Category: How-To

When you want to buy or rent a house, would you choose to hire a real estate agent or browse a real estate website? Most of us prefer to search for a property via real estate websites to save time and get access to a vast amount of options. During your search, you may visit Zillow, the leading real estate and rental site in the U.S. This website gathers real estate agents, buyers, and sellers, helping them buy and sell real estate property. 

How did Zillow manage to become so popular? What steps should you take to develop a real estate website like Zillow? How much will a real estate two-sided marketplace cost? 

In this article, we will answer all these questions and give handy tips on how to build a real estate website without spending a fortune. 

The story behind Zillow’s success 

The Zillow story began in 2004 when two former top Microsoft managers, Lloyd Frink and Rich Barton, joined forces to launch a website that could estimate a home’s value and rental rates for homes. The following year they launched a website with real estate data from 300 cities. In the first three days, a million users visited the site to “Zestimate” the value of their homes. 

Since its launch, Zillow has become something more than a property listing website since its monetization strategy includes running ads and promoting brokers and agents. As Spencer Rascoff, the CEO of Zillow Group says, “We are a media company. We sell advertising. Having a large audience is critical.” 

How does Zillow make money?

To earn money, Zillow provides users with the following promotion services:

Premier Services for real estate agents who pay the website for running ads and receiving leads. Agents are charged:

• Cost per ad impression, i.e., the cost per 1000 ads views
• Cost per lead varies from $20-60.

Selling Promotions aimed at real estate companies. The website charges property management companies cost per lead, cost per click, and cost per lease for running ads within the Zillow Rental Network, which includes AOL Real Estate, Trulia, MyNewPlace, Yahoo! Inc., Hotpads, and MSN Real Estate websites. 

The advertisement sales model includes selling advertising space to lenders, mortgage professionals, and other businesses. The platform charges a cost per lead fee. 

Subscription model for mortgage services, which means the website connects custom quote services and lead management platform. 

In a nutshell, Zillow has become the ultimate real estate platform across the U.S. that connects home builders, rental professionals, buyers, investors, and agents. The website includes unique features and tools that help buyers to find the perfect home,  real estate agents to promote their business. 

Now, let’s dive into the real estate website development process. 

How to make a real estate website like Zillow: essential features 

As we can see, Zillow is the industry leader that others are trying to keep up to. However, it is almost impossible to duplicate  Zillow’s feature list without going bankrupt. According to an Aberdeen report, in 2018 alone, Zillow spent $20.8 million on technology. In view of this, we offer you to take you on your own path in the development of your real estate website. Below, we have gathered essential features for a real estate listing website MVP that will save time and stay within budget. 

Property listings and databases

Databases with properties are an essential feature for a real estate marketplace. If your real estate agency already has its database of properties located in your city, region, or country, the web development team will integrate it into the website’s back-end. But, if you have no databases, what should you do? Let’s find out.  

If you want to develop a real estate marketplace in the U.S., you can follow the Zillow example and integrate databases from:

• National Association of Realtors (NAR)
• Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

These sources of real estate databases list properties across the U.S., however, this is the most complicated option. You will receive access to MLS and NAR only if you get a real estate license in each U.S. state, which requires both time and money. Are there other ways to integrate property databases to a Zillow type website? Let’s see. 

• Zillow API

You can integrate Zillow API to your website and get access to homes posted for sale. According to Zillow data and API Terms of use, the company allows integrating its API to websites, but not to mobile apps. 

• Post by owners

Since you are going to develop a two-sided marketplace, you can allow landlords to place the information about their real estate for sale. 

• Listing syndication platforms

You can enter the data-sharing agreement with one of the national real estate companies and list their property directly to your marketplace. To achieve that, you may choose among the following real estate platforms: 

• 365 Connect, a technology provider for the housing sector
• RealBird social media and mobile listing marketing platform
• JBGoodwin Realtors a marketplace with broker listed property

[Zillow property listing]

CASE STUDY: PERSONALIZED TRAVEL RECOMMENDATION CHATBOT

Filtering Algorithms

To allow users to find the property they are looking for more conveniently, you need to integrate a filtering algorithm to your marketplace. We suggest you consider the following search parameters:

• Location 
• Price

[Zillow “Price” filter]

• Type 

[Zillow “Home type” filter]

• Area
• Number of bedrooms 

[Zillow “number of beds” filter]

• Floor, etc.

[Other Zillow filters]

CASE STUDY: SEMANTIC SEARCH FOR IMPROVING CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Mapping and geolocation 

Your marketplace users will want to learn about the area they are moving to beforehand. To achieve this, you can integrate Zillow API that contains neighborhood boundaries, and a bunch of other APIs with the neighborhood and geographical information, including:    

• GeoNames, a dataset that includes over 10 million geographical names
• Google Places API that provides info about local businesses, such as restaurants, sports clubs, and supermarkets
• MapBox to build your custom map with property listing, market data, videos, and photos. This tool also allows users to draw a polygon on the map for better search results. 

View property

A detailed representation of property is one of the essential functions for real estate websites like Zillow. To show website users the excellent visualization of real estate objects, you can use: 

• Photos

[Source: Zillow]

• Videos 

[Source: Zillow]

• 3-D models 
• 360° panoramic images

[Source: Zillow]

Cloud infrastructure 

Since your real estate marketplace will include a considerable amount of high-quality photos, videos, and even 360° panoramic images, to keep all this data you need powerful hosting. Otherwise, you will face issues with image system scalability, performance, and disaster recovery challenges. 

In this case, the best option is to follow Zillow’s example and integrate a cloud-based infrastructure from the very beginning. As for Zillow, the company uses Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) to store over 100TB of data, over 1 billion objects, and 300 million images. “Maintaining an object count in the billions doesn’t work so well on a traditional file system. We would have to split those objects across many file systems, which would be a management nightmare. The scalability of Amazon S3 seemed like the right technology for us,” says Nick Michal, Unix systems engineering manager for Zillow Group.

Since you are now aware of the essential features of a real estate website, let’s find out how much it will cost. 

CASE STUDY: DOOGOOD – AN APP FOR DOING GOOD

How much does a real estate website like Zillow cost

The development of a real estate website is a complex project, not only because of API’s integrations, but also because it includes different user roles, such as buyers, sellers, and admin. Therefore, the development team should build your real estate website for three types of users. To save you time and money, we recommend launching such projects as MVP, a website with only the main features. In this way, you can discover whether or not your business idea has to earn potential. Below, we have gathered the main features for building a real estate website MVP. 

FeatureScreen	Functions required	FrontEnd	BackEnd
Architecture/DB		16 hours	40 hours
Design		450 hours
Deployment			40 hours
User interface
Home page	– Search by the address	24 hours	24 hours
Menu bar	– Menu options	8 hours
Registration	– Account creation – Registration	16 hours	16 hours
Login	– Login by Facebook, Google – Restore password	8 hours	20 hours
Search Results	– List of properties with images	24 hours	8 hours
Search filter	– Search filters (rent, sale, budget, home type)	16 hours	16 hours
Map for search results	– Google Map API integration – Define the user’s location	16 hours	8 hours
Listing information about house/property	– Fill the information about the property – Insert images	16 hours	16 hours
Applications for listed property	– Application details for listed properties	16 hours
Property page	– Information (static) – Features (static)	24 hours	8 hours
Maps directions	– Direction to the property (only for authorized users)
Static pages( About us, help)	– Static text (not editable)	32 hours
System rules, authority rules	– Authorized users and non-authorized users have different level of rights (directions to property)
User account/profile	– Edit profile, account – User settings – Applications	16 hours	40 hours
Real Estate Agent interface
Log In	– Login, logout, password recovery – Account creation	8 hours	20 hours
Home page	– List of requests from users	24 hours	4 hours
Requests	– Requests details – Requests from consumers	24 hours	20 hours
User account/profile	– Edit profile, account, settings	16 hours	8 hours
Contact Us	– Static text (not editable)	32 hours
Admin Panel
Admin Login	– Login		4 hours
List of users	– Manage the list of users – Manage user information		16 hours
Property List	– Review the list of properties		4 hours
Property page	– Review information about properties		20 hours
Total		Front-end from 786+ hours	Back-end from 332+ hours

How to build the real estate marketplace with The App Solutions? 

Before we start making a real estate website MVP, we will launch the discovery (inception) phase, to explore and elaborate on the project idea. Moreover, we will also define the scope of the project and the possible solutions to be implemented. The main goal of the inspection phase is to identify the project’s scope and the requirements and create an Inception Technical Documentation, which may cost from $4000. 

Next, using technical documentation, the team will compose a list of requirements of MVP (Minimum Viable Product) features in the form of User Stories. The business analyst will clarify User Stories by splitting them into Use Cases Investigation and analysis of third-party system integrations. Then, we will start planning and projecting the future project MVP server architecture. When all these documents are ready, our team will launch the MVP development stage. 

The cost to create a real estate website MVP starts from $45,000, while the cost to build a real estate website with an integrated calendar, payment gateway, and other bells and whistles will cost from $100,000 to $200,000. 

However, the costs to develop a real estate app like Zillow are only approximate, because the final estimation of the real estate website will depend on website requirements and the number of features. 

To find out more about real estate website development costs, you are always welcome to contact us for a free quote. 

Related articles: 

CHATBOTS FOR REAL ESTATE: HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

HOW TO DEVELOP AN APP LIKE NETFLIX

HOW TO BUILD A FOOD DELIVERY APP LIKE UBEREATS

We live in a fast-changing world that brought a considerable amount of stress humans didn’t face before. Thus, to reduce daily stresses and improve our mental health, we should apply modern technologies, including meditation mobile apps.

At the same time, the example of the Headspace app, with more than $100 million annual revenue, shows that the niche of so-called “self-care” apps is quite profitable. Moreover, a Statista report showed the meditation market in the U.S. was estimated to be worth around 1.21 billion, and now is predicted to be worth 2 billion by the year 2022.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health reported that 18 million U.S. adults (8%) use meditation to improve their mental health, since it  is a working method to improve  attention, mental health and increase creativity and other benefits:  

To give you an idea of how to create your own meditation app, we have gathered tips on how to develop a profitable and scalable app, its essential features, and app MVP estimation. 

WHY CREATE A CUSTOM MENTAL HEALTH APP

Steps to develop a Headspace app clone

To succeed in meditation app development, you need to go through the stages described below. 

Step 1. Decide on your business idea 

Before hiring the app development team, you need to clarify the concept of your app, i.e., decide on the app type. Currently, there are the following types of relaxation meditation apps presented on the market: 

Guided meditation apps. Such applications include a playlist of pre-recorded guided meditation tracks, divided by topics like anxiety or stress-reduction, SOS meditations, and so on. 

One example of such an app is Headspace. The app welcomes new users with short animations of meditation techniques explained and provides a library that includes numerous meditation courses, as well as short meditation lessons.

[Source: Techsoup Canada]

Mindfulness morning meditation apps. As a rule, such apps include a list of relaxation sounds or even mantras to meditate on. Another app feature is a timer to track the meditation sessions’ length and information on breathing exercises. 

The most popular mindfulness meditation app is Calm. Apart from the features, we have described above, Calm users receive access to sleep stories, customizable sound settings, mindfulness reminders, session history, and Calm online communities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

[Source: App Store]

Meditator network apps. As for average social networks, such apps for meditators are aimed at creating communities of locals where users can share their experiences with others. Such apps have groups on different topics, an FAQ section for beginners, and even geolocation features to find other meditators nearby. 

Insight Timer is a network app for meditators that includes all the features described above. Insight Timer has a library of podcasts with mindfulness experts on neuroscience, psychology, and teachers from the University of Oxford, Harvard, and Stanford.

