January 2020

John wanted to watch a tennis match in the afternoon, but his boss wouldn’t allow him to take a half day. Susan wanted to watch her favorite boxing champion but the match was taking place on another continent. Sarah wanted to see the Australia and India cricket match but there were not tickets available. And just like John, Susan and Sarah, there are many sports enthusiasts who are unable to watch the game in person or Live on TV – and this is reason enough for the sports industry to go mobile. Digitalizing sports events gives access to millions of sports fans to watch their favorite games Live or watch re-runs even after a year – they could stream the winning shot any number of times to feel the glory of their favorite team winning. 

Let’s take a look at some riveting sports app market facts and stats!

North American sports market size is estimated to be worth $76.05 billion dollars by 2020
Dallas Cowboys sports team’s brand value (amounted to $4.8 billion dollars) was ranked as the most expensive one in 2018.
According to the Sports Business Institute, 87% of sports fans second screen during a match; they look at replays, check the scores of other games, or use social networks to boast about attending the game in person.
Reference Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/214960/revenue-of-the-north-american-sports-market/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/278027/brand-value-of-sport-teams–franchises-worldwide/ https://www.sbibarcelona.com/newsdetails/index/105
 
Need for Sports App

Digitalization of sports opens up several avenues for business. Not only can a sports avid view the game at any time at any location, but can also engage in activities such as, buying sports merchandise, interact with their favourite sportsperson, engage in betting on their favourite team or sports player, and playing fantasy sports. Hence, while developing a sports app, ensure that you include features that help you stay competitive, and therefore, successful.
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10 Features to Incorporate in a Sports App

Personalization

While making an app, ensure that the user can personalize the app surface by creating their own user account where they can add their favourite team or player and be intimated with new updates, scores, breaking news, event details, etc.
Also, it is necessary to create a secure payment gateway so that the user can update and store their card details, in case they wish to purchase tickets, sports merchandise, play for their dream team or in certain cases even bet. You can also integrate our payment gateway app with a third party to give the users a wider range sports events and teams they can invest in.

Ticket Sale

Fans don’t want to miss out on a sports event; hence, you can create a feature where they can purchase tickets to watch their favourite team or sports event before the tickets get sold out! By allowing the user to purchase tickets from a third-party gateway, you can make a fee for the same; i.e. you get a fee from every transaction as you generate a new lead for that third-party service.

Sports Merchandise

One of the largest profit generation in the sports industry comes through selling sports merchandise. By creating an aggregated sports app, you can sell merchandise of the most popular sports teams or sportsmen in the app store. Sports merchandise includes, t-shirts, mugs, flags, banners, caps, collectibles, autographed objects such as balls, bats, etc.
There is also an option to create a tie-up with a certain team or sportsmen which would allow you to sell exclusive merchandise and generate an even bigger profit.

App for Fantasy Sports

If you are a gaming enthusiasts, you would know how addictive it is to play fantasy sports; and if you are not then let us explain – fantasy sports is an online game where fans can create virtual teams of real-life sport pros and make them compete in virtual leagues and championships.
Creating a fantasy sports app, can generate a lot of revenue, especially from users who like to gamble. Some examples of fantasy sports app include, the IPL League, NFL, CBS Sports Fantasy, Yahoo Fantasy sports, and more.

Social Media Integration

Social media is also a revenue generating tools that can be exploited if used in the right way. Sports industry is famous for sports enthusiasts who love to report every small move in the game or any update on their favourite sports person.
Hence, integrating social media into the app can allow users to share data from the app to a social media app by just clicking a few buttons; for instance, re-tweeting scores, or an edge-of-the-seat performance shot, etc. Also, instead of creating a user account and re-fill their details, you can allow users to sync with app with their Facebook, Google, or Twitter accounts.

Integrating with Calendar

What better way to be updated on upcoming games or sports events than a simple reminder on your smart-device. In your app, you can also integrate a time ticker that notifies the user the mins and seconds (XX h YY m) left for the game to begin, or break to end.

Sports Team Catalogue

Even though apps need to have functionalities; it is important to include a sports catalogue that has a history about the sports event, information about sportsmen and even a little information about the team, as a whole.

