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Pros and Cons of Leading Application Development Software Solutions

As the popularity of application development software continues to rise, mobile app development has never been easier for you and your business. Although tried and true methods such as coding and hiring professional app developers still exist, companies are beginning to turn to app builders as they expand to the mobile realm.

In this article, we’ll look at the pros and cons of leading application software, which can make or break your business’s application. After all, it’s one thing to build an app, and another to develop an exceptional experience for your users.

Pros of Leading Application Development Software Solutions

Let’s begin with the benefits you could get from leading app development software solutions:

  • Focus on user interface and user experience

For an app developer, user interface and user experience are critical in making your application successful. This Forrester research on The Digital Customer Experience Playbook For 2019 reveals that a well-designed UI can raise your site’s conversion rates by 200%. Meanwhile, better UX design can result in conversion rates of up to 400%.

The best application development software provides a custom design that will keep your audience engaged with your application. For your app’s overall feel, they feature tools that allow you to pick your own themes, colors, block arrangement, fonts, icons and navigation style. Meanwhile, to retain user engagement, they provide you with engagement tools such as push notifications, popup promos, polls, reward points, one-to-one messaging, mailing list, social unlock and geofenced messages.

Being able to concentrate on your UI and UX during your mobile app development translates to higher user engagement and ensures acquiring loyal customers. An influx of users means more ROI, which pretty much confirms how design and experience are essential factors in your mobile app development.

  • Programming skills aren’t required

Application development software makes creating an app extremely simple. Most leading application development solutions feature low to no code environments that allow even those without experience to participate in mobile app development. Some even have custom build features that only require you to provide your content to the app builder’s team, and they will construct your app from beginning to end.

  • Saves time and cuts costs

The report by Statista on coder’s working hours worldwide shows that 25% of software developers spend 17 to 32 hours on coding for their day jobs alone. A company equipped with an adequate app development software would not have to bother with these unnecessary hours or even look for a qualified developer. Instead, they can use their existing web development talent pool to spearhead the mobile shift and devote their time to creating a unique experience for their users.

  • Content made convenient

You now have an interactive and fully functioning interface, so what’s next? That’d be developing a content strategy and figuring how to present it on your application.

If you have a leading app builder on hand, you don’t have to worry about this part, since its features include brandishing your content conveniently and creatively, whatever they might be.

With an application development software, you can directly add photos, posts, videos, and audio or upload and import them from existing platforms. You can also include a wide variety of sections to suit your content from books, events, discography, QR scanners, favorites and even a fan wall to host discussions. As a bonus, you can also directly link the in-app content you wish to promote the most and drive more traffic towards them.

  • Analytical tools

One more feature to be excited about when it comes to app builders is the analytical tools that allow you to examine user demographics, view your most valuable data, and export graphs that can help you in managing your application. The best application development software lets you measure app downloads, email subscriptions, downloads by platform, page views, video plays, audio streams and session time, among others. Additionally, these tools can provide more than just numbers. They can also point out popular content, break down comments and calculate sales conversion rates.

  • Complete guidance

Application development software solutions continue to benefit you even when you’ve already created your app. A good app builder guides you through the requirements during the app submission process. It can even do a quality check on the application and review it along with its content before it’s up and running on the App Store or Google Play. As a bonus, some app development software allows you to see the app just as your users do even before you put them out on the market.

Once your app is already available for users, application development software can give you the power to moderate activities in your app. Besides this, throughout the mobile app development process, app builders can also offer support via articles, ticketing, email, phone or even live chat.

Complete guidance

Cons of Leading Application Development Software Solutions

Despite the many advantages offered by leading application development software, they still have some drawbacks that can limit you from constructing the perfect app. Take a look at some disadvantages of app builders:

  • Uncustomizable themes and templates

While pre-made themes and template designs make the work easier for companies who want to swiftly move to mobile, some businesses still prefer to nitpick their app designs and make sure every detail is as they have envisioned.

Unfortunately, some leading application development software is only limited to the former, so if you’re looking for a more flexible app builder when it comes to design, make sure to choose one that grants you full control and customization over your application. Run a quick search on which software is used to make applications and figure out which one is best for your business. 

  • Inability to edit code and structure

Although application development software offers major assistance, especially for companies who are looking for low code environment options, the templates, and features in most app builders hinder you from making crucial modifications to your app’s structure and content.

This means that you will likely be limited to the tools built in your app builder, which might not guarantee you the design, features, and content you would like to have in your mobile app. This is especially a downside for companies looking to go beyond the basics and create a highly functional and unique application.

  • Off the budget

To be able to use all their features and to access all their services, most leading application development software require you to subscribe and get on board with a pricing plan. These pricing plans usually include premium add-ons that are up-to-date with application trends, analytical tools that will provide you a better overview of your app performance and major customization tools that will give you an edge when it comes to app’s appearance and usability.

While some companies are content with the free services, those looking to create an exceptional user experience with an app that poses as a solution to customers’ problems are better off with a paid plan. For businesses on a budget, this might be a tough call, but remember: added features equates to more app growth.

Benefits Outweighing the Drawbacks

As you can see, the benefits of application development software outweigh their drawbacks, making it clear that getting a good app builder works wonders for your mobile app development. When you finally decide to select and subscribe to one, make sure you never lose sight of why you’re building your app in the first place: to solve customer problems, build customer loyalty, gain profit, and boost brand presence.

When building your app, it is also crucial to make sure you have a secure and encrypted connection. Hence, checking out a guide to VPN software tools is important. This can empower your team to be protected against online threats and ensure a smooth app development workflow.

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What Is a Push Notification?

A short message appears on the user’s screen, it can be a reminder or suggestion to read the latest news or see what is going on in the lives of their friends, etc.

This short message is called “a push notification” and recently app developers and marketing experts have discovered its value. Thanks to these little notifications mobile app engagement has significantly increased. So, let’s find out more about types of notifications and how can they help your application become more popular?

If you are working with applications or you want someone to develop the one for you, you should definitely consider adding mobile push notifications to its features. Every app builder available nowadays offers to build-in this useful feature for numerous reasons. Before we go to all the benefits, first we’ll take a look at types of notifications, their characteristics, etc.

Push Notification Protocols – Pull vs Push | The Difference

Basically there are two ways in which the information is transferred in the Internet and technology world: Pull and Push.

Pull protocol is when a user makes a request for the information him/herself, sends it to the server, which processes the request and delivers the information to the user. Once the info is delivered and a user has found out everything he or she wanted, the user will leave an app or browser thus ending the interaction.

Push protocol is the one where a user is not looking for any kind of information and the app/website is not waiting for their request but sends a message itself. Push notifications are the means of this protocol and are used in order to notify the subscribers with useful information.

What Is a Push Notification and How Is It Different from a Text Message?

A push notification is a short message that pops-up on screens (desktop or mobile) of your application users and notifies them with the latest updates, news, etc. and is sent by the application.

Web push notifications are the ones that are sent by the website (if the user agrees to receive them) whenever the browser is open. They can be delivered to the user via a desktop or mobile screen.

Text messages or SMS (Short Message Service) are means of communication with end-users that are sent by the mobile network to users’ phones. It’s a rather old type of notifications, but it is still used by a great number of companies, for instance, taxi services or different types of stores. Using SMS, companies can notify their users about upcoming sales, or new collections, etc., but it takes more steps to get the user to your app or on your website. What is more, a text message can be lost in the mailbox and they are ignored more often than push notifications.  In comparison to text messages, push notifications have more benefits for applications, but depending on the type of your business, you can choose both options and use them interchangeably. Let’s dive deeper into the topic of mobile push notifications and see how they can help you.

How Do Push Notifications Work? | Explained

The user sees only a message displayed on the screen and usually has no idea that it takes more than just to write a message and send it. In order to make your app deliver web push notifications or mobile ones, you will need an application developer, the push service, and the push provider like Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc.

So, to make notifications appear on desktops or mobile phones, three steps are required: a developer writes a piece of code that enables an app to receive push notifications; then, a developer presents a push notification to the push service and to the provider, which in its turn delivers a message to the end-user. To put it in other words, once the website or an app receives a confirmation for notifications from the user, the signal is sent to the message server (push service) connects with push provider and then a push message appears on the screen of the subscribers.

What Types of Push Notifications Do Exist?

As you have already noticed, the two main types of push notifications are web push notification and mobile ones.

Web: enables messages to appear both on desktops (even if the user is not on your website) and mobile devices; it can contain text, links, or images; users should only make a few clicks to let the notifications be shown on their devices, etc. 

Mobile: sends messages to users even if they do not use their phones but can appear only on mobile devices; the user should install the app in order to receive notifications; it can contain text and links. These types of alerts are used in order to notify users about upcoming events, sales, news, remind them to do a particular task, etc.

What Is a Push Alert Notification?

Push alert notifications are the messages that are sent as soon as the new updates on the website/app appear or the recent news came up, etc. These notifications appear even on the blocked screens as long as the phone is connected to the Wi-Fi/mobile Internet. They can be pulled away from the screen but still can be viewed via the application.

What Is a Push Pin Notification?

Pinned notifications are slightly different from the alerts as they can be placed on the main screen/desktop and pinned there as long as the user wishes to see them. Some applications have this option that allows the user constantly follow the latest news, check sales offers, see upcoming events, etc.

Push Notifications Examples:

Push messages can attract the attention of a great number of users and make them open an app to see and learn more. Here are the examples of the push notifications you should take into consideration when developing an application for your company:

  • Rich Push Notifications: these are the ones that contain not only text but also images, emojis, and calls to action. They have proven to be one of the best as they engage a lot of users to interact with an app;
  • Action-based Notifications: the one that makes users complete shopping and purchase the items from your store. Think of the text that can provoke them to do so;
  • Reminder Notifications: remind your users of the upcoming events or parties they’ve signed up to visit, let them know about all the exciting opportunities they can get with your app. For instance, if you have an education app, remind the user to complete the level and learn a lot of useful information, etc.;
  • Interest-Based Geolocation Notifications: let the users know about the most popular cafes or restaurants in their area, or tell them that they are not far from their favorite bookstore, so they can check the latest arrivals, etc.;

FYI (For Your Information) Notifications: just share a valuable piece of information with your subscribers like let them know about new collections, or inform them on the most popular tourist destinations this year, or share the weather report, etc.

Push Notifications Best Practises | Check Them Out

Now, let’s take a look at some examples of this year’s best practices.

  • Personalize It:

People like when they are taken care of and when services pay attention to them, for instance, you can personalize your notification by using the user’s data you already have (their names, interests, location, etc.). You can see a good example of personalized notification below.

  • Make It Rich:

Add pictures, videos, icons, action buttons to your notification to grasp the full attention of your users. Show them some items from the latest collections, or share pictures of the resort they might love.

You can see that there is an icon included in the message, an emoji, and in addition to this, it is personalized.

Another example is:

The user can check the video featuring a new collection from their favorite brand. In addition to this, the developers have added two action buttons “Shop Now” and “Share” that definitely increase the interaction level.

  • Customize to Time and Actions:

This practice is suitable both for mobile notifications and web ones. Set a certain time frame for the notifications to appear and don’t be too pushy, as it can only push away your clients. Also, check their behavior and see their interests, so you can provide them with the best-suiting message.

Benefits of Push Notifications: What Are They?

We have discussed the theoretical part on push notification, and what about their benefits? What advantages this tiny feature brings your business?

First of all, notifications increase engagement ratings by 88% as statistics shows. What is more, more than half of your subscribers keep returning to your app within the months after receiving the notification.

Higher engagement ratings mean higher retention levels. It really increases your sales on your website or within the app.