[Source: Insighttimer.com]

HEALTHCARE APPS DEVELOPMENT: TYPES, EXAMPLES, AND FEATURES

Step 2. Select the right approach to UI/UX

If you consider developing a meditation app aimed at helping people with anxiety, stress, and depression, you need to be selective when it comes to the app’s design. After analyzing meditation apps like Headspace, Calm, and Insight Timer, we gathered the following design tips: 

• Avoid bright colors. Instead, use a more natural palette of pastel shades.  
• Do not use too many design elements at once. Overloaded patterns distract app users from their initial goal – to get rid of stress. 
• Use animations instead of text. Animations work best for welcome screens, meditation technique explanations, and updates on the user’s progress stats. 

Step 3. Choose the mobile app platform

If your budget allows, you can pay for the development of apps for both Android and iOS. But if your budget is limited, you need to select the platform carefully. Android and iOS users have different demographic profiles. Thus, you need to choose the app platform depending on the information about your target customers, their preferences, location, level of income, education, and so on. To find out more, read our article IOS vs. Android app development. 

The alternative approach is to develop a cross-platform app using React Native, Flutter, or Xamarin programming languages. The drawback of such an approach is that the app should not support native OS features, as authorization via Apple ID. 

HOW TO MAKE A MEDICAL APP IN 2022: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

Step 4. Consider Gamification for user engagement

To gain the first thousand app users is not a big deal; you can do this using marketing campaigns and an active social media presence. The plan is to encourage people who downloaded your app to use it daily. Otherwise, users will delete your app, and your monetization strategy will fail. 

To avoid this situation, think about how you can use gamification in your app beforehand. For instance, you can integrate gamification elements, such as points, to motivate app users to listen to meditation sessions each day and make progress. After each meditation session, users receive points and collect them to unlock the next level of the meditation program. 

[Headspace gamification example]

Step 5. Use the MVP model

If you want to validate your business idea on a meditation app without spending a fortune, consider creating an app MVP, an app version with minimal functionality. In this way, you will not only save money but also analyze user behavior to add the most demanding features during the second development stage.

In building a meditation app MVP, we strongly advise avoiding sophisticated features, such as in-app payments, chats, and video streams. Instead, your meditation app MVP might include: 

• Registration and sign in
• User profile with progress stats
• An introductory course in the form of a short video or animation 
• Limited library with pre-recorded meditation sessions   
• Gamification for entering a new meditation level

Now it is time to find out how much a meditation app will cost. 

HOW MENTAL HEALTH CHATBOTS HANDLE STRESS?

How much does an app like Calm cost?

Unfortunately, there is no single answer to this question since the app costs consist of the number of features and OS platforms, the development team composition, and the hourly development rate. However, we can estimate how much time our development team needs to make a meditation app MVP. 

To make this info easier to perceive, we have split the estimation in hours into crucial app blocks:

Feature/Screen	Design	FrontEnd	BackEnd	Android/iOS
Create/edit/delete categories of meditations			6
Gamification	12	6	32	6
Home screen	8	16		12
User registration, login, pass recovery, log out	16	40	32	40
User profile( edit )	6	16	16	16
Public user profile page	8	16	4	16
Library			8	16
Library Management				32
Animation				40

To receive a more precise estimation, use our project cost calculator. 

Also, take into account the following essential components of the app development process:

• QA from 50 hours
• BugFix from 20 hours
• Project Management from 40 hours
• Project Documentation from 30 hours

To sum up, the meditation app development cost starts from $30K per platform. 

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO DEVELOP AN APP: DETAILED FEATURE BREAKDOWN

Development of meditation mobile app: things to consider

Before hiring an app development team to create apps like Headspace, you need to consider vital elements for further app monetization, scaling, and adding advanced features. So, what are these elements to consider before building apps like Calm?  

Architecture 

While your app MVP will include only a limited amount of pre-recorded meditation tracks, their number will increase in the future. To avoid issues related to mobile app scaling, we recommend developing mobile backend services using cloud solutions, such as Google Cloud. In this way, you receive a scaling architecture for sharing and processing data from multiple users and storing large files. Moreover, such an approach has the following benefits:

• Reduce on-device data storage
• Synchronize data across multiple devices
• Send notifications and messages
• Minimize battery drain

Live Streaming

The number of meditation mobile apps increases each year. To stand out from the crowd you should give your users additional value. Thus, consider a live video streaming feature as a unique selling proposition (USP) of your meditation app. 

Luckily, you can empower your app with broadcast-quality live linear stream across iOS and Android devices using:

• Google Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, and Cloud CDN for infrastructures 
• Anvato SDK for high-performing live streaming 

In this way, you can integrate a live streaming feature in the existing mobile app back-end on the Google Cloud platform without extra costs. 

As a Google Cloud Partner, we are ready to help you with mobile app backend services and live streaming solutions provided by Google Cloud, so do not hesitate to contact us. 

WHAT TECH STACK TO CHOOSE FOR YOUR PROJECT

Monetization strategies

There are several business models used for mobile app monetization 

Subscription	Most apps of this type use this monetization model. When the user downloads the app, one receives from one to two weeks as a free trial. At the end of the trial period, the app user should buy a paid subscription to continue using the app or receive access to a more advanced app version.
In-App Purchases	With this model, your app users will pay you to unlock premium content, such as specific session packs or paid features like video streaming with a meditation mentor.
Pay Per Download	The paid app is the least popular monetization model for meditation mobile apps. Still, apps like Buddhify continue using it. The logic is simple – to download your app, users should buy it in the App Store or PlayMarket. Here you need to consider that both platforms charge transaction fees from 25 to 30% of the app’s cost.
Ads	You can charge other businesses cost-per-click or cost-per-mile for running ads on your platform. However, this monetization model works only for apps with a significant amount of active users.

Closing thoughts

Mobile apps may be used, not only for distracting you with endless push notifications but also as a guide to a more happy and mindful life. 

While the market of meditation apps is new, it has to encourage earning potential.

By using our tips on how to create a meditation app, you can create an outstanding mobile app that will meet user expectations.  

Imagine that you came home on Friday evening and are suffering from an awful stomach ache. What would you do? Put up with the pain for the rest of the weekend? This what may happen in a world without doctor-on-demand platforms. Thanks to telemedicine applications, you can schedule an appointment with a doctor, receive a consultation, get a receipt, and even pay for such a service. 

If you consider developing a doctor-on-demand mobile app, this article is right for you. Below, we highlight the main benefits of telemedicine apps, talk about the best telemedicine solutions, and list the main features of such an app. 

But first, let’s find out why there is a need for telehealth apps. 

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE ON MOBILE APP HIPAA COMPLIANCE

Why there is a need for doctor-on-demand app development

As we have said, telemedicine bridges the gap between patients and doctors. But why does such a gap exist? Let’s see. 

Need for telemedicine app from the patient’s perspective

A survey conducted in 15 major cities in the U.S. showed that new patients need to wait 24 days to get an appointment with a physician. For this reason, one of three patients said they have gone to the emergency department to avoid delays and the inconvenience of visiting their physicians. 

• 82% of patients agreed that developing technologies should make the process of receiving healthcare as accessible as hailing a taxi or ordering food 
• 77% of them want to contact their physician via text messages 
• 69% of patients prefer virtual appointments with their physicians using a mobile device over offline visits. 

WHY CREATE A CUSTOM MENTAL HEALTH APP

Need for telemedicine app from a medical professionals perspective 

At the same time, doctors are faced with the following challenges that telemedicine apps may solve: 

• The daily pressure of cutting costs
• Complying with regulations
• Maintaining a regular operation
• Time mismanagement off their schedule impacts their work-life balance

In a nutshell, telemedicine mobile apps are a win-win for both doctors and patients. That is why the market size of telemedicine apps is expected to reach 40 billion dollars by 2021, according to a report from Statista. 

Now let’s find out what benefits such digital health solutions bring. 

HOW TO MAKE EHR/EMR EPIC INTEGRATION WITH YOUR HEALTH APP

Benefits of developing a telemedicine app 

Like Uber, Airbnb, Lyft, and other on-demand service applications, telehealth apps allow providing better health service at lower costs, which result in the following benefits: 

Flexibility. Using doctor-on-demand-mobile apps, medical professionals receive more control over their working hours as well as the ability to respond to emergencies more effectively. 

Extra revenue. Such mobile doctor apps allow medical specialists to generate additional revenue for after-hour care, as well as the ability to see more patients, compared to office face-to-face appointments. 

Increased productivity. Doctor-on-demand mobile apps are more accessible for patients to get to, which minimizes wasted time due to traffic and other issues, thus improving the treatment outcome. 

Related readings:

Calmerry Online Therapy Platform

Healthcare App Development 

BuenoPR – 360° Approach to Health

Orb Health – Сare Management As A Virtual Service

How does a doctor on-demand mobile app work?

Each telemedicine app has its working logic. Still, the average flow of doctor-on-demand apps goes like this: 

• To receive a consultation from a doctor, a patient logs-in to the system creates an account, and describes their symptoms. 
• Next, depending on the user’s health condition, the app searches for the most suitable medical specialist nearby.
• After finding a doctor, a patient can schedule a video call via the app using a built-in calendar.
• During the video consultation, a doctor communicates with the patient, asks about health conditions, recommends treatment, assigns lab tests, and so on. 
• When the video consultation ends, the patient pays for healthcare service using a built-in payment gateway and receives receipts with prescribed meds and doctor’s recommendations. 

[How does telemedicine mobile app work]

HOW TO MAKE A MEDICAL APP: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE

The most popular doctor-on-demand mobile apps

If you are considering developing a doctor-on-demand mobile app, you need to be aware of similar apps currently presented on the market and their features. To save you time and effort, we have gathered telemedicine applications below.  

ZocDoc telemedicine platform

ZocDoc, a mobile doctor app, is available in all the U.S. and serves 6 million patients every month. ZocDoc, includes appointment scheduling, reminders about upcoming appointments, search for a doctor using integrated Map, and others. 

DoctorOnDemand

Doctor OnDemand is a telemedicine application for health care that provides patients with video appointments, messaging, and even receiving prescriptions. The platform counts 1,400 state-licensed physicians across the U.S. The core features of this mobile app include online video appointments, search for a necessary specialist, appointment scheduling, patient data storage, a built-in payment gateway, and integrated maps with local pharmacies to buy prescription drugs.

WHAT IS AI IN HEALTHCARE?

HealthTap

HealthTap is both an app for iOS, Android as well as a website for virtual meetings with doctors. HealthTap users receive such features as online video consultation, secure in-app messages, payment gateway, and so on. 

Now that you are aware of the industry leaders and their features, it is time to select the essential functions for your doctor-on-demand mobile app. 

Healthcare Apps Development: Types, Examples, And Features

Essential Features of telemedicine mobile app

When developing a telemedicine app, consider these features for your app’s MVP:

Telemedicine app features for patients 

The patient side of the app should include the following features 

• User sign-in 

When a new user logs in to your app, one needs to create an account with information about chronic conditions, as well as provide information about age, sex, and insurance. 

• Search for a medical specialist 

When the patient wants to find a necessary specialist, one uses a search with geolocation to find the nearest doctor available to book an appointment. To make your app compliant with medical regulations, we suggest you integrate the Google Maps platform via a third-party API that determines the patient location and nearby pharmacies before a video consultation begins.    

• Video appointments 

Video calls are an essential feature of any mobile telemedicine app. Video calls connect patients and doctors and enable live communication. However, you need to consider using HIPAA compliant telemedicine solutions to keep your app safe from data breaches. Thus, to keep the app users’ information safe, we recommend using ready-made third-party API for video calls, such as Daily.co. 

