The mobile application acts as an interface for the end user, where it provides an interactive medium through which end users can make requests, push commands and record their gestures.
This goes as a data transfer and transmit over the internet to reach the backend server, which process the necessary requests/tasks initiated by the end user from his/her mobile phone.
It is pre-requisite to have an active internet connection in place, so that application can interact with the server at a remote location.
However, the availability of the internet is not always guaranteed. The fact remain is, that mobile network has its own limitations, the internet service availability depends upon the mobile network availability, which could be high, medium or very low at a specific area or region, which may hinder the end-user experience of using an application.
Modern mobile applications should be well-equipped to encounter any sort of network failure and high latencies issues.
In this article, we will talk about the Online applications, and then the method and frameworks to ensure mobile applications are available offline as well.
The mobile application is a set of defined programs or set of steps which are being designed to work on mobile phones or tablets. There are three types of mobile applications.
Native apps are designed for a particular operating system and downloaded by that platform, for example, to download Android apps we go to google play store and download the applications which will run on android operating systems. Same with Apple we go to the Apple App Store and download the applications for iOS.
We generally use a Laptop/Desktop for internet browsing and open different web pages on a browser to access the service. The web-based application runs on the browser and in that application, users do not install the application on mobile phones, and it can be accessed through the browser.
It is a mix of Native application and Web applications. The hybrid apps are mainly design and developed in a native apps box that uses phone WebView object and through this WebView users can see the app on Browser as well.
What is making mobile phones so strong, so the answer is mobile phone Apps or Applications and fast Internet. Now the question comes how to develop these online Mobile Apps and make it available offline and online?
In the initial phase of an idea a person who wants to develop the app should think about the idea and how it will impact many people’s life, or we can say how this app idea will transform people life.
One more point is also very Important which is the cost of the application development. If we want to start some startup and having a great idea in mind, then we must be clear about how much budget we do have initially to develop the app or start the business.
We must think like how much total cost will be required from planning to go live on the App store. The promotion of the app on a different platform is also required on these days.
Without promotions, our app will not get users and downloads. If I conclude the cost thing, as an entrepreneur we must plan everything.
Once we are clear about the idea and we think that we should proceed with the next step then in this step first we can create some use cases through some modeling flow diagrams like UML (Unified Modeling Language) or Wireframing Tool.
We can make some use cases. Use cases help us to understand what components would be essential for the first version of the app and what will be the next enhancement we can provide to the app in later versions.
The Other step will be the design part, what we see is what sells. The UI (User Interface) part, I believe is the main attraction of any app. It should be so smooth and visually it should be an eye-pleaser for the users.
The information given on User Interface should be very clearly visible and the user can navigate it very easily. The word font and the fill pages and the search bar should be good and help to the user.
To design and develop any web-based or mobile-based application, you need a skilled developer, and he/she will be helping to convert an idea into reality.
But before selecting any developer it should be clear how experience he or she has for front-end development and backend development.
The developer who works on Front end (UI) and backend called full-stack developers so instead of hiring two developers we can hire a single developer who will work as a full-stack developer.
It is very important to know which technology or framework the developer will build the app and how robust that platform will be down the line.
There are majorly two types of a platform on which most of the apps runs. Android apps are listed on Play Store and in iOS Apps listed on App Store.
If you want to launch the app for both platforms and, there will be some technology that will require the app should work on both platforms.
The technology which uses for both platforms is Cross-Platform development. Most of the business firms, startups develop their mobile application on Cross-Platform technology. It will save the cost and increase the product reach.
After the Development, the testing is also very essential for Application Development. Without Testing, we cannot understand and observe the issue of the developed application. In testing are few things which should cover by the testing team or QA team
After development, the real test comes into the picture, when the application goes live on Play Store or App Store and the users start downloading the app and use it extensively.
The app performance should be smooth, and the user does not feel any lag or delay on loading issues or application crashes. The app should be capable to handle multiple requests of the user simultaneously and handle a high number of loads.
There are other steps as well that should be check for mobile application performance. these steps are below:
Analytics is so strong thing in Modern technology, if we want to see the trends of the data then Analytics tools help us a lot.
In mobile application development analytics is also playing a very important role for example to track mobile application progress and user consistency we can use some free or paid mobile application analytics tools.
