What are the Factors Affecting the Cost of Wearable Apps?

 

Behind all the wearable gadgets that take the limelight, wearable application development fuels their popularity and attention. Wearable device app development plays a vital role in helping brands to establish connections with their users. It can also analyze vast volumes of data pushed by wearable sensors with every user movement.

Today’s technology holds many potentials to alter the way we experience entertainment, work, and operations. So, investing in wearable technology can leverage your future in the tech world and, most notably, the connectivity offered by wearable apps. The wearable apps technology revenue is expected to reach US$17,834m in 2021, as mentioned by Statista.

Types of Wearable Apps and Platforms

Wearable apps are pretty predominant in many sectors like health care, fitness, travel, retail, finance, business, entertainment, and more. They come in various designs, and there are several platforms available for developing various wearable applications. So the cost factor is also based on platforms such as Android wearables, iOS wearables, and others.

1. Smartwatches – they are the best companions for smartphone applications since inception. But the recent advancements are bringing in standalone smartwatches too. The Android watch app development and iOS watch app development are highly sought after by the users.

2. Activity & Fitness Wearables – wearable devices like fitness trackers are most coveted by health-conscious consumerism. They offer real-time wearable health monitoring and tracking, status updates, and event reminders. They also are considered a style statement due to their attractive design. They are designed to meet the purpose of smartphones, making them handier to use. Some of them are Garmin, Fit bit and Samsung Gear Fit

3. Smart Glasses are one step above the VR headsets, although not that immersive, and they add an information display layer at the top of the user’s vision. Their application is widely prevalent in industrial and technical responsibilities. E.g., Epson Moverio, Sony Smart Eyeglass

4. VR headsets are well-known as the most immersive wearable devices in today’s tech world. It is designed to provide a combination of a real and virtual interpretation of the world to its users. E.g., Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Google Daydream View

There are also Smart clothing, Smart jewelry, head-mounted displays, implantables, and many more.

More than knowing what the essential things are for the mobile app launch, an insight into the factors that can spoil your wearable device’s chance to succeed must be considered. Here are some of the factors that affect the cost of developing the best wearable apps.

Factors Affecting the Wearable App Development Cost

The wearable app development cost depends on several aspects. For any specific wearable app development, the cost estimate varies based on the app features, app development process, the technology stack used at different levels, working hours, and delivery period. Other than that, here are some other factors that influence the wearable app development cost.

1. User Research – Two things you need to think about – who will be your users? Who uses wearable health technology? It clears a lot of unnecessary glitches along the way of your development process.

2. App Design – this is the most crucial element for wearable device app development. A usual Wearable design will include watch faces, notifications, voice commands, and native apps. The complexity of building UI and its integration with front and backend for wearable is different from those of web and mobile applications. Notifications offer the lightweight experience of displaying contextual data that is useful from the app launch. Watch face, wear apps, and voice commands are some of the design features.

Also, it must have minimal UI/UX, and interactions should be lightweight, quick look design, offline usage, among others.

3. Wearable Apps Development – Android wearable vary in terms of design and functionality as the interactions will be fewer, utilizes watch-based APIs, features of a smartwatch, and access to standard Android APIs. iOS wearables have their own set of ins and outs. It raises the cost of development. It differs for standalone expansion as apple has enabled this feature recently.

4. App Testing – the testing and app maintenance costs are on the higher end when compared to mobile applications. It is because of:

• Data syncing among a smartphone application and their linked wearable app.
• Testing level complexities
• The difference in screen size
• The primary device’s battery life is crucial when testing a wearable application.
• Testing at different instances, such as when the primary device is turned off, is to find out loss of data occurrences
• Only a few emulators are available, which automatically surges the cost

These factors are responsible for cumulatively adding up the development cost of your wearable app.

Wearable app development mistakes to avoid.

Even though we may find that all ideas and features are best to be included in our wearable app, we sometimes forget what is happening at the backend. Here are some of the best wearable app development mistakes to refrain from that can further save expenses.

