Category: Developers

February 12, 2018

How to Create a Mobile App for your Business without Breaking the Bank

Mobile applications are becoming increasingly popular for both big and small businesses. Most American consumers, an estimated 85%, prefer to use a company’s mobile application over visiting the company’s mobile website. Mobile apps tend to be easier to use as they are more streamlined than a mobile website, faster and more convenient. Many business owners, especially those that operate small to medium size businesses, have terrific app ideas, but do not know how to turn those ideas into reality and do not have a conceptualization of the cost. Designing and developing an app for a Long Island business can be quite expensive. However, there are money-saving techniques that can be implemented to ensure that you create a modern and professional application for your business at a price that does not break the bank.

Although it may seem cheaper to attempt to conquer the demanding task of designing and building your own mobile app, hiring a professional can prove to be a cheaper option. Professional Long Island app developers have the experience needed to know what to do, how to do it, and what the basic cost will be upfront. If budget may be an issue, a good app developer will have strategies he or she can suggest to keep you within your budget. Other than having the experience to know how to economically design and develop an app, having a professional app development company handle the development takes the burden off of you. If you and your staff are focused on the app development process, that takes time, and therefore money, away from handling your primary business goals and needs. Overall, hiring a professional to handle the job can lower your costs and improve the outcome.

It is always best to plan ahead and keep it simple. Before you even begin developing an app, you should map out the entire process with your app development team or professional. This will streamline the process, making it quicker and therefore cheaper, as you and the team will have a step-by-step outline of where the app will go and when. Although payment for mockups and other strategic planning options may cost more money upfront, it will certainly help you save money in the long run. Long Island app developers would be able to pinpoint certain areas in the mockups that could be changed to save money, as well as give a complete picture of what you want. If you are looking for something elaborate to set you apart from a competitor, the cost will certainly rise; keeping it simple will prevent the costs from dramatically rising. The developer will be able to tell you which items are easy and cheap to execute, and which will raise the cost so that you may consider the pros and cons of all options.

However, with that being said, if you or an individual from your business can take on a project management role to aid the app developer, costs can be cut dramatically. One of the most time consuming (and therefore expensive) aspects of building an app is project management and the creation of a clear vision of the roadmap to the finish line. Outline the entirety of the project, to the best of your knowledge and ability, prior to contacting a Long Island app developer to minimize the costs in the planning phase. You can begin by looking for similar apps and decide what you do like about them and would want to include. You can work from there to create a feature list and additional branding ideas. If you’re able, sketch the design ideas as well so the app designer will have an idea of the direction you wish to proceed. There are websites that can help you through this process to make it less of a daunting task.

It is a difficult decision to decide on a final road map for your application because you have to weigh the cost versus the functionality and customization. App developers in New York can certainly help you weigh the overall strategy when building an app to keep the cost doable while creating the app you envisioned.

December 13, 2017

How to Hire the Perfect Mobile Application Development Company

There are an abundance of application development companies on Long Island; it is not difficult to find one. However, it is difficult to find the right one for your company and/or concept for an application. Developing apps can be quite pricey and many people may have the urge to go with the cheapest deal. However, choosing the right developer for your company is much more important than saving some change. Things can become more difficult and/or go wrong if you hire the wrong company, as differences in opinion, outlook and concept can lead to conflicts or delays. In the alternative, hiring the right company, even at a higher cost can maximize your effort and end result, increasing profitability.

So what do you look for when hiring a Long Island app development company? Here are a few tips.

First, look for a development company that has experience with applications similar to that which you seek to create. Take a look at the company’s portfolio to view the type of work they have completed in the past. You will be able to tell relatively quickly whether the work is similar in concept and design, and if you believe your company and/or ideas will work with the app developers. Aesthetics and ease of use are incredibly important for the future consumers of your app; it is important to make sure the application company is qualified to handle the jobs and those aspects. Further, if the Long Island mobile app developer has similar experiences, they will be qualified to provide creative input based on those similar experiences. That input may help you see options in a new light and enhance the development of your app.

As simplistic as it sounds, it is always important to choose someone that you like, or someone that you believe you can successfully build a business relationship with. The process of developing an application does not necessarily have an end date. Once the application is developed, you will likely need to focus on updates and other changes based on customer feedback. It is easiest to find an application developer that will stay with you through the entire process, as opposed to terminating the relationship upon the initial completion of the app. The process will be much smoother and much more enjoyable if you maintain a good working relationship with the company that you select.

