Carol Robertjoan

2018 is the Year of VR Apps: Here’s Why

From being a promising technology not less than 3 years ago to technology that is already reshaping several industries, Virtual Reality has come a long way. Today, extensive research backed by millions of dollars of funding is being poured into virtual reality on the hopes of unearthing many more applications for this coveted technology. However, not all of it is mere research. There are already several VR applications thanks to Virtual Reality-ready smartphones and apps.

Let’s take a look at some of the best Virtual Reality apps that can give us a perspective as to what is in store for the year 2018:

Spotlight stories

Spotlight stories by Google is an app that is working on a new medium of storytelling. It uses the VR format to tell immersive stories to users. An app that was launched in the middle of 2017, it has already been installed by 500,000 users.

YouTube VR

YouTube VR is an application developed by Google which brings the popular app YouTube to the VR format. The text-based searching has been replaced with voice searching and is also now used to display all videos in a VR or a 360° format.

Google Arts and Culture VR

This virtual reality application curates famous works of art from all over the globe and creates the environs of a museum inside the VR realm. It provides users with a realistic experience of famous monuments and galleries with an audio-based guided tour.

Star Chart VR

Star Chart VR is a VR-powered planetarium that creates the experience of a planetarium inside the VR world. It targets students and science lovers across the globe and helps them learn about the various constellations and their location in the night sky without having to labor through complicated star maps.

Build a VR application that offers niche applications and disrupts the industry. Partner with expert VR app developers such as Openwave and build powerful apps for your business needs. Reach out to their business team today!

What OS should you consider for app development in 2018? Android or iOS?

It’s 2018 and the world is now moving into yet another year where smartphones rule the market as the leading branding and eCommerce tools. But the industry faces a deep schism with the user base divided into devout Android users and iOS users. Both these operating systems have a sizable user base that runs into millions. With this being the case, which platform should you opt for business app development?

Paying attention to the following parameters can help you make you an informed decision:

1. Market Share

Being budget-friendly, Android devices are opted by most users in emerging markets. That’s why, when it comes to market share, Android rules the roost with whopping 86.1% devices! Due to the enormous availability of devices, Android sees 7 times more downloads than iOS. This directly translates into great reach for your business application.

2. User base Demography

While Android enjoys a larger user base with a highly diverse demographic, iOS users are generally Apple loyalists who purchase not just the iPhone but also other associated offerings. This boosts the customer retention in iOS compared to Android and also allows developers to venture into more verticals.

3. Revenue

Here, iOS clearly enjoys an edge over Android. Its user base is premium that boasts of higher income and well-educated audiences that are more mindful of the security and stability offered by the app. These users are capable of purchasing the app at a premium and are not price sensitive. This makes iOS highly suited for enterprise and business applications that are subscription-driven, which in turn translates into better revenue.

4. Development Cost and Complexity

Hands down, Android is the winner in this criteria. Its developer license is highly affordable and the cost of hosting an app on the Google Play Store is equally simple. This increases the accessibility of app development to the global developer community. This is unlike Apple which places strict guidelines and charges a high premium for iOS app development and hosting.

Both the platforms are well poised and choosing between them should be based on a thorough evaluation of your requirements and expectations from the business app. The best way to solve this conundrum is to hire an expert in mobile app development team and get the best inputs. Get in touch with Openwave, a globally renowned player in both iOS and Android app development to learn more.

5 Tips to Get your Apps Ready for Christmas

The Christmas week is the most important holiday of the year as it coincides with a week-long vacation until New Year’s Eve. From shopping to vacation, consumers engage in a great spending frenzy in the Christmas week. How can this be used to the advantage of your business? Studies show that mCommerce has overtaken eCommerce in terms of the sales volume and is poised to show great trends in the coming months. With this being the case, redirecting your efforts towards app-based sales can be a great way of boosting revenue.

The following tips can help you boost app sales during the holiday season

1. Holiday-themed designs

The joy of the holiday season needs to be embedded into the website through imagery and relevant designs. A good way to go about this is to incorporate elements such as Christmas hats and Christmas trees into the logo or other relevant places on the websites. A reddish hue to the website can also bring out the holiday mood in the theme of the website!

2. Festive Features

Strategic action items such as buttons and drop down boxes can be redesigned to match the holiday code. Giving a spin to these features can make them interesting to customers and increase the engagement. This goes a long way in boosting conversions.

3. Capturing customer base through contests

Holiday-themed contests and competitions that are promoted through apps can drive app installs ahead of Christmas. The application can also be used to drive engagement on your social media page! User-generated content such as tags, comments, and reviews boost visibility on social media.

4. Push Notifications

Push Notifications are the best marketing tools at your disposal. Using them judiciously to target customers can see great returns as they can be sent free of cost and do not work on “Pay-per-click” mechanisms. This offers an endless opportunity for you to notify your customers of exciting deals and discounts.

5. Coupons and Offers to sweeten the deal

This is the final nail in the deal. Thanks to data capture, it is easy to learn about individual users and segregate them on the basis of their preferences. You can now use the same to personalize deals and discounts and roll them out to customers who show a higher chance of conversion. This can optimize marketing spends and enhance returns!

Looking for a stellar team to execute your app revamp? Get in touch with Openwave, a leading mobile app development company in New York. Our team of app developers can help you develop a mobile app that is well-adapted to aid your holiday sales.