• Payment gateway

After the consultation, a patient pays the doctor for the service provided. To achieve this, you need to integrate a payment gateway via API. In one of our previous articles, we have already described the process of payment gateway integration to an app. To learn more, follow the link. 

• Doctor review 

Once the patient has received medical treatment from a doctor, one can leave reviews and tell about the experience and rate the doctor.  

THE APP SOLUTIONS – CUSTOM HEALTHCARE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY

Telemedicine app features for doctors 

• Doctor Panel

Such a panel is a part of the telemedicine app for doctors, integrated with electronic health records that contain information about patients, drug prescriptions, and a calendar with scheduled appointments. 

• Manage appointments

Once the patient finds the necessary medical professional, one needs to book an appointment via the app and place information about health conditions and medical records, if required. The app should automatically manage time slots and show when one or another specialist is available. 

• In-app messages 

To allow patients and doctors to send secure messages within an app, exchange prescriptions, reports, and x-rays, you need to pay extra attention to the technical solutions you will choose. All the information mentioned above belongs to patient sensitive data and needs to meet telemedicine regulations. Therefore, consider using GDPR and HIPAA-compliant messaging platforms, like Q-municate. This technological solution could be integrated into your app via REST-API or SDK. 

If you are still in doubt about whether to develop a telehealth mobile app for your health organization, just take a look at the statistics below. 

With this in mind, let’s see how to develop a doctor-on-demand mobile app 

HEALTHCARE CYBERSECURITY: HOW TO PROTECT PATIENT DATA

How to develop a telemedicine app

Below, we describe the step-by-step process of developing a doctor-on-demand mobile app. 

Step 1. Ask mobile app developers for a quote

For this step, you need to fill out the contact form or mobile project cost calculator and tell us as many details about your telemedicine software as possible. 

Step 2. Create the project scope for a telemedicine platform’s MVP 

Our business development manager will get in touch with you to sign an NDA, clarify project details, and create a project brief. Then, our business analyst and project manager will show you a list with app features for the project’s MVP, generate the project mock-ups, and prototypes.

Step 3. Enter the development stage 

When the MVP project scope is agreed upon, our team will break the app features into small user stories that are easier to implement. Next, we start developing the code, test it, and conduct bug-fixing iteration by iteration. 

Step 4. Approve the app’s demo 

When the app’s MVP is ready, our team will show you the result during the project demo. If you are satisfied with the results, we upload the project MVP to the app marketplace and start implementing more sophisticated features. 

Step 5. Launch your app on app marketplaces

When all the app features from the project scope are implemented, we run the final product demo and give your app the project-related data, including databases, access to app stores, mock-ups, and designs. Finally, your doctor-on-demand mobile app, with all the features available on the app marketplaces, is ready to serve your users. 

WHAT IS FEMTECH IN HEALTHCARE

The APP Solutions Experience: Success Story

A White Label Telemedicine Platform – Case Study

The client is the owner of a medical center in Berlin, Germany. After the COVID-19 outbreak, he faced the need to provide patients with a distance communication solution to decrease the number of offline visits, while enabling doctors to monitor vital patient health data and streamline communication with a laboratory. 

After working with us, the client received a white-label telemedicine platform with advanced features that took us two months.

The while-label platform brings benefits to both types of users:

Medical professionals can exchange files with patients via secured live chat, send, and receive laboratory tests in a more streamlined way. 

Patients can receive high-quality medical services in the comfort of their homes, schedule appointments with doctors, attend medical meetings online, get receipts for medication, and medical treatment plans with a daily schedule. The app also allows patients to pay for medical services online. 

Get ready for telemedicine app development

Telemedicine mobile applications improve the lives of both patients and doctors – while patients receive medical treatment in the comfort of their homes, medical specialists can provide medical treatment more effectively, while getting paid for a consultation immediately. 

To start the development process of your doctor-on-demand mobile app you need to shape your business idea with a monetization strategy, think about the app design and app layout, as well as HIPAA-compliant solutions to use.  

What our clients say 

We are living in a fast-changing world where things that were condemned yesterday have become tomorrow’s trends. This trend applies to the usage of marijuana, legalized in 33 U.S. states and forward-thinking countries such as Canada, Germany, and Israel. Thus, being allowed for medical and recreational use, medical marijuana is entering the business mainstream. But despite increased demand for medical marijuana, only a few licensed dispensaries provide users with on-demand medical marijuana online delivery services.

If you are interested in developing a marijuana app, similar to UberEats for ordering food, you are in the right place. 

In this article, we share essential business and monetization strategies for a medical cannabis on-demand delivery app, essential features, and a development guide. 

But before diving into cannabis delivery software development, let’s take a glance at medical marijuana market statistics. 

To enter this rapidly developing market with your cannabis delivery mobile app, you need to make additional preparations, listed below. 

OUTSTAFFING VS. OUTSOURCING VS. MANAGED SERVICES: DIFFERENCES AND BENEFITS

How to start a delivery service for cannabis like Weedmaps and Eaze

If you want to launch your cannabis delivery mobile app and make a profit without breaking the law, you need to do the following: 

Know government regulations 

Bear in mind that marijuana is illegal in the majority of countries. Thus, check your government policy for cannabis on the link. 

• The U.S. government decriminalized cannabis for medical purposes in 37 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia in 2022

• Canada officially decriminalized marijuana in 2018 for both recreational and medicinal purposes
• Western European countries such as Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, and Greece decriminalized medical marijuana for personal use 

If your government has legalized the medical use of marijuana, you can move on. If not – try to implement another business idea. 

Get a license 

To start selling Marijuana online you need to get a license or permission from your government. Consider that you will need to get different types of licenses to distribute, sell, or cultivate cannabis, which takes time.  

For example, let’s take a look at California, where medical cannabis was legalized in 1996. On the website of The Bureau of Cannabis Control, you will find different types of licenses, including Retailer, Distributor, Microbusiness, Testing Labs, and Cannabis Event organizers. To receive each type of license, you need to fill in about 14 documents. Luckily, you can save time and apply for a permit through their Online Licensing System.

If you are a Canadian citizen, you need to receive a license from the Canadian Health Organization. Consider that a cannabis license has different classes and subclasses that determine in which activity your business falls. The main license classes include: 

• Standard cannabis cultivation
• Micro-cultivation
• Nursery
• Sales for medical purposes
• Standard processing
• Micro-processing
• Analytical testing
• Research

To find out more, visit Cannabis Licensing Application Guide on the link. 

[Cannabis classes and subclasses of licenses, source]

Choose business models and monetization strategy for a marijuana selling app

There are two primary business models you can implement for your online medical marijuana delivery business. Each of them has a monetization strategy. 

Weed delivery app for a single dispensary 

This option is for those who are already growing marijuana and have enough stock to sell. In this case, you will need to develop a marijuana dispensary app with order delivery tracking. You can manage your product list from the admin panel and fill orders without third-party service providers. 

As for the monetization strategy of your mobile app, you can charge an extra fee for order delivery and run paid aids of related products. As your cannabis delivery business grows, you can invest in the development of delivery services.     

HOW MUCH DOES AN ON-DEMAND MOBILE APP COST?

Medical cannabis delivery marketplace

If you do not cultivate medical marijuana but want to launch a cannabis delivery business, you can develop a marijuana delivery marketplace. The best examples of such cannabis delivery apps are Eaze, Weedmaps, and Leafly. These apps allow users to find the nearest dispensary, order weed online and get same-day delivery. 

Such medical marijuana software includes different types of users: 

• Dispensaries that list products via  merchant accounts
• Buyers who can find the nearest dispensary via GPS, order products, pay for them in the app, and get the product delivered to their doorsteps
• Couriers get notifications about approved orders, see the list of orders to be delivered and deliver orders to customers. 
• Admin panel where you can manage users, monitor order activity, and analyze user behavior via analytics. 

To monetize your medical marijuana delivery app, you can apply the following: 

• Charge fees on every order made via the app 
• Provide paid promotion to cannabis vendors
• Run advertisements of cannabis-related products 

Key Features of a Uber-style marijuana delivery app 

Your cannabis delivery app will perform as a marketplace with different types of users. There should be a buyer app, a merchant app, a driver app, and an admin app. Below we share essential features to add to each user panel. 

Features for Buyers 

As a buyer, your app user should sign up to your app and verify the account through documents and a doctor’s receipt. Next, the user can find the nearest store via GPS, search for products, read product details, set the delivery address, place an order, and pay online. Thus, from the point of view of the buyer, the app should include the following features: 

Registration and identity verification	Before accessing the app’s content, the buyer should sign in to your app via email, phone number, or social media profiles such as Facebook or Twitter. Next, one should verify their identity via I.D. and upload their doctor’s receipt for medical marijuana. For this purpose, integrate ID.me SDK, a physician identity verification solution.
Product search and filters	Each marijuana user has personal preferences on cannabis type. Thus, to make buyers find products, your app should include different product categories and advanced product search with various filters.
Shopping card	Once the buyer finds the product, one adds it to the shopping cart that includes product description, order total, and estimated delivery cost.
In-app payments	To place the order, a buyer should pay for it via the built-in payment gateway. Based on our experience of marketplace development, we recommend Stripe as a payment solution. Such a payment gateway integration allows you to receive the commission from each order.
GPS order tracking	Integrate maps to allow buyers a live tracking of their order delivery. As a geolocation solution, we suggest using Google maps SDK. We did this integration for a couple of geolocation projects where Google maps solution has proved to be effective. As alternatives, you can choose another technology from the order tracking SDKs list.

Features for Sellers

If you allow unlicensed merchants to sell cannabis via your app you will be breaking the law. Thus, you need to secure your app from illegal activities. To achieve this, provide a merchant account only for sellers who upload their legal license for cannabis distribution. As for other seller account features, we suggest the following:

Profile	After the seller sends you a legal permit, one receives a merchant account. Here, a seller can edit their company description, address, contact info, photo of a store, and so on.  In this section, the user gives payment information to receive money from each order.
Product catalog	To list products, merchants should give a detailed product description, upload a photo, and set the product category. Also, dispensary managers should update the status of cannabis availability.
Order management	In the Order Management section, sellers will see the history of filled orders and manage the status of new orders.

Features for drivers

A driver is a middle man between the buyer and the seller, responsible for delivering the order. Thus, to avoid credibility issues, the delivery person should verify their identity. Only after the admin verifies user documents can the delivery person receive an account. 

Profile	Here, the courier can edit personal information like name, phone, email, and bank account details.
Tasks	In this section, the driver receives new tasks and manages order status. This might be En Route, Arrived, and Order Delivered. A driver gets information about the order number, buyer’s name, delivery date and time, and delivery address.
Maps and navigation	GPS navigation shows drivers the exact stores and customer’s addresses, as well as suggests the best route. This section may also include estimated time and distance to the destination.

Admin panel features 

The admin panel is an essential part of a cannabis delivery mobile app. Here, you can manage app users, approve order delivery, receive payments, and much more. The admin panel of a mobile app should include the following elements: 

Dashboards	On the dashboard, you can see user activity in real-time. It shows the number of active orders, the number of drivers that deliver them, and the total amount of payments conducted via your app.
User management	In this section, you receive documents for new app user verification, give verified users access to accounts, track order history, manage notifications, and so on.
Product management	As an admin, you can manage a product catalog of all merchants, edit product information and images, delete products, manage product categories.
Order management	In this section, you manage the order fulfillment process. The order management section shows orders pending to be picked, orders currently in progress, updates from drivers on the order delivery, completed orders, and payment status.

