Tag: app development

A Step-by-step Guide on HIPAA Compliance

Firebase integration

You can’t go far without proper data analytics. An understanding of the state of things regarding the application, the way customers are using it, and how efficiently it operates, hangs on through-and-through analytics.

The app needed a practical and accessible mobile analytics solution to gain insights regarding application use and user engagement.

We have used Firebase because of its ease of use and flexibility. With its help, the company can see what is going on in the application and react appropriately.

It is also used as a platform for push notifications delivery.

Data security and HIPAA

Data security is one of the significant challenges that come with developing any application that deals with sensitive data. And with health apps, it becomes even more important.

The main requirement was HIPAA compliance which is usually identified with foundations secured by the law:

Emergency clinics.
Corporate medicinal services associations.
Research establishments.
Insurance agencies that manage patients and their data.

However, since HIPAA PHI security necessity likewise applies to partners of these offices, it was extremely important to follow these guidelines for user data management, transparent data use, and guaranteeing the safety of data.

The following solutions were used to provide appropriate data security measures:

HTTPS, TLS, SSH for data-in-transit encryption;
Activity Logging + Access Management;
Handling all the secure data on the backend;
Making sure all the third-party solutions are HIPAA compliant;
Limited access to the production database at the network level.

Tech Stack

Subscription website – JavaScript/С#
Patient Apps – Swift, Kotlin
Devices connectivity – Validic
Analytics and Notifications – Firebase

Personnel

Project Manager
Business Analyst
2 QA engineers
2 iOS developers
2 Android Developers

Conclusion

BuenoPR is an absolutely unique app and another great case in the large portfolio of our healthcare projects. It provides all the necessary data for users about their health, and connects them with their care team, but it also uses cutting-edge technology to prevent conditions and complications.

For our company, it was a great experience, applying all our expertise both in the Native mobile development and healthcare domains to create an app that would save people’s lives.

Using the Agile approach, and receiving quality feedback from users, each iteration really helped us deliver a product that would be useful, rich in functionality, and extremely easy to navigate.

BuenoPR Project Description

How does Bueno make a difference in this niche?

Preventive medicine powered by AI

All the info about user’s condition in their pocket

Tracking down all the metrics from one app

Virtual care

Gamification

Insurance insights

The main goals of BuenoPR are the following:

Provide users with comprehensive insights into their health using their Electronic Health Record (EHR) data processed by AI
Ensure 24/7 health support
Reduce stress to a minimum with transparent info, excellent UX and gamification techniques

This combination of functions makes the app unique on the market.

Project technical specification

The main product is a mobile application for patients. Its features include:

360° overview of patient’s health (metrics that are collected from the devices, doctor’s office and manually logged, social activity, allergies, medications, health challenges)
Chat with the care team (doctor and nurses)
Knowledge base with all the info on the body, lab tests, and conditions
Lab results
Care activities prescribed by the doctor
Insurance information
Notification system
Achievements

The other elements of the service include:

Subscription website – to submit registration forms and subsequently, for subscription management;
Admin Dashboard contains the following features:

General application activity overview;
In-app analytics;
User management
Customer support operations.

Key Solutions

Orb Health

Validic

Change HealthCare

Mayo Clinic

Want To Build a Healthcare Mobile App?

A Step-by-step Guide on HIPAA Compliance

Firebase integration

The app needed a practical and accessible mobile analytics solution to gain insights regarding application use and user engagement.

We have used Firebase because of its ease of use and flexibility. With its help, the company can see what is going on in the application and react appropriately.

It is also used as a platform for push notifications delivery.

Data security and HIPAA

Data security is one of the significant challenges that come with developing any application that deals with sensitive data. And with health apps, it becomes even more important.

The main requirement was HIPAA compliance which is usually identified with foundations secured by the law:

Emergency clinics.
Corporate medicinal services associations.
Research establishments.
Insurance agencies that manage patients and their data.

The following solutions were used to provide appropriate data security measures:

HTTPS, TLS, SSH for data-in-transit encryption;
Activity Logging + Access Management;
Handling all the secure data on the backend;
Making sure all the third-party solutions are HIPAA compliant;
Limited access to the production database at the network level.

AGILE HEALTHCARE: HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE APPROACH

Tech Stack

Subscription website – JavaScript/С#
Patient Apps – Swift, Kotlin
Devices connectivity – Validic
Analytics and Notifications – Firebase

Personnel

Project Manager
Business Analyst
2 QA engineers
2 iOS developers
2 Android Developers

Conclusion

For our company, it was a great experience, applying all our expertise both in the Native mobile development and healthcare domains to create an app that would save people’s lives.

Using the Agile approach, and receiving quality feedback from users, each iteration really helped us deliver a product that would be useful, rich in functionality, and extremely easy to navigate.

How to Create a Medical App in 2022: The Ultimate Guide

Posted on August 28, 2023September 20, 2023 by Pavel Tantsiura

In this issue:

What is a Medical App?
What is the Difference Between a Health App and a Medical App?
Types of mHealth apps
Is Mobile App Development Profitable?
Benefits of mHealth apps for business owners
Healthcare Mobile App Development vs. Covid
How to Build an Effective Medical Mobile App
Healthcare mobile app development
What tasks should healthcare mobile apps perform?
Trends in mobile medical software development
The APP Solutions and mobile app development services
Outcomes

Healthcare mobile app development is a complex and demanding job that requires maximum concentration and attention to detail. The cost of a mistake in such an application can be money, health, or even a person’s life. Hence, before taking on the development of such a project you need to consider many nuances and, in no case, release a faster, “raw” product. Therefore, we will try to tell you about the most important aspects and features of healthcare mobile app development.

Mobile health is growing at a rapid pace these days. The demand for mHealth apps is driven by the growing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, as well as the increasing diffusion of digital health technologies. Among others, the monitoring services segment accounted for the largest share in 2019. Nonetheless, diagnostic services are projected to show the highest CAGR.

Covid 19 also contributed a lot to the spread of mobile healthcare apps. However, in 2017, about 64% of the U.S. adult population regularly used the app to measure health indicators. Still, there are some doubts about the confidentiality of personal information and data systems security. But this does not mean that such a suspicious audience cannot become a target – this will be another challenge for healthcare app developers in the cybersecurity field.

The healthcare app market is still far from being oversaturated due to its changes in recent years. Until a few years ago, the list consisted mainly of lifestyle and fitness apps. Now it is starting to include more and more apps focused on specific tasks. For example, working as a complementary medical app clinic or helping people with certain types of diseases. In the mobile health market, analysts have identified several main segments of applications designed for diagnostics, monitoring, prevention, treatment, and medical simulations.