Focus largely on design. You may have a design idea in your mind; you can see it but you don’t have the coding knowledge to bring your idea to life. Coding is extremely important, as without it there would be no application. However, your future users to do care about coding. They care about the design and user experience. This makes it incredibly important to choose a company that does not only have the development experience, but also experience working with design and usability.

Lastly, as previously stated, do not make your decision based solely on price. It is understandable that your company, especially if it is a start up, has a budget. However, in most instances cutting corners shows and you are aspiring to create a good product, not a cheap one. Many price options are not all inclusive, and prices often increase down the road. If you do not believe you have the capital to pull off the app that you desire to put out, focus on building your business in other realms and revisit the idea in the near future.

The development of an app for a Long Island business can lead to continued long-term success down the road. When choosing a company to develop an app, remember the ideals of your company, the goals and purpose of the app and the aesthetics you desire. Make sure to hire an application development company that you can envision a long-term, successful relationship with based on those ideals.

August 4, 2017

Testing Localhost On Your Phone

Often times, developers find themselves in the situation that they want to test code on a remote device (ex. Their iPhone) from their local server(computer) rather than having to push it to a remote server each time there is a change.

For example, if you are creating a node.js application on your own personal computer and you wanted to see what it looks like on your cell phone. You would have to push the code to a remote server and load the ip address/ url on your phones browser.
Luckily ngrok helps solve this issue.

This tool securely exposes your localhost’s port to you network and creates a url that you can simply put in on a device on the same network.

Here’s how to use it.

Download ngrok
Run your application (ex. “npm start” for node.js) –> Note the port that your application is running on (ex: localhost:3000, 3000 is the port)
In terminal, just type “ngrok http <port>” where <port> is the port number that your application is running on
On your device, type in the forwarding ip address that is printed out.
All set! Test more efficiently!

June 28, 2017

You don’t always have to be solving a problem…

TLDR;

You don’t always have to have a stereotypical app. At the end of the day, let your app be an extension of your brand letting your followers and customers know you are who you are and you sure ain’t fake!

Okay, so Pioneer is in the business of making apps. Not like half off apps at Applebees, but like the ones on your phone, and we’re constantly working on ways to make an impact on different industries through developing them.

Now if you ask the average Joe, they’ll say that in order to have good & successful app, you have to be solving a problem. But here’s the thing……Define success. Is it having millions of users? Is it making someone’s workplace more efficient? Is it being ranked #1 in the App Store? Plot twist… You don’t always have to be solving a problem to have a successful app.

First, figure out what your goals are. Whether it be self-ambitions or goals you have for your business. Now take these goals and determine how you can accomplish them with something on someones‘ phone. Lastly, figure out what that something is and who that someone might be, and make it happen!

What’s awesome about phones is that people are on them for over 4 hours a day, which is insane. Think about how many times, a person would see your logo on their homescreen every day. If you think about it, you and your brand own a bit of that person’s life and thoughts whether they realize it or not.

So what do you make? Good news is that you don’t need a stereotypical “App”, to have a presence on someones phone. You just have to be a little creative.

For example, Apple’s Sticker Packs are becoming more and more popular for ways to get business’ brands shared. Something like this lets users do the advertising for you right inside of their messages!

Here’s how Starbucks is using Sticker Packs

Another example of a “not so stereotypical” app is one that we recently created, the Chad Tepper’s Catchphrases app. You can listen to some of his most popular catchphrases with the tap of a finger. This app reached #1 in Entertainment and in the Top 10 Overall Apps within 24 hours!!!

In conclusion, be creative and think outside of the box. Before saying “An app just isn’t right for us, or the business that we do”, think about all of the different options there are. Having a presence on someone’s phone can do wonders for both you and your business, and it’s definitely not something you want to miss out on!

-Phil (Founder/Software Engineer @ Pioneer Mobile Applications)

Want your app made? Contact us at contact@pioneerapplications.com

October 12, 2016

How to Launch a New App

We talk about strategy all the time when it comes to developing an app, but it shouldn’t just stop there. With millions of apps in the App Store and Google Play Store, your app won’t magically become successful. This is why it is important to strategize how you are going to launch your new app. This blog post from ladder.io discusses an App Store Launch Plan that can help get you downloads fast, which is critical when it comes to mobile app marketing.

