Building an app for your business is an important benchmark, but if you want to do it right, you have to understand why you need one, what your customers gain from it, and which platforms your customers already use. Your goal as a business is to become the first call your potential customers make and to do that, you have to be on the same platforms your customers already use.
The most-used smartphone and tablet operating systems are Android and iOS, with Android capturing about 63% of the US market and iOS another 31%. It’s important that you prioritize which platforms you want to be present on because it takes time and money to adapt an app to a new platform. If your user experience relies heavily on visual effects or animations, the app should be built native to the platform to cut down on errors and improve performance.
Mobile app developers known for their visual design like recent W3 Award winners Clearbridge Mobile develop native apps for all the platforms they work in. Native code delivers higher speed and better performance, both critical to providing your customers with a better user experience. To find out more about the different platforms they work on, visit Clearbridgemobile.com/platforms/ and learn what’s best for your business.
If you simply want to compete on the mobile market, building for Android and iOS will allow you to reach the majority of smartphone users, but other platforms may be even better suited to your objectives. Since the launch of tvOS, the operating system for apps made for Apple TV, more brands have been designing with the TV screen in mind, creating more immersive visual experiences and leaning toward entertainment. If you’re a content provider, getting on Apple TV and other connected TV platforms like Roku is no longer a luxury, it’s the future of media consumption. Connected TV allows you to connect directly with your viewers, reaching into markets that were previously inaccessible. Take SinoVision, a New York-based Chinese-language content provider; working with developers Clearbridge Mobile, they’ve put their channel in the hands of anyone with Apple TV, Samsung TV, or Roku, anywhere in the world.
Wearables are another platform poised to experience considerable growth in the next few years and there remains a lot of room for game-changing innovation. Media companies have been moving into wearables like the Apple Watch to stay in tune with their audiences – the smaller format has proven ideal for notifications and connectivity with smartphones. The Wall Street Journal provides stock updates and headlines on the Apple Watch, directing audiences to larger-format screens for the full story while helping their audiences stay on the world’s pulse. Wearables are becoming more than just fitness-trackers, although fitness apps have clearly had a lot of early success with the platform, and the world is only beginning to discover what’s possible with wearables and IoT. Your business needs an app that’s made by agile, forward-thinking developers who only use native code and push what’s possible with mobile space. Make the call today and start pushing your brand into new digital spaces.