Medical Cannabis Delivery App Development Cost

While calculating cannabis mobile app development costs, consider that you are going to develop a two-sided marketplace with three different types of app users. To build a marijuana delivery app that works correctly, the development team should create complex project architecture, which might be costly. 

Our advice here is to use a ready-made CRM system for Admin Panel features. Also, we emphasize that the marijuana delivery app development takes both time and money. Thus, it is better to develop the project’s MVP first. The project’s MVP, which stands for Minimum Viable Product, contains only essential features to validate your business idea without spending a fortune on development. 

In the table below, we estimate the number of hours our dev team requires to build an Uber for weed delivery. 

	FrontEnd	BackEnd	Android	iOS	FeatureScreen
Architecture, DB			32	16	16
Login signup, pass recovery	4		8	8	8
User profile	4		8	16	16
History	4		4	12	12
Google Maps integration				12	12
Product list	16		16	24	24
Product page	8		6	16	16
List of dispensaries and shops	8		16	16	16
Seller profile	8		8	16	16
Shopping card	24		32	40	40
Payment	8		24	32	32
Delivery Page (Info about the delivery)				6	6
Integration with CRM		80

In a nutshell, the cost to develop an Uber for marijuana starts from $60k per platform and takes 6 months to implement. Consider that the estimated project cost is due to change. It depends on your project requirements, the number of features, the number of mobile platforms, and so on. 

Custom cannabis app development steps

 To be on the same page with the development team, you should be aware of the app development stages. Here is how we deliver mobile projects at The APP Solutions:

Step 1. Sign NDA

Right after you send us a project request, your sales manager schedules a call to find out more details about your Uber for weed app and submits a Non-Disclosure Agreement, which protects your intellectual property. 

Step 2. Start the inception phase 

After we receive your project requirements, we make rough project cost estimates and then confirm the results with you. Next, we start the project inception phase to gain a better understanding of your project architecture, tech stack, and so on. 

Step 3. Approve technical documentation and app prototype

We send you the main deliverables of the inception phase that are tech documentation and design prototype. Next, we make a more detailed project cost estimate and start the next step. 

Step 4. Enter app development stage 

Using technical documentation, we break down your weed app into smaller user stories, prioritize them, and our developers start building your app. We implement the project’s MVP scope first, send you weekly reports, run MVP demo, and enter the second development stage. 

Step 5. Receive app project-related databases 

After the final project demo, you receive all technical comments concerning the projects, databases, access to app marketplace accounts, and so on. 

What our clients say 

Related reading:

AI in the logistics industry 

How to develop Uber for trucking 

How to develop an application like Uber 

HYPR taxi app development case study 

As a woman, I want to wear makeup and keep my skin healthy. As a project manager, I want my team to create industry-relevant solutions that solve customers’ business challenges. What’s the point? 

Not so long ago, I participated in a brainstorming session with other development team members. A skincare brand owner hired us for the Inception phase. So, we needed to suggest relevant solutions to the business disruptions COVID-19 had brought him. 

After two-hour discussions and liters of coffee, we finally came up with a conclusion – we would integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning applications into his online store. We communicated this idea to the client, and he agreed. 

So, I decided to write this article because the client’s case is a mixture of my main passions – beauty products and intelligent technologies. Using the client’s business challenges as an example, I’ll tell you how COVID-19 has changed the face of the beauty and cosmetics industry. I’ll also describe how intelligent technologies can turn the beauty industry gaps into gains. 

What COVID-19 has changed in the beauty and cosmetics industry? 

The industry of beauty and cosmetics was one of the most rapidly developing markets. In 2017, the beauty industry revenue was worth $474,179 million, and experts from Statista predicted the beauty industry to reach a market value of $571,696 in 2023. 

[Source]

But then, the pandemic came. As for 2020, the beauty industry revenue is estimated at $483,338 million, compared with $504,501 million in income received in 2019.  

[Source]

And there are co-dependent reasons for the beauty market fall: 

Global lockdown. Governments restricted the work of offline stores and shopping malls. For established beauty brands, such a limitation wasn’t very stressful because they already had operating online stores. But for indie brands with retail stores located in one region – such a situation was a disaster. 

No consultants. As a result, the lockdown left beauty brands without an opportunity to provide a personalized skincare experience to their customers. But, personalized suggestions of skincare products keep customers ( including me) from using products that don’t suit our skin type. 

Face masks. Even after governments opened shopping malls and other public places, some issues remained. Here is one example. You can attend offline beauty product stores. But how can you try a new lipstick while wearing a mask? Selling beauty products offline became challenging also because the virus can travel from one person to another via breathing. So, trying lipstick after someone had breathed on it could infect you with the coronavirus.   

Less income. Since beauty consultants couldn’t recommend products to customers offline, upselling and cross-selling also decreased. In contrast,  online beauty retailers, who integrated AI-powered product recommendations before the pandemic, significantly gained from these technologies. In current circumstances, product recommendation via AI is the single available method to upsell and cross-sell beauty products online. 

Late delivery. Closed borders complicated the provision of skincare and beauty products to warehouses. In contrast, online beauty brands with excess product stock faced decreased demand from customers. Many of them lost their jobs due to retrenchment or bankruptcy and weren’t ready to spend their last savings on makeup. In this case, beauty brands met the need to quickly distribute makeup products with a short shelf life to profit.  

In a nutshell, the pandemic impacted the whole beauty industry ecosystem – from shipment to distribution. Luckily, we are living in the age of intelligent technologies. So, let’s see how machine learning and AI in the beauty industry can smooth things over. 

Related reading: 

NIOXIN Consultation case study 

Top 5 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications in the beauty industry that confront COVID-caused disruptions 

Before digging into details, let’s quickly clarify some basic terms:

• Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is a sub-niche of data science. AI algorithms are smart enough to behave without human intervention. Artificial Intelligence algorithms have a wide range of applications – from AR filters in Instagram and Snapchat to self-driven cars and voice assistants. 
• Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence. Machine learning algorithms leverage different learning models, depending on a particular business use case. In this way, machine learning apps can automatically improve through experience. Netflix and Spotify adopted machine learning to provide users with more personalized content suggestions. 

Over the past years, both ML and AI algorithms have penetrated the beauty and cosmetics industry. Experts predict spending for AI in the beauty industry will grow to $7.3 billion by 2022.

Here are five major beauty AI applications cosmetic brands adopt:

• Augmented reality apps for virtual makeup try-on
• Dynamic content personalization
• Voice assistant for product recommendation 
• AI-powered beauty product search
• Demand and supply forecasting tools

Such well-known brands as Coty and Shiseido already leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to adapt to the new normal and keep customers engaged. 

Let’s find out how intelligent technologies work in more detail. 

1. Augmented reality for virtual try-on 

Augmented reality is a technology stack that enables adding virtual images to real-life photos. Augmented Reality technology powers Instagram and Snapchat filters. But how does AR work? 

• The intelligent algorithm detects the buyer’s face by analyzing 100 focal points to find facial borders.
• The AI algorithm analyzes data points around facial characteristics to map the makeup on one’s face.
• AR adjusts digital objects to the size of the face and overlays them to a photo or video, so artificial items fit perfectly.

In terms of beauty products and skincare, Augmented reality enhances the online shopping experience with the ability to try lipstick and eye shadows virtually and even see the result of anti-aging creams by detecting wrinkles, spots, skin texture, and dark circles. 

The pioneers in AR applications for beauty products were Perfect Corp and Modiface. Software providers used a combination of augmented reality deep learning and computer vision technologies for a virtual try-on before it became a mainstream trend.

Perfect Corp has been on the market since 2014. The company Beauty SaaS – in-store consultation, a mobile SDK, WeChat mini-program, and listing your products in our award-winning app, YouCam Makeup. Such beauty brands as Yves Saint Laurent, L’Oréal Paris, MAC Cosmetics, and Macy’s used Perfect Corp technologies for customers to have a virtual try-on experience. 

Watch the video below to check out how you can try various shades of makeup for the eyes, lips, and hair using your smartphone, create your look and even download results as you use it as a reference for your makeup artist.

[Source]

As for Modiface, it started in 1999 at Stanford University when one student-initiated research on automatic facial analysis. The student’s name was Parham Aarab. He continued his research on face processing algorithms at the University of Toronto, and only in 2006 Parharm founded ModiFace Inc.

In 2018, L’Oreal acquired ModiFace and used its technologies for an AI makeup app with augmented reality in cooperation with Facebook. Using Modiface, you can virtually produce products with a smartphone camera and then move to the product page to make a purchase.

[Source]

2. AI-powered dynamic content personalization

Personalized is one of the most promising applications of artificial intelligence in the beauty industry. As Tapestry research firm’s study shows, shoppers spend 80% of the time in the pre-search phase, while only 20% of website visitors add products to cart and checkout. 

This means if you shorten their journey by providing them relevant items in the first place, customers are more likely to buy them. 

There are several ways to use AI in the beauty industry for dynamic personalized content:   

• Capturing and digitizing product, content, and customer data
• Tagging and organizing data into easily usable structured formats
• Optimizing costs through data-driven decisions

Lazada, one of Asia’s leading marketplaces, adopted a dynamic personalization and the result was inspiring. The marketplace increased customer engagement by 101%, overall revenue per visit by 9.4%, the overall conversion rate by 11.5%, and customer retention by 35%. 

3. Natural Language Processing for total makeover product recommendation 

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a sub-niche of Artificial Intelligence. NLP combines linguistics, data science, and AI algorithms to enable computers to understand human language. The difference between NLP-powered applications and simple chatbots lies in data input and output. 

While simple chatbots engage closed questions with “Yes” and “No” answers or simple commands, you can communicate with NLP apps more naturally and receive relevant non-pre-defined answers. 

Beauty brands utilize Natural Language Processing technology for smart digital assistants that suggest products in a more personalized way. Since voice-driven beauty services work best combined with visuals, beauty brands target such apps for devices with screens. “Let’s Get Ready”, an NLP customer assistant by Coty, is a vivid example. The application was created for Echo Show, Amazon’s first Echo devices with screens. 

[Artificial intelligence makeup suggestions]

Coty, a multi-brand beauty corporation, launched “Let’s Get Ready” in 2018. By using the app, buyers can create personalized makeup, hair, and nail looks for any event. 

The app has the following workflow: 

• The app asks for details about your look preferences, hair, eye, skin color, and the event you are attending, to get started. 
• The app creates your profile, used by Alexa to recommend curated looks, visual tutorials, beauty tips, and recommended products from Coty’s consumer beauty portfolios. 
• The app then offers you a personalized total makeover look from over 2,000 combinations of makeovers using Coty-owned brands products (Max Factor, Bourjois, Clairol, Rimmel, and Sally Hansen). 

You can check out suggested makeovers on a built-in screen and ask Alexa to order beauty products via the “Shop the Look” feature. 

4. AI-powered beauty product search

Providing personalized skincare and makeup product recommendations online is challenging. However, AI search algorithms simplify this task. AI search engines don’t look like a simple search bar. Instead, such algorithms interact with buyer information during a short quiz. 

One example of an AI-powered search algorithm application is My Beauty Matches, an online marketplace. The website lists over 400,000 products on skincare, makeup, and body care. 

• My Beauty Matches offers a quiz for new website visitors. With the quiz, the AI algorithm collects information about skin type and condition, hair structure, and preferences in fragrances. 

• The algorithm analyzes your data, finds relevant products in the database, and displays personalized product recommendations. 

Maybe this is how beauty consultants will look in the future? 

5. AI beauty supply and demand forecasting

The pandemic made product shipment even more complicated due to closed borders and quarantine measures. Such a situation caused significant disruptions in the import of food, industrial products, and the beauty industry. 

We already described why AI is useful for effective supply chain management in our previous articles. Now, let’s see how beauty brands use AI applications in demand forecasting software. 