Overview of Phases:

Phase 1: Make sure everything works

Beta test your app
Build and test a final version
Seed early reviews

Phase 2: Get the word out!

Inform your insiders
Run ads
Make sure your App Store Optimization (ASO) is on point
Social, blog, and press

Phase 3: Keep the momentum

Re-engage your uses
Keep everyone updated when you update

Read it all here

October 3, 2016

Save Money! Design Your App

Having an app developed can sometimes be a little costly. This could become a burden when you have a tight budget. Luckily there are ways to help cut costs! One of these ways is to have a clear understanding of what you want entailed in your app. This includes creating a feature list, branding, and designing wireframes for your application.

Some of you may be great at design, some of you may hate it, but trust me when I say it saves time! You don’t have to be an all start designer to create wireframes and get your idea across. There are websites and apps that actually make this really easy too!

Prototyping

Invison

Get high-fidelity in under 5 minutes. Upload your design files and add animations, gestures, and transitions to transform your static screens into clickable, interactive prototypes.

Marvel

Create screens directly in Marvel or add your images from Sketch or Photoshop. You can even sync designs from your cloud storage!

Pop

Have an app idea? Draw it on paper and use POP to make it come to life on your iPhone & iPad!

Color Schemes:

Coolors.co

Create, save and share perfect palettes in seconds!

Paletton

Logos:

Free Logo Design

99designs

Last, but not least do your homework. It is also crucial to find similar apps out there that have features that you want to include. This will help save time and help ensure that your app stands out!

September 21, 2016

RAW by 500px – An interview with the Team Lead Mobile

Every once in a while, we like to reach out to other companies who are doing some awesome things with mobile apps, and ask them about their journey through from idea to launch. This week we got to interview Akbar Nurlybayev, Team Lead Mobile @ RAW by 500px.

Description of app:

RAW by 500px brings a simple and powerful photo capture, editing, and licensing workflow to your phone. Take beautiful photos with the manual camera controls. Process your photos using the fast professional style editing controls. Create and manage model releases and license your photos on the Marketplace.

Screenshots:

Where did you come up with the idea for this app?

The idea for RAW by 500px came from our Growth team and our VP of Design Adam Shutsa. 500px was traditionally at the very end of the creative process — essentially, a platform to publish your best work. With the new app, the goal was to position 500px at the beginning of the creative process. But we didn’t want to build just another app. We wanted to innovate when it came to user experience and design, and we wanted to use the latest iOS10 technologies, including support for RAW images.

What problem is this app trying to solve?

Our photographers are essential to our community. Currently 500px lets them license their work through our M arketplace. We wanted to take that one step further, and within the new product, streamline the process of giving money back to photographers.

How big is your team? What are the positions/experience of each?

The team that built the RAW by 500px app consisted of two developers — and then three developers as we approached the launch date. Design was led by Adam and we had a dedicated product manager who prioritized work and made sure we stayed on course. We also had members of our “data guild” make sure the assumptions we made building certain features of the app were proven by data.

Did you develop this app in house or hire someone else?

To fully control the user experience and overall polish, and to retain intellectual property, the decision was made to build the app in-house.

How long did development take? What factors influenced the development time?

From first commit to the version 1.0 that we shipped to the AppStore, it took 64 days. Since we had a hard deadline, which was the launch of iOS10, we had to stay focused and prioritize things that made it to version 1.0. Having a dedicated product manager to steer course helped tremendously.

Did you have a beta tester process?

We did reach out and recruit members of our community to test out the app and build an initial set of filters. We actually shipped the app with some of these filters.

How are you spreading the word about the app?

We’ve used our social channels and reached out to our media partners. We’ve also asked our influencers to promote the app through their social channels.

What are your future goals and aspirations for this application?

RAW by 500px is our mobile and photographer facing side of our Photography on Demand. This means we will be adding in photography Assignments in the near future. In addition, we are iterating on capture and editing tools so that taking and editing photos will not only be easy but also enjoyable.

Why should people download this app in one sentence?

RAW by 500px brings a simple and powerful photo capture, editing, and licensing workflow to your phone.

Word of advice to people looking to have an app built?

Stay focused and have fun!

You can download the app on Apple’s App Store here!

