New phone? The nightmare that is outdated software

According to a study by Upstream’s Secure_D, when compared to Q1 2019, there were 55% more fraudulent mobile transactions and devices infected with malware in Q1 2020. What was even more stupefying was the Buzzfeed article where George Cleaves, Secure-D’s  Managing Director accentuated that malware was now found pre-installed in brand new phones – out … Read more

A look at phone hacking: what it is, how it happens, and how to protect yourself

Malware fake notifications

In the recent past, phone hacking has reared its head once again. Needless to say, with the widespread use of smartphones – over 3 billion users worldwide and growing (image below), it is no wonder that hackers are now more focused on hacking smartphones. Vital services such as banking, online payments, and email that can … Read more

4 Industries Where Mobile Apps Are a Must-Have: A Data-informed Outlook

Mobile Apps

According to Applied Market Research, by 2026, the mobile apps market globally will be $407.31 billion. The bigger question, however is, should all businesses and brands in all industries join the bandwagon and have an app made for them? Are there industries that need to get started with their app journeys more than others? And … Read more

How can you measure UX?

Checkout UX

The 16th of July 2020 was “Get to Know your Customers Day”. We as a tech company therefore decided to explore a key concept when it comes to keeping your customers happy as they interact with your brand – user experience (UX). The big question is – how do you know that you are on … Read more

Where you might be going wrong in your digital transformation process

Digital Transformation

In 2019, Digital Transformation was named the number one priority for IT initiatives in companies worldwide. By 2023, expenditure on technology and related services that enable DT will be $2.3 trillion. Brands have already begun to enjoy the benefits of digital transformation (DT or DX). For example,  Domino’s Pizza has been able to integrate digital … Read more

Your no-BS app development checklist

Mobile App Development

So you have done all your research, talked to your customers, checked your budget, and even settled on a software development company that you are going to work with to finally bring your idea to life. As exciting as this might be, we want to help you ensure that you have all the essentials in … Read more

Should you build an Android or iOS app for your business?

OS Versions

You have finally concluded that a mobile app is the best strategy for your brand, depending on the goals that you intend to achieve. In case you have not, read our article on Why are mobile apps important for businesses? One last thing that you need to decide, however, is the operating system (OS) to … Read more

Is a hybrid app the best choice for my brand?

Apps built with Flutter

The journey of building an app for your business or brand is not easy. There a lot of factors to consider and come into play for your app to see the light of day, and help you achieve the goals that you desire. If you are yet to decide whether you need an app for … Read more

What to look for when looking for a company to build a mobile app

Mobile App Development: iOS, Android and Hybrid Apps with Flutter

Getting the right team to build your mobile app means not only getting the work done in time but also gets you a great app that will help you achieve your goals. 

While you may have an internal development team to do the job, you may need to outsource for a number of reasons – you need to use new technologies that your team may not be proficient in, or your team is already swamped with other responsibilities. 

Whatever the reason, in this article we delve into what to look for when looking for a company to hire to build a mobile app for your business.

Know what you want 

You, the product owner should know what you want. This is especially true with regard to the features you want and the app category. The more complex the features you need, the longer it will take for your app to be built. You will also need to hire a company with exceptional developers. 

You want to go for a company that has experience building apps in your specific category. If you want to build a gaming app, for example, you want to choose a company that has built gaming apps before. 

Do they have the required experience or expertise?

You need to determine a mobile app company’s expertise or experience. You can do these in several ways: 

  • you could ask to see their portfolio, or apps on the app store that you can download and analyze. 
  • alternatively, you can check for reviews or testimonials from previous customers. The reviews on the apps stores should also help here. 
  • you also need to determine whether they have built apps using the specific technologies that you need. For example, if you want an iOS app built via Swift, you need to inquire whether they have worked on such projects before. 

Check their Software Development Cycle

You need to understand the company’s (Software Development Cycle) – SDLC. There are different approaches to software development, with the more traditional one being waterfall (where software review is done after the entire app is built). The newer approach is Agile, where reviews are done after a certain period, for example, every 2 weeks. 