Machine learning algorithms are the leading tech solutions for supply and demand prediction. ML algorithms analyze historical data and make predictions of sales and shipping volumes. But, supply chain apps can predict future demand in another way. 

Predictive analytics create forecasts when historical data is no longer valid. Predictive analytics algorithms analyze the combination of external factors, including weather, seasonality, and public holidays to predict whether you need to order more red lipstick for a holiday season or not. In this way, predictive analytics help beauty businesses to adapt to changing demand conditions. 

NARS Cosmetics, a beauty product brand from France, leverages demand forecasting applications and customer data to learn more about their customers, skin tones, and other preferences to build new products. 

[Source]

Shiseido, a Japanese multinational personal care company, is another beauty brand that keeps an eye on demand forecasting. As for November 2020, the company is looking for demand planning specialists in the New York area to forecast their inventory in-house. 

[Source]

Using machine learning and AI in the cosmetics market

Adopting artificial intelligence and machine learning has become more critical for beauty retailers in the past six months. Cosmetics brands should remain proactive and continue investing in technologies because this is the best time.

People are bored of sitting at home with no ability to travel, so why not entertain them with virtual try-on or AI product search? 

Even well-established cosmetics brands doubt their supply chain and leverage data analytics to have information to rely on. Thus, you can’t be too careful about staying relevant to your consumers and balancing your product stock.

Next step 

Do you work in the beauty industry? Are you interested in developing artificial intelligence technologies? 

By leveraging AI technologies, we can help you to innovate faster so you can crush your competition.

What our clients say 

Related reading:

Biudee Personalized Skincare App Case Study

Nioxin Client Consultation App Case Study

If you think that flying on a private jet is accessible only for celebrities or bankers with at least a billion dollars in their accounts, you are wrong. Thanks to an on-demand business model, a luxury private jet is at your fingerprints. Also, private jets are becoming popular among wealthy Millennials and young entrepreneurs because they want to eliminate discomfort and stress from their travels. Thus, those born in the mid-1990s to early 2000s are expected to be the essential users of business aviation in the coming years. 

At the same time, the market of private jets is expected to grow from $24.7 billion in 2019 to $36.4 billion by 2030, making a flight-sharing app a killer tech startup idea. 

In this article, we describe how Uber for private jets works, the app’s essential features, and app development cost. 

But before hiring private jet charter app developers, let’s find out what problems Uber for private planes solves. 

Why is there a need for a private jet booking app?

As said before, Millennials will be the primary target audience of private jet providers for the next few years. To provide them with the most appropriate service, you should know that Millennials value their time, often travel for work, conferences, meetings, and appreciate flexibility. Also, they expect shared private jet services to be as user-friendly as Airbnb or Netflix. 

At the same time, to book a private jet, Millennials need to choose among the following options: 

• To book a flight through a third-party broker, which requires time and does not suit unexpected flights
• To book a share in a jet, i.e., fractional ownership. In this case, you can only use your share for a particular number of hours that may run out, and you would not be able to make the flight. 
• To buy a membership card and use it during a specific time. If you don’t use these hours within a specific period, all unused hours expire. 

Therefore, conventional means of jet chartering do not meet Millennials’ needs. 

At the same time, an Uber for charter flights app solves all the listed issues. 

How do apps for private jet share work?

To build your Uber for a private jet app, you should be aware of the app’s essential components and booking options. As an example, we take Victor, the first app for chartering private jets, launched in 2011. 

[Source]

• After you register in the app, enter the point of departure and destination to book a flight
• Now you can see all the jets available, together with instant pricing and estimated length of the flight 
• You can pay for a flight using a build-in payment gateway 
• After the app processes the payment, you receive a push notification that your jet has been reserved successfully 
• If you want to dine on your favorite sushi during the flight or take your nine dogs on board, you can ask for additional services in the FlyVictor Concierge section. 

[Source]

XO app, powered by JetSmarter, is another mobile solution for chartering private jets. The app offers unique jet booking options, including: 

• Private Fly is for when you want to book the whole plane
• Shared Charter to share the flight cost with other passengers you invite
• Fly by the Seat to find and book a single seat, or create a crowdfunded flight 

[Source]

Now that you know how an Uber for jet app works, let’s learn how to make it profitable. 

Monetization strategies for an On-demand private jet app

There are two basic pricing models private jet booking apps adopt:  

1. Subscription is the business model of choice for XO and Magellan Jets apps. To receive access to flight-sharing services, app users should buy a monthly or annual subscription. For instance, Magellan Jets annual card for 25-hour costs from $108,750. 
2. Pay-as-you-fly is another payment model used by JetVictor and Private Jet apps. App users pay only for hours spent during the flight. The cost of one hour starts from $2,800. 

Since jet booking services do not own plans, they perform as a middleman between customers and jet owners. Charging transaction fees is the essential monetization strategy of Uber for jet apps. 

• JetVictor charges a 10% fee per flight and empty legs booked via the app. 
• XO app charges passengers’ $395 service fee per flight. 

How to develop an Uber for private jets: essential features

What features do you need to include in your jet booking app? 

• User registration 

Once the user has downloaded the app, one should enter their email and phone number to create a user account. 

• Flight search 

To hitch a ride on a private plane, the user should enter the number of passengers, one’s location, point of destination, departure, and arrival date and time. Next, the private jet app will show all available flights with costs. 

[Source]

• Booking and payment 

The user can book a flight in the app and pay using PayPal, Stripe, or other payment gateways. 

• Push notification 

Your app should send push notification to inform your app users about changes of flight, and status. 

[Source]

How much does a private jet booking app cost? 

The cost to develop a private jet sharing app depends on the number of features, third-party integrations, the complexity of the app’s UI/UX design, and other factors. To give you an idea about a jet booking app cost, we created this table with a project estimated in hours. 

FeatureScreen	Functions required	Back-End	Android/iOS
Project Setup		12 hours	8 hours
App development
Login signup	Registration info Phone Number Login SMS verification in Sign Up	32 hours	24 hours
Profiles	Edit user profile Change credentials Change password	16 hours	16 hours
Google Maps integration	Google Map API integration Define the user’s location and show the nearest airport for private jets	8 hours	8 hours
Push notification	Inform user about changed order status	32 hours	16 hours
Flight booking	Create booking Booking confirmation by email	24 hours	12 hours
Payment getaways	Payment systems integration	24 hours	80 hours
Project Documentation	Technical specification Installation and deployment instructions Development documentation		30 hours
QA	Test all app’s features  Create bug reports Conduct re-testing  Conduct regression testing		50 hours

In a nutshell, to create a jet booking mobile app, developers need from three to four months per platform. The estimated development price of such apps starts from $70K. To receive a more detailed project estimate, use our project cost calculator.  

The APP Solutions tips for a private jet app like Uber 

Before starting the development stage, take into account that you need something more than making an XO or JetVictor apps clone. As experts in developing on-demand apps, we want to share tips to make your app successful. 

Smart Pricing Algorithm

The pricing algorithm is a sanctum sanctorum of all on-demand services, shrouded in mystery. Since you will gather transaction fees from each jet booking, you need to create an AI-powered pricing algorithm that will automatically add your commission to the total flight cost, while keeping prices competitive.  

[Source]

API integration

From the developer’s standpoint, such applications perform as deal aggregators, similar to KAYAK. Thus, to show current flights you need to integrate the app’s back-end with jet provider databases via API. We recommend the following APIs of private jet booking services:

• Tukijets
• PrivateFly.com
• Stratosjets

Jet interior preview

High-quality images might not be enough to provide your users with more details about the jet’s interior. Thus, to win a competition, consider empowering your jet booking app with 360°panoramic images, 3D preview, and even Augmented Reality. In this way, you will not only fascinate users with the interior of planes but also increase the credibility of your private plane sharing services. 

The business jet industry will remain profitable for the next several years. To receive a profit from booking private jets, consider developing an on-demand booking app. To stand out from the crowd and meet the high standards of Millenials, you need to make your booking service streamlined and easy to use. If you have an idea for your Uber for flights app, you can receive additional consultation after filling in our contact form. 

What our clients say 

Read also:

• How to Develop a Luxury App for Boats and Yacht Chartering

Thanks to the on-demand economy, we receive numerous services via the mobile application, eliminating long waiting and paperwork. Popular in the food ordering and taxi-hailing industries, on-demand apps are also relevant for luxury yacht charter, which is extremely popular among wealthy Millennials. Yacht chartering businesses should concentrate on building streamlined and user-friendly yacht rental apps to meet the demands of young millionaires.

If you consider adopting a mobile strategy for your yacht chartering company, you should be aware of the industry leaders’ best practices, as well as app development steps. 

By the end of this post, you will know how to develop a luxury app for superyacht brokerage, have insight on essential app features, and the development costs. 

But, before digging into the yacht charter app development guide, let’s figure out why the standard yacht chartering process no longer meets luxury customers’ demands. 

The problem in the luxury yachting industry

An Allied Market Research report revealed that the luxury yacht market is a fast-growing industry expected to reach $10.20 billion by 2025 from $5.70 billion in 2017. The main industry drivers are the increased disposable income of customers and millennial buyers, who prefer yacht chartering over yacht ownership due to high costs. Also, Millennials expect luxury yacht chartering services to be as convenient as their favorite on-demand apps, including Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix. 

At the same time, to charter a yacht via a broker, you need to wait at least several days to find out about prices, and over two weeks to actually charter a boat and sign all the necessary documents and agreements. As a result, yacht chartering businesses that still communicate with clients in an old-fashioned way are losing millennial customers. 

If you want to keep your yacht-chartering business afloat and meet the expectations of wealthy young-adult travelers, an on-demand yacht finder app is a must. Using the app, your customers can find, book, and even pay for a charter within minutes, avoiding long waits and other inconveniences.   

Related reading:

• AI in the logistics industry 
• How to develop Uber for trucking 
• How to develop an application like Uber 
• HYPR taxi app development case study 

To build an outstanding luxury yacht charter booking app you need to have a clear picture of what the on-demand service model is and how it works. 

On-demand yacht booking app to connect yacht charters and yacht owners 

On-demand applications perform as a middleman between customers and service providers, allowing them to make business transactions in just a few minutes. 

In recent years, we have seen how the on-demand business model has revolutionized many industries. For example, Uber, a taxi-booking app, has completely changed the way we book a car. Now, you can hail a taxi in a few clicks in your mobile app, get the estimated trip cost and length, and even track the location of your driver via GPS.

This on-demand business model also fits the luxury yacht chartering industry. But, instead of taxi-hailing, where time matters, your yacht chartering app should be focused on visual representations of boats and their characteristics, additional luxury services, and social proofs. An app that completely nailed it is Ahoy Club, a leader in the superyacht chartering market.  

A bit of information about Ahoy

Ahoy Club is a digital marketplace where seekers of luxury marine adventures can find the best superyacht from 3,610 yachts in a quick and less costly way. At the same time, luxury yacht providers can list their boats and receive absolute control over charter scheduling and pricing. 

[Source]

The idea of such a service came to Ian Malouf, Ahoy Club founder, when he found that the yacht chartering process is cumbersome and slow, and no longer meets the needs of modern customers. To solve this issue, he decided to “make the chartering experience quicker, more informative and more fun” with the Ahoy Club app that allows you to “book a yacht in less than three minutes and save money.” And his idea paid off. Currently, the Ahoy Club app offers users luxury yacht chartering at all destinations worldwide. 

How Ahoy works

To charter a luxury yacht as a user, you need to sign in on a mobile app, select your member type, destination from 154 countries, departure and return date, the number of guests, yacht type and size, and a charter plan. 

