Top 4 iPhone App Development Tips

Despite the growing number of mobile applications available in the market today, this industry is still young. That means developers and users are still getting a hang of what works and what doesn't. Clearly, there are plenty of things still left to be learnt.

So far, we have come across hundreds of iPhone apps. There are certain patterns that are clearly noticeable in the apps that become an instant hit as compared to those which even fail to get noticed.

What follows below are certain tips which will help any iPhone development enthusiast to design better user interfaces. These are not relevant to which platform you are working for but keeping them in mind will surely help you on the path of monetization.

Keep your app simple. It always wins hearts

Yes, we do know this has been said thousands if not millions of times, but apparently, iPhone app developers need to hear it again. It is a common misconception among developers that the features of an application are directly proportionate to its success. However, only opposite of it is true. The simpler an app is, more will be the interest that mobile community will take into it. Taking a peak into the successful iPhone applications, this becomes absolutely true. Remember - you can always take out a next version that can cover all your extended features and give users time to get used to them with time.

Use brains while developing the app

Allow me to ask you a simple question: if someone launches an iPhone app for the first time, and the users are greeted with a signup screen, why would they want to waste time in launching the internet browser, complete the registration for your services and sign into your app without even knowing what they are going to get in return?

Learn from the masters

Social networking sites are full of developers who have made it big on the designing and developing front. Join these sites not to waste time looking photographs, playing games or commenting on others' statuses but to learn. Linking with people from own community will introduce you to different ways of developing the same application.

Time is definitely short

Yes, we all are living 2000 years ahead of Jesus. The real world is moving very fast. The moment you take to blink your eyes, new product gets launched in that. The mobile industry is moving faster too and people are impatient to anything that takes more than 30 seconds to download. If you are a developer who's working to engrave a client's logo in the users' brain, do it wisely.

For best iPhone apps development, Indigo is here. If you are an app user and either have some tips for the developers or want to have an iPhone app of own, contact Indigo. If you are a developer, let's talk. We'd love to hear your point of view and anything else you have learned.

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The Increasing Demand of Android Development

Developed by Android Inc. and launched by Google, Android is an excellent mobile operating system. It is based on Linux kernel and is written in many software languages frameworks including XML, Java/ Ajax, Flash, C, C++ etc. This allows Android OS (Operating System) to support seamless applications and software's. Undoubtedly, the requirement of android development was ought to be an obvious outcome.

Currently there are over 100,000 applications available in android market (an official online android application store provided by Google). This availability of applications reflects the significant demand of android development. In fact, with the launch of Android OS in the market, software development companies (providing mobile app development) soon understand the potentiality of Android for supporting numerous applications, related to various industries and with various functionalities. Additionally, Android OS is integrated with OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics API (Applications Programming Interface) which allows the android developers to develop rich 3D games as a part of android app development. Excluding the software languages and OpenGL engine Android OS supports and/ or is integrated various other technologies such as Flash Player 10.1, HTML5, Exchange ActiveSync, Motion Sensor, Accelerometer, Multitasking, Google Voice Search, gyroscopes, multi-touch and many more. Even more, it is continuously been updated by Google. Initially released with version 2.0/2.1 Éclair, it was updated to 2.2 Froyo, 2.3/2.4 Gingerbread, 3.4 Honeycomb and with the upcoming version known as "icecream." This shows the constant growth of Android OS in such a short period of time.

For software development companies offering android app development services and even for android app developers, Google has provided a great Android SDK (Software Development Kit), which allows them to develop great apps and games for Android. The Android SDK primarily consists of HTML, XML, C, C++, Java/ Ajax, Flash, and other such languages frameworks. A software development company skilled on these languages will definitely get an add-on advantage. For beginners or personal users, Google has provided a platform called Android app inventor, which allows the non-technical user to develop his/ her own personal apps without any support.

In fact, just like its competitor iPhone, Android also supports numerous apps and provides seamless options for solutions to industries around the world. Solutions such as:

Inventory Management
Accounting Applications
MIS Reporting
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) integrating Apps
CMS (Contact Management System) Apps
Navigational Apps
Games
Office Suites
PDF Reader
Apps integrating Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support
Industry specific apps
And many more...

All are the part of solutions falling under the category of Android development.

