Mobile app development is definitely big business and there are all chances that it will remain a popular and highly lucrative opportunity for mobile app developers. But, compared to the other technological domains, this is still a new field and the scope for its development and evolution is immense and ever growing. There are constant improvements happening and the quality and functionality of mobile apps is improving continuously.

Mobile app developers are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that their apps meet the highest standards of quality and functionality. For this, they are using various tips and tricks to ensure that their apps meet all the needs and requirements of their clients.

Let’s take a look at five tips that determine the success of a mobile app.

Core Focus on User Experience

The mobile app should be easy to use and ubiquitous. The mobile app shouldn’t be something that is perfection itself but should be something that can be used optimally. Your mobile app should be intuitive and extremely user friendly. The best mobile apps offer user interfaces that can be easily grasped and whose inherent functionality can easily be used by even those with the most modicum of knowledge about the functionality of the mobile devices for which the application has been developed. As a developer, it’s important that your mobile app works optimally within the context of the freedom offered by smartphone and also within its many limitations.

Focus on mobile application security

When the mobile application goes through its application life-cycle, it’s important that application developers ensure stringent standards of security of the application and ensure that all the underlying security vulnerabilities are identified and sorted out. While a mobile application is being developed, flawless development is always the objective, but at times, this is not possible. The key is to ensure that the flaws in the design, development and deployment of the mobile application don’t threaten the application, its data and its functionality in any way or form. So, it’s important that security be the driving force of your mobile application development process.

Avoid Overblown Development

One of the oldest development problems is trying too hard. Developers tend to overburden themselves with development and consequently end up making certain mistakes that can be avoided. They forget to understand that the process of iPhone app development or developing any app for some other mobile OS is less about showcasing mastery on a particular mobile OS; it is more about ensuring that the app has very little complexity and can be easily understood by users. It’s not necessary to re-invent the wheel. What will work better is making the best use of the “wheel”.

Strike Balance between User Needs and Client Objectives

Developers need to strive for balance. Yes, they are developing applications for their clients, but it’s the target audience that is going to use the app. You need to be able to ensure that the client’s objectives don’t get in the way of the user’s needs. There is no doubt that the client’s concept is paramount, but it’s up to the developers to balance the two. Once cannot be sacrificed for the other. Also, if the mobile app is perfectly positioned to meet the client’s needs, but fails from the user’s perspective; the app isn’t going to be successful. So, balance is the key.

No Compromises on Testing

It’s important that your mobile application be tested to ensure that its bug free and the coding works in perfect order. One example of a thorough testing process involves testing iPhone application on the iPhone simulator. It’s only if the developers are satisfied about the workability of the iPhone app that it is submitted to the iTunes store. The Android Apps, BlackBerry apps, Symbian and Windows Phone 7 apps are taken through their own specific testing process. When it comes to a mobile app there is absolutely no scope for errors. This is why testing is of the essence.

Talk to different people, and they will offer you different viewpoints about what they think are the important design considerations for a mobile website.  These points of view might differ on various grounds, but there is a common thread that runs through all of them, which is that it is definitely the time of the ‘Mobile Web’. Online promotional battles will now be fought and won on the mobile web. A mobile website is the need of the hour and businesses that don’t have one will miss the bus.

But, having a mobile website is not enough. This website must be expertly designed in order to be successful. An important fact to be noted is that the factors that determine the design of a traditional website do not hold true for a mobile website. The considerations are different and the recipe for a successful mobile website design is founded on taking note of these considerations.

Before we list out the top three considerations, it’s important to understand that when a mobile user is accessing your mobile website, the conditions in which it is being accessed have a big role to play in determining the mobile website’s design. What this means is that the general environment, usage, motion, lighting conditions, internet connectivity, etc. all have a big role to play in the design of mobile website.

Now, let’s have a contextual look at some of the top considerations that determine the look and feel of the mobile website.

A smaller screen size

Quite obvious isn’t it? When accessing a particular website using a desktop or a laptop, you have the advantage of a larger screen size. But, when it comes to a mobile device, the size of the screen goes down appreciably. The mobile website must be designed for a smaller screen size. Also, there is a range of screen sizes on offer when it comes to such devices. Your mobile website design must cater to all these sizes. There are some designers who take the easy way out and miniaturize desktop websites to suit the smaller screen size of mobile phones.  But, more often than not, this solution breaks the user experience. This is why it’s important to create a specialized design that can adapt to this difference in screen size.