Want To Build a Healthcare Mobile App?

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

What is a Medical App?

So, what kind of applications can be called medical or those related (albeit indirectly) to your health?

First of all, these are applications that help users effectively manage their physical/psychological illnesses and fitness achievements, as well as keep records of hospital visits and insurance payments.

Doctors, in turn, have their own goals when using mHealth apps. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society names the tools most commonly used by doctors:

Collect bedside data
Monitor data from remote devices
Transmit data and coordinate care continuity
Conduct telemedicine visits
Communicate with patients
Integrate data into EMR

BuenoPR – 360° Approach to Health

As a result, Health IT Outcomes reports on a variety of usage trends by the physician and healthcare community:

93% of doctors believe mHealth apps can improve patient health
74% of the hospitals using mobile app devices to collect patient data are more efficient than those that don’t
42% of patients say they prefer digitally scheduling an appointment over calling their provider

With the reality of Covid 19, doctor visits quickly moved online. Furthermore, the clinicians themselves claim that 75% of calls do not really require the patient’s personal presence in the office, meaning most medical situations can be handled using telemedicine. This immediately gives tangible relief for ambulances.

CHOOSING TELEMEDICINE SOFTWARE DURING COVID-19: A COMPLETE GUIDE

What is the Difference Between a Health App and a Medical App?

The difference between a health app and medical app is that health apps are designed to provide health-related services for all types of smartphones and communication devices, whereas medical applications are software on mobile gadgets that users can apply to regulated medical devices.

Types of mHealth apps

For patients:

Fitness and wellness apps
Mental health apps (including meditation)
Self-diagnosing
IoT
Applications for caring for the elderly and sick people
Patient well-being diaries, vital sign monitoring (blood pressure, pulse, glucose, and cholesterol levels…)
Health management apps such as hydration monitoring, calorie calculator, diet tips, etc.
Social networking, health forums, and portals
Assistants for pregnant women
Womens’ health
Telemedicine/Doctor on-demand
Appointment and recipe reminders
Medication management/Mood trackers/Sleep monitoring

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE ON MOBILE APP HIPAA COMPLIANCE

For doctors:

Medical resource and education apps that contain information about drugs, medical articles, or lists of symptoms
Remote diagnostics
Remote monitoring
Communication
Appointment management
Telemedicine

The classification is limited to these two groups, but there is also a third cluster. These are medical applications for institutions that are somehow related to the medical industry.

Clinical assistance apps with EMR and EHR access
Appointment and scheduling
Billing
Inventory management

What solutions can we offer?

Find Out More

Is Mobile App Development Profitable?

The IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science report has found that the consumer digital health app market reached new records in 2020. Over 90,000 healthcare apps were released that year. In general, there are now over 350,000 digital health apps available to consumers in stores.

However, the quality of most of them is poor. The main disadvantages of many applications currently on the market include:

Fuzzy structure that does not solve a specific problem
Lack of clinical data
Poor usability
Non-observance of the rules of confidentiality and security

As a result, 83% of applications were installed less than 5,000 times, which together represent less than 1% of total downloads. Meanwhile, the Lucky Hundred Leader Apps have been downloaded over 10 million times. This is almost 50% of the total number of downloads.

Nevertheless, various healthcare mobile apps continue to storm the market. Health IT Outcomes predicted that global mHealth revenue would reach $49.12 billion by 2020.

According to a report by ResearchAndMarkets, the global mHealth market size is expected to reach $ 316.8 billion by 2027. Statista expects this figure to rise even higher – to $ 333 billion by 2025. The most optimistic forecast suggests that the global digital health market will increase to over 500 billion U.S. dollars by 2025. During this time, the health information technology segment of the industry should generate the largest revenue share, reaching some 280 billion U.S. dollars already by 2021.

HEALTHCARE CYBERSECURITY: HOW TO PROTECT PATIENT DATA

At the same time, back in 2015, Forbes wrote about one million telemedicine patients. By 2018, patient encounters had increased to seven million. This statistic shows the top-funded digital health categories worldwide during 2020. In that year, over 4.2 billion U.S. dollars of funding was provided for telemedicine, making it the most funded category.

Benefits of mHealth apps for business owners

As a health care business owner, you can increase customer loyalty. This will help you with:

Convenient functionality. Achieved by providing a quality product that will cover all “medical” needs from making an appointment to storing test results, from telemedicine to reminders to buy drugs. This will attract a new audience and increase the loyalty of existing ones.
Successful marketing. Increase customer engagement with self-reminders. For example, by creating a healthcare app for a specific hospital, you can attract more users with promotions, news, offers, and just being creative.
Knowledge of the client’s needs. Keeping personal information in your app is the easiest way to collect customer data to improve user experience.

KEY DIFFERENCES IN EHR VS. EMR VS. PHR: WHAT TO CHOOSE FOR YOUR HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATION

Ultimately, the development of a healthcare app helps not only improve a particular hospital’s business processes more efficiently, but also improve the image of both the hospital that ordered the healthcare mobile application development, and the company that developed it.

Do You Want Your Own Medical App?

Healthcare Mobile App Development vs. Covid

The PWC “Medical cost trend: Behind the numbers 2022” report suggests that coronavirus isn’t the only thing affecting the health of Americans. Lack of exercise, poor diet, increased use of psychoactive substances, and smoking…all can lead to poor health in the U.S. population and increased health care costs.

At the same time, App Annie statistics show that there has been a surge in downloads of medical apps in the months of isolation. These country statistics compare downloads in the “peak” local month, with January 2020 considered the benchmark month. The world average is 65%.

Interestingly, the most significant surge was in South Korea. There, the number of downloads increased by 135%! India’s official tracing app might also be responsible for the 90% upswing we see in that market. We see lower but still significant growth in the European and North American markets as well.

WHAT IS FEMTECH IN HEALTHCARE

This speaks of both the level of fear felt around the world and desire to be as aware as possible in uncertain times. However, government agencies are using apps as a platform for managing and tracking outbreaks.

Number of health and fitness app users in the United States from 2018 to 2022 (in millions):

How to Build an Effective Medical Mobile App

About 30% of startups make it to the 10-year mark, with one in five failing in the first year, and the percentage of failed healthcare startups even higher. As mentioned earlier, the most important reason for failure is the inability to identify the target audience, its problems, and how to solve them. In other words, healthcare apps are often not needed at all.

Therefore, in order not to fail, you should clearly define ‘why’ and ‘what’ you are doing. Such simple questions, but the above statistics say that not everyone is asking them.

