This Mavinx tutorial will help you master mobile app animations. Learn how animations may improve user experience, engage people, and delight your app. Learn how to use microinteractions, transitions, and gestures in meaningful ways. Learn how to create smooth, seamless animations that match your app's branding and interface. This guide's professional advice will improve your mobile app's appearance and usefulness.

How to Use Animations in Your Mobile App

Using Animations Effectively in Your Mobile App

Animations play a crucial role in enhancing the overall user experience of a mobile app. They go beyond static images and texts by effectively communicating messages and evoking emotions. The dynamic nature of in-app animations creates a more vibrant and enjoyable user journey, resulting in higher user engagement rates.

However, like any other design element in user interface, mobile animations should serve a functional purpose rather than being purely decorative. How animations are utilized in mobile applications directly impacts users' opinions of your app.

If you're intrigued by the potential of animations, continue reading to discover the most popular types of app animations and how they are employed in mobile applications.

The Importance of Using Animations in Mobile Applications

As mentioned earlier, animations can work wonders in mobile apps for several reasons. Consider the following benefits:

Improving User Experience and Interactions: App animations aim to enhance overall user experience, making your app more appealing.

Increasing Usability without Consuming Screen Space: Well-implemented animations can enhance usability without occupying excessive screen space.

Providing Feedback and Setting Expectations: Animations smooth interactions, provide users with feedback, and establish clear and actionable expectations.

Showcasing Creativity and Originality: Animations offer an opportunity to demonstrate creativity and originality, distinguishing your app from others.

However, keep in mind that animations can also be distracting, and their loading time may frustrate app users. Therefore, it's essential to implement animations thoughtfully in your app.

Different Types of Mobile Application Animations

Marketing Animations: Animations are frequently used to increase brand awareness, such as animating logos, mascots, and splash screens. They can create an emotional connection with the audience and help them associate effects or voices with your brand.

Animation in Onboarding: A successful onboarding experience is vital to engage new users. Employing animations during onboarding can provide a quick tour of the app, showcase key features, and facilitate understanding, reducing the complexity of learning app navigation.

Feedback Animation: Feedback animations inform users if they have successfully completed specific actions, improving navigation and user experience. By simulating interactions between users and mobile devices, animations can replicate sensations similar to pressing physical buttons.

Animation for Visual Hints: Mobile animations and interactions can offer visual cues about the outcome of future actions. This is particularly useful for gesture-based navigation, enhancing the user experience by ensuring smoothness and reducing the likelihood of user errors.

Progress and Loading Animations: Animations during loading processes help users understand the progress and assure them that their actions are being processed. They can entertain users or provide a calming effect during wait times, using animated progress bars, timelines, and dynamic elements.

App Transition Animation: Animated transitions within the app make interactions smoother and add style to the user interface. Well-executed transition animations facilitate flow and provide a natural connection between different elements.

Animated Function Change: This type of animation is useful for demonstrating how the function of an element has changed, often employed with buttons, icons, and other design elements. Introducing function changes with animations ensures users can seamlessly navigate the app.

Notification Animation: Striking and eye-catching app notifications increase user engagement. Employing mobile UI animations can effectively capture users' attention and provide relevant information.

Navigation Animation: Many mobile apps have complex structures that can limit interaction. Simplifying the app's design is crucial, and animations can greatly assist in achieving this by guiding users and making navigation intuitive.

Storytelling: Animations can be used to tell a story within a mobile app, effectively conveying messages or highlighting app features to users.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, there are various ways to utilize animations in mobile apps. By incorporating unobtrusive and engaging animations, you can enhance the user experience, streamline interactions, and communicate effectively. Animations contribute to smoother user interfaces. However, it's important to use them with caution. Inappropriate or excessive use of animations can be distracting and frustrating for users. Remember, the ultimate priority of your mobile app is to provide value to the user, and animations should serve that purpose effectively.

Design

See 2022's most popular mobile apps on Google Play. Find the best applications in social networking, productivity, gaming, entertainment, and more. Keep up with trends and get mobile app ideas. Discover the top Google Play apps' features, user experiences, and success factors.

