Startup Mobile App Development

[startupappdevelopment]

TOP 5 DOS AND DON'TS OF APP DEVELOPMENT FOR STARTUPS IN 2018

Are you a web-based startup? If yes, you may be thinking that your website made your presence global and at the same time you might be wondering that why you are not getting any leads so far!

We have one straight jacket solution to your situation, ‘Get a Mobile app for your business now!’.

The reason being, mobile now represents 65% of all digital media time, with mobile apps dominating the usage, which in turn necessitates mobile app development for all the bootstrap companies to survive in the market!

With so many zombie apps in the market that don’t sell, you need a pro help to generate leads via the mobile app.

For a general orientation, the mobile app should have some basic qualities to prevail in the global market and there are few obvious blunders one must avoid while building a mobile app.

Follow this Dos and Don’ts of Mobile App Development for Startups to stay ahead in 2018.

Top 5 qualities that your mobile app should have are:

1. App optimization for mobile platforms: Making your app compatible and functional for all the mobile devices should be your step 2 after creating a bug-free app with a pretty interface.

2. Unique: Instead of being a modified version of an existing app, come up with a unique idea to leave a long-lasting impression on the users’ minds.

3. Ease of Access: Your app should be easy to navigate, easy to download and easy to operate overall. A bad user experience can cost you a considerable loss in forecasted revenues.

4. Cheap: The best way to package your app is providing primary functions for FREE and then charging a minimal amount for advanced features.  

5. Targeted: Only concentrate on your audience. Your app should be exclusively designed for your targeted users, everyone out there is not seeking out for your app!

With these qualities, there are few mistakes one must avoid while creating an app for a startup company.

1. Avoid too many features

Too many features confuse the users Plus there is fair chance that an app with too many features will be buggy and can degrade the user experience.

Rather, make a ‘Minimum Viable Version’ of your app with perfectly functional primary features before opting for a full-fledged version.

2. Bad UI/UX design

A bad front-end experience is the end of your app story. Period. Make your app self-describing and smooth to operate to avoid mass abandonment of your app.

3. Launching the app before rigorous testing

The testing is the most significant phase of the mobile app development process and that’s why there is no way to skip it.

Testing time and cost should be planned beforehand to avoid last moment hassle. Clearly, a bug-free app with minimum features is better than a full-fledged app with an erratic functionality.

Testing caters to your overall perfection needs here.

4. No planning to fix post-launch bugs

Even after proper programming and extensive testing, app bugs are bound to slip in or you may need to update your app with new features. Plan the after-hours on app development as well to keep the user satisfied.

5. Not Marketing an App

Even the best app will not generate revenues if it’s not properly marketed. Create a buzz and hire a proper digital marketing team to get the most out of your mobile app.

With that said, if a mobile app sounds like a great idea for your business, go for it.

Consagous is Austin, Dallas, Houston and Washington, DC based Development Solutions provider to back you up for all your Startup related needs. Take a tour of our services.

Courtesy:

https://www.consagous.com/top-5-dos-donts-app-development-startups-2018/

[startupappdevelopment]

TOP 5 WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR STARTUP BUSINESS FROM CYBER ATTACKS

If you are a startup, you would first be concentrating on achieving BEP in your line of business instead of playing around with cyber security and investing plenty of money there. But, sadly this is not 90s anymore!

It’s rather obvious that startups are working on edge and are in cash crunches mostly. Most of the startups are nothing but a high-speed internet connection paired with a high configuration laptop. What we need to understand is when the whole business is dependent on cyber world, cyber security should be your major concern.

Why is Cyber Security Service Essential for Startup Business?

Business is all about revenues and cyber business needs online portals to transact. Now, what if we tell you that you can lose all your hard-earned money to a hacker in just a matter of seconds if you don’t use appropriate cyber security services. Cringe!!!

Whether you are a hardcore manufacturer or an internet startup, if you have data stored online, you are vulnerable to the cybercrimes.

Consagous is Austin, Dallas, Houston and Washington, DC based IT solutions provider company to back you up for all your IT related needs. Take a tour of our services https://www.consagous.com/services/

Here are Top 5 Ways to Protect Your Startup Business from Cyber Attacks

1.     Avoid Phishing Attack

Have you ever come across a well-crafted email from your bank or Facebook asking for your login credentials?

This is exactly what is called a phishing attack. This socially engineered attack will contain a web link with urgent instructions to fill out your credentials and no matter how authentic these emails may look, never fill your details. Giving away your credentials is like empowering a stranger to exercise your powers. It doesn’t sound good, right?

To avoid such attacks, train your staff and create awareness for such attacks. The basic checkpoint is everyone needs to get skeptical about the emails they are reverting to.  

Solution: Mandate multi-factor authentication (MFA)

MFA demands additional authentication, like proof of possession of that user’s mobile phone by sending OTP (secret code) via text.