More importantly, android development is not just limited to mobile phone technology. Android OS is also available for tablet computer (tab). In fact, support of tab by Android OS extends its capability of supporting even better applications and software's, all on a larger display panel. This feature allows the entrepreneur to optimize and manage their business with better functionality. Taking the figures into consideration Android was the top-selling smart phone OS of the year 2010. The number reflects its increasing demand and popularity in the global mobile market.

To sum it up, blended with the features such as support of numerous applications, games and integration of top-notch technologies, along with the great SDK and support like Android App inventor, the requirement of Android development is constantly increasing in the world.

Rikin is the managing head of Concept Infoway, an offshore software development company providing excellent services in android development.

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The iPhone Vs The Blackberry

Personally, I stand rather loosely on the side of the iPhone, simply because that is what I happen to own. I do not profess to be an expert - I only own my phone on the basis that it was chosen for me by my male relatives who claim that they know best. Nothing new there, really. This is not to say that the iPhone-Blackberry debate is anything to do with male hyper-dominance or their wish to influence their poor clueless female counterparts, however much we might let them think it. So, in an effort to set the record straight, it is worth assessing the benefits and problems of each contender.

Let's start with the obvious. Even my fellow iPhone loyalists must acknowledge some advantages of Blackberries. Email is the crucial element, being much easier to manage on a Blackberry than on its Apple counterpart. Maybe I am technologically incompetent, but I managed to spend the first year of iPhone-toting checking my email through the hopelessly slow Safari, rather than Mail application, because I could not get the latter to function. My smug Blackberry-boasting friends looked on with glee as they refreshed their accounts four times in the time it took for mine to load once. The ease, simplicity and speed of managing multiple email accounts on a Blackberry make it more practical for the business-minded in our midst. That is, after all, what it was designed for.

However, my iPhone is now bleeping incessantly, which I am taking as an indication of its refusal to be so easily defeated. It could, however, merely be a sign of low battery, seeming as I have to charge it about twelve times a day. Nevertheless, it must be defended. Firstly, with its endless array of relatively pointless apps, this phone makes it much easier for its owners to procrastinate, distract themselves, and generally waste their lives. The Bubble Wrap game and iPint come instantly to mind, having provided almost limitless hours of 'competitive sport', be it in the office, the living room, or the pub. Add this to instant access to YouTube, and you have a recipe for successful distraction from any task. Blackberry meanwhile, has Brickbreaker.

In addition to this, the iPhone has other crucial qualities. Amongst its most convenient is its incorporation of an iPod, preserving the valuable handbag or pocket space that would be required to carry both a Blackberry and an iPod, and decreasing the likelihood of forgetting the latter and consequently having to spend an entire train journey listening to an annoying fifteen-year-old harp on about her non-existent love-life. However, such incorporation may have its disadvantages for the accident prone among us, as the loss, theft or breaking of your phone would also mean a simultaneous goodbye to your portable music collection.

Speaking of breaking, it brings me to the iPhone's unfortunate reputation for its poor durability. Whilst many claim that the Blackberry is impervious enough to be run over by a truck, it is commonly acknowledged that a repeatedly dropped iPhone is a recipe for disaster, as the screen is all too prone to shattering. In this case, I consider myself exceptionally lucky, as despite my incredible capacity for clumsiness, my phone has not yet broken. I may be the exception here, so at this point I also call on the traditional 'girl logic' that would make me a terrible feminist. In comparison to the Blackberry, you have to admit, the iPhone is pretty. Or to put it in techno terminology: it has a sleek appearance and an interface with ability to seamlessly shift paradigms.

For all this, the two do share some benefits. A key example is that, in my experience, both models seem apt to dealing with severe threats and other forms of verbal abuse when they malfunction, as both me and my flatmate continuously demonstrate.

So in this epic battle of the smartphones, who will emerge victorious? For practicality, it seems the Blackberry may reign supreme, but this will not stop the rise of the indomitable iPhone, with all its useful (or gloriously time-wasting) apps. It seems that this war is not likely to be a short one, so perhaps the best solution is to swallow our pride, up our pretension, and buy both.

N.B. - My iPhone has just furiously died in protest to this suggestion.

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Must Have Gadgets for 2011

1) Apple iPhone 4g- The iPhone is no longer available exclusively for AT&T customers, but Verizon as well! One of Americas most reliable networks. With the iPhone you can look at any website. You are not limited to slow mobile websites.

