A number of choices exist when it is about platforms available for your customer or enterprise mobile application development. However, the one which is the best suitable can be figured out need a lot of consideration. A Mobile App can be divided broadly into 3 types, the highly functional native apps, the newer HTML 5 software dominated apps for developing cross platform app versions and lastly, the Hybrid apps which have the combination of positives from both native and HTML 5.

Mobile platforms like Apple iOS and Android share a larger chunk of the demand over other OS’s like Blackberry in recent times.  Now, each platform comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Some have the ability to lower the development cost of the apps while some have the tools that will ensure a dynamic presentation. Depending on your purpose, one must choose a platform that enables high performance with limited issues.

Whenever a business enterprise is trying to make a mark in the online world using mobile applications, there are a number of considerations and aspects which need to be put under the lens. Here are the key points to focus on.

1.     Select Maximum Engaging platform

It is important to know which is the most used platform used by your target audience. Each of Android and iOS has a highly segregated user base.  If you are looking to connect with young high level executives, iOS would be the way to go. However, if you are looking to address the mass the in general, Android has a better penetration. By the last quarter of 2015, Android dominated the market with an 82.8% share while iOS shipped only 47.5 million devices.

2.     Digging into technicalities and deciding software’s which can aid business needs

There a lot of technicalities which needs to be identified when selecting the software for the app development.  If you require a cross-platform app but with the efficiency and functionality of native apps, hybrid apps would be the solution. For example, selecting palm OS can be a bad idea in case the businesses requires the application to be run in the background. IPhone OS can help protect the memory and the Symbian in Android enables memory warning callbacks.  Hence, depending on the needs, the OS must be selected.

3.     Ease of development and maintenance

Hybrid apps and HTML 5 are easy to script and maintain compared to the native apps. On the other hand, native apps need the best features to be installed, including faster downloading graphics, camera, GPS and several others. Further, native apps require the application of appropriate languages and coding to work for a particular platform.

4.     Cost considerations

When it comes to the financial aspects in app development, the native apps are costliest to develop. Consequently, iOS developers earn the highest amount of money in making their apps. The debugging, prototyping and various app design processes involve a comparatively lower amount of financial investment especially in cross-platform OS like HTML 5 over the native apps on some of the platforms.

5.     Futuristic prospects

We already know that Apple has been trying hard to save its market. In the second quarter of 2015, its market share dropped by 22.3% but it still was able to save its popularity, thanks to bigger screen devices. Depending upon the business you are in, there is a need to research about the market trends and the devices that your demographics prefer.

As obvious, the selection of the perfect mobile development platform depends upon the nature of the audience and the business to be delivered from it. The choice requires through analytics and understanding both the market and the available app development platforms.

The world is becoming more and more addicted to Smartphones. The variety of unique applications racking up on our devices proves how quickly we are getting hooked onto the technological revolution. User engagement levels are also up and surging like never before, be it about fitness or shopping from the convenience of your home. 5 major developments dominating the scene currently include:

1.     Internet of things leading to creation of apps with an edge

The network connections to a multitude of objects like wearable technology have surged in the modern times. Powered by IoT, wearable technology will grow from a $20 billion market in 2015 to a $70 billion industry by 2025. This has made it necessary for the mobile apps to keep pace with this towering trend. The outstretching imaginations are leading to more and more innovative apps which are beneficial for both commercial and industrial usage.  The smart sensors in the apps will alert and perform a number of useful functions.

2.     Beacon technology- a big leap from the native technology

All iOS users can now get alerts from even the dormant retail store apps as these are woken up by the beacon technology. Whenever customers are physically inside a store, the beacon allows identifying the exact location. If the customer is standing in the jeans section, the message is immediately received by the store app which alerts the customers regarding the discounts on the needed product. This technology is the new profit racking instrument for retailer and the trend will continue into the future.

3.     Craze for building mobile videos in Enterprise Apps

More and more enterprises have sprung up to take advantage of the growing trend in app usage on smaller screen. Hence these apps are leading to excessive profit making for the enterprises. Creative mobile videos have become an important tool for brands and enterprises to reach out. These video ads are no more just meant for the websites; but to directly target customer’s attention clearly on the mobile screens.  The enterprise video market will in fact grow to a $36.84 million industry by 2020. The companies are increasingly seen using multimedia site apps to project their videos ads so as to successfully propagate its image.