While the Agile approach is more savored and projects built using the agile approach are said to be more successful, sometimes the waterfall may be the better approach, depending on your project. 

Are they within your budget?

There are several considerations to make when it comes to the budget that you need for your app development. These include:

  • Maintenance costs
  • Number of features
  • Testing and deployment
  • App type (Hybrid, Native or Web)
  • The number of platforms that you want to develop for
  • Development company location (offshore, nearshore, onshore) 

You need to choose a company that can work within your budget. Better still, one that can break down the costs for you so that you actually get to see where your money goes. 

What is your timeline?

You need to have a particular timeline in mind before you begin your research on the best mobile app company to hire. You may, for example, want to go to market in 3 months. This means that your app needs to be ready in 2 months to allow for ample time for bug fixes and testing. 

Your app’s timeline needs to be feasible. Of course, if you have complex features being built, it may take longer than 2 months. It is also important to note that the time it takes to build your app is directly proportional to the cost. 

Go for a company that can break down the timeline for you. This way, you will be able to determine whether it fits within your planned schedule. 

How well do they communicate?

You are able to pick a few things about how well a company communicates from the first time that you meet them. For example, do they ask for clarification if they have not understood? Are they able to communicate highly technical things in a simple way? 

This will come in handy from the early stages of development all the way to the end. Are they able to create the wireframes that bring out your idea? How much do they involve you in the process? How frequently do they communicate? How long does it take for them to respond to any communication that you send? What communication platforms did you agree on? Are they responsive on those platforms?

Communication is important as it will help you build a great working relationship. This will help as the development process may take weeks or months. Sometimes, it may call for late nights. You need to be working with someone with whom you can easily and honestly communicate with. 

User experience

How your users feel when interacting with your app is crucial to whether they will continue to use it or whether they will uninstall it. You need to ensure that you choose a mobile app development company that is familiar with UI (user interface) best practices – how fast the app loads, how easy it is for the user to navigate and use the app, standard elements like buttons, and uniformity with your brand.

Analyzing apps that the company has built before will help you have a feel of their UI practices. You can also determine how much a company is determined to build apps with great UX (user experiences) during wireframing. If they even go ahead to do a mockup, then they are probably a great fit.

In conclusion

Choosing the right company to help you build your app is by no means easy. As you have seen, there are several factors to put into consideration. 

Depending on the companies that you find, you need to know what compromises you may need to make, should one company not fit all the above criteria. For example, you may find that your budget may not allow for all the features that you want. You, therefore, need to focus only on the most important features. 

We are a reputable mobile app development company with over 5 years’ experience building Android and iOS applications. We have also built hybrid apps for use on both iOS and Android. Contact us today for your app development needs. 

 

Tech trends today: a look at the tech in April 2020 that matters

Why would we need to put together a piece about what’s happening in the world of tech? Well, there might be tech enthusiasts out there who love to know. However, if you are a tech enthusiast, you probably already know what we are about to discuss. 

We therefore thought about that prudent business person who needs to make complex decisions every day. Knowing what the latest tech trends are will help in making more informed decisions. Maybe, it will help in making the discussion between the business owner and IT department easier. Better still, it will inform the digital transformation journey that they need to undertake or fine tune as a business.

So, in this article, we look at tech and trends that made some interesting milestones in the month of April, and that would have an impact in the future. Join in on this journey.

Tech trend #1: Up to 8 people will soon be able to join WhatsApp audio or video calls

Working From Home Sofware
Working from Home Software
Image source: https://bit.ly/2Wq10Rn

The working from home culture, spurred by the unfortunate pandemic that is Covid-19, has seen a spike in the demand for working from home software. By late January, Microsoft announced on a blog penned by their Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365 that they had seen a 500% increase in meetings, calls and conferences held on the Teams platform, and a 200% increase in the usage of the same Platform on mobile. Absolutely staggering. 

Video conferencing tools have become increasingly important with restricted movements caused by lock downs the world over. This has forced businesses to allow their staff to work remotely. It has also shown businesses the possibility of remote work in the world beyond Covid-19. 

