Deleted for Everywhere feature was launched on WhatsApp last year. This feature is very much liked by the people but now users are facing trouble with the feature. This feature is working well in chat between two people, but if the
group message is coated with a group chat, the deleted message can be
read. Dealit
for Everyone is a feature that allows you to delete the message sent
within 7 minutes but now you have found reports that if you have sent a
message to any group and a group member has coated it to a message
within 7 minutes Even though the message has been dealt, the message can be viewed by all the group members. However, a message that has been deleted will not appear. Only a coated message will appear. This means that the Dealit for Everywhere Feature is not working after being coated in Group Chat. If a user wants to delete the message sent by himself and in any case
the message is being displayed, then it can be called a defect. It is worth mentioning that this feature was launched last year. The special thing is that its demand was long and Facebook was appreciated for launching this feature. Currently, this feature is available for all users worldwide.
Which
trends will shape app monetization in 2018? As the world becomes better
adapted for mobile, developers will benefit from greater revenue than
ever before. However to do this they must balance the needs of the user
with app monetization practices.
We’ll look at five trends that will influence the way that app monetization will work in 2018.
App experience will become more important for developers relying on ads to generate revenue.
In-app ads remain a popular method of app monetization for developers. Despite them having obvious drawbacks when applied poorly.
In
2018 app advertising will be all about the user experience. developers
must strike a balance between the number of ads, where they appear and
how the user interacts with them. This will be pivotal to app
monetization success. App owners will also have to consider how these
changes will affect their users in 2018. Too many ads will negatively
affect the user experience. But that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible
to provide value whilst delivering in-app ads.
Mobile
app advertising is maturing quickly. Make sure you look for a network
that uses safe brands, smart ad targeting, and provides support for
interactive ads.
When
integrating an app advertising strategy you may find a trade-off
between ease of integration and spamminess of ads. In 2018 it might be
worth taking the time to focus on putting user experience first.
Don’t
expect revenue from app ads to jump to new heights anytime soon. If
anything expect app ad revenue to decrease as more apps adopt in-app
advertising. Perhaps 2018 could be the year to supplement your app
revenue with another method.
More apps will adopt a freemium model as more users are becoming used to an app being free at the point of use.
Freemium
is allowing app owners to increase session length and generate engaged
users. This is a great place from which to convert users into healthy
revenue. After a positive app experience app users are more likely to
opt-in for premium features. Having the chance to nurture and educate
your users before this has a positive effect on your app monetization
strategy.
Try
not to appear like you are cheating your users. Make it clear that your
app is a freemium app from the very beginning. They won’t want to
invest a lot of time in a game or app to realise that they have to pay
to use some features.
It
seems that freemium is here to stay. With users finding it standard
practice to not pay for an app at the point of purchase. Because of
this, developers are finding it harder to justify an upfront fee. The
freemium app monetization model is a great opportunity to engage and
nurture audiences for app monetization.
Users will become dissatisfied if they have to commit huge amounts of time or money to unlock all app features.
In-app
purchases as a method of app monetization is still experiencing healthy
growth. This may be slightly overstated due to the inclusion of
‘services’ as purchases (think Uber etc).
One of the main trends well see in 2018 is that app developers will need to focus more on engagement rather than only increasing app monetization.
Once
a user has purchased in-app content then they are more likely come back
and spend more time in the app. This translates to better engagement
and retention and in turn better monetization.
No
category has benefited from in-app purchases more than the gaming
category. Here, developers are benefiting by placing engagement first.
The user now has the option to pay to advance through the game quicker
or access powerups and features.
Developers
need to make sure they are getting this balance right. In-app purchases
are effective because a few users spend a lot. There will always be
users who only want to play your game for free. True these users don’t
generate revenue, but they are still important for your app to exist.
Whilst
not being a mobile app, developers can still learn a lot from the EA
debacle in the new Battlefront game. Users quickly noticed that to
unlock some of the features they would have to play the game for 1000
hours. Alternatively, they could pay to unlock them. This seemed rather
unfair, especially when they had purchased the game upfront.