4.     The cloud app integration

Millions of apps that have mushroomed on various platforms are becoming very more user friendly with the integration of cloud.  Larger mobile apps are now able to fit in as a small subset of the bigger space, bandwidth and memory availability in the cloud network.

5.     Secured apps are a cut above the rest

The security of the apps has become a serious agenda for all kinds of applications, old and new. Serious competition among brands and businesses has led the need to address any security concerns in the apps at the earliest. While there are about 4 million apps in the major app stores, 75% of them would fall short of passing the basic security tests.  This is directly linked to the credibility of a business and isn’t a thing that can be taken lightly. Developers are thus continuously preparing and updating themselves to meet the expectations.

Mobiles and more specifically smart devices hold our future. As we roll into 2016, smartphones will become the change-bearers.

There are a lot of options these days for companies to engage with various audiences through mobile technology. As they seek to stand out from the masses, these companies are continually looking for innovative solutions that go beyond the norm, or expected, to drive interest and engagement.

That’s where GoodWorkLabs comes in. GoodWorkLabs is a leading new-age software and design lab that delivers cutting-edge products and solutions for a growing list of global clients. The firm specializes in outsourced product development, high-end mobile/gaming apps and custom software development.

Mobile app development is highly in demand these days, and many companies are emerging to meet that demand. So many, that it can be challenging for businesses to determine which offer the best, and most reliable app developers. That’s where Clutch comes in. Clutch is a Washington, DC-based analyst firm that identifies top services providers in mobile and web development. Using a proprietary framework, the Leaders Matrix, Clutch maps firms’ focus areas and ability to deliver on client expectations.

Clutch is committed to identifying the leaders in a variety of industries, such as software development, advertising and marketing, web and mobile app development and IT consulting. GoodWorkLabs is on their radar screen. The firm has been selected by Clutch as a company to provide as a “firm that delivers.”

Our profile offers potential customers a thorough summary of our services, including detailed charts showing prospective clients which industries we serve, a list of some of our clients, and a sense of what it’s like to work with us. As we move forward our profile will be augmented by the inclusion of customer testimonials to offer an even more realistic feel for what we can do.

Our name says it all: we’re GoodWorkLabs and we do good work! But don’t just take our word for it. One of the most important features of our profile is the client reviews section. What’s unique about the reviews is that Clutch actually reaches out and interviews our clients over the phone. This allows our clients to give unbiased feedback about our products and services. While this feat might make some business owners nervous, we welcome the unbiased reviews, as it’s the only way we can truly know how we’re doing. We want to constantly be evaluating and improving our services, and these interviews allow us to do that. As of right now, we have a 4.8-star rating, so we’re feeling pretty confident about our ability to meet our clients’ needs.

The client testimonials which accompany the review section are crucial in giving potential clients a glimpse into what it’s like to work with us. One of our valued clients, the CEO of Audetemi, a mobile development company said: “GoodWorkLabs did a good job of designing the user experience…I would say their attention to detail is what sets them aside. They insisted on coming up with a design of their own before discussing my ideas.”

Another client, the founder of ID Verify Wizard, a fraud prevention company, said: “One of the things that stood out for me was their level of service and approach to the customer’s need. GoodWorkLabs is focused on what has to be done.”

We couldn’t be more pleased with our profile, and our relationship with Clutch. If you haven’t already, we invite you to check out our Clutch profile, and let us know your thoughts!

Ask people what they want to do, and most of them will end up using terms like ‘business’, ‘start-ups’, ‘entrepreneur’, etc. So, what exactly is required to have a profitable business, an idea? True, but just an idea isn’t sufficient. There’s a lot more that is essential including effective outreach methodologies, publicity and revenues for the organization to survive in the competitive world.

With the growing popularity of smartphones, many companies have started investing in mobile advertising by creating mobile application software (app). This technique, without a doubt, makes the app visible to a wider audience, but visibility doesn’t guarantee returns; ‘download’ is the keyword. Interestingly, only 2% of the app developers claim 54% of all app revenues. Today, we look at6smart app monetization techniques to ensure that the app remains a profitable product for your agency

1. In-app Advertising

In this kind of app monetization model, the download happens for free. The goal, here, is to create large user database, after which the information gets sorted, and app publishers pay the developer to publish targeted ads. This technique is widely used because, well, who doesn’t like things for free.