Top 2022 Google Play Mobile Apps

Google Play Best Games of 2022 and Other Top Apps

The Google Play Store started as Android Market on the 22nd of October, 2008, with only thirteen applications. To compare, there will be over 2.68 million apps in the Store in 2022.
Nevertheless, such an overwhelming number of games and apps is absolutely confusing for users. Finding the ideal software for business or play may take time. Even the best programs may be identified afterwards. That is why Google decided on the “Best Of” awards in 2016 to draw users’ attention to clearly outstanding top mobile applications and games. 
The award nomination tasks imply the users’ direct participation in defining books, TV shows, movies, and apps. Play Store editors can also make up their own lists. As a result, the mixture of expert and consumer opinions does not allow the public to skip truly valuable new developments.
Developers of all levels have also got an opportunity to be recognized. They are rewarded for their creativity and unique skills implemented in the most sophisticated and well-appreciated top applications for mobile.
Therefore, it's the 10th anniversary of the Google Play launch, celebrated in 2022. It was in 2012 when Google Play united different categories and platforms under one roof. They were Google Music, Google Market, Google Movies, and other applications meant for the entertainment industry.
This year, Google Play’s Users’ Choice awards marked the most appreciated and trending users’ content. The winner was selected via a very simple process. Compatible devices allowed users to log in and browse content. Voting took place from November 1-14. Results were released on November 30.
Best Applications for Chromebook, Best Continuing, Best Narrative, and more were introduced this year by Google. It also removed such categories as Popular on Google TV and Game Changers. They also altered their procedure for the winner presentation. Now, Google announces one winner in each category and makes honorable mentions of the apps that are truly worth your attention.
Here, we want to consider the top mobile applications on Google Play awarded in 2022.
Gaming apps are usually ranked at the top among all Android applications due to the revenue they provide. By September 2022, they accounted for the 7th top position out of 10 other spots.
Play Store editors have decided on the winner of the Best Game of 2022 award, and Google has defined the Users’ Choice Game of 2022. Let’s look at the results.
Apart from game app solutions for Android, Google decided to make a choice of the best applications related to physical and mental healthcare, self-education, planning, and personal growth. These apps are appreciated for their creativity and a strong vibe of “know yourself” and “develop yourself” messages. 
Google has paid more attention to apps that care about users in their everyday life. Therefore, the Google Play market has chosen the winners in eight other categories. They are the following.
1. Best for Everyday Essentials: planners, trackers, calming helpers, and plant monitoring software. Plant Parent is a winner here, and Daily Diary, Book Morning Routine Waking Up, and Sleep Tracker are mentioned as honorable.
2. Best Hidden Gems: apps meant for social media, recovery, and meal planning. Recover Athletics is a winner, and Wamble, Little Lunches, and Linktree are honorable nominates.
3. Best Apps for Good: meditation, mental health, and digital well-being. The STIGMA App is a winner, and Zario and Sleep Fruits have become nominates.
4. Best Apps for Wear OS: it is the Android system for smartwatches and other wearable devices. Todoist is the best app in this category.
5. Best for Personal Growth: apps for focusing attention, learning languages, calming down, self-improvement, and learning how to play musical instruments. The winner this year is Breathwrk, and the nominates are Ukulele by Yousician, Duolingo ABC, and Gym Log & Workouts.
6. Best Apps for Fun: you can find apps for entertainment, workouts, and note-taking in this category. The winner is PetStar, and honorable mentions are given to Note It Widget and DanceFitMe.
7. Best Apps for Tablets: the category includes examples of apps developed uniquely for use on tablets. Pocket is a winner here.
8. Best Apps for Chromebooks: it is a new category for nominating apps developed specifically for Chromebooks. BandLab is a winner here.
You need to know that applications developed for everyday use require great functionality and high-quality UI and UX design, with an attractive appearance and user-friendly interface. The winners meet all these demands.
The winner chosen by Google Play for everyday use is Dream by WOMBO. This application is meant for the creation of pieces of art. It uses artificial intelligence, and everyone can use it to create masterpieces in different art styles based on keywords and reference images. The AI combines the entered data to release a completely unique picture.
The best apps of 2022 chosen by users include Dream by WOMBO, Ukulele by Yousician, Sleep Tracker, DanceFitMe, PicCollage, Note It Widget, Daily Diary, Breathwrk, and Be Real. Be Real is a great way to share bright experiences, travels, and memories with your loved ones in real-time.

Best Android Games of 2022

Android apps enjoy more popularity among users than iOS apps, so the audience of Android games is wider. Google Play defined 8 game award categories in 2022, and 5 Google Play best games of 2022 in each of them are the following.
1. Multiplayer games where players can interact. The winner is Dislyte, and the other four best games are Catalyst Black, Rocket League Sideswipe, Apex Legends Mobile, and Diablo Immortal.
2. Best Story is a new nomination where players are placed in different situations that can end in various outcomes depending on the player’s decisions. The winner is Papers, Please, and the other four nominates are Inua-A Story in Ice and Time, DEEMO II, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, and The Secret of Cat Island.
3. Best on Play Pass is also a relatively new nomination introduced in 2019 allowing subscribers to play a limited number of games without ads or in-app purchases. The benefits of such an app development solution are obvious and appreciated by users. The winner is Very Little Nightmares, and the nominates indicated by Google are Final Fantasy VII, Path of Giants, Bridge Constructor, and Line light.
4. Best for Chromebooks, one more new category featuring cloud gaming options. Such games provide an excellent gaming experience with high-resolution screens and RGB anti-ghosting keyboards. The winner is Roblox, and the number of such top-notch options is constantly increasing.
5. Indie Games represent exceptional approaches to design and overall gameplay from indie developers. The winner here is Dicey Dungeons, and the other nominates are One Hand Clapping, Dungeons of Dreadrock, Phobias, and Knotwords.
6. Pick Up & Play Games with their easily understandable controls, simple layouts, and clear objectives. Angry Birds Journey is a winner this year, alongside four other honorable mentions of HOOK 2, Quadline, Gun & Dungeons, and Hyde and Seek.
7. Best Ongoing, which is an already mentioned new category for the games whose new versions constantly appear or are supported by enhancements or tournaments. The game of the year Android represents is Genshin Impact, and the honorable nominates are Garena Free Fire, Roblox, Candy Crush Saga, and Pokemon GO.
8. Best for Tablets, which are specifically created for these devices, for instance, to be played in the Galaxy Tab series. Tower of Fantasy is the winner in this category, with honorable mentions of Papers, Please, Angry Birds Journey, Diablo Immortal, and Catalyst Black.

