Want to cope with all the books striving for your attention or find interesting ones quicker? Read our guide to find the perfect app for a book lover such as yourself.

How to choose among different apps for book lovers

Apps for book lovers serve different needs. So, before diving into their variety and choosing your best bookmate, ask yourself a question: “What do I expect from an app?” What matters are your wishes, the platform, and the frequency of usage. If you know your preferences, this guide will be of use.

Here’s a list of the top 14 apps for book lovers, ranged by your possible interests:

• Goodreads, #1 among the best apps for book lovers,
• Libby by OverDrive, the connection with your library to read the best free books for iPhone offline,
• Wattpad, the communication platform between writers and readers,
• Inkitt, our recommendation among the best book apps for Android,
• Litsy, the great combination of social media and reading in the range of the best Android book apps,
• Shelfie, the representative of the best iPhone apps for book lovers for managing notes,
• Blinkist, the easiest way to master non-fiction and one of the best iPhone apps for book lovers,
• Audible, the top choice among the best book apps for listeners,
• Epic!, the representative of the best book apps for youth,
• ComiXology, the top choice among the best apps for book lovers if you’re a fan of comics,
• Scribd, a top subscription-based choice among apps for book lovers (Android and iOS),
• Serial Reader, a bite-size reading among Android apps for book lovers,
• The Paris Review, the top lit-crit choice and one of the best iOS apps for book lovers,
• Amazon Kindle eBooks, the leader among best Kindle apps for book lovers.

Free reading apps

1. Goodreads

The leader in the list of free book apps for book lovers.

Available platforms: iOS, Android, browser.

Top choice for everybody interested in books.

Interesting feature: mobile barcode scanner that allows adding paper books to your digital “to read” list.

Goodreads is the first platform in many rankings of best free reading apps for book lovers. Why so? It has plenty of information for various purposes: recommendations for you, recommendations from your friends, different collections (like Best Books 2019), a list of quotes, and a field for reviews. Also, it unites authors and readers, with 90 million users in general and more than a billion books.

2. Libby by OverDrive

The compilation of the best free books for iPhone from your public library.

Available platforms: iOS, Android, Amazon.

Top choice for true old-fashioned bookworms who miss their public libraries.

Interesting feature: Enter your library card information to feel the complete process of borrowing a book.

If you miss your favorite public library, you’re welcome to look through epub versions of its books in Libby! This app from OverDrive awesomely digitalizes the process of borrowing books, so it takes just a couple of seconds. If you use Libby in connection with Amazon, you can also enjoy the collection of audiobooks from your public library.

3. Wattpad

One of the best iPhone apps for book lovers and storytellers.

Available platforms: iOS, Android, web.

Top choice for amateur writers.

Interesting feature: You can join a niche to connect with your special interest club.

Wattpad is much more than just an app; it’s the entire community. On this platform, you can share your talent in writing and make friends with other people interested in reading and storytelling. It’s one of the best iPhone apps for book lovers.

4. Inkitt

One of the best Android apps to read books (iOS-friendly).

Available platforms: Android, iOS.

Top choice for people who love reading and writing.

Interesting feature: Has a huge library of free books in different genres.

Inkitt is an app from a publishing house that allows accessing numerous books online for free and keeps them in your offline digital library. Besides, it encourages the self-promotion of new authors. The great design and usability make Inkitt one of the best Android book apps.

5. Litsy

A social media for book lovers.

Available platforms: Android, iOS.

Top choice for extroverts who love reading and sharing their thoughts about books.

Interesting feature: You can create groups with other users enjoying this top Android app for book lovers. Also, it supports hashtags.

Litsy is an app where each feature is developed to help you socialize. You can see the “reading moments” of your friends, favorite authors, and popular influencers. This in-app community makes you feel connected with other people while reading. And of course, you can share your thoughts about books with them instantly!

6. Shelfie

The digital version of your bookshelf.

Available platforms: iOS, macOS.

Top choice for people who want to arrange and categorize their bookshelf.

Interesting feature: Simply point your camera at a book — and let this representative of top iPhone apps for book lovers work its magic!

If you’re the type of person who always buys books in each bookstore, this app is just for you! In Shelfie, you can browse books and arrange your already bought samples and reading notes in one place. The app syncs your library with other devices, so you can instantly access it anytime and stop yourself from buying something that wasn’t on your list.

[Contact us to arrange Android app development and iOS app development together]

Book reading apps with monthly subscriptions

Let’s find out the top 7 reading applications with monthly subscriptions.

1. Blinkist

One of the best iOS novel reading apps for book lovers.

Available platforms: iOS, Android.

Subscription price: $7.49/month or $89.99/year with a 7-day free trial.

Top choice for iOS users who want to turn reading into a daily habit and lovers of non-fiction.

Interesting feature: Listening and reading mode — you’re free to choose the most comfortable format for you.

Blinkist is the top choice for people who’ve just started to read during this quarantine. Also, it’s an awesome pick for those wanting to increase their professional skills on the go. The collection of books features more than 5,000 bestsellers. In short, Blinkist is fully packed with revolutionary ideas that can change your life.

2. Audible

One of the best book apps with audio content.

Available platforms: iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Amazon Kindle, Fire TV.

Subscription price: $14.95/month with a 30-day free trial to download one audiobook.

Top choice for fans of audiobooks.

Interesting feature: You can hear how an author reads his/her book. Alternatively, Amazon invites a Hollywood star for this.

Audible is the top recommendation for audiobooks. No wonder: the size of its library and the compatibility of its service are incredible. Audible is a frequent host in lists of best book apps thanks to its Audible Originals, the creative series product of the Amazon team. Besides, the app is compatible with plenty of formats — smartphones, smart home devices, Amazon products, tablets, computers, and mp3.

3. Epic!

The top choice for comics lovers.

Available platforms: iOS, Android.

Subscription price: $9.99/month and Free for educators.

Top choice for young readers.

Interesting feature: Quizzes at the end of each book for better learning and entertainment.

Epic! positions itself as the top digital library for readers younger than 12 years old. It has everything to become one of the best apps for book lovers in this category: the age-based library range, books for learning languages, and materials in audio and video format. It’s a great choice for parents who want to get their children into reading!

4. ComiXology

The top choice for comics lovers.

Available platforms: iOS, Android.

Subscription price: $5.99/month with a 30-day trial.

Top choice for manga lovers and fans of comics from Marvel and DC.

Interesting feature: For greater readability, the developers have included the abilities to zoom and focus on the interesting parts of the comics in the app.

ComiXology has a library of over 100,000 comics, which is a true gift for the fans of this genre. Specifically, you can find graphic novels, digital comics, and manga in this one of the best iOS apps for book lovers.

5. Scribd

The top reading platform that offers useful apps for book lovers (Android, iOS, cloud, etc.).

Available platforms: Android, iOS, web.

Subscription price: $9.99/month with a 30-day free trial.

Top choice for bookaholics who use various devices and read in various formats.

Interesting feature: The huge library that contains not only books but also magazines, documents, sheet music, and audiobooks.

