App Data Monetization: The Path to Profitability

February 27, 2019 Vipin Jain

You must have heard the popular catchphrase- “data is the new oil”, it’s now so commonly used that it often betrays its true meaning. But in this context, there couldn’t be a better comparison. If data is the new oil, every application is an oil rig and the number of users an application has essentially represent its reserves. If all of this sounds confusing, let’s take a step back and try to look at the larger picture. When we talk about app monetization models, there are basically three strategies that businesses explore:

Give the app for free and earn through ads Charge an upfront payment or subscription Mix both- offer some services for free and charge for others- often called freemium model.

But there is also a fourth option- app data monetization. The thing is, technologies like Big Data and Data Mining has transformed how businesses formulate their strategies, improve their products, or market their services. And as you may already know, AI and mining offer reliable projections only on large amounts of data. So where does all data come from? This is where mobile apps step in.

How to use data monetization

1. Enhance userbase

Like we said earlier, userbase is like an oil rig- the bigger you have, the more oil (data) you can pump and the more cash you can generate. So unless you have at least 50,000 daily active users, you are unlikely to generate any meaningful data worth monetization.

2. Contact intermediaries

Once you hit that mark, contact intermediaries who would then source your data to various data collectors. You can, of course, contact data collectors directly but they might guarantee full monetization of your data.

3. Insert SDK

Once a deal is done, you’ll have to insert their SDK in your app but don’t worry those SDKs work in the background and do not affect your app performance or experience.

4. Collect checks

Once your app starts sending data, you can collect paychecks. The value of your data depends on many factors like demographics, geography, and more.

Key benefits of app data monetization:

Compatibility with other monetization models

For instance, you can’t sell ads in premium model but you can still monetize their data.

It monetizes 100% of users

That is, neither all users would purchase subscription nor would everyone click on ads but data of all users can be monetized.

Minimal effort is required

Data collectors offer their own SDKs and thus developers do not have to spend additional efforts for monetization purposes.

Repeated monetization of same users

Once a user purchases an app, they lose their value to the businesses. But in data monetization, their data can be sold repeatedly- hence improving profit margins.

All these benefits can easily offset the app development cost and set businesses on the path to profitability but there are also a few factors that would need to be taken care of.

Bad publicity

If you have been following news lately, you must have come across the Cambridge Analytica scandal that harvested personal data of millions of Facebook users to swing elections. That’s led to quite an outrage at both policy and consumer level. So when you do go ahead with data monetization, make sure:

> You do not collect personal information
> You comply with GDPR policy
> Explicit user consent is obtained

Now if you hire any trusted app development firm, you don’t really need to worry about such challenges for they carry ample experience in handling such technicalities. Also, because data monetization is viable only after your app builds a stable user base, such firms can offer valuable marketing expertise for the initial takeoff.

Why and How to Integrate Uber API

February 20, 2019 Vipin Jain

Mobile apps are easily one of the most decentralized markets in the world. Anyone with decent technical skills or financial resources can build an app and try their luck in the market. In fact, many developers and business have made a fortune doing just that. But like it or not, they face a glass ceiling. There is simply no way that a developer or even a business with reasonable resources can build an app like Uber or even Google Maps and operate it at scale.

But there is another way- integrate them to your own app! Uber has recently released its API that app owners can use in their app. This has two obvious benefits:

It would be a source income– Uber pays you an amount for each user you send their way.
It would enhance user engagement – Booking Uber rides is a highly valuable feature for which users would often log in to your app

Now to put things in perspective, this is perhaps the best way to reap the benefits of the taxi-hailing market without having to suffer any of its downsides.

You don’t have to spend possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars to build your own Uber-like app but instead can make your existing app work like Uber.

You don’t have to negotiate with driver partners, lobby to get all those permits and enter into complex contracts.

If you don’t already know, Uber still losses billions of dollars annually. Unless you have such deep pockets, the smarter way would be to join them where they suffer all the loses while you are guaranteed your income.

Even the hosting and maintenance of such apps run into millions- something you don’t have to worry about and can use their infrastructure for free.

Finally, you create real tangible value for your users. No matter what your existing app does, humans have to move around and your users would really appreciate having that feature right within the app.

For its part, Uber offers a wide range of options to businesses for them to decide the level of integration:

Button

This is the easiest way to integrate Uber into your app that places a Request Ride button into your app. It displays estimated fare and ETA and tapping on it takes users to Uber app. It provides zero customization but also requires very low development efforts.

Deeplink

It can be used to launch Uber app from within your app with pre-specified pickup and drop destinations. It allows some level of customization and requires very low development efforts.

Client libraries

If you want full customization capabilities and are ready to spare some development efforts, you can use Uber’s SDK available in multiple languages like iOS, Android, Python, and Java to create your custom end-to-end user experience.

Rest APIs

If you are looking to work on some other language, you can use Uber’s Rest APIs for full control. Though this option offers a high level of customization options, it also requires expert-level development efforts and may have to hire app developers.

Webhooks

This is the ultimate option to create an authentic app like Uber that lets you integrate direly to rider’s and driver’s experience with reactive webhooks. Again, this requires expert-level development efforts.