To keep users happy, developers will need to strike the right balance between monetization and experience.
In
2018 more and more users will become aware of how apps monetize their
users. That’s why app monetization methods must be clear and fair, in
the long term it will benefit you.
A conversation will need to be had with users about monetization of data and opt-out methods.
Users
are more aware than ever of the need for developers to monetize their
app audience. The conversation around app monetization is shifting to
help users understand why apps are free.
In
2018 consumer personalization will be a high priority for brands. They
will achieve this by using consumer data to help provide an improved
user experience.
Mobile app owners are sitting on a lot of behavioural data around their users. This is of value to those who wish to improve personlization for their users.
Data monetization
is secure, private and becoming more popular amongst developers. Users
are more likely to understand that this data will help to generate
improved personlization. By communicating the benefits and education
users about opt-in developers can monetize their app in this way.
A
benefit of app data monetization is that the user experience remains
intact. There are no intrusive adverts or the need for the user to pay
anything upfront. This means that the user will spend more time in the
app and engage with the app’s features. The app monetization strategy
can be adopted alongside other methods of monetization.
Data
monetization allows developers to monetize a much higher percentage of
users. The users don’t need to be engaged for it to work. The revenue
that you generate from each user will also be higher. This means you
don’t have to worry about monetization in relation to platform. It’s the
same regardless of the device.
Expect
revenue from data monetization to increase from a high starting point
with better technology. 2018 will see the consumer become more aware of
the power of big data and better educated on how it affects them.
App subscription models will more closely resemble SAAS subscriptions.
The
subscription model is one that looks to remain popular in 2018. Again,
users are used to trialling an app and its features before parting with
any cash
Subscription
models are becoming more complex than a simple buy or don’t buy. In
fact, many pricing structures now more closely resemble a SAAS model.
It’s common to see several pricing tiers with many different features.
This
allows app developers to persuade users who would previously not part
with any cash to subscribe to a lower tier of membership. This method of
app monetization is still the best fit for service apps.
A
side effect of this is that developers will need to clearly help users
understand the benefits of upgrading. More tiers and features mean a
better explanation is needed.
Closing thoughts for 2018
Developers
will continue to benefit from the app economy with revenue from app
monetization set to grow throughout 2018. Free apps will become the new
normal, compared to previously where single pay purchases were the most
popular. This will allow developers to generate more revenue over a
longer period of time.
Developers
will need to place more emphasis on the monetization experience. This
means that the developers are more likely to miss out on revenue from
app monetization if the app experience is not up to scratch. Due to the
free to download culture, more emphasis on experience and education is
needed. This will help to persuade users to enter into premium models
and subscriptions or to engage with in-app purchases.
More and more developers will need to adopt hybrid monetization strategies. Developers should
not
rely on a single method of app monetization. Instead, spreading
monetization across multiple strategies will provide stability.
Especially in a market that can change quickly. The preference of app
users is volatile. The changing platform rules around app monetization
may also affect developers in 2018. It’s important to stay one step
ahead!
Have you read Paid Applications Agreement, Schedule 2, Section 3.8(b)?
If
you’ve ever submitted an app to the App Store, you know the frustration
when Apple rejects your submission. Even more so when you thought you’d
followed all the rules. As it turns out, Apple can bury requirements
wherever they want, and it’s your burden to keep up.
About
a year ago, Apple started rejecting apps that didn’t comply with
Schedule 2, Section 3.8(b) of the Paid Applications Agreement, a verbose
list of self-evident truths about subscriptions. The Paid Applications
Agreement is a 37-page document that you had to agree to before you
could submit your app. It is only available via iTunes Connect in the
form of downloadable PDF.
The actual contents of Schedule 2, Section 3.8(b):
I really like the part about privacy policies.
3.8(b)
requires that you “clearly and conspicuously disclose to users” all of
the above bullets. The first few items seem harmless enough but then we
start to get off into the weeds.