Next, the app will show you the search results with available yachts for rent. You can compare and choose the best option for your marine adventures. To book a boat for luxury leisure you need to send a request to the yacht owner. 

Once the yacht owner approves your booking, which might take up to 48 hours, you will receive a transparent and independently recognized digital contract. Due to this contract, you pay a 25% deposit with your bank card via a build-in payment gateway. The next step is to discuss all the trip details and additional services with the yacht representative in build-in secure messenger and pack your bags for the most fantastic holiday ever. You need to pay 25% of the Charter Fee, the remaining 50% of the Charter Fee plus the Advanced Provisioning Allowance, the Security Deposit, and Additional Charges before the charter starts. 

After you’ve enjoyed your holiday, you can leave a review and rate luxury services received, the yacht, sailing crew, and the Capitan.  

To list your superyacht as a yacht owner, you need to sign in to the app as a yacht owner,  Capitan, Yacht manager, or Broker. Next, provide all technical characteristics of your boat, including the yacht’s name, length, year built, number of guests, the port of registration, and your country. 

Don’t forget to include high-quality images of the yacht, cruising regions, destinations, service type (one-day booking or only long-term cruise), and add additional amenities, such as jacuzzi, gym, cinema room, etc. Once you’ve listed your superyacht, you can manage booking and voyage schedules, set instant prices, and even promote your yacht in the app’s Targeted Marketing platform. 

Monetization model

To earn money, Ahoy Club applies a usage-based model and charges small fees and commissions on each charter made through the app and every yacht listed, including: 

• Payment Handling Fee in an amount of 1.5%, charges on each charter total deposited or refunded via the app 
• Central Agent Fee. The app charges 5% on each yacht listed by an agent on behalf of the owner
• Commission, a fee Ahoy charges owners on any yacht booking made via the mobile app. There are two main types of such commissions – 15% of the Charter Fee on yachts that are less than 24 meters, and 4% on a yacht more than 24 meters. 
• Software Charge, a 3% Charter Fee paid to Ahoy by the yacht owner, for providing digital services

Now that you know how to earn money with your yacht booking app, let’s take a look at the essential yacht app features and development costs. 

Steps to build a luxury yacht charter app

Below we list the essential stages of developing a great yacht rental app. 

Step 1. Analyze the luxury yacht booking app market 

By analyzing your competitors, and knowing their strengths and weaknesses, you can shape your project vision, mission, and monetization strategy. 

Step 2. Hire yacht booking app developers 

Once you have a vision of your project, you can start searching for developers of mobile apps with experience in on-demand services and ask them for a quote. 

Step 3. Create technical documentation of your Airbnb for yacht app

Technical documentation is a must for a successful boat charter app since it includes the app’s back-end architecture, user stories, technical solutions, and third-party integrations, as well as a detailed project estimate. 

Step 4. Start building boat rental app MVP

Before developing a feature-rich boat rental software, try your business idea by launching an app Minimum Viable Product with only essential features, and find out whether it is popular among users. 

Step 5. Empower your boat sharing app with advanced features 

Once users start chartering luxury yachts via your app, it is the right time to add more advanced functions to your Airbnb for boats and provide them with a more convenient booking experience.

Private luxury yacht charter app: essential features

Yacht charter booking software performs as a marketplace with different user roles, including a charterer, yacht owner, and an admin who manages operations between both parties. Thus, your yacht chartering software will consist of a Charterer app, a Yacht owner app, and a web app for the Admin panel. Below we list essential features to include to the MVP of your yacht charter booking system. 

Charterer app

A charter app aims to find the best yacht via search, book it, pay a deposit to the yacht’s owner, and leave a review about the luxury yacht services provided. 

Thus, essential features of Charterer app’s are: 

• Log in via email or social networks such as Facebook, Linkedin, or Twitter 
• Yacht search with geographical regions, prices, number of guests, and charter plan (Weekly Charter, Day Charter, Specials, or All-Inclusive)
• Filters to allow users to find the best option according to cost, size, and location, year of manufacture, etc. 
• Schedule booking section where users can request the charter of a chosen yacht
• Built-in payment gateway integration via API for seamless money transfer between charterers and yacht owners via PayPal, Credit/Debit Card
• Rating and reviews to allow charterers to share their experience on luxury traveling 

Yacht owner app

In this app, yacht owners, or other members of the yacht’s management team, should be able to provide as much information about their boats as possible, manage yacht bookings, receive deposits, and communicate with clients. 

Thus, the yacht owner app should include: 

• User verification to find out about the user’s role in the yacht management (yacht owner, crew, yacht manager, etc.)
• Yacht listing, where the user puts info about the yacht, including name, country, the port of registration, size, type, etc. 
• Setting fees. Users can set prices on a specific period based on the yacht’s type, size, length of trip, etc.
• Approve or dismiss charter to show chartеrers whether your chart will be available on the requested period or not
• Schedule charters to show booked yacht charter dates via the in-built calendar

Admin panel 

In this web application, you, as an Admin of yacht chartering marketplace, can manage all the transactions, both charterers and yacht owners, see the number of booked charters, number of declined charters, and other information of your app. The essential features of an Admin panel are: 

• Dashboard to track crucial metrics of your app such as the number of users,  number of active deals, and number of deposits paid, etc. 
• Yacht listing management to edit yacht descriptions, add images, approve user reviews, etc. 
• User management to verify the user’s role in the yacht crew, resolve disputes, approve user profiles, block suspicious users, etc.
• Reporting and analytics are vital to keeping track of your app’s most active users, most popular destinations, yacht types, etc. 

Advanced yacht chartering app features to consider 

Once you launch your app’s MVP and start  attracting yacht owners and charterers, you may want to empower your app with the following advanced features: 

• Built-in messenger allows app users to communicate within an app on the trip details, entertainment, menu, etc. 
• Price comparison so charterers can check trip costs and choose one that fits their budget
• Weather checker, since the weather could be a reason to postpone a trip due to dangers in a storm or rainy seasons
• Cloud solution integration to keep all the information about your customers, deals, and prices on a secure cloud, while maintaining your app’s infrastructure on scalable virtual machines, and handle the massive traffic load. For this service, consider only Certified Cloud Platform Partners. 
• Online concierge is a chatbot that will help you to reduce customer support costs by providing automated answers on FAQs, necessary information about luxury yacht etiquette, safety tips, etc. 

How much does an on-demand yacht chartering app cost? 

So, how much does an on-demand app cost? Mobile app projects that include several types of users are the most difficult. Also, remember that you are going to develop two separate apps (one for the charterer and yacht owner), managed by one web-based Admin panel. Such a project requires, not only senior-level app developers but also time and money. Thus, to give you a clear idea of the app’s MVP project scope, we have gathered and estimated essential features in hours. 

FeatureScreen	Functions required	Design	FrontEnd	BackEnd
Architecture			12	24
Design	Development of UX/UX Design components	40
Yacht owner’s profile	Personal info Edit profile List of scheduled events	8	16	20
Charterer profile	Personal info List with preferences Booked charters	8	16	20
Search for a yacht	Choose yacht model Apply filter Send a charter request to the yacht owner	16	24	32
Charter request confirmation	Approve charter request Cancel charter request		16
Messenger	Charterer and yacht representative can send text messages	16	24	40
Payment	Third-party API integration such as Stripe or PayPal	8	4	40
Feedbacks and review	Rate yacht owners Rate yachts	10	20	20
Admin panel	Dashboard Catalog Management  User Management Booking Requests			64
Project Documentation	Technical specification  Installationdeployment  Instructions, development documentation			118

On average, to build yacht booking mobile apps, our developers will need from six months, which costs from $60,000 per mobile platform. However, the price is subject to change according to the feature list, the number of users, business requirements, etc. To get a more precise cost of a yacht booking app, use our project cost calculator.  

Streamline yacht chartering leveraging boat reservation software

New times call for new technological solutions, especially in providing luxury services. Since tech-savvy Millennials are the primary target audience for a super luxury yacht chartering business, the only way to meet their expectations is to develop a streamlined and mobile-friendly luxury yacht booking app. In this way, you will make the exclusive lifestyle more accessible, while receiving considerable revenue from a commission-based monetization strategy. 

Think it’s time to develop a luxury mega yacht chartering app? We are here to help. Fill in the contact form to ask for a quote.

 What our clients say 

 “Ah look at all the lonely people” sang The Beatles in their Eleanor Rigby song. Since the 60s, many things have changed, including the way people find soulmates. After the revolution caused by Tinder in 2012, the niche of dating applications is still up and running.

Below, we share the main Tinder features, explain its matching algorithm, and monetization strategy.

But there is more.

You will also find mobile dating app development, step-by-step guide.

Current Dating App Statistic

As we said, modern technologies have completely changed the way we find someone to date and online dating is no longer a taboo.

A quick look at some statistics:

•   Over 27% of committed relationships starting via the Internet.
•   Approximately 40 million people use dating applications and websites around the globe.  
•   The annual revenue of all dating apps is estimated at around $2 billion.
•   Being the most popular dating app Tinder counts around 50 million users across the globe, while 60% came from the U.S.
•   The total worth of Tinder is estimated at around $1,6 billion.

The dating apps market is growing, as well as the customers’ demands. Therefore, if you what to make a dating app, this is the right time. And in this case, you should look up to industry leaders, like Tinder.

Now, let’s learn how to make a dating app like Tinder. 

HOW TO DEVELOP AN APP LIKE NETFLIX 

What are Tinder’s Main Features?

As we said, Tinder is one of the most popular dating applications around the world, and the secret weapon of Tinder is a gaming spirit and swiping feature. If you like someone’s profile, you swipe right, if you don’t – you swipe left. 

Now we’ll look at Tinder app features in more detail.

Login via social networks. Users can log in with their Instagram or Facebook profiles. Then, users can connect their Facebook and Instagram profiles with a Tinder account. Such social authentication helps the platform to become more trustworthy.

Geolocation. Tinder use users location to see which social spots, like bars, coffee shops, etc. they visit more frequently. Other users who have visited that place receive a notification only after the app user leaves that place. Besides, Tinder uses geolocation to find interest-based matches. This way, the app improves its services. For instance, the app will remove cinema halls from the social spots list if a lot of app users keep deleting them from their lists.

Matching algorithm. The app algorithm compares the new user profile with other profiles that are already in the database and suggests relevant matches.

HOW TO BUILD A SOCIAL MEDIA APP IN 2021

How Tinder algorithm works. 

•   The app uses the score to rank people by the attractiveness
•   For this, the app counts how many people swiped a person’s profile right (or Liked). 
•   The more likes, the higher the user’s score 
•   The app shows their profiles to other people with a similar amount of likes
•   Thereby, the app makes the match from the most liked people

Swipe Surge. As we said, Tinder users can like other profiles with a right swipe and dislike them by swiping left. According to the Tinder press release, Swipe Surge increased user activity up to 15x higher. This feature also increases the user match-making potential by 250 percent. 

Image source: Luceverntech

Find matches. Users can set interests, age, gender, etc. as search criteria. Then, the app makes a match of users who like each other’s profiles.

Profile setting. Tinder users can set their profiles to make them more trustworthy and attractive.

Push notification. When the app algorithm finds a suitable match, the user receives a push notification.  

Private chat. When the app makes a match, users can chat in build-in unscripted messenger.

Our next step is to learn how to develop a dating app.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO DEVELOP AN APP: DETAILED FEATURE BREAKDOWN

How to create your own dating app: A Step-by-step guide

To turn your idea about a dating app into a reality, you need to go through the following stages:  

Step 1. Find our niche

Finding a niche is the first stage of starting a dating app. While there are many dating apps already present in the market, you still have an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. For that, you need to choose your niche.

