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Why Digital Transformation?

Today’s customer is digital-savvy and likes to be served on the device of their choice, from anywhere expecting round the clock responses. To meet the needs of these new age customers, companies are transforming their ways of doing business. Like any other revolution, digital revolution is comes with many challenges and tremendous opportunities. Are you ready to win or even survive in this new digital age?

No company is immune to this change as we have seen diverse industries being disrupted at an unprecedented pace by companies like Tesla, Airbnb and Amazon. Today every company needs to embrace digital transformation to become a tech company. Digital revolution is unstoppable. The only questions remaining are:

• What stage of maturity are you at with digital transformation?
• What is your digital transformation roadmap?

 
“More than 90% people start with online search before they make a buying decision…Going digital provides you an opportunity to get in front of these people who are planning to buy something that you may be selling”
Source: https://www.insightssuccess.in/why-businesses-need-to-go-digital/
 
“89% of enterprises have plans to adopt or have already adopted a digital-first business strategy with Services (95%), Financial Services (93%) and Healthcare (92%) leading all industries. Education, high-tech, manufacturing, retail, and government are also quickly adopting digital-first strategies to improve process efficiencies and meet and exceed customer expectations.” 
Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2018/04/22/the-state-of-digital-business-transformation-2018/#3ec3c9cd5883 

What is Digital Transformation?

Digital Transformation has many definitions. App-scoop defines it as a process of making a giant leap in business effectiveness by incorporating today’s cutting edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Smart devices, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, Blockchain and so on.  
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​Banking is the one industry known for their limited hours of operation. This would be wearisome as formerly, it would be necessary to go to the bank for something as simple as checking the account balance. The unending lines, long wait for information and sometimes being given the run-around by staff.
In today’s world, with all the digital advancement, customers do not need to physically go to a bank to complete transactions anymore. This is a boon as it saves time and transactions can be completed, bank statements checked, money transferred and more, all with the click of buttons. 

The world of banking has gone mobile and most people complete all transactions using their banking apps on mobile devices. This trend has been on the rise and the banking industry needs to adapt and advance to deliver a smooth and satisfactory experience to the customers they no longer interact with.

​Nearly 68% of Canadians use mobile banking on a weekly basis and only 16% are said to actually visit banks. The Canadian banking industry would needs to take appropriate steps to ensure customer needs and demands are met. They would need to adopt digital transformation programs, focusing on mobile app enhancement and development to provide a seamless banking experience.
Source: https://www.greedyrates.ca/blog/need-know-online-banking-canada/

​The primary focus of most banks was to create a mobile app of their own just to enter the digital fray and not loose clients. However some banking apps still only allow people to check their balance statements, transaction history and paid bills. For any further transactions, people would need to call the bank and speak to a representative.
This approach may have worked initially, but now the clients demand more from their apps. Banks need to recognize this user saturation as a reality and turn their attention to enhancing the mobile banking experience in order to engage and retain clients.
Given below are a few points on how the app can be enriched for the banks benefit:

Customer Driven App
Mobile and digital services offer banks the opportunity to reduce operational costs but they must be designed and developed keeping in mind the customer’s needs. One of the main reasons people today use banking apps is because it is speedy, efficient and hassle-free. To ensure this, the app needs to be bug free and should have minimum downtime especially while transactions are in process.
The app is mainly being used by a tech-savvy millennial but there are a lot of clients who are 55-years and above, who can benefit from an easy-to-use app. This also attracts new customers who do not wish to deal with complex apps, prefer natural language commands and transparent offerings.
If the mobile app does not simplify the lives of its customers, it would be difficult to survive in the market. For example, a customer does not need to scroll through the entire transaction history, they can simply enter the date or name of the transaction and identify the specific transaction.
Banks needs to realise that they will need to proactively use their apps digital platform, to interact with and engage customers. In order to do so, they will need to know their demographic and accordingly create a mobile banking app which aligns the business goals and customer needs.

Security
Mobile banking is growing rapidly as are the security threats which come with online transactions. Sensitive information is being handled along with a customer’s finances and it is imperative that the data be protected.
Customers rely on the organization and trust their electronic information is safe. In order to do so, documents need to be password protected and data encrypted. Biometric logins, activation and deactivation of credit and debit cards if lost are also a plus point in terms of security.
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Personalized and AI Driven Banking
Banking driven by artificial intelligence improves how users experience new streamlined features launched by the bank. Mobile apps offer banks customer specific data and usage patterns, which helps the bank with predictive analysis of the customer’s needs, for instance, bill payment reminders.
Giving personalized offers to customers is crucial as the needs of a college student and that of a retired profession would be different. This information can be leveraged, knowing the customers financial history and what offers would be best suited for them.
Thanks to AI there is now a bigger chance to cater to the individual. This kind of banking also reduces the need for clients to speak to bank representatives as they can self-manage their accounts and carry out actions themselves, which earlier needed bank employee’s assistance. However, the personalized experiences offered also ensure the highest level of customer engagement and satisfaction.

Invest in your Delivery Model
Keeping pace with the changing times and needs of the client is as important as delivering the innovative products to the client in a timely fashion. Innovation would be a slow process in a large organization and changes would take time to go through the necessary approval stages.
Implementing an agile development process would be beneficial in competitive markets where competitors try to poach clients. A continuous delivery model may be difficult to scale but the use of agile coaches and customized approaches have led to successful implementations.
Change is inevitable and adapting to the change while focusing on the customer experience is necessary to ensure they are satisfied and help give the company a competitive advantage.