Features:

- Video Calling: Allow you to talk to friends and family through video. This can be from your iPhone 4 to another iPhone 4, or to an iPod touch (newest model), or through Wifi. It has two cameras. One is the front which focuses on you and another in the back which focuses on anything else. With a simple tap of a button you can switch between the two cameras.

- Retina Display: This phone uses 4 times the pixel count of previous iPhone models. This makes text and images super sharp.

- HD Video Recording: Allows you to record and edit videos in HD. The phone also has an illumination sensor, and built in LED light, allowing you to take great videos even in low light settings.

- 5 Mega-Pixel Camera with LED light: Allows you to take amazing pictures even in low-light settings.

- Music:You can even listen to you favorite music on you iPhone 4, using iTunes.

If you want a smart phone but not a contract, then don't worry, you do have options.

2) Motorola i1 for Boost Mobile Unlimited: Boost has a plan for only 50 dollars. You get unlimited talk, text and web. Plus for every six months that you make your payment on time, boost will lower it by 5 dollars, until you reach 35 dollars. A great phone and a great plan.

Features:

- Boost Walkie Talkie: Communicate at the touch of a button with other Boost, and Nextel customers nationwide.

- Instant messaging

- Stereo Bluetooth Capable

- Powered by Android

- 5 Mega Pixel Camera: Take pictures, and record videos. Store them on the included 2GB memory card.

- WiFi capable: For faster and optimized web browsing.

But technology isn't just about phones. So let's look at the new apple iPad:

The new Apple iPad is 33% thinner, and 15% lighter than previous models. Internet connectivity is available for Verizon and AT&T customers.

Features:

- Touch Screen

- The new iPad has an incredible battery life of 10 hours.

- Video Calling

- Dual-Core A5 Chip: For faster web browsing and loading.

- Two Cameras: The iPad has two cameras, one in front which focuses on you and one in the back that focuses on everything else.

- The amazing 9.7inch, has a built-in LED light that allows you to view high resolution photos, videos and movies.

- Runs on iOS 4: The most advanced mobile operating system in the world.

These are just a few of your options for the newest and hottest gadgets or 2011.

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Can You Receive a Free iPad 2?

So you have seen all those ads offering a free iPad 2 and you are wondering how is that possible? It has to be a total scam. While a lot of those offers are scams there are quite a few that are not. You just need to know where to look for them.

How or why would a company give out iPads for free? There are two reasons.

1. The company (Apple or independent test lab) wants you to test out the device and give an honest review. They also want you to report any bugs or issues you find so they can fix them. These offers are typically only around during the launch period of a device (First 3-4 months).

You must be willing to provide feedback on a daily basis or they may take back the device. You also can only be a tester for one device at a time so you cannot get an iPhone 4 and iPad 2 at the same time.

2. The marketing company wants you to complete some "offers" from there advertisers in exchange for the device. You typically complete one offer yourself and then refer 10 friends to complete an offer. These sites have been around for a while and are completely legitimate. While you will not get the iPad 2 completely free as in offer 1 you will get it for the cost of completing one advertisers offer. ($10-$40) The best place for this is youripad4free.com. Receiving your iPad is really really simple! All you have to do is select the gift item that you would like to receive. Then you can check out some of the offers on the website. Once you complete the advertiser offers, you will receive an iPad! It's as simple as that. It's like nothing like you've ever seen before! The advertising companies want people to know more about their products, which is why they pay sites to encourage people to complete their offers. The advertisers pay quite a good amount of money to several websites, just to get the word out about their products. When you complete an offer, you basically tell these advertisers that their products are being advertised and promoted properly, which is why the middleman sites get paid. Once these middleman sites get paid, they share their profits with their members, which is how this system works! It's a win-win situation for all 3 parties. This site has shipped out more than $8,000,000 worth of free gifts and has gained the reputation of a lot of people world-wide. The best thing about them is the fact that they won't force you to accept an iPad as a gift. You can choose any of the available options on the website. At first, I was quite doubtful about the website, but then i just signed up, completed an offer referred my friends and got iPad 2 within a week. It's an extremely simple process and there's nothing to think about. All you have to do is complete at least one single offer and refer some of your friends to the website, which you can easily do by updating your status on twitter or Facebook. I am pretty happy with what I've got against the little work I have done and I don't see a reason why anyone else can't profit from this system.

To summarize it is possible to receive either a free or semi-free iPad 2 if you know where to look or how to do it. Make sure you research any sites you give your information to.