Newsfeed and Notifications

Incorporating the newsfeed functionality in the app will allow the sports app to send regular updates and the news of the sports industry to their user. Newsfeed allows you to send tournament tables, performance of sports teams or sportsmen, etc. If a dedicated app for a certain team or team sports tournament is formed, you should include a Match Day Centre. This information hub contains all the relevant data regarding the games, i.e. the score, highlights from games and press conferences, tournament table, etc.
Sending push notifications or SMS notifications is also a great way to interact with user base. It is a technique of reminding them to visit the app and use it. With the help of push notifications, you can send your users reminders, regular updates when the game is going on, highlights of the game, etc. 

Live Streaming

Live streaming a match builds the core of a sports app; the convenience of streaming matches anytime, anywhere is what can build a huge database of users with the help of exclusive live broadcaster’s content that can’t be found on aggregator apps.
Sports video streaming apps like BBC and Fox, also send users personalized content based on their location and preferences. Another option of live streaming apart from video is audio streaming, for instance the NBC Sports Radio app.

Making Bets

Did you know that in the UK, approximately 40% of people aged 18 to 54 bet 10 to 100 pounds online each month?
Reference Source: https://www.beatingbetting.co.uk/statistics/uk-gambling-data/
There are plenty of people that gamble on sports, some as professionals and some just to raise the excitement and the stakes of the game. Hence, if you wish to incorporate betting in your app, firstly, you will need a gambling license and provide an age verification mechanism to secure your business from potential legal claims.
You will also need to make sure that you create a secure payment gateway on integrate a third-party app. If you are targeting users that are heavy betters, you also need to ensure that your app provides match statistics with live updates and push notifications. You’ll also need to decide if the user can bet with real currency or through in-app currency.

Wrapping It Up

Sports app can be of two types:
Streamlined – where unnecessary data is filtered out, and all types of sporting events are showcased. For instance, 365Scores, has been lauded as one of the best sports apps in circulation, due to its support for ten different sports and a wide range of features, including scores, news, and live notifications about the teams the user is interested in.

One Sports App – where if a user is only interested in one particular sport – be it football, basketball, or baseball – there’s a dedicated app that lets them follow their favourite sport.
If you wish to build a dedicated sports app incorporating features, like discussed above, you can get in touch with the App Scoop Vancouver app developers team.  

Let’s suppose that you are looking for a property and you have downloaded a real estate app on your smartphone. In the app, you are able to find the different properties listed with addresses but you need to now get on to another app, for instance, Google Maps to locate these addresses. Imagine how convenient would it be if this same information was available in the real estate app, where you would be able to view all the property and its locations on the map itself! Adding route planning to your app doesn’t only improve user experience but its convenience ensures that the user retains and uses your app.

There are many apps that track location such as social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat that allows your friends to view your location, Zomato offers the best food deals around your area, etc. The route planning features helps you to send push notifications which leads to user engagement.
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Apps that can Benefit from Route Planning Feature

Real Estate Apps
As mentioned earlier, real estate apps should incorporate the route planning feature so that the user can easily view the properties on the maps, how far each property is from the other if they wish to check out multiple properties in a day, check the neighbourhood and shops around, etc. This feature also helps agents to plan their day and site visits with their customer. Real estate apps should also have additional route planning features like creating live tours which will help uberize the real estate industry.

Healthcare Apps
Healthcare apps that lists doctors and dispensaries could also use the route planning feature for the benefit of the patient and the doctors (in case of home visits). A healthcare app with built-in route mapping would allow the doctor to locate the patient’s address and deliver their services in case of a home visit; on the other hand, it would allow the patient to locate the doctor’s location, the time it will take to reach there and the best possible route.

Travel Apps
Gone are the days where a paper map was used to locate places or navigate or find a route; it’s time where Google Maps save the day by not only providing a route to your destination but also gives live updates in case of a traffic jam, accident, or road closure. Hence, it is absolutely imperative for travel apps to have an in-built route tracker providing all of the same information. Just imagine how convenient it would be for the user!
Say for example, Sarah is backpacking across Italy and she downloads a travel app. She has an itinerary for the day to travel to tourist destinations, visit restaurants and then party at night. A route planner in that travel app will allow Sarah to plan her day by marking the locations of the places that wishes to visit and show her the best possible way to see them all. It can also build routes for walking tours, save them and share them on social media apps.

Parking Apps
For people driving in crowded cities or visiting other countries or cities, a parking app with a route planner would be very convenient. Parking apps like Parke, allow users to find nearby parking spots displaying also the route to reach there from their current destination.
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Advantages of Route Planning
Now, let’s take a look at the advantages of route planning for users. 