Scribd is a comprehensive book app that will expand your reading far beyond the limits of books. If you’re interested in expert opinions, piano playing, and discovering news—this offering is for you. The massive library combines the best features of Audible and Kindle Unlimited. And the result is one of the leading apps for book lovers, Android- and iOS-friendly.

6. Serial Reader

15-minute reading in one of the best reading apps for Android.

Available platforms: iOS, Android.

Subscription price: Free with more sync opportunities for $2.99/month.

Top choice for Android users who want to turn reading into a daily habit.

Interesting feature: You can sync your reading progress with your Goodreads account.

Serial Reader is one of the best book apps for Android. It offers the same service as Blinkist but adopts it to classic literature instead. The digital library contains only 850 books but all of them are divided into easy-to-digest 20-minutes-max bites. With this download, you can fill the gaps in your school education hassle-free.

7. The Paris Review

The digital version of a top lit-crit magazine.

Available platform: iOS.

Subscription price: $30/year.

Top choice for people who are interested in literature criticism.

Interesting feature: Browse the magazine archives.

The Paris Review, one of the leading lit-crit magazines, has a digital version you must see! In its collection, you can browse any issue and look at your favorite book from a professional point of view. If you want to understand books better, subscribe to this app and you won’t regret it.

1-time payment book apps

And finally, let us introduce a 1-time payment reading solution.

Amazon Kindle eBooks

The representative of the best Android book reading apps for book lovers.

Available platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, Blackberry.

Subscription price: Free from your Amazon account, but the price for books is different.

Top choice for people who shop books on Amazon.

Interesting feature: Page Flip — the navigation feature for working with bookmarks and viewing your book from a bird’s eye.

Amazon Kindle eBooks is the ebook app that is a perfect match for your Amazon profile — especially if it’s connected with Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime Reading. The app has many features for convenient reading: you can highlight text, search for meaning and translation of words in dictionaries, and change the font and size of the page. According to the rankings of Lifehack and Android Authority, Amazon Kindle eBooks is the top pick among the best Android apps for book lovers.

Summing It Up

We at Intellectsoft empower companies and their workforce with cutting-edge transformative solutions and data-driven insights. Are you and your organization ready to shift the mindsets and get the most out of innovations?

Our team always stays up to date with emerging technologies and market news. Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business or project can start benefiting from it today! You can also learn more about our mobile app development services.

[Create high-end software solutions for your company with Intellectsoft]

The post 14 Best Reading Apps for Book Lovers: Get Millions of Free Books appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

We read the Gmail app notifications, order food delivery on UberEats, chat with colleagues on Teams or Slack, and follow the people we like on Instagram.

All these things became available with the frameworks – the multicomponent tools that enable developing plenty of applications for mobile use.

By 2026, the global mobile app market size is expected to reach $407.31 billion at a CAGR of 18.4%, which is mostly caused by the rising number of Android and iOS smartphone users and the new technologies and services delivered to the app market.

Intellectsoft’s best experts will introduce the essential insights to know about the application frameworks and how they’re used for creating different app projects.

As a part of our discussion, you’ll uncover the top 10 most popular tools for Android framework development, the features they offer as well as the projects they’ll best fit too. This knowledge will help you to figure out which of the Android frameworks will work perfectly for your upcoming projects.

Let’s get this started!

What is an Application Framework?

As you might have already figured out, an application framework is a specific tool that provides pre-made templates, components, and structure for application development. It is mainly focused on building various types of application’s architecture, including:

• Native applications (the OS-specific apps for iOS, Android, etc)
• Hybrid applications (multi-platform apps, usually written on JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5)
• Web applications (accessible through a web browser).

Android framework features a component structure and customizable interface, provides the possibility to reuse the app design and code, and centralize the base code under one location. With all these features stated, we can summarize that the core idea of the Android framework is to help programmers create the app structure and write the code much faster.

According to Statcounter’s statistics, over 70% of the overall market share of mobile operating systems refers to Android OS.

Needless to say, the vast popularity of this niche has stimulated the development of different Android frameworks that can standardize yet speed up deliverability for Android devices.

Ionic Framework, Framework7, Xamarin Framework, NativeScript Framework, React Native Framework – these are only a few popular options developers can now choose from.

For sure, getting focused on the most popular Android frameworks is a key point for finding the right tools to create first-class Android OS applications. So, now let’s analyze the best framework for Android app development in detail, and which of those will help you to create competitive products for Google Play!

Top 10 Android Frameworks that Are Worth You Attention

Depending on the tools you’ll choose, the final choice of the Android development framework can vary for each specific project, its requirements, and major goals. Let’s now analyze the most popular yet effective Android frameworks for 2022 and uncover their most valuable features the developers can surely make use of.

Ionic Framework

Ionic is a free and open-source Android framework certified by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and allows developers to build progressive hybrid apps with the help of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. Ionic has become one of the most famous frameworks for Android development due to its cross-platform functionalities and the ability to integrate AngularJS.

This Android framework hosts a simple CLI (Command-line Interface) that facilitates features like emulators, live reload, and logging. Being Cordova and Angular-based, Ionic has already gained a large community.

Around 4 million Ionic-based apps were built, with more than 5 million developers in over 200 countries worldwide using the framework. Moreover, it integrates with many services, including Google Play, Instagram, and other platforms.

Taken from: https://www.brainvire.com

Key features of the Ionic Android framework:

• Cross-platform mobile application development
• Default user interface with native experience
• Cordova plugins
• JavaScript components
• Released under the MIT license
• Framework compatibility with Angular, the latest JavaScript frameworks, and most of the front-end frameworks including React.js and Vue.js.

This tool is primarily designed for developers to build hybrid and interactive mobile apps. Today, the Ionic Android framework can be used by different startups and web development companies for launching mobile, desktop, and web applications for fast-growing companies and agencies from the pharmacy, health race, and insurance industries to hospitality IT and plenty of other different scopes.

Flutter Framework

Designed and maintained by Google, Flutter is a multi-platform mobile app SDK that can be used to build applications, but in a way that is different from other Android frameworks.

It simplifies the cross-platform development process and is written in the Dart language. When it comes to selecting a framework, Flutter is the best choice for hybrid app development.

Google’s Flutter Android framework uses a 2D rendering engine called Skia for visuals that are similar to material design and the Cupertino style.

Flutter also serves as a solid testing framework, enabling developers to perform UI, unit, and functionality tests. Moreover, Flutter has best-in-class hot-reload functionality, which allows for seamless testing without the need to restart the application.

Taken from: https://habr.com

Key features of the Flutter Android framework:

• Single codebase
• Huge widget library
• Optimized code development time and increased time-to-market speed
• Own rendering engine for rendering itself onto a platform-provided canvas
• Allows sharing the code between the target platforms
• Perspective to grow to a full-blown cross-platform development tool for Android, iOS, Web browser, Windows, macOS, Linux, and other platform-specific devices.

The Flutter Android framework is mostly used by creators who want to establish themselves in hybrid app development. For this reason, it’s now used by the world’s largest corporations including Google, Alibaba, eBay, and others, that use this Android framework for launching their mobile applications.

