In the first Industry Insight, I discussed building a mobile app that gets noticed.
When building a mobile app, the choice of which devices and platforms the development will support isn't easy. Data can sometimes help bring clarity, but information about the number of devices sold per platform in South Africa is still fairly difficult to access. Developers often find themselves guessing which platform a target market is using, often having to make the tough decision not to support all platforms because of the cost.
In addition to being unable to control the operating system (OS) customers will be using on their devices, the speed at which systems change can be quicker than the initial development plan, so developers must be able to react to changes quickly.
Development for every single OS can be costly, requiring more development and testing. To determine the best option for the product, there are two helpful questions:
1. Which OS best suits the app?
2. What OS does the majority of the target market use?
If these questions can be answered with a definite answer, then the developer may know which platform is best. If there are multiple OSes to build for, then perhaps a staggered approach should be employed, allowing for the focus to rest on one OS at a time.
No-brainers
Apple and Android operating systems are a must in SA, as these brands dominate the market, but there is also steady progress being made by Windows-based devices, mostly from Nokia. The jury is still out on the viability of building BlackBerry apps, as they have large numbers of previous generation smartphone users, but their figures are dwindling.
In addition to choosing which operating systems to support, developers must choose an app development platform that is aligned to their overall strategy.
The best approach here is to fully commit to a platform that suits the developed, and not to bend to popularity or precedent. The platform chosen must also be agile so that it can be adapted when industry changes are made.
Often, this becomes a financial consideration, and teams must know what the available budgets for software and development are.
Developers often prefer to build in native development languages like objective C, Swift, Java and C++. These use the device's system to send out commands, but can be quite a lengthy and costly process to accommodate, especially when there are readymade easy to apply platforms available.
The jury is still out on the viability of building BlackBerry apps.
When going the HTML 5 route, use Phone Gap to roll-out across multiple mobile platforms. This option enables developers to get apps ready without the headache of maintaining software development kits in the cloud. The technology also allows the app to be wrapped and deployed to multiple mobile platforms. It also works with native applications built in HTML, JavaScript and CSS. This is allows for the freedom to remain independent from proprietary vendor platforms, and everything is hosted in the cloud.
In terms of other development platforms, front-end interface navigation; functionality add-ons such as information graphs; reporting metrics compatibility; as well as platform compatibility with leading operating systems have made HTML5 platforms such as Sencha and Kendo good platform options.
Data costs
In most emerging markets, particularly in SA, data costs are still extremely high for many smart device users. But there is hope. SA's regulatory body for the ICT sector, ICASA, is taking action by fighting to reduce network interconnectivity costs in 2014.
Although this should have a positive impact on data usage, there are few indications of how long it will take for the effect to come into play, particularly as service providers have been historically unwilling to reduce their profit margins.
All this means that, at the moment, the cost to consumers for interacting with mobile apps has become a key consideration in the app development process.
The higher the data usage, the less usage frequency the app has from customers. Heavy data usage is the quickest way to turn a valuable digital asset into a white elephant.
Free WiFi initiatives for students and poorer communities mean, hopefully, this barrier to entry won't remain a problem forever, but it does remain a consideration in the meantime.
All three factors: software, development platform choices and data costs are key considerations for ensuring that once an app is launched, it will have sustainable popularity and usefulness for the target market.
In part three, I will deal with third-party obstacles:
* App store compliance
* Security and control concerns
* Moving up the IT department's priority list
* Compatibility with long-running IT systems
* Inability to forecast and calculate impact
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