2. Freemium

This android app monetization technique offers the customer to ‘use and try’ services before selling. There’s no download cost, however, only limited features are provided on download, i.e. some features are gated. The aim is to accumulate and engage app users until they are convinced to pay for the upgrade and enjoy all features.

3. In-app purchase

The in-app purchase monetization method works like a super-market where many companies showcase their products and on any physical or virtual goods purchase, some percentage of profit is given to the app developer. The catch remains in the fact that the users save a lot of their time and easily get what they want.

4. Paid Apps

This android app monetization technique generates direct income from the user. In order to download the app, the user needs to pay the mentioned amount. However, with this technique, it is essential that the entire app experience is creatively designed to arouse the interest of people and compel them into purchasing.

5. Paywalls (Subscriptions)

Paywall is similar to the freemium model, however, here, instead of the features, the content is gated. The users are allowed to see predetermined amount of content and need to pay to get full access over the information. This iOS app monetization method allows the user to not just ‘judge the book by its cover’, but also experiment with it.

6. App Promotion and localization

App Promotion refers to using various social interfaces as a platform to sell the app, whereas localization refers to extending the app’s reach across borders and monetize international traffic by offering region-specific content. This iOS app monetization technique is rather indirect but very useful, as you can either increase the cost or the customers.

The above techniques are one of the many ways to survive in the mobile advertising world; an app developer can actually customize and use a combination of them to create a successful business. Now, that’s what we call more than just an ‘idea’!

Mobile Applications In The Tourism Industry

The travel and tourism is a huge 6.3 trillion dollar industry according to the 2015 statistics. A huge part of this success has been played by mobile apps. As the partnership between the tourism industry and technology grows, both of them have earned several grand slams and many more are on the way. The days of guidebooks, compasses, maps and other printed stuff have been replaced by travel apps that come loaded with functionalities.

Smartphones make it more portable to carry all the resources you need to have along your travel expeditions. Demographic statistics suggest that travel and tourism are the 7^th most downloaded app category. 60% of the global smart phone users have downloaded some kind of travel app into their devices and 45% in this group use these apps regularly to plan their holiday and travels using their mobile.

From the above facts, it can be comfortably held that the tourism industry might as well fail without smartphones and mobile apps. Knowledgeable travel companies have come to know that mobile applications are the only way to optimize and extract the expected ROI.

Travel companies that have been able to make a strong app presence have been better able to reach out to customers who is the truest sense would be “mobile”. If you are in a tourism business or planning to invest into one, it’s imperative that you should make this technology investment. Mobile apps that integrate user friendliness and other rich functionalities are more likely to attract the crowd than the travel agencies that wok through just a single brick and mortar shop. This extends to all kind of tourism business including travel packages, guided tours, car rentals, hotel bookings, ticketing, F&B, and everything else.

Founded by Deep Kalra in the year 2000 in US and then extended in India in 2005, MakeMyTrip is the largest online travel company in India and is second largest most visited travel website after IRCTC.  MakeMyTrip is a well-known name for providing services in luxurious tours and hotel booking websites. The company has branched after its inception through a series of small acquisitions.

Within the highly competitive travel industry, having the flexibility to innovate is critical in meeting growing demands of consumers moving online to research and purchase travel products. With fluctuations in travel prices from suppliers impacting revenue, MakeMyTrip needed to maximize its margins by running efficient IT infrastructure. Year after year, MakeMyTrip has been able to capture a bigger market share through its efficient mobile application and some innovative marketing campaigns. Its revenue generation is on a steady 30% rise annually after it launched its mobile application and renewed its servers.

It is just one of the examples where mobility has given the advantage to a travel & tourism company. With mobile users increasing on a daily basis, the only way to reach out to them is to be on their mobile. Building an app with robust features and security is the only way forward in today’s era.

Get in touch with a developer / app development agency that has enough experience building mobile applications. This is an era where success doesn’t come just with hard work but smart work.

Mobile apps and app marketing is one of the guiding tools to success in the present world. 

In today’s frantic technology driven world, mobile app have created a strong niche in a short span of time. When 25% of international media and marketing executives view mobile as the most disruptive force in their industry ¹, it is time to sit up and take notice Having a small business app developed for its service/product offerings could help give emerging and nascent businesses a solid platform to chart the growth map by capturing the formidable mobile audience.