Corona SDK

Developed in 2009, Corona SDK is a perfect software development kit for building speedy apps and games. This general-purpose, cross-platform framework enables 10x faster development than other Android frameworks.

Corona achieves this by integrating Lua, a lightweight and multi-paradigm programming language, which is itself layered on top of C++/OpenGL and allows high speed, usability, and flexibility.

Highly popular among game developers, Corona is free and available on both Mac OS X and Windows, with real-time testing support.

In addition, this Android framework has native UI support, over 500 APIs, and a dynamic advertising platform built for developers. Its API suite features are feature-rich, with graphics, networking, widgets, particle effects, and more.

Simple to understand and integrate into Android, Corona SDK has gained notable popularity among Android app developers. As for the time of writing, this Android framework is known as Solar2D – a cross-platform engine for mobile, desktop, and TV app development.

Taken from: https://coronalabs.com/

Key features of the Corona SDK Android framework:

• Really easy to get started with
• The built-in library with over 1000 API’s and plugins
• Cross-platform development, applicable for other platforms
• Ability to call any native library, including C, C++, Obj-C, Java, or else use API
• Real-time device testing saves up tons of time for developers
• As it doesn’t provide an integrated development environment (IDE), it features different other plugins to access the specific platforms per demand

Being known as one of the best options for game developers, this Android framework is a solid tool for delivering general-purpose apps for Android OS. The most notable projects where the Corona SDK has been already implemented are Warcraft, Angry Birds, The Lost City, Hopiko, Civilization, and others.

Framework7

Being nearly the newest framework for Android development on the market, Framework 7 is one of the most effective open-source MIT-licensed Android frameworks that comes with various useful features for fast yet convenient app launching.

It features nearly all the basic and extra Mobile UI that can be effortlessly implemented in different projects. The great features developers like are the infinite scroll, Lazy loading, Pull to Refresh, Swiper Slider, and more.

Most developers say that Framework7 is the best Android framework for creating a PWA (Progressive Web App). Besides, it can easily integrate with Cordova to build hybrid mobile apps with the use of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript languages instead of standard Android languages, such as Java, Kotlin, and XML.

Also, the Android framework features a simple, user-friendly interface, has a large user base, and is getting updated to the newer versions on a regular basis, which is essential for ensuring a stable, non-disruptive workflow.

Taken from: https://blog.framework7.io

Key features of the Framework7 Android framework:

• Features plenty of ready-to-use UI elements and useful plugins
• Easy to learn and customize
• Offers a jQuery syntax, that enables a quick start without delays
• Flexible Router API enables the dynamic loading of pages from the templates
• Built-in helper libraries
• No license fees

This Android framework is a perfect option for developers that have already worked with HTML and CSS, and have some knowledge in JavaScript. Though Framework7 is not compatible with all the platforms, it’s still focused on the iOS and Google Material concepts to deliver simple yet feature-rich app solutions for mobile devices.

React Native Framework

Backed by Facebook, React Native is a powerful open-source framework that offers ample support to other development tools and their IDEs. It is based on React, a JS library for web solutions.

Companies like Instagram, Walmart, Airbnb, Tesla, as well as many other Fortune 500 companies, use the framework to develop native mobile apps.

As most of the React Native APIs are cross-platform, developers can write code once and then run it anywhere, which improves development speed and helps cut costs.

React Native uses building blocks similar to the ones employed in most Android development frameworks. With the hot-reload option in React Native, developers can link updated files while retaining the current state of the app. The developer community of React Native has been growing much faster than Facebook’s expectations.

Google Trends indicates that the Android framework has been gaining more and more traction in the past few years. As of today, around 1600 developers have used the Native framework.

Key features of the Native Android framework:

• The app design and development is created within a single interface
• Code Push feature – an option that helps to push out the app updates immediately, without the user having to consent and reload the app on his Android device
• Supports incorporating external third-party plugins
• Spot the bugs much easier with the use of the declarative programming approach
• Hot Reloading feature speeds up building new features and bug fixing
• The possibility to share non-UI dependent codes

This tool is perfect for launching customized apps much easier and faster. At present, it has already been used in thousands of apps launched with the world’s largest companies like Tesla, Meta, Bloomberg, Uber, Walmart, Yahoo, and more.

Taken from: https://nebel.co.in

jQuery Mobile Framework

The jQuery Mobile framework for Android development is one of the HTML5-based cross-platform frameworks that is also known as the most straightforward tool for launching mobile and web applications.

The main hallmark of jQuery Mobile is that it enables “writing code once” and then executing it on various platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian, and Blackberry.

Another great feature developers like about this Android framework is that the complete basic app interfaces can be built in HTML, with minimal or even without using the JavaScript code at all!

Moreover, it’s one of the most popular tools for traversal and manipulation with the HTML DOM tree. The jQuery Mobile Android framework can greatly simplify various event handling, CSS animation, and Ajax.

It also features an in-built theme system so developers can customize the application styling for each project to ideally fit the colors, tastes, and preferences. Compared to other Android frameworks, Mobile jQuery’s size is extremely lightweight (about 40KB when minified), which makes it one of the most preferable frameworks on the market and helped it to establish a large community.

Taken from: https://designsmaz.com

Key features of the jQuery Android framework:

• Comes with various plugins, including Pop-Up Boxes, Image Slider, Content-Slider, etc
• Compatible with other mobile iOS, Windows, and Android frameworks
• ThemeRoller feature enables easier drag-and-drop functionality
• Simplifies the common manipulations with JavaScript
• Employs CSS syntax
• Lightweight, compared to other Android frameworks

An ideal user of the jQuery framework is any mobile developer aimed to create solid yet highly branded applications that will work on different smartphones, mobile devices, and desktop platforms.

Appcelerator Titanium

The best Android framework according to some developers, Appcelerator Titanium is an open-source platform for building native apps with a single JavaScript codebase. Titanium became popular as it allows for creating multi-platform mobile apps using around 60%-90% of the existing code. The framework employs the JavaScript programming language to ensure the high performance of applications.

Titanium can be used to develop solid games, while mobile apps built with Appcelerator Titanium can utilize hardware-specific features like Android menu buttons, OS-centric controls, and platform-appropriate notifications.

Currently, over 345,577,760 apps run through this Android framework. Also, it provides many other useful functions like automated testing on mobile devices, application monitoring, and performance regulation.

Taken from: https://githubplus.com

Key features of the Appcelerator Titanium:

• Runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS
• A free, open-source, software development kit (SDK)
• Apps are built in JavaScript language
• Rapid & flexible prototyping facilitates the app development process
• High level of code reusability (from 60 to 80%)
• Immediate support for the new OS releases

Built for the developers that work with different types of projects within multiple scopes, this Android framework features super-fast app development using a single JavaScript codebase.

Basically, it provides the same performance as the mobile apps built with native APIs. Moreover, Appcelerator Titanium enables access to native APIs for the systems like Android, iOS, Universal Windows, Web, and more.

Xamarin Framework

Owned by Microsoft, and one of the top Android frameworks, Xamarin offers an advanced toolset that enables developers to build native apps for multiple mobile platforms on a shared C# codebase.