Another benefit is that push messages bring higher browser reach. The messages are hard to miss and they bring click-through rates up to 25-30%.

In addition to this, push notifications bring extra data on your users that you can analyze and use for further notices.

Also, it is a great way to communicate the most important info to the users, as wells as cut down the search journey of the users, as the notification can take them directly to the page or section they need. Thus, saving user’s time and making your app even more useful.

Challenges of Push Notifications: Are There Any?

If you have developed a great strategy for your push notifications, there might be no challenges at all. But still, there are some pitfalls you should remember of.

In case the messages are delivered to the users more frequently, they might turn them off, as it is disturbing or even make them delete an application. You don’t need to be too pushy with notifications as it will result in lower ratings.

Another challenge is that push notifications have a limited number of characters, so the text should be concise but catchy.

Take into account this info and manage to find the best working solution for you and your subscribers.

How to Stop Push Notifications when They Start to Annoy?

Every user can easily turn off the push notifications if there are too many of them and they constantly keep appearing while they are working, for instance.

Browsers and applications have “Settings” where it is possible to find “Notifications Settings”. Users can turn them on or off, or set some specific settings that are suitable for them.

In order to avoid this, make sure that your notifications.

Push Notification Performance Stats | Key Info

When you run an app or a website you should take into account not only user data received from the interaction with your application/website but also general statistics to know how push messages work around the globe.

Recent stat data show that, usually, US users receive up to 46 push notifications on a daily basis. The highest engagement rating is on Tuesday (8.4%). The number of people using Android make reactions to push notification higher (around 7%) for this operating system, while iOS has lower ratings (around 4.9%). Another important thing to know is that push notification sent once in a week makes 10% of user disable notifications and around 6% disable an app.

Also, rich push notifications (with emojis, videos, pictures, etc.) and personalized ones can improve the interaction with the application or website up to 20%.

It is essential to set the messages to be sent at the right time in order not to irritate the users. As the statistics show, the best time frames are around the afternoon when people are having lunch (from 12 p.m. till 2 p.m.) and the highest engagement is between 8 p.m. and 12 a.m. when the users are not busy with work and have some time to relax.

Use this data to promote your strategy and get better reactions to your push notifications.

Mobile Push Notifications: Conclusion

Mobile push notifications are an essential part of the apps these days. Although there might be some challenges, the benefits they provide are incredible. These useful messages can not only increase engagement ratings or purchasing levels but also bring in new subscribers.

Choose your personal strategy of notification implementation and usage, and make the best of this practice. 

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How To Create Health Insurance App & Why The Industry Needs It

People have always been worried about their safety. Because of that, they do their best to protect themselves from any harm. That’s how so many health insurance companies appeared on the global market.

Nevertheless, not many businesses in this sector consider the need for a health insurance app. But that’s completely wrong! Cutting clients from a technological solution prevents them from enjoying the benefits of instant service this business can offer in their smartphone.

In essence, a health insurance app is a type of software that is capable of many useful things, including finding a good doctor or getting the requested type of medical help within seconds. It brings a great advantage to a provider, enlarging the base of its loyal clients – and the total revenue, of course. Eliminating the problems with long queues and overgeneralized patient experience, medical insurance applications bring the service to the new level.

How to create a health insurance app: the preparation needed

If an idea to design health insurance mobile apps came to your mind, consider several important factors in advance:

  1. Know your target market precisely. Whichever product you offer, you need to address the issue that bothers your target customers. If you fail to see and understand it, you won’t succeed in the long run with your application.
  2. Give your audience what it wants. With the purpose of fixing the drawbacks of the medical system, digitalization should always be advantageous. Specifically, medical insurance apps should solve the problems of long queues, complicated communication with the medical sector, paperwork excess, and renewal non-clarity. In other words, make your mobile solution really serve its users.
  3. Analyze the market before making critical steps. You should know the environment you’re entering in detail to minimize the risks. Analyzing competitors is the best tool to achieve this strategic aim.
  4. Target at incredible UI/UX design. In the sphere of health insurance, the complicated system requires a smart solution. Not to get users overwhelmed with unnecessary details, make the emphasis on the app’s usability. This means creating a positive image with colors and fonts that encourages clients to leave their personal data and even use a front camera without hesitation.
  5. Don’t underestimate the importance of testing your product. You should always check if your users feel totally comfortable with your digital solution. Otherwise, you’ll see severe problems while calculating your budget.

Health insurance mobile apps: 3 separate solutions in one result

Furthermore, remember that health insurance mobile apps are a combination of three services. Namely, they are:

  • A functional patient app,
  • An app helping healthcare providers,
  • A solution for the processes inside insurance companies.

By considering all these factors, you can offer a complete and enjoyable experience. At the same time, great customization is always necessary. If you create a product for numerous tourists to the European Union, for example, help them make the trip more convenient through the European health insurance card app.

At the same time, privacy should always remain a top priority. This even led to the appearance of several regulations. Among the solutions that impose significant barriers for application on the market, there are:

  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for the U.S.,
  • Data Protection Directive 1995/46/EC and e-Privacy Directive 2002/58/EC for the European Union,
  • Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) for Canada etc.

This means that when before introducing your health insurance app on the market, you should consider the existing protection laws. Apple and Android can simply reject your products if there are some safety concerns from their side.

The stages of mobile app development: the peculiarities of the health insurance sector

Commonly, you can distinguish these steps in actually building a healthcare app:

  • Designing your app.
  • Fitting the existing healthcare regulations.
  • Testing your product.

By using this generalized scheme, you can develop several healthcare apps – including those for clinical use and diagnosis insurance and remote monitoring, reminder apps, and applications for easy medical referencing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In this line, digital solutions for health insurance work, as being not as popular as other ones, frequently include the features of other types.

Among the exact features UI/UX put into actions, there are:

  • Providing access to electronic medical records,
  • Setting and rescheduling appointments,
  • Working with lab results,
  • Selecting prescription alerts,
  • Downloading necessary reports,
  • Seeing the related facilities on the map etc.

On the development stage, don’t forget to include encryption as a secret code to ensure the needed level of safety into your mobile solution. And of course, make sure your users enjoy the result offered!

The stages of mobile app development

The advantages of medical insurance apps

There are different medical insurance apps, but all of them three common advantages:

  • You can get access to the network of professionals within seconds.

As a long-term trend, customers of health insurance companies had no idea whether the exact doctor they like is available under the selected plan. As a result, the service bill could be a huge disappointment for the patient. In their turn, medical apps reveal the internal structure of the system and guide you to the best doctor in terms of price and service delivered. This is a long-expected improvement, especially in the case of urgent care.

  • A medical care app makes the overall healthcare system transparent.

With an application, you can see all the processes relevant to health insurance on a single dashboard. Easily organized and data-driven, this technology makes the understanding of the whole sphere easier. In addition, the customers get an opportunity to enjoy their health insurance to the maximum, having relevant expectations, and seeing what’s going on after their application is accepted.

  • Medical insurance applications serve as the basis for cost reduction.

The arrangement of all the policy-connected data always has a higher aim – making a living for the whole society healthier. With easy-to-reach milestones, all the patients using a smartphone app can make their health goals closer and more motivating to accomplish. Moreover, the technology’s top advantage is constant care over the health condition – even when there are no visible problems. Based on the daily timely recommendations, you can protect yourself from harm and avoid costly payment in the future.

How much and how long does it take to process your health insurance app

To make the digital solution work, get ready to spend at least $10,000 if you want to get the full package of the following services:

  • Strategy setting,
  • Native and web app development,
  • Testing and optimization,
  • Client augmentation and support costs.

If you want to increase the quality of your product and are ready to dedicate some extra time to the project, you can hire the team of experts and pay them 4 times more:

  • Project Manager
  • 2 UX/UI designer
  • 2 developers (for Android and iOS)
  • 2 QA’s
  • 2 developers (for frontend and backend).

The project length is approximately a month, but the exact timeframe is always a point of discussion with your team.

Best apps for health insurance: learn from the top cases

When it comes to the peculiarities of health apps development, there are several cases that are already successful on the market. Check these solutions to understand what you should do:

  • Aetna Health: has the features of location, profile, and specialty, enables plan management, and offers a personalized experience
  • Qooter: it has a strange color but an awesome functionality, uniting dozens of insurance carriers in one place
  • MyIH: a free app that helps to find a doctor and keep your ID card safely.

In general, these and other digital solutions have several nice features, encouraging customers to use them so much. At the same time, the top experience of any medical insurance application should always offer several extra options. In this context, you may find these functions useful:

  • An ability to participate in local events,
  • Seeing self-development options,
  • Training guides,
  • Maps with sport facilities situated nearby,
  • Daily health recommendations.

Oscar: the best app to manage health insurance information

When it comes to data processing, the best option on the market is Oscar, a startup from the USA. Working since 2012, this company has created awesome digital solutions for iOS and Android for managing big databases and connecting doctors and patients. As an average workload, an application manages to process the interactions between 250,000 patients and brokers with 3,500 doctors.

In terms of service effectiveness, this health insurance app solves several important problems:

  1. Excess of paperwork. When you come to a doctor, you always need to fill several papers: scheduling appointments, filling a submission form, and writing in loads of documents in a cabinet. A smartphone application solves this – once and forever!
  2. An accurate policy selection. When dealing with a health insurance company, you have different programs to deal with. In Oscar, they offer bronze, silver, gold, and platinum levels. With them, patients know for sure what the service can offer to their specific needs.
  3. Accessibility of doctors. To overcome the general flaw of the sophisticated and disorganized health system, medical insurance applications allow finding a primary care doctor. This makes the overall service closer to patients, resulting in more effective and enjoyable experience of health insurance.
Oscar- the best app to manage health insurance information

So, now you have everything needed to create a mobile app

If you feel readiness to develop a health insurance app, check this list of the basic functionality of a successful app:

  • Accessibility of insurance plans and their renewal,
  • Ability to compare various models,
  • Personal data protection and usability,
  • Instant connection to a doctor in the case of emergency,
  • Map of medical facilities covered by an insurance plan,
  • Real-time consultations with doctors.

So, everything that’s left is to make it happen!

You also might be interested in “Best Apps for Book Lovers” or just create your health insurance app with our app builder now :)

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Quick Guide: What is Geofencing?

Running your business, everything is going quite well, but what if we say that it can become better? Way better. Geofencing is the ultimate secret to improving your brand awareness, increasing CTR and boosting conversions significantly. Sounds tempting, doesn’t it?

By using personalized coupons, notifications, security alerts attached to client’s location you can acquire more new customers and better clients retention. Did you know that increase by 5% of customer retention can result in profits grows of 25%-95%, according Harvard Business Review. Loyalty of your clients is the new key to boosting sales.

Every business is now investing in personalization technology as they want to reap all the benefits of it. Using customer’s relevant location to promote the most relevant product or service result in improving open rates and click rates. Check it out in the figures below:

What is Geofencing

Seems like something you want to use in your business? Let’s learn all you need to know about it.

The Best Geofencing Definition

Geofencing definition at Wikipedia states ‘it’s a virtual parameter for a real-world geographical area.

Another definition by TechTarget states ‘it’s a feature in a software program that uses the global positioning system (GPS) or radio frequency identification (RFID) to define geographical boundaries’.

To put it simply, it’s a feature that enables to determine user’s location, set the boundaries of this geographical area and then applies these data to send relevant product/service promotion to a customer. Easy peasy.

As a result, this technology is used as a marketing technique, because thanks to it, users receive personalized ads and are more likely to click and open them, as their relevance reaches its maximum.