Among all the games in 2022, Google Play chose Apex Legends Mobile. This game is a multiplayer squad-based battle royale. It features various characters. You can choose them depending on your level, style, or preference.
Google also introduced a list of games for User’s Choice in November 2022. The list includes such well-known names as Apex Legends Mobile, Gun & Dungeons, Dislyte, Diablo Immortal, Tower of Fantasy Rocket League Sideswipe, My Hero Ultra Impact, Kingdom Maker, and Ni no Kuni: Cross-Worlds. Users also named Apex Legends Mobile as the best game in 2022. This game is true of the highest quality, with astonishing graphics based on Unreal4, exceptional opportunities for controlled customization, and the high-grade comfort of the entire gameplay.

Therefore, due to the advanced mobile development efforts, the best Android games of 2022 collection was enriched by truly top-notch games with the perfect graphics providing the most stunning user experience.
Like all app developers, we dream of ranking high in Google Play. We use different App Store Optimization (ASO) techniques to make any app visible on the search top of the engine. We create an original app name, pick out the most effective keywords, control their positioning and repositioning if needed, and follow the metadata updates and frequency to help your app be in trend.
Hence, if you want your new app for Google Play to occupy the first position in Google ranking, we will be happy to help you.

Client Guides

Top Mobile Applications on Google Play in 2022

Understand mobile payment gateway integration. Discover how payment gateway integration improves mobile app security and user experience. Learn how to integrate mobile payment gateways. Stay ahead in mobile commerce with safe and simple payment alternatives for app users.

Mobile Payment Gateway Integration

What Is a Payment Gateway?

No matter what kind of application you are developing for mobile devices - be it an e-commerce, music streaming, or travel app - you need to provide your customers with the opportunity to pay for goods or services they have chosen. Most payments nowadays are made via mobiles. It concerns retail sales, customer services, or any other types of merchandise. The customer experience has to be smooth here to provide sustainably high conversions to your business. Statistics argue that about 55 percent of all sales were made online in 2021, and this amount is continuously increasing. Therefore, your company’s mobile app has to integrate a convenient and easy-to-use mobile payment processing gateway.
We are not speaking now about the in-app buys of digital products. Most of them are performed via Google Play Store for Android or Apple’s App Store for iOS. These well-appreciated and massive platforms have their own software and solutions for meeting all their purposes. This article explains how to incorporate online payment gateways in your company mobile app to purchase real items and services like T-shirts, hotel rooms, and train tickets. You also need to know the most popular payment gateway providers and how to pick the best one for credit card payment Android or iOS integration.
Let us introduce this technology that helps make debit or credit card payments on mobile phones or websites. It is essential for your company’s extension and increasing revenue, too. Understanding how it works is important to make the right decisions on how to improve your business performance in this way. 
A payment gateway collects financial information from customers with the help of the frontend development in your mobile application and transfers it to the payment processor or bank that is meant to accept this payment. Such transactions should be safe and secure, so making mobile app payment integration protected is one of the most essential tasks of all experienced developers.
The e-commerce payment gateways work in the following way:
1. A buyer chooses a product or service and adds it to the shopping cart on the online store or service-providing website.
2. The cart is connected to a specific payment gateway service that asks the user to provide credit card information.
3. The user fills in the information and checks out.
4. The gateway sends this request to the bank that has issued the card.
5. The bank approves the transaction, and the payment is transferred to your company’s merchant account.
A merchant account is a very important part of the entire transaction alongside the gateway service provider. You need to choose the type that best suits your commercial needs and security purposes. There are two basic types of merchant accounts - dedicated and aggregated ones. Hence, let’s look at both of them in detail.
All gateway providers, such as PayPal, Stripe, Braintree, and others, are interested in the best functionality of both a gateway and a merchant account. The latter is the place where the money should be transferred after the customer’s payment was approved and stored there until it is transferred to your bank account.
Therefore, a merchant account is not a bank account. It is meant for sales and payments and accumulating money from them. Only after the payment arrives at your merchant account and is not withdrawn, it can be transferred to your bank account. 
You may wonder why this additional layer is needed. The most essential reason here is that your customer may want to return an item or refuse the service and ask for a refund. You can make this refund easily from the costs accumulated in the merchant account. All other accumulated costs will be sent to your bank account. Therefore, you need step-by-step integration of merchant in-app payment to ensure it works smoothly.
A dedicated merchant account is made specifically for your business, so you can directly control all the financial operations. It also allows you to correct errors occurring in transactions or debit the costs if you have to pay back a refund. All the transfers will be faster - you can complete them within a day. However, you will need to pay more for opening and maintain such an account.
That is why many businesses prefer to open aggregated accounts. They are more extended because they collect funds for multiple merchants. Such an account is less expensive, and you can receive approval for its opening within only 24 hours, while it will take you a few days to approve a dedicated account. In addition, an aggregated account does not require as much KYC (Know Your Customer) documentation as a dedicated account does. Anyway, the choice is yours, and you have to consider all pros and cons of both variants.