Simplification of Navigation

Another facet of a mobile website design that is very obvious. A mobile website does not have the luxury of a complex navigation process. A mobile user has to make do with trackballs, touch functionality or tiny keypads in order to navigate a website. So, the design of the mobile website must focus on navigation clarity and make it more intuitive. Most mobile websites have a list of links on the homepages that take visitors to the main features of the website. A vertical representation of these links is the norm, as is the reduction in the number of categories and levels of navigation. One of the better ways of simplifying the navigation process in mobile websites is by ensuring that users gets an immediate visual feedback, when they choose a particular link.

Keep the user input at a bare minimum

Your design should be such that it minimizes user input. Touch screen functionally and tiny numeric keypads have ensured that mobile devices pack a punch and offer a range of functionalities, but entering the requisite input data is not a cakewalk. Many users find it a real chore to enter data on the miniscule screen and end up making errors. So, in the interest of your users, the design must be extremely user friendly. Keep the URL short, and ensure that the necessity for data input is limited. Offering users the benefit of smarter default values, and minimizing the essential data fields is just one of the many ways that user input can be minimized.

Each site has a different level of user input required. But, the design of the website must ensure that users have no problems in entering the required data.

This is just an overview of the 3 important aspects that need to be considered for the purposes of designing a successful mobile website. But, these are not the only ones. A successful mobile website design is a coming together of various diverse factors all of which have just one aim – improve website usability.

Search the internet and you will come across a huge list of articles that proclaim the supremacy of iOS over Android or vice versa. The battle has truly begun in earnest and the winner will only be decided in the years to come. For now, it does seem that iOS app development has won over more users than the Android development. But, it needs to be repeated that though the battle lines have been drawn, the battle has just begun. There is a still a long way to go before a clear winner emerges, if at all?

Let’s take some random parameters and compare how the measured up on them.

Camera and Pictures

Android can’t compare with the iOS when it comes to the camera application. Users can access this app right from the Lock Screen. With its numerous features such as single-tap focus, grid lines etc, it beats anything that the Android OS has to offer at this point of time. But, things don’t look so bad for this OS either.  When it comes to users editing their photos, Android users can do it using third party apps; and these apps have better editing options than those offered by iOS. So, if you are looking for great camera functionality, the iOS is a clear winner; but when it comes to picture editing, the Android is better.

Notifications

It must be said here that there were plenty of issues with the notifications provided by iOS, in its earlier versions. But, with iOS 5, Apple is trying to improve things by a long way. The latest version of the iOS, gives users complete control of their Notification Center. They can choose the notifications they can see and all new notifications will appear at the top of the screen.  More importantly new notifications are not going to interrupt a task that users might be doing at that point of time. In comparison to the iOS, the Android was far ahead in terms of how the notifications appeared on the screen. But the keyword here is ‘was’.

Now, before that here is some interesting rumor floating on web space. Developers “claim” that the developers at Apple “borrowed” Android’s well-defined notifications system and made it better. Well, this can be debated endlessly, but the truth is that the advantage that Android had with its notifications is now lost.  One of these advantages was that it offered Twitter notifications but the iOS did not. But the new version of iOS has twitter integrations and host of other features that the Android doesn’t.   But there are still other areas in the notification domain that Android scores over IOS.  While the Android system is widgets compatible, the iOS isn’t. So, all is not lost yet for Android application development. It needs to catch up, but, it’s not as if the iOS has pipped it to the post.

Accessibility

Now this is where the iOS scores over Android.  Now, people who have hearing, vision and even cognitive difficulties can make the most of their operating system. Apple has made specialized hardware accessories available that help such people not only see but also feel when somebody is calling, this is done through LED flash and the setting up of custom vibrations. This is just one of the many ways that the latest version of iOS is improving its accessibility.

On the other hand Android is also doing its best to ensure that users with disabilities are able to optimize their interaction with their Android devices. Accessibility layers help such users navigate their devices and apps such as text-to-speech etc are augmenting the user experience. But there is no doubt that more needs to be done. And to be fair to the Android and its development community, there are plenty of developments happening on this front.

Plenty of similarities as well

Both the iOS and the Android are doing equally well on the intuitiveness front.  Each has its own strengths and helps users seamlessly interact with the menu, user interface, apps and features to give users a smooth experience. Being different operating systems, there is no doubt that they take a different approach towards offering the highest standards of intuitiveness, but there is little to separate the two.

Whether you choose to go with the iOS or the Android is a decision that rests squarely on your shoulders. The question in the title cannot be answered with a mere yes or a no. We are talking about two operating systems with their own strengths and weakness.  At the end of the day, it’s your personal choice that determines whether the iOS is a much better OS than the Android.