What Does the Customer Want?
Earlier communications were only via phone conversations or face-to-face exchanges and now the customer’s interaction is with the organizations technology not staff. This means the app needs to be able to deliver and be what the customer needs at any given point.
The world of mobile banking might make the face to face interactions obsolete, but customers still demand assistance, which will help plan their retirement, secure their financial futures and manage money. Providing the clients with tools via the mobile app to actually carry out these functions shows they are looked after as individuals not just statistics.
Apart from the continued focus on adapting and innovating, to offer the clients the best product and services, the app also needs to ensure ease of user experience. Even a millennial would jump ship if they has to deal with extremely complex systems. Around one-third of the leading mobile apps are phasing out the older versions and functions despite new add-ins, in a bid to streamline user experience.
Source: https://www.maparesearch.com/
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In conclusion, we can see that the days when banking apps could do as little as show account balances and transactions are over. Over the last decade mobile banking has proved itself to be a vital part of customer-focused banking and research shows that these apps enable customer loyalty while reducing operational costs. Today,  a financial marketer’s approach must be centred on consumers and quite simply the mobile banking app must provide a personalized experiences. If you need any further information on improving the mobile app banking experience, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app developers: https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html
 

Imagine having to take time out during a busy day, to go stand in line to buy tickets to an event. Now imagine that after standing in line for nearly an hour just when it is your turn the tickets are sold out. All that time and energy wasted plus the added disappointment of a failed attempt to book tickets.

Advent of the digital age has seen a revolutionary change in the trend of making bookings. Now, there is no need for people to stand in line and wait for their turn to book any kind of tickets or services. The advancement of technology has made it possible to book, cancel and reschedule things with just a few simple clicks of the button.

Revenue generated from event tickets alone will see an increase of 9.3%, which amounts to north of $100,000 million by 2023. The reason for this tremendous increase is the simplicity of the task right from finding the desired event to making the booking and payment.

Source: www.statistica.com

The demand for ticket distribution systems will keep rising as the number of users keeps increasing as well. Given below are a few platforms which help event promoters optimize and sell tickets globally:

• Ticketfly: Said to have sold over $200 million worth of tickets in one year 
• Eventbrite: Powered over 3 million events in one year
• Ticketmaster: Estimated annual revenue of $7.2 billion

Source: www.statistica.com

​As any business entity, the aim of a ticket distribution platform, is lucrative viability. In order to do this, they need to provide simple and easy-to-use tools to event creators, which ensures smooth dealings, between the event goer and event creator.

Creation of a Web/Mobile Platform for Ticket Distribution
To develop a web/mobile platform which promotes, markets and sells tickets, a collaboration with an event creator would be imperative. This way the platform has to focus solely on the flexibility of the app or website for customer interaction. It would be the event creators responsibility to plan and market events.
The tools offered by ticket platforms helps promote upcoming events, reducing the need for hiring event managers, saving event creators funds. Saving resources allows for more funds to be investedin the show and artist or even to reduce ticket costs to increase audience numbers.

What Makes a Ticket Distribution Platform Successful?
Not all business models are successful. Some do well in certain areas but not in others. This is true for all businesses and organizations. In such an unpredictable market, how can does one ensure their ticket distribution platform will be popular? Given below are some critical features, which can help give the platform an edge and an added advantage over its competitors. 

Time Saver
One of the primary reasons clients choose to make bookings online is because of the time and energy saved with the easy steps involved. It is imperative that registration and managing accounts should be easy for event creators as well as audiences.
This also means that the website and servers need to be speedy with minimum downtime. Bugs need to be fixed and addressed on priority to avoid loss of potential clients.

Easy Payment Solutions
Online payments have steadily been increasing since 2014. Online wallets are now being used to make insurance payments, mobile recharges, grocery purchases and even for public transport. The platform must have the necessary features to process payments immediately or to deny requests as needed.
Confirming a payment once booking process has started needs to be a timed affair. This helps ensure there are no double or over bookings. For example, a customer needs to confirm the booking by completing the formalities within a stipulated amount of time, say 15 minutes.
All the rules and regulations that need to be followed must be clearly outlined and accepted by the users prior to completing purchase to avoid complications at a later date.
In the event a refund needs to be processed or denied, the platform must have the necessary tools to make it a smooth process with minimum to no follow-up needed by the client.
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Transparency with Regards to Detail
Availability of tickets, which slots are filled, vacancies and rate at which the seats are selling can be shown clearly on ticket platforms. This aides customers in knowing how long they have to complete the booking or finalize their plans.
Offering various discounts, like on bulk bookings or limited time offers, make the platform popular as most customers prefer good deals. A wait-list system ensures there are no discrepancies and if tickets are returned or refunds are issued, people still get to attend the show as per the numbers.
Seat mapping feature allows people to choose and know which zone they are booking seats for. This feature also helps event organizers plan zones more efficiently.

Customer Engagement and Marketing
Clienteles need to know more about upcoming events, deals and have a place where they can address their queries or grievances. An open channel of communication offering real-time replies would make this possible and increase traffic to the platform.
Descriptions of upcoming events, along with audio-visual marketing tools would help entice more customers. Branded tickets with unique QR codes make the check-in and entry process suave.
The platform must also offer features which allow audiences to get routed, from other event pages and external links, to book tickets on the app or online. For example, a Facebook events page routed to another site for ticket purchasing.
Similar to using social media and other external pages to increase sales, various marketing tools like e-mailers, newsletters and social media advertisements will also ensure a good turnout for the event.For the ticket distribution platform, to also sell branded apparel, accessories and posters would be a value-added service for the event creators as well as the customers.
One of the most important factor in a successful platform is knowing your customer and ensuring they are repeat customers. This is only possible if they have the necessary tools to create a proper database and all interactions are tracked and monitored.
A sales analysis is an imperative tool for building reports, showing projections and creating strategy. This data would be crucial for an accurate assessment and report for the platform as well as event creator. For example, maximum type of tickets sold, period of maximum sales and so on. This would help future planning of events and necessary tweaks can be made to maximize profits.

Event Cancellation
Worst case scenarios are an eventuality which are not in organizers control and must always be prepared for. There needs to be a fail-safe plan where users can be instantly notified in such an event.
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Fraud Reports
The organization would need a strategy to deal with fraudulent event companies, to protect themselves as well as their customers. Users need to be allowed to report events for reasons like infringement, copyright, cancellation and so on, which can be looked into on priority to avoid mishaps later. Ideally a risk management team would be required to assist in handling any and all issues related to fraud. 

On the whole, online booking of tickets has great potential as it is helping simplify the lives of people and increasing their lifestyle standards. By opening a whole new world of possibilities for customers all on one platform it improves user experience and also streamlines the process.
If you need any further information on how to create a web/mobile app platform for ticket distribution, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app developers:  https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html

Mobile app development has been on the rise for a decade now. As opposed to what was assumed, it was not a dream which fizzled out, but a trend which shattered the glass ceiling. According to Statistica, there were 2.1 billion smartphone users in the world (in 2016) and the revenue generated by mobile apps was about 60 billion dollars. By the year 2019, it is believed that the number of smartphone users will be 2.5 billion if not more.