Below you will find the most exciting dating niches, currently present in the market. 

Preferences in food

There are many people with particular menu choices, such as gluten-free people, vegetarians, and vegans. Still, it is hard for them to meet a soul make in everyday life with the same preferences. So, you can base your dating app on some individual diet preferences.

Example:  

Gluten-Free Singles. This dating website was created for gluten-free people so that they can find dating partners, friends, and activity groups with people of the same preferences.

Preferences in lifestyle

We are all different, having different ideas of the perfect place to live. While some of us are children of big cities, others might prefer living in the countryside. Shared preferences in lifestyle can be a solid basis for people to start their relationship.

Example:

Equestrian Cupid. This dating website, developed for country and horse lovers, is a perfect place to find a cowboy or cowgirl. Equestrian Cupid gathered millions of people who dislike busy cities and dream to live in the countryside. Even if the user does not own a horse, they can join the website if they share down to earth values.

Favorite pets

Favorite pets are another theme that may bring people together. Some of us are cat lovers, while others like dogs. Thus, you can base your dating app on common interests in pets.

Example:  

Purrsonals.This dating website brings cat lovers together, so they can look for love while discussing their pets.

So, what’s next?

DO YOU NEED A MOBILE ECOMMERCE APP FOR YOUR STORE?

Step 2. Choose a business model

There are several business models that Tinder and other dating apps use for earning money:

Premium business model

Users get a free set of basic app features, but they can buy a premium app version with the following advanced features :

•   Boosting profile. The app charges users a fixed fee to show their profile as the first in the search result.

•   Advanced swipe. This feature, powered by a machine learning algorithm, changes the way users see photos. 

what is the technology behind it? The smart algorithm adjusts the user photos on the basis of the interests of other users. In this way, the owner of a premium account receives more chances to get matched.

•   Unlimited likes. While users of the free app version have a limited amount of right swipes or likes, users with a paid account have an unlimited number of likes.

You can use other ways of app monetization, such as: 

In-app purchases

App users are pleased to give and receive gifts from each other. To do this, empower your app with paid gifts, such as greetings, flowers, and kisses.

Ads

Many applications use this monetization strategy. You can charge other businesses for running their ads in your app. These might be cost-per-click or cost-per-mile models.

Step 3. Choose the tech stack for a Tinder-like app

Now you need to choose the technologies that will power your app and the main thing you need to keep in mind is scaling.

But why does it matter?

As we look at Tinder as an example:

Since the app’s launch, the Tinder app developers used MongoDB, the NoSQL database, to match people. But, as the app becomes popular and gains users, it becomes hard for the team to maintain the MongoDB database performance. So, the team needed to move to the more powerful Amazon Web Services hosting.

With this in mind, consider the following Tinder technology stack for your dating app.

Now it is time to find some mobile app developers, right? 

BREAKING DOWN AVERAGE COST OF IPHONE APP DEVELOPMENT (THE APP SOLUTIONS EXPERIENCE)

Step 4. Choose a Dating App Development Team

With numerous options presented on the mobile app development market, you need to consider the following parameters to find the best app development team:

Developers Hourly Rate

It is no secret that developers from different countries have a different hourly rate. At the same time, they might have similar experiences and skillsets. Therefore, if you want to decrease development costs, you can consider partnering with developers from other countries.

Check the table with developers’ rates across different countries below.

Image source: Clutch 

Portfolio

The portfolio is another sign you need to check when looking for a mobile app development team. This way, you will receive insight into the company’s level of expertise. Besides, it would be great if the mobile development company have dating apps in their portfolio.

Our recent project is WizzLuck, a mobile dating application that connects people of similar interests. 

The client hired us to refactor the MVP, debug it, and make an upgrade for the new market.  For this project, the team remastered the code, fixed the bugs, and developed a new design.

We also integrated a geolocation feature to help WizzLuck users find matches nearby.

Now, moving on.

Previous Clients

Ask the mobile development team for a list of recent clients. By contacting them, you can learn about your future developers’ reliability, communication skills, and commitments.

Development Capabilities

The size of the development team is another thing to consider. If you want to create an enterprise-level solution, you need to find a big development team. On the other hand, to create a project MVP, you can cooperate with a team with one or two mobile developers.

Step 5. Develop and Launch MVP 

After you’ve selected the development team, they will start the discovery (inception) phase. This stage will include clarification of the project’s requirements, your business goals, and project prototyping.

Feature	Description	Estimated development time
Social sign-in	Empower your app with sign-in via social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn for a more seamless experience.	24+ hours
User profile	Each user has their own profile where one indicates interests and hobbies.	12+ hours
Geolocation	With this feature, the app users will choose the region where they want to find a soulmate and even choose nearby locations.	8+ hours
Matching	To make the matching process more accurate, use AI-based algorithms.	45+ hours
Chatting	When users have a match, they can start chatting and get to know each other better. Also, it is possible to add stickers and GIFs optionally to make messages more vivid.	6+ hours
Push notifications	Push notifications will inform your app users about their matches.	18+ hours
Settings	Settings include main features like select by categories, on/off the sound, customize different filters, and so on.	16+ hours
Total		From 129+ hours

 

The Bottom Line

The development of a dating app might be a very profitable investment. Still, matching app development is a complicated procedure that requires, not only financial resources but also significant experience from your mobile development team.

We hope that our guide on how to create a dating app has helped you to understand how to make your own Tinder app and monetization strategies you should apply.

The only thing left is to find an experienced development team to turn your ideas into reality.

Have you ever faced a situation when your freight brokers spend too much time checking the load board, your driver’s truck is broken at the mid-way point to a warehouse, while some of your truckers drive empty? It sounds like a nightmare for all logistics business owners. Such situations occur because the logistics business is very segmented and consists of several departments – warehouses, fleet, and delivery management. Also, the absence of visibility across logistics departments results in profit loss due to empty miles. In its empty miles research, FreighWaves said on average fleets drive 20% of empty miles or so-called deadhead trips, which reduce logistics businesses’ income. 

To make your logistics company work properly without losing income, you need to manage warehouses, ensure maximum truckloads, and track driver locations, while providing ultimate transparency across all departments. 

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS VS. MACHINE LEARNING: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE

The solution is logistics mobile app development that makes the work across all departments visible and predictable. 

After reading this guide, you will be aware of the essential logistics app types and how to develop a logistics app for your business. 

Essential reasons to create a mobile app for a logistics business

Logistics businesses need to integrate mobile application strategy to their workflow in order to receive the following benefits: 

Eliminates paperwork 

Logistics mobile apps provide instant access to a company’s database with freight accompanying documents, avoiding inconvenient paper order forms and service orders.  

Reduces delivery time and costs

Thanks to fleet management mobile solutions, you can schedule freight delivery, predict fuel expenses, and reduce empty miles. 

Optimizes dispatches and routes

Mobile solutions for warehouse management with built-in databases and barcode scanning features improve freight dispatching, while the delivery scheduling function gives you the option to choose the best way beforehand. 

Provides control over vehicle tracking

You can achieve more coordinated shipment and accurately predict the vehicle’s dispatch time by an integrated GPS tracking feature to a driver’s logistics app.

In a nutshell, you can leverage mobile technologies to automate routine tasks, manage dispatched inventory in real-time, and provide visibility across all departments, thus decreasing empty miles and increasing profit. 

Related reading:

• AI in the logistics industry 
• How to develop Uber for trucking 
• How to develop an application like Uber 
• HYPR taxi app development case study 

Develop a logistic mobile app step-by-step

We often meet customers who ask us to give an estimated cost of the logistics app development without knowing the app’s type or its main components and features, which makes the estimation impossible. Thus, before getting in touch with mobile developers, you need to select the app’s type. In addition, you need to be aware of the development phases to be on the same page with your dev team. 

To give you an idea of the app development process, we gathered essential logistics app development stages. 

STAGES OF LOGISTICS MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT

Step 1. Select the Type of a Logistics App

Since logistics includes several departments, logistics apps also vary by purpose, end-users, and the feature list. At this stage, you need to decide which app’s type you are going to build and select one among the following: 

Fleet Management Mobile Apps

If you have an excessive fleet, you need to track the information about each vehicle and maintain them in time. A fleet management app will help you to record, manage, and store all the information about your trucks. With such transport logistics software, you can track vehicle maintenance history, service costs, fuel consumption trends, and other essential metrics to give you deep insights into your total cost of ownership. Fleet management apps include a driver’s app where the user updates information on the vehicle and an Admin web-based app where you can assign the user’s role, track statistics of your fleet, scheduled maintenance reminders, and so on. To find out more about the fleet management app’s feature list, let’s discover Fleetio Go, a typical fleet management app. 

[Source]

Fleetio Go, a part of Fleetio Manage logistics management software, helps drivers to update information, track their fleet, and access fleet data anytime, anywhere. The app’s most essential features are:  

• Real-time inspections submissions (DVIR) and issues reports
• Barcode scanning for streamlined data updates 
• Digital gallery with photos, docs, and comments
• Integrated GPS for vehicle tracking 
• Submission of Work Orders

Logistics On-Demand Mobile Apps

Vehicles do not always drive fully loaded, and if your drivers have extra space in their trucks, they can take some extra fright for the delivery. If you want to increase the income of your logistics company, consider shipping on-demand mobile app development. 

On-demand delivery logistics apps connect company-owned vehicle drivers and shippers who need their cargo to be delivered. Thus, the app consists of a carrier app, shipper app, and an Admin panel. Now, let’s find out how such apps work. 

• Shippers post a freight request with cargo destination, origin, load, weight, size, and cost
• The platform notifies the nearest driver, ready for immediate pickup, who accepts the shipment request  
• Once the driver picks up the freight, shippers can track the vehicle location via build-in GPS, receive real-time updates and alerts on the delivery progress 
• After the driver delivers the cargo, the platform notifies the shipper about successful delivery and automatically sends an invoice for payment

To earn money, shipping an on-demand app charges a software service fee based on the delivery’s total. 

HOW TO BUILD A FOOD DELIVERY APP LIKE UBEREATS

To learn more about logistics on-demand mobile app features, let’s take a closer look at the Cargomatic Driver app. 

[Source]

Cargomatic is targeted at company-owned truck drivers who want to accept additional shipments during delivery routes. The Cargomatic Driver app’s essential features are: 

• GPS tracker to determine the driver’s location, suggest nearest shipping requests and show driving directions 
• Offers section, where the driver can view app shipping requests nearby
• Order page with information about the shipment origin, destination, size, weight, etc
• Built-in messaging to discuss all the details with the shipper
• Jobs with a history of completed orders, new shipping orders, and their status
• Digitized documentation, where the driver takes a picture of the bill of lading, the POD, and inputs the name of a representative 

Warehouse Mobile Apps

If your logistics business owns a warehouse, you need to ensure that all shipments will be delivered to the right origin within the stated time. At the same time, tracking, managing, and updating the status of hundreds of deliveries in real-time is almost impossible. To digitize the management of your warehouse, consider barcode scanning app development. Such applications are empowered with third-party APIs to recognize various barcodes and integrate with your warehouse database to update information in real-time. Also, barcode scanning apps eliminate expenses on barcode scanners, reduce human errors, and increase your warehouse employee efficiency thanks to bulk barcode scanning. To find out more about the essential warehouse management feature list, let’s take a closer look at the Logistics Plus Mobile Warehousing & Transportation App.