Apple
wants you to reproduce, “clearly and conspicuously”, all the details of
auto-renewing subscriptions. This information should be part of the
standard StoreKit subscription purchase flow. None of these bullets have
anything app specific to them. They are just boilerplate legalese.
iOS’s purchase UI, more than enough information.
Apple
has an iOS level user interface flow for in-app purchases that is quite
good as of iOS 11. This view already covers most of the in-the-weeds
bullets, except telling users about the 24-hour renewal policy.
Requiring
every developer to implement their version of 3.8(b) is costly and
creates a fractured experience for the user. Apple should be putting it
in the standard sheet. But it’s Apple’s walled garden. When they say
jump, you say “fine, whatever.”
How to Comply With 3.8(b)
According
to recent rejections that I’ve seen (as of Jan. 8th, 2018), reviewers
are being more particular about what your purchase flow requires. From a
recent rejection:
Adding
the above information to the StoreKit modal alert is not sufficient;
the information must also be displayed within the app itself, and it
must be displayed clearly and conspicuously during the purchase flow
without requiring additional action from the user, such as opening a
link.
All
of the information in 3.8(b) must be “displayed clearly and
conspicuously during the purchase flow without requiring additional
action from the user, such as opening a link.” Your beautiful and
compact purchase flow must include in it, somewhere, nine bullets
written by a lawyer.
Confide, recently updated, achieved it with the following:
According to one reviewer, being below the fold with a leading arrow qualifies as “clearly and conspicuously.”
For another data point, I know of one recently rejected developer who had the same information, but in another view that was linked from the purchase flow with a button. This did not qualify (according to one reviewer).
A Template
Include a customized version of the following “clearly and conspicuously” in your purchase flow:
A
[purchase amount and period] purchase will be applied to your iTunes
account [at the end of the trial or intro| on confirmation].
Subscriptions
will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end
of the current period. You can cancel anytime with your iTunes account
settings. Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited if you
purchase a subscription.
For more information, see our [link to ToS] and [link to Privacy Policy].
Put
it on the screen where you initiate the in-app purchase, below the fold
might be OK, but you might want to put something to lead users there.
UPDATE:
Readers are telling me it may also be required that you include it in
your app store description. It’s a much easier change to include so I
recommend you add it there to.
Why has Apple Taken a Legal Problem and made it Ours?
Apple
shouldn’t be burying submission requirements in the bodies of contracts
that nobody will read. If Apple wants developers to know something,
they should put it in the App Store Guidelines, HIG, or developer
documentation. The cost of making changes in a software project right at
the end can be astronomical. Dropping a bomb like this on developers at
submission shows a total lack of regard for our costs.
Why
didn’t they just update the iOS in-app purchase sheet? I speculate that
Apple discovered some legal exposure from in-app subscriptions and
fixed it with lawyers instead of designers. This problem could be
universally solved with an iOS update, but I think some side effect of
Apple being a vast, lumbering bureaucracy made forcing 3.8(b) onto
developers the more politically convenient path. Apple, if you are
reading this, please either update the iOS sheet or move the
requirements to the App Store guidelines, so fewer developers get caught
unawares.
RevenueCat
is the best way to implement subscriptions in your mobile app. We
handle all the complicated parts so you can get back to building.
Request an invite today at https://www.revenuecat.com/
Looking ahead, the app business is expected to do even better, with global mobile app revenue forecast for 2020 at $189 billion.
For
budding developers, it’s time to hop aboard the gravy train. But what’s
the first step in learning mobile app development? What courses should
you sign up for? Should you teach yourself app development? We’ve got
you covered.
And yes, the first step is
learning how to prototype a mobile app. Learn why here — plus get our
top 10 online courses on mobile app development to get you started right
away, no matter where you are!
