A Closer Look at iOS Features to Improve User Experience for iPhone Apps

On September 9, 2014, iOS 8 was launched and it has gone through a round of changes since then. It has moved from the iOS 8.1 version to the iOS 8.3 version, fixing new bugs and introducing new changes in the OS.

Until today, it is the biggest release for developers and iPhone app publishers. With rounds of refinements and additions to the latest features, it is important to implement current changes in iPhone apps to improve the user experience.

However, prior to turning ideas into apps, you need to understand the interactions that will take place between the system and the app to leverage a unique user experience.

1. It is Time to Think Big, With Big Screens

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with sizes 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches respectively, have  larger canvases compared to their earlier versions.

Therefore, if you have your current iOS app built for the smaller screens, it is time to change. Grow your app size, using Auto Layout and stop it from getting letterboxed. Use bigger graphics that optimize animated images and enlarge the font types.

2. Widgets

iOS developers can, at the moment, make customized and interactive widgets in the Notification Center. You can look at the current weather app widget that induces  interaction.

To add a widget from an app, you need to pull down the Notification Center, tap at the bottom of the display and select the widget and choose the order you want it to appear in.

Optimizing User experience for iOS Applications

3. Interactive Notifications

iOS streamlines the process to send and receive interactive notifications without requiring the launch of a corresponding iOS app. It gives users a chance to interact with the notifications on the Lock Screen and in the Notification Center.

For example, on receiving a new text message, you can pull down the notification which will bring up the keyboard to type a response without opening your Message app. Developers now get the chance to determine what actions to show to respective users, just like for Android.

4. Bumps in Pixels

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have more pixels compared to the older versions. You can now leverage much higher resolutions, thus optimizing the app graphics vividly.

5. Touch ID Authentication

This new iPhone app aims to enhance your security, so make sure you use the Touch ID’s fingerprint scanning capability. It allows you to authenticate the user’s ID and log into an app without the use of the keyboard. The growth of hackers, phishing plans and password thieves makes Touch security quite useful.

6. Multitasking Abilities

Handoff and AirDrop are the two highly convenient apps which improve the user experience. With Handoff, you can start a task on an iOS device, such as your iPad, and then complete it on your iPhone, Mac or iMac whether it is a call, email or document.

With AirDrop, you will be able to easily transfer files between iOS and Mac devices.

7. Interact with Other Apps using Extensions

Would you like  to start an interaction between your iPhone app and another?

iOS 8 gives one app the ability to share data with one or more apps on a similar device. This helps the app owners to embed data from one app and transfer it to the other, with the use of simple extensions.

8. More than 4,000 Developers Kit

With iOS 8 come more than 4,000 new application program interfaces(APIs)that add stunning features and capabilities to your apps, such as the PhotoKit which helps users edit their photos in the Camera Roll without importing them.

To get more control on the focus and exposure, users now have a Camera API. Also, HomeKit dictates to Siri to carry out tasks such as turning off the TV and lights and HealthKit communicates with the health apps.

iOS 8 gives startups and big entrepreneurs a chance to create a highly customized experience from keyboards to document handling and from photo editing to sharing different content. You can now optimize the user experience of your iPhone apps with a little twist and  foster more app conversions.

So when do you plan on leveraging the features mentioned above? Would you like to share any inputs? Please feel free to leave your comments below and thanks for reading!

5 iOS Apps that Every Business Must Explore

There has been a tremendous growth in enterprise mobile app usage in the last couple of years. This has made tracking productivity, team communication, data analysis and accounting much easier, that too with just a few taps. However, when it comes to choosing an app, the variety of enterprise apps available in the market make the decision more complicated than necessary for businesses. So, here we’ve compiled a list of five popular iOS apps that businesses can use and benefit from. Let’s take a look.

Dropbox

Cloud storage has become an inevitable requirement for most enterprises and with 100,000 business users under their belt; Dropbox is undoubtedly a leader in the storage industry. Some of the features that have made it so popular are the ability to save pictures directly onto the user’s DropBox account, ownership of multiple accounts, and bookmarking files for offline access. It offers all this at a price of $15 per user per month for businesses.

Basecamp

Basecamp is a popular project management tool with 15 million users globally. With Basecamp, multiple projects can be handled in one place and any user involved in a project can create and assign to-do lists, upload files, share status report, customize email frequency, download multiple files at once and much more. It comes with a starting price of $20 per month with a 60-day free trial.

Roambi Analytics

Data plays a crucial role in the success of any business and here Roambi analytics can be very useful. This business intelligence app transforms data and business reports from popular database products such as Google Docs, Salesforce CRM, MS Excel, and HTML into interactive visual files. It offers three plans starting at $10 per user per month with a 90-day free trial.