How Does Geofencing Work?

It works pretty simple. You set geographical boundaries using Google Maps, you can choose the shape you want, either a circular or a polygon.

How Does Geofencing Work

Then whenever you customers will enter this bordered location, they will be targeted with information you’ve prepared for them (ads, notifications, coupons, personalized messages etc.) This whole process is automatized, so you set it and forget it.

Geofencing presents an amazing opportunity to target your consumers via their phone’s GPS. Why is that so important?

Firstly, the majority of the Internet users turn to its help ‘on the go’.

Internet use on the go by device 2014

Secondly, people are carrying their phones everywhere. According to recent studies, 90% of text messages are open within 3 minutes:

Messaging reach

Now combine these facts, add the possibility to track the exact location of you customer and voila: you forward a personalized message to a client passing by your store with the most relevant information at the most relevant time. That’s why it’s so appealing.

What’s the Radius of Geo Fencing Restriction?

While deciding on the geographical borders of the desired area, you choose the radius you need. The minimum radius of 100-150 meters will surely get the best results. With Wi-Fi available it can be even reduced to 20-50 meters. Still, you’ll need to think it through and choose the optimal radius for your case.

Endless Opportunities of Geofencing Apps

So you know how it works and why to use it. Still, let’s shed some light on the endless range of opportunities where you can apply location technology:

  • Marketing

It’s a perfect way to alert your target audience of new products, ongoing promo or send discount coupons, whenever your customers enter specific area. You use their location data and target them with a personalized information.

  • Smart Appliances

We’re already living in the future where machines are truly smart. A fridge can alert you with a reminder to buy bread (if you need some) when you pass by the grocery shop.

  • Human Resources Management

Use it as a great way to monitor employees if there are any places that need specific identification. An employee will get an instant alert if they enter a restricted unauthorized area. What is more, it can be used to control come and go with automated time cards used for workers who need to spend time off-site.

  • Security

There’s already a discussion whether this technology violates people’s rights. As with any technology, it brings only benefits if used in moderation. For instance, wouldn’t you want to have the ability to get alerts if someone enters or leaves your apartment?

  • Social Networking

Social networking apps are using geofencing to provide their users with top relevant information. This is how a user can know exactly what’s happening within their specific geographical area.

Social Networking for Geofencing Apps

When to Use Geofencing Security?

There are several usages when geofencing can help to protect your privacy:

  • No Fly Zones for Drones

(drones will just avoid the prohibited area)

  • Protection of Your Photos on Flickr

(photos will be shown only to a specific audience according to their geographical location)

  • Protection of Your Phone from Thieves

(if your phone is taken by someone beyond the specified area, the alarm system will be set off)

How to Set Up Geofencing?

Firstly, you need to define the geographical areas you want to set borders for. Remember it’s a bit different from geo-targeting, as it’s more specific.

To quote Justin Croxton the managing partner at Propellant Media, LLC, ‘it is very specific to an individual building or an individual location. Maybe it’s a very small neighborhood, it’s a retail center, maybe it’s a car dealership, it’s a trade show.’

Secondly, you need to define the action which you want to be performed if your customers enter a particular area. Do you want to send some alerts? Are you going to send them push notifications of discounts, or personalized messages of some special offers?

Finally, you go through the setting routine. You can either learn about it yourself by using various tools we’ll discuss later, or turn to some experts for assistance. It’s for you to decide.

Top Geofencing Platforms to Use

So if you want to enjoy all the benefits of modern technologies, but you’re too busy to sort it out yourself, why don’t you try out some leading companies offering their professional services?

5 Location Technology Companies to Boost Your Business

  • Propellant Media
Propellant Media

An affordable company helping small and midsize business. Their experts come up with local solutions for your company to improve conversions and boost your sales.

  • Simpli.Fi
SimpliFi

Being the top company in the field it offers quite high rates for its services. However, they were pioneers in location technology and there are no better specialists than those working for Simpli.Fi.

  • ThinkNear
ThinkNear

They help to improve targeting and optimization offering their services to multinational companies like Coca Cola, Disney, Sony and others.

  • Enradius
Enradius

They use zip codes and DMAs to improve company’s SEO. Thanks to their services, businesses boost their brand awareness, increase CTR and conversion.

  • Spatially
Spatially

Not only will they help you improve local targeting, but they will also assist you in creating rocking ads.

How Much Does Geofencing Cost?

Now as you know all the benefits, and definitely want to try out this technology, let’s answer the most troubling question. How much do you need to pay for it?

To begin with, you need to understand that different companies offer different rates regarding the quality of services they provide.

So CPM charges start at 5 $, that is to say approximately 20.000$ will be spent monthly on ads. However, with the growing market you can find companies offering assistance for 1000$ a month, like that of Propellant Media. In other words, you need to search, compare and see what’s working the best for you.

The Best Geofencing Examples

All the leading companies are using this technology to improve their sales and just make their business better.

However, there’s some fun going on as well sometimes. The recent example is Burger King trolling McDonald’s. They’ve created a 600-feet fence around McDonald’s restaurants. As soon as customers entered this fence, they would be offered one-cent Whopper Burger on the Burger King app.

According to Alistdaily, ‘The risky promotion resulted in Burger King app being downloaded over 1,000,000 times and boosted from ninth to first place in the Apple App Store’s food and drink category.’

See? Use your imagination and improve your business today.

Enjoy the Benefits of Geofencing for Business

  • Improve Engagement

(as customers will be offered relevant information at relevant time)

  • Gain Better Data

(you’ll get more insights on what works better, where and when)

  • Boost Targeting

(personalization leads to better targeting, and this technology offers everything you need)

  • Better ROI

(it’s easier to analyze the response of your campaign)

  • Improve Efficiency

(more personalized and specific offers result in higher efficiency)

Top Geofencing Tools to Use

With easy tools to use, you can provide your clients with perfectly customized ads. Whenever they pass a restaurant or a shop, they will be targeted with specific offers, sales and bonuses. As soon as your clients entered the desired location, they can receive a phone call, a push notification, a text message, appointment request – anything that is designed to boost your business Here are some perfect tools to use: xAd, Koupon Media, NinthDecimal.

What No One Tells You About Future of Geofencing

It’s believed by MarketsandMarkets that location technology is about to expand by 27,5% by 2022. This is an advancing technology that opens breathtaking opportunities to business owners all over the world.

It highly increases the ways to reach out to the target audience and results in converting more clients. Who wouldn’t want to jump such an opportunity? This technology sparkles the interest of companies with incredible things it offers.

Geofencing Technology Helps you Hold All the Aces

All said, you can see yourself that you would be missing out on amazing chance to get your business going. Marketing is tough. It’s changing truly fast and it’s difficult to keep up with its changes sometimes. Still, if you really want to reap all the benefits, you should always be on the alert of any novelty.

Geofencing is not an exception. Thanks to it, you can get faster and more precise results. Consequently, it will help you make better decisions.

Yes, it can be costly, but once you try it, you’ll see it was worth every penny you spent. Grab your customer’s attention, keep them engaged, offer them special bonuses they can’t say ‘no’ to, and do it while instantly analyzing the results thanks to the cutting-edge technology you can use.

Remember that these days it’s all about understanding the client better, so you can provide them with more valuable and relevant product or service. It’s a powerful tool to use, so check it out and see where it takes your business.

You also might be interested in “What is push notification?” or just start building your app now :)

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The Preeminent Caribbean Cultural Festival Pumps Up its Experience With a Mobile App

For the first time in its forty-six-year history, The Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) was accompanied by a mobile app, created with the help of Mobile Roadie. The famous regional festival took place on 16-25 of August in Trinidad and Tobago, whose rich culture gave birth to the limbo dance and numerous unique music styles. 

Hailed as “the inspirational exchange of creative flows,” CARIFESTA gathers creatives from music, dance, drama, painting, sculpture, folk art, photography, and literature from over thirty Caribbean and South American countries. The festival aims to reinforce and develop the Caribbean cultural heritage and strengthen the bond between the Caribbean countries.

With a custom design that reflects this year’s visual aesthetic, the CARIFESTA app has proved to be the ultimate mobile companion to the already rich festival experience. 

The app’s features include:

  • Event calendar
  • Radio/podcast
  • Buzz (a section combining a group wall chat, map, and photos)
  • Videos
  • News 
  • Top users (users accrue points by doing various things in the app)

Rounding out the features are essentials like notifications, social media integration, mailing list, favorites, as well as sections with handy information about the festival. The app proved to be popular among attendees, with the top user scoring a whopping 10,270 points while using the app. 

Having powered events like TED, Aspen Ideas, and We Love Green, the Mobile Roadie platform is tailor-made for building essential event apps. If you need an app, learn more about the features of Mobile Roadie.

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Empowering Women with Mobile: Bosspreneur Gets an Essential App

Starting a new business season properly can make a difference, and Bossprenuer knows this. The training community for women entrepreneurs created a unique branded app with the help of Mobile Roadie to bolster up their online presence and let the existing and future participants access everything Bosspreneur related on their mobile devices from anywhere. The app was released to the App Store and Google Play at the end of August. 

The community and its Bosspreneur Business Circle (BBC) membership offers in-depth, practical training and resources on all aspects of planning, building, and managing a successful small business, with the aim to help women improve business results and increase revenue and resources, providing community support along the way. 

Bosspreneur is led by Becky A. Davis, who has over 20 years of expertise in training and coaching teams and individuals and has been a driving force behind six and seven figure businesses from across industries. The community is primarily based in the U.S., but anyone with the fitting experience and track record can become a Chapter Director anywhere in the world.       

The app’s feature include:

  • News
  • Event calendar
  • Media
  • Community list
  • Books
  • Store
  • Locations

The Bosspreneur app is set to extend its community’s reach further and ensure more women can successfully start, manage, and grow their businesses by tapping into the rich expertise of Bosspreneur’s many speakers, authors, coaches, and community members.

The Mobile Roadie platform has been providing a solid foundation for mobile efforts of businesses across industries for more than a decade. Discover how your business can benefit from our intuitive app builder at a fraction of the cost compared to hiring a custom developer. 

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How To Make An App In 2019 – A Step-by-Step Guide

Are you willing to launch an app that sets yourself apart in the market? Want to make your presence felt whilst establishing a strong connection with your customers? Well, creating impressive applications is no big deal if you know the right way to begin with.

Today, thanks to the smartphones that we now have an app for almost every other job. From communication to travelling and even personal fitness, there exists an application for guidance. Owing to the increasing dependency of people on apps, the idea of earning popularity and profitability through this media fascinates everyone. If you also plan to launch an app, you’re no exception.

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn how to make an app that is genuinely profiting and popularizing for you.

How To Make An App

Considering the huge number of applications available in the market, it is not easy for newcomers to stabilize themselves in there. To achieve this goal, you should have to consider different factors before starting to create an app. 

The following section guides you about the basic steps to make an impressive application.

General Steps To Make An App

  • Draft Your Idea:

List out the basic idea of your planned app. What you actually want your app to do? Which features should it offer? How should it function? Write down everything on a paper to have your requirements ready at hand.

  • Perform Market Research:

Before you start creating apps, a thorough market survey is necessary to know the competition. See what your rival apps are, what features they offer to the users, and where do they lack. Your app should ideally surpass the rivals to attract users, for which, it must have a catchy look and should offer attractive features, preferably, more than the competing applications.

Market Research To Make An App
  • Design Your App:

This step marks the beginning of the technical creation of your app. If you want your product to be prominent in the market, you should make an app that is visually appealing and user-friendly. At this stage, you should proceed very carefully to pick the colors, fonts, styles, and overall design of your application.

