iOS 7 Top Features

iOS 7 Top Features to Know For App Creators

Apple released the iOS 7 beta for developers in the second week of June. And termed it as "the biggest change to iOS since the iPhone", which demonstrated tech giant’s thirst to beat the competition for acquiring new fan following all over the world. 

On their website, Apple unveiled the iOS 7 something like this:

“Reimagine your apps on iOS 7. Download the SDK today and take advantage of the new multitasking APIs, dynamic motion controls in UIKit, AirDrop, Sprite Kit, enhanced video APIs, new features in Game Center and Map Kit, and so much more.”

We have compiled a list of top features of the new OS for developers and designers; after all, they need to start working on their skills to create beautiful and dynamic apps to keep the users hooked up with their creations.

1. New Design: There is quite a bit of information about the radical new flat design by apple. But the thing of great value to developers is that all the change is with the same API's that was used in the earlier version. Which means it would take the same amount of effort to create an iOS 7 app as it would to create an iOS 6 app.

2. UIKit Dynamics: Apple always values tiny details in providing realistic feel to all views in every app. Now this gets even easier with their dynamics physics API. It would have taken considerable effort to add gravity, collision and other physics functionalities in apps. But with this new set of API's it will be significantly easier to add the features. In the simple language, it will be easy to build apps with images which collide with each other; controls which bounce and slide; stacks of to do lists which fall with gravity, and all that within a few hours of development

3. Javascript Bridge: The web apps and hybrid html apps are becoming very prominent. The new API set will help in creating such apps by bridging the javascript with objective-c. It will be easier to evaluate and parse JavaScript objects in objective-c, making it easy to develop hybrid apps and components.

4. Core Motion / CI Detectors: In iOS 7 there are API's to detect the mode of transport i.e. if the users are commuting in a car, bus or using their bicycle or even covering the distance on foot.

There are API's which can be used to detect human sensations and movements, for instance, the API can detect if user bobbed his head, shook his head to left or right. It can even detect an eye blink and smile. With this API, developers can create a wealth of interesting apps.

5. Text Additions / Attributed String: Rich text / attributed string with bold, italics and color in text were always available in Mac. But iOS limited itself to plain text of single color. With increasing attributed string support now it’s easier than ever to have bold and colored text for words within a sentence.

6. Notifications & Multitasking: One major drawback of iOS was that it did not allow the app to run in the background to do any additional processing. With iOS 7, now we can schedule the app to run or send a push notification from server so that it can update the information from server.

For instance, if a flight got delayed and the user have all the flight information stored, then, as soon as the app is opened at the airport the app will display that it has been delayed without keeping the user to wait till the information is fetched from the server.

7. Sprite Kit: Cocos 2D is a great library to create 2D games, but the library development were stalled for some time and sprite kit is the new solution from the tech giant, Apple. This is a great new framework to allow developers to create a great app without worrying too much over OpenGL and keeping the development time of an app to the minimum.

8. AirDrop: This is a new feature from Apple in iOS7 which allow users to share photos and files to a different device nearby. New apps can register to allow sharing their content through airdrop so that it facilitates the transfer of custom content. For instance, a spreadsheet in one device is sent to the other through this.

9. Peer to Peer Connectivity: With this API, multiple devices nearby can connect and talk to each other without the need of a server. You can Meet a random stranger in a coffee shop and start chatting or, have a group chat session in a conference. Many practical rich set of applications can be created from this set of API. 

All in all, there are a slew of amazing features added in iOS7 to revolutionize the creation of unique and interesting apps.

For more information on iPhone app developers and marketing strategy send in your email to marketing@ymedialabs.com

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Building Brands with Mobile Apps

5 Reasons How Creating an App Helps Create Your Brand

Businesses are going mobile.  That’s right, but, the challenge is not just creating your mobile presence by creating mobile sites or mobile apps. The real challenge lies in building a brand with the help of a mobile app.

Why mobile apps?

Creating mobile apps is not a fad, its customer service. Many SMBs that use mobile marketing are experiencing incredible rise in the sales. We have published a post on the same here.

With a rapidly growing mobile population worldwide, businesses cannot turn a blind eye to mobile apps. Especially in an end-consumer market, the return on investment from mobile apps is high as businesses can create more value, reach a huge number of mobile users, engage with the potential customers with a more personalized approach, and ask for their feedback.