Have an app that you want featured? Contact us at contact@DiscoverPioneer.com

September 17, 2016

SiriKit Tutorial – Right to the Point

In this tutorial you will learn how to get SiriKit working in your iOS App! To learn more about how SiriKit works behind the scenes, check out this article!

Requirements: Xcode 8, Swift 3 Project (this is what the tutorial is built on)

Part 1. Getting a quick and simple demo running

Create & setup iOS app

Create a new ‘Single View Application’ Xcode Project. For this tutorial, lets use the project name “SiriKitDemo”
Once the project is created and opened up, select your iOS app target in project settings.
Enable the Siri capability under the “Capabilities” tab

Now its time to add the intent files to your project

4. Select File –> New –> Target

5. Select “Intents Extension”

6. Click Next and specify the name of your extension and configure the language and other options. ***For this tutorial, Check “Include UI Extension”***

Request access to Siri

7. Include the NSSiriUsageDescription key in your iOS app’s Info.plist file. The value for this key is a string that describes what information your app shares with SiriKit

8. Open up your ViewController.swift file, import Intents and under viewDidLoad, call the requestSiriAuthorization: class method of INPreferences

Running & Testing

9. Select your iOS app’s target & Run your application

10. Select your Intent Extension and run that by attaching it to your iOS app

11. Activate Siri and say “Search for messages in <appname>” —Siri should respond with what is listed in the IntentHandler.swift file

***Sometimes it takes a few minutes for Siri to process your extension, if it doesn’t work right away, don’t be alarmed***

Want to get a little bit more in depth? Learn how to add more intents, customize the way Siri handles intents, & more in Part 2!

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September 14, 2016

The importance of your App Store Video

With millions of different apps in the Apple App Store & Google Play Store, it’s becoming more and more difficult to stand out let alone receive downloads for your app. One way to help stand out is by having a preview video on the App Store for your app. Over half of the top 50 grossing apps in iOS and 84% of the top 50 grossing apps in the Android Play store are utilizing app store videos.

By having a preview video, it is possible to increase your download conversion by 20% in the Apple App Store and by 35% on Google Play!

Read the entire article on How Not To F*** Up Your App Store Video: The Ultimate Guide

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September 8, 2016

Building your app for iOS 10

As the date approaches quickly for the public release of Apple’s iOS 10, it’s important to think of how your app can harness the power of all the new features! Apple has taken a major step, opening up many different SDK’s and libraries. Let’s see how we can take advantage of them!

What’s New:

SiriKit

SiriKit enables your iOS 10 apps to work with Siri, so users can get things done with your content and services using just their voice. In addition to extending Siri’s support for messaging, photo search and phone calls to more apps, SiriKit also adds support for new services, including ride booking and personal payments.

CallKit

CallKit lets VoIP apps integrate with the iPhone UI and give users a great experience. Use this framework to let users view and answer incoming VoIP calls on the lock screen and manage contacts from VoIP calls in the Phone app’s Favorites and Recents views.CallKit also introduces app extensions that enable call blocking and caller identification. You can create an app extension that can associate a phone number with a name or tell the system when a number should be blocked.

Notifications

The notifications framework got an overhaul and you can now make your notifications more custom and rich. With customizing the UI of a notification and integrating 3D touch to add quick actions, your users will be able to interact with notifications like never before.

Integrating with the Messages App

In iOS 10, you can create app extensions that interact with the Messages app and let users send text, stickers, media files, and interactive messages. You can also support interactive messages that update as each recipient responds to the message. You can create two types of app extensions:

A Sticker pack provides a set of stickers that users can add to their Messages content.
An iMessage app lets you present a custom user interface within the Messages app, create a sticker browser, include text, stickers, and media files within a conversation, and create, send, and update interactive messages.An iMessage app can also help users search images that you host on your app’s related website while they’re in the Messages app.

Speech Recognition

This new framework supports continuous speech recognition and helps you build apps that can recognize speech and transcribe it into text. Using the APIs in the Speech framework, you can perform speech transcription of both real-time and recorded audio.

ReplayKit

Record or stream video and audio directly from your app, so that users can share their experiences through email, messages, and social media.

These are just a handful of cool new frameworks that your apps can work with. For more information check out https://developer.apple.com/ios/

Have apps using some of these frameworks and what it featured? Let us know!