With Microsoft’s cloud testing service, the apps built using Xamarin can be tested on numerous devices. Moreover, its code-sharing feature makes it a developers’ favorite as it reduces coding time and the number of bugs in the software development process.

Compared to other Android frameworks, Xamarin is one of the oldest cross-platform frameworks and is already used by 1.4 million developers across 120 countries.

Xamarin became a part of Visual Studio IDE, which made large companies in industries like healthcare, and energy shift to using this framework. Xamarin has been around for a while, but the number of developers using it has increased a lot over the years as compared to other Android frameworks.

Taken from: https://www.wildnettechnologies.com

Key features of the Xamarin Android framework:

• Native user interfaces, no switch between environments
• Single C# language
• Allows adding the components to apps right from the IDE using Xamarin Component Store
• Enables sharing from 60% to 95% of code across diverse mobile development platforms with Xamarin.Forms interface
• Offers comprehensive testing approaches, as well as tracking app performance and UI with Xamarin Test Cloud and Xamarin Test Recorder tools
• Continuous technical backing and fast issue resolving with Microsoft support

This tool is perfect for the developers that need sharable yet reusable code solutions, that can be tested across different platforms, as well as create cross-platform Android apps in C# language within a single interface.

NativeScript Framework

Listed as a top framework for hybrid app development, NativeScript is a free open-source framework that enables developers to create applications using Vue, TypeScript, and Angular. This Android framework is backed by a Bulgarian software company Telerik. From Gradle to CocoaPods, developers can easily reuse a wide array of plugins directly in the projects with NativeScript.

The framework enables web developers who are well-versed in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, as well as Native UI markup, to build outstanding progressive apps with NativeScript.

One of the biggest reasons to choose NativeScript for Android app development is that it offers UIs with the native platform’s offering engine, which results in native-like UIs and performance. With JS running on the UI thread, NativeScriptenables high-performance on all native platform APIs.

Taken from: https://www.folio3.com

Key features of the NativeScript Android framework:

• Easy authentication with different sign-on options
• Simultaneous usage of LiveSync and Webpack
• Employing various types of frames in an app
• The implemented platform-specific APIs from JavaScript allows eliminating the need to learn Cordova plugins
• Automatic generating icons and splash screens based on high-resolution images
• The ability to work with the third-party libraries

This framework for Android development is perfect for the specialists who want to launch multiple apps within different platforms with saving up on time and costs. This framework has been used mostly by various B2B-oriented tech companies and businesses, like Symantec, Xerox, Dell, Microsoft, and others.

Wrapping Up

As you can see, at present there are plenty of Android frameworks to choose from, with each of those providing its specific features for any sort of app project. Being used by the world’s largest tech giants, any of these options can become the best Android app development framework exactly for your idea development.

However, to successfully launch your app project, it’s not only enough to consider the framework for Android development you’ll use. In nearly all cases, you’ll also need the assistance of mobile app development services that will help you to implement all the creative ideas and most efficient features within a single app product for Android devices.

We, at Intellectsoft, keep our clients in the loop about the latest trends and innovative solutions in the app development field. Our team of developers is always ready for new challenges and exciting app development projects. Do you have the idea to put it into effect?

Contact our team and uncover how to launch your best Android app development project today!

The post 10 Best Framework for Android App Development in 2022 appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

According to Deloitte, the term Fintech refers to computer programs and other modern technologies used by businesses that provide automated and improved financial services.

Investments in the Fintech field have been growing since the latest global financial crisis. Nowadays, Fintech solutions are considered as the potential recovery from the pandemic, as a means to solve some real problems that emerge at present.

The pandemic has also shown that physical proximity is not so important. The digital activities and the fluidity of the information combined together represent success in the future.

Fintechs have already changed the financial industry structure, ways to provide services, and their consumption. They have also influenced customers’ expectations while setting new standards for user experience.

Deloitte reports that investments in Fintech have increased from $12.7 billion in 2020 to $23.4 billion in 2021.

Financial services are poised for transformative change, big corporations and startups alike are pouring money into fintech investments.

They embrace the agility and flexibility promised by fintech solutions to develop innovative financial products that help people manage their money in new ways.

In addition, the rapid adoption of mobile applications makes it critical for organizations to develop ones to bring their services to customers via this channel. Consider fintech trends and use them to reinforce your company’s performance and customer experience.

Fintech Industry Trends in 2021

Statista shows that the number of smartphone users is over 6 billion people worldwide, and this number will grow even further. As a result, the number of mobile application users is also increasing.

For example, according to Statista, 43.1% of smartphone users in the USA in the Q3 of 2020 used banking and financial apps. The figure will continue to rise as fintech app development starts a new phase, using the latest solutions and trends.

Here is a list of fintech trends you should pay attention to in 2021 and further.

1. Artificial Intelligence

Contrary to traditional data analytics and robotic process automation, AI has four unique features:

• It will detect changes in data patterns and tune the model by itself. You do not need a data scientist to keep adjusting the model;
• When the data quality is not perfect, it can still create helpful insights for businesses to make decisions;
• When the data is coming in, we do not need to store, process, and transform it before creating analytics. Instead, it can just stream through the neural network, and the AI engine can pick up the pattern and help businesses serve customers;
• It can handle unstructured data. Therefore, we can apply AI in places like image recognition and voice recognition.

In financial services, the technology can be applied in three major areas. The first one is ML (Machine Learning), to create a propensity model.

Banks and insurance companies put ML on the websites or mobile channels and create real-time target marketing. They actually predict the product propensity of their customers based on their behavioral data in real-time.

The second application of AI is usually around NLP (Natural Language Processing). Some applications like chatbots contract intelligence where the AI can read the free text in a contract and detect non-compliance in the documentation.

The third application is face recognition. For example, many fintech companies ask their customers to take a selfie and a picture of their identity documents.

The machine can automatically match these two and help them do KYC (Know Your Customer) and onboarding.

To have AI work effectively, financial institutions need to have a lot of big data. So, when they have accumulated a lot of big data, many banks and insurance companies can tap into this pool of resources and create helpful business insights.

It is expected that AI and ML will become a more regular practice, specifically in AI-based chatbots development and usage. It will enable organizations to provide instant customer support and enhance their experience.

2. Blockchain Technology

Blockchain is becoming one of the fintech industry trends and is no longer associated only with cryptocurrency. The technology has a lot to offer for financial services and other industries, as its hash algorithm allows secure data sharing across the industry.

With Distributed ledger technology (DLT), banks, corporations, insurance, and logistics companies, etc., can share documents along with the trade flow on a trade finance blockchain network.

With all the authentic documents hashed on the chain, there will be no more forged documents and forged invoices for financing.

Besides, you can also use the hashed information to detect duplicated purchase orders which another bank has collateralized. With that, you do not need to expose sensitive information or customer privacy.

Blockchain also comes with smart contracts. A smart contract allows events to trigger payment transactions automatically.

For example, when the invoice comes in, it will be automatically reconciled with the purchase order, which will trigger the payment for the banks. These are going to improve the efficiency of the ecosystem a lot.