Mobile apps have changed the way businesses interact with their prospective customers. They provide a rich platform for marketers, too, to position their products and services in a way so that they can reach and engage customers to be ahead of their competitors.

How mobile apps help in creating your brand?

Businesses who have a thorough understanding of their audience know how they can use apps to create something that is both useful and valuable. For instance, Starbucks' mobile app lets the users make transactions directly with a tap on their smartphones, helping to drive sales. Mobile apps are a wonderful opportunity for the businesses to create a brand name. How?

Here is the key to this question:

1. Awareness – Number of mobile devices and their users is exploding. IDC, a research firm, predicts that in 2013, the total number of smartphones shipped worldwide is expected to reach 958 million units as compared to just 722 million units in 2012, i.e. 32.7% rise as compared to the last year. The research firm also predicts that the tablet devices shipments will reach 229.3 million worldwide, vs. 144.5 million last year, i.e. 58.7% rise in 2013.[Fig. 1]

Fig. 1

With the continuous rise in the use of mobile devices, businesses have widespread reach across the world. They have tremendous opportunities to reach their customers and make them aware of their products and services. All the mobile apps are published either on the Google Play or the Apple App Store where anyone in the world can download your app. For instance, an app can aware a mobile user who is located in South Africa about your product and services and let them reach you if they are interesting in buying your product.

Location based apps are the best way to make your presence felt in the app world, as a study conducted by the GlobalWebIndex found that Google Maps was the No. 1 most downloaded app on tablets and smartphones in the first quarter of 2013, with 54 of users downloading the location app. Facebook ranked No. 2, followed by YouTube [Fig. 2]. Mobile marketers can also use social media sites to publish information or to post images of the products to make their customers aware of their brands.

Fig. 2

2. Engagement – With more than 1.5 billion users worldwide, according to Mary Meeker’s latest Internet Trends report, you have a fair chance to reap the benefits that are now possible through the most personal connection available with your target consumers – the app.

It’s an app world. And to enter in your potential customers’ personal space, you just need to create a smart mobile app that targets their needs and keep them engaged with the app. You can analyze the engagement factor by tracking the following things:

- User behavior, i.e. how much time, users are spending with your app, how many times they re-launch its version updates. For instance, in case, of content apps, such as, news apps, you might track article views and shares.

- How much revenue is being generated from the app, if you have an ecommerce app?

- How users are interacting with the app, i.e. are they using it as a source to compare prices (in case of e-commerce site); are they frequently using it to connect to their friends and family (in case of chat apps); how much time they are spending in playing 9in case of games apps), for how long they are staying on a particular screen etc.

- User retention, for how long they keep the app in their mobile device, i.e. daily, weekly or monthly retention

The higher the users are engage with the app, the better are your chances to establish your product or company as a brand among masses.

3. Increase value – Mobile apps increase the value of your brand by increasing number of loyal users over a period of time. For instance, Nom Nom Paleo, a Paleo food blog, created an app for their users to share Paleolithic diet recipes along with attractive photographs. The cooking app is loaded with a number of exciting features, such as, email-friendly grocery list to makes food shopping a breeze; Over 1,800 stunning, high-resolution photos showing every step of the cooking process; a Whole-friendly 30-day meal plan with links to recipes etc.

With its informative and exciting content, the app garnered five-star customer rating on the iOS app-store

4. Viral marketing – Mobile apps such as, Instagram and Pinterest, make your brand go viral. With 100 million users, Instagram gives you a fair chance to exhibit your products to a huge number of audiences, who are continuously active from their mobile devices. Figure shows the engagement rate is quite high on Instagram as compared to Pinterest.

5. Increase in sales / services – Successful mobile apps help increase in number of sales of your products or services. For instance, L’oreal, an international cosmetic brand, launched two mobile apps for various purposes, such as, the purpose of INOA, one of the two apps, is to drive visitors to their stores. The app uses augmented reality to help the users find nearby stores. [Fig. 3]

Fig. 3

The Color Genius, other L’oreal app, helped their clients in making a decision. The app basically let users take a snapshot of their outfit, select the look (day or night) and then it presents 3 options combining the nail varnish, lip stick and eye shadow shades, depending on the mood of the user (MATCH IT, BLEND IT or CLASH IT). The users can also share it on Facebook and look for feedback from their friends.[Fig. 4]

Fig. 4

For more information on iPhone app developers and marketing strategy send in your email to marketing@ymedialabs.com

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Why You Need Mobile Apps?