The process of developing a mobile app can be divided into an almost infinite number of stages. Here are the most basic ones:

Shaping an idea
Market Research
Making an MVP
Design process

RPA IN HEALTHCARE: A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW, BENEFITS, AND USE CASES

Make sure your mobile healthcare application solves a real problem with enough people. Then, form a clear target audience to further direct all available advertising methods to it. Finally, define a list of features that will only be in your application, and also a list of reasons that prevent you from becoming the best right away.

Conduct detailed research of your competitors to understand their strengths and weaknesses. In this way, you don’t have to waste time adding a new feature your customers are asking for or removing any old parts that nobody needs.

MICROSOFT CLOUD FOR HEALTHCARE: HOW MS CLOUD SOLUTIONS ARE BENEFITING HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS

Healthcare App Development

Before starting work on the healthcare app, we recommend you think about such challenges that you will definitely have to solve within healthcare mobile app development:

APIs and integrations
Data encryption
Multiple devices and channels
Security and privacy

There is nothing more important to do in the development of healthcare apps, than solving these problems.

Start healthcare mobile app development with MVP. This version should include the basic functionality of any healthcare app. But, of course, it all depends on what type of medical healthcare software you are building. For example, some are exclusively engaged in tracking health indicators, some order medicines for you in pharmacies, and some banally remind you that you need to drink another glass of water. But if you want to create an application that will perform many functions at once, think about the features below.

THE APP SOLUTIONS – CUSTOM HEALTHCARE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY

Tracking

The doctor and user should be able to independently enter health indicators – height and weight, sugar and cholesterol levels, heart rate and blood pressure, regardless of whether these indicators are measured at home or in the laboratory.

Scheduling

When a patient knows that he has the opportunity to independently book a visit to the doctor in a matter of minutes, he will do it much more willingly than when he needs to call, clarify something and wait for an answer. With this approach, it is easier to miss a visit than to struggle with an appointment. But, of course, we don’t want that, do we?

KEEP A PULSE ON EPIC APP ORCHARD AND HOW IT BENEFITS THE HEALTH SYSTEMS

Notifications and reminders

If the planned visit takes place in a month, or even six months, it is easy to forget about it as well as being reminded to take a pill that you need at a specific time.

Personal account

Allow patients to add their personal information (name, gender, age, etc.) Along with that, permit them to add their health biomarkers and help track them.

Chat and Communication

Allow the doctor to correspond with the patient to enter the conversation results into the necessary documents. To do this, you will need to integrate your healthcare mobile app with the doctor’s software or platform.

WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN HEALTHCARE?

[The APP Solutions layout for a healthcare mobile app]

Telemedicine options

Often correspondence alone is not enough. As mentioned above, video chat with doctors is gaining more and more popularity as it saves time for both the doctor and patient. And, the latter is also not at risk of catching any virus if he doesn’t have to come to the hospital in person.

Geolocation

Allow the patient to find a specialist doctor with good reviews near their location.

File Storage

Hospitals need to create an EHR system to store files securely. As you develop your mobile app, allow users to store their medical data and files.

These can be prescriptions, ECGs, doctors’ recommendations, medical bills.

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS VS. MACHINE LEARNING: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE

Security

A big problem is the distrust of many people in the safety of their data, especially in such an “intimate” sphere. Therefore, place special emphasis on this, do not spare the money spent on security.

Integration with wearables, social integration

Integration with Apple Watch, “garter” to selected social networks.

Search

Create a filter system that can help you find a specific doctor by last name or choose the most suitable one by specialization, location, cost of the visit, etc.

Ratings and reviews

We have long been accustomed to rating the services of taxi drivers and couriers. User feedback about which doctor or hospital will be extremely helpful to future patients and motivate nursing staff to perform even better.

HEALTHCARE APPS DEVELOPMENT: TYPES, EXAMPLES, AND FEATURES

HIPAA Compliant Messaging

The business owner must clearly understand which region they are targeting with their medical app. Where and what kind of correspondence should you pay attention to?

HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability). The most common rules in the United States were governing confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all electronically protected medical information.
GDPR (The General Data Protection Regulation). A set of rules adopted and operating in the European Union since 2018. All medical mobile apps must adhere to the provisions on the protection of personal data prescribed in the document. The GDPR applies to both the companies that collect the data and those that process it.
CCPA (The California Consumer Privacy Act). An analog of the European GDPR. The law includes informing the client about what data is collected, preparing a free report on the collected data at the client’s request, and deleting the collected data at the client’s request.
PIPEDA (The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act). A policy designed to safeguard patient privacy in Canada. More often than not a healthcare app that is “confused” with standardization, according to the GDPR, will work with PIPEDA as well since the provisions are very similar.

Payments

You need to decide how you plan to receive income from your medical mobile app. Choose a Monetization Model.

In-app ads. The healthcare app has no paid options, and it earns by displaying ads
Freemium. Basic healthcare application options are free, and you need to buy additional exciting features
Subscription. Users pay only when they use the mobile apps, subscribing for a week, month, year
Paid. One-time payment for the healthcare app upon purchase

Also, do not forget about those payments that are made between the patient and medical institution. It will be excellent if your healthcare app allows you to pay for doctor visits, order at the pharmacy, and so on.

Only 5.76% of apps are paid, and that number is falling every quarter. As a result, Healthcare apps are usually not monetized and serve as an add-on service in and of themselves.

DATA MINING VS. PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS: KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

What tasks should healthcare mobile apps perform?

The most popular healthcare app functions are:

Improving health data gathering
Providing timely care, despite the location
Minimizing medical mistakes
Lowering spending for healthcare providers and patients
Improving communication between physicians and patients
Increasing customer loyalty and engagement
Providing time-saving features for medical staff

UI/UX Design in medical mobile app development

When create a medical app design, you need to remember you are making them for a “sensitive” target audience. Remember that your healthcare mobile application may be used by older people who are not good at all these “newfangled things.” Also, users can be people with specific mental and physical disabilities. Accordingly, in this case, you need to focus on an intuitive interface as never before.

Minimize the number of actions the user must take to complete the task. For example, you can group related content to make it available with one click.

[The APP Solutions layout for a healthcare mobile app]

We recommend using cool colors for the background, warm colors for markers. You shouldn’t use more than three different fonts – choose their sizes following the target audience. The font color should be easy to read and contrast with the background of the healthcare app. Avoid using colored fonts as their visibility is poor. Usually, the best choice is black or dark gray on a light background. It will not be superfluous to accompany the pressing of buttons with characteristic sounds.