3. Gamification

One of the financial technology trends is gamification. Gamification solutions incorporate gaming activities into other fields and industries.

The practice is used to enhance customer experience and increase engagement levels. For example, companies develop different types of personalized programs, quizzes, cashback rewards, educational videos, etc.

4. Bots

Chatbots allow companies to have human-like conversations with their customers. Organizations try to incorporate chatbots into their fintech apps, as they are cost-effective, easily scalable, instantly available to the customers, data-driven, etc.  The chatbots in the financial field can be of three types:

• informational (provides general information, news, or push notifications);
• transactional (helps customers to complete transactions);
• advisory (provides information on the next steps based on customer interactions).

The technology has several benefits that include:

• user engagement: a chatbot can serve as a mediator between a company and its customers, providing instant communication;
• 24/7 and scalable: a chatbot can be one of your most loyal employees who is available all through the day and even at night. In addition to this, the technology is scalable and can be easily improved when necessary;
• intelligence advantage: chatbots deliver valuable insights about your customers that you can use for further business development.

Bank chatbots can help your customers check their balance, set financial goals, get spending insights, transfer money, pay bills, etc.

The technology is improving with the help of AI and voice recognition, thus enhancing the performance of the organizations and user experience.

5. Voice Technologies

Another popular trend in the finance industry is voice recognition. Some companies start to use voice-enabled technologies like Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa, so the customers can use them to make transactions and other operations.

In addition, voice commands will reduce phone calls, so these solutions are to save time, make things easier, and help organizations perform more efficiently.

Fintech App Development: Useful Tips & Main Features

Financial services have to develop innovative solutions and incorporate them into their fintech app to provide high-quality services to their customers, secure personal data, inform about the latest news and programs, etc.

What are the main features that your application should possess?

Main Features Your Fintech App Should Include

1. Security: the application will contain sensitive data, so it is essential to provide a secure environment for your customers. Use different solutions for the customers to sign in. For instance, integrate two-factor authentication with face, voice, or fingerprint recognition.
2. Notifications: Keep your customers updated about special offers, loyalty programs, news, etc. It is also essential to send out notifications once any transactions are performed.
3. AI-enabled chatbots: Make sure customers can instantly receive requested data 24/7.
4. API integration: Establish connections with other applications so that customers can get additional helpful information via your app.

Fintech App Development Process

The finance mobile app development process includes the following stages:

1. Define Your Product

You should know the purpose of your application and how it can help your customers. Your team should conduct profound market research to see what is in demand, understand customers’ expectations, calculate the risks, and predict the profitability the solution could bring. Then, use all the available data to design a version of your product.

2. Build a Team/Find a Vendor

Find necessary resources to bring your project to life. You can build your team by hiring professionals individually or use outsourcing. Numerous companies have vast experience in the fintech app field, and they can help you choose the right solutions for your project.

If you decide on outsourcing, pay attention to the company’s portfolio, its employees, read reviews of the previous customers, so you can make the right decision, and be sure that you will get a high-quality product that will work efficiently and bring you advantages in this highly competitive field.

3. Decide on Technology Stack

When you have a team of professionals working for you, you can discuss and choose a technology stack for your application. There are numerous languages to develop apps.

The vendor or your team of developers will help you to choose the right one. It is important here to know your customers and which operating systems they use.

Decide whether you need a native application (that will work only on iOS or Android devices) or a cross-platform one (suitable for all platforms).

4. Create User-Friendly Design

The application should be easy to use and appeal to your customers. Ensure that a dashboard offers all the necessary features and it is not difficult to find essential information.

5. Develop MVP

A minimum viable product is necessary for application development as it will help you run tests before you launch the product. Then, ask your customers to use it and share their feedback with you.

No one but your customers will point out the weaknesses of the application. What is more, you will see what else is needed to be added to the application after tests.

Fintech App Success Stories

Financial software development only starts to accelerate as new solutions come into the fintech industry and prove numerous advantages for organizations.

Some of the companies have already begun to implement solutions to enhance the performance of their organization. For instance, Bank of America has developed a virtual financial assistant Erica who helps make money management more effortless.

Another example of fintech solutions implementation is Lemonade, an insurance company that uses AI, apps, and chatbots to digitize the insurance industry.

We, at Intellectsoft, empower hospitality companies and their workforces with innovative solutions and approaches. Are you and your organization looking for some?

Contact our experts to discover more about the development of applications for your organization and learn how you can get the most of them.

The post Fintech Trends in Mobile App Development: Tips, Trends, and Success Stories  appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

Among all the developed countries Deloitte surveyed, more than 90% of the population had smartphones, and one-third of them were really addicted to these devices.

This obsession creates a huge market for businesses to reach their clients and establish a profitable sales channel.

When it comes to the concrete mobile solution, you realize the types of app development can be different. If you’ve heard of hybrid and native app development but don’t really know what they are and how they are different, we’re here to help.

In this post, IT experts from Intellectsoft, one of the top mobile app development companies globally, explain how to choose between these two options in the mobile app development menu.

Hybrid App Development

As you can catch from the title, hybrid apps combine several elements from other types of mobile app development.

Namely, they are native apps and web apps: what you’ll see is the web page (in a very simplified browser) that is adapted to a mobile WebView display.

You can link the native elements to let the app be connected to a smartphone’s specific features (like camera, maps, or contact list).

Technically, this development type applies the simplest frameworks (like HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS) and creates a unified codebase that works on several markets.

The technology is advanced by adding native code for the selected features. This significantly cuts cost and project timeline, which is highly attractive for business owners.

Pros of Hybrid Mobile App Development

The most popular benefit of hybrid apps is cutting time and spendings during the development stage. That’s why this type is the best solution when your task is to create a prototype.

Here are some other advantages:

• Ability to avoid strict app store limitations. This situation is especially relevant for the Apple Store that is known for its rigid regulations and the high possibility of being rejected.
• Quick validation. There is no need to wait long after submitting the proposal to the app store. Your customers can try your product right away.
• Available resources. Hybrid mobile app development doesn’t require sophisticated knowledge from coders. Thus, it’s easy to find a developer who can make it.
• Optimization. You need to create one code only to make the app work on several devices. This means creating one place to manage.

Cons of Hybrid Mobile App Development

Since hybrid app development technically requires building an additional layer between the platform and the source code, the applications may demonstrate poor performance.

Such a limited user experience is the main disadvantage for investing in hybrid apps, especially if your budget allows paying more for native app development.

Here are some other limitations:

• Partial native functionality. Hybrid apps have access to a couple of native elements only. All the rest are locked and require a separate native app instead.
• Speed problems. Hybrid apps are slow when it comes to transition between their pages.
• Not a cross-platform solution. It’s not that easy to scale hybrid apps on multiple devices. The more platforms you want to cover, the more costly it will be to cope with all the problems that will need your reaction. Native app development, in this case, will turn out to be a cheaper solution.

Native App Development

All the mobile app development that is compatible with a sole operating system is native. For example, iOS native app development means that the software solution will work on Apple devices only.