Small businesses are increasingly getting reliant on mobile applications. For such businesses, it makes great businesses sense to facilitate remote access of their business processes through wireless technologies. It helps them improve their operational control and in long run enhance their business growth. Customized mobile apps that cater to a specific business requirement are getting quite popular these days and over time this is all set to become the norm rather than the exception.

Why mobile apps?

Mobile apps are simple to use and economical to develop. They offer high ROI and they can be developed to satisfy just about every business need. More importantly, developing mobile apps is also a marketing opportunity. If your app is on your customer’s smartphone, you can be assured that you are making an impression on his mind.

What’s more, the world is now moving to technology driven by “fingertips”. Small businesses are best suited to make use of the opportunity provided to them by mobile apps. A business mobile app can not only be used to plan, manage and control a business process but also promote the business; and all this with the help of your fingertips. Small businesses are usually on a tight budget, and they are always looking for ways to cut down on their overheads and improve their bottom-line. A mobile app allows them to do that and a whole lot more.

Improving Business Operations

One of the biggest advantages of using mobile apps is seen in an improvement in productivity. User friendly interactive apps cut down on the time taken to do a particular task, which means more tasks can be performed in a given time. This has a marked impact on the productivity, which improves the profits big time. The time saved can also be put to good use in other revenue generation activities.

Mobile apps also serve to improve collaboration between different departments and also corroboration of data. This ensures a fast decision making process, which not only improves the operational capability of the small business, but also promotes business growth.

Improvement in Profitability

There are numerous ways through which the potential of a mobile app can be leveraged for business growth. One of the ways that small businesses can profit with the use of mobile apps is by using them to attract new customers. There is no better way to expose their products and services to an audience that is constantly looking for something new and is willing to give new products and services a chance.

The use of specially developed mobile apps will also help you be in sync with your customer’s requirements and allow you to respond to their needs quickly and efficiently. This goes a long way in improving customer service and their overall experience of doing business with your company. For a small business, this is an opportunity to promote brand loyalty and ensure business growth.

A small business will experience business growth only if its service or product can be accessed by the customer quickly and with relative ease. As more and more users are appreciating the benefits of mobile apps; apps emerge as one of the better ways of making available products and services to their customers.

Diehard Apple fans need very little convincing to get them to appreciate a new development that aims to improve the usability of their devices. But there is a section of users, who take such developments with a pinch of salt.

Apple has just unveiled the iCloud, its online service, that the company says is a whole lot more than "A hard drive in the sky". The initial applause that greeted the launch of this service has died down somewhat, and experts and users alike are taking a hard look at what's on offer, and whether iCloud is really the next big thing. Like many other Apple products and services, will it bring out a loud and emphatic "WOW" from its users, or will it be caught in a web of skepticism.

Let’s take a look.

More than just a storage 'Cloud'

Think of iCloud as a cloud that acts as a store room for your music, apps, calendars, and a whole lot more. You will be forgiven for thinking this is just another file storage platform. But, Apple has taken file sharing to a whole new level altogether.  These apps, music etc can be pushed into your devices wirelessly and automatically. ‘Effortless’ is the word that comes to mind if we were to describe the Apple iCloud in one word.

MobileMe Reloaded?

For many people, the iCloud came across as an improved version of its earlier service MobileMe. Well, it is and it isn’t. At one end, the company has definitely tied up the loose ends that were found in MobileMe and has come up with something much better. But, with the iCloud, Apple has redefined the way data can be updated and managed. It has also put primary importance on the fact that iCloud will sync with all Apple devices.

What’s more, it’s free!

All consumers, including new and existing ones, will be offered free 5GB worth of data storage. If you want additional storage, you will need to pay for it.

Automatic Sync – A Big Plus

The convenience with which your data will be synced is the biggest WOW factor in the Apple iCloud. This is why Apple’s iCloud is looking more and more like a winner? It can best be explained with an example – Say you have taken a collection of photos with your iPhone and haven’t decided on where to store it yet. The Apple iCloud will come to your rescue. It will copy your photos and store them, giving you time to decide on a place where you want to store them in the physical world. This remains true for everything that you do with your Apple devices – iCloud will store a copy of everything. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about any new updates and whether your device is keeping pace with them. All updates will be done automatically, without you having to worry about them.

Cutting through all the fanfare linked to the Apple iCloud, it’s important to note that this is a product that brings to users real value. This and the fact that the company is putting money where its mouth is, reflected in the billion dollar data center that’s only going to support the iCloud services, ensures that users will definitely go WOW. If not now; definitely in the near future.