And of course, don’t forget about responsive app design!

WHY CREATE A CUSTOM MENTAL HEALTH APP

Trends in mobile medical software development

In whatever year your healthcare app is developed, it should always remain up-to-date. To do this, you need to track trends, the successful implementation of which will allow you to bypass the competition. And most importantly, both doctors and patients benefit from this.

AI

It is difficult to find an area in which AI technologies would be inapplicable. However, it was a medicine that became the flagship of this trend. Moreover, these are not always global tasks, such as how to overcome cancer. As a rule, these are simple administrative tasks that are not noticeable at first glance, but they free up a lot of time for medical staff to plan – optimizing their work.

With the help of the ability to analyze vast amounts of data, artificial intelligence can identify the most critical patients in a group with similar symptoms or, based on practical experience, prescribe appropriate treatment to a new patient. Artificial intelligence can diagnose diseases, and can also recommend medicines. And of course, where would we be without chatbots!

Blockchain

The healthcare blockchain is used to manage electronic health records, conduct clinical and biomedical research, monitor patients remotely, improve insurance and billing procedures, and analyze medical data. In addition, the blockchain ensures that all transactions are conducted confidentially and without third-party intervention, which is HIPAA and GDPR compliant.

The Internet of Things (IoT)

By 2025 there will be a total of 41.6 billion connected IoT devices, which means there will be more connected “things” than people. And this is not the limit. Thus, more and more medical ecosystems will be created, simplifying the interaction between doctor and patient. For example, the doctor will be able to conduct remote examinations of internal organs and progressive diseases. Likewise, the hospital management will monitor and take into account medications and the use of special equipment.

Patient-Generated Health Data (PGHD)

This is information that the patient enters on their own, or with the help of family members, to the healthcare app. At first glance, this is not the best solution since it is not known how honestly, correctly, and objectively the patient will enter data about himself. A doctor would, of course, do this much more accurately. Nevertheless, the practice has shown that this is a working scheme. And again, a win from all sides.

For example, a patient with a chronic disease monitors his indicators, diligently entering them into a mobile healthcare app. A doctor can go there, quickly go over all the details and decide whether to adjust the treatment. This solution significantly reduces the burden on clinicians.

Telemedicine

You may say that this is not a trend. Video communication with a doctor has become a habit for a long time. However, it was in the era of coronavirus that telemedicine became more relevant than ever. Not surprisingly, 42% of adults in the United States say they prefer to have their sessions with doctors online, so they don’t end up in danger. As already mentioned, the most money is now being invested in healthcare mobile app development with this function.

In addition, telemedicine covers the needs of that part of the population that lives far from medical facilities. But this can work not only within one country. As a result, video communication with qualified doctors has become a real salvation for underdeveloped countries. In such conditions, the apparent shortage of doctors in failed states has noticeably improved.

VR/AR

It’s no secret that virtual reality creates the effect of presence. So how does it help in healthcare? There are many areas – from creating conditions for training surgeons to the bland feeling of being in a fitness club. The fantasy of healthcare app developers is unlimited.

The APP Solutions and mobile app development services

Our company has already been developing mobile healthcare apps for several years. Therefore we have something to offer you – we keep up with the trends, develop innovative and original solutions and bring your wishes to fruition. Among the services we provide are:

Medical Practice Management Software
Electronic Health Record Software (EHR/EMR/PHR)
E-Prescribing Software
Healthcare CRM
Data Management/Warehousing
Predictive Analytics Software
HIPAA/GDPR Compliance
Medical Devices Integration

[The APP Solutions layout for a healthcare mobile app]

Check out our portfolio and choose your preferred method of cooperation. The APP Solutions team will do everything to make it as fruitful as possible.

Outcomes

Despite the significant number of healthcare apps that flood the market every year, this is far from the limit. All over the world there is a trend towards taking care of one’s health. Covid 19 was the impetus for improving the systematization of patient data in the healthcare sector. Global digitalization has created whole new directions; maybe something new will appear soon that you will come up with and our company can help you implement your idea in healthcare mobile app development!

Any interesting thoughts on your mind?

Predictive Analytics vs. Machine Learning: What is the Difference

Posted on August 28, 2023September 20, 2023 by Pavel Tantsiura

In this issue:

Predictive Analytics Definition
Machine Learning Definition
Predictive Analytics vs. Machine Learning: Similarities
Predictive Analytics vs. Machine Learning: Difference
Benefits and challenges of predictive analytics and machine learning in business
Predictive Analytics: when used
Machine Learning: when used
Conclusions

Artificial Intelligence is a compound, highly complex technology with almost unlimited possibilities, including many structural elements and subsets. Each of them is necessary to perform specific tasks, independently or in combination with others. In this article, we will talk about such subsets as predictive analytics and machine learning. We will analyze what they have in common, or different, where they are used and why one does not replace but complements the other.

Predictive Analytics Definition

Predictive analytics forecast the future based on data gathered in the past to find likely patterns and behaviors. It reduces errors by removing the notorious human factor and bringing out important ideas and trends. The term “predictive analytics” refers to an approach, not a specific technology.

How Does it Work?

Techniques used in predictive analytics include descriptive analytics, advanced statistical modeling and mathematics, high-volume data mining, and AI algorithms. For this large volume to be quickly and efficiently analyzed, machine learning is needed.

Predictive analytics is based on prognostication modeling. It is more a scientific niche than a process. Predictive analytics and machine learning go hand in hand since predictive models usually include a machine learning algorithm. These models can be trained over time to respond to new data or values to provide the results your business needs. Predictive modeling has a lot in common with machine learning but is not an identical phenomenon.

Machine Learning Definition

Machine learning is an AI tool that makes it possible to improve forecasting accuracy without additional coding. The machine exercises this by detecting specific patterns in the data clusters. The tool automates predictive modeling by creating training algorithms to find consistency and behavior in data without clearly specifying the search meaning.

How Does it Work?

Machine learning includes drilling algorithms, neural networks, or processing computers to analyze data and automatically output results at the desired scale. Machine learning usually works by combining large amounts of data through iteration and intelligent algorithms, allowing software to automatically learn from patterns or data functions.

Machine learning’s ability to learn from previous datasets and remain flexible allows for various applications, not just predictive modeling.

Predictive Analytics vs. Machine Learning: Similarities

The main similarity between predictive analytics and machine learning can be called a reference to the past to unravel the future. But the significance, approaches, and functions in this process are somewhat different.

Other common criteria include:

the use of an extensive array of data that a person cannot cope with
analysis of patterns (albeit in a different way) to determine future results
application in the same business sectors: security, finance, retail, medicine, etc.

