Mobile application development
Do you want to create your own app? Creact can help you develop your smartphone application and guide you towards the best choices to make it successful.
If you want to learn more about apps in general, scroll down to read some preliminary information that will be useful to understand how to make your app. Otherwise, you can opt for one of our insights dedicated to iOS, Android or hybrid apps.
How much does it cost to create an app?
The first question that spontaneously arises is always the same: “How much does it cost to develop an app?”. The answer, however, can only be one: it depends. It is inevitable, in fact, that the price will be conditioned by a large number of variables.
The first variable to consider, the one from which all the others will descend, concerns the type of app you want to create: it can be an e-commerce app, a geolocated app for the promotion of events, an app that makes use of augmented reality technologies… as it is easy to understand, such different apps can only require equally varied features, design and technical knowledge.
Regardless of the type of app you choose to create, you will still need the coordinated work of an entire multidisciplinary team that will take care of every aspect of your app, from information architecture to design, until having created a complete and competitive final product.
Is it better to choose an iOS, an Android or an hybrid app?
Another aspect to consider concerns the destination of your app. In other words, you need to understand if you want to create an app designed for iOS, for Android or for both market segments.
Choosing iOS or Android does not make any difference either in terms of costs or in terms of development times. In any case, it will be a native app, that is, built following the guidelines of a specific operating system; this will guarantee your app the best possible performances.
In some specific cases you could opt for the creation of a hybrid app. This type of app has a cross-platform compatibility that could save you time. However, this option is risky in most cases: for example, since a hybrid app must necessarily make use of plugins in order to provide the user with integrated functions, a complex app will always be subject to the risk that these plugins become obsolete and that the initial savings turn into a competitive disadvantage later.
Based on these considerations, it is clear that the technical superiority of native apps makes them preferable to hybrid apps. A native app will guarantee you significantly superior performances that will not lose value over time, leading you to provide your users with a higher level service.
Digital payments management via app
One feature that you may want to include when you decide to create an app is the one relating to the management of the so-called digital payments.
The recent entry into force of PSD2, the new European directive on digital payments, has in fact given further impetus to what has already been an increasingly widespread trend on the Web for some time now, that is, the one relating to the digital payments market. The PSD2 promotes the Open Banking, a decision that tends to put the user at the centre, giving him more choice and freedom in managing his transactions. Thus new payment methods are created, for example through e-wallets (electronic wallets such as PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay) or the use of cryptocurrencies.
If you want to create an app, you may be interested in playing in advance by also implementing a specific feature for managing digital payments directly in-app.
Push notifications
Among the most useful features that you can choose to implement in your app there is certainly the possibility of sending push notifications to your users. Push notifications, if used correctly, will allow you to create a higher level involvement with the users who will download your app.
What are push notifications?
Push notifications are a type of messaging that is used by an app to display information or news about the application itself by directly showing them on the home of the user’s device. Push notifications work even if the application is not open at that precise moment, and without requiring the user to take further actions to download them.
Why are push notifications useful?
This type of tool is extremely useful, primarily because it acts as a constant reminder of the existence of your app. Let’s be honest with each other, how many of us have phones full of apps they never use, or that they do not even remember having installed? Push notifications are useful primarily to avoid all this, allowing you to create a preferential channel with your users.
It goes without saying that this is a tool to be dosed with care, in order to avoid clogging the user’s home with too many annoying notifications and therefore pushing him to disable them. If managed by an expert within a precise strategy, however, push notifications will be very useful for you to intensify the user experience by creating a greater level of involvement.