Credit Card Payment Integration

Payment gateways can process all transaction data related to credit cards via their APIs. When you decide to apply the payment gateway integration in a mobile application via your server’s API, you take responsibility for your financial security because all the data now will be passing through your app.
You also need to consider whether the chosen gateway supports a tokenization process. It should be authentical to accept payments from customers via a mobile app. The problem may be in the possibility to store configuration settings and ensure proper authorization. These functions are usually performed by tokens and are required by the Client SDK. If you integrate the payment gateway API, tokens will be handed back from the securely authenticated environment of your server. All the submitted data of the card are represented by the token, so such a token can complete real-time transactions.
The specific client’s code is created during the integration process, and the token in it is in the form of a line for the Base64 encrypted JSON model as in the case of Braintree. So, the client receives the token that works with the Braintree Client SDK to connect with the provider’s server and ensure payment completion. Such a properly created line or string actually describes the payment method, like a credit card or PayPal, and goes to your server where it performs the corresponding payment operation.
Tokens can also be generated on the client side, as in the case with Stripe. The Stripe server will send them to your server, but they won’t be encrypted lines as with Braintree. It’s you who will choose the best solution for sending the token to the server, and encryption will also be your own responsibility. Or you may decide not to use encryption at all. Though using encryption may seem mandatory, it is not necessary in many cases. The only thing is that the Stripe server may need to use an SSL connection on your server for better interaction because it has an HSTS protection mechanism that can block it.
The tokenization function may not be provided by the gateway APIs at all, so you have to think about your preferences beforehand or discuss the best integration ways with your app developers.
You also need to remember PCI-DSS. It is required by most payment-collecting services. The abbreviation means the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. So your credit card payment gateway provider has to be PCI-DSS compliant. You can check it in the Visa Global Registry. Such providers as PayPal or Stripe ensure this compliance with PCI-DSS requirements. They have massive Android and iOS native libraries and can turn any encrypted credit card data into a token.
Every payment gateway provider may have specific features that differ a lot from all others. So, you will need help from experienced app developers to integrate the chosen payment gateway with your mobile app. They may also differ in prices and subscription policies, so you need to be aware of all their specifications.

You know now how the payment integration in iOS and Android works and how to choose the most appropriate gateway provider and software for your business needs. We have mentioned three examples here - PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree - though there are many others. Those three are the most popular and widely used ones. However, they differ a lot in some aspects of technical characteristics, ways of use, and prices from each other.
Remember that, if you need extensive customization or an integrated checkout, you have to opt for a premium plan or subscription, and it may be a bit more expensive. PayPal is a prominent start-up solution, while Stripe can be tailored to larger companies with complex SaaS and extended marketplaces. You may also consider Braintree as the most optimal solution for any type of business.
You will need to check the geographical coverage of a payment gateway provider, too. There are some countries where the most prominent providers do not operate. We can offer the best country-specific payment gateways to you and help integrate them into your company’s mobile app.

Technologies

Payment Gateway Integration in Mobile Application

Learn how to keep your mobile app popular after launch. Find out how post-launch actions may boost app downloads, user retention, and favorable reviews. Explore ways to improve user experience, update and add features, and promote your app. Implement proven techniques for long-term popularity to beat the competition and secure your mobile app's success.

Strategies for Sustained Success: How to Keep Your Mobile App Popular After Launch

The First Impression Is Vital

Your communication with the app developer should not finish after its launch. Even if everything goes smoothly and your mobile application is popular among the customers during the first days of its performance, you need to consider how to keep the users interested in it further. 
We want to give some simple tips on how to make an app popular after its launch and keep up its popularity. You will need your developer to make updates and modifications all the time, especially the first two months after its start, so bear that in mind.