Source: https://www.statista.com/topics/1002/mobile-app-usage/

Mobile app culture is something all smartphone users have got accustomed to, from their wide range of virtual or augmented reality to location based services. They are used on a daily basis for something as simple as ordering groceries to booking cabs to even planning vacations. These apps are not only efficient but also customize preferences as per each user. ​

The past year alone is said to have witnessed about 27 billion mobile app downloads. This upward trend of mobile apps has made the developers come up with renewed novelties to keep up with the current trend and user’s interests.
The year 2019 will witness innovation of existing apps, going a notch higher and giving the mobile developers more mobility to focus on app niceties. Let us take a look at which mobile app development trends will enrich the realm and directly impact the industry in the following year:

Native Vs. Hybrid App
What is a native/hybrid App? A native app is a smartphone application created for a specific mobile operating system. A hybrid on the other hand would work on all systems. They are said to be web apps in native paper.
For example: In 2010, the user experience for Uber app was different for an android user and different for an iOS system user.
Some iOS experts believe that native apps will dominate the market and grow as opposed to hybrid technologies. There are some ‘native only’ features which are added by companies like Apple and Google to their respective operating systems. This limits the technical entry points (like fixing bugs) for hybrid apps.
User experience could suffer with hybrid apps as they cannot offer all the features due to software compatibility issues. But native mobile apps are created for a specific platform and would not face this problem as they are augmented using the systems core programming and application performance interface (API).
Is a native app preferred over a hybrid app? This deliberation will likely see a leaning towards native apps as it will provide the ultimate user experience among other things.

Importance of Marketing
Marketing campaigns play a significant role in the success of any product and it is the same with regards to mobile apps. Most developers focus only on app features, making sure it’s unique and appeals to the key demographic. They do not pay as much heed to a marketing campaign to promote the app and unfortunately this would work negatively in the apps favour.
In such cases a user might try a new app but might not be a repeat user i.e. will only use the app once. It is possible that the app might be used for a short period but when the novelty wears off, the user, will move on to other apps. The value for a mobile app is not only in finding new users but also in retaining old ones. Marketing companies will play a chief role to ensure the same.
Some experts believe that there will be more investment in mobile engagement campaigns and this will be a prime strategy in 2019. Engagement platforms will help to include and absorb old users and will also ensure additional in-app purchases.

Role of “Moment-Marketing”
We have grasped the important role played by marketing for mobile apps in the points above. However getting the right message in front of the right consumer at the right time is also a crucial factor in any campaign. Personalization of the web or mobile experience has been seen for the past decade. This element is critical as it helps users receive more specific and not generic communications. 
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In order to engage users, marketers have to react to key customer moments driven by offline triggers like TV and so on i.e. Micro-moments (term coined by Google in 2015). Real world customer intent is yoked with mobile as a natural gateway.  More and more companies are going for specific contexts to interact with users, vibrant offers, and coupon redemptions.
2019 is said to be the year, where new steps will be taken in targeting specific personalized campaigns to certain audiences based on the user’s daily habits and choices.

OTT (Over the top) Development
Over the top (OTT) content includes audio, video and other media content broadcasted or streamed over the internet. Globally the OTT market has seen a huge swell of users which is expected to reach over 300 million by 2019.
Some examples OTT apps are:

• Netflix
• Amazon Prime
• Hulu
• HBO Go
• Viewster

The mobile app development market already has the necessary infrastructure in place to harness OTT and reap the benefits. All a user would require is WiFi, TV, smartphone or a tablet. Analytical companies are looking into targeting features which will be more refined and tailored as per the user. Marketers will pay more attention to their users’ needs and understand their desires before creating messages specific to them.
Using OTT marketing means having access and being able to tap a larger audience. Any mobile app developer who would want to succeed in the coming year would need to evolve with the markets requirement and can do so by developing this strategy.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology has grown exponentially in the past few years. Mobile enterprises have even developed their own software and apps in hopes that it will benefit their own companies. For example:

• Apple has created ARKit
• Google has created ARCore

Apples goal is to be recognized as the leader in AR and ensure its benefits are spread across all iOS devices. Wearable devices like the Apple watch is a prime example for what these apps can do! It is not only the fitness industry which is using the wearable devices, but also the healthcare industry.
Pokemon Go is one of the best examples of an app using AR and VR to engage its users. Developers predict that the revenue generated by these creations could be well over 200 billion dollars in the next few years. Social media apps offer AR integrated filters which can be used to digitally enhance or change the user’s image.
Developers are constantly creating more apps which benefit from this technology and it will certainly help the users practically not just digitally. This software makes it possible to edit photos, design 3D presentations, and study the solar system and so on. Some mobile applications already using these technologies are Google Arts and Culture, SketchAR, GoPro VR and so on.
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Apart from the points mentioned above, cloud technology (back-up), low-power sensors, location mapping (GPS), smart objects (watches or shoes with sensors), artificial intelligence (Siri and Alexa) are some of the age old apps which would also be tweaked and improved in the upcoming year. Mobile app developers will be creating new ways for users to have a more custom-made, real-time involvement where they can share their experiences and use the apps as seamlessly as possible.
As the New Year comes in we can look forward to the new and improved mobile apps created by some of the finest developers. If you need any more information on the rapidly growing industry of mobile app development and the expected trends in 2019, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app developers : https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html
 

​“The only constant in life is change” – Heraclitus
In today’s day and age, business scenes are constantly evolving to keep up with the dynamic changes, in the environment. We can see digital technologies are changing the facade of business at an exponential rate. Organizations need to keep up with these changes in order to survive and grow. An organizations IT strategy is vital to its business strategynow more than ever. 
Digital technology has reached a point of omnipresence and it is no longer optional for a company to be digital or not. The world has had over 4 billion internet users in 2018 alone. Studies have shown that there will be a growth of nearly 800% in mobile data usage in the next year or two. 