Like, we’ve discussed before there are various advantages of route planning. Take for instance, Uber, an that offers car service at the customer’s doorstep. Uber has an in-built route planner that allows the user to track the car and also navigate them as quickly to their pick up location. In case of ordering an Uber Pool, the route planner prioritizes the stops ensuring that there is no wastage of time by running around in circles to pick up passengers.
Route planning also helps the user to manage their time by checking the time taken to reach their destination and ensuring that they are on the correct route. In case, of planning a travel itinerary it allows the user to mark their destinations on the map and then follow a route that is convenient.
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Best Route Planning Software in 2020

Route4Me
Route4Me is the world’s most used route sequencing and optimization software for small businesses and enterprises. This software allows the user to share, create and manage routing plans on their smart devices. The API is free of cost but the app company needs to pay for functionalities like in-app voice-guided navigation, scheduled customer notifications, delivery analytics, and a customer relationship management system. This software is ideal for field sales, field marketing, field merchandising, territory management and optimization.

HERE
One of the big players in the route planning market is HERE. The software provides a route optimization solution that takes into account the starting points and various destinations and allows you to edit routes, calculate a matrix of routes and multiple waypoints, and update past routes. 

Badger Maps
Badger maps is a software that can be used across multiple industries. It provides the tools and applications for sales reps to be more effective in the field. It enables the sales team to manage their by combining Google Maps, route optimization, schedule planning, data from the CRM, and lead generation on the sales persons mobile device. Badger offers the best software mapping solution to map customer accounts and sales routes.

MapAnything
MapAnything is a location intelligence solution that steers the company towards the right direction. This software is a Location of Things solution that streamlines business goals with field activities on a unified platform that is designed for field sales, service teams, and fleet management.

ElasticRoute
ElasticRoute is a route planning solution that is best for third party logistics providers, carrier’s logistics services, distributors, food and beverage delivery construction, waste and recycling management, postal, parcel and courier, etc.
It produces natural cluster-based routes which adds a human touch to the optimization process. ElasticRoute can plan over 1000 stops in 90 seconds (which is a record) and can also deal with challenges like unplanned changes to deliveries.
To view more software for route planning, refer to https://www.capterra.com/route-planning-software/.

To Conclude
Route planning for your app can scale your app within a short period of time with minimum cost. Instead of incorporating the route planning feature at a later stage, we recommend you to consider investing more time and money at the very start to build this functionality within your app.
If you wish to incorporate route planner into your app, contact the App Scoop mobile app developers Vancouver team. We will help you in this challenging task of developing a system that will enable your app users to edit and share routes. We promise to help you improve your user’s experience and hence, improve customer loyalty by providing you with features such as scheduling, real-time chats, push notifications and a support centre.  

The world of coding consists of more than 330 different programming languages. GitHub is an American company where software is built – more than 40 million people use GitHub to discover and contribute to more than 100 million projects.
Source Reference: https://github.com/collections/programming-languages 

The employees of lead technical companies such as Facebook, Google, and Apple bank on GitHub for spreading their open source software. It is a massive code repository that helps developers identify the kinds of languages and apps that the technical industry is actually using. GitHub’s resourcing has been on an uptrend since 2018 – they have been constantly employing new developers.
Let’s take a look at the most demanding programming languages of 2020, according to GitHub.

Javascript  
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One of the most used programming languages by developers in 2020, as per GitHub, will be Javascript. It is being increasingly used in the game development sector and Internet of Things (IoT). It is also one of the core existing technologies of the web, along with HTML and CSS.
 
Features of Javascript:

• Interpreted and light-weighted programming language
• Object-oriented computer programming language, that is commonly used for the purpose of creating interactive effects within the internet browsers
• Plays a significant role in front-end development for popular websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, and Amazon.
• Optional static typing features to the language software can be added by using Typescript which is a superset of JavaScript

 
Advantages of Javascript:

• Speed-driven
• Simple to use
• Interoperable
• Adaptable to rich interfaces
• Extended functionalities

 
Disadvantages of Javascript:

• Security issues from the client’s side
• Security threat for client-side scripts
• Browser support interpretations

 
Further, Javascript can be used in the back-end development with the help of the Node.js framework. Hence, most start-ups use this programming language to handle their back-end processes. It is also used in popular web frameworks such as, AngularJS and React.js. ​

Python 

​According to GitHub, Python is one of the Trending Programming Languages 2020 by popular websites such as Quora, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. The Octoverse report stated that, “And for the first time, Python outranked Java as the second most popular language on GitHub by repository contributors.” 
Python can be used to develop desktop apps, medial tools, machine learning, robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Web applications and network servers. In fact, it has even been used to create famous video games such as, Civilization IV, Vegas Trike and the famous Toontown. It has also been used to create scientific and computational applications such as FreeCAD and Abacus. Framework like Django, Turbo Gear, and Pyramid is also based on this language.
 