This tool helps us how many total downloads happing daily and how much time user spending on the application. These tools also analyze what functionality of the app user using much and less.
We have 3 broad categories of Offline application, which depend upon the function and the nature of the application.
We have following advantages of Offline applications, which are making them quite popular among smartphone users.
A mobile application must have the capability to handle the no connectivity situation.
As of now, we have seen how we can build an application but after the app development, some features help the user to access the app when the internet is not available. It means if the user has no internet connectivity, but the app should work properly. There are a few advantages to the offline app.
If we are traveling international and if have an offline MAP application on our mobile phone, then it will save roaming charges.
Suppose you want to send an urgent email to your boss and due to poor connectivity internet going off so in that case, the mail service provider app like Gmail helps us to write emails without the internet, and once the internet connectivity would be normal the mail automatically sends to the boss.
The mobile application development process remains the same in case we want to develop an offline mobile application, and it is called ‘Offline First’.
It is a method to develop a mobile application in a way that it can run and perform the necessary functions in an absence of active network connectivity.
We have the following technologies available, which ensure the functionality of an offline application.
When due to less internet connectivity or no internet connectivity some mobile application works on the offline mode, it means when the internet connection becomes normal again the offline data will sync between the app and database and uploaded the backend or on the database.
If We take an example of Gmail so when we write an email and send it to the sender, but what we see that the internet connection is not stable, but Google has data Synchronization functionality in their application and database whenever the network come to the email sent to the sender without any problem.
Another example is Dropbox in that we can upload files offline and once internet connectivity comes it automatically upload the data to the server.
Data Synchronization is a very essential part of mobile application development. Choosing the database for mobile app can help the application to automatically sync the data between the database and cloud server and vice versa. Couchbase and realm is the most popular database for Data sync between local and cloud server.
Many applications contain a multiple coating the meaning of coating here is there are various schemas in the single database, and all are dependent on each other.
In the multi-coating data app sometimes, the app requires some changes to the database but when we use a structured database like MySQL or SQL Server then we cannot change it quickly.
To solve this type of problem we need an unstructured database that stores the data in a distributed manner the famous example of this unstructured database is MongoDB.
MongoDB is a very powerful database designed for unstructured data when we have a multi-coating application, and the changes are required so frequent in that case MongoDB helps a lot to develop.
Caching means storing the data into the buffer so for any mobile application forecast Caching or Predictive caching is the best practice and it improves the performance of the mobile application.
In forecast caching data available locally and without the user’s login. MongoDB provides this feature. As we know the Web application are those applications which open on the computer browser.
If you see the Facebook app when we open it on a Mobile application or in Laptop/Desktop browser, it gives us the same result likewise any mobile application which has the web application the user data should in the sync, or the application be in the sync to support the user in the better way.
Storing the data is the most crucial part of an offline application, as this helps it offer the required functionality to the end user.
If we talk about the Android Platform, it uses SharedPreferences API’s that can help the applications to store small chunks of data. Android offers ability to store these data files in XML format in a private directory.
An android application uses these preferences files for storing text, audio, pictures, video files, XML, JSON objects, serialized objects, and other files. Android application has built-in methods and procedures to receive such objects, which helps an application to offer data in offline mode.
On the other hand, Apple’s iOS Platform uses ‘NUserDefaults’ Class to store, modify, save, and sync offline user’s data and other preferences.
This class delivers a programmable interface, and in turn allows the mobile application to make changes in its behavior according to a user’s preferences.
We can use the following tools and framework to design the offline applications, every tool has its own merits and demerits, and one can choose the correct tool per requirement of the project.
As we have discussed in the article, there is no doubt that Networks can be crappy, low, and intermittent, due to battery constraints and a lot of other factors, which may require an offline mode to ensure users can keep using the application.
Poor network connectivity can jeopardize the end-user experience. It leads to dissatisfaction and frustration and may turn off the users from your product, hence developing an application that can support an offline mode or offline functionality is indeed a good idea. It will give a huge competitive edge to your application in this cut-throat competitive world.
It is always recommended to have a native mobile application instead of a responsive website while catering to a global customer base.
This will help us leverage the mobile device’s storage capability to allow offline access at any point of time. Hence, we can say that it’s really important for any business to have a mobile application, which do support an offline mode.
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