10 free and paid online courses to help you learn mobile app development
Here are our top 10 online courses to help you learn mobile app development:
1 — Android Development Tips Weekly series on Lynda
Each
week, David shares techniques to help you speed up your coding, improve
app functionality or make your apps more reliable and refined.
The
tutorials cover developing the app’s user interface, backend processing
and open source libraries, to get your coding knowledge off the ground
even quicker.
Level: Beginner — Intermediate
Commitment: approximately 3h per video
Price-point: 30-day free trial, from $19.99 thereafter
Learn
how to create and customize 10+ iPhone apps (using Swift 3 and Xcode 8)
with easy step-by-step instructions. The course begins with
implementation of basic elements — UILabel, UIButton, UITextField
etc. — Auto Layout and multiple-sized icons, with more advanced classes
covering memory issues, storyboarding and displaying rich local
notifications.
Note that this course requires you to own and already be familiar with Mac.
Level: Beginner
Commitment: approximately 33 hours
Price-point: $10.99 (New Year discount, was $50.00)
3 — iOS App Development with Swift Specialization on Coursera
This is the ultimate Swift for iOS development course, brought to you by Parham Aarabi and the University of Toronto.
Using
XCode, Parham will teach you how to design elegant interactions and
create fully functioning iOS apps, such as the photo editing app for
iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. The course also includes best practices
to help you become proficient in functional Swift concepts.
Note that this course requires you to own and already be familiar with Mac.
In
this 5-week course, you’ll explore the basics of Android application
components as well as Activities and their lifecycle, some UI design
principles, Multimedia, 2D graphics and networking support for Android.
Level: Beginner
Commitment: 6 weeks
Price-point: free
5 — Full Stack Web and Multiplatform Mobile App Development Specialization on Coursera
If you’re learning mobile application development for Android and found the above course useful, try this course out next.
Here
you’ll have the chance to build complete web and hybrid mobile
solutions, as well as master front-end web, hybrid mobile app and
server-side development.
Price-point: 7-day free trial, $39 per month thereafter
6 — iOS 9 and Swift 2: From Beginner to Paid Professional on Skillshare
Mark Price’s online course for iOS Swift is everything you need to know about iOS 9 development.
This
is another great set of classes for novice iOS coders. Build 15+ apps
for iOS 9, learn swift 2.0 and publish apps to the App Store. Warmups,
class projects and exercises will help you keep on top of the workload.
Level: Beginner
Commitment: approximately 37 hours
Price-point: from $15 a month
7 — The iOS Development Course That Gets You Hired on Career Foundry
1-on-1
mentorship from industry experts and real-world projects complement a
set of 6 structured modules. The course covers the very basic principles
of iOS development and takes you right to the point of submitting an
app to the App Store.
Level: Beginner
Commitment: 6 months
Price-point: $4000 (payment plans available)
8 — Get Started With React Native on TutsPlus
Markus Mühlberger’s course for React Native is perfect for anyone who wants to code for multiple mobile platforms.
Learn
how to create and customize UI elements, build user interaction, and
integrate third-party components into apps for both iOS and Android.
Upon completion, you’ll be able to write mobile apps in React Native.
Level: Intermediate
Commitment: 1.2 hours
Price-point: $29 a month
9 — Build a Simple Android App with Java on Treehouse
Ben Deitch’s course will help you build simple mobile apps for Android with Java, without any prior knowledge.
Best-suited
to budding Android developers, this course will explore programming in
Android and some very basic concepts of the Android SDK. By the end of
the course, you’ll have a working knowledge of how a basic app works.
Level: Beginner
Commitment: 1.5 hours
Price-point: from $25 a month
10 — Try iOS on Code School
Gregg Pollack’s tutorials on iOS app development from the ground up and requires only basic coding experience.
Write
your first iPhone app code and learn about different UI elements, such
as buttons, labels, tabs and images. Upon completion, you’ll be able to
connect to the internet to fetch data, build out table views and
navigate between different areas of your app.