But if you want the same app to appear on an Android device, you’ll need to invest in the separate Android native app development for that. This way, cross-platform native app development will take place.

The difference between the various types of native app development lies in the difference between various platform-specific programming languages.

Mostly, iOS apps are written in Swift-C and Objective, Android apps use Java, and Windows apps apply C#. To get a native app, a user should enter an app store and find it there.

Native mobile app development is linked to an operating system exclusively to let the users enjoy the full functionality of their smartphones: device features, gestures, and push notifications.

Moreover, the software is normally designed to fit the screen and characteristics of each device accurately. All these elements make a native app highly enjoyable and fully functional.

Pros of Native Mobile App Development

Native apps, if built accurately, guarantee the highest level of user experience among all the mobile app types.

Here are some other advantages of native apps:

• Access to all native features of the device. A native app can use a camera, accelerator, GPS navigation, list of contacts, and other things and information stored on the device. It increases interactivity.
• Fast and enjoyable user experience. The mobile solution is native to the platform, runs fast, and fits the device parameters accurately.
• App store support. If used correctly, the external marketplace can serve as an additional channel for attracting customers to your mobile app.

Cons of Native Mobile App Development

Because of its overloading with numerous elements, the native app development process is complicated and requires careful attention. That’s why it’s not the easiest and cheapest solution to pick.

Here are some other disadvantages of native apps:

• Need to follow app store regulations. Native apps should pass the verification stage to appear on the app store platform and become available for users. This may become a severe obstacle for your business app.
• Multiple code bases. Each new platform requires extra costs on development, maintenance, and updates.
• Consistency of versions. App updates don’t come synchronized, so some users will experience delays and support problems.

Which One to Choose: Native vs Hybrid App Development

In practice, picking the right development type depends on the business goals and your budget limitations mostly.

Since both hybrid and native app development are advantageous in their own way, you should critically evaluate your project and pick the mobile app architecture that will maximize your benefits the most.

Ask questions about your audience:

• Who they are
• What are their access points
• Which app stores we target to appear at
• What’s the frequency of updates needed
• What kind of experience is desired.

Clarity on all these points to maintain the needed balance between business aims and customer expectations. Thus, ensure that the mobile app will satisfy them both.

Each development type has its beneficiaries, depending on your project aims and customer needs.

1. Long-term vs. short-term perspective. Native apps are costly but can become a wise investment move in the long run. If you’re going to scale and save the complexity of your mobile solutions, you’d better invest in the native application development right away. Alternatively, you can build workable and multi-device solutions fast by adopting a hybrid app development approach.
2. Quality-to-price ratio. The expensive price tag for native app development has its cost — the only problem is whether you really need to pay it. With a native app solution, you get the chance to get top-quality software, totally compatible with the selected operating system till the slightest detail. However, if your task is to test the mobile app solution on the widest audience possible, hybrid app development is a much wiser solution to make.

Whichever mobile app development type you’ve picked, remember that it’s important to implement it accurately! Use our checklist with 25 steps to building a mobile app that brings you real profit.

Where to Get Top-Class Hybrid and Native App Development Services

We hope now the difference between native apps and hybrid apps is much clearer to you! If so, it’s time to find a reliable provider for your business solution. Please check the list of our mobile app development services.

If you’ve found something relevant for you there, don’t hesitate to drop our experts a line, and we’ll contact you shortly!

About us: We’re Intellectsoft, a leading software development company specialized in providing innovative solutions and approaches to companies worldwide.

We have vast experience in addressing the business needs of corporations and startups alike. And we’ll be glad to help you too!

The post Native vs Hybrid App Development: What to Choose? All the Advantages and Disadvantages in One Place appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

According to the PwC, over 70% of hospitality executives report they have already started developing the technology solutions like IoT and various mobile applications for booking, room, and service management because of their high potential and numerous benefits for the hotel’s better functioning.

Today, we will cover the basic information about the mobile concierge app, why they are so popular nowadays, and what features of the concierge app can be really beneficial for the hospitality industry.

Let’s get it started!

What Is a Mobile Concierge App?

A mobile concierge app is an innovative software solution for hotel room management that can radically improve the guest’s experience and ensure they’re comfortable staying in a hotel.

That is a hotel application that allows clients to request various types of concierge services from their smartphone: from taxis, flights, and restaurant booking to the room service, transactions, and check-in and check-out formalities.

The core idea of the hotel digital concierge is to improve the comfort of the guests and optimize the hotel’s functioning: discover and manage the guests’ requests in one application.

The Potential and Benefits of a Mobile Concierge App

In fact, there are plenty of reasons for implementing the concierge service app for hotel business whether it’s one hotel or the entire chain. Let’s review the basic benefits you will get along with the mobile concierge software launching.

Communicate With Other Hotel Staff or Resolve Guests’ Requests

The mobile concierge app will help to find the hotel worker in one click instead of hours of seeking the hotel workers to ask them for the room cleaning. Any service option can be requested with one click.

Inform the Customers About the Important Updates

No more newsletters, papers, or boring dialogues at the reception desk! Find all the information you need in the hotel application. If you still have any questions left, contact the hotel manager via mobile and get professional answers on them.

Offer the Full List of the Hotel Services

Are your guests wondering about the additional services for their comfortable staying? All of them can be reviewed in the hotel concierge app, and you can purchase them in advance as well.

Enjoy the hotel gym, swimming pool, restaurant, or various options of room service with simple access on your smartphone.

Assist Your Customers With Different Problems or Requests

Offer your mobile concierge app as an online helper which knows the weather, can contact a hotel staff, unlock the door or simply order extra food and drinks right to your suite.

Providing Better Confidence for the Employees

The mobile concierge applications can provide the hotel staff with additional help for better and more efficient request processing, thus optimizing the entire hotel workflow.

As a result, they will be always updated on the guests’ requests status and what things are scheduled for the certain room at any time.

Gain Customer Insights

If you want to get feedback for your hotel, there never can be a better time to ask for completing a simple form via the hotel concierge application.

It goes without saying that people are more likely to answer the questions in a few taps instead of filling the paper form on the reception. Besides, digital surveys are much easier to process and analyze, which can be also used for hotel service improvement.

With these features available, plenty of hotel corporations and the most luxurious resorts have already included this software in their basic set of hotel services.

And, as time goes by, in the next few years we expect even more hotels to adopt this technology, as the remote services have already become an indispensable part of our present being.

Main Features of a Mobile Concierge App

Due to the recent report by PwC, 81% of travelers want greater digital customer service from hotel brands.

So, what features you should include in the mobile concierge service to cover all the needs of your guests and get the most for your hotel business? Here, we will cover the most critical of them, and some suggested by Deloitte Digital.

Transaction Payments

In the times when all the world is now implementing a contactless system of payments (or else called PayPass) to their systems, the hospitality industry can easily incorporate this feature into the mobile concierge system.

Thus, when a guest wants to pay for the additional services, complete the check-out procedure, or pay for the following few days to prolong the stay, the person no longer needs to go to the reception desk.

Besides, in such a way the hotel can also ensure the clients’ and working staff’s safety, which is a critical feature during the pandemic.

