You are here:    Home  > Blog  

Most Wallet App Startups Fail- Here is Why and Your Guide to Success

March 19, 2019 Vipin Jain
Mobile Wallet App

In the last few years, we have seen some outstanding growth and innovation in the fintech sector particularly in consumer-based products. And while they have had their fair share of successes and failures, one particular product has been till now too cryptic for most businesses to crack- mobile wallets. There are markets like China, Kenya, Norway, among others where mobile wallets have been immensely successful but at the same time, there are also markets like the US, Canada, and even Japan where their adoption can be termed mediocre at best.

That brings us to our core question- why is it exactly that disproportionately high number of mobile wallet apps fail? Is there something inherently wrong with the concept of mobile wallets itself? Or is it due to the mistakes of wallet app startups? We’ll try and probe each of those angles and attempt to set the ground rules for what it takes to create a successful mobile wallet app. For the sake of relevance, we’ll assume you already know what mobile wallets are.

Why mobile wallets?

The utility of mobile wallets can be understood on two levels:

Convenience

Beside mobile payments, there are basically two ways you can transact for everyday purchases- cash or plastic money like credit or debit cards (cheque and escrow do not quality for everyday purchases). Now if you have ever scrambled for change or your card declined, you would know they are both quite inefficient. Also, if you factor in the overhead of always having to carry them physically, they really seem out of sync with the current digital age. After all, you may often forget your wallet but how often do you forget your phone?

Use cases

In general, cash is preferred for low-value transactions while cards are deemed more suitable for medium to high-value transactions. Mobile wallets, on the other hand, are suited for the full spectrum of transactions thus offering a unified experience.

What these two factors prove is that there is nothing inherently wrong with the concept of mobile wallets but failures are solely due to the mistakes wallet applications make. Keeping that in mind, here are three of the most common mistakes or oversights of startups that if you create a mobile wallet app must not repeat:

Learning curve

Just because everyone uses mobile apps, most startups misleadingly conclude that they would be comfortable with mobile wallets as well. The fact is, people have been transacting with cash all their life and even plastic cards have been around for decades while they have been using mobile apps for only a couple of years. This creates a sort of inertia in user behavior that you must factor in. yes, you can promote your app through offers and cashback but they are only short-term solutions. You need to put in place an incentivization model where long-term commitment is rewarded that would ultimately shift their behavior. 

More than just a wallet

Another grave mistake that most such applications make is that they market their product as a mobile wallet- which it is, but doesn’t quite present the whole picture. Most such applications have many more features like payments P2P transfers, etc. So instead of presenting these apps just as a mobile wallet, they should be marketed as a bouquet of financial solutions.

Security

People, in general, are skeptical with using new financial tools and given the menace of bank frauds, card skimming, etc. they can’t be said to be paranoid. Most startups assume that since users already use their cards for online transactions, they shouldn’t have any issues doing the same on their app. This is an entirely misplaced notion. People may have come to trust online transactions but that trust isn’t extended to facilitator apps. What you need is to build trust from scratch by portraying numerous security-related features.

Closing remarks

Given the considerable cost of mobile wallet app development, failure isn’t just about the lost opportunity but also significant financial loss. And while a good business strategy is to always learn from one’s mistake, the best strategy remains to never commit one. So if you aggregate all the mistakes of failed wallet app startups and actively avoid them, you might just have a recipe for a successful mobile wallet app.

Porting Android App to iOS? Don’t Forget These 5 Factors

March 13, 2019 Vipin Jain
Porting Android App to iOS

iOS and Android are the two most popular mobile platforms that virtually run a duopoly in the smartphone industry. Though we won’t get into the details here, there is one crucial factor worth that’s quite relevant for our discussion. From the developer’s point of view, both of these platforms have entirely different USPs- while iOS promises higher ROI, Android account for a large user base. That is the reason most of the applications are first launched on iOS and later ported on to the Android. If you are in such a transition phase, here is all you would need to take care of:

1. Redesign UI components

iOS apps are designed on Cupertino guidelines that tend to be flat and light on animations. The Android apps, however, use what is called Material design that creates an illusion of depth and makes moderate to extensive use of animations. Given this vast difference, you can’t simply port your iOS app design to Android because simply won’t fit in the larger ecosystem. Like it or not, you might need to completely redesign the app using native Android components.

2. Mind the variety

As mentioned earlier, one of the key reasons most applications debut on iOS is its hardware uniformity. There are at most half a dozen devices with almost each of them running the same iOS version. That is not the case with Android. There are hundreds of Android smartphones on the market with varying specifications running on at least 3-4 major Android versions. That is why when you port your application to Android, you must keep this diversity in mind and have extensive test plans at hand.

Yes, you can choose to ignore older devices or Android versions with smaller userbase but still, you’d be left with at least dozens of handsets you would need to optimize your app for.

3. Reorient Navigation

Since iPhones have only a home button (even that is being phased out in latest handsets) the applications need to have navigation buttons built into them. But Android, on the other hand, has three buttons- home, back, and multitasking. This means all navigation buttons built into iOS apps become redundant when ported to Android. So basically you have two options- either just remove all the in-app navigation controls or build a fresh user flow from scratch.

4. Rethink permissions

Device access and data permissions work differently on iOS as compared to Android. While applications on iOS are largely shunned from collecting personal information, Android is rather open in this regard. This presents developers with opportunities to add new features while converting iOS apps to Android. That said, Google has recently changed many policies that you must carefully look into before posting your app.

5. Manage coding differences

iOS apps are written in Swift or Objective-C while those of Android apps use Java or Kotlin. You can either choose to completely rewrite the code or go hybrid. Now this something that depends entirely on what kind of an app you have and what you intend to achieve. The only thing we can suggest is that you must have a detailed discussion with your developers before taking the final call.

Closing remarks

Given the sheer diversity of handsets, building an app for Android arguably remains more challenging and thus porting Android to iOS is rather simpler than the other way around. That said, if you hire Android developers with ample expertise, your iOS can easily be ported to Android in a matter of weeks. But more important is how you approach the subject- instead of considering it as a mere copy-paste of your app from one platform to another, it should be taken up as an opportunity to reinvent your app experience to match the new ecosystem.

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
How to Integrate Uber API

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:

  1. It would be a source income– Uber pays you an amount for each user you send their way.
  2. 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.

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

    • connect with us

    facebook twitter gplus

    certificate

    About Us | Services | Portfolio | Contact Us | 4.7 stars - 162 reviews

    Copyright © 2012 - 2026, Konstant Infosolutions Mobile App Provider & IT Staffing Services. All Rights Reserved.
    Usage of this site constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Service, MAP Privacy Policy.
    Clients : USA, UK, Australia, Europe, Colombia, Canada, Maxico, Brazil, Newzealand, Hungary, Hong Kong, Singapore, Chile, Ireland, Philippines, China, UAE, Dubai, France, Nigeria, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey, Denmark, Norway and all around the globe.