In such scenarios, a digital transformation is paramount in the company’s vision for its future and growth.
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What is a digital transformation?
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 “The way out of these difficult times is not cost cutting. It is to innovate and embrace digital transformation.” – Steve Jobs (Apple Co-founder).
Digital transformation is integrating digital technology, into all areas of business, which fundamentally changes how you operate and deliver value to customers. Digital transformation, in other words business transformation, is driven by technology innovation, customer behaviour, demand and satisfaction and external environmental factors. 

In order to have a smooth transition, organizations would have to keep in mind external factors like

• Volatile economy
• Changing laws
• Ups and downs in the market
• Partner demands
• Customer expectations

The focus of business leaders would need to be on results, innovative methods of problem solving and scope of continuous improvement. A digital transformation allows these business activities and processes to fully leverage the changes brought about by digital technologies. This process is about how the changes are implemented with least disruption to the original flow of business.
The main challenge is change management as this metamorphosis affects all echelons of the organization. The aim and final goal of every business is to deliver a superlative customer experience. Hence the business leaders would need to challenge and push their companies to get the most out of this transformation.
Let us take a look at why companies need to embrace digital transformation in order to remain relevant in today’s economic ecosystem.

Competitive Advantage:
Initially, change can be cumbersome and take a toll on the employees, managers as well as company costs. However on the upside, it gives a company the advantage to cut out the competition. Any company not going through or not adopting digital transformation risks becoming obsolete and risks commercial oblivion as its competitors evolve to encounter the new actuality.

Global Reach:
New markets have now opened up to the world as location is no longer a barrier, thanks to the internet. These new markets are a great opportunity for all businesses which have the means and technology required to tap into them. The new communication and transaction tools available have made it possible for companies based in remote places to carry out their business internationally.

Streamlined Operations:
Implementation of new ideas, products and services gets easier as the digital technology makes feedback faster and more accurate. Catching and correcting flaws becomes possible at half the time it would take earlier thus reducing damages and increasing profits.

Employee Benefits and Growth:
A company’s vital asset is the personnel. This cliché has been true over the decades and has not changed even now. In order to make a company grow, the employees must thrive as well. If the employees are happy, they will ensure the customers are happy, which is beneficial for every organization.
The digital age has increased expectations of customers as well as of employees. In order to retain the best employees and keep turnover to a minimum, it is imperative for companies to give workforces the chance to develop and flourish. For example,
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• Communication: Effective digital transformation includes a more decentralized communication system, which leads to lesser issues, more unity and smoother operations.
• Core Functions: Manual functions like finance, HR and payroll can be automated. Allowing employees a chance to focus on wider business opportunities.
• Workplace flexibility: It is now possible for people to work from remote locations as long as they have access to the internet. For stay-at-home parents this is a great opportunity to continue work without having to physically be present at the office. Necessary meetings can also be attended virtually. 

This flexibility is beneficial to the company as well as the employee. It helps keep up employee morale and this gives the company’s bottom-line the perks of an efficient workforce.
Allowing employees this freedom also shows a sense of trust in the person which makes them strive to be an asset to the organization. It also attracts suitable and qualified candidates to apply and desire to be a part of the company.

Customer Experience and Customer Retention:
Nowadays customer’s interaction with a company is more online or via a mobile app as opposed to face to face. For example, even when you call a toll free number, problems can be solved via automated phone calls. It is important to ensure that this experience is as smooth and efficient as possible.
Digitally transformed businesses can make the most of VR recordings to check and maintain quality, solve complaints and look into feedback. The data and information from these tools help companies know exactly what the customers’ needs and expectations are. Accordingly the steps can be taken to ensure a great user experience and a loyal customer.
If a company is not digitally savvy, all that data and information, which would help a company grow, would not get its due diligence. Keeping in mind the competitive markets, these companies would be left behind by the organizations who made the most of customer insights.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):
Artificial intelligence is said to be a game changer as an increasing number of everyday tasks are being automated. For a company, this means staff gets more free time to tackle other work and more serious issues. In the next few years, most problems will be solved by AI and only escalated in dire scenarios. As with the data and information, the company with AI developments will have a strategic and competitive advantage in their respective fields.

Cloud Services:
After digital transformation, the next step would be a progression to cloud services. Cloud is central to digital transformation as it offers businesses the space needed to grow their data necessities. A cloud platform along with the data analysed information allows the business to lay its foundation for growth and prosperity. 

Cyber Security:

The advent of the digital age also brought malicious cyber-attacks and crimes against organizations. This increased the need for cyber vigilance and security. Businesses would need to proactively protect the company’s interests and this would only be possible by improving their cyber security infrastructure. Failing to do so would leave the company open to security and privacy violations.
From the above, we see the importance of digital transformation for companies and how it affects all interconnected aspects of business i.e. its functions, processes, work models and daily activities. The main aim of digital transformation, apart from increasing revenues at reduced costs, would be to improve the customer’s experience.
If you need any further information on the importance of digital transformations, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app developers : https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html

“Imagine if the line between the virtual and the real simply didn’t exist.
Your classroom could become the cosmos.
The past could be as vivid as the present.
And the familiar could look like nothing you’ve ever seen.”
Source: https://www.apple.com/in/ios/augmented-reality/
 
The expectation from the tech world has increased rapidly in the past few years. The millennial users want to experience the world by living within four walls. They want an experience that could get them to the edge of the seat while playing a game or take them into virtual worlds.

ARKit

Apple has recently released iOS 11 that gives the user the experience of augmented reality. Apple’s SDK – ARKit has moved beyond simple 2D camera overlays and moved on to 3D images that uses visual inertial odometry.
What does visual odometry do? It estimates the position of a moving camera in three dimensions relative to its starting position, i.e. it tracks a bunch of interest points (corner-like pixels in an image) across images in a video and uses 3D projective geometry to estimate their relative positions.
It is said that ARKit could give Google a run for their money and take Apple to the next level when it comes to giving the user an augmented reality experience on their phone. 