MFA curbs phishing quite effectively but still being skeptical is always recommended.

2.     Malware detection and prevention

To define it briefly, malware is a malicious software that you download from the web and run.

Now, the next question is why would you download a malware?

Attackers are very smart this way, they persuade the user to download a malware by presenting it as a legitimate and useful program.

This malware can pose a serious threat to your business because it can do anything that the user is permitted to do, and so lots of damage is done already.

Solution #1: Install antivirus

The prime defense to mitigate this threat is to install a legitimate antivirus.

If you are running a business and you are not using an anti-virus (AV), you are pretty much putting yourself out there.

AV is an essential ingredient to your IT security recipe. It will detect the malware just as you are about to run it and block execution if the program is a possible threat to your system.

Let’s sort it once and forever if you are using Windows 10, you have a default Window Defender enabled and hence you need not pay for other AVs.

And if you are not using Windows 10, you need a paid AV installed. It applies to Macs as well. I repeat it applies to Macs as well.

Get a paid version, to keep yourself secured and renew your subscription periodically.

Solution #2: Use latest web browsers

Latest browser like Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge are equipped with a download defense that checks for malware.

These browsers check download of .exe file & blocks the download if the program is a malware.

Solution #3: Try app-only platforms

If you are a risk-averse person, go for app-only platforms.

When AV lets everything run except for a list of known-bad-stuff, app-only platforms block everything except for stuff that comes from that platform’s app store.

Platforms that support only apps from an app store (iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows 10 S, and Windows Device Guard) are more secure against malware than other platforms. You are denied downloading from anywhere but the verified app store, which significantly reduces the risk of victimizing from social engineering attacks.

Additionally, app-only platform runs apps inside a sandbox which restrains the app from accessing the user’s files or other critical resources, without user permission.

3.     Survive ransomware

Ransomware needs no introduction after the mass sabotage it did. It is a malware that encrypts and ransom your data files.

Solution: Periodical offline backups

Keeping all your data online saves you from natural disasters but at the same time, you are vulnerable to the gruesome cyber-attacks.

Imagine the world where an intruder has equivalent rights as you do regarding your online data or payment gateways.

It’s prudent to keep offline backups for your data on a periodical basis to recover faster from damage done by cyber-attacks.

4.     Startups= Outsource DBMS requirement

Being a startup, managing your server is not a good idea. Plus, you may not have enough resources to manage it. Misconfigured internet servers are a very soft target for attackers and can cause public defamation at times.

Solution: Leverage the cloud

Best bet for startups is to leverage cloud services, such as Azure, AWS, Google, Oracle, IBM, etc. It is cost effective and your data is relatively secured.

5.     Monitor BYOD

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a famous and cost-effective concept these days.

Before you opt-in for this option, get a perspective on the risks involved in it. Your data is with people who may or may not use a secured browser or may get conned in a phishing attack or may use an insecure network for daily operations.

Little savings can cost you a fortune if a hacker intrudes in your network due to inadequate IT security.

Solution: Enable mobile device security

Draft and implement a good IT security policy for mobile devices. Good policies for your minimum bar should include:

Require a PIN/Password: Mobile devices when accessing the company’s database should require a strong password.

Device encryption: Ensure that the device’s storage is encrypted. Latest OS has the feature of encrypting the device storage by default.

Still not sure about how to implement proper IT security solutions? Let our experts help you…!!

 Courtesy:

https://www.consagous.com/top-5-ways-protect-startup-business-cyber-attacks/

[startupappdevelopment]

How-to Guide for Startups to Enhance App Performance

How often it happens when you have a perfectly crafted app with sleek aesthetics and still your bounce rate is high.

It is a major pitfall when all the time and resources are attributed to designing part and very less time is given to the operational part of the app. A startup with a great idea and a great app design won’t take you far if your app is slow and crashing very often.

Users are very impatient and are prone to distraction if your app takes more than 2 seconds to load. A study shows that ’47 percent of consumers expect a web page to load in two seconds or less, representing a significant evolution in consumer expectation and 40 percent of consumers will wait no more than three seconds for a web page to render before abandoning the site.’

App performance depends on how fast or slow your app loads, and in case of app crash, any of the following factors can be responsible:

Server

Mobile device

Network

Programming of the app itself

All the days of research, development, and design goes in waste just because of poor app performance. With about a decade of experience in the field, I have enlisted few measures that have given sure results in long run.

Here’s how as a startup you can enhance your app performance –

App Complexity

The app structure sketched by contemporary developers is complex in terms of components involved. These components are sourced from different places and together they form a single entity. In case of failure of any one component the app won’t be able to complete the process and will crash.

For instance, if an app is developed by taking different components from various locations like third-party, cloud and data center, the risk of app failure increases because if the third party component goes unavailable, your app will not function properly and will crash.

