displayed on screens of different sizes.

Google strongly recommends following the UI language known as “Material Design”. This will help android audience get familiarized with common UI. Material design has a few common UI elements that have better support for developers.

Read More: Mobile App Design Basics: Common UI/UX Mistakes to Avoid

How to Export Graphics?

Android has a different graphic asset and you need to adapt your app’s graphic assets for android. This means, you need to resize, export and name new files. It can be a bit easier than exporting assets for iOS. For instance, if you are exporting .png images, you should consider grouping the assets in different sizes 1X, 2X, 3X and 568h@2X. It would be a big headache to create precisely sized assets for each android device. Hence, the best solution is to scale assets to correct size for relevant device screen. This could be one of the reasons why graphic images on android are not as crisp and beautiful as they do in iOS.

Code Porting

The next thing to consider is the code porting, Check if it is possible to take objective-C or recompile it for android. The android apps use Java and if your iOS app uses Vanilla C, it is possible to reuse the same code for android. This is beneficial for porting complex libraries as well as to enhance the performance of the app.

Some mobile app developers make the mistake of sharingembedded UI designs into the app. Sometimes, the specificationsinclude UIs that gather information to be sent to social networking apps. There is no need of such sharing for android apps. Instead, mobile app developers should consider using action_send intends to other social networking apps.  This means users should be able to share to other apps and there is no need to write a separate code against server-side sharing APIs.

In short, it is essential to consider which characteristics of your product are time-sensitive and use the programming tactics accordingly.

How Long Does it Take to Port?

Since the app has already been developed for iOS, it will not take much time to port to android. Though porting seems to be a straight forward process, it is not quick. The time to complete the porting process will depend on the complexity of the app and selection of supporting devices. Device inconsistency will create surprise for the mobile app developer, and hence even a small change will mean additional time for porting. Different devices use different hardware components which causes your device to interact with OS and hardware in an unexpected way.

How to Submit the Ported App at Play Store?

Once the app is ported successfully to Android, it should be submitted to Play Store in the similar way it is submitted to iTunes. You need to provide screenshots, regions, ratings and other details about the app to the developer. Go through the guidelines of submitting the app to Play Store. Google will review your app and approve or reject it on the same day.

Conclusion

There are many mobile app developers who have huge experience of porting iOS app to android. To bring amazing results, the template for app porting should have – adaptation plan formula, UX testing, source app business logic analysis, proper coding & testing, etc.

At BrainMobi, we have ported several apps from iOS to android and have huge experience in android and iOS development. The porting process can be a smooth sailing, if you understand how to prepare the assets for Android before you start!!

The post How to Port a Mobile App from iOS to Android appeared first on Mobile App Development | BrainMobi Blogs and News.

As there are several top rated developers with a well-renowned array of services, you would be surely left in the midst with head full of confusion. “How to choose ?” and “What to look out for ?” are some of the questions with much potential to pile up more confusion.

In this blog post, we have tried to rack out some important points to help you battle out the confusion around choosing the best app developers. Every point has its own significance while app development and contributes to great work collaboration. Let’s swing through the points:

• Understand the basics

Jot down all the queries you come across while going through A-Z  of app making. Take help from Google to clear all the surrounding drama to build a successful app. This point brings out the maximum from either team in the form of exemplary work. A unique idea with strong base leads to better work collaboration as compared to unclear ideas.  In the history of mobile app development, we have always witnessed a strong inclination towards stroke of innovation. 

• Set a ballpark budget

Choose a team that agrees to deliver under your terms and conditions when you are looking forward to debut as an Entrepreneur. A development team that offers services with expected quality and with financial bandwidth would be a good choice. Taking this step right will help you attain peace at financial front. Once price costing is fixed, all your focus can be solely concentrated over the execution part.

• Identify the services that you need

Before hovering over a team for services to process your idea, be sure of what you want, why you want it and how you want it. A good R&D on market trends will surely help you to grasp a good hold on building a strong project configuration. Answers to the above questions will surely turn your collaboration journey into a cakewalk.

Need help to decide the best of services you should implement in your app?

Get in touch with us for hassle free app development services at your price.  

• Evaluate their talent and experience

Once the coast is clear at budget and services front, peep into the developer’s work and a list of their associated clients. Client feedback could also help you to gain a good insight into one’s work ethics and professionalism. Make sure to thoroughly evaluate those projects with your interest of work. Give preference to the development company that passes the evaluation with flying colours. The company website, Portfolio, client feedback and rating etc are some of the sources to squeeze out required details.

• Consider the Work Logistics

Your compatibility with the chosen app development team in terms of execution style also holds great importance. Interview each member separately to rate their work style and process in accordance to yours. Skillset compatibility helps to accelerate the whole process with amazing results. Possibilities are maximum that teams which share technical compatibility end up collaborating on more than one project. To head with that perspective, underline this point to get hold of a strong partnership.

• Zombies VS Ninjas

A team which adds valuable inputs & drive the whole development process to another level is one of the several quality you should look out for. Prefer to choose agile processors that deliver much more than you expect. This quality only reflects in people with good work experience and never give up attitude.

          Tip: PingPong lovers deliver more agile and spontaneous work. 

• Maintenance and Support

Both Developer and Client team generally ignore this term. But product maintenance is as important as any other parameter. Many times it brings quarrel across the whole collaboration just by missing the discussion. To avoid any conflicts at the end, it’s recommended to go through support clause at length before signing on the dotted line.

Still not sure? Give us a chance to understand your requirements and deliver at par excellence while developing your app. Our app & web developers are well versed in working with latest technologies and process user-friendly mobile architecture.

Drop us a hint: sales@brainmobi.com

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