ARKit Features

Let’s take a look at the features that ARKit offers that are beneficial to the app developers:

• Used to improve individual elements of existing AR apps
• Used to scale objects
• Does not use the phone’s CPU (which means that it does not make the functions of the phone slow)
• Wider number of developers can track capabilities of iPhones and iPads
• Reduces development time
• Apple’s new machine learning framework can also help identify objects in a screen
• Apple’s advantage with ARKit is that it works with iOS, which has a less fragmented ecosystem than Android, as Apple controls both the hardware and software for all its devices. Post release of ARKit, independent software developers created incredible-looking experiences for the iPhone.

iOS Device that Works with ARKit
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iPhone

• iPhone XSiPhone ten s
• iPhone XS MaxiPhone ten s Max
• iPhone XRiPhone ten r
• iPhone X
• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone 6s
• iPhone 6s Plus
• iPhone SE

iPad

• iPad Pro (all models)
• iPad (6th generation)
• iPad (5th generation)

Examples of ARKit App
There are various groups which make popular use of the ARKit app. Right from apps used for editing images, gaming apps, lifestyle/home décor apps, etc.
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Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly talked about groups, the augmented appearance application:
 
“Mirror mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?”
-Snow White (Fairytale, 19th Century)
As much as we would hate to admit it, we live in the ‘selfie’ age where pictures are not only taken and uploaded but are heavily filtered/edited as well. AR offers “lenses” or a variety of filters which can be added to the images. With the help of apps, we can alter the following:

• Add Stickers to our images
• Alter looks by using filters or stickers
• Change our appearance (skin colour, eye colour, make-up, hair colour, etc)
• Create an illusion of wearing make-up

Hence, it is no surprise when market leaders like ModiFace offer ARKit apps for the beauty industry along with something known as the “magic mirror” software. 

Practically everything can be done virtually nowadays. Thanks to the ARKit Apps, popular make-up brands, like Sephora, have caved into the benefits of technology; you no longer need to visit the store physically. You just need to take a selfie and then try on all the makeup that you wish to with just a click or a swipe!
Not only does this save your time but there is also no tedious clean-up involved before trying on different shades. This not only makes it beneficial for the brand where they save up on testers and makeup representatives but also the consumer (you) who can try endless numbers of combination and colours and be spoilt for choice.
The latest rendering of the augmented reality is seen in Apples latest creation of an app which takes a 3D photo. Virtual objects are in the background i.e. 2D camera image and the virtual content is made to appear as a 3D object.

Real-Estate and Home Décor Applications:

Everyone likes to make changes to their home now and again. Whether you are setting up a home for the first time, or its time to refurbish, you always know how you want your ideal home to look. But that’s not necessarily how things end up looking! For example, the couch looked perfect in the store, but at home it looks dull and much too big/small for the space or does not match with the rest of the furniture.
Real-estate, home design and décor apps help buyers see exactly how the products would look in their home. They can also re-design the entire look with just a few swipes and click.

Let’s take a look at some real-estate and home décor apps which use ARKit apps:

• TapMeasure uses augmented reality apps to be able to create 3D models with the room builder feature. Since this app can measure your interior space, the models created are exactly to the point. It also allows you to share your work via a simple url.

 

• PLNAR gives some useful tools for creating building plans. These tools can benefit home owners, as well as interior designers. This app measures the room, lets you mark doorways, flat surfaces and measure the distance and objects. Using these AR features makes it simple to customize projects and share the same with home owners, as well as designers.

 

• Housecraft is another app which helps customize projects and redesign homes digitally before actually making any changes. Using the ARKit features, it allows for fully rendered 3D models to be created with the help of convenient tools.

 

• IKEA has also created an ARKit app known as Ikea Place, which shows you how their furniture would look in your home. This app not only scans the room but also shares ideas about what Ikea furniture would be best for your home.

 

• Other companies like Mongoli Market, Overstock, and Houzz App have also created more AR experiences which show how their products would look in your home. You also have extensive design samples which can help you redesign your own home. It is a digital market place that shows you 3D models of what you can expect.

Educational Applications:

Everything is now digital, virtual or online. We now have new learning apps which help give you knowledge regarding everything from languages to even technical know-hows.
ARKit apps have gained popularity in making practical lessons which complement each other and aid as a teaching and educational tool. A wide range of subjects are covered by these apps like anatomy to math to language to coding in Swift. Thanks to the tools available via these apps, children as well as adults can learn about the world around us with a swipe.

Technical Design Skills with the Help of ARKit Apps

SketchAR – this app helps artists as the name suggests to practice their skills. It helps artists draw their pictures and also provides a library with various images of nature, wild life, food, etc.

Astronomy with ARKit Apps

• SkyORB:  For all the astronomy enthusiasts out there, this app has a 3D star map, planetarium and sun clock. The AR tools (with the help of GPS) allow users to get the names of stars and planets just by pointing to them. An added benefit is that it also alerts the observers for any astronomical events worth seeing such as, an eclipse.

 

• Augmented Reality Solar System App: This app focuses on the planets in our solar system, their distance from each other and their orbit radius on a realistic scale.

Conclusion
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If you are not an Apple user fear not on missing out the experience of an augmented reality app. Just like ARKit, ARCore software development kit has been previewed by Google. ARCore also adds the same functions of augmented reality to Android phones.  Currently, it works on Samsung Galaxy S8 and Google Pixel and soon will also be available to Android 7.0 Nougat users.
If you wish to know more about augmented reality, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app developers: https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html. 

Our economy today is made up of more multinational companies than ever before. However, due to the unsettled economic times facing us, one of the fundamental problems for a company has been how to sustain itself and grow. Most companies struggle with this i.e. how to ensure low production costs and high quality products and profits. 

Have you been mulling about outsourcing your company operations to other business providers? Usually this is very beneficial as it reduces the long term investment in infrastructure, thus reducing costs. However, it is very important to ensure strategic relationships are set up keeping in mind the state of affairs of both parent and partner companies. According to Forbes, there are approximately 300,000 jobs outsourced by the United States each year.

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/07/17/the-pros-and-cons-of-outsourcing-and-the-effect-on-company-culture/#43effa7b562d

​Company executives and CEOs are sometimes under the impression that purely outsourcing the business to a company makes the business function the outsource providers responsibility. This is not entirely true. In order to form a successful outsource partnership, a thorough analysis is required of both parent and partner companies. If this is not done, the result can be disastrous.
In an unsuccessful alliance, depending on the function or functions being outsourced, companies can lose clients, good employees, as well as profits. Operations like production, accounting, HR, admin and sometimes even core operations can be outsourced. Companies like Apple, Nike, Wal-Mart, IBM, etc are some of the biggest outsourcing companies. A number of factors are looked at while outsourcing like a company’s goals, duration of alliance, clear details of decision making power (which company is in charge), companies culture, etc.