Design Your App

You can either choose to design your app yourself, or you can use external resources. We’ll talk about it in detail in the following section.

  • Build Your App:

If you are using an online resource to build an app, then you may simultaneously get it developed through the app builder. However, if you choose a dedicated design resource, or prefer to design it yourself, then the next step is to bring those app sketches to life with codes.

This stage includes all the front-end and back-end development of the application. You will find more details about it in the later sections.

  • App Review And QA Testing:

At the end of the development process, you have to test your app for quality and performance. In this phase, you test your app internally for addressing any performance issues, fixing bugs, and making modifications in the features.

App Review And QA Testing

Besides, you can also release your app to a limited number of users and collect feedback on the design, features and overall app performance. This allows you to know the general opinion of the users regarding your product, and to make improvements before its formal launch.

Most businesses tend to launch a beta-testing program for this purpose.

  • App Launch And Maintenance:

After you have tested your application, you are all set to launch your app in the market. While this step completes the process to make an app, you then enter an endless phase of app maintenance where, depending upon the requirements, you would frequently have to update your app.

How To Create An App From Scratch

When you have your application’s prerequisites listed with you, and you know your target audience as well your rival applications, it’s now time to start creating your own app. 

Usually, most app owners tend to create app either for iOS or Android operating system. While there also exist numerous other mobile platforms, Android and iOS are the most used ones. Therefore, your application should also necessarily target either one or both of these platforms.

Nonetheless, regardless of whichever platform you choose, the basic steps to developing your application remain the same. Here’s how to create a mobile app from scratch.

Steps To Create An App

When it comes to building mobile applications, the process begins with creating an app design. Once you finalize the visual appearance, you can then bring your app to life by adding codes to it.

The goal here is to create mobile application that is visually pleasing, offers incredible features, is easy to use for all targeted users, and is flexible to handle updates. Your app will only bypass the rivals when it has everything best to offer without making the users feel bored.

Create A Wireframe:

The first step to materialize your idea is to create a wireframe for your app. It lets you decide how your app will look on the basis of the draft you prepared earlier.

Create A Wireframe

Think of wireframing as the ‘blueprint’ that draws the foundation of your application. It is a rough sketch of every page you wish to have in your app. You do not have to be conscious of color schemes or logos at this point. Rather, with wireframe, you make decisions regarding the placement of icons, logos, features and options to appear on various screens. Creating detailed wireframes eventually helps you design your app well in the later stages.

You can find plenty of tools online that create amazing wireframes, such as Axure, iPlotz, and Pidoco.

Develop Mockups:

After completing the wireframing, review what you have sketched for any changes. Once you finalize the wireframe, the next step is to make an app mockup.

Think of mockups as screenshots of a working app. In this phase, you have to finalize the color schemes, icons, logos, and all other design features contributing to the actual look of your app. Thus, mockups constitute a crucial part of designing.

Develop App Prototype:

Following the mockups, you will move on to create a working prototype of the application. Prototypes let you develop the user interface and check the entire app design in real-time. Although, this stage is not suitable for making major design changes. Yet, you can still decide about any updates needed in app design and performance.

Finalize The Visual Design

When you successfully create an app prototype, you are now set to finalize the visual design for the actual application. This is the last step of designing an application where the designer makes use of all skills to build an impressive application from both technical as well as a user’s perspective.

Frontend And Backend Development

Once you complete the design phase, the next step is to build an app around that design, that is, the frontend and backend development.

Frontend And Backend Development For Your App

Frontend development means you have to create the components and app interface to which a user will interact. It includes adding navigation, scrolling, icon appearance, clicks, the addition of plugins, graphics and animation, and the overall data processing features to the app design.

Whereas, with backend development, you work on all those features that drive the core of your app but never directly interact with the users. Things demanding your attention at this point include database setup, data storage, security, networking and user management. 

When it comes to app development, most developers remain confused about whether to build the frontend first or the backend. While working on frontend seems easy, building the backend first is generally beneficial. It allows you to lay down the core of your application that will eventually guide you about how to create a mobile app efficiently.

Although, it may sound a bit limiting for the overall UI. However, if you have thoroughly worked in creating wireframes and mockups, you can easily envisage the UI even when developing the back-end first.

However, if you work on the frontend first, though you can succeed in developing a nice design, you will face problems if you intend to add any extra functionality in the backend later. 

Numerous services exist online offering tremendous backend support, such as Firebase, Parse, and Kinvey. Therefore, developing backend no more remains a problem.

How To Build An App Without Having Programming Knowledge

Earlier, developing mobile applications used to be a skill limited to programmers only. However, with time, businesses started realizing the importance of having an application for their brands. Hence, this field witnessed an influx of numerous non-programmers willing to launch their own apps.

Build An App Without Having Programming Knowledge

Fortunately, there now exists plenty of options for everyone to build an app of their own. If you have a nice app idea, you can easily materialize it as a viable mobile application that not only earns you fame but also ensures sufficient ROI. 

Let’s take a look at what options you can choose.

Create Your Own Team Of App Makers

One of the easiest ways to get your app designed in a short time is to make your own team. This is particularly useful for those who plan for a one-time investment in app development. It allows you to choose the designers and developers having your preferred skillset, from your desired location, and matching your budget limitations. Besides, if you ensure smooth communication, you can also get your work done in a relatively much shorter time.

However, working with freelancers can become a problem due to language barriers and time-zone differences. Also, most new freelancers are too naïve to understand how to make apps in view of your requirements. Hence, make sure you choose only those freelancers who have a proven portfolio, good reviews, and can manage smooth communication.

Hire An Application Development Agency

If you are planning to create an application as part of your business and wish to maintain it for long, perhaps, it is better to go for a professional app development agency. Although, it is the costliest of all options and may take longer to create an app for you. Nonetheless, since these companies specialize in software and application development, you can certainly expect a quality product to receive from them.

Use Online App Builder Tools

Owing to the increase in the number of mobile applications, and the growing interest of people in creating their own apps, there now exists several robust online app builder tools as a convenient alternative. Similar to website builders, app builders are online software that allow you to make an app from scratch.

These tools can manage the entire app building process right from the wireframing to the delivery of a developed application. They offer various design templates and DIY automated processes to generate an app without codes. 

Online application builders work wonders even if you have no technical knowledge about how to build a mobile app. To use these tools, you just have to have a creative mind and the passion to make something on your own. 

Certainly, for small businesses, individuals and those wanting to develop an information-based application, these DIY app builder tools, such as MobileRoadie, are a perfect choice.

Average Cost To Make An App

Now that you know the various options to develop an application, you must also estimate an approximate cost for it before beginning. Otherwise, you may have to bear with a major increase in the budget kept aside for app building.

Average Cost To Make An App

In general, the average cost to build mobile applications is quite variable based on the following factors.

Choice Of App Developer

As explained above, making an app through a DIY app builder tool is quite budget-friendly. Whereas, hiring professional application development agencies may cost you a fortune.

Likewise, the cost of app development also varies with the location of the designer. If you are hiring a freelancer team from developing regions such as Pakistan, India, or Bangladesh, you may get your work done against charges of $10-$50/hour. Whereas, those based in advanced countries such as the USA, UK, or Australia, you will have to pay around $50-$300/hour.

App Features And Complexity

The average cost to create mobile app also depends on the features and complexity of your app. Simple applications that offer limited features, have a simple design, and target one platform only (either iOS or Android) cost fewer bucks. For instance, building a calculator app may cost you around $50,000. 

Whereas the applications targeting a broader audience, supporting more than one platform (such as both iOS and Android) and involving lots of graphics, animations, and transitions cost more.

For example, if you want to create an app that ensures greater user engagement with push notifications invitations and data syncing, you may have to spend about $100,000 to $300,000. 

Similarly, developing complex social applications like Facebook and Instagram that offer much more functionalities and require robust security usually cost around $150,000 to $500,000. Whereas the cost for building e-commerce apps starts from $200,000 up to $1,000,000 or even more.

What Is The Best Way To Create An App?

Perhaps, after the entire discussion, you may be looking for a straightforward recommendation regarding the best method for app creation. However, it is a question that has no finite answer!

It is because designating a certain way as ‘best’ for app development entirely depends on your requirements and budget limitations. If you are a growing entrepreneur, want to have an app as a promotion for your main business, or are looking for a mediocre level app-building facility within a constrained budget, you can go for DIY app builders. These tools are also suitable for hobbyist app owners who merely want to monetize their apps as a side business.

However, for larger businesses looking for creating applications for every brand they own, want to build a robust connection with the customers, would need to frequently collaborate with app designers and developers in future, and can afford to spare a large amount for this purpose, hiring a professional agency is more suitable.

Conclusion

There is no right time to make an app. If you have a nice idea, then now is the time to start your venture.

Don’t worry about the growing competition or the saturation in the app market. If you develop your application in the right way, offer great features, target the right audience and abide by the guidelines of App Store or Play Store, you will surely attract more users and gain more popularity then your rivals.

All it takes to create a thriving app is the passion to make something useful, the selection of the right way to develop your app, and thorough market research. 

Good luck!

You also might be interested in “Best Wedding Apps” or just start building your own app now :)

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How Do Free Apps Make Money? Learn How to Earn Profit

App Monetization Detailed Overview

Nowadays we cannot imagine our life without applications that can be installed on any type of the device (smartphones, wearables, tablets). Apps not only entertain us but also provide numerous useful services that extremely facilitate our life.

The apps can be of different types, but the majority of them is available for free. This market is growing and expanding year by year. Thus, making it a good place to get a profit from. But the question that baffles the most is “How do free apps make money?”. Let’s find out what mystery lies behind the scenes.

How Do Apps Make Money? Secrets to Know

General App Monetization Statistics

According to the Statista, the number of apps available on different online stores is rather impressive as of 1st quarter of 2019. The list goes in the following way:

  1. Google Play – 2.1 mil apps
  2. Apple App Store – 1.8 mil
  3. Windows Store – 670 000
  4. Amazon Appstore – 475 000
  5. Blackberry World – 234 500

All in all, it’s more than 5.2 mil apps on a worldwide scale and in 2019 mobile app monetization revenue goes up to 462 bn USA as compared to 36.2 bn in 2016.

The analysis of the app market in 2018 shows that the most profitable apps were:

App Monetization Statistics
  1. Netflix
  2. Tinder
  3. Tencent Video
  4. iQIYI
  5. Pandora Music

Another important thing to know in regard to app monetization is app category. The most popular in 2018 were:

  1. Entertainment
  2. Business
  3. Education
  4. Lifestyle
  5. Utilities

The app monetization statistics speaks for itself and you see that app monetization is real and brings decent sums of money. Within the pool of apps available today, most of them get an income despite high competitiveness. How is it possible? In order to get revenue from your apps, you have to take into consideration popular strategies, models and use useful platforms.

Most Common App Monetization Models

Since the time the first apps appeared, there has been developed several app monetization models. If your aim is to earn money via the app, then you have to choose the one model that suits you best.

Most Common App Monetization Models
  • Paymium

Paymium app model is the one where an app can be downloaded on a paying basis and also has some in-build features that can be purchased additionally. In this case, you should remember that users choose fee-based apps in order to avoid watching various ads. You might know popular games like Minecraft or Stardrew Valley that fit this model.

  •  Paid Model

Another of app monetization models is a paid one. It means that users have to pay a one-time fee and can enjoy all the features without making followed-up purchases. In this case, the app monetization revenue depends on the number of people who are willing to buy your product. In order to make more money, you have to have an appealing and unique design, high-quality service, don’t forget to mention your brand as many times as possible, and invest in advertising, so you reach your target audience.