FreshBooks

Accounting is an important part of every business and FreshBooks is a popular app that makes the job simple. It has a user-friendly interface and helps track business expenses, invoice generation and management, time tracking to see how long an employee spends on a project, and tax filing. It comes with four plans starting at $9.95 per month, including a 30-day free trial.

GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is a popular video conferencing app from Citrix Systems that helps organize meetings with remote workers easily. It has over 330k business users globally and been used by all sizes of enterprises. It allows video conference calls with up to 100 people and comes with very productive features such as HD Video Conferencing, screen sharing, built-in audio, recording meeting sessions, text chat, speaker identification to track the speaker in a crowded meeting, and personal meeting rooms.

 In addition,GoToMeeting comes with free integrations to other popular apps such as Slack, Hipchat, Google Calendar, and Outlook to name a few. It is free for up to three participants and costs $39 per organizer per month after that, for up to 25 participants, and includes a 30-day free trial.

Although, all the apps described above come with some brilliant features, they may not meet your customized requirements. In such a scenario, it is better to consult an experienced company to create a dedicated custom iPhone app for your business that addresses your unique organization needs.

So, which is your favorite business app? Do you use any of these, or would you like to recommend some other applications? Please share your comments or opinions below

Web Apps vs. Native Apps - What Fits Your Business the Best?

Organizations  tend to lean more towards deploying their own business apps as promotional or marketing tools  in order to increase awareness about their services and products. Enterprise app deployment is a multi-step process, starting from idea generation to app testing and deployment. In between, these two steps come application planning, design and development, and documentation

One key decision that makes or breaks the app is whether it  will be installed on the device (native app) or if it will be accessed from a  web-browser (web app). Both native and web apps have their own pros and cons, but we’ve put together a list of factors that affect their viability the most. Let’s look at where both platforms stand with respect to those factors.

Maintenance Costs and Security

To deploy a native app, businesses need to get their applications approved by the relevant app store before it is made available there. ( available where?)  Even though the approval process is time-consuming, it guarantees security and quality, which is critical to an app’s success. That’s what smart phone users look for in mobile apps first.

However, web applications don’t require any approvals, as they are entirely browser-based and don’t have to install  onto the device. Web apps are designed using a common code base that consists of languages such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, or PHP, that makes maintenance easier and increases compatibility considerably. However, since every mobile platform uses a different programming language, a separate application has to be developed for every platform in the case of native apps. This increases both the development and maintenance costs, as well as the complexity. It also makes updates harder to roll out.

Native Apps vs Web Apps: Which is Right for Your Enterprise Needs?

Access Based on Operating System or Web Browser

A Native App is built specifically for an operating system. For example, a native app like the app store itself is developed for just that operating system. You can’t install the Google Play Store on a Windows based or iOS based device, and can’t install iTunes on an Android device. Additionally, native apps can easily use the hardware on the device such as the camera with some basic permissions.

Web Apps, on the other hand, are built especially for modern browsers that largely follow the same design principles and standards. They can easily run the code, without much of a problem unless a specific browser on a specific platform has some limitations. An example of this would be the Outlook web app. This app can be accessed from a mobile web browser without installation. However, a Web app has very limited access to the native features of a mobile device.

Updating Different Versions of Applications

As web apps are ‘installed’ on a single server, mobile users would always get the latest version. Developers and business don’t have to worry that much about tech support or update roll-outs. Conversely , native apps need updates rolled out for every platform, making them a hassle to maintain. Because of this, businesses need highly  effective tech support for native app users.

There are several other considerations as well when it comes to the native versus web apps discussion, but these are the most critical. , The right answer depends on each scenario. What might be good for one business might be a failure for another.

Have you considered deploying your own mobile app? What platforms and model are you considering? Do let us know in the comments below and thank you for reading!

How To Avoid App Store Rejection

In this era of digitization, mobile apps have become vital for their unique and easily adaptable features. However, what we use is the final product after months of development and testing of a mobile app. There are several complicated processes involved in app designing, starting from the basic idea, to its availability for users.

In case you’re a beginner in this field, you may have to go through several iterations before your app gets approved by app stores. This may lead to a lot of frustration because of the rules and  regulations involved in getting your app approved. There can be human errors involved in the development, which you should consider while you’re working on your app. Different app stores have different rules on app quality and functionality, so some stores might approve your app while some reject it.