What is Organization Culture?

An organizations culture is made up of the following:

• Core values
• Beliefs
• Principles

This framework helps guides how an employee would act or react to any given incident at work. It is seen not only in social interactions but also business interactions between employees. It defines what is appropriate and acceptable i.e. it is learned behavior.

Importance of Culture

Every individual and company has its own culture. Some of the latest hiring techniques also make recruiters look at employees as being a cultural fit apart from other qualifying factors. Yet culture is often neglected or not given due diligence when it comes to outsourcing. In a lot of cases culture is the missing link between a successful and failed partnership.
Your employee’s behaviour affects every aspect of your business. Culture is the framework which guides your company or an individual’s behavior. It impacts happiness of your employees which in turn affects productivity. Ultimately it is your organization’s culture that dictates how your employees would work together.
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Culture and Outsourcing
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An employee’s behaviour is strongly influenced by culture, since “behavioural competence stems from our own individual attitudes and experiences.”
Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309650396_Culture_and_the_Impact_on_Customer_Service_Considerations_for_Offshoring_to_India

While outsourcing, employees from different backgrounds get to work together. Usually the outsourcing takes place with company’s located in different countries. In such scenarios, the cultural differences play a pivotal role and can lead to misunderstandings and undesired results. Most executives do not understand that outsourcing is usually an alliance and a partnership, where both parties need to acknowledge and be aware of each other’s work, expectations and most importantly culture. 
It is safe to say that employees work best when they understand who they are working with and working for. While working with people from different organizations or countries they have to look at various aspects like:

1. Time difference
2. Difference in troubleshooting
3. Communication
4. Company goals (are they the same or different?)

For instance, either the companies might want a successful partnership or one company would want to increase profits while the other only wants to minimize costs.

1. Cultural similarities and differences

Pros and Cons of Choosing Companies with Similar Culture

Pros:

• When a parent company and partner company have similar cultures, it becomes easier to avoid issues.
• Interactions go a lot smoother as usually everyone is on the same page.
• Not many variables need to be monitored in this scenario. Communication styles are also similar. Training required in these cases would be minimal.

Cons

• A lot of issues can get over looked and lead to future problems.
• Executives do not look too closely to verify details as they assume they would be the same again jeopardizing the collaboration and work which needs to be done.

Pros and Cons of Choosing Companies with Different Culture

Pros:

• When a company is aware about the differences in their partners work ethos, they pay more attention to detail.
• This would help ensure less issues cropping up in the future. Interactions are a lot smoother because each side pays attention to how the other side behaves. Especially when applied to the global scenario.

Cons:

• If the company is extremely different from the parent company, it could lead to a lot of misunderstandings and friction.
• The time taken to understand the differences would lead to a delay in expected results. This is because executives would have to look at even minute details and wait to collect all data to avoid overlooking any critical factors. It is not possible to assume the details have been understood. These delays could lead to an increase in unforeseen costs.

Finding the Right Partners

While looking at outsourcing business, be it a small fraction/tactical support or a core business need, it is important to find the right partner! Companies have to keep in mind that these agreements are with partners and not vendors. The rise in outsourcing has also given rise to companies who help form alliances based on customised requirements.
An outsource service provider will always look at minute details of business required, as well as cultural fit when it comes to creating a partnership. This will ensure a smooth transition and help both companies understand the requirements and differences in culture.
This helps tremendously when the company is outsourcing to an offshore account where the possibilities of cultural differences is very high, thus, reducing time and cost needed during the initial phases.

To Sum It All Up

Since outsourcing means you are extending your company, a cultural fit is important. We have also seen the important role played by culture in a company and its employee’s growth. The informal culture is lot more telling in such scenarios. Communication styles play a huge role here as executives have to work with the partners.
For example, if the informal culture of a company rewards secrecy and division in the team, then assuming they encourage openness and teamwork would be a huge error. This can lead to a lot of future problems down the road. Also, people would only be working with selectively passed on information leading to errors and misgivings.
Since corporate culture has a direct impact on your business outcome, it is imperative to look at the prevailing cultures in both companies before partnering them. This not only makes the entire operation cost effective and productive but also helps in ensuring a successful outsourcing relationship.
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If you need to know how to make the right decision to outsource, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app developers: https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html.

Technology in Real Estate

Real estate is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and technology is helping its growth rate. In 2017, more than $5bn was invested in real estate technology (Forbes). This significant increase in investment was majorly driven by the use of technology in the industry, allowing apps like Airbnb to compete with some of the largest and most established real-estate companies and hotels. Now, the use of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) is also helping improve an average homeowners experience.

Augmented Reality in Real Estate
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The advantage of using AR is that information that is traditionally visualized in 2D can now be depicted in 3D for any user with a fair amount of intractability.
 
The first area AR can help in is finding actual listings for real-estate properties. Commercial Real Estate built an app that allows users to overlay listings for properties onto their camera, so they can see which properties are available in a crowded area such as downtown quite easily

​Another use case is to allow home builders to place and navigate through 3D models of houses. Users can find a potential place to build a house and overlay the 3D model of the house in that location to see how it would look. Then, the house can be increased in size, and the user can walk through it to see how it would look like from the inside. 

​A third use is for current homeowners who are looking to see how they can modify their house. The IKEA place app allows people to place 3D models of furniture in their house and scale it to their liking. This will allow them to see how furniture looks before they purchase it. 

Overall, while AR is still in its infancy, the AR market is expected to increase to $100bn by 2021, providing it will have a large impact in the real estate industry (PropertyMe).

Virtual Reality in Real Estate

Normally, real estate agents provide a lengthy list of properties to the client. Afterward come explanations, negotiations, and finally the real-life visits to houses and apartments. This workflow has remained the same for decades, but it’s inconvenient and time-consuming not only for realtors but for homebuyers as well.