[Source]

Logistics Plus Mobile Warehousing & Transportation App improves warehouse management by streamlining the receiving process, checking details, and tracking domestic and international freight. The essential features of this logistics management app are: 

• Barcode scanner to read barcodes using a mobile device’s camera, and update the warehouse database within minutes
• Integration with resource management software (ERP) so warehouses and logistics businesses can track freight being shipped in and out 
• Shipment Tracking for finding a particular freight by the shipper, consignee, or PO#, and its status 
• Current Position to find out about shipping geolocation, speed, navigation status, times of departure and arrival, and ETA at the final destination.

Once you have enough information about your logistic mobile app and its feature list, it is time to find mobile app developers and contact them.

Related reading:

HOW IS AI REDEFINING THE LOGISTICS & TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRIES

Step 2. Quote from logistic mobile app developers 

At this stage, your goal is to consider not only technical expertise but also communication between the team and yourself as the client. But why does it matter? While there are hundreds of thousands of good developers, the project’s success directly depends on excellent communication among team members where soft skills are essential. 

Where to find the best mobile app developers:

• Clients review platforms, such as Clutch or GoodFirms
• Professional social media networks, like Linkedin 
• Technical blogs where industry leaders share useful tips with their clients 

Also, check out our previous article where we shared tips on hiring mobile app developers.  Once you select the best mobile developers, you need to get in touch with their sales representatives, usually via the website’s contact form.  

Step 3. Sign NDA and explain your business idea

Once your request is answered, a sales manager will schedule a call to receive more information on the project. However, there is no need to share all the details about your logistic app with people who are not yet your technological partners. Thus, a sales manager who respects your business idea will send you an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement). However, if you have strict deadlines, ask to sign an NDA before the first call. Now, tell the sales manager what logistics app you are going to build, its features, users, and so on. The sales manager will send this information to business analysts, who will roughly estimate the costs of your app.  

Step 4. Receive a rough app estimate

A rough estimate of the app’s cost is not the final cost of your project because there are many tech details and requirements to be clarified. Thus, avoid companies who claim to develop a comprehensive logistics app for ridiculously low costs. 

Compare a rough estimation from mobile app developers, including timeframes, technologies, team composition, their hourly rate, and choose your winner. 

Step 5. Launch the discovery (inception) phase

The discovery or inception phase lasts from one to three months. During this period, your development team will come up with questions concerning the app’s business logic, functions, end-users, and the way they interact with the app, to create a project specification. A project specification, or technical documentation, is a document that describes project goals, all possible ways users will interact with the app (user stories), what the app will do in each case, the list of technologies, and architecture. 

Another deliverable of the discovery phase is an app’s prototype. The prototype is an interactive design of several screens that visualize the main app’s design elements. On the link, you can try our app prototype. 

At the end of the discovery phase, the team will run a demonstration of the app’s prototype, send you the project specification, prototype, final estimate, and wait for your feedback. 

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO DEVELOP AN APP: DETAILED FEATURE BREAKDOWN

Step 6. Build and launch your logistic app’s MVP 

Before developing the feature-rich app, the team will create an app MVP (minimum variable product). The MVP is the app’s version that includes only essential features required to prove your business idea. To build an MVP,  the dev team will do the following: 

Create an app MVP development plan 

Using the project specification, the team prioritizes the app’s features and creates an MVP roadmap. The project roadmap is a document that includes all MVP user stories and iterations for their implementation. 

Start the development phase

The team starts to implement user stories according to the development plan. At the end of each iteration, the team will send you the report, and each month they will conduct a demonstration to show you a ready-made part of the app. 

Release the app’s MVP on marketplaces

Once the MVP of your logistic application is done, the development team runs the final demo and releases the app to Apple Store and Google play for public access. At this stage, you receive entire access to your app, the database, the app’s code, and other project-related documents.  

Step 7. Empower logistics app with advanced features

After you receive feedback from the app’s users, you and your development team will decide what advanced features to build next. For this stage, consider adding such advanced logistics app functions as:

• Build-in messaging 
• Digitized documentation
• Changeable shipping order status 
• Digital gallery with freight images 
• History of completed shipments 
• Real-time inspections submissions 
• Barcode scanning API integration 
• Third-party payment gateway 
• Logistics optimization software

OUTSTAFFING VS. OUTSOURCING VS. MANAGED SERVICES: DIFFERENCES AND BENEFITS

The APP Solutions experience in logistics mobile app development 

We delivered two projects for customers from logistics domains. 

Transprolog Monitoramento, a logistics company from Brazil, hired us to develop a mobile logistics platform with GPS and message for drivers, and integrate it with a ready-made web-based app for logistics managers. 

To meet the client’s goals, we empowered a mobile app for drivers with the following features:

• Build-in messenger to communicate with shippers via text and voice messages, send them images and videos
• Order management to change the delivery status via the app 
• GPS integration 

Our team delivered the project within a tight timeline, and the client received the app after three months. 

Heavy Haul Route is another mobile app we developed for the logistics segment. Initially, the client needed a route planning app for long-haul truck drivers that offered the best route, and reduction in fuel expenses, to avoid getting off-route tickets and hitting bridges. Apart from coding, the client also needed a team to create the app’s design. 

After working with us, the client received:

• UX/UI design for all app’s screens
• Maps service integration via API 
• Advanced user data security measures 

WHAT TECH STACK TO CHOOSE FOR YOUR PROJECT

Leveraging mobile technologies in logistics and transportation management

In a nutshell, logistics management systems can improve performance across all your departments, from the warehouse to vehicle maintenance. To develop an outstanding mobile app for your logistics business, follow the steps we have described in this guide. 

If you are considering logistic mobile app development and still have questions, we are always here to help. 

Want to create a messenger application like WhatsApp? Well, you are not alone among business owners who are pursuing this business idea. But only a few proceed from considering to developing. 

For creating such a project, you need to be aware of WhatsApp’s main functionality like application, technologies behind those functions, and costs for developing such a project. 

In this article, we’ve described all these points. But before digging into the smallest details, let’s look at the bigger picture to find out whether it’s worth investing in messaging app development.  

Should you create a WhatsApp-like project for your business?

[Source] 

People prefer messaging applications to SMS, calls, and email clients like Gmail because messengers are more convenient than other communication means. Below we have some numbers that prove that messaging apps are up and running: 

• Statista reports that In April 2022, WhatsApp had approximately 2.44 billion unique active users worldwide, up 6.4 percent compared to the corresponding month in 2021.
• The chat apps market will keep up with this overall growth, and by 2025, users will make four out of five mobile connections with a smartphone
• The messaging apps’ average revenue was $8,7 billion on 2021

After considering all the information above, the messaging apps market will continue to grow, and that there is still room for new messaging apps.

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But before you create a WhatsApp-like project and enter the messaging applications market, you need to get to know your potential competitors, i.e., other most popular chat apps in 2022 as of right now based on the number of monthly active users.

For comparison, to make it clear which messengers are gaining popularity and which have sagged over time – let’s leave the older statistics here.

[Source] 

Now, it is time to determine what steps you need to take to create your WhatsApp-like messaging project. 

OUTSTAFFING VS. OUTSOURCING VS. MANAGED SERVICES: DIFFERENCES AND BENEFITS

How to create a WhatsApp application in 4 steps

Step 1.Determine the project’s MVP features list.

Create the list of the most critical instant messaging project features to build an app’s MVP (minimum viable product), i.e., the first project’s version. 

Step 2. Pick an outsourcing company

Find the development team that will satisfy your time, quality, and cost requirements. To get a clue on requirements for a development team and tips on choosing the right developers, read the article about outsourcing mobile application development without failing. 

Step 3. Launch the discovery phase

During the project discovery phase, developers create functional and non-functional requirements for your business project, project technical documentation, suggest its architecture, write user stories, prioritize functionality and create a clickable prototype. 

[The APP Solutions example of project’s prototype] 

Step 4. Initiate the development phase

Developers use the project’s tech documentation as a backlog for building the project’s MVP. The design team creates drawable screens for your business application using a clickable prototype’s design as a reference.

[Mobile app development process: steps and dev team members]

After all these steps, you receive the first version of your WhatsApp clone, ready for a release on the application marketplaces. In your experience, all the phases take 4-7 months to complete.

But it is your responsibility to take care of fundraising for the second development phase to improve your business project and market the project, so you receive the first users right after the MVP release. 

To save you from searching for all the necessary functionality, we’ve created a feature list you can use for your project. So, let’s check it out. 

WHAT TECH STACK TO CHOOSE FOR YOUR PROJECT

Creating a WhatsApp-like project: main features and tech stack

Instant chat applications allow users to exchange text, audio, video messages, and calls in their WhatsApp account and group chats. There are many functions of WhatsApp. But you don’t need to integrate all of them at once. Below we gathered the most important functions: 

Login and profile

For the first time a user opens the app, one needs to sign in and create a WhatsApp account by providing one’s phone number. 

• The application sends a message with a confirmation code to the user’s phone number, so one can log in to a WhatsApp account using the verified phone number
• After verifying the user’s phone number, the user can create a WhatsApp account with a name and photo
• When a WhatsApp account is created, the user can add contacts to the WhatsApp account from contacts, save them, start sending messages and create group chats

Message exchange

The application must store the conversation history in the WhatsApp account or a group chat and provide users with it if they logged in on another device like WhatsApp, which doesn’t keep the messages on its server.

Notifications

Notifications inform users when a new message arrives on the WhatsApp account or a group chat. To add this feature to the app, our developers will use:

• Google Cloud Messaging 
• Apple Push Notifications

HOW DO SECURE MESSENGERS LIKE WIRE AND SIGNAL MAKE MONEY?

Multimedia file transmission

Consider enabling your users with file sharing functionality that allows sending their photos, gifs, etc along with text messages. You can find WhatsApp file sharing functionality in dialogs in the upper right corner.  

It also makes sense to use synchronization with cloud services, including: 

• Google Drive
• Dropbox 
• Evernote

Location sharing

The option to share your location can be beneficial for people who are going to use your application. To create a location-sharing functionality for different operating systems, our developers use: 

• Apple MapKit 
• Google Location SDK

Now, let’s answer such a pragmatic question concerning the amount of money you will spend for your project – what does a new WhatsApp-like app cost? 

CHATBOTS FOR REAL ESTATE: HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

How much does a WhatsApp-like business application cost?

Let us take a look at the table with the main MVP features for a WhatsApp clone and the estimation in hours. 

Registration and address book information

• 12 hours for iOS development
• 16 for Android
• 8 hours for the backend

Message exchange

• iOS 25 hours
• Android 32 hours
• Backend 47 hours

Notifications

•  iOS 12 hours
• Android 16 hours
• Backend 16 hours

Multimedia file transmission

• 25 hours for iOS
• 32 hours for Android
• 40 hours for the backend

Location sharing

• iOS 12
• Android 16
• Backend 8

Total: from 208+ hours for the iOS app, and from 231+ hours for the Android app.

The approximate cost to create a WhatsApp app depends on the number of features, but an essential estimation based on developers’ assumptions starts from $55K.

REASONS YOUR MAGAZINE NEEDS A MOBILE APP AND HOW TO MONETIZE IT

Create a WhatsApp-like application for business: Key Takeaways

Messaging applications are gaining momentum. The most popular messaging application, WhatsApp, includes over 2 billion active monthly users, followed by Facebook Messenger and WeChat. 

To create your WhatApp-like project, make sure you’re using the steps we listed: 

• Gathering features
• Finding developers
• Initiating the project discovery phase 
• Launching the development phase

While developers will implement the functionality and the design of your application, don’t wait time. Learn how to raise funds for further improvements for a WhatsApp-like business project and investigate marketing strategies to apply to attract users to your project. 

If you are looking for a development team to answer your questions concerning your business idea, you can rely on us. Contact our business development department to receive a free consultation. 

Related readings: 

Case Study: Video Streaming App Proof of Concept