Level: Beginner
Commitment: 6–8 hours
Price-point: $29 a month
It’s
an exciting time for mobile app developers. And as you can see, there
are plenty of resources out there to help get your career off the
ground. But don’t forget to look at the big picture.
Prototyping is an integral part of the mobile app life cycle. Download Justinmind now and explore a prototyping tool that’s made with the entire product team in mind.
With
the introduction of OLED screens to the iPhone X, more and more people
are requesting night themes in their favourite apps to take advatage of
the true blacks on OLED screens, to save battery, and to make it easier
on the eyes in some cases. But should you add this option to your app?
Don’t confuse choice with convenience.
If
you ask any user if they’d want the option of night mode in your app,
they would say yes. As consumers we think we need more choices. It
sounds very logical. The more choices I have, the more likely I am to
choose something that suits me and makes me happy. But does more choice actually make users happier? In the TED Talk, The Art of Choosing, Sheena Iyengar explains how that might not actually be true.
Just
because users are asking for options, doesn’t mean they’re going to
start using them or that it’s the right choice for them. Depending on
the type of content that you provide to your users, a night mode might
actually hurt their engagement.
You have to ask yourself why you’re thinking about a night mode. If
you’re doing it solely to give your users options, then please, do
yourself and your users a favour and stop. There are many downsides to
having a night mode that you have to consider and be OK with before
adding it to your app.
A
night mode creates inconsistency within your app. It’s already hard
enough to keep your apps consistent with iOS and Android, and if you
have a website having that be consistent with everything too. Why would
you go out of your way to make it even more difficult for yourself?
A
night mode might reduce your users’ engagement with your app. Your
users are the reason that you have created your app. They have been
using your app and are used to it. If you have good information
architecture and user experience, they might be even using your app with
muscle memory. These users are your friends. They have already
memorized your app’s hierarchy and are using affordances and clues in
your app to navigate it fluently. Introducing a dark mode would change
all of that. Now they have to re-learn your app. Even though everything
is in the same place, they have to re-learn the affordances and clues
and repeat the process of getting used to it all over again, and this
risks alienating your users. They might see the dark mode and think
that’s a good choice for them and turn it on, but the next time they
open your app they won’t know how to navigate it and it will feel
strange. Remember when Instagram switched their UI design to the new
flat one with the new logo and everyone was running around setting
things on fire and protesting on the streets? Ok no one protested on the
streets but some users were pissed. Do you want your users to be
pissed? Looking back the re-design of Instagram was a success because it
simplified the interface to make room for new features like stories and
bookmarking photos and such. But a night mode is not a re-design.
Instead of moving your design forward, you would give it a split
personality.
Designing
a night mode for an app is no easy task either. You might think that
it’s just as easy as flipping the background and text colours, but
there’s actually a lot to consider. If there are photos in your app, are
they going to look their best in dark mode? On each given page, is the
right content being highlighted when the colours are switched? Do users’
attention still flow the same way they did in the regular mode? How
does the setting page look? Should the setting page also be switched to
dark mode? It would look very weird, wouldn’t it? what about all the
sub-pages of the settings page? how about the keyboard? Do we change it
to the dark keyboard in iOS when in night mode? If you have a black
tab-bar, should it now suddenly be white? because if it stays black then
there would be no contrast, but if you turn it white, there’s a big
bright object at the bottom getting all the attention from the rest of
the screen, and that’s not really what you want.
What
if my users have sensitive eyes and can’t handle bright lights? Or it’s
very hard for them to read balck on white due to dyslexia? Both iOS and
Android have very thorough accessibility features to accomodate the
whole experience for them. Having those settings on an app-by-app basis
would be confusing and inconsistent. There are options to reduce white
points, invert colours without inverting the photos, greyscale, adding a
tint, and options for different kinds of colour blindness built into
the system. So these don’t become an excuse for you to add a night mode
to your app.
OK. So there are many reasons why someone shouldn’t add a night mode to their app. But is there a good time to add a night mode? Yes.
It
all depends on the context — the type of content or service you are
providing your users and the context in which the users use your app.