VR is a game changer in this industry. The power of VR technology can help real estate agents grow their business, get more clients, and deliver top-level services. It’s particularly important to adopt this new technology today when 95% of clients search for properties on the internet (RubyGarage).
 
The first way VR can be used is for a virtual property showcase. There are guided visits using 360 cameras where the user can walk through a set tour of the house and look around using a VR headset. There are also interactive tours where a model of the house is uploaded in VR and the user can walk wherever they would like to and see any parts of the house. This is a new and efficient way to show properties. 

​The next case would be to help with virtual staging. Most new properties have little to no furniture, and renting furniture to stage can be quite expensive, and often does not appeal to everyone. Virtual staging allows an empty house to look appealing as virtual models of furniture are staged into the house, providing a full experience of a furnished house. Not only is this significantly faster and cheaper, it also adds a touch of personalization to the house. 

VR can also be used for Architectural Visualization. Marketing a property that isn’t constructed yet has always been a challenge for real estate developers and agents. Most companies build large 3D models of the property, but it is often tough to gauge how it will look when it is build. For the interiors, real estate agents create large showrooms with full-scale models of apartments. Needless to say, these marketing methods require considerable investment. Virtual reality can effectively solve this problem and allow potential homebuyers to carefully check out both the exterior and interior of future properties.
 
Thanks to VR, architectural visualization has become much cheaper and a lot more immersive. Real estate agents can use VR technology to show both the exterior and interior of properties that aren’t built yet so that clients can get a clear look at what’s being offered.
VR and AR also provide the opportunity to up and cross sell.
For example, let’s say a homebuyer is taking a 3D real estate tour but wants to make changes to the interior. They could go to an online store, choose a different piece of furniture, and add it to their three-dimensional tour. By making these changes, they can style a property according to their preferences.

Moreover, even if clients make no changes to the interior of a property, they might be interested in buying pieces of furniture, curtains, and other items that are showcased in the virtual tour. In this case, they can immediately visit a virtual store and order them.

Key Benefits

Saves Time

Most people who buy homes like to look at multiple properties and are usually busy with other items as well. AR and VR saves time for both clients and realtors. Thanks to them, there’s no need to travel from one property to another and sit in traffic jams. Instead, clients can simply put on headsets or devices and enjoy immersive tours of the house. For real estate managers, they do not need to physically be at the property any more. They can work from their office where clients come in to view multiple properties virtually.
 
Builds Personal Connections

Virtual tours of houses and apartments help your clients visualize each property. Traditional tours often have other buyers and generic furniture, making it difficult to emotionally see yourself in the house. AR and VR allow the house to be completely customized from inside and out and seen from all angles, ensuring the buyer is connected to the product.
 
Saves Money
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Developing feature-rich 3D virtual tours may seem expensive but think of the investment in traditional real estate marketing. Not only do agents need to stage properties, they also need to provide photos of the property and a lot of print material like brochures and posters.
 
Conclusion

VR/AR technology has already started to transform the real estate industry. However, it has not been adopted by majority of companies yet. More real estate companies are likely to use the benefits of VR/AR to make their work more efficient in the near future.
 
The simplest forms of virtual home tours are accessible to any realtor. As for more immersive and sophisticated AR experiences, there are lots of companies that can help real estate agents create them. These technologies will play a large part in the future of the industry, and it is best to invest in them now.
 

The most important check before rolling out a product in the market is testing the quality of the product. Testing the capabilities and functionalities of the product help us understand its performance, scalability and maintenance before launching it in the market. The different levels of testing the software helps us reduce the bugs before releasing the product.
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So how do you go about testing a product? The best way to do that is by testing functionalities individually, i.e. unit testing. Let’s understand what unit testing is, why it is necessary and its benefits. 

Unit Testing
Unit testing involves testing the smallest piece of codes (functions) individually. For instance, a unit can be a class, a line of code or a method. If you want to test your code performance, the best way is to check smaller units. Also, the smaller the units, the faster you can run your tests. If you do find any defects while testing a unit, it is easy to locate and also easy to fix.
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Steps Post Unit Testing
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Post testing all the units, the second step is integration testing. This test is done after integrating these units together – this is to check if each isolated unit works as expected when integrated. These tests validate complex scenarios and hence, they require web servers and databases to be tested.
The next step is system checking. This is to check if all the integrated units are working together flawlessly. System checks are done in real-life environment keeping real life situations in mind. Functional, technical and business requirements are verified during this process.
The last step is acceptance testing. By applying predefined test scenarios and test cases, the quality assurance team tests the application. This will help you determine if the system complies with the business requirement.

Necessity of Unit Testing
So, why is unit testing necessary?

• Your web application is a bunch of small units working together.
• Each small piece of code depends on the other small pieces.
• If you change one unit, something else can break as a consequence.
• Unit tests can automatically detect problematic parts of your code so you know where the problem is and how to rectify the behaviour.

Unit Testing Methods
There are three phases of unit testing method that help to verify the small pieces of the test application are: AAA. This acronym stands for Arrange, Act and Assert.

• Arranging the test for a particular piece of application, which is also called system under test.
• The act of performing the actual testing, i.e. interacting with the system under test.
• Observing the results in the behaviour of the software and asserting if the expectations have been met.

After the phases of unit testing, if the resulting behaviour is in line with the expectations, the unit test is marked as passed; and if not then the system needs to be fixed.
Now, that we’ve determined the necessity of unit testing, let’s understand the benefits of unit testing.
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Benefits of Unit Testing
There are a lot of arguments in the market that unit testing is not essentially, as automatic testing can detect errors in the system. But that’s not true! Automatic testing is mainly useful to check complex commands of the system. It doesn’t really check the quality of the smaller components in the system which can get problematic after the release of the product. So how does unit testing help?

Early Bug Fixing

Unit tests help you to find bugs before the product is sent for the system testing stage. This helps the developers to fix the problem at an early stage and it also saves the cost of debugging at a later stage or after the release of the product. The location of the failure and debugging the code becomes easy, once unit tests become a part of the continuous integration process.

Easy Refactoring if Code Changes

When the developer needs to change the working code without changing the way the app behaves, it is called refactoring. When the code based becomes larger, it becomes important to refactor the code. While unit testing, you get immediate feedback when you break the code making it easy to refactor it safely.