The need for such apps is further corroborated by the fact that by end of 2014, mobile usage is predicted to overtake desktop usage ². Having said that it is essential to know what features can help in sustained interaction and engagement that will in turn help close sales and earn business through the mobile. Today let us have a glimpse at some of the must-have features which could tip the scales in your favor:

1. Seamless Social Media Integration:

Before everything else, this clearly is the need of the hour! We are living in a world of social media boom. You simply cannot undermine the importance of this aspect. Having mobile apps and social media business pages separately proves cumbersome for smooth management and increases abandonment rate. Hence, business apps need to be seamlessly combined with the respective social media profiles.

2. Location Based Services:

You can employ this strategy to give your company increased chances of business from mobile users in the vicinity. You can showcase your outreach with the help of location check-ins. Moreover, you can optimize customer satisfaction by giving them area specific offers, discounts, and special prices.

3. Customizability:

In a world of mobile revolution, people have gained heightened app sensitivity. That’s right! Users want their apps to represent their preferences, tastes, hobbies and likes. They need the power of customization. Changes like appearance modifications, notification settings, saving personal information and managing order history need to be incorporated within the app for best results.

4. Simplicity:

Apps with simple yet enticing interface and navigability will promote ease of understanding, improved readability, and seamless internal mobility. Too many advertisements and offers can act as deal breakers. ‘Minimalistic’ is the new buzzwords adopted by leading players such as Apple to great effect.

5. Payment Processing Methods:

Make sure that your customers have access to single button payment features [Credit cards, bank transfers, online banking, etc.] so you never get to miss ever a single business sale due to cart abandonment or long-winding checkout process.

6. Timely yet Relevant Communication:

Push emails and push messages optimize customer communication by a significant margin. Users will appreciate getting to know about new offers, deals, discounts or early bird rewards that will sweeten their online purchase.

7. Monetary Management:

Take care to have a robust and secure gateway and backend to –

• Integrate Bank Accounts
• Monitor payments and sales
• Manage payroll and orders anytime, anywhere
• Track Invoices

8. Shipping and Delivery Management:

Allow your precious customers to get real time updates regarding the whereabouts of their package information once the payment has been done. Keeping them informed about the status of delivery till the time it reaches them instill a sense of confidence in customers’ minds – a factor that possesses a great recall value.

9. Comprehensive Feedback System:

Give your users the power to communicate with you directly or indirectly via comments, periodical surveys, FAQs, discussion forums and forms. Getting a chance to review and post feedback provides further impetus to customers to try out your business app again as they know that their comments are being acted upon.

1 – As appearing in http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/mobile-applications/8-statistics-every-business-should-know-about-mobile-0363048

2- http://www.convinceandconvert.com/mobile/7-mobile-marketing-stats-that-will-blow-your-mind/

Let’s begin with a simple definition of what Cross Platform Mobile Development is. It is a manner of writing single codebase for applications, which could be used on different operating systems. It is a known fact how difficult Multi-Platform Mobile App Formatting can be. Each platform functions differently and is unique in its own way. However, one could say that Cross-platform apps are the “in-thing” today. So as a developer, it is essential to develop best cross-formatted apps. Fortunately, there are some really good Cross Platform Mobile Development tools / platforms / frameworks in the market today (they have for sure evolved quite a bit). We bring to you the Top 5.

#1 – PhoneGap

PhoneGap is an award-winning Mobile Development Cross Platform that is capable of creating applications for Symbian, Android, Blackberry, Palm, iOS (iPhone and iPads) and Windows. These developers write their applications based on web shortcuts such as JavaScript, HTML, and CSS3. It is also open source and free, so there are no licensing costs. PhoneGap works systematically, and provides developers an easy access to hardware components. Like the accelerometer, camera, sound, GPS tracker and many more which are quite advanced in nature. In addition, PhoneGaps also conducts training to developers for free who are willing to make it big in this industry.

#2 – Appcelerator

Appcelerator creates Cross Platform Mobile Apps through Web Programming languages such as PHP, JavaScript, HTML, Python and Ruby. One of the best things about Appcelerator is that it provides its users with more than 300 API’s and location information to access easily. It is known to power over 1000 native apps in a month. For the 3rd Party Components, it provides value-adds such as Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS), app analytics and a marketplace.