The main complaint around the lack of night mode is prolonged reading at
night in a dark environment, mostly in bed or while in a car.
If your app is a game, then don’t bother.
If
it’s a productivity app, it’s still a very hard no as changing the
colour of the tools and the layout in an app that users depend heavily
on might confuse them. Unless you know for a fact that your users are
for some reason only using your app in bed with the lights off, then for
their sake do not add a night mode.
If
your app is related to messaging, then it’s be best to optimize for the
Smart Invert feature and let the user control the dark mode from the
accessibility section in settings if they wish.
If
your app focuses on reading, *cough* Medium *cough*, then it’s a good
idea to provide options for your users to adjust the reading environment
to their comfort. A great example of this is the Reader mode in Safari.
Reader mode in Safari allows you to change a few settings to find the most comfortable one for you.
If
your app is related to driving, like Google Maps or Podcasts, and might
stay open while a user is behind the wheel, it’s a good idea to add
automatic night mode so that it won’t distract the users while they’re
behind the wheel (can’t wait for self-driving cars).
I’ve
seen a lot of confusion and frustration from users and designers
surrounding night mode and if it should be a system-wide feature or not.
I hope this article made it a bit clearer if you should or shouldn’t
add a night mode to your app. Happy designing! ❤️
Want
to start 2018 off as a developer? Well check out DevFreeBooks! Here you
will find over 150 books, the best part about it is, the books are
FREE! You can check them out here.
Feather
is a large collection of open source icons that look stunning! Each
icon is designed on a 24x24 grid with an emphasis on simplicity,
consistency and readability. Great if you need some icons in one of your
projects!
Are
you designing an iOS, Android, or React Native app? If so, check out
Lottie!Lottie is an iOS, Android, and React Native library that renders
After Effects animations in real time, allowing apps to use animations
as easily as they use static images.
Were
you ever currious and wanted to know what powers a website? Well
WhatRuns will be useful for you! WhatRuns is a free research and
competitive intelligence tool for developers, designers and salespeople
to know the technologies used on any website.
Kite
is a heads up display (HUD) for programmers that surfaces proven
engineering knowledge in a live internet connected environment helping
developers write better code, faster. Kite is the first tool to offer a
connected way to program; it is integrated with text editors and it uses
type inference to reveal examples as programmers type without having to
leave the screen for a web browser.
Perfect
for developers starting out, Code to go helps developers learning
JavaScript find up to date, accurate and ready to use snippets of
JavaScript code for common use cases.
Over
170 responsive design blocks ready to be used in your web or mobile
apps. All blocks are based on the Bootstrap 4 Library, and they are the
building blocks for beautiful websites.
Happy New Year from the Dvlpr Stash Team ❤
We, at Dvlpr Stash
hope that you find these resources useful, and as a thank you for
everything, we’d like you give you 20% off of everything in our store.
Just use the coupon code ‘DEVELOPER2018’ during checkout. We wish you
guys a very Happy New Year and may 2018 be your best year to date!
Uber
has transformed the world. Indeed, its inconceivable to think of a
world without the convenience of the innovative ride sharing service.
Tracing its origins in a market which is constantly being deregulated,
Uber has emerged triumphant. Operating in over 58 countries and valued
roughly at US$ 66 billion, Uber has rapidly expanded to established
branches in over 581 cities in over 82 countries with the United States,
Brazil, China, Mexico and India being Uber’s most active countries.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, in 2016 the company completed a total of 2 billion rides
in one week. When you consider the fact that the first billion rides
took Uber 6 years, and the second billion was garnered in a mere 6
months, it’s not surprising to see Uber emerge as a global business
leader. This worldwide phenomenon is built on a simple idea, seductive
in its premise - the ability to hail a car with nothing but your
smartphone.
It
took the problem of hailing a taxi and gave everyone an equitable
solution while further capitalizing on the emerging market. And smart
people are asking the right question: How do I build an app like Uber for my business needs?