Recent research has shown that about 80% of users lose interest in any new app after one or two weeks. So, you may ask, ‘How to make my app popular for a long time?’ The answer starts with the first positive impression that may keep the users’ interest longer. 
Therefore, what do you need to consider to make a good first impression? The first thing is to explain why the application is helpful and provide clear and straightforward instructions on how to use it. Give examples of various scenarios in which the app can facilitate the customers’ life. 
App developers should also take the importance of the first impression into account. Users should be positive about its usefulness right after the installation. Make the onboarding process for them as easy as possible. The clear and understandable interface can add a lot to this. 
There may be a problem with making the first impression if the content is not visible at once. If users see it within its performance process, they may not understand how it works and how well they can use it. That is why all the parts and steps of the onboarding process should contain direct and real-time data.
If all the information is time-sensitive, users will see what to expect and how they can make use of the application right now. The clear presentation also helps explain the core functionality related to many external factors. Users can see what kind of content they can expect and whether it will solve their issues or meet all their needs. That transparency will increase the app’s popularity and, accordingly, the company’s revenues.

The Improved UI and UX Can Help a Lot

In general, how do apps get popular? There are several things to be sure about. First of all, users want the mobile app to work fast and seamlessly across all their devices. That is why the main goal of UI/UX is cross-platform compatibility. If everything works smoothly, it’s the best way to show the advantages of your app in comparison to the competitors. 
One of the most important tips for developers here is to create a single APK (Android Application Package) file to work on multiple platforms. The most important benefit of such files is that the app can automatically be installed on a new device. A user will be delighted if all the necessary apps can sync with the platform immediately. 
However, you may come across a serious disadvantage of the APK  file - it can be rather huge if it contains a lot of resources and configurations. The phones with small storage will be slowed down. 
That is why the developer should organize the code for simple portability across all the form factors. The app’s logic should be carefully separated from the presentation layer. That will allow you to alter either UI or UX without altering the entire underlying logic. Such a solution will also help to resolve one more issue - potential regression bugs.

Continuous Updates Attract Attention

You have developed your application with a great set of nice and useful features. You would like to show the advantages of all of them to consumers at once. Never do that. The best way to launch an app is to introduce the new features gradually. The initial version that is launched should contain a minimal set of such features so that you can update the app continuously. The users will get interested in these updates and be waiting for each of them with growing excitement. Provide such updates regularly. Get your customers prepared to receive such updates once or twice per month. 
You can schedule the updates with several tools that will help you release them timely. You can utilize issue trackers that will prioritize the workflow and define the sequence of updates needed at the moment. You will organize and plan the new releases in accordance with your strategy and well-structured outline. 
A well-established update rhythm will serve as a perfect personal motivator for users to keep their interest in the app. The developer should have an exact plan for releases. If they do not manage to complete some releases on time, they should be deactivated and not seen by a user. 
You can also opt for automated testing of all the new features and follow the changes to the code to ensure that these changes don’t lead to the appearance of new bugs or prevent the older feature from seamlessly working. 
Use a good issue tracker to plan and organize the next releases in accordance with the current and emerging needs. Reduce hassle and keep manual app management at a minimum.

Customer Reviews Do a Lot of Good

If you want to increase the App Store or Google Play ranking to make your app even more downloaded and frequently used, encourage the reviews from your current customers. These testimonials can discuss the positive user experience and speak about the app as a valuable tool for specific issue solutions. Other users will get inspiration to try the app as well. 
On the other hand, such reviews can explain to you what works perfectly with your app and what does not. It opens a great opportunity for making improvements. Never ignore negative reviews. They signal some problems in your application’s performance that need to be eliminated. So, what to do if you see many remarks and dissatisfied comments in the reviews?
If you see the commentaries about one function and they are recurrent, you will get an idea of what your users like and what they feel confused with to add some prompts or helpful changes in the most strategic places.

Establish Good Communication with the Users

You need to know why your customers can abandon the app. According to recent Google research, the most common reasons are the lack of interest, lack of usefulness, and customers’ changed priorities and needs. All of them are rather subjective, and they may alter quickly over time. That is why it is important to be in touch with the users and detect why they are losing interest in your app.
The most rewarding way to promote consistent communication with your users is to involve them in the VIP beta-testing community. Such communities help developers and companies better understand the consumers’ needs, even if they occasionally change. As a reward, such beta testers can obtain early access to the latest app’s features and updates. They will be happy to participate in shaping the application and its improvement. Over time, they will become the best advocates for your app. You can use distribution channels from Google or Play Store for this purpose. The participants will receive updates immediately released for Google+ and meant specially for this beta group. This community functions as a convenient place for communication by leaving comments and making bug reports.
The simplest way to form a beta community is to spot the people whose comments on your app are mostly negative, especially if they are concerned about the design, and speak to them openly about what improvements they would like to see. Then, you can offer them to continue with their observations as members of the specific beta-testing community and check whether their comments were taken into account. When you have made improvements based on their notices, let them know about that and say thank you for their dedication and spending their time. In this way, the critics will turn into the most devoted advocates of your app.