Five Reasons Why You Should Create an App

Before finding the reasons on, why do you need to create a mobile app, answer the following questions:

• Do you use mobile devices to shop online?
• Do you use your mobile devices to connect to your friends and relatives on social media sites?
• Do you use your mobile devices to check your business mails or reading news while commuting or traveling?
• Do your kids enjoy learning new things by playing games on your mobile devices?
• Do you or your spouse use mobile apps for searching new recipes or latest fashion trends online?
• Do you take your mobile along with you while going to gym or park to listen to your favorite music track?
• Last but not the least, do you use your mobile devices to connect to your friends and relatives on social media sites?

If the answer to all the questions is yes, and I bet it’s a yes, then you probably are aware of the importance of mobile devices in the present age living.

How fast is mobile internet growing? 

Mobile devices are monopolizing the user experience in the digital world. Mobile devices together with internet, is growing rapidly. Anybody can

travel to any destination; read literature of any of any country or connect to their friends and relatives with the help of a mobile internet.

According to Cisco, “In five years, planet earth will be home to 7.6 billion people, says the United Nations. And those folks will be using 10.3 billion Internet-connected mobile devices.”

In other words, there will be more mobile devices in the world than people, reveal Cisco in its annual report on the growth of the mobile Internet.[Reference: Fig 1& 2]

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Reasons to create Mobile Apps

1. Reach: The reason behind this massive growth in the mobile devices is connectivity, i.e. the freedom to access the information at anytime and anywhere. Given the rapid rise of smartphones and tablet devices, apps have become an integral part of users’ lives. A recent report from ABI, a research firm, estimates the total number of mobile app downloads to reach 70 billion by the end of 2013.

As mentioned earlier that there are a lot more smartphones out there than tablets, out of the total of 70 billion apps, it is estimated that the vast majority of apps will be installed on smartphones (56 billion – 80%), while the remainder (14 billion – 20%) will be installed on tablets.

Experts from ABI Research predict that, 58% of all apps will be downloaded on Android devices, 33% will be downloaded on Apple’s iOS, while Windows Phone and BlackBerry will account for just 7% collectively.

2. Customers shop with their mobile devices: Going deep in further details, mobile users are using shopping apps rapidly, i.e. 247%, after social

networking apps and media and entertainment. The research from Flurry.com shows that consumers are using retailer-specific apps, up to 27% vs. 15% in 2011, but they also are accessing third-party apps, such as online marketplaces (20%). Figure 3 & 4 illustrates the significant growth in the mobile apps industry, as well as the different types of shopping apps used by consumers.

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

3. Quick results with mobile apps: Mobile customers use social networking sites, such as, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter to search new products and for various other activities, such as, to compare the prices, to find daily deals etc. [Figure: 4]

Recent trends reveal that small businesses are using mobile technology than ever to save time and increase productivity. 78% of business owners believe mobile apps save their time. They can connect to their customers immediately and pass on the news of new arrivals or information of any sale they are planning to organize.

Mobile apps are a good way to update your customers about special events, specials of the week/day, display product pictures etc. Push notifications break the barrier between you and your customers and update them instantly.

4. PR Tool: Mobile apps offer a brilliant opportunity to be in contact with the online media and let them know about your company and brand. It doesn't matter, whether you are a start-up or well established brand – media loves to talk about mobile apps and this is your chance to capitalize on that trend.

5. Access to information/notification: The significant growth in the mobile apps industry clearly shows that mobile devices are here to rule the digital world. People are spending more time on mobile apps (94 minutes/day) than desktop and mobile web (72 minutes/day) (Source: Brightcove). And this anywhere, anytime access offered by mobile devices is transforming consumer behavior as more and more people turn to their smartphones and tablets as their primary means of going online. And mobile apps are a simple and fast way to reach this ever growing number of mobile users.

So, when are you planning to get an app developed for your business?

For more information on iPhone app developers and marketing strategy send in your email to marketing@ymedialabs.com

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