Features of Python:

• Easy language for beginners because it is easy to read and understand
• Free, open-source programming language that has extensive support modules as well as community development
• Easy integration with the web services
• Equipped with user-friendly data structures and has a GUI-based desktop application
• Used to develop 2D imaging as well as 3D animation packages such as Inkscape, Blender, and Autodesk
• Useful for developing back-end APIs

Advantages of Python:

• Easy to read
• Scripted instead of compiled
• Encompasses official tutorials, as well as documentation

Disadvantages of Python

• The language doesn’t start with programming basics
• Important basic concepts are sometimes abstracted 

Java  

Owned by Oracle Corporation, Java is one of the Best Programming Languages in 2020. In today’s time, there are more than 3 billion devices that are running on application that are built by Java. Some of the websites such as Google, Twitter, Amazon and YouTube use Java as their backend program.
 
It is also well known for its portability across a wide range of platforms, i.e. from mainframe data centres to the smartphones. New Java frameworks such as Spring, Struts, and Hibernate have also become popular in the market.
 
Features of Java:

• Includes a JVM (Java Virtual Machine) feature which makes Java compatible across all platforms
• Is 99% object orient based language; it can be used on Mac, Android, Window, iOS, etc. due to its Write Once, Run Anywhere (WORA) feature
• Uses automatic garbage collection and memory allocation feature

 
Advantages of Java

• Easy-to-learn programming language especially for beginners
• Computer parts such as file system, sound, graphics can be easily accessed and manipulated for any program and can be run on any kind of operating system

 
Disadvantages of Java:

• Need to constantly learn new vocabularies to keep up with the language

C#   

C is said to be one of the most powerful programming languages in the Dot NET framework. Anders Hejlsberg from Microsoft created a language that supports the concepts of object-oriented programming – the C# language. Applications such as Windows, Android, iOS are based on C#. This language takes help of an integrated development environment product that is Microsoft Visual C++. Further, C# is used by Dell, Visual Studio, Bing and Market Watch for backend operations.
 
Features of C#:

• Common programming language that uses the most versatile framework, i.e. the Dot Net Core framework.
• Popular among developers because it is developed and maintained by Microsoft
• Offers many features which makes it easier for beginners to learn the language; mainly used by web, app or game developers

Advantages of C#:

• Hiring developers gets easier, since it is a language that can be learnt quickly

Disadvantages of C#:

• Code needs to be compiled every time a small change is made

 
PHP  

PHP, Hypertext Preprocessor is a language that was created by making Personal Home Pages. Now, it is one of the programming languages of 2020 that is highly in demand. PHP code can be used in an assortment of web frameworks so that web developers can quickly write bulky and multifaceted websites and web applications. Further, there are many tools that can be used to make PHP more efficient.
 
PHP enables a basic structure which makes it simple for the developers to work with web application development solutions; some examples of frameworks include, Laravel, Codeigniter, Symfony, etc.  
 
Features of PHP:

• Cheap, free and easy-to-use; web developers have a plethora of options to pick a PHP framework that are open sources which can be used without paying any licensing fees that fall under full-stack web frameworks and micro frameworks
• General-purpose programming language that runs on a server which is useful for creating web pages written in HTML and web applications
• Programmed with the help of built-in web development capabilities
• Programmers can embed the code written in server-side programming language flawlessly into HTML code throughout the Script tag
• Web development tasks can be done without writing a prolonged and composite code
• Provides useful features and functionalities for web applications

 
Advantages of PHP:

• Fast-paced tailored app development
• Easy to maintain applications
• Added code doesn’t need to be written
• Databases can be handled resourcefully
• Customary development activities can be automated
• Overall costs can be reduced

 
Disadvantages of PHP:

• Instead of PHP, developers need to learn PHP frameworks
• PHP framework quality could differ at times
• Transforming one core behaviour can be challenging due to the lack of choices

 
Typescript  

Created and maintained by Microsoft, Typescript, an open-source language, is Javascript for application scale development. This language is a JavaScript superset that compiles to regular JavaScript. TypeScript files use the ‘.ts’ extension; and once it is programmed with the language, the output your get is ‘.js files’.
 