Even though we present machine learning and predictive analytics as related areas of AI, there are still significantly more differences.

How to make your IT project secured?

Predictive Analytics vs. Machine Learning: Difference

Let’s immediately define that predictive analytics and machine learning are different categories of a very generalized concept of AI. Machine learning is a technology that works with complex algorithms and vast amounts of data. At the same time, predictive analysis is research, not a specific technology that existed long before the advent of machine learning; it just made it much more efficient and accurate.

Simply put, machine learning is a method that has catalyzed progress in the predictive analytics field, while predictive analytics is one of the machine learning applications. There is no problem that predictive analytics can solve, but machine learning cannot.

Benefits and challenges of predictive analytics and machine learning in business

Any AI methods used in business, sooner or later, give tangible results. Therefore, it is only important to understand to what extent these methods and technologies “come to the court” in your case. In some cases, the use of AI pays off relatively quickly; in others, its use is redundant, and the company is neither technically nor “humanly” ready for such a transition to a new level.

Let’s talk about the pros and cons of machine learning and predictive analytics and some use cases to understand how valuable this tool will be for you and what it has to offer.

Does Your Business Really Need An Enterprise Artificial Intelligence

Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning Advantages

Automation of processes and, as a result, saving time and money
Improving economic performance through a well-thought-out financial strategy and logistics
Getting into the vanguard of a niche due to the ability to foresee the global business trend and understand behavioral factors
Technology consolidation, simplifying processes for end-users

Predictive Analytics Disadvantages

The need to collect an impressive amount of data to get a relevant forecast
You need to keep all trends and patterns that were derived earlier
Is guided only by the historical data set, not taking into account current information
The unpredictability of human behavior in some aspects can give an inaccurate forecast (for example, if, as a result of an image scandal, the company’s indicators sagged at the moment)

Machine Learning Disadvantages

The problem must be very descriptive to find the correct algorithm to apply the solution
Big data requirements and training data, such as deep learning data, must be created before this algorithm is actually used
resource costs for technology are not always economically feasible

Although there are more disadvantages, the weight of the seemingly small advantages is much higher. We will prove this by briefly describing how and in which business areas both phenomena are used.

Predictive Analytics: when used

Predictive analytics is used to detect trends in behavioral factors across various sites to personalize email advertising messages. Impressive sets of information are collected in a variety of ways, not just online. These can be sensors in retail outlets or store applications, completed questionnaires indicating email, and social networks. All this adds up to the idea of sales forecasting, logistics, and customer experience management.

Predictive analytics works with both people and mechanisms. For example, with its help, you can predict buyer behavior or the growth of a specific disease among certain groups of the population, identify the employees of your company who are thinking about dismissal, or calculate the bank’s clients who are facing bankruptcy soon.

You can predict the wear and tear of equipment or the percentage increase in fraudulent transactions among a series of such bank operations.

Using machine learning, predictive analysts can work with not only historical data, but also current data.

Data Mining Vs. Predictive Analytics: Know The Difference

Machine Learning: when used

Machine learning is less about reporting than about modeling itself. It is not required to answer human questions.

Examples of using machine learning:

Identifying patterns in marketing research
Flagging errors in transactions or data entry
Automatic subtitles in videos
Personalized shopping experience based on browsing history
Signaling anomalies in medical research

Conclusions

Machine learning is a tool, and predictive analytics is a role equipped with tools, one of which is machine learning. These are interacting concepts.

Machine learning algorithms can produce more accurate predictions, generate cleaner data, and enable predictive analytics to run faster and provide deeper insights with less control. Having a solid predictive analysis model and clean data fosters the development of machine learning applications.

To get the most out of predictive analytics and machine learning, organizations need to make sure they have an architecture that supports these solutions and high-quality data to help them learn. They should be centralized, unified, and in a consistent format. In addition, organizations need to know what problems they want to solve as this will help them determine the best and most applicable model to use. This will increase efficiency at all stages of the business. Providing the best practice, The APP Solutions can help with this!

Credits to Depositphotos

DooGooD – an app for doing good

Posted on August 28, 2023September 20, 2023 by Pavel Tantsiura

In this issue:

DooGood Project Description
What Problem does DooGood Solve?
How can DooGood Help to Deal with the Problem?
Project Technical Specification
What solutions can we offer?
Key Solutions
Payment Processor Integration
Map Integration
Firebase Integration
Analytics
Handling Data Security
Tech Stack
Personnel
Conclusion
Want To Build a Healthcare Mobile App?

DooGood is a social nonprofit network that supports other nonprofits by connecting them to donors and organizations. The company helps donors make safe and easy donations to vetted, locally-driven organizations worldwide.

Our company had a chance to work on such an amazing service. In this article, we are going to tell you about it.

DooGood Project Description

DooGooD is a social network created to encourage people to do good things to improve this world.

Each user or charity organization can create a profile to present themselves to the community. In addition, DooGood allows anyone to create a donation campaign to start collecting funds for those who need them. Volunteering is another way to help others; the app creates a unique environment full of compassion and support that brings together like-minded people to do good things.

What Problem does DooGood Solve?

No mobile application or another social network can make the donation process fast and easy. Most companies have obsolete sites without the possibility to talk to people, keep up with what the money was spent on, donate in a couple of clicks, or check who needs help nearby.

BuenoPR – 360° Approach to Health

How can DooGood Help to Deal with the Problem?

This “boon” application allows:

Locating people, volunteers, or charity organizations who need help
Finding like-minded people, volunteers, or charity organizations to work together
Creating and managing donation campaigns
Talking to everyone within the network
Sharing donation status, reports, thoughts, ideas, news, etc., through posting
Keeping up with the local territory for emergency events

doogood payments

Project Technical Specification

The core functionality of the DooGood app is to gather like-minded people to do good things to improve the world. There is a mobile application for customers. It includes the following features:

Manage personal or charity organization profile
Follow volunteers or charity organizations
Find people/organizations nearby who need help or donations
Post, read, and discuss articles, news, reports, etc. with others
Chatting
Start and manage donation campaigns
Donate

The other element of the service is the Admin Panel that manages all the mentioned functionality by admins.

What solutions can we offer?

Find Out More

Key Solutions

Payment Processor Integration

stripe-payment

With the rapid pace of innovation in the digital economy, digital services need a robust payment platform. The DooGood application requires a reliable and accessible payment processor to handle donation payments worldwide. After exploring the market, we found that Stripe was the most suitable choice for the application. It was the best gateway in terms of fitting the requirements:

Easе of use
Merchant account features
Multiple payment methods
PCI DSS compliance + AVS, SSL, CCV features

Map Integration

map-box-map-integration

The other significant component that needed third-party integration was a map.