Closing remarks

One of the golden rules of business is that if you can’t beat them, join them. Uber, being one of the largest corporations on the planet definitely falls into the second category. Now if you are worried about the initial cost of integration, there are some offshore markets like the app developers in India who are known to deliver quality solutions at reasonable rates.

Enterprise Application Development: Truth vs Hype

February 19, 2019 Vipin Jain

Enterprise apps are often seen as the zenith of software development proficiency and there are valid reasons for such a reputation. Building enterprise solutions require the finest of skills from various domains like the mobile app, system architecture, cloud services, and much more. Given all that, it’s perfectly normal for expectations to run high which may not coincide with reality. So let’s take step by step tour of what enterprise application development entails, its numerous challenges and how they should be approached:

What are enterprise solutions?

Crudely speaking, enterprise solutions are custom designed large software that runs in an enterprise environment like large companies or even government. For example, the apps airlines use for managing tickets or the ones that tax department uses are all enterprise solutions. The key points to focus here are “custom” and “large”.

Why are enterprise apps such a big deal?

Enterprise applications are tough to build is primarily because of how they are used. Unlike most of the other applications, they are centrally managed, work at scale, are often mission-critical, and need to cope with lots of software interfaces.

To build applications to not just sustain but perform in such harsh corporate environment, developers need to focus on a few basics including:

Platform independence

Since enterprises run all different kinds of platforms for different projects, it’s imperative that the enterprise application they deploy work seamlessly across all of them. This should be the first priority of developers- shielding their solution from the underlying platform.

Functionality over experience

User experience has gained much traction in recent years that many developers religiously focus upon. But when it comes to enterprise applications, user experience takes the back seat while functionality drives the development process. It’s okay if your enterprise application doesn’t look good but you are in serious trouble if it lags in functionality.

Security

While security in all applications is necessary, it is of critical importance for enterprise solutions. Since businesses and governments use enterprise solutions for all kinds of financial and sensitive operations, any security breach can have major repercussions. Developers must ensure that all components of their enterprise application are airtight along with all the data it holds.

Integration

Enterprise solutions, though large, are far from standalone systems. No matter the task, it is almost certain that any application you build would have to work in tandem with other software that might have entirely different architectures. So it the task of developers to ensure that the application is flexible enough to be integrated with all different kinds of software.

Performance

Consider this an extension of the second point. Not only do enterprise solutions need to perform at scale, but they also need to perform at speed. This becomes even more challenging as the application might be used across different networks with varying performance.

The approach

As you may have noticed, the challenges posed by enterprise solutions are quite different from other software development processes. That is why when you hire a developer to build such solutions, their approach too needs to evolve. Two of the most significant factors to be kept in mind are:

Horizontal approach

The most feasible way to build enterprise applications is to focus on one component at a time. The point is, enterprise applications are often multi-functional but developers should instead of focusing on the entire application at once, parallelly build each of the functions and integrate them later. this maintains the modular nature of application making it easier to maintain in future.

Go slow

In the age of rapid application development, the suggestion of buildings apps slowly might seem suicidal but in the ever-evolving domain of enterprise needs, this would save a lot of time and efforts otherwise wasted in revisions and adjusting change requests.

The cost

Some businesses often complain at the high cost of enterprise solution but now that you understand the intricacies, you might see why. Given all these challenges that require extreme expertise, the high cost of enterprise application development is well justified.

Salient Features to Consider While Developing iOS Apps

February 1, 2019 Vipin Jain

Mobile application developers have been gasping in stunned silence towards the ups and downs of the mobile economy. iOS has reformed ostensibly since its inception with widespread usage of mobile phones. Although it has been crossing paths with Android users of and on, it will keep banging on and will never be the final time.

It is important to get familiar with the actual developmental aspects of the application including terms, tools, and technologies that will be helpful in the project. An experienced iOS developer has to stay alert throughout the app life cycle until the app is released to the app store. The stages of development involve the following phases:

Defining the concept
Creating wireframes
Making storyboard
Designing the user interface
Making prototype
Coding the application

Clever Search Engine Optimization

It is important to set up the server-side architecture, databases alongside. Without forgetting app store optimization, it just as well is included in the list of priorities. It is important to consider it before coming up with a new solution every time. Once this is in place, it is just a clever SEO that is required to bring up the app among the list of best apps on the app store.

Keyword Stuffing Is Banned

The app name must be free from keywords. It is difficult to optimize the app that has keywords stuffed into its name or description.

Stick to Development Guidelines

Do not let your focus divert away from the app development process. The more strict guidelines are followed, there are even more chances of the app becoming successful at the app store.

Extensive Research Is Required

The keywords selected for the app name and description must be apt and strictly abide by Google’s keywords planner tool or SEMRush, as these tools give an idea about which specific set of keywords are likely to draw user’s attention and improve analytics. This even involves studying various markets, to understand the needs of the audience. It can be a good idea to release the app in different languages in different regional markets as people are keener towards localized search these days.

Reviewing the Progress is Important

It is important to review the progress of the application frequently until it is released on the app store, is reviewed, considering analytics and user behavior.