  • Subscription

Last year Netflix took the first place of the most popular app and it is a great example of the subscription model. The mobile app monetization runs here on the concept that users have to subscribe and provide a fixed payment for one month period in order to use the service. But before users decide to subscribe for certain things, they have a chance to enjoy free service trial for one month. Thus, the company gives a chance to see people for themselves what they are going to get when subscribing to their service.

  • Freemium

Freemium model of monetization is the one that offers a user to download the app for free from the store. The basic features of the app are available for free but if you want to get more, there are premium features that can be purchased in the app. Tinder belongs to this type of model.

  • Free Model
Free App Monetization Models

As for free app monetization models, Instagram is considered to be the best example. The app is free to download and there are no extra features that can be purchased. This type of applications receives revenue from in-app advertising mostly, but there are some other strategies that can be implemented. Nowadays, numerous companies, famous bloggers and celebrities use Instagram for self-promotion by making ads via the app. Companies reach their target audience, while the Instagram team gets revenue for the services provided.

How Do Free Apps Make Money?

The free model of app monetization can be baffling, as you might not see how the app brings income to the company. Well, there are numerous ways to take advantage of your application and we are going to view them in detail.

What Are the Best App Monetization Strategies?

First mobile app monetization strategy is advertising within the app. Although the users download apps for free, they occasionally have to watch short video or display ads, which are two of the most profitable ad streams. The ads are implemented into the applications in the way that they are not disruptive, so users will not experience any inconveniences.

This is a type of app monetization strategies that perfectly suits the free model of monetization. There are different types of ads available for this case:

  • Banner Ads: these ads you can see in the bottom or top of the screen of your mobile phone. Best suits for recognized brands as banners have lower engagement rates compared to other types. But on the other hand, they are less disruptive.
  • Video Ads/Rewarded Video Ads:video ads are played during pauses. Usually, developers turn them into rewarded ones when users get some extra bonuses for watching them.
  • Native Ads: a type of advertisements that are naturally incorporated into the application. Mainly these are sponsored videos or content that aim to promote particular brand/company.
  • Interstitial Ads: full-screen pop-up advertisements that are shown when the app is opened or closed.

But what are the ways to earn profit without running ads within the application? Let’s discuss the most popular solutions for free apps.

How Do Free Apps Make Money Without Ads?

If you are new to the business, you might find it difficult to understand the subtleties of profit-making from free apps, especially when you decide to make your app ads-free. But when it comes to making a profit without advertising, there are numerous ways to make it. For instance, you can try several of these app monetization tips:

  • In-app Purchase: some of the features within the app can be available only after making payment. Exclusive information or additional services within the app are appreciated by users and a large majority of them will be willing to buy it. Especially this method is beneficial in games, as players usually want to win and get more bonuses.
  • Affiliated Marketing: design an app that can promote other business or services. The app provides information on the service or company and receives revenue from clicks or downloads.
  • Sponsorship: suits best for the developed apps that are popular within a specific niche. You can contact sponsors who work within your market with matching content and set an agreement on how you manage an income: it can be equally divided; also it’s possible to set a specific rate for monthly sponsorship, or you get a certain percentage off every sale.
  • Crowdfunding: if you need some funds to develop, improve or promote your free application, you can turn to the crowdfunding. People who like your services/application/game can donate some sums of money through different platforms, for example like Kickstarter or CrowdFunder.
  • Sell database: any personal data of your users (like emails or phone numbers) is extremely useful. Companies who want to expand their target audience might be interested in buying it from the services that run within the same industry niche. This type of mobile app monetization strategies can be called a tricky one as you have to inform your users first before the information is sold to other companies.

In order to have a successful monetization experience, you have to consider using platforms that specialize in advertising and can turn any app type into profitable one. There are numerous platforms to make it happen, we’ll review some of the most popular ones.

What Is App Monetization Platform?Services that Can Be Useful

App monetization platform is a website that serves as a program solution for applications to get the most of in-app advertising. All the ads go for auction and the platform chooses the highest bids for your application that can bring maximum revenue. Today you can find different platforms that provide this service. Here are some of the most popular ones that offer high-quality services.

Audience Network by Facebook

App Monetization Platform

Facebook is considered to be one of the best ways to promote your business or services and reach your target audience. Audience Network is a platform that should be used to run ads on the website. The website offers different types of ads like native ads, standard display ads, rewarded videos, and in-stream ads. The publishers who want to get revenue growth should consider using these services.

Unity Ads

Unity Ads App Monetization Platform

Unity Ads app monetization platform aims to integrate video ads into publishers games. The company offers high revenue per user of any rewarded video. It works in the following way: developers can offer users bonuses (like score increases, extra life or currency within the game) for watching a video add.

Media.net

Media net Pic

This is a good alternative platform to AdSense as Media.net gives publishers access to display, contextual and native ads through their network. This platform is a popular choice as they offer competitive CPMs docked ad units.

Additional App Monetization Tips

The app market is bursting with a huge number of apps and you have to remember that in order to make your service profitable via the application you have to keep in mind additional app monetization tips.

First, make your app fun and engaging as well as user-friendly. Make sure the app suits your audience to the full in case you provide particular services. If you want to create a popular game, it should stand out from the crowd. The more users hooked, the better, as you expand your audience and become a solid platform for advertising, etc. The next thing to do is updating and bug fixing. It can be new features or additional options to try. This method can keep your users interested in the product and they will be waiting to see what comes next. Also, make sure that every user can enjoy the app/service in the same way and no one has issues with it.

App Monetization Tips

In order to keep on the market and beat competitors, you should analyze your audience to know their preferences or behavior. This tip can help you enhance your users experience with the app or game you offer.

All in all, the monetization process is not that difficult as it seems to be. Once you decide to launch an app or game, think through the models of monetization and strategies in order to get the best out of your product. It’s always possible to implement several strategies at the same time, but don’t forget about the users and make it a pleasant experience for them to be a part of your audience.

You also might be interested in “How to Create a Dating App” or just start building your own apps now :)

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Best Apps for Book Lovers: Personal Library in Your Smartphone

Technological advancement and the digital era have changed numerous aspects of our lives. Household chores are not that hard to cope with anymore, information is not that difficult to find and books are not that heavy to carry around, as you can have all the favorite ones within one app.

Apps for book lovers give you access to numerous books starting from ancient literature and ending with modern authors. We’ve provided our own research and came up with the list of the best book apps.

Apps for Book Lovers: Android or iOS

Since Android and iOS are the most popular operating systems, apps nowadays usually suit both types. Among the best book apps for Android and iOS you can find:

1. Goodreads: One of the Best Book Apps

Goodreads App

Goodreads is one of the best apps for book lovers that offers useful features. A kin reader will love this app as it can provide information on any book. Readers can make their personal lists of books they have read or are going to. The app suggests books that suit user’s taste, it’s very convenient as at times you cannot find what to read next.

Goodreads is ranked among the best book apps as it can scan books and provide you with reviews of other users, a short description of the plot, genre, etc. Every user can also buy or borrow books through the links provided, as well as see what your friends are reading. You can also help others with your personal reviews and comments when choosing a book. The app can be installed on both Android and iOS operating systems.

2. Google Play Books: Among the Best Apps for Book Lovers

Google Play Books App

Google Play Books has everything you need. One new thing that will make a heart of every bookaholic beat faster is that now you can even purchase and listen to audiobooks. What makes Google Play Books one of the best iOS and Android apps for book lovers? It allows you to buy books without a subscription and listen to some free samples of the audiobook before buying one. Apart from this, the app offers millions of ebooks that can be previewed and read on both OS or even offline.

3. Wattpad: Choose the Best iPhone Apps for Book Lovers

Wattpad App

Another of the best book apps is Wattpad – the app where stories live, as their motto says. This platform is where you can not only read millions of stories but also write your own ones and share them with other readers.

The stories can be read in over 50 languages that range from classics to modern genres. Users of one of the best apps for book lovers can interact with each other, write and share their original stories, participate in writing contests or even get in touch with the writers.

4. Amazon Kindle Among Android and iOS Apps for Book Lovers

Amazon Kindle App

Amazon Kindle is a perfect app where you can both read and buy books. Thanks to this application eager readers have access to over 4 million books. There are thousands of books available for free. The latest issues of various magazines and newspapers are easily found through the app. In addition to this, it’s possible to borrow ebooks from local libraries.

Amazon Kindle can be installed on any device, so it’s one of the best iOS apps for book lovers. It doesn’t matter whether you own Kindle reader or not, the app can synchronize any of your accounts, so you can always pick up from where you left. What is more, Amazon Kindle has a built-in dictionary that lets you check unknown words while reading. This feature is particularly great for people who learn new languages.

5. Inkitt: One of the Great Apps for Book Lovers (Android, iOS)

Inkitt App

Inkitt is an app that is owned by a publishing house. The app is one of the best Android apps for readers and book lovers as it takes into account your interests and suggests books you might like. It contains over 100 000 novels of all popular genres, including Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Romance, Thrillers, etc. Inkitt aims to help newborn authors, so every user is able to support them.

The application has a beautiful design and you can customize background colors, fonts, etc. One more great thing about this application making it one of the best Android book apps is that you can download books and read them offline.

6. AnyBooks: Read for Free

AnyBooks App

AnyBooks is a popular and one of the best free book apps for iPhone and Android that gives access to the latest bestsellers for free. Also, every reader can personalize their account and get book recommendations that suit their preferences in reading genres etc.

The app allows users to download books and read offline. It supports languages like English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc. AnyBooks also helps you to translate unknown words instantly by tapping on them. Real bookworms can check out the hot reading lists to find something interesting to read. The app also engages you into a challenge that can help you develop your reading skills.

7. Free Books: For Fans of Classic Literature

Free Books App

Dive into the world of classical literature and philosophy with Free Books that ranks among the best Android apps for book lovers. The application comprises the greatest books of human history, including plays of Shakespeare, Victorian novels, the works of Seneca, letters of the world’s famous leaders, etc. The fiction literature includes stories, novels, fairy tales, drama, fantasy, etc.

Free Books has all the necessary features like Night Mode, reading statistics, etc. Another great bonus of it is audiobooks. Now you can listen to the books on the go and for free. The audiobook player makes it easy to listen to all your favorite ebooks.

8. Oodles Presents 50000 Free eBooks and Audiobooks

Oodles App

The application by Oodles is among the best apps for book lovers as you can not only read available books but also import any ebook in such formats as: epub, mobi or txt.

Personalize your account so the app will suggest you the books you might enjoy reading, as well as customize the background and fonts to make reading the most convenient.

Create your personal library by downloading the books so you can read/listen to them even offline. The application comprises only classic literature in English and Hindi that belongs to the public domain, but it supports different formats, so you can use it to read downloaded books.

9. Apple Books

Apple Books App

Top of the best iPhone apps for book lovers is taken by Apple Books. The application is a wide selection of the ebooks and audiobooks of different genres (fiction, non-fiction, books for kids, cookbooks, etc.). Here you can learn about the most recent releases, news, and read exclusive content. Also, it has one of the biggest collections of the audiobooks. Enjoy listening to the books read by popular authors and celebrities.

Apple Books has charts of popular books so you can check what other avid readers choose to read.Every user can select the books and audiobooks they wish to read next to Want to Read List. It is very helpful as you keep all the information in one place and never forget the titles of the books you want to read.

You can adjust the interface of the app the way you like it and which is the most convenient one. Readers can make highlights of the fav passages or phrases, add bookmarks and some notes. Download the app to experience all the features and find out even more.