The application required a solution for showing users’ and organizations’ points on the map, such as places that need help or donations and volunteers.
In addition, the map should have an option to provide detailed information about the points after clicking on them.

We’ve used MapBox for mapping and showcasing places that need donations or volunteers.

Firebase Integration

firebase

ChatsIn-app chat is a great way to increase engagement, but implementing a user-friendly chat feature can be difficult. We overcame this problem by integrating with Firebase Realtime Database to sync chat messages between millions of users.

Seamlessly authenticate with Firebase Authentication, then set up a chat room in the Realtime Database. Messages appear on all users’ devices in real time.

Analytics

The app needs a practical and accessible mobile analytics solution to gain insights regarding application use and user engagement. We have used Firebase because of its ease of use and flexibility. With its help, the company can see what is happening in the application and react appropriately.

Firebase analytics shows data about user behavior in iOS and Android apps, enabling you to make better decisions about your product and marketing optimization. View crash data, notification effectiveness, deep-link performance, and more.

doogood-map

Handling Data Security

Data security is one of the significant challenges that come with developing any application that deals with sensitive data. The first requirement was to be able to store users’ passport data as securely as possible. The second requirement is GDPR compliance with its strict guidelines for user data management, transparent data use, and guaranteeing the safety of data.

The following solutions were used to provide appropriate data security measures:

HTTPS, TLS, SSH for data-in-transit encryption
bcrypt for database encryption
DDoS protection
PCI DSS compliance
Activity Logging + Access Management
Limited access to the production database at the network level

Tech Stack

Consumer App – Flutter
Admin Dashboard – Symfony
Stripe Payment Processor
MapBox Maps
Firebase

Personnel

Project Manager
Business Analyst
QA engineer
2 Flutter developers
2 Back-end developer

doogood-account

Conclusion

The DooGood application brings together people who need help and those who are ready to help.

The application provides an opportunity to create donation campaigns right away.
On the other hand, the application’s use of social networking greatly expands its opportunities to gather like-minded people.

For our company, it was a great experience in applying a new field of charity to make this world better. We have developed a solution that is easy to use both for users and admins.

During the development of this project, we utilized a streamlined, agile workflow. This approach helped us deploy an operating prototype of the system ahead of the planned date and dedicate more time to its testing and refinement.

Want To Build a Healthcare Mobile App?

Code Refactoring of Mobile And Web Applications

Posted on August 28, 2023September 20, 2023 by Pavel Tantsiura

In this issue:

What does refactor mean in coding?
How to code refactoring resolves technical debt
Does core refactoring have a business value?
When should you consider software refactoring?
Scheduled project refactoring periods
The APP Solutions best practices for code refactoring
Code refactoring steps
Understanding core refactoring value: the final word

To refactor code or not to—that is the decision developers and project managers struggle with throughout their careers. While most developers do understand the importance of code refactoring, most clients and managers don’t. And this is where the dilemma kicks in.

From a developer’s perspective, refactoring is non-negotiable. It simplifies the code, improves readability, and makes it easy to maintain in the long run. Consider it a software upgrade, however, one that doesn’t improve functional features but internal ones such as scalability, maintainability, security, and sometimes performance. The goal is to make the code simpler and cleaner while system functionality remains the same.

But that’s the problem. Why should the company invest more time and money in a process that doesn’t make the code run faster or add new features? Project managers, product owners, business analysts, clients, and various other stakeholders don’t get it. And even if the developer tries to explain the merits and benefits of clean code, they still don’t see how it will benefit their business. Their focus is on time and cost.

In this insightful article, we will describe the project development processes at The APP Solutions to help both parties understand why code refactoring for mobile & web applications is non-negotiable. By the end of this article, developers will understand how ignoring code refactoring can come back and bite their reputation — while project managers explore the financial sting of technical debt due to ignoring code refactoring. In short, we are going to help both parties speak the same language.

What does refactor mean in coding?

First, let’s be clear on what code refactoring means. Put, this is the process of restructuring a program’s source code without changing its normal function. The restructuring improves the structure, design, scalability and enhances performance, making it less complicated. This, in turn, enhances the readability and maintainability of the code. A code after refactoring is more expressive and cleaner. In addition to these perks, refactoring may improve the design and performance of the program.

Although code refactoring might seem like something that only serves developers, it also benefits the business in several ways. Consider it a long-term business investment. While it doesn’t yield fruit today, it saves the business from paying an enormous technical debt in the future. Technical or code debt is simply a metaphor, coined by Ward Cunningham, reflecting the total costs of reworking the code in your program due to taking shortcuts earlier during the development.

When should you refactor the code?

Refactoring should be performed promptly to prevent an increase in technical debt. The person who makes the call for refactoring is the developer or a tech lead responsible for reviewing the code. These individuals should immediately call for action whenever they notice a ‘code smell’ in the project.

According to Martin Fowler, a code smell in software development is a surface indication that is part of a bigger problem within the system. Put differently, it is the weaknesses in a code design that increases the risks of bugs & crashes in the future.

Below are the common indicators developers use to know when it’s time to refactor code. Refactoring is immediately executed when:

The code becomes bulky & proves difficult to read
They notice portions of code that are intermittently duplicated
Too many featuring conditional operators are used in the design

Programmers may decide not to refactor if the code is a “clean code,” i.e., with:

A clear logic that does not conceal bugs
Minimal dependencies that allow simplified maintenance
An optimal performance
A minimal number of entities that include methods, classes, functions, etc.

In his book Refactoring, Martin expresses how it is also common to refactor every time new features are added. Alternatively, the project can best be refactored after it has been deployed, i.e., after testing its performance and productivity on current users. Refactoring after the client is happy with the product’s functionality enables developers to have unsupervised time for “housekeeping” the source code.

Why don’t developers write clean code?

The reason why many programmers fail to write clean code is less related to technical challenges than it is to aspects of their work environment. The first factor to consider here is time management. Developers may not have ample time to finish the assigned project. It may be difficult to write a clean code when the client, teammates, or managers apply pressure to get the work done before a specific tight deadline. Write a clean code will require supportive management.

The second factor may be the developer’s incapacity to prioritize refactoring. Often, the client may not give the developer a chance to remove the “code smell.” After adding a new feature that has been tested and confirmed to work, the developer will be instantly moved to the next task. The third factor for not writing a clean code can result from the developer not understanding the problem. It’s not uncommon for programmers to start coding solutions blindly. Eventually, the coder may get the work done, but their code may not be easily readable. This can be avoided if the developer is not working with their client or management adding pressure.