In fact, according to a recent survey by Gartner:

74% of the surveyed companies plan to have at least 5% of their staff who previously worked from the office working remotely, after Covid-19.

Work From Home Stats
Image source: Gartner (April 2020)

It is no wonder that WhatsApp’s group call feature is also receiving updates to help gear up for the video conferencing upsurge, even though WhatsApp at its core is not a work from home software. The initial update in early April was to have 4 participants in a group call as shown by this Tweet:

WhatsApp Call with 4 Participants
WhatsApp Call with 4 Participants Announcement

However, there is a beta version of WhatsApp  on both Android and iOS, 2.20.133 on Google Play and 2.20.50.25 on iOS (from TestFlight) that is allowing for up to 8 participants. All the participants need to be using this beta version though.

This update provides more communication options for teams and companies working remotely, and could never be more timely. It is also a great option, as WhatsApp calls also use end to end encryption, which keeps them private.  

Tech trend #2: Over 22 million cybersecurity attacks targeted at businesses

This tech trend is undoubtedly worrying. According to IBM’s ‘The Cost of a Data Breach’ 2019 report, the average cost of a data breach is $3.29 million. 

The average cost of a data breach
The average cost of a data breach

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen an increase in cybersecurity attacks, with this article by the Wall Street Journal even stating that the effects of these data breaches may even be long term. 

What this means is that businesses have to prioritize the security of their systems and processes, as well as all the data involved. According to the McKinsey’s ‘Perspectives on Transforming Cybersecurity’ publication, some approaches that businesses can take include:

  • Building a holistic program to protect the business that goes beyond technical controls. Such a program will take into consideration organizational structure, digital assets, business strategy, the role of the human in cybersecurity risks, and use of threat analytics.
  • Involving all stakeholders in making decisions about cyber security. This allows for threats to be understood from different perspectives. When measures and policies are put into place, people in the organization are likely to accept them and support them.

Tech trend #3: Slack retires Foundry

Foundry was a ‘bot to help you with the basics of using Slack’. So, Slack is a communication platform for teams to keep in touch (in case you have not heard of it). Like all communication tools, Slack now stands at 12.5 million users, and boasts an engagement of 90 minutes a day. This outranks Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, at 58, 53, and 40 minutes respectively.

Slack had launched Foundry to make it easier for users to navigate their platform. However, they retired it ‘a while ago’ as per their Tweet:

Slack Retires Foundry
Slack Retires Foundry: Twitter Conversation

Not much was spoken about the company’s decision, or the factors that may have contributed to it. Of interest however, is the timing of the decision. 

Bots are being used to address challenges around customer support and the speed at which they can access information (which is a major frustration with online experiences) as shown in the two images below:

Challenges with online customer experiences
Challenges with online customer experiences
Response Time Expectations from Customers
Response Time Expectations from Customers

So, why would Slack stop using a bot to help users navigate their product when bots seem to be gaining popularity among consumers? Like we said, we do not know for sure. What we do know that there is more to the equation than having bots coming in for improved customer experiences online. 

Bots or virtual assistants can answer 80% of incoming questions without assistance. In Slack’s Foundry, users agreed that the bot could make it easier for users to navigate the product as shown in the image below:

Slacks Foundry
Slacks Foundry

But the truth is, bots have their limitations too. They may not be able to handle complex problems or handle an angry or frustrated customer efficiently, as a human would. 

So, the best case scenario is to have humans and bots working together. Bots can be left to handle simple and direct questions while humans can handle the complex ones, as shown in this MIT report: The Future of Customer Service Is AI-Human Collaboration.

What this means for businesses is that as they plan to automate their online customer experiences, they should strive for the balance between AI and humans.

In conclusion

We have looked at some tech trends that happened in April, but may as well be the tech trends for business. Knowing the above trends will help you begin to move towards making decisions that can future-proof your business. 

Are you looking for ways to automate your business? For example using chatbots? Or looking to  integrate communication tools? Or better still to build your own communication app? We are a team of developers well versed in building custom solutions for businesses. We are sure to take the appropriate security measures too when building our solutions. Contact us for your technology needs.