Contextually Dynamic Updates

While considering implementing a digital hotel concierge, it’s a great idea to include the algorithm of updating the information page with personalized and relevant consumer content.

For example, if your guest is interested in the local events for the current week, or any other indoor event held by the hotel, then the mobile concierge can suggest various events and occasions that might fit the widest range of guest’s needs.

According to Evergage, 98% of marketers say personalization advances customer relationships. Thus, by making your application more customized and full of different suggestions for specific customer preferences and needs, it becomes much easier to turn a one-time visitor into a loyal client of your hotel.

Additional Hotel Services

The PwC report has also shown that over 70% of potential hotel residents are more likely to book a hotel with different tech improvements. But if they aren’t aware of the list of useful services while staying in a hotel, both sides are losing.

A customer will lack personal experience and is more likely to choose another hotel for the next vacation or business trip, whereas the hotel can lose the potential loyal customer and the revenue a person could bring to the hospitality unit.

However, with all the hotel services on the smartphone, the consumers can simply review the list of services offered via hotel digital concierge, and pick up the one which they need most.

Additionally, they are more likely to use these services with one-click ordering, since they no longer need to look for the hotel staff or call anywhere as the conversation with the managers is done via the mobile concierge.

Optimized for Different Devices

Needless to say, at present, most hotel bookings and service orders are done using a smartphone.

For instance, over 64% of hotel residents book their room on a smartphone, and up to 25% of them have checked in using a mobile device. And these digital trends are only expected to increase in the future.

That is why, make sure your hotel concierge app works across different devices, like smartphones, laptops, smartwatches, and others. This will help you to popularize your application and improve its user experience rate.

Automated Notifications and Room Management

In most modern hotel corporations, which have already implemented the digital hotel concierge, the mobile concierge is used as the digital assistant, whose task is to improve the personal experience of the guests and make their stay even more comfortable.

With some advanced features of the room service that include door opening with a mobile application, wake-up call, and getting the latest updates on the recent requests, the guests are more likely to stay there again.

Besides, these features have been already applied in FlyZoo Hotel in Hangzhou and can be easily completed via the FlyZoo mobile application.

Just like the concierge application, it allows having 24/7 communication with the hotel service staff and get all the requests done in one tap via the hotel app.

Challenges of Implementing the Hotel Concierge Technology

Along with the features that can greatly benefit your hotel business, it’s important to cover the challenges you will surely face while starting to develop the concierge application for the hotel.

Here we will review the most critical issues for the hotel concierge technology development:

• Reluctance to make investments in mobile concierge development. Just like any other new technology, developing a personal concierge app for hospitality requires smart investing, and because not everyone can realize the importance of this technology for the hotel service quality, the lack of investments is now one of the most common problems of app development.
• Being not ready to change other aspects of the hotel functioning for the application implementation. It often happens that the antiquated accounting data is stored in papers, without any digital copies, so if you want to automate your all services, then it’s time to consider the radical transformation of your hotel service system.

These are the main challenges of the mobile concierge implementation, which are common for nearly every hotel unit. But, we can assure you, as long as the optimization process is done, you will get a much higher ROI for your business.

Conclusion

As you can see, the concierge application is now one of the most popular technologies that every hotel tries to implement in their workflow.

By launching custom software development for travel and hospitality, hotels can get higher revenue, increase the number of loyal customers and enhance the quality of the services offered to their guests.

We, at Intellectsoft, cooperate with hospitality companies and their workforces by providing innovative solutions and approaches for improving their business performance. Do you and your organization need an efficient and effective concierge solution?

Talk to our experts today and start reaping the benefits of modern technology tomorrow!

The post Mobile Concierge App Development for Hotels: Basics to Know appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

This is a leading review platform that serves as a business guide and enables companies all over the world to choose the most reliable business partner for effective collaboration and achieve the desired goals.

The main goal of TheManifest is to gather and verify the core data, customer reviews, and other insights that will help managers and owners to make the most well-informed decisions to advance their businesses.

It’s possible to browse the most qualified service providers, get personalized recommendations, and build a list of potential partners that meet particular business needs.

It’s a huge honor for our team to receive such a reputable award and get on the list of the top mobile app development companies. Taking into account that mobile solutions are an increasingly popular tool for business development, choosing the right developer is of paramount importance for ultimate success.

Intellectsoft offers mobile app development services and our team of experienced professionals can tackle even the most complex projects to grow clients’ businesses.

Our expertise is not limited to mobile application development and also includes cutting-edge software solutions that are aimed at driving more sales, offering meaningful client service, and improving operational efficiency.

14 years in operation, Intellectsoft is considered a reliable and reputable partner with a wide range of technical expertise and software solutions that collaborates with companies and large enterprises on long-term projects.

Intellectsoft has created customized software for renowned Fortune 500 companies as EY, Jaguar, Harley Davidson, Nestle, Eurostar, Lang Rover, Guinness, and others.

The company already possesses a number of prestigious awards and is recognized by Clutch, Inc. 5000, ITfirms, Digital.com, and many others.

The post Intellectsoft Is Recognized As One of the Top Mobile App Development Companies by The Manifest appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

According to the latest review by Digital.com, Intellectsoft is one of the Top 15 Mobile App Development Companies in San Francisco in 2021.

The platform has evaluated a wide range of companies based on a few factors that include service line offered, industry focus, the size of the company, main features, costs, and customers’ testimonials.

The focal point was on the ability of a company to fit a range of business needs as well as on the experience across industries with a solid focus on healthcare, financial services, hospitality, marketing, and entertainment.

Intellectsoft has a broad expertise in helping healthcare, financial, and hospitality businesses of all sizes build superior-quality mobile products to ensure an impeccable user experience. Our team takes upon the full-cycle app design and development from the ideation phase to final delivery.

ITfirms has classified Intellectsoft as one of the Top Cross-Platform App Development Companies in 2021.

This review highlights the companies that create seamless and effective mobile apps that work across different operating systems and platforms to satisfy the changing customer demands.

They have selected the most professional companies that create cross-platform mobile apps according to different business requirements and budgets.

Intellectsoft is already 14 years in operation and is considered a trusted and reliable software engineering partner for short- and long-term collaboration.

Our team has successfully created customized solutions for many Fortune 500 companies that include EY, Jaguar, Harley Davidson, Nestle, Eurostar, Lang Rover, Guinness, and others.

Our expertise is not limited to mobile application development and also includes cutting-edge software solutions that are aimed at driving more sales, offering meaningful client service, and improving operational efficiency.

The post Intellectsoft Received Two Influential Awards as One of Top Mobile App Development Companies appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

FinTech industry encapsulates:

• Blockchain solutions
• Digital wallets
• Trading and securities
• Payment processing
• Cross-border payments
• Lending

How Mobile Apps Are Improved with FinTech Solutions

FinTech solutions provide the tools to create mobile apps that are more secure and more efficient.

Because financial information can create a security and privacy risk to users, it poses particular challenges to mobile app and software developers.

FinTech solutions take this into account by incorporating features such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and secure channels for exchanging sensitive financial information.

