What could be the best methods for wireframing iOS apps

Wireframing is a critical step into realizing any potential application idea to reality. Mobile app developers are in constant search for tools that create wireframes for applications with minimal efforts. There are various methods and tools by which one can create wireframes. And the category is basically determined by the nature of the user creating the wire frame.

Wireframes may be created by either an artist or the person who is coming up with an app idea of his own. Fundamentally wireframes have been associated with professionals who are on the creation part but recently many mobile applications have sprung up that provides an opportunity for the general user to create their own wireframe for the mobile apps they would like to create.

Wireframe tools designers. There are various tools to create wireframes for mobile applications. It depends on the comfort of the designer. He may use Photoshop, coraldraw or illustrator to create the wireframe according to his convenience. Most of the expert designers who like to create everything from scratch, like this method. However, there are other tools for computers that could do the same task with ease. These software are pre loaded with options that might reduce the flexibility working with a basic tool such as illustrator. But on the other hand it makes the task simpler and easy for designers to create the wireframes quickly. See some of the tools for designers to create wireframes on computer. http://mashable.com/2010/07/15/wireframing-tools/

While designers create their stuff on conventional tools most of the time, app owners also need tools that can allow them to create quick wireframes. An app owner can be an ameture when it comes to designing aspects and designing tools altogether. Hence, It is better for them if they can create the wireframe on the mobile device itself with a perfect visual approximation.

However, these tools are also helpful for designers as they allow them to create navigations as it is conceptualized. Some of the apps in this category are app cooker, Kynotopia, pop app etc.

Wire framing is an important thing in the SDLC of a mobile application and it not restrained till the designers only. It has evolved as a two way process benefiting the mobile app developers and the app owners at the same time.

Understanding the Apple's math equation : App Stores algorithms

Apple is all about user experience. User experience has remained at the core of the company that made it the best consumer brand in the word. Continuing its legacy, Apple is trying to do the same with app stores as well coz it is now focused on giving their users the best application with respect to any keyword typed in iTunes. The math is as simple as that. Your application must be the best among all and you could top the charts. But how does apple determine that and how is app store optimization helps?

Number of installs is not the deciding factor-

Yes, it is true to think that number of install has direct influence on the ranking but the latest change in app rankings in iTunes suggest that a larger influence has been placed upon the rating that users have given to an app. For example, for any given keyword if there are two application with similar functionalities and have same number of reviews. The one with more 5 stars would get the top slot. It simply means that the highest rated apps have more chances of making at the top. Even if there are substantial difference in the total number of ratings obtained, the one with higher average rating is bound to get a higher ranking than the rest of the apps in the competition.

However the algorithm is also considerate of a minimum base rating that an app must carry in order to appear in the list among other popular apps. Ask any iPhone app development company and they will ultimately tell you that the app is the only thing that can make itself work in the end.

A changed attitude

This is again derived from the idea of giving the most appropriate and the best app to the user. Earlier keywords such as gasoline or car tyre would have landed you to a  popular game app but now they are most likely to land you to apps that can find gas stations or tyre repair shops etc. This eliminates the possibility of a biased app suggestions of popular apps and presents all the categories to the users evenly.

App store optimization practices has positive effects on iTunes but note that the ultimate ranking will be decided by the number of good or bad ratings. Even if your app has half the ratings compared to your competitor app, it might show up in the top slot.

Will apple's new mobile wallet passbook jolt other mobile wallets

The digital wallet war is all around the tech industry and everyone has been putting their bet on digital currency transaction. There are various ways one can transact through digital wallets but a quick comparison would reveal that Apple’s passbook steals the show here. Apple and google stand as the heavyweight in the digital transaction space but Apple has various advantages when it comes to Passbook.