You need to continuously work on hooking your users and potential customers not to let them lose interest in your application. You have to demonstrate to them that you are taking care of their concerns and wishes. If you are a business owner, keep in touch with your developers so that they can create the best approach. If you are a web developer, try to help the business to boost conversions by creating the most user-friendly and efficient apps and their updates to boost the users’ interest. You have to react directly to all the possible changes in the users’ needs and consider both their positive and negative experiences. 
The team of professionals who specialize in creating the responsive web and mobile design, e-commerce, and social media marketing will be of great help. 
The most important thing you should keep in mind is that leaving a mobile app on its own will lead to the client’s lost attention and interest in it, so all the expenses on its development will be wasted in vain. We hope these tips on how to make an app popular and feed the popularity for long will help you plan your mobile app promotion and support in the most effective and straightforward way to get the most benefits from it.

How to Keep Your Mobile App Popular After Launch

Ask the right questions before developing a mobile business app to assure success. Consider the app's aim, audience, and features. Learn about platform selection, funding, and timetable estimate to streamline app development. Learn about market research, app analysis, and app marketing strategies. Stay prepared to create an effective mobile business app that fulfills your company goals.

Final Questions Before Building a Mobile Business App: Ensuring a Successful App Development Process

How Often Will Customers Run Your App?

You can hardly imagine a brand-new business without a mobile app developed specifically for it. According to recent statistical data, Android users have access to more than 2.8 million apps, while iOS can offer over 2.3 million apps available in the Apple App Store. Here is the point where all the problems start. 
Though about 83% of business owners regard apps as an indivisible part of their company’s progress, more than 80% mobile apps are entirely abandoned right after the first use of them by clients. Moreover, the situation is becoming worse day by day. 
The first issue most apps experience relates to poor UI/UX that can bore clients to death. That happens because the managers and decision makers have not properly researched what their customers need. On the other hand, the customers have access to thousands of apps that represent well-established companies, so they may not need it anymore. 
Nevertheless, every company strives to enhance its presence on the market, so its managers rush to software developers for apps. They spend a lot of money. App development is not cheap, indeed. Survey results show that an average commercial app can cost from $25,000 to $1,000,000. If the mobile application is not popular, it is a huge waste of money. So, the decision to start such a project is not always considerate because most business people do not realize what questions to ask before building an app.
That is why, before making any decision and investing money into the useless app design, ask these 5 questions to your business analyst or client to determine how useful the app will be for this specific business.

Even if a potential customer has hundreds of apps available on their device, they utilize only some of them. They tend to remove those ones that are never used but occupy a lot of space. That is why the possible functionality of your would-be project can be one of the most important questions to ask a client before building an app. It is a responsibility of a software developer to find out how often the customer wants the app to be used by their clients. The use of it just several times per month will not provide a desired result.
That is why it is also important to know what can bring a user back to the app. Some business managers, however, do not think that such a question is relevant to their position. However, this opinion is wrong. Even if the development is meant for the company’s internal use, the manager needs to have an accurate plan of how it will be used. 
Moreover, there should be a plan on how to bring the user back to the app after the first try. The research shows that most applications are entirely abandoned after the first use - the percentage is 80% for enterprise apps and 25% for consumer ones. The average number of uses is about 11 times all in all in 63% of consumers. 
That is why there are two key aspects that can increase the number of uses - how well the application can solve the user’s pain and whether the software is delivered with clear and intuitive navigation. That is why the clean and straightforward design is an essential part of every development.

Will Some Unique Features Make Your App Stand Apart?

If you're a software developer, remember that your clients cannot often focus on the specific features that make a mobile app usable. They tend to correlate them with the common website operations. Though, these two types of applications are pretty different. 
Most managers will come to you with a strong belief that it is enough to develop a client-app project, and their company will become immensely successful. This is a path of least resistance - they believe that if their customers can quickly log in to the website, they can do the same with the mobile app. This approach is also wrong. That is why you should include the unique features of the mobile application in your final questions before building a mobile app. 
Emphasize that such features are very important for clients because they are on the go with their Android or iOS mobiles, so they are seeking higher usability, better performance, and more security. The new app should provide them with a compelling experience that is similar to native website applications. Such an approach is even more expensive and time-consuming. 
Does the company really need a native app? It depends on the goals and ways of suggested use of it. Try to explain to your customer that a direct copy of their website will not work. The mobile app needs unique features and specific mobile-friendly design. That will provide users with a specific and smooth experience, and they will be eagerly returning to it.

Are Your Business Processes Automated Enough?

One of the good questions to ask about a mobile app your customer means to order from you refers to the level of the company’s business process automation. In other cases, the new addition to the automation system may become a big headache for consumers and introduce a lot of confusion amid the staff. Check how often they update all the information on the site, whether it is possible to make an order online from them and get it delivered in a while, and whether they answer all the phone calls immediately. 
If your customer cannot answer all these questions positively, ask them to get back to their level of automation and decide together what specific features are needed to add more automation to all business processes. 
The platform the app is built on is also very important. Most managers want a cross-platform application based on that developed for their website because they believe that they may add some automation features and enhance the overall performance on both apps simultaneously. 	
However, this task of transferring the native app to a mobile platform is not so easy because the design may differ a lot. The wayout can be building apps on different platforms used by the company. They will need separate apps, so their development will not be cost-effective.