#3 – Sencha Touch

Sencha Touch as a Cross Platform Mobile Development tool is a HTML5 mobile application framework for iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry. Sencha Touch can be used to develop UI’s for mobile web applications that have a look and feel like those of native applications on the supported mobile devices.

#4 – Whoop

This is a very interesting tool for Cross Platform Mobile Development. Whoop claims that they are “the one-stop mobile app publishing platform for non-developers.” They state that they are suitable for even non developers. This is considered one of the best ways to go for beginners in Mobile Development. Although, there is an ease in its use, it does not possess many important requirements for the latest features on hardware. It consists of a WYSIWYG interface which allows the developers to easily drop app elements to attain the desired result.

#5 – MoSync

MoSync is an advanced SDK for Cross Platform Mobile Development. This SDK provides the developers with many useful tools such as runtimes, libraries, integrated compilers and more. It includes Eclipse based IDE and supports C/C++, PHP, Python, Ruby, JavaScript, and Java. MoSync supports OS’ such as Android, Windows Mobile, Moblin, Symbian, Mobile Linux distro. The release of MoSync 2.4, will allow support for iPhone OS and BlackBerry.

#6 – RhoMobile

It offers Rhodes, an open source integrated framework based on Ruby. This is basically used to develop applications that can be used on several other mobile OS’. It allows native applications to be developed for Symbian, Android, Windows Mobile, iOS and RIM. RhoMobile provides a framework, which needs the developer to just code once. This same code can be used to develop apps for different OS’.

Cross Platform Mobile Development tools are in huge demand today. We hope these are able to help you in developing an awesome app!

For consultation and development of cross platform mobile apps, connect with GoodWorkLabs, the experts in cross platform mobile and HTML5 development.

“You put water into a cup it becomes the cup,

You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle.”

A responsive website is something like water. It can take the shape and size of the device you are visiting it on.  It also helps you stand out from the crowd. Times have changed and more people are online from their mobile devices or tabs. Hence, it has become a necessity to have a Responsive Web design that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere and on any device without an issue. There are several advantages of having a Responsive Website, but we list you the Top 4.

#1 – Because Google says so!

Google is the God of all search engines and we are sure you want to get a high rank here. And, guess what Google loves? Responsive Websites. They feel this is the best Industry practice that you can follow. A Responsive Web Design has the same URL and the same HTML no matter which device you use. This makes it easier for them to index and organize the content. This is basically very user friendly as all the content is available on one website and on one URL. This makes for easy browsing and sharing.

#2 – SEO is the last word

SEO is the last word for websites in the current scenario. If you have a good SEO strategy that usually assures that your website gets a higher rank on the various search engines. Having one website means having one set of hyperlinks. This reduces the hassles of maintaining the website and helps in focusing on how to increase the reach with a consolidated Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. It is not economically viable to have different SEO campaigns for different devices. With a Responsive Website the focus then narrows down to just one link. Thus, making strategies and tactics for every device easier and SEO effective.

#3 –   Let’s Save

Needless to say, that adopting Responsive Web Design to your website would lead you to saving a lot of time and more importantly money. By testing the development, support and maintenance across a number of websites, the overhead charges increase. This can easily be avoided by maintaining a single responsive site, as there will be less content to manage. This also means the high bounce rate, which mobile websites usually face, can be combated. Less bounce rates mean more footfall on the website, which obviously means more out of less investment.

Also, for businesses and individuals who don’t have a need to create and publish a mobile app on the app stores (be it iOS, Android or Windows), responsive websites save a ton of money because you also cater to your users on mobile through a good website that can be optimally used on phone or tablet screen through the browser.

#4 –   Be in the loop

Responsive Website is the most ‘in’ thing and a necessity today in order to flourish your online business. With the growing number of mobile phone and tablet users, soon all websites will have to have a Responsive Web Design in order to sustain. Since the new trend of online shopping has completely taken over, not having a Responsive Website would end up with you losing customers or users. Also, remember, not everyone would like to download your app due to a variety of reasons (hassle of downloading, the bandwidth issues, the memory the apps eat away, etc.). So responsive websites then are a must.

We strongly feel, that a Responsive Website is the key to expand and make your online business a success. It not only makes managing the SEO strategy, but also provides a great user experience across any device.

Want to build your responsive website? GoodWorkLabs specialises in building beautiful responsive websites with great user experience. Contact us today.