Keep It Simple

Complexity in the app development process and its features wastes a lot of time and effort. It eventually becomes difficult to understand and maintain. And it is not the only way to allure the audience! A considerable idea, in this case, can be to keep a bird’s eye on the winners of the Apple Design Awards. The apps that win are definitely making waves amongst its users.

Setting a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

In order to want your app to be remembered and set a benchmark amongst all the available ones, it is important to promote it in a way that looks lucrative, creates a requirement amongst the probable users, is time and cost efficient and solves some problem. If any of these criteria are in place the app is going to bang upon in the app store.

Finding a Niche to Workout

Once all the app features are set, everything needs to be jotted down in the description (50 words max) that potentially describes its specifics, its usability, efficiency and problem-solving.

End of the Line

An app reflects its User Interface (UI) or design pattern towards the users the very first time it gets released. Once wireframes, storyboards, prototypes are created, the designing of the user-interface starts with help of storyboards and interface builder. This is the basic building block or the foundation of how the app will work. Additionally, mobile app development companies must hire iOS developers must build an iOS app by counting on all the interactions, events, design patterns, scaffolding for app’s building blocks, foundation frameworks to create front and back end of the application, testing the app after development and maintenance and bug fixes (ongoing).

What is the Cost of Building a Cryptocurrency Exchange Application

December 27, 2018 Vipin Jain

Cryptocurrency, a global phenomenon known to most people, is a form of digital currency that uses cryptography to secure online money transfers, information and communications. It is one of the most talked about topics on the Internet today and is often regarded as the money of the future. It can’t be counterfeited. Cryptocurrency systems are decentralized and operate on a peer-to-peer network.

Transactions done through cryptocurrency wallet are not only secure but are cheaper than transactions done using national currencies. This is something that allure companies, banks, governments, startups and individuals to research more about cryptocurrency than ever. Because it is believed that at some point, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Litecoin will be used just like Dollars, Pounds and Euros.

People have already started to focus on cryptocurrencies in the hope to make big money in the coming years. No wonder, cryptocurrencies are thriving and there are a lot of opportunities for miners and traders in the future and most importantly, for startups to get a foothold in this new and a lucrative market.

So, how is it like creating a Cryptography Exchange Application?

The cheaper and quicker money transfer is making people look forward to cryptocurrency. And with the rate at which the number of people moving in this direction is tremendous, it would only be a matter of time when Ethereum and Bitcoin will be used by the masses. At this stage, rewards are not huge, but a few years down the line, they are likely to skyrocket. Users will require cryptocurrency exchange mobile apps to do the needful. This is where top app development companies come in the picture. They’ll be in demand for building such exchange apps for quicker, secure and affordable cryptography transactions.

A cryptocurrency exchange app would make transferring money in cryptocurrency easier and faster, thereby converting Bitcoins into national currencies of your choice.

How does a cryptocurrency exchange application work?

To start off, it requires you to get registered with the system that’ll create an individual cryptocurrency wallet for you where you can store Bitcoins as well as other currencies for further processing.

Whenever you receive a money transfer request, you’ll be notified by the system where you need to initiate the transaction. Once you do it, the money will get credited to your wallet on the server side. Then you’d be asked to select the bank and the currency it will be processed in.

The user involvement was only up to this step. Whatever happens next is done by the system automatically and on the server side. The system accepts the cryptocurrency and purchases its equivalent amount of foreign currency. Finally, the funds in the natural currency of choice get credited to your selected bank account.

For the transfer to be successful, the user needs to confirm and designate the wallet to the account from where the money is transferred. A cryptocurrency exchange app should have the following features –

• User account creation

• Wallet management

• Handle deposit requests

• Send money requests

• Cryptocurrency management i.e. cryptocurrency into natural currency using proxy APIs

• Management of bank accounts

There will be an API at the backend for handling exchange requests and a UX for users to register, track and transfer money through cryptocurrency.

How much does it cost to build cryptocurrency exchange app?

For the task, you’d require a team of skilled developers, quality analysts and a project manager. It is estimated that building such an app will need around six months. This will require talented and certified human resources and of course, for the maintenance staff thereafter.

Getting the app built in the US will cost you a bomb whereas if you outsource it to any of the mobile app development companies in India or China or Europe, the app development costs will plunge drastically.

Hiring a team of one iOS developer, one Android developer, one front-end designer, one graphic designer, one quality analyst, one manager and one backend developer in the US will cost you approximately $4,00,000– considering the app is built in six months and professionals were hired on an hourly basis.

On the other hand, the cost of app development in sub-continent nations is almost a half of it and the quality that they provide to their clients is phenomenal. For the same task, Indian app developers will charge you anywhere between $1,00,000 to $2,00,000 depending on company’s reputation, portfolio, experience and response rate.

Final words

The cryptocurrency market is still very new and open for exploration. However, its recent popularity suggests that it will continue to grow and attract more business houses and startups. If you are also willing to take that initial step forward towards innovation and to build a cryptocurrency exchange app for the present and the future, then we are here to assist you. Reach us to discuss project’s requirements and get your business going.