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High Speed Internet With Overall Flexibility

Wireless DSL might sound just like a inconsistency in terms. DSL means Digital Subscriber Line, and strictly speaking, describes the copper modem lines that transport an internet through telephone wires to a modem. The idea of this service is not literal, however. If you get wireless DSL for your dwelling or office, you are acquiring the high speed that is usually linked with DSL through a wireless system. There are numerous options for receiving wireless DSL and generating wireless networks within several computers at the same site.

High Speed Internet With Overall Flexibility

The wireless element of this signifies that you and your computer are not grounded to a modem line for you to obtain a high speed internet signal. All you will need is a computer that's set up with a wireless internet receiver and you'll be able to have high speed service anywhere within the wireless signal. A great many homes and businesses decide to purchase a single DSL modem and then network the rest of the computers at this location utilizing wireless DSL routers. The flexibility to move from room to room with a wireless laptop connected to the internet can make it less complicated to conduct business without distractions.

Lower Total Costs

Generally, these services are less pricey than standard wired services. You will save money on the purchase of a phone line and modem to start with. Since many wired DSL services are offered through a monthly subscription, your savings will raise with every single month that you don't need to pay for your land-based phone service. Wireless DSL services are incredibly competitively priced, and the prices are falling as the service becomes more extensively accessible. Acquiring wireless DSL will make it far less expensive to access the internet at the speeds you want.

Access the Internet Everywhere

Numerous cell phone providers offer this service with cards that you can use with a desktop or a laptop to receive wireless internet service wherever you are within the cell phone coverage area. With these internet cards you are truly free to roam wherever you wish and continue to keep a connection to the internet. The speeds that can be offered on wireless cards are equivalent to high speed DSL services, but they allow you to access the internet in spots that don't offer wireless hot spots. You can use a wireless DSL internet card at the river, beach, or local park as well as the home or office. A quick online search will connect you with several businesses that offer wireless DSL packages that are truly inexpensive.

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Think Before You Join That Wireless Network!

You won't always have a choice on which network you are going to connect to but there are some important things you should consider when doing so. When you are connected to either of these networks your traffic isn't protected from prying eyes. WEP, a little more so, but it uses the same key to encrypt the traffic, which allows a listener to be able to decrypt the stream with almost no effort to ready what is being transmitted. So if you want to keep what you are doing private, whether it is changing your Facebook status, or tweeting about the great cup of coffee you are now drinking at a coffee shop, you might want to take a couple extra steps.

Now a little while back there was an add-on released for Firefox web browsers that would allow anyone running Firefox and this add-on to watch the traffic in the air for session data with popular websites. I don't want to give any one any ideas about this so I won't even mention its name. It is still around and has plenty of downloads out there. Not only were they able to see these sessions they could "sidejack" or step in as the user effectively taking over a session as that user including sites again like Facebook Twitter, Flickr and so on. Now to get started; this works best on an open network like a coffee shop or airport where the network is gated by a website providing access once terms are accepted.

So what can you do to keep your awesome status updates your own or those hot tweets about the weather or what-not all yours? One way is to be sure you are using SSL when connection to websites, this is even more important when connection over wireless networks. This encryption prevents data from being read as all transfers between you and the website are encrypted with the help of a digital certificate. So make sure your address bar reads HTTPS rather than HTTP to make sure you're using this method, also look for the padlock icon to verify the site is secure. One of the biggest flaws with this is that the websites don't always use HTTPS for every page usually only encrypting the data during login protecting your password but not you against attacks like the one I mentioned above that only needs to have your session information, which is then returned to you unencrypted in some occasions.

Now how can we do better, the first option is VPN, if you can establish a VPN connection to a trusted location and send all your traffic down that new tunnel then everything you will be doing is secure between you and that endpoint, protecting you completely. There are online servers that provide access to VPN servers in various locations across the globe for this and other purposes. This way is 100% secure to their servers so anyone trying to read your wireless traffic would be unsuccessful. You could even create one to your home network using different programs which I won't go into here.