Considering that the users look at the app window as a single entity, they do not comprehend the absence or faulty functioning of a single component and not the whole app and hence they consider the app faulty.

App Design

App design plays a crucial role in the performance of an app. It is observed very often that more attention is given by app UI and UX developers to the UI of the app and limited resources are deployed for the UX of the app. As much as the design of the app attracts users, faulty functioning repulses them. UX is very different from UI and mobile app designers need to pay special attention to UX to ensure smooth functioning of the app.

Clean coding

App coders emphasize on adding a large number of features in the app to attract the users but too many of app features compromise the app’s performance because users prefer a faster app with limited functions over the one which has too many features but is slow.

Clean coding is intended to mean an app with an easy and smooth flow and improved speed and performance.

Hire experienced app developers for ensuring the smooth functioning of your app. Further, the mobile app developers should keep following aspects in mind to enhance app performance:

Minimize the power consumption by optimizing CPU, Network/Wi-Fi, location.

Avoid irrelevant resource consumption by managing app memory, caching, data flow, and limiting the memory footprint.

Optimize security requirements and permissions.

Escalate app launch time

Offer fewer features

Preferring Native app development

The native apps perform better than the hybrid mobile apps because they are specifically designed for a particular OS and run smoothly on their respective OS. Also, they can make better use of the device’s features like GPS, camera, etc and it is a fact that native apps run faster than the other types of apps.

Loading data as per requirement

Mobile apps, at times, require to load data in bulk for proper functioning but it takes time to load the data which may lead to the abandonment of app as the user tend to reject an app if it is too slow.

For overcoming this issue mobile app developers can split the data into two blocks namely preload and postload which enables the users to access at least some data while the whole page loads.

Creating an offline mode

In the fast moving life, users never stay at one place and mostly use the mobile apps while walking or traveling or waiting.  This poses a risk of network connection failure. In order to provide a good user experience, mobile app developers should offer an offline app mode where their data is visible for a while even without internet connection.

Summarizing

The app performance has a direct impact on the number of retained users, ratings and reviews of the app which in turn affects the app revenue. So, it is imperative for an app to perform smoothly in order to survive in the market and generate constant revenues.

The high-quality mobile app prompts users to come back over and again. To achieve the high-quality benchmarks app coders must follow the aforementioned points while building the app that is fast and effective.

Consagous also offers high end blockchain development solutions.

Courtsey:-

https://www.consagous.com/blog/how-to-guide-for-startups-to-enhance-app-performance/

[startupappdevelopment]

8 MISTAKES THAT STARTUPS MUST AVOID WHILE ENTERING INTO NDA

The element that makes a startup innovative is its unique idea or new approach to solve existing issues. An idea signifies its very existence so, by all means, that idea should be safeguarded. Here is when Non-disclosure agreement comes in picture. Whether you are considering a joint venture partner, an interested investor, or an employee at a significant position, a Non-Disclosure Agreement must be executed.   The main purpose of NDA is to protect the confidentiality of information shared with an outsider. Not having a signed and enforceable NDA may have drastic consequences down the road when the information which was meant to be confidential falls into the wrong hands.   Though a proper attorney should be hired to avoid all the pitfalls still one must have knowledge of what could go wrong that render NDAs unenforceable.

Read more….

[startupappdevelopment]

Should You Build a Mobile App or a Website for Your Startup?

Website first or mobile app first, is this question giving you sleepless nights?

No doubt it is a big decision being your debut in the market because as they say the first impression is the last impression.

The conventional approach says to build a website first and then think about the mobile app but let’s be skeptical for a while and think again. Is it the right way to tap the market?

Not sure? That’s ok!

By the end of this article you will have an answer and most importantly you will have reasons for why you choose what you chose.

To organize the whole process we have come up with a fine-tuned checklist which will help you put an end to constant brainstorming sessions about whether to go to a website or a mobile app first.

Okay, let’s start!

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[startupappdevelopment]

What Features Make A Food Delivery App A Big Hit?

Have you ever thought of giving a try to a food ordering app as a business?

If not, you still have time!

Making money out of food ordering business is not an easy cup of tea though but if done with the organized way it is like making money just with your fingertips.

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[startupappdevelopment]

Why Cloud Technology Is the Smart Move for Startups

Startups these days works on the edge which is why one must concentrate on maximizing the available resources and optimize the costs to achieve the BEP (Break Even Point). There is no sure shot recipe that will work for every startup but there is a big cost saving you can do immediately.

Read more….

[startupappdevelopment]

3 Ways to Gear up Your Startup For AI Powered Tool Integration

Remember the days when you waited long for your phone to recognize your voice correctly. AI have traveled a long way since then and has evolved to become your perfect virtual companion.

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