Humble Beginnings
It
all started in 2008, with the founders of Uber discussing the future of
tech at a conference. By 2010, Uber officially launched in San
Francisco. In 6 months, they had 6,000 users and provided roughly 20,000
rides. What was the key to their success? For one, Uber’s founders
focused on attracting both drivers and riders simultaneously.
San Francisco was the heart of the tech community in the US and was
thus the perfect sounding board for this form of technological
innovation to thrive.
In
the beginning, Uber spread their App through word of mouth, hosting and
sponsoring tech events, and giving participants of their events free
rides with their app. This form of go-to-marketing persists today -
giving 50% discounts to new riders for their first Uber ride. This
initial discount incentivized users to become long term riders, and the
rest was history. As more and more people took to social media to tell
the world about this innovative new App - the sheer brilliance of their
marketing strategy paid off.
Product Technology Cohesion: How Uber Works
What
makes Uber, Uber? For one, it’s the ubiquitous appeal, or the way in
which they streamlined their product, software and technology. It was,
at the start, fresh, innovative, and had never been seen before. So if
one were to replicate the model, they’d need to look at Uber’s branding
strategy.
To use Uber, you have to download the app, which launched first on iPhone, then extended to Android and Blackberry.
Uber’s
co-founders, Garret Camp and Travis Kalanick, relied heavily on 6 key
technologies based on iOS and Android geolocation. What really sold it
though, was its clear core value - the ability to map and track all
available taxis in your given area. All other interactions are based on
this core value - and its what sets Uber (and will set your app) apart from the crowd. To build an App like Uber, you’ll need to have:
1. Registering/Log-in features:
Uber allows you to register with your first name, last name, phone
number and preferred language. Once you’ve signed up, they’ll send you
an SMS to verify your number, which will then allow you to set your
payment preferences. Trip fares are charged after every ride through
this cashless system.
2. Booking features:
This allows drivers the option to accept or deny incoming ride requests
and get information on the current location and destination of the
customer.
3. The ability to Identify a Device’s location: Uber, via CoreLocation framework
(for iOS platforms) obtains the geographic location and orientation of a
device to schedule location and delivery. Understanding iOS and Android
geolocation features is crucial for this step, because that’s what your
App is running on.
4. Point to Point Directions: The Uber App provides directions to both the driver and the user. Developers of the Uber App use MapKit for iOS and Google Maps Android API
for Android to calculate the route and make directions available. They
further implemented Google Maps for iPhone and Android, but cleverly
adapted technology from other mapping companies to solve any logistical
issues that might come up.
5. Push Notifications and SMS: You get up to 3 notifications instantly from Uber when you book a ride.
A notification telling you when the driver accepts your request
One when the driver is close to your location
One in the off chance your ride has been cancelled
You
further get the full update on your driver’s status, down to the
vehicle make and license number, and an ETA on the taxi’s time of
arrival.
6. Price Calculator: Uber
offers a cashless payment system, paying drivers automatically after
every ride, processed through the user’s credit card. Uber takes 25% of
the driver’s fare, making for easy profit. They paired with Braintree, a
world leader in the mobile payment industry, but other good options
avaible are Stripe, or Paypal, via Card.io.
Here are few more much sought after features for the user’s side of the App:
The ability to see the driver’s profile and status:
Your customers will feel safer being able to see your driver’s
verification, and it’s makes good security sense to ensure you know
who’s using your App for profit.
The ability to receive alerts: Receive immediate notifications about the status of your ride and any cancellations.
The ability to see the route from Their Phones (An In built Navigation system): This
is intrinsically linked to your geolocation features, you want to be
able to direct your taxis to the quickest, most available routes.
Price calculation: Calculating a price on demand and implementing a cashless payment system.
A “spilt fare” option: Uber introduced this option wit great success. It allows friends to spilt the price of the ride.
Requesting previous drivers: It’s a little like having your favourite taxi man on speed dial, and is a good way of ensuring repeat customers.