How to code refactoring resolves technical debt

As mentioned earlier, technical debt is a term that was coined by software developer Ward Cunningham, one of the authors of Agile Manifesto and the creator of the wiki. The tech world uses the term to describe the coding that a programmer has to do tomorrow because they made shortcuts to deliver it today. This will see more resources and time is needed to re-do the work.

Refactoring is one activity that effectively minimizes technical debt. It does so by reducing the accumulation of dirt during the software development process. If the code is clean and well-designed, there won’t be a demand for technical support in the future. The client is less likely to complain about performance and quality issues. Bugs and software crashes are often more associated with messy codes.

Does core refactoring have a business value?

Yes. Core refactoring is undeniably beneficial for business. Here is why. When an existing code is refined (refactored), the client will save money that will otherwise be required for technical support. A code that’s not refactored has increased technical debt and, thus, higher chances of developing performance issues.

Core refactoring begins with the core functions such as user management, authorization, billing, etc. What follows is the cleansing of features that directly impact business, such as catalogs, analytic systems, suggestion systems & other relevant functions. When the core of the code is enhanced, both its existing & future functionalities are improved. Regarding the future, it may be easier to add more features that the business will require as it grows.

Other than the benefit of cost and readiness for the addition of new program features, code refactoring may add business value by reducing risk. It’s easy for the developer to perform security tests by reverse-engineering the code. This reveals any vulnerabilities that hackers may exploit when launching attacks. When code weaknesses are known, the developer can quickly fix them, even while the program is in use.

When should you consider software refactoring?

Many things will call for refactoring software. Adding to the previously mentioned points, The APP Solutions will act on refactoring as soon as the developers observe bugs in a project. Additionally, they will take action when it takes longer to incorporate new features in the software.

It’s best to refactor code whenever an update or functionality is added to an existing code as a general rule. When programmers take time to clean their code, it enhances the code quality and enables third-party programmers to build on the source code quickly.

Scheduled project refactoring periods

Other than waiting for when a new feature has to be added or when the code begins to show some signs of dirt, developers can schedule times for refactorings. This approach is practical since the developer will be in no hurry to do other things, like writing new codes. They have enough time to optimize existing codes by doing clean-ups, or focusing on improving their readability, or adding appropriate variable names.

Whenever a dedicated refactoring period is set, it should be accompanied by frequent testing. Without testing, it’s easy to mess up the code and start new problems that will grossly affect the product’s functionality.

The APP Solutions best practices for code refactoring

At The APP Solutions, we do things differently, and it shows in our results.

Once a new project is on board, we gather all the project requirements and discuss every detail with the client team. We encourage open communication to understand the functionality and other possible nitty-gritty the client desires for their project. For this purpose, we have the Inception phase.

During this phase:

Our business analyst gathers requirements from the client
The solution architect develops the project architecture depending on the project vision from a long-term perspective

The team then divides the project scope into several stages and implements small features while having a long-term project roadmap in mind. In this way, the development team eliminates the need for code refactoring.

Code refactoring steps

If an existing code needs to be refactored, the first step before refactoring would be to identify its weak points and problems. Afterward, the developers may want to investigate the root causes of invalid issues & tech problems. The findings obtained from this activity will often enable The APP Solutions team to determine whether this particular code needs to be refactored.

Below are the five steps that The APP Solutions will follow in refactoring code:

1st Step. Initial tests

The APP Solutions prefers to start by applying a series of tests before refactoring. This ensures that the changes that follow won’t create defects in the code. Several other tests, such as integration tests, unit tests, and component tests, can be written if the design allows. Any test that is written will cover only the part of the code that will be changed.

Tests on the project are essential as they help to characterize the existing code. They make it easier for developers to quickly understand if they are on the right path & keep documentation for the process.

2nd Step. Future considerations

Before making any changes to the code structure, The APP Solutions will consider the project’s future. The project managers will think of potential new features that the client might want to add later. Whatever comes to mind, they will analyze how those may affect the refactored code.

3rd Step. Project architecture considerations

The Solution Architecture will come up with the project architecture, considering the decisions made in step 2. After this point, the actual work of code refactoring (improving) processes can begin.

4th Step. Refactor code

The code will go through changes associated with restructuring and cleaning to improve its readability and maintainability. This is implemented without changing its external behavior. And also, it’s done in line with the long-term vision of the project.

Some of the methods/ classes/ variables of refactoring that are employed are: inline, extract, encapsulate, rename, move & extract function, etc. Among these, the most popular are renames classes and renames methods, followed by the move method/class and then followed by the extract & inline methods. The team will use any of these classes or methods depending on their assessment of what works best.

5th Step. Running code tests

There are two methods for running code tests. The first method involves using ‘automated’ tests. After successfully refactoring the code, automated tests are often carried out on the codebase. These include unit tests, component tests, integration tests, and acceptance tests. Even though some of the tests were written initially, they would need to be written one more time. If everything passes, it means the refactoring was a success. There won’t be any special changes to the code and its external behavior. The second method, other than automated tests, is the use of manual tests. Manual tests can also be used after automated system tests for confirmation.

Any small change that occurs during the refactoring processes can be resolved on the spot. However, major issues will require a reset. Resetting is the best method to fix a procedure gone wrong without changing anything significant. Clients can be assured that even if challenges arise, The APP Solutions will always guarantee a successful refactoring process. A better product is guaranteed.

Want to Learn More About Our Approaches?

Understanding core refactoring value: the final word

Code refactoring is a subject that has gained a lot of traction in the programming world. Refactoring also brought change regarding how coders perceive this subject. Both developers and project managers now have a better understanding of the issue.

Key takeaways

The key takeaways regarding refactorings are:

They are required for improving the design of an existing project
They function to enhance the maintainability of a code by other software programmers
They are needed for more straightforward addition of functionality whenever one is needed

On business value, refactorings enable:

The provision of better security. Developers can easily spot fragilities in the code that can be manipulated by malware. If the code is not secure, the business can lose sensitive information to hackers.
The business can spend less on things like technical support. The application is less likely to suffer from bugs that prompt poor performance and system crashes
Lastly, the function of refactoring is to enable the code to be easily scaled when the business wants to change or add more features.