Unlike relying on NFC, Passbook lets you use your passes based on location based services. Google’s wallet is suffering with this huge drawback that does not allow users to go beyond the NFC technology. Most of the stores or places where wallet can be used does not have the supporting infrastructure to carry on with the transactions. The NFC technology has kept many innovations on halt when it comes to the smartphone manufacturers too. The technology is revolutionary but has remained broken till now. There has been a lot written about the dormant development on NFC and there is not much happening in there right now. Although mobile app developers are very keen to utilize this feature in the coming times, it has remained broken till date.

On the other hand Apple’s Passbook relies simply on the location of the user. It requires a lot less of an effort to transact through passbook. Unlike NFC, passbook relies on geo location based services and provides suggestions to the user. For example, if a user is passing by a starbucks outlet, their geolocation would alert the application to provide them with a notification. The user can immediately decide to visit the coffee shop and buy stuff with Passbook. This looks more natural than the way NFC devices work. The application also allows user to redeem the passes without unlocking the screen.

Digital transaction is really posed as a potential segment that would see a lot of investment in the coming times. It will be interesting to see whether the industry goes the apple way as and accepts Passbook’s way of working as a standardised norm or comes up with something better.

What are the best things making iOS shine over android?

iOS and Android have traveled a long distance to become the dominant operating systems in the market today. There are advantages that both bring to their respective users. While android remains a more flexible OS with respect to customization and appearance, iOS scores over many features that android does not provide. However, seasoned iPhone app development companies cite two basic advantages that makes it superior to android.

1. Consistency of the OS

2. Better tools for enterprise segment

Consistency of the OS:

One of the major advantages of Apple mobile devices is their consistency. Unlike an android app development expert who goes through app compatibility nightmares, iPhone app development on the other hand are much comfortable. There is consistency among all the devices and it does not take much of a work to turn an iPhone app to an iPad application. The third party APIs also work well with iOS and creates fewer glitches. There is no abnormal drainage of battery or other similar problems. This is one of the reasons iPhone app development companies love the device as it provides consistent experience.

Better tools for addressing the challenges of enterprise mobile:

After delving and exploiting many areas, the iPhone is finally looking into enterprise mobile data management as a potential area where the company can grow and add value to the businesses. In iOS7, Apple provided some simple yet highly effective solutions for separate enterprise data management. These days when users are increasingly bringing their own device to work, it has become important to manage both corporate and personal data separately. Features like per app VPN, Open in management, single sign-in credential for all enterprise apps etc. Android lacks behind by ages  when we compare these features with iOS.

There are advantages with both operating systems but considering stability, iOS looks much better than android.

What mobile app do people want that doesn't exist yet ?

Each one of us at some point of time must have experienced the advantages of using an app and would have felt blessed while indulging in those unique offerings. It was in the year 2008 when Apple launched its App store, allowing the term ‘App’ to become a global word that eventually was listed as the “Word of the Year” in the year 2010 by the American Dialect Society. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that it is the mere existence of these billions of apps that keeps the smartphones and tablets going. 

Does the presence of billions of applications lower down the possibility of launching new apps derived from out of the box concepts that can serve the needful to the users? Certainly not, as a forecast by the International Data Corporation (IDC) in 2010 reveal, the market for mobile applications will continue to accelerate as the number of downloaded apps is expected to increase to 76.9 billion in 2014. The scenario is such that a large mass is waiting to gulp down more and more realistic apps and this creates an alarming opportunity for the Mobile App Developers and widens the scope of mobile app store marketing altogether.

Here, we have come up with 5 app ideas that are yet not explored but can make a whole lot of difference once developed as a realistic app.

A reminder App that tracks your habits:  It is high time for the app developers to delegate ideas into strategies to generate an intelligent app that can keep a track of your daily rituals. Once it is familiar with your routine and learns your habits, it should serve the facility of reminding your schedule.

An App that save your time: It sounds amazing isn’t it? It would feel even better when experienced. How about congregating an app that can help you in finishing up your tasks which would indirectly save your time. Then it would be even more satisfying to utilize those hours in doing other productive work.