Waitlist instead of surge pricing: Avoid
the media hassle of employing surge pricing by employing a wait list
feature, so your users can be added to a waiting list rather than be
charged more than they should, and to keep them from refreshing the App
during peak hours, reducing the resources required by your backend
infrastructure.
Another
key to Uber’s success, that should be noted by potential developers of
similar Apps, is the way in which Uber operates. They tap into more than
one market which equates to more riders, more drivers, and more
business for the company. Uber has mastered the art of localization -
the ability to beat out pre-existing markets and competitors, which
further retains their customer base by improving their own business
strategy.
They’ve
taken local context and circumstances into consideration. For example,
they partnered with Paypal in November 2013 to provide as many people in
Germany don’t use credit cards, and switched to services based on SMS
messages in Asia as there are more people but fewer smart phones per
capita. This helps them cater to various markets and and optimize
profits.
The Uber marketing strategy isn’t static - it’s dynamic. Expansion
was necessary, and the business model reaps profits from saturating the
taxi market with their customers and drivers, driving their exponential
growth. What aspiring App developers can take from this is that you
need to design your App for flexibility.
Design
your App in a way that’s going to let it take a hit and roll with
punches. Having a system in place that allows you to build and integrate
changes effectively within the App and allows team members to
communicate effectively is of paramount importance.
What
made Uber so successful was its ability to reshape how we think about
technology and its operation. Indeed it made the market a better, more
efficient place through the innovative on-demand service.
What Technology is Uber Built on?
The
tech side of the App is written largely in JavaScript which is also
used to calculate supply and predict demand. With the real time dispatch
systems being built on Node.js and Redis. Java, as well as Objective-C
is used for the iPhone and Android apps. Twilio is the force behind Uber’s text messages, and push notifications are implemented through Apple Push Notifications Service on the iOS platform and Google Cloud Messaging (GCM) for the Android App.
How much does Uber make?
Actually,
it’s a lot less than you think. The $66 billion valuation, after the
25% commission (which rounds out to about $0.19 per ride) mostly goes
towards credit card processing, interest, tax, compensation for
employees, customer support, marketing, and various anti-fraud efforts.
How much does it take to build Uber?
Uber’s
not just one App, it’s two - one for the rider and one for the driver.
The cost of developing an App like Uber is dependent on a number of
factors
the cost of building an MVP
product development and acquisition
getting the economics of marketing sorted
the constant cost of building on and improving your App’s analytic capabilities
When
you make an App like Uber, you’ll invest a fair bit into design
services, backend and web development, project management, not to
mention Android and iOS native app development. The total man hours
round out to around 5000 hours for similar on demand taxi Apps, which
puts the cost of developing such an App to around $50,000 (assuming that
your team works for $50 dollars an hour). However, since hourly rates
roughly range from $20 to $150, median costs could be higher or lower.
Conclusion
To
wrap up, Ubers success was due to several factors, including a clear
business model and interaction based features, and not the other way
around combined with a marketing strategy focusing on attracting users.
The
question on everyone’s mind of course is how can you reduce the overall
risk of failure by making sure that your idea and product are viable
when you’re developing an App?
One way is to use a Mobile App development partner (such as Octodev)
that has worked on many such Apps and understands the processes
involved. An advance of using such a partner is they’ve worked on many
such App development projects and have the practical experience in
product development to avoid the pitfalls and make the most of your
vision.
Octodev App Development Process
Another
important part of ensuring that your App development project is swiftly
and smoothly executed is having a clear road map and regular
communication during the project. There are many approaches to achieve
this and we, at Octodev, use a consultative approach to App development.
We draw from our successful App implementations. Get in touch with us now if you want an accurate cost for your own Uber like App idea.
This article was originally published on the Octodev Blog.
Hardik Gandhi is Master of Computer science,blogger,developer,SEO provider,Motivator and writes a Gujarati and Programming books and Advicer of career and all type of guidance.