10. Audible: The Biggest Collection of Audiobooks

Audible App

Powered by Amazon, Audible is considered to be the world’s largest platform of audiobooks. People who prefer to listen to books rather than read will find the app fascinating. It’s no wonder the app is considered to be one of the top-notch Android and iPhone apps for book lovers.

The app offers 30-days free trial and pays for your first audiobook. If you like the app and want to continue to use it, members can get additional bonuses and discounts. And in case you don’t like the book you have chosen, you can exchange it for free.

Audible gives you a chance to listen to the audiobooks anytime and anywhere. What is more, you will always pick up the point you left even if you switch your devices.

In addition to this, you will keep up with the latest news and releases, current trends and events by listening to Audible original shows or checking the stories by The Washington Post, The New York Times, etc.

11. Kobo

Kobo App

Kobo unites millions of eager readers across the world in one simple app. Every reader can find something interesting for themselves as the application contains over 5 million titles to choose from. A new feature of the app is – audiobooks section which is among the largest in the world.

If you’re a new member of the app, you get $5 off for your first ebook. Every time you purchase on Kobo you earn some Super Points. 

The application is extremely convenient and user-friendly. Customize it the way you like the most, you can change the size and style. It has Night Mode too. The player is easy to use and you will never lose the spot where you stopped listening to the book.

The application gives you recommendations on the books to read and you can also share your thoughts on what you’re reading now on social media like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

12. Worldreader

Worldreader App

Worldreader is another huge digital library that has free ebooks on various topics, including romance, sports, education, religion, etc. The variety of fiction and non-fiction books will definitely surprise you. You will be even more surprised when you get a prize for reading. Set up a goal and move towards it with ease, check the progress and compare it with the progress of the other readers from your country.

The books are organized by categories, so the application is easy to navigate. Worldreader has a great collection of children’s books that can help preschoolers learn to read.

Also, it is possible to listen to the books using a Read Out Loud feature.

13. PocketBook Reader

PocketBook Reader App

PocketBook Reader is the app designed and launched by one of the world’s ebooks leaders. The application supports the biggest number of text formats, including PDF, EPUB, DjVu, FB2, MOBI, DOCX, TXT, HTML, RTF, etc. It allows its users to read without any ads appearing on the screens. An avid book reader can create a personal library and even share the ebooks and collections with their friends.

Thanks to PocketBook Reader you have a convenient book search engine, as well as a built-in scanner of barcodes that will facilitate the search.

14. Blinkist: App for Non-Fiction Lovers

Blinkist App

Blinkist is an application that has a great collection of non-fiction books that are about leadership, psychology, history, education and other topics. Here you can find both ebooks and audio versions. If you like some passage or idea, you can instantly highlight it in the app.

Blinkist also has Kindle integration and functions offline. 

15. Libby: Local Library eBooks

Libby App

OverDrive offers book lovers to discover ebooks from the local libraries via Libby. Now it’s possible to borrow books for free and instantly by using the app on your phone. You will need your library card to open the app and get accessto the books. The process is very simple and you will save a lot of time traveling to the libraryand searching for the information. Libby also allows downloading ebooks and audiobooks foroffline studying.

So, here are 15 apps that will suit the needs of any book lover. Expand your knowledge with useful apps that can be easily installed on your smartphone. Enjoy the reading.

You also might be interested in “15 Best App Ideas” or just create your app for book lovers now :)

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15 Best App Ideas You Should Invent

Is your head full of cool app ideas never actually put into practice?

Any person in the contemporary world thought of starting a new business (at least once). Most of them saw this startup as designing a mobile solution for some “pain” their potential customers have. But not so many of these people proceeded to design an MVP and create a product, being unsure in their mobile app ideas themselves.

Because of that, the world still suffers from the surplus of good app ideas and the lack of actual mobile app solutions on the market.

We decided to design this list of 15 best app ideas to assist you in that. It’s not a motivational speech to make you believe in yourself. It’s rather a review of the best mobile app ideas that you can rely on while designing your solution.

How to distinguish good app ideas from not-so-good ones: the basic rule

Before seeing the list of truly great app ideas, let’s select the criteria of making them so amazing. To evaluate the potential of your future mobile product, answer yourself a question of whether your invention changes the world for real. In other words, are you sure that your set of functions wasn’t realized in the awesome app ideas of your competitors? The point is not about inventing something completely new. You may have common app ideas with the others, but you should know for sure the unique potential of your solution. Statista reports we’ll have around 260 billion mobile apps ready for download by 2022 – so, you should be one in the billion.

Another thing to consider before realizing your amazing app ideas is checking their actuality. The contemporary world changes fast. Today’s innovative app ideas may be already outdated the next day. So, constantly check the trends.

According to PixelCrayons, the most relevant inventions this year are progressive web apps, cross-platform app ideas, and any good app ideas that work with AR.

In detail, you should work with progressive web app to make the solution experience as enjoyable as with a good mobile application. The new app ideas in this dimension don’t occupy space in a phone’s storage and work in the browser without an Internet connection. Coming in the line of instant Android app ideas, they allow using a link to try a demo version of the product without the need to download an application itself. Also, the developers work with cross-platform solutions, neglecting the previous limits of iOS or Android ecosystems. Finally, augmented reality promises an incredible user experience, which is a must-have for fun app ideas. Now, let’s see what are those 15 key dimensions that are waiting for these innovations.

Innovative app ideas

1. Augmented reality app ideas

Augmented reality app ideas

As we’ve already mentioned, AR is the basis of the most innovative mobile app ideas nowadays. Basically, technology can empower any application today. Especially, the one connected to the comfort of your home.

When it comes to IoT, top app ideas facilitate the functionality of smart devices. We already have several smart home technologies that work with connected apps. But what if we can make one step further and involve AR into them? Think about it.

Or interior design. With AR, you can change the place you live several times per day! You don’t even need to buy anything – things like pictures and flowers can please your eyes and won’t cost you a thing.

2. Social networking app ideas

Social networking app ideas

Social media changes fast, and your new app ideas can become outdated before you even finish your thought. So, think of something stable here. In our opinion, only two dimensions will remain up-to-date longer than others will: chatbots and solutions for healthy discussions.

Chatbots are the new black. Introducing the increased level of automation and assistance in sales, they can serve as the basis of your interesting app ideas. So, if you know how to make them more customized, engaging and funny, make it happen. Also, try to connect these apps to VR and AR somehow.

Moreover, social networks can easily turn into the place of spreading intolerance, propaganda, and hatred. People feel free to multiply negativity and trick the minds – especially when it comes to political and social issues. So, the world truly needs your solutions to this problem. Try to fight this evil with your fun app ideas.

3. Social app ideas

Social app ideas

There are some remarkable moments in our lives where your best app ideas can work. Let’s take the wedding ceremony. Today, this event requires extensive planning – from finding a store and buying a diamond engagement ring to hiring a wedding coordinator. The same applies to welcome and goodbye parties, college and office activities, or birthday fun. All this planning requires your time and nerves. So, if you have any cool app ideas to create a solution with ready-to-use packages for these occasions (to-do lists, connections with the needed specialists, and networking options), that’s great! And needed.

Or the platform for barter exchange. We always have something in surplus and something in need. Instead of multiplying goods and things, we can simply exchange them. For sure, such innovation is among the best app ideas. It can help the world live in harmony.

4. Ideas to make an app that integrates data of numerous sources

Ideas to make an app that integrates data of numerous sources

There are so many things available on the Internet that it’s hard to arrange all the data you need conveniently. For this pain, machine learning technology can expand the horizons of your app ideas that work with a load of data. It allows smart processing and coming up with sustainable and accurate solutions in the long run.

This know-how enabled the creation of an app that, for example, unites in one feed of all the notifications, direct messages, mentions, and shares of a single brand from all the sources. It makes a list of automated reactions that are offered by machine learning and can be manually adjusted by a user, if needed.  

All those working in SMM departments and with the brand reputation will be grateful.

5. App ideas for college students to get the right answers

App ideas for college students to get the right answers

Among the great app ideas to assist college students in studying, try to think of a platform that can give the professional answers to the important questions. Yes, we have Quora – but the website is full of bulky advertising from not-so-professional advisers. If you manage to solve this problem – great news, you’ve created one of the best mobile app ideas!

Also, think of making apps for college students more open to networking. People can build communities based on shared interests, where they can regularly discuss important issues and together search for professional answers. In the future, these small communities can transform into the teams of fellow-thinkers who will establish the new Apple in the business world. Sounds inspiring, right? And worth designing amazing app ideas that enable this future.

6. College app ideas

College app ideas

Of course, the number of opportunities to facilitate college life is not limited to inventing new forums. The great way to help them is to offer some interesting app ideas for the studying process itself. For instance, this can be smart book recommendations, based on the content of a chosen coursebook. Or an updated list of intern opportunities – to instantly gain the needed experience and later find a better job.

The college students will also warmly welcome an instant scanning of the written text and turning it into a document on your computer.

7. Sports app ideas

Sports app ideas

Once we’ve started the topic of creating communities of fellow-thinkers, that’s relevant to dive deeper. And boost your imagination beyond the pure academic limits. For example, let’s take physical activity. In partner sports, it’s always a problem to convince your friends to join the game with you. The same applies to dance – all we have are dating apps, not pure dancing partner platforms. The people striving to find a partner exist, but there is no place to help them connect. So, try to search for cool app ideas in this dimension!

Also, it will be cool if you think of any opportunities to help people rent sports equipment. Currently, we can rent apartments via Airbnb, but why we can’t do the same with a ball, a tennis racket or a bicycle? Encourage your app ideas to move in this direction, please!

8. Finance education app ideas

Finance education app ideas

We still don’t have a popular and user-friendly solution to calculate the budget. And if you have any useful app ideas in this field, you’ll significantly assist the world in counting money and spending wisely! Considering the drawbacks of a consumeristic mindset, you can help fight many consumption problems and make humanity live better.

For example, use the opportunities for machine learning. Make this app offer accurate spending strategies and opportunities to double the current budget based on the information taken in your account. But keep in mind the privacy of financial information and safety of transactions! For the help here, try to involve the recent innovation of blockchain. Generally, this technology can serve as a great basis for designing innovative app ideas. Especially, in the field of finance. Cryptocurrency steadily creates the new rules (you’ve heard of Bitcoin and Libra, right?), so your innovation can easily join the rating of the best mobile app ideas ever created next year!

9. Travel app ideas

Travel app ideas

People are passionate about traveling these days. We don’t need cars, apartments, and wedding ceremonies. We’re ready to exchange these things for memories. So, if you want to create top app ideas, think of facilitating the life for travelers and digital nomads.

The opportunities are numerous. You can create a safety map for tourists not to get in trouble in the new city. Or have some funny app ideas to help them feel comfortable in awkward situations – like a map with strange places to have fun. Creating a user-friendly climate change app is also great. It can help people plan their trips ahead and not come to enjoy a tropical beach in the middle of a rainy season. The best app ideas can also solve currency exchange issues, like finding the best place to get the local currency or calculating the budget estimate in the new country. So, invent and don’t limit yourself!

10. Medical app ideas (or healthcare app ideas)

Medical app ideas

Healthcare can also be the playground for the awesome app ideas. For example, you can invent a solution that makes the life of elderly people more enjoyable. This can be smart medical recommendations, building smooth routes through the city with fewer hills, or smart social networking to prevent them from feeling lonely. Also, a user-friendly health inspector is needed, especially if you can make the result shared with all the family members.