If you want to keep safe from the frustrating rejections from app stores, here’s what you should do when you submit your app for approval:

Mobile App Store

• Adhere to the app store guidelines: Read and then re-read the guidelines of the app stores. The features included in the app should be well within the app store rule book. No feature should be included which violates the guidelines and thorough consideration should be given to this aspect.
• Include a privacy policy: If your app requires an in-app registration but doesn’t include a privacy policy, it can be rejected.
• Test, Test, and Test: Test your app as many times as you can, to ensure that there aren’t any bugs left when you are submitting the app for review. The more you test your app, the better it will turn out.
• Add a demo for your app: A demo of how your app will work is useful in two ways – first, it helps convince the reviewer that your app is good to go; secondly, it looks great on your app page when it is available for users. It should cover all significant functions at the very least, explaining how users can benefit from the app.
• Ask for Personal Information only if it is required: If your app asks users for personal information, you should clarify how this information will be used once collected. If there is no use for that data and you are still asking for it, your app will most likely be rejected.
• Avoid unnecessary visual add-ons: Overviews of the functionality of the app can also be presented in the form of videos that should include the main purpose of the app. Only use visual add-ons and text if needed, otherwise, videos work best!
• Don't include dummy data in the app: While submitting your app for review, make sure it doesn’t contain any broken links or dummy data that may have been used at the time of testing. Instead, provide a live environment so that the reviewer can easily check the functionality of the app.
• Get Help from an experienced developer: You should get the help of a skilled and experienced custom app developer, as they know how to minimize the chances of app rejection.

Have you submitted your app for review yet, or plan to do so in the near future? Have another point you’d like to share with us? Please feel free to leave your comments and input, and thanks for reading!

Top Payment Gateway Service Providers in 2015

Setting up an eCommerce store can be pretty straightforward and can be done with the help of various eCommerce platforms and tools available today. But setting up an online payment gateway can get tricky with the complexities and security issues that need to be considered. This article details the best payment gateways to look for in 2015, and how to implement them in your e-commerce store to simplify online payments.

Handling an eCommerce store is not a walk in the park. You need to manage things on multiple fronts to actually create a successful online store. There are various eCommerce modules that need to be given priority, right from inventory, order management and to the most critical module that accepts online payments.

With multiple e-commerce platforms, there are also many complexities involved in payment processing which needs to be simplified. You might be looking for solving confusing questions like

• Which payment gateway is ideal for my eCommerce store?
• Which are the top mobile payment gateway providers?
• How to integrate payment gateway?

Why Do I Need A Payment Gateway?

Payment Gateway Integration Process

A payment gateway is required to process any credit and/or debit card transactions made through your eStore. It is a middle layer interfacing between the eCommerce store and your merchant account. Several simple payment service providers combine payment gateways and merchant accounts, which makes things easier but limits the flexibility for payment options.

Let’s take a look at the top three online payment gateway service providers for 2015. We’ve done intensive research for you, but feel free to get back to us for helping you choose an ideal payment gateway.

1.PayPal

PayPal is one of the most recommended payment gateway providers for an eCommerce retail store. It offers products like web payments, mobile payments, and online invoicing.

Pros:

• Accepts Credit, Debit Cards and PayPal
• Doesn’t require a merchant account
• No SSL Certificate required
• Available in more than 190 countries
• No monthly fee, Reasonable transaction rate: 1.9% – 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction + 3.9% transaction fee + a fixed fee for international sales

To know how to integrate PayPal into your eCommerce store, see this article (http://www.rishabhsoft.com/blog/payment-gateway-integration-android-ios).

2. Authorize.net

Authorize.net is another popular gateway provider.

Pros:

• Supports mobile payments, recurring billing, in-form payments
• Accepts payments directly through the Authorize.net
• PCI compliant, making it easy to obtain SSL certificate

Cons:

• High fees: $99 + $20 including setup and maintenance cost
• To process international payments your business must be operational in first world countries like US, Canada, UK, Europe and Australia
• Requires a merchant account
• Doesn’t offer volume discounts

3.2CheckOut
2CheckOut – accepts global payments online with hosted checkout and API options.

Pros:

• Processes major online payment methods
• Supports mobile payment
• Don’t need a separate merchant account
• Present in over 200 countries
• No monthly fees or hidden fees

Cons:

• High transaction fee: 5.5% per transaction + 45¢
• Doesn’t offer volume discounts
• No hosted checkout page

Conclusion Although PayPal, 2CheckOut and Authorize are the best online payment gateway options available in the market today, they all have their own pros and cons. Depending on your business need, the most suitable option for your eCommerce store needs to be selected. Don’t forget to stay in touch with us by joining our mailing list to keep yourself updated with the latest technology innovations. Please feel free to share your thoughts on using these payment gateways by leaving a comment below. Thank you!