Useful Documentation

Unit tests are a working example to how to use a library and hence, they are like a working documentation of the code. They become a useful form of documentation as the history shows the programmers what the code was being used for initially. Unit testing also makes it easy for developers to work with the team or handover a project to another developer (this is possible only if the developers know how to write unit tests clearly and document them.

Enhance the Quality of Code

By identifying the defects in the code before the integration testing stage helps improve the quality of the code. Hence, writing the tests before coding makes you think harder on the problem which in turn helps you write better code by exposing the edge cases.

Create Better Design
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Writing the test in the beginning makes you think through your design and what it might accomplish before you write the code. It helps you keep focus and create better designs. If you are able to define the responsibility of the code while testing it, then it is considered to be well-defined and hence, has high cohesion.

Automation Frameworks for Unit Testing

Developers use unit testing frameworks to write unit tests quickly and easily since most programming languages don’t support unit testing with the built-in compiler. There are different frameworks to deal with unit testing.

• Jasmine is a behaviour-driven development framework for testing JavaScript code. It’s generally used for websites, Node.js projects, or anywhere that JavaScript is used. Jasmine doesn’t rely on browsers and JavaScript frameworks. The main benefit of Jasmine is that it’s browser, framework, and platform independent.

 

• Jest was built by Facebook and based on Jasmine. It’s used by Instagram, Airbnb, Facebook, and many other companies. It is known for its speed and simplicity and the fact that it makes the whole test suite run fasts as it runs tests simultaneously.

 

• Mocha is a feature-rich JavaScript testing framework that runs on Node.js and a browser. Mocha can be used with Chai assertion library, which works well for JavaScript code used for data models, business logic and utilities.

 

• RSpec is a BDD library for testing Ruby code. With RSpec, you can test an entire application’s behaviour rather than only specific methods. When writing your code in RSpec, you create highly readable blocks of code that can be useful documentation if done right. The simplicity of the RSpec syntax makes it one of the most popular testing tools for Ruby applications.

 
This determines that unit testing is the path to excellence before releasing the product. Unit tests help your product perform better and write clean codes that can be used for documentation purposes. If you wish to further inquire about unit testing for web applications, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app developers: https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html
 

There are various product ideas that can be developed to create a mobile app. After going through a plethora of ideas, the next step is to choose a mobile product idea that can define the vision of the next promising mobile app that you wish to launch in the market.
The first step towards creating a successful mobile app is to create a Product Requirements Document (PRD). This document contains a detailed project management plan stating the logic behind creating the app, the technical requirements and the responsibilities of stakeholders at each stage.

This is essential to avoid scope creep – that is the tendency for projects to go above and beyond its set limitations in terms of functionality, project duration, etc. In the initial stages of planning a PRD everything might seem like a haze but it will definitely help you think about all the aspects about the product. 
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Let’s take a look at a few requirements that will help you manage scope creep from taking over your project:

​Managing Business Requirements Constraints

While creating the business app, it is important to understand the organizational objective that you are trying to reach with the app. The main purpose of this app should be to solve the issues faced by the end user.
For instance, is your mobile app going to use a backend system from another application or is the app going to be coded from scratch. If the mobile app is going to introduce a completely new process, then you need to consider:

• The timeframe of the project
• The number of features that need to be added
• The resources required to complete the project on time

Here, the Product Requirements Document will help you gain more insight on what is feasible and what is not.

“De-scope” Your App
The only reasons that you would need to ‘de-scope’ your app would be:

New Idea/Untested Market: Making an app that is absolutely new to the market means that you need to go slow and get as much feedback and user data as possible. For example, when Uber launched it was a fairly simple app that allowed the user to book a cab over the phone. Over time new features like ‘Rentals’ and ‘Out station’ (fairly recent) were introduced in the app.

Meeting Deadlines: If you have a deadline that you can’t miss, you need to limit your app instead of overloading it with features that are faulty. Features that have bugs have more of a downside than not offering the feature at all.

Budget: Budgeting plays a huge role in designing an app. You don’t want to overshoot the budget and land in a soup, would you? Hence, scoping intelligently and improving it step-by-step would ensure that you don’t overstep your budget.

Managing Technical Requirements Constraints
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The next decision that you need to make is to make a strategic choice about the technical requirements – that is choose the platform, hosting and the backend design. The backend design of the mobile app is one of the most important factors as that is the backbone of the functionality of your mobile app.
The architecture of the mobile app is a blueprint for the entire system – a solid architecture should be able to have space for accommodating changes and user feedback if necessary. If you have created condusive mobile app architecture then it becomes easier to manage if there is a scope creep.

Making the Right Product Decisions
While creating an initial design plan for the mobile app, you must ensure that the core features of the app are not confined and compromised on while building the app. The team must sit together and ensure that there is minimal compromise.
Therefore, this process is all about making decisions to work towards a realistic and attainable goal of building a product that has a defined project scope, timeline and cost. There are a set of questions that we can put down before moving forward.

Duration of the Project
The date for the roll out of the project is important as this helps us to curb on the scope creep. We must determine the time it will take to build the features for the app, and thereby decide the duration of the project.

Reason to Build the App
As mentioned before, we need to determine the reason for building the app. We need to determine the features that are of utmost importance to building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

App Alternatives
We need to find out if the same type of app is available in the market. Then we need to fish out that one core feature that differentiates our app and highlight that to the user base.
Also, we need to determine if there is an alternative way to make the app features that would take less time and deliver the user experience that we wish.

Get to Market Quicker with a Product Requirements Document
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A Product Requirements Document helps you manage the following:

• Costly product decisions
• Initial planning stages of development with a PRD protects your product from inflating beyond your project constraints
• Achieves a quicker time to market
• Compromise is inevitable, but with clear requirements on paper, the decision-making process is simplified

In the end, it all boils down to delivering a high quality application adds value to users, meets your objectives and that aligns with the budget and timeline kept in mind. Ensuring that you scope the project intelligently with logical milestones based on user feedback will help your application excel and widely used.
If you wish to get more information on balancing product ideas and avoiding scope creep, you can contact the App Scoop mobile app developers: https://app-scoop.com/contact-us.html