11. Fitness app ideas for proper nutrition

Fitness app ideas

In terms of proper nutrition, people will be happy to see whether their product is healthy not only through checking a scan code. Design something that can check an apple or a cucumber in the same way. In this context, users caring about their health know that some food is better to eat in the morning, while the evening is usually for protein intake. If you manage to include this data in your mobile solution smartly, that will be awesome.

Or try to create an app that will help users get a recipe of the dish they liked. Like scanning it with the smartphone camera and seeing the list of ingredients. Maybe, your users will realize that’s not healthy to eat that meal again for them.

Boost your imagination with blockchain solutions – and the person can know not only nutrition information but also the source of each ingredient eaten.

12. Ideas for an app that puts a price tag on your time

Ideas for an app that puts a price tag on your time

The world struggles with the problem of proper time management. We have too many things to do and too many goals to achieve. So, inventing a mobile solution that helps with setting priorities, receiving the needed alerts, and getting things done is one of the hottest topics these days. If you have some common app ideas in this dimension, the world is waiting for you!

13. Educational app ideas for better learning

Educational app ideas for better learning

The world changes fast, so we should learn fast to adapt and catch the wave. In the given circumstances, any ideas that can facilitate and shorten the studying process are in high demand these days.

Maybe, you know how to assist people in faster learning foreign languages. Or getting the prepared checklist for mastering the new professional field – with all the needed skills, knowledge, and practice. Anything that brings pleasure and speed in the studying process is welcome.

14. App ideas that facilitate the routine life

App ideas that facilitate the routine life

Many useful app ideas can make life easier. For example, a blockchain-empowered app that fills the information for taxes automatically. Or geo-tracking of your delivery. Or a platform to schedule the delivery of annual gifts to the beloved people. Or the virtual assistance to choose your look for today.

Just pick any problem you’re struggling with personally – and make a mobile solution to solve it.

15. Music app ideas

There already exist some interesting inventions in the music industry – like cloud technologies to store your playlists and a music hub to unite the musicians. But that’s not the limit! Try to introduce some funny app ideas in this dimension, for instance. Or find out how to instantly share the song you loved with a friend having a similar music taste. Or how to visualize the music into AR-built choreographies or pictures. Or how to smartly find a song.

There are so many things you can invent! Just find your passion – and work hard to make it happen!

You also might be interested in “How Do Free Apps Make Money?” or just start building your own app now :)

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From GS Warriors to Man City: Best Sport Apps

Mobile has extended the game experience far beyond the stadium and game day. The world’s best teams in different sports use mobile applications to continuously engage, entertain, and cater to their fans in ways both new and familiar. Apps for sport fans allow teams to build stronger connections with their fans, give them more team related content, and offer services in more convenient ways.

And the benefits of sport apps don’t end there. From Golden State Warriors to Chicago Bears to Manchester City, see how the world’s top teams leverage mobile to significantly improve the fan experience across the board.

Best Sport Apps in Basketball

Golden State Warriors

One of the world’s most successful sports teams, Golden State Warriors bring the same level of dedication to creating a sports mobile app they bring to basketball court. No wonder — the team is known for delivering top-of-the-line fan experience by implementing new technologies, introducing timely, spot-on ideas, and more.

The Warriors app is a good example of that continuous dedication to fans. Although it already was a winning product, the app was redesigned to become even better. Alongside the essential sport apps features, there’s a solid list of new ones:

  • Context-based app experience (user location and game status)
  • Audio content
  • Interactive box score and team calendar
  • Comprehensive notifications about every part of the game
  • Easier and more comfortable access to social media platforms
  • Improved bluetooth-based notifications with offers at the stadium
  • New UI and UX
apps for sport

The Warriors application has become one of the top sports apps for iPhone and Android, scoring 4.8 and 4.7 stars in the App Store and Google Play, respectively, as fans share their love for the app in lengthy comments. On top of that, the application currently holds spot #73 in the App Store’s Sports section.

With the team’s grand plans, and a new home arena looming on the horizon, we can expect the Warriors’ will at least keep their mobile game as strong, and remain at the top of the best sports apps lists.

Milwaukee Bucks

From the very first screens, it’s clear that Milwaukee Bucks truly cherish their fanbase. The screens use the team’s top players in a creative way to provide fans with useful information about the app, so they can enjoy the mobile fan experience in full. And it won’t disappoint.

What makes the Bucks app one of the top sport apps is a combination of essential features, fresh ideas, and that it successfully incorporates the content about Fiserv Forum, the team’s home stadium and top local venue, into the user experience. Whether a fan wants to buy game tickets or view upcoming music events, they won’t get lost — the design is clear, not confusing.

 best sport apps

Still, it’s the elaborately designed and comprehensive ticket section that sets the Bucks application apart from other sport apps on our list. Everything’s in one place: users can purchase and swap tickets, upgrade seats, access 2D and 3D seating maps, as well as access guides on amenities, mobile ticketing, and more. If one doesn’t have the time, they can go straight to Live chat. When it comes to all things tickets, this is probably the best mobile sports app in our selection.

There’s a number of other stand out features, including:

  • Custom calendar
  • Audio content
  • Interactive box scores with player stats and play-by-play shot tracking
  • Exclusive content

With high user ratings on both platforms, the Bucks app is one of the best sports apps for Android and iPhone.

Football Sport Apps

Chicago Bears

The official app of Chicago bears is jam-packed with useful exciting features for true fans of the team and the sport. The features can be divided into five areas: media, statistics, gamification, communication, as well as essential information.

First, the app provides full game-day coverage with comprehensive media content sections:

  • News: instant news, matchups previews, and the blog of the team’s long-standing website editor Larry Mayer
  • Videos of press conferences and game analysis
  • Photo galleries from each game
iphone sport apps

Then there are statistics, including depth chart, injury reports, conference and division standings, as well as an abundance of other stats like box score, head-to-head matchup stats, and player statistics.  

Social media integration is simple and mostly demands a one-click action to post content to the platform of choice. Meanwhile, sport apps basics include game schedule (for both past and upcoming games) and ticket management.

For those who really love sports and simple fun, the Bears app has a fantasy team to keep track of.

All in all, given it’s appealing and easy-to-navigate design and rave reviews in both app stores, the Chicago Bears fairly earns their spot in our best sports apps list.

New Orleans Saints

When you open the Saints app, the first words that come to mind are “sleek” and “vibrant.” The application is also fast and well-optimised. These aspects alone would have been enough for many to call it one of the best Android and iPhone sport apps, but the Saints have more in store for their fans.

Sure, there are essentials like comprehensive stats, message center (here, it’s worth noting that the app also includes geofencing), news, and media content. Fans can also use the opportunity to immerse themselves into 360-degree videos, get stadium parking information and directions, and receive live team updates. There’s also the Saints Insider podcast and game video streaming available right in the app.

sports apps for iphone

The list doesn’t end there (the Saints stadium map is kinda handy, for example). And despite their app being feature-rich, the Saints and the developers have managed to ensure comfortable navigation. Yes, there could have been fewer times when users need to login to access some of the services, and ads pop up from time to time. Still, these are not big bumps on the road to having a great game-day experience. The Saints indeed have one of the best apps for sport fans.

Apps for Sport Fans of Soccer/Football

Barcelona FC (iPhone Sport Apps Review)

If you remember how the uniform of Barcelona FC looks like, the first thing that will strike you is the app’s visuals. The development team behind the app had successfully transferred Barca’s visual aesthetic to the app; it looks vibrant and downright beautiful. One would immediately register it as the official app of the legendary football/soccer club.

sports apps for android

The app is also customisable. If you’re a fan of other Barcelona sports teams (there’s Barca Women, Basketball, Handball, Futsal, and Roller Hockey), the app will deliver all the content related to all your favorite teams to a single place, the app. This is a rare feature for sport apps, but it makes sense, especially if it’s well-designed. Elsewhere, one can see that the concept of unification is the backbone of Barca’s app. Some features link to the official website, but all the essentials are available right in the app.

Fans can use the application to buy tickets and shop for merch, follow stats and schedule, watch videos, view match galleries, and more (for example, one can get access to unique Barca wallpapers and ringtones).

All in all, Barcelona’s mobile product is among the top apps for sports fans of soccer and one of the best iPhone sport apps.

Manchester City (Sports Apps for Android Review)

Currently helmed by the famous Pep Guardiola, Man City is stepping up not only their game, but also the fan experience. Although the application only has bare-bones essentials, nothing here says “incomplete” or “lacking.”

On top of that, the design is highly eye-pleasing. The team’s aesthetic is carried over as expertly as in case with Barca’s official app: the design stands out just like the team’s color, and you understand it’s the club’s official app at the very first glance.

best mobile sports app

The Man City app is also customisable like Barca’s: users can choose to follow the men’s and women’s team news, as well as the club’s academy news.

The app’s features include:

  • Comprehensive News section with different content types covering Man City in-game and outside the game
  • Video section
  • Schedules and tables
  • Buying tickets, merch, and stadium tours.

With all the essential features, high rating on Google Play, and a great visual aesthetic, the official Man City app is one of the best sports apps for Android.

Final Thoughts: What to Include Into Your Sports Mobile App?

As you can see from the sport apps above, creating an engaging app for your fans doesn’t require complex and expensive features or demanding design choices. In some cases, adding essentials and packing them into an appealing and easy-to-navigate UI and UX can satisfy the fans in full.

So, what should comprise your sports mobile app? Here are some tips from the Mobile Roadie team:

  • News feed and live game updates
  • Push notifications
  • Game statistics
  • Video section and photo galleries
  • Ticket management and merch store integration
  • Visually pleasant design that reflects your team’s aesthetic
  • Immersive first screen
  • Fan wall (social-media like space within the app, available on Mobile Roadie’s platform)

With a feature list now on your hands, you can start making the first steps towards a solid sports mobile app that will please your fans and give a new digital dimension to your team.

Good luck!

Want to create a unique app your fans will love? Discover the possibilities of Mobile Roadie’s drag-and-drop app platform. No coding required.

Request a demo now.

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Mobile Roadie: Your Road to a Perfect App

Can you imagine a modern world without apps? We bet you can’t as everyone uses them, and it’s so convenient when you have your favorite services just one screen tap away. Or if we are talking about firms and companies, to have an app is a great way to promote your services or bring your goods to a larger number of customers. So where do you get an app? Well, it’s easy – contact mobile app platform that can grant you the greatest solutions and make your app user-friendly.

This is where you can bring your ideas into reality, add all the necessary features that will make your app stand out from the crowd and run it smoothly to the users. 

Mobile Platform: What to Look for?

Mobile platform should be the one that has proven to be one of the best. It means that a platform is able to create apps both for Android and Apple gadgets. It has organized and well-thought evolvement process, as well as keeps a high level of communication with the clients. So, you can always count on extra help. Apart from this, a good mobile app development platform designs apps of any category, starting with business and conferences, and ending with music, religion or sports.

For instance, a company has annual meetings or conferences that brings employees from all the offices and the company’s clients together. In order not to waste your time on writing long letters with all the details, you can just go for an app that has all the necessary information for staff and guests, brings immediate updates, and gives you necessary data on the number of people coming, their preferences, etc. Designing an app is a creative process and you can turn into reality any idea all by yourself, thanks to well-organized and thoughtfully developed platform. 

Mobile Roadie: Top Features of Mobile Development Platform

If you’re looking for a professional mobile platform that has it all, then you’re lucky to come across with this one. Learn about the platform and what it offers to create an appealing app, features your app needs and add all the necessary ones to it. We can say for sure that Roadie is your impeccable enterprise mobile application platform that deals with all sorts of tasks of different complexity.

