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HiTech
6 minutes read

Lessons Learned from Existing Hi-Tech Apps

By Jonathan Tarud
By Jonathan Tarud
HiTech
6 minutes read

As we collectively move into the next decade, so too does the world of mobile hi-tech apps. The app market is both rapidly expanding and becoming even more competitive, so ideation, app development, and updated and innovative features become increasingly important. Features that were groundbreaking just a few years ago have in many cases become standard, and brand new features may very well be the next must-have in your app’s niche. Let’s take a look at some of these successful apps, and determine what we can learn from them. 

Payment Options for Apps

In the digital landscape, there’s no greater friction point than payment methods and portals. Clunky or seemingly unsecure payment methods can lead to shopping cart abandonment, lack of conversions, and ultimately the dreaded uninstall. One need look no further than the undisputed online retail giant Amazon to see how seamless and user-friendly a payment portal can be. It securely saves credit card and shipping information, gives you easy to understand options and complementary purchase suggestions, and reassures the buyer with confirmation emails and shipping updates. Any or all of these steps are a good practice with a regular retail site or app.

Another way to look at the payment issue is to identify existing apps that may be made more convenient and user-friendly if a payment method is made available where one wasn’t previously. Popular apps like the local coupon site Groupon or food delivery app Grubhub have integrated payment options to make paying for services or products frictionless. Again, any payment portal needs to be top-of-the-line secure and encrypted in order for users to feel comfortable using it.

Apps With Offline Accessibility

This subject may be the least considered in today’s hi-tech app world, but it’s worth exploring. For certain situational apps, the capability to operate in an area of low or no online availability is valuable indeed. For people that count on apps for information or entertainment in these areas, these following apps stand out in their field.

The navigational app Maps.me has a leg up on other similar apps for this reason. Imagine being in a city or country, foreign or domestic, that may not have available WiFi or Internet connectivity. This app allows you to download detailed maps, complete with popular tourist attractions and routes, hotels, and restaurants, and navigate freely afterward in the future without being online. Similarly, the Accuweather app lets you download several 15-day forecasts for various areas and access them throughout travels. Another app, Pocket, allows you to curate articles, videos, and other content to be consumed when and where you want. Business travelers, for example, can view whatever they previously downloaded from airplanes or other remote locations.

This is a hot topic for mobile Hi-Tech apps, and the ability to browse, shop, or otherwise navigate these apps offline should be a consideration for anyone developing future apps.

 App Security

Cybercrime and identity theft are at all-time highs, and criminal tactics are becoming ever more sophisticated and effective. In-app security is crucial and essential, especially with financial apps as it’s discussed here. However, stand-alone apps that help you keep your device and information safe are quickly emerging as must-have components of your digital landscape.

One such app, Dashlane, actually markets itself as a convenient shortcut while navigating the Internet, which it accomplishes by auto-filling forms and saving passwords. But make no mistake, this is a strong security measure for the user. It generates strong passwords and remembers them, a step which most experts say is the most important to protect your sensitive data. It also gives you the ability to keep certain sensitive documents encrypted, offers an identity dashboard to keep you up to date on potential leaks or breaches, and grants access to your personal contacts without revealing your password. It can even be accessed by your phone’s TouchID, another powerful authenticator for security purposes.

People on the go need to be able to access the Internet whenever they need it, be it at an airport or a coffee shop. Unfortunately, joining these public networks leaves you wide open to breaches and hacks, potentially endangering both your data and your company’s secure information. Your best bet is to use a virtual private network (VPN) anytime you log on to such a connection. NordVPN is an app that lets you work and surf on your own encrypted and secure network, wherever you are. This app can protect up to 6 devices on one account, while protecting your IP address, shielding your browsing history, and blocking annoying pop-up ads.

Other aspects of security apps involve parental control on home networks, closing access to sites that used social media to enter, and secure and private messaging within your chosen circle. It’s an overarching concern for both work and personal users, so it’s a niche primed for growth and innovation.

Productivity Apps

We all live busy lives between work and home duties, and anything that can help us organize and be more productive is a welcome addition. The advent of virtual assistants, chatbots, and artificial intelligence have made this space a particularly popular one, as pointed out here. Point is, solid productivity or organizational app is very valuable to these users.

One such app, todoist, is particularly powerful and effective. Beyond organizing home and work tasks in a UX/UI friendly way, this app takes a more human and esoteric approach to the process of listing and accomplishing tasks, and this should be particularly noteworthy. It lists multiple tasks, both work and personal, lets you prioritize the importance of those tasks, delegate some to others that might help, and even gives you “karma” points to reward you for knocking some of these tasks off your list.

Most users agree that engaging with them in a human and understanding way is an increasingly effective way to engage the user. This, along with easily contactable and accessible customer support from real people, has been shown to reassure and keep users engaged and happy with the app.

Do you have an app idea that you would like to explore? Reach out to us today for a free consultation!

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