Features of Typescript:

• Is a robust object-oriented programming language
• Provides extra security TypeScript by type checking
• Migrate Javascript code to use TypeScript features; the TypeScript compiler can then convert TypeScript syntax into standard JavaScript
• Helps you access the needed JavaScript frameworks and libraries due to the seamless integration of declaration files

 
Ruby  

Ruby language is popular due to the Rails framework, which is based on this language. It is a high-level language, but very easy to learn as compared to other languages.
 
Features of Ruby:

• Is an open-source dynamic programming language
• Is more focused on simplicity and productivity
• Allows developers to build an application with less line of code

 
Advantages of Ruby:

• Simple and straight approach to create web applications
• Easy to decipher and refined
• Learning time required is relatively shorter

 
Disadvantages of Ruby:

• Performance is affected due to low runtime speed
• Stability gets affected due to less boot speed

 
C++  

The oldest and the most commonly used programming language is the C language. An enhanced version of this language is C++, which is used for developing applications where performance is a critical issue. For example, for client/server applications, commercial products such as Adobe and Firefox, as well as in the video games. The most significant projects in which C++ language is used is Microsoft Windows, Google and Amazon websites.
 
Features of C++

• Can be used on a large variety of platforms which makes it easy for the language to transported
• Is a high-performance language and one of the most used, as per GitHub
• Highly efficient, high performance and flexible language
• Mostly used to build desktop applications
• Is an object-oriented programming language; for instance, Apple also uses C++ language to develop its IOS operating system

 
Advantages of C++

• Allows the user for much better “control” as compared to the other languages

 
Disadvantages of C++

• Difficult to learn

 
Swift 

Apple’s homegrown language for macOS and iOS apps, Swift has replaced Objective-C and has become the number one language for Apple-related software. Further, SwiftUI, a declarative UI structure design framework for all Apple platforms, was announced during WWDC 2019. In 2017, Swift had made it to the top 10 of the monthly TIOBE Index rank of the most popular programming languages.
 
As per Apple, this language is more than 2.6 times faster than Objective-C and more than 8.4 times faster than Python. It’s also easier to learn compared to Objective-C. Hence, most iOS developers choose to learn Swift straight away. Giant tech companies such as LinkedIn, Vimeo, Twitter, and Fitbit have also chosen Swift instead of Objective-C.
 
Features of Swift:

• Open-source, i.e. it can be expanded to other platforms and can be used for web applications; for instance, applications can be written in Swift and then exported to Android and Windows.
• Requires less coding as compared to other popular programming languages
• Can be easily used with the IBM Swift Sandbox and the IBM Bluemix
• Used in a large number of popular iOS apps such as Mozilla Firefox, WordPress, SoundCloud and also in the game of Flappy Bird

 
Advantages of Swift:

• Future of Apple’s development
• Safe and secure
• Uses modern programming conventions

 
Disadvantages of Swift:

• Major alterations in each release makes it unstable
• Interoperability with third party tools and IDEs is less

 
Golang   

Developed by Google, Go is a simple yet more efficient as compared to C++. It allows the developer to write concurrent programs and work on more large scale and complex applications. Some popular applications developed in Go language include Openshift, Kubernetes, Dropbox, Netflix and InfluxDB.
 
Features of Golang:

• Go is syntactically similar to C, but with memory safety, garbage collection, structural typing, and CSP-style concurrency.
• Is a static typed language; hence, the compiler doesn’t only work on compiling the code successfully but also ensures on type conversions and compatibility
• Provides unit testing features by itself; i.e., a simple mechanism to write unit tests parallel with the code as it helps the developer to understand the code coverage by their own tests

 
Advantages of Golang:

• Concise, simple and easy to read
• Allows multiple processes to run simultaneously and effectively
• Quick compilation time
• Gives a lot of control over memory allocation and reduces latency in the most recent versions of the garbage collector
• Validates for the interface and type embedding

 
Disadvantages of Golang:

• Has no support for generics
• Is not so object-oriented in the conventional sense
• Absence of some libraries especially a UI tool kit

 
Wrapping It Up
​As we’ve seen, programming languages play an essential role in software development. There are many languages that are included in GitHub. The trick to choosing the correct programming language depends on each product – weighing the advantages and disadvantages is of utmost importance.
The above mentioned are some of the best programming languages that should be used in 2020; if you need more assistance, do not hesitate to contact the App Scoop mobile app developers Vancouver Team.