Top Features from Mobile Roadie to Stuff Your App With

MR mobile enterprise application platform has a wide scope of services and features to be added to the applications. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a huge firm or uprising singer, you can find all the features to fit your app and make it awesome.

Features Provided by Mobile Roadie Platform

Push Notification Feature

Push Notification: keep your users updated with all the atest news, services or events. It’s great to stay in touch with your end audience and constantly draw back their attention to your app. Engaging texts that will appear on their gadgets, whether active or no, attract users and make them interact. What is more, if you choose Pro module, you can schedule notifications for specific time, choose preferred locations, or even connect the push to app content. In addition to this, you’re going to get statistic data on the number of visits once the push was delivered.

Mailing List Feature

2. Mailing List: create your own clients’ database by asking for e-mail and user’s name, surname when they download an app. It is very helpful nowadays. You might think e-mails don’t work anymore, but it’s not true. This mobile platform will set an automatic e-mailing, so you can share new info with your clients or attract their attention by sharing some interesting and useful data on the topic. For instance, language courses can send helpful tips to study languages. Or, if you’re a popular singer, you can e-mail your upcoming tours and concerts.

3. Chat Wall: give your fans a chance to chat with each other, comment on the current events, share pictures, lead threaded replies, etc. This is how you can get closer to your audience, promote your products or services, leave official announcements, etc. It’s a great way to build trust and give people an opportunity to learn more about you, your life, company, employees, etc.

Chat Wall Feature
API Feature

4. API: another practical feature implemented by enterprise mobile app platform that connects your app and website together, so any time the content of the website is updated or new posts appear, they immediately are transferred to an app. It saves a lot of time as you don’t have to do the same work twice. Isn’t it great? MR’s API supports different formats, including XML, native PHP, HTML, CSV, and JSON. Apart from this, MR’s team offers its clients full documentation of their API, so your development team knows all the necessary details.

Social Unlock Feature

5. Social Unlock: Locked photos, audio or video content can evoke more interest in your audience or users. You can use this feature to benefit you in the following way: users get access to locked content if they share the app on their social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter that can bring you more clients. Or your fans can see exclusive content only if they leave their e-mail address. This trick can get you a wider user database that is useful for further promotion of new products, services, etc. Also, you can grant access to unique info via QR code, the users just have to scan it.

6. Top Users: one more mobile development platform feature that brings additional perks. Top Users is a feature that tracks the most active users of your app. Every user gets points for using an app, the more they use it, the more points they get. This points system can be used to run contests among the most active users, as well as encourage less active ones to participate more. People always like to win something or get something for free, there are numerous ways to get a lot of benefits from this feature.

Polls Feature

7. Polls: another exceptional way to interact with your audience is to create polls. Your fans would love to vote for something, answer multiple choice questions, or leave an extended response. You can set a start and end date of the poll, add an image to it. It’s useful not only for online stats, but even for face-to-face conferences. For instance, you can run a quick poll among the participants and get immediate results on a big screen to discuss a particular question or make a decision. This app feature allows not only to answer the questions but also users can see the results in a percentage, and even share the results with the friends.

8. Pop-Up Promos: if you think of new ways to promote new products or services, pop-up promos are an excellent solution. These are windows that pop up when a user launches the app. It should contain an attractive image, message that calls for action and should be linked to your website or in-app content. You can set start and end dates of the campaign. In addition to this, you get statistic data on the number of users who tapped on the pop-up add and how many got interested in buying a new product or ordering a service, etc.

9. Geofencing: Have you ever noticed that some notifications and messages from particular services are delivered to you once you are in a certain place? Well, this is what is called geofencing. If people enter a specific geographical location, your app immediately reacts to this and reminds the user about services, products, etc. This useful feature can also help you promote your products, send advertisements, push up notifications, alerts, etc. to a target audience. Your company also gets feedback on the number of users who reacted to an alert or push notification. This data is always useful for marketing purposes.

Location Feature

10. Location: this feature aims to provide your users with all the important info regarding all your locations and directions. List the addresses of your stores, offices, etc., add contact information, images, etc. Make your app user-friendly, so every client can find the necessary info in one place. This mobile app development platform can design this section any way you want it to be: a pin on the map or a simple list, you’re free to choose. 

These are not the only features that MR can add to your app and make it super user-friendly, for more services check out the website and contact a team. Other sections include Accounts, Attendees, Discography, Favourites, QR Scanners, Store, etc. If you have something else in your mind and you want to have it in your app, just describe it to MR team and they will find the best solution to realize your idea.

You can share your ideas and requirements straight away and receive a response. The company has proven to be one of the best ones among mobile platforms and it’s no surprise that they have some many clients in various categories.

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Explore Prank Apps to Fool Your Friends

Long has gone the days when you could play a trick on someone with a whoop cushion or sticking the note ‘Hit me’ on someone’s back. Nobody will be impressed by this. Just leave these jokes to your grandparents. Now it is the era of prank apps. It is 2019, everything is going digital and practical jokes are not an exception.

What are Prank Apps?

The name speaks for itself, a prank app is an application developed to fool around. There are tons of funny prank apps that can help you mess with your friends, a partner or colleagues. You can scare your boyfriend by sending a fake photo with a scratch on his car. Or imagine your girlfriend’s face when you send her a fake photo of you being bald. The ideas are endless.

In fact, these apps are improving practical jokes by using all of the technological advances. So if you are in a mood for a good laugh, let us have a look at the best prank apps.

Prank Call App: It Never Gets Old

The first thing that comes to everybody’s head is a prank call app. With no doubt you have made a fake phone call at least once in your life. Surely, it seems like a perfect joke. It is easy to prepare and it is really difficult not to fall for a trick if you are convincing actor.

However, if you are too shy, or you start muttering when you try to lie, a prank call app will do everything for you. There are tons of ready-made scenarios. Your friend might get a call from the police, the doctor, boyfriend/girlfriend etc. A popular scenario ‘You got me pregnant’ is never getting old as guys all over the world get this gut-wrenching feeling ‘Am I going to be a dad?’.

Prank Call Apps

What are the Best Prank Calling Apps?

To save your time we have already singled out the top prank apps to make a fake call:

Prankster

Prankster

It is easy to choose among different scenarios. There are various voices, so your friend or co-worker will truly fall for it. There are three free prank calls, so why don’t you check it out and play a trick of ‘Look behind you’ scary call?

Funcalls

Funcalls

You can call your friends in real time without recording or you can record yourself beforehand. With this prank app you can change your voice during a real phone call. Helium balloon voice, Man voice, Scary sound – the choice is endless.

Fake Video Call

Fake Video Call

Cool prank apps are taking it to a whole new level. There are various video scenarios and you can display your face in these fake videos. It is just an imitation of a video call, not a real one. Still, when your friend sees you in some horror video scenario, it will take some time until they understand it is fake.

However, if this is not enough for your devious prank plan, you can always create a prank app yourself. As you know, you need to prepare thoroughly to create an ultimate prank. We like a good joke ourselves, so we can help you with the developing process.

Funny Prank Apps: What are They?

It seems unbelievable that nowadays there are so many apps to prank your friends. It is not only about a fake call or a fake video call. Get yourself comfortable and enjoy the ideas to pull a prank.

Funny Prank Apps

1. Prank Text Message App

The gist is simple. You send a fake message anonymously or from some fake numbers. Try out TextSpy and Funbers.

2. Haircut App Prank

This app imitates the buzzing sound of a hair clipper, so you can fake accidentally shaving someone’s hair. Certainly, within a second a person will understand it is a joke, but for several seconds they will believe it is real.

3. Scary Prank App

If you are into unexpected and scary practical jokes, you can try out such apps. There different scenarios, like ghosts or monsters jumping out and screaming while your friend is playing a game; or fake calls from hell; or seeing a monster while having their cavities checked (yes, there is even such a thing).

4. Pregnancy Prank App

Here is how it works: there are ultrasound pictures or videos, you enter your name, the date, voila and it is ready. Just send it to the one you want to prank.

5. Broken Screen Prank App

Quite a violent joke for those who care about their devices too much. This application imitates the cracking sound and realistic crack wallpaper. It is truly convincing.

6. Police Prank Call App

The phone is ringing, the picture is real, the number is real, the voice is customized –  your friend will definitely fall for it. Scenarios can be various, the most common one is ‘the parking ticket’.

Good Prank Apps to Pull on Halloween

A memorable Halloween party needs some good prank apps. You can scare your friends with their car being damaged (‘Dude, Your Car’). For your parents using a computer, you can try ‘Blue Screen of Death’ – they will totally freak out. Frighten them with various monster face and record their reaction (‘Not Alone Halloween Prank’). And remember that the best prank apps are customized, you can choose something personal that scares the hell out of your friend and create your own app with a bit of our assistance.

Good Prank Apps to Pull on Halloween

Why Try Hair Shave Prank App on Halloween?

Apps like ‘Real Razor’ is a real nightmare for girls with long hair. If you think that you can shock your girlfriend with some demons, ghost or monsters, think again. Certainly, she will be terrified, but you do not want her to have a stroke or anything like this. Using a phone imitating a clipper is much more harmless.

Cool Prank Apps to Pull on April Fools’ Day

Scary and hilarious, shocking and unforgetting prank apps will make your April Fools’ Day. You can start with something simple like a prank text app (‘TextSpy) and send some funny messages. When the game is on, you can continue with fake calls using apps. The cherry on top will be something personal. Like pregnancy prank or cockroach/spider prank apps to scare your friends with entomophobia.

Top Prank Apps: It Will be Hilarious

Finally, we have reached the point to talk about 10 best prank apps. In our serious and sometimes a bit mundane world, we need to blow off some steam. Laughing and joking is the best solution to have a break after working long hours 5 days a week. Find out about the top prank apps and have fun with your friends.

10 Prank Apps You Must Try

  • Text Replacement

If you are just a beginner prankster, try out your Settings app. In your phone you can go to Text Replacement (Settings-General-Keyboard-) and replace the words your friend commonly uses with anything you like.

  • Prank Dial

A truly cool application to make fake calls. You can choose over 150 amusing scenarios and send it to your friend.

  • iFart

Yeah, it is the new generation of a whoopee cushion, but here you set the timer and place your phone under someone’s chair. It is just classical.

  • Epic Police Siren

This app imitates the sound of siren and the flashing lights of the police car. Anybody will get cold feet thinking the police are being chasing them.

  • Optimum

If you have a TV remote app, you can have an evening of fun by changing channels while your bestie is watching her favourite show.

  • Dude Car Prank Pro

Here is how it works: you upload the photo of your friend’s car, you add scratches, fire or other damage and send it back to your friend. They will surely freak out!

Dude Car Prank Pro
  • Prank Stun Gun

This application imitates the sound and vibration of a stun gun. Honestly, this prank will last few seconds, but you can give it a try.

  • Fake Broken Screen

Your friends can truly buy this one. Imagine you show them a broken screen of the latest iPhone, the emotion on their face will be priceless.

  • Scary Prank

For those who like to pull a scary prank this is a perfect app. It goes like this: it seems like a game and you offer your friend to play. While they are playing, unexpectedly there appears the face of a scary ghost. Boo!

  • Fake Video Tool

We have already mentioned this application, but it deserves to be among the top prank apps. As you are sending fake videos with your face in them, it truly is a great way to pull a prank.

Play tricks, have fun and laugh, but remember that all these apps are developed for fun. Do not cross the line and let these applications be as harmless as they are.

You also might be interested in “How To Create Health Insurance App” or just create your prank app with our app builder now :)