10 Businesses that will be the Next Focus of On-Demand Mobile Apps

In the era of the Uber and the AirBnB, On-Demand app development is the next big thing. These apps have shown businesses how entire markets can be disrupted by offering services through mobile apps. As smartphones become more popular in the developing world, newer markets will get opened up that improve the scope of app-based services. The following industries and sectors are expected to be transformed immensely in the coming years with on-demand apps taking center stage:

1. Vehicle Repairs

Applications like CarAdvise which help aggregate a network of automobile mechanics whose services can be availed through a mobile app.

2. Car Rentals

Existing players in this segment include Enterprise who make it easy for drivers to rent a car through their smartphones and pay on a pro-rata basis.

3. Logistics and trucking

Apps like Convoy are now gaining traction in the market due to the relative ease they offer to customers for renting trucks.

4. Warehouse management

Using apps to display a layout of a warehouse location, businesses can rent out spaces and commoditize them with efficiency.

5. Packers and Movers

Apps like Dolly are offering packers and movers services through smartphone applications making it easy for users to book services and pay for the same with ease.

6. Interior Designs and Home Decor

Applications like Feather and in Lease are in this space where they offer furniture and other Home Decor solutions to consumers through mobile apps.

7. Travel and Ticketing

Some of the biggest names in this industry include Expedia and MakeMyTrip who are now known for having brought together order in the private bus and flight booking space.

8. Daycare and Babysitting

Apps like Zum and UrbanSitter have made it easy to reach out to a daycare center or professional babysitters and avail their services.

9. Tutorials and Coaching

Leading players in this sector include Khan Academy and Coursera. These applications are now making education and tutors accessible to the next generation.

10. Hyper local Food Delivery

Apps like Uber eats are the leading players in this segment and are transforming food delivery by bringing smartphones into the equation.

If you want to be part of the revolution when it takes center stage, then break a sweat and get into this highly competitive industry. Enlist the services of expert mobile app developers and bring new business models to the app market. We, Openwave, lead the globe in on-demand app development. Our team of developers has partnered with several businesses to build apps such as Taxi aggregators and hyper local food-delivery services. Get in touch with our business team today.

4 Benefits that Mobile Apps Offer to the Education System

Ever since the advent of the internet, its influence on the education system has made gradual strides. From early computer labs in schools to the computer-based classroom lessons, the internet has been a major factor in improving the accessibility to good quality education. In the era of smartphones, almost every student in the western world and in rapidly developing economies either own or have access to smartphones. With this, the role of educational apps is quickly ascending from a learning aid to the primary mode of learning.

Here’s how EdTech apps will transform the education sector

1. Learning on the go

Unlike the traditional model of education where students are usually confined to classrooms or learning centers, learning apps offer a very comfortable mode of education where kids can learn from anywhere they choose to. They can even learn on the commute or from the confines of their bedrooms. This flexibility can help students learn at their leisure.

2. Immersive and Interactive experience

Unlike classroom-based learning where the responsibility of making a lesson interesting falls onto the teacher, mobile apps augment videos and animations to provide an immersive learning experience. This makes it easy for students to visualize and relate to concepts.

3. Round-the-clock availability

Mobile apps can be accessed at any time of the day. With AI-based learning coming to the fray, students can access video lectures and get their queries handled at any time of the day or night making it a highly flexible mode of learning. It is also useful for students who may have missed an important lesson and may want to access it later.

4. Personalized Attention

By conducting assessments and quizzes through the learning app, teachers can get to view individual performances and consolidated performances of each student. This can be later used to identify weak spots in a student’s understanding and personalized lessons or lectures can be imparted through the app medium. This is highly effective for helping out slow learners.

If you are a school or an educational institution that is looking to invest in education app development to improve the value-add for your students; then get in touch with Openwave, a globally acclaimed mobile app development company based out of the US. To know more about our offerings, feel free to call our team of mobile app developers based out of New York.

How to Boost Holiday Sales with Mobile Apps?

The holiday season is the time of the year when brands focus on boosting their revenues. For small businesses that do not boast of a deep pocket, an efficient way of driving holiday sales is by adopting an app-sales strategy that helps them retain customers and see better ROI per customer. The best way to accomplish this is to follow a conservative strategy that is effective at targeting customers individually.

The following methods have shown to bear better results:

1. Set the festive tone

This is the best way to make your apps attractive and in-tune with the festive mood. Also festive icons that are holiday-themed can generate user interest. This is a great way of keeping customers engaged with the apps and boost eCommerce sales for the holiday season.

2. Launch a loyalty rewards program

Close to the holidays, running a festival scheme or offer that adds lucrative credits and purchase points can increase the number of repeat purchases. Also, incentivizing word-of-mouth promotions through shares and referrals can also bring in more installs and sales. This is a great way of protecting the app investment.

3. Deploy proven promotion tactics

Lucky draw coupons and prizes are an economical way of drawing in user interest. By announcing daily winners and awarding them with lucrative gifts can bring in curious users who may be interested in winning a gift for themselves.

4. Announce contests

Social media is a powerful tool for promoting a brand. By running a contest or trivia that resonates with the festive mood, businesses can get more followers on Social Media. This can be translated into app installs by offering coupon codes and rebates on first purchases.

5. Holiday-themed goods

By promoting seasonal products that have a high demand around the festive season; more user installs can be achieved. Products such as Santa Costumes, Toffees, Pumpkins are in high demand around Halloween or Christmas. Start promotions early with a discount on these products, to reel in more customers.

Being the last quarter before the year draws to close, it is important that you adopt such a strategy to clear stocks. If you are worried about the lack of right developers for such a crucial project, get in touch with Openwave, a leading mobile apps development company with a strong team that specializes in helping small firms scale up operations through apps. Partner with us and increase eCommerce sales for the Holiday season.