Will Your App Support Offline Mode?

Some suburbs can have spotty, if any, Internet coverage, so users’ ability to utilize a mobile app in an offline mode is very important. The Internet availability of the target audiences is one of the most important things to consider for developing a mobile app. The issues may emerge if the end-users don’t have access to the company’s products and services when they are offline. 
Explain to your customers that they cannot take the Internet connectivity of their users for granted. Even in a big city, there may be some blackouts and problems with the connection or its speed. The overall design of the would-be application has to take these issues into account. 
If a user means to apply for some services and abruptly loses the connection, all the data will be lost, and they will have to start their order from the beginning. They will consider it inconvenient enough to go to another company whose connection is more stable even if the app is offline.

Do You Have Enough Market Coverage?

Most managers and business owners believe that a new mobile app can become an excellent promotional channel. However, the first thing to consider here is how the potential users will know about the existence of such an application. 
There is another question here for further successful development of this project. It is about how to make users like the app and download it to their Android or iOS device. Creating uninformative titles and cliched descriptions will make the project boring, and the potential clients may never find out anything about its advantages. That is why all the features and options should be thoroughly planned and considered to make an app viable and let it enter the market. Special features for listing in Play Market or iTunes are necessary for the project. 
That is why the developer needs to understand how the customer is going to market the application. App Store optimization, therefore, is also essential. Adding some specific features to the project layout and app design is a must. Public relations and extensive marketing campaigns can also help a lot. The visual layout of the application should add a lot to it.
Even if it is an internal app, it does not mean that it can lack the promotion. The company’s employees won’t be interested in using it if they don’t see the benefit. That is why internal marketing, the attractive interface, and the simplicity of use will play a crucial role.

Therefore, what are the final questions before the start of building an app? Most of them should relate to the layout, design, interface, and specific features that can help the application stand out from the crowd. 
Nevertheless, the basic consideration is UX/UV features of the project and the actual needs of potential users. If the would-be app is not interesting for them, its development will be a mere waste of costs, time, and effort.

Final Questions to Ask Before Building a Mobile Business App

Learn what to ask when choosing a mobile app development firm for your app project. Consider the company's knowledge, experience, and portfolio. Assess their app development process, including design, development, testing, and post-launch support. Assess their price, project management, and communication. Ask the proper questions to identify the ideal mobile app developer for your requirements.

Mobile App Development Company Questions: Finding the Right Partner for Your App Project

What Stands Behind the App Development Process for Mobiles?

Do you need a new mobile app for your business? Do you know what you are going to use it for and what characteristics it should possess? You also have to decide how you are going to get your app and what the mobile app development process is going to be about. These are the main questions you should ask your potential app developer and receive consistent answers to them.

Mobile applications are meant to work with small wireless devices, such as tablets or smartphones. The development process is similar to that used for other applications for desktop and web. However, the process differs significantly because the app will be used on these devices, so it should take advantage of their features. For example, it has to make use of the iPhone accelerometer if it is developed for gaming. 
The most prominent mobile platforms now are iOS for Apple devices and Android designed by Google. These platforms have the in-built features and applications. The future app design should take into account that iOS already has a full web browser and the Apple App Store, while Android gives access to the Google Play Store. All other apps that can be developed for these systems may use these preloaded features.

Essential Questions to Ask a Mobile App Development Company

When you have decided on the importance of your business app development for mobile devices, do some research to find the developing company for your project. You may want to communicate with the representative of several developers to decide which of them suits you better. So, here are some questions to ask them before you start the cooperation.
These are the questions to start with.

Can I View Your Previous Successful Projects?
First of all, you want to understand the expertise and experience of the software company you want to hire. That is why it is important to ask them about their previous successful projects. You can normally find all the information on their website. Look for their directories, awards, and referrals. Such types of awards as Wirehive 100, US App, DADI, and Webby will apparently show you that you can trust your project to these developers. 
You can discuss other awards and the company's achievements with their manager during the preliminary talk. All in all, try to find out as much information as possible about the company to be on the safe side.

Why Should I Work With You Guys?
To continue your acquaintance process, you can ask the representative why you should choose them as your mobile app developer. It can be the final question in your talk before you make a decision. Think what you want to hear in response. Should it be another list of their achievements or would you prefer to listen to the professional explanation of how they see your individual mobile app development process. In any case, it is up to you to decide.
There are some other questions that can cast light on your potential developers and their skills. So, go ahead.

How Much Does It Cost To Build A Mobile App?

The question of the development cost is very important for every customer. So, there won’t be a wonder if you ask this question to your potential developing company. Keep in mind that there is no fixed price because it depends on many factors. They are:

━ your app’s level of complexity that involves the users’ ability to create profiles, ways of communication with users, selling products, making payments via the app, and other features;

━ additional features and options, such as presence in social media, storing data in databases, availability of servers, customer support, domain hosting, and continuous updates. 

