Thursday 17 March 2016

Google Unexpectedly Rolls Out Developers Preview of Android N

Google's unexpected announcement of Android N Developers Preview took everyone by surprise. It's a well-known fact that Google usually releases the new version of the Android OS at the Google's I/O developer conference. The same is the case with the latest Android version “N” which was expected to be talked about not until Google's developers conference in May.

The senior vice president of the Android OS, Hiroshi Lockheimer, said: “ the team wanted the preview to be released earlier to get feedbacks from developers without much delay and for making Android N version available to device manufacturers this summer .” 

Let's now discuss the exciting (and new) features that the developers preview of Android N offers: 

1. Split-screen Mode
 
It is the first time when Android is offering users with a split-screen mode. The split-screen view gives users the ability to display more than a single app simultaneously. In short, you will be able to perform multitasking with the help of Android N. For instance, users could divide the screen to view a page on the left side while creating an email on the right side. 

With the split-screen feature, users will become capable of resizing any activity on their screens in an easy way. To be more specific, users will be provided better control over the specific parts of an app that you would like to display. Apps running on Nexus Player can run in “picture-in-picture” mode, so as to let apps display content continuously when some user choose to browse or interact with any other app. For example, the picture-in-picture mode enables to play video apps on your Android TV in the corner.




2. App Notifications Can Now Be Bundled
 
Receiving too many notifications can be frustrating. But, not anymore. Thanks to Android N “direct reply notifications” feature. The feature helps in grouping similar alerts together into a 'bundle'. Moreover, your bundle of notifications appear to be just a single notification. That means you won't have to handle each notification individually. Rather you can choose to dismiss or expand an alert notification with a single swipe or click. 





So, this feature makes it easy for developers working in Android app development company to work on apps – that do not irritate users by sending plenty of notifications every minute. 

3. Enhanced Doze Will Save More Battery Life
 
Doze is not a new feature and was introduced with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It helps in protecting the Android device battery life by shutting down the background tasks for a particular period. But, Google plans on enhancing Doze with Android N further. The Doze feature, in general, limits an app from accessing the network when the device is idle. But with Android N, some changes have been made to Doze. The enhanced Doze will also provide several restrictions when the device is in the idle state. 

Essentially, the new version launch offers an improved version of the Doze feature that helps in saving battery power of a device even when its screen is turned off. It's too early to say how much difference the improved Doze feature will bring, but theoretically, it definitely sounds an interesting addition.

4. Ability to Save Multiple Recorded Sessions
 
The Android TV input services allow a user to pause and resume to playback any channel using time-shifting APIs. However, Google's latest launch expands on time-shifting and renders users the ability to save tons of recorded sessions at the same time. With this new functionality, users can schedule TV recordings beforehand or instead can start a recording while watching any program. 

Remember to implement recording function on your TV input service, it is imperative for you to inform the system that your app is capable of supporting recordings, can handle errors that occur at the time of recording and so on. 

What Else About Android N Developers Preview You Need to Know?
 
Here are a few questions and their answers that will provide you with relevant information about the preview: 

How can you try your hands on Android N developers preview?
 
The new Android N developers preview is available in beta version and is made available for early testing. However, you need a Nexus device to start with the testing phase since Google made the preview available to a few of its Nexus products only, such as Nexus 5X, 6P, and Nexus 6. Also, the preview can be mounted on the Nexus 9. 

NOTE: Developer preview is expected to have bugs and issues, and before trying out Android N preview on some platform keep in mind that it is still not ready for daily use. 

What will be the official name of Android N? 
 
Google is known for naming new version of Android operating system after sweet treats. For instance, some of the fewer recent Android versions were named as KitKat, Lollipop and Marshmallow. Though, what will the new Android N version will be called remains a mystery, but stakes are high that it the new version release will be named Nectar. 

Wrapping Up
 
So far, Android Marshmallow OS hasn't been made used even on 3 percent of devices. And, the release of developers preview of new Android N version is a bit of a surprise. This clearly indicates that Google is in a hurry to get Android N out. Though the new Google launch hasn't been made available for regular use, but the developers preview seems to be an exciting update for developers. We'll probably have to wait for the Google's I/O conference that is likely to happen in May to get further details regarding Android's latest version release.

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Achieving Client Satisfaction With Custom Mobile App: The What and How of It?

Many business organizations to individuals and developers are joining the growing app development trend. But there are a few who remains confused whether developing a mobile application is worth the effort. 

Observing industry reports on mobile app usage revealed that “ 88 percent of media time is spent using Smartphone, which is quite higher than 12 percent time spent on media using the mobile web.” Furthermore, “the media time spent on tablets is 82 percent compared to 18 percent of media time invested using the mobile web”. 




The above statistics clearly indicates how the use of mobile apps is growing at an unprecedented rate. And so, it is needless to say that you might lose potential customers if you still don't have a mobile app. But remember, just building one might not help you in attracting users. After all, there are millions of apps on the market. Of course, you need to offer something unique and better to grab users attention. And, a custom mobile app can help in accomplishing such an objective. 

Significance of Custom Mobile App Development

It's a well-understood fact that customer is the first thing you must have in your mind when developing a customized mobile app. That's because such an app is tailored to best meet users needs. Indeed, a product can help fulfill customers requirements ensures in keeping them engaged in it for a longer time. In essence, a custom-built mobile application helps in deploying an enhanced user experience (UX). 

Factors to Consider When Developing a Custom App
 
Below are some of the few important factors to consider for ensuring creating a custom mobile app that could achieve customer satisfaction: 

1. Conduct Research on Your Client 

It's a good practice to conduct research on your targeted users before arranging an official meeting with them post app development. Doing so will help you know everything about your client, ranging from business, products, processes, etc. Building an app keeping such details in mind will apparently help you develop a successful product. Moreover, performing research will create a positive impression on your client’s mind, observing your efforts in going an extra mile to understanding your audience’s expectations. 

2. Define Your Plan 

To maintain a good relationship with your client laying down a proper plan can help attain success. Besides, with a well-defined plan, finding issues and dealing with them will become simple and quick. Also, today we are dealing with smart clients who prefer to hire iPhone app developer or any other app developer that are good planners. This is because such professionals very well know how to lessen risks, losses and project delay. 

3. Maintain Quality 

When creating a mobile app customized to your client's needs, it is essential for you to maintain its quality. In fact, the first thing that a customer notices about the delivered product is how robust it is. Moreover, it's a well-known fact that a high-quality product is bound to be appreciated, which is vital for getting repeated business from your customers. But, if you fail to deploy a quality item, it prove damaging to your relationship with a user. 

4. Effective Communication is Must 

Communicating effectively with your app development team is vital to the successful delivery of the end-product. Especially, if you have chosen to outsource your project, interacting with your development partner is the only and best medium to stay updated on progress made in developing your application. Remember, to communicate with your service provider regarding upgrades, milestones, etc. on a daily basis. 

5. Take Feedback From Clients 

Lastly, you must make it a habit of taking your customer's feedback once the project is delivered. It would be much better to ask for feedback right after the development stage before the delivery of the product. That way, you will get to know about the fixes you need to make before handling it to your targeted users. Bear in mind to carefully study what your client has to say, and make sure to implement the suggested modifications/changes exactly according to your customer needs. 

Conclusion
Building a great mobile application can help you in reaching out to a larger user base. But, you need more than a simple app to get the desired recognition. For this, it is recommended that you should consider developing a custom app.