FinTech solutions also increase efficiency by automating some processes and offering digital options for traditionally time-consuming processes such as obtaining signatures on contracts.  

Finally, FinTech solutions simplify financial exchanges by providing a better user experience for companies whose financial tasks might include dealing with clients, paying vendors, and exchanging assets in different currencies.

Even if you are not creating a mobile app for banking, FinTech still has implications that affect a broad range of mobile apps.

1) Non-Financial Apps Now Include Financial Features

Although experts recommend that apps launch with a focused, signature feature, it’s common for companies to add later features that incorporate payment options.

FinTech solutions become even more vital as more apps roll out new features involving financial transactions.

With social media giants like Facebook offering merchants the opportunity to sell directly on their websites, it quickly became clear that financial exchanges would no longer be the sole purview of banks and other traditional financial institutions.

Over time, the trend has continued, with transportation apps transforming into meal delivery services and retailers offering in-app purchase options.

FinTech influences this broad range of mobile apps by providing solutions that reduce the complexity of financial exchanges, both for the user and for the companies managing transactions behind the scenes.

Although these apps do not deal directly with banking or traditional financial exchanges, the best practices driven by FinTech can improve user experience, security, and efficiency.

2) Freemium Apps Monetize Through In-App Transactions

One motivation for mobile apps to add financial features has been the “freemium” model’s successful rise. In the freemium model, a mobile app can be downloaded and used for free, and users are given the option of paid upgrades or in-app purchases.

In a survey of 100+ app developers from companies worldwide, more than half (61%) recommended the freemium model as the most effective strategy for monetizing an app.

Although many users are now accustomed to trusting their banking apps, some might still be wary of sharing financial information with an app like Spotify, which is known for offering access to music, or a game that involves small payments for additional features.

FinTech solutions ensure that the companies behind freemium apps can provide the same security and reassurance that users require from their banking apps.

3) Consumer Expectations Continuously Evolve

As consumers become accustomed to banking apps’ efficiency and security, we may see expectations begin to shift.

For example, banking apps are increasingly able to offer biometric options that can be used in place of passwords or security questions. Instead, users can allow their phone to scan their fingerprints or use a voice feature.

Mobile apps that involve payment should also be prepared to serve users’ preferred payment methods. For example, in an ideal world, a user who logs onto Uber or Lyft should pay with popular digital wallets such as Google Wallet or Apple’s Passbook, bitcoin, or the traditional credit card option the company typically uses.

If this seems like a farfetched or overly complicated vision of the future, PayPal serves as an early example of this evolution. When PayPal first launched, websites only offered credit card options for payment.

As PayPal attracted more users, online stores had to adapt or risk losing sales from customers who preferred PayPal to enter their credit card information. Now, PayPal can be used for virtually any online purchase.

As FinTech solutions become more common in mobile apps, consumers’ preferences will inevitably continue to evolve.

Companies Should Embrace Collaboration

As a leading mobile app development company, Intellectsoft brings expertise in FinTech that can ensure companies invest in the most up-to-date mobile app technology. Even if an app launches with no payment or financial features, virtually all mobile apps require refreshed features over time.

Instead of coming to an app development company with a request for an app with a particular type of feature, companies should share their overarching vision and goals for what they would ultimately like the app to become.

By sharing a long-term vision for the goals behind an app from the start, companies and their development partners can work toward the common goal of building an app that delivers on a company’s needs while also drawing on developers’ knowledge of emerging technologies.

Learn more about Intellectsoft’s FinTech solutions and start benefiting today.

The post 3 Ways FinTech Solutions Apply to Mobile Apps appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

But how well do insurers personally know their customers? Are they aware of the lifestyle that most of their clients lead? Do they know how often their clients activate the alarm when they go somewhere?

If insurance providers want to keep their customers, they have to understand their actions and needs better and use them to provide more regular and valuable interactions.

Journey to Personalization and Agility

Nowadays, insurance customers need to get personalized and convenient service. Clients from different countries need personal interactions even if creating personalized experiences is difficult for insurers as it is connected with precise customer data. Here is the infographic illustrating the main steps of the personalization journey:

Source: Accenture

For example, one of the McKinsey articles has discovered insurance in China, where only 28 percent of customers rated insurance companies highly for customer satisfaction. It means that the insurance industry needs to accept some modifications. So what is the solution to this situation?

Benefits of Providing Personalized Customer Experience

Companies use personalization to deliver better customer experiences, increase loyalty, and drive more leads. Modern service provides a variety of channels that reflect customers’ various preferences and personalized recommendations based on individual interests.

Ways for Insurers to Personalize Their Services

Insurers can utilize segment-specific opportunities to personalize offers, messages, and prices across physical locations, mobile devices, mobile apps, websites, or phone calls. This way contributes to the formation of precise and actionable customer microsegments. It is also necessary to create a continuous ring of customer interactions because they provide protection and services for their daily life.

Companies, who are already offering advanced personalization, have noticed positive increases in the following areas:

Source: Earnix

Ensuring Highly Relevant and Omni-Channel Customer Experience

Today’s consumers are mostly omnichannel. That`s why insurers have to engage their clients using an omnichannel approach, connecting with them via multiple touchpoints and using data to deliver personalized experiences.

Omni-channel personalization can upgrade customer experience and increase brand loyalty. It allows the insurer to preserve its competitive power, retain its customers and simplify growth. Implementing omnichannel personalization can be a complicated process, and it is not only about organizational alignment and strategy but also about technology.

Digitization Increases the Level of Personalization in the Insurance Industry

What can we say about digitization? Technology is making our experiences online more personalized. New data sources are transforming our economy and society essentially and promise to change the insurance software development services as well as the whole sector. Digitalization affects the role of insurance, from pure risk protection to predicting and preventing risks.

Insurance is becoming more customer-centric. Customers use digital channels, especially mobile, and this tendency is rising rapidly.

Insurers have the opportunity to leverage the information from various devices to satisfy customer needs across three broad themes: loss prevention and protection, pricing and coverage optimization, and some other services.

Every step of the insurance value chain will be impacted by digitization, from interactions with customers to claims management. For instance, by monitoring different situations, insurance companies can warn customers about a problem and allow them to react immediately to prevent damages.

Perspective, digital insurers will be able to provide services that will help reduce the risk of loss. These services can be connected with auto services such as driving-condition information, recommending safer routes, alerting emergency services, and monitoring automobile speeds. Services personalize recommendations tailored to the weather, a customer’s location, mood, health, and even bank balance.

Final Word

As a conclusion to this, we would like to say that customer preferences and market indicators show that clients have a desire to get personalized offers and experiences from their providers. Faced with high customer expectations, insurers are following the example of other industries in delivering an excellent customer experience through different channels. Besides, the digitization of the insurance industry also has the potential to grow exponentially.

At Intellectsoft, we empower companies and their workforces with innovative services and approaches to help them survive during these times. Are you and your organization looking for some?

Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business or project can start benefiting from it today.

The post Personalization & Data in Insurance: Delivering Highly Relevant and Omniсhannel Customer Experience appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.