So, how much does it cost to build a mobile app? The simple app may cost $50,000-$100,000, while marketplace and M-commerce apps can be $200,000-$1,500,000 depending on the number of additional features.

The price may also depend on whether the developer is an in-house or outsourcing team, and whether you need an app for iOS or Android. You can also use an online cost estimator if you do not want to contact the company directly for the quote.
The price can also involve the post-production testing and maintenance within the first two months after the app is delivered to you.

How Should My App Be Tested?
This question is also very important because you need to be sure that your app will work flawlessly. Remember that some tests are carried out during the development process. They can offer to test wireframe, prototypes, designs, or initial phases of launching. 
You need to know what you want to obtain from the testing process. You may be interested in testing initial sketching, app validating with users, prototyping, and adapting changes on the basis of project design feedback. The latter is obtained from design sprints, and it should be based on the type of your business, commercial strategy, user behavior, and some other factors that can influence the app’s functionality. 
You can ask your developer to define possible problems, explore main concepts, and find positive solutions to any issues that may appear in the development process. All these manipulations may cost your extra money.

How Long Does It Take To Build A Mobile App?

You can receive the answer to the question ‘How long does it take to build a mobile app’ from the developer you have chosen to do your project. The approximate time for it is 3-9 months depending on the complexity of the app. There are some other factors that may influence the length of the mobile app development process. 
The most time-consuming steps of this process are writing a project brief that includes budget estimate, delivery date estimate, defining goals and metrics, as well as making a non-disclosure agreement and a request for proposal. These preliminary steps may take you 1-2 weeks to complete.
Then, you will be dealing with researching for ideas. The procedure involves developing the prototype, minimum viable product (MVP), and completion of user stories. The process may take you 5-6 weeks.

You will also need:
━ mockups and prototyping design (6-12 weeks);
━ developing and coding (6-12 weeks);
━ submitting and launching at app stores (more than 2 weeks).
To make your app perform successfully in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, make sure that you have provided such important details as your company and contact information, screenshots of app features, unique and detailed description of the app, app icons for presentation in the store listings, and video demonstration of the app. 
Your mobile app will also need improvements during the first two months of exploitation, and the ongoing maintenance throughout its entire performance period. That’s why you will need the answer to one more question.

How Often Will I Need To Update My App?
If your mobile app is successful and has many active users, it should be updated about 4 times per month. The updating schedule should be included in the development plan designed by your developer. The strategy of introducing new features on the basis of users’ feedback may help a lot. So, you can discuss it with your software company.
Such things as bug fixing and continuous technical improvements should also be considered in the updating schedule.

Which Is Best - Android Mobile App or iOS App?

You should decide beforehand what system you want to develop your mobile app for - Android or iOS. Or you may want your app for both systems. Consider such aspects as the number of users from your target audiences, what devices they usually use, and how complicated this development will be. That is why you had better consult the experts from the software company you hire by asking this question to them. 
In case of either iOS or Android, you may want to know in advance how your app will be performing on their stores. Your development company has to consider another important question.

How Will My App Launch On App Stores?
When you are going to launch your app on one of the online stores, either on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, you need to have the following things predicted and developed: the name and description of your app, the category of the app and keywords for successful ranking, screenshots of all the app features, its icons, and rating. 
These pieces of information will differ depending on the project and the store your app will be submitted to. You will also need to invest in App Store Optimization (ASO) for better ranking. Discuss all these things with your developer to receive a more complete picture.

How Will The App Development Project Be Managed?

You may also want the answers to such a question as ‘How will the app development project be managed?’ The app development process consists of several stages, so you need to know what to expect before the final product is delivered to you. 
You should consider the management of the project at such stages as doing research and creating the project brief, designing and developing the app, its staging and implementation, ongoing improvements, and further support and maintenance. 
Ask your developer what type of project management methodology it uses. You need to know that there are two main types of methodologies - Agile and Waterfall. In Agile methodology, any changes do not take much time and effort to make, while the Waterfall layout means more detailed tasks for every member of the team to make the development more effective.

How Can I Measure My App’s Success?
It is the last but not least item from all the questions to ask a mobile app development company. You will need to know how successful your app is and whether it provides more conversions or investments. That is why you need to explain the final goal of your mobile app introduction to your developer. 
You will also have to consider special metrics and KPIs, such as engagement, outcome, behavioral, and retention ones to see how effectively users employ your app and what other activities they can do due to it. You may also want to know the locations and times of the day when your potential customers use your app and the frequencies of this use. Your developer will explain all the details of your app and its specific features designed for these purposes.

Therefore, here is a list of the primary questions to ask a mobile app development company before you start the cooperation with it. You need to find out whether the developer can assure you with the exact results you are looking for. It is better to record the answers to these questions so that you can refer to them whenever you need.
Your developer is, in fact, your partner rather than a service provider. That is why you need to be very specific at the preliminary stages of development and ask your questions again if you feel that you do not understand some points or failed to record them. Your further success may depend on these simple tips concerning the new mobile application.

Questions to Ask a Mobile App Development Company

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