Ways to Achieve Your App Compatibility with iOS 13

Posted on August 28, 2023September 20, 2023 by Pavel Tantsiura

In this issue:

iOS 13 most important updates that might influence your app
New location settings
Dark mode
Login via Apple Id
Photo and video editing
How iOS updates affect mobile apps
Steps to achieve app compatibility with ios 13
Conclusion

Apple officially released the public beta iOS 13 on June 24. The new operating system includes numerous breath-taking features so that Apple users can get maximum performance from their devices. By the way, despite earlier rumors, the iPhone SE is still on the list of iOS 13 compatible devices.

But there is more.

Besides the excitement of new tech, iOS 13 brings some changes for developers and application owners.

The question is:

Will iOS 13 influence the existing app’s functionality?

And our answer is, “It might!”. Because you never know which part of an app code may fail with a new operating system release.

If you are an iOS app owner or want to create a new iOS app, this article is for you.

Here we have gathered the most significant iOS 13 features for developers and useful tips on how to update the iOS app to iOS 13.

iOS 13 most important updates that might influence your app

The iOS 13 features list includes new features for almost all aspects of iPhone and iPad functionality. There are new Siri features, more exact maps, a new volume slider, blocking spam calls feature, and many others.

Still, we want to concentrate on the most important updates that will influence existing app performance, including:

New location settings

With this new iOS feature, users can limit their geolocation tracked by apps.

Now, apart from standard options as “Always” or “Only while using”, users can choose “Allow once” and allow the app to access geolocation only once.

If the user gives an app permission to use geolocation data all the time, the system will show the map where the user location was tracked.

If your application uses the user geo-data, you should consider this iOS 13 feature and get in touch with your developers for a further app update.

Image source: Businessinsider

Dark mode

Being one of the most popular iOS 13 rumors, Dark Mode is finally released. This feature changes the operating system design from light to dark. Users can choose Dark Mode by default, come on at sunset, or by a custom schedule. Currently, this feature is already available in Apple’s apps, such as Photos, Notes, Messages, Mail, Calendar, and even Settings.

Image source: Businessinsider

To add Dark Mode to your app, use Dark Mode APIs. If your mobile app already includes a similar feature, you might need help from the mobile developers to keep your app platform-compliant.

Login via Apple Id

Currently, users can sign-on to some apps through Facebook, Gmail, or Twitter accounts. Still, these apps also receive access to some data users may not want to share. This might be an email address, name, and more.

To protect Apple users’ security, the company developed its sign-on API. Soon, users can log in to applications and websites using Apple ID.

Image source: Businessinsider

What are the benefits?

In this way, the user avoids the threat of being tracked.

How does it work?

After tapping into the Apple button, the user will be authenticated with a Face ID.
Then, iOS 13 will create a new account just for some particular app without revealing any user information.
If the application requires more personal data, like name or email, the user can randomly generate an email address for use in the app that forwards to the user’s iCloud account.
The user can disable or delete this address at any time.

What does this mean to you?

It means that if your application includes the log in via social networks, such as Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, you also must add login via Apple ID.

In another way, you may compromise your application and lose Apple users’ trust.

READ ASLO: iOS vs Android development: what to choose

Photo and video editing

With the new iOS 13 editing features, users can change any aspect of their photos. They receive numerous new editing tools, like white balance, sharpened, definition, vibrancy, noise reduction, and vignette.

Image source: Businessinsider

Apple users can also use the same tools for video editing. They can apply fritters, rotate the video, and add other effects.

Image source: Businessinsider

As an owner of the photo editing application, you need to check all new filters and effects to provide users with something more than default iOS 13 toolset.

The bottom line?

The new iOS 13 brings big changes to the functionality of Apple devices.

But there is more.

Since every iOS update brings changes on many levels, it impacts the whole application performance.

And you never know exactly which application code part will fail with the new iOS 13.

How iOS updates affect mobile apps

The new iOS release impacts application performance due to the following reasons:

Changes to the SDKs

One of the ways the new OS release may affect the current code is in changes to Software Development Kits (SDKs).

Why is it important?

Because SDKs is a set of tools that developers use to build mobile apps. Therefore, changes in SDKs could break the app code.

For example:

If deprecated methods were removed from SDK, but the developer used them in the app, some recoding is required.

The new UI

As a rule, new iOS brings changes in UI conventions and affects existing apps. While the application code might work, the app design or usability may suffer due to incompatibility with the new iOS.

An example:

When the new OS is resealed with a navigation bar of a different size that makes your application look awkward. In the same way, design cards and icons can be outdated for the new iOS 13.

NOTE:

iOS 13 includes the new volume slider. If your app consists of music settings, you need to update this as well.

Forward and backward compatibility

Each new iOS release also impacts developers in such spheres as forwarding and backward compatibility. The following changes also require code changes due to the interconnected nature of development tools.

Let us explain:

Forward compatibility is a set of design characteristic that allows the application to accept input intended for a later version,

Backward compatibility property allows the app to use the interface of its older version.

If the developers have used several tools for both backward and forward compatibility of your iOS app, it will fail to work with the new iOS 13. For that reason, and the app update is essential.

You might be wondering:

How to keep your app platform-compliant?

We have the answer.

Steps to achieve app compatibility with ios 13

Application owners and developers have just several months to make your application run smoothly with iOS 13.

Let’s not waste any time but check our step-by-step guide, described below:

1. Running the app in an iOS 13 environment

At this stage, mobile developers need to find out what application elements are not compatible with iOS 13. The team upload the application to the test environment with iOS 13 and thoroughly check every application screen to find bugs and inconsistencies.

2. Tasks Prioritization

With the list of bugs, received in the previous stage, you and your mobile development team should determine the following prioritization:

What is the minimum amount of changes required to make your app iOS 13 compliant?
What are the vital features to include in your app?
What are nice-to-have, but not required, essentials that iOS 13 brings?

3. Adding new features

Next, the development team starts integrating the following iOS 13 features:

New sign-in method. If the user needs to login into your app, mobile developers should integrate the new Apple ID sign-in method. In this stage, developers should add two-factor authentication and randomly generated emails.

New UI. The development team has to provide UX validation for new UI changes.

For this, QA engineers will expand test automation coverage to support the new UI changes. Next, they share the results with both the design and development teams for further UI application improvement.

Other new features. After the integration of vital functions, the development team will need to support other new functional changes, such as:

Dark Mode
Photos
Maps
Geolocation

And other features.

4. Testing and bug fixing

When the app includes app necessary features, the QA team test the application, stabilize, and fix defects.

5. The app deployment

When all the bugs are fixed, and the application is running on iOS 13 smoothly, the team upload it to the App Market.

Want to Learn More About The APP Solutions Approaches In Project Development?