The “Free Download App’: This app is certainly a dream come true. There is a definite requirement of creating an app that would let you download music directly into your music library, and all you would need to do is to click on a single button. Life would be easier and people would be happier.

App that lets you connect with God: Sounds crazy? Well, let us come to the point. Morgan Freeman is widely popular for his God like voice which is considered to be the most magical voices of all time. It wouldn’t get better if an app would navigate you to an unfamiliar place in ‘his’ voice. Ah! ecstasy.

Now you know what the app stores are missing out on; wait no more and create those apps in real with the assistance of mobile app development services offered by Openxcell Technolabs. The company also offers foremost Mobile Application Optimization and App Promotion Service. OpenXcell Technolabs is a trusted mobile app development company and holds the prestigious ISO 9001:2008 certification and also a member of NASSCOM.

Image Source:-weevermedia.com

Is Samsung thinking to replace Android with Tizen?

Samsung has remained as the biggest player in the android ecosystem and has sold more smartphones than Apple making android app development valuable . But despite that Apple’s own ecosystem has been able to put a large pile of money directly into its pocket and that is something samsung has always wished it had too. The company made an attempt during the initial stages of the touch phone era but failed with BADA. Now it is again contemplating in the same line and planning a brand new operating system called Tizen. Tizen is a joint venture that includes many companies but samsung is the one that has funded and leading the steering committee. So where does Tizen goes? Can it become another successful operating system?

The answer is obviously, NO. Everybody knows that the touch screen operating system is already saturated. Even if we consider windows phone OS that entered late into the market is still struggling to attract a considerable userbase as compared to iOS and Android. One of the basic principles with software is adaptation. iOS and android has been able to do that concentrating upon differing strata and demographics. But at the same time, windows could not offer anything special as compared to android and iPhone. While tech experts liked lumia devices for its superior hardware and fluid UI, its limited success says it is not easy for a user to leave an ecosystem and join another when the perceived benefits are not not apparent. People will not simply change their ecosystem for rotating tiles.

Yes it is agreed that windows might have better security and enterprise features but then in a world where casual smartphone still dominates, the perceived value of these offered features and services have not been able to win many users. If samsung comes out with tizen will it be able to dodge these circumstances and offer something unique? Will it be able to converge the huge tema of android app development experts towards tizen? Is it more about the enterprise based mobile operating system that the market has not yet seen? If not it better come out with something substantial that can differentiate its platform from android and iOS which have undergone a lot of evolution and hence the most stable too.

The incomplete story of knox

Knox did not really take off to become a significant enterprise mobile security solution. Read more!

Knox has been around for quite a while which is one of the prominent mobile security solution based on android. Recently Apple has added a number of enterprise features that are brilliantly done and looks promising for the future. But on the other end Knox was out before Apple published their enterprise features with iOS7. Knox has been able to generate a lot of attention for android app developers and the enterprise market. However, till date the knox ecosystem has not really expanded on a considerable scale. There are various reasons for it.

One of the most important factor that lead to a limited distribution of Knox is the direct control of carriers to enable the service or not. This creates a significant threshold for both enterprise and users to have the service at their convenience. On to is the carriers would also determine the devices that would be allowed to run Knox. Till date only a handful of samsung devices have been added into the list and samsung is not the only android smartphone seller in the market. There are other seller in the market too and this creates an asymmetry and unwillingness for corporations and service providers.

In addition to this one cannot simply employ the EAS protocol to run the show here. Knox requires its own mobile server and that does not come for free. One has to pay for every device connected to the system. Moreover most of the MDMs have not really teamed up with samsung which indicates a serious activity in this direction.

The problem increased since last fiscal as samsung did not register an enthusiastic growth. While in the US it lost the race to apple this year, in countries like india, local brands along with Sony and HTC have taken a considerable part of the market. In such a scenario, knox cannot fill up samsung’s pocket alone. But on the other hand google can surely think of coming up with something that takes into account a large number of android devices.