The next method is to use SSH to encrypt your web traffic by sending all web traffic down an SSH tunnel to a more secure trusted endpoint and from there accessing the internet. This can be done in various operating systems, including Windows Mac and Linux. You can run a small SSH server at home and build a tunnel to it, and then when you are on the road use this to protect your web browsing traffic. Another way and one I have tested myself, which is also sort of fun in a nerdy sort of way is to use an Amazon EC2 cloud server to build the tunnel too, and direct your web browser to use this tunnel for internet traffic through a SOCKS proxy. I used a free micro instance in the cloud and started it up, I have also built and installed other pieces of software on this server but the base install is all you need to protect your traffic for web browsing needs. After you get through the process of logging in creating your key pairs and launching your first instance, just be sure you pick the micro if you want to do this 100% free. You can use your SSH client to create a tunnel through SSH specifying a local port to bind to the tunnel. In this example, 8899, but you can use whatever port number you wish. In your web browser, go to your proxy settings and chose manual settings SOCKS proxy at address localhost and the port number you created the tunnel at. And like magic all your traffic to the web will go through this tunnel to the Amazon cloud before going to the internet. This will protect your internet traffic from any prying eyes, and if you use a site to find your IP you will see that it is changed to the IP of your cloud instance. This has a nice side effect of bypassing some web filtering services also as the traffic would not be coming from the port for HTTP and would be unreadable as it is over a SSH tunnel anyway. If I hear that anyone is interested in a step by step in creating such a proxy I shall make a good write up on how to get it started.

Remember when you are using public networks unless you are protecting your data in some way everything you are doing is well public. If you are not do, not do anything you wouldn't want anybody to see or have access to, including anything involving private data, work data and anything you wouldn't want to be public knowledge. Be safe.

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How iPhone Applications Are Useful For Your Business Growth

Have you heard of the sister of super sonic speed? No, or is this question confusing you? Well if it is, then let's check out the answer before it eats up a big chunk of your thinking compartment. Exponential increase in the mobile technology answers your curiosity. Yes, we are talking about the cell phone technology that has gained a super duper speed with every nanosecond. All the above illustrates that the mobile phones and the technologies used for making these cell phones more effective have become the latest buzz word on the globe. As we learn about all the new applications and features along with the innovative devices, we witness that there is no stopping for these erupting evolutions. The million dollar question is; are you in or out? Are you going to clinch these new technologies and applications or fear them? Are you convinced with this modernization? If your answer is yes for all questions then its time you should know how cell phones and its varied applications can frog leap your business to success.

To know how, read on. Technologies have advanced on such a note that business population and individuals have been showered with the bliss of accessing, controlling and keeping an eye on their businesses wireless and in this regard, iPhones are in the lead. iPhones that embark suitability & luxury, have distinctive features such as desktop class email facility, text and multimedia messaging, computing, video recording, GPS, and many more. Equipped with the apposite iPhone applications, businesses can automate their key business processes and keep up with the latest trends.

There are iPhone applications that are all geared up to be integrated in your iPhone handset. Harnessing the brilliance of technology today iPhone application programming & iPhone application designs facilitate businesses and individuals in preserving their connectivity, execute complicated business processes and stay entertained - all while on the move! Featured applications have altered the manner a mobile device can maneuver giving it a massive scope of providing all those features which can make it an absolute device when it comes to effort and leisure together.

Progressing towards the 2011, iPhone is the most dominating compel in the business market with superb path breaking applications inflowing the market. iPhone can immensely facilitate businesses, mature. This is so because the demographics of online trade have been altered with online market's fast forward significance. Also iPhone apps development has given an absolute new set of opportunities to the users.

There is rationale behind how iPhone apps development can make a big difference:

Trouble-free Access:

iPhone endows with effortless accessibility to information speedily over the internet. This potential is well deciphered by all the business populace and the paybacks of iPhone applications and how they can bring into play the enhancement of the business processes is also well established. Employee efficiency and answer ability, stamping out replicas, speeding up information flow, and selling products etc are a few instantaneous benefits to an organization.

Market Augmentation:

The market for iPhone Application Development has expanded at a vigorous rate as people are now opening up to comprehend the value proposition it provides.

Richer Applications:

Boundless escalation potential, access to 3rd party applications and the fundamental interface are the key grounds why iPhone Applications win over other analogous mobile phones. This has permitted businesses to build up interactive and rich applications; customers can have the equivalent level of functionality as they would do when they log on to a customary websites.

As the Creative Head of A3Logics Author is responsible for evangelizing the benefits of eminent content to emerging software development companies. With over 6 years of experience managing global campaigns for enterprise application development companies large & small, Author now shares her lead generation & content writing insights with the small businesses community, helping them improve the content standard & promote their business online as cost effectively as possible.

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