1. Applying intelligence for Sensors & Devices – Connected intelligence is the future of wearable devices, and it is more than merely connecting, sensing, and reporting. The smart wearable device must be able to process the data by itself and carry out the activities. Therefore, before investing in wearable app development services, ensure that the intelligent node is being built and can become a full-fledged computing ecosystem. It is best not to limit your app idea to the device and sensor level; it will be a costly wearable app mistake.
2. Use Case should align With the Wearable Device – Before initiating any wearable device app development, it is ideal for creating a table with devices and using cases. It gives a clear idea of how valuable their solution is. Framing a set of questions that cover both functionally and user’s perspectives can help decide the best fit. So, going by the current in-demand or popular device without validating the device’s purpose could lead to a wearable app development mistake.
3. Too many Features – It is suitable for the Android or iOS wearables to be feature-filled to compete in today’s market. It is not advisable to stuff in so many features, due to two main reasons. Firstly, there is only limited space available on a wearable device. So, adding too much information or functionality can result in users abandoning your application for a while or altogether. Secondly, the battery life of a wearable device is not as long-lasting as in a smartphone. So, loading it with a lot of feature sets can bring down the battery life.
4. Keeping Launch Date before In-Depth Testing – A grave mistake is to rush wearable app developers to launch the app without proper testing. Many bugs pop up during the testing phase that tells about your app’s effectiveness. You can ensure all the aspects are seamless between the wearable device and your mobile application before your users make use of it.
5. Overinvesting In Hardware Early On – It is best not to invest or build your whole infrastructure based on hardware that could become obsolete sooner. So, it is best to develop your wearable app based on its intent.
6. Test the Market Before You Spend – It is essential to analyze the market in-depth before finalizing and building the features. A deep understanding of the market competition can save a great deal of your investment.
7. Security And Privacy Aspects – Wearable devices gaining mass adoption are mainly related to health-monitoring apps. So, be sure to seriously note security and privacy issues as the user/patient health-related data is sensitive and should be kept confidential compared to generic personally identifiable information. Double-check the security and privacy impact assessments during the development phase.
8. Requiring Too Much User Input – The fewer time users spend on app interaction, the more convenient it will be. Wearable devices’ main advantage is the automating systems that shun user physical interaction as much as possible.
9. Complicated UI And Functionality – People don’t prefer doing complicated tasks. It is best to be mindful of the screen size, as the wearable screens are tiny, and make sure it is simple and easy to read.
10. Visual Aesthetics – The overall look and feel of your app add value to your customers. People love to purchase products that make them feel good about themselves.

Final Thoughts

As wearable technology is gaining momentum in today’s world, more companies are pondering about creating wearable apps to extend their service reach. A significant portion of fitness wearables has moved towards smartwatches, wearable health devices, and a wide variety of collaborations. Thus, being prepared to update and expand can drastically cut off some slack.

5 Bluetooth Beacon Trends to Watch Out for in 2021!

 Bluetooth was often associated with wireless headphones, music players, Wi-Fi, and other personal devices that make use of the low-power technology in a short-range. Nowadays, Bluetooth low energy technology has evolved to be an alternative to Wi-Fi to establish communication seamlessly between two devices. It has turned out to be more useful when compared to other conventional methods, which many people count on.

Recent highlights

The COVID 19 pandemic has resulted in an upsurge in the mobile apps usage by all age groups. It has successfully prompted even the non-users to get online and perform any transaction. It could be from finding their desired restaurants to locating a food item at their nearest grocery shop. It even found its application in finding their gate in the airports.

Since beacons exclusively function with a Bluetooth beacon app, the technology has perceived quite a huge demand in its usage, ideal for all vertical businesses. The growth projection of worldwide beacon technology market demand is 45.5% CAGR from 2019 through 2024 and is expected to reach $ 10.2 billion by 2024. It can support marketers in developing and optimizing their strategies.

Five latest beacon technology updates in 2021

BLE beacon technology has evolved drastically over the current years. Here are some of the latest beacon app technology updates to keep an eye on.

#1 Beacons for contact tracing

The two tech giants, Apple and Google, revealed a framework for COVID-19 contact tracing. It helps to effectively track and downsize the spread of COVID-19 virus. It uses a Bluetooth beacon app that helps governments, and health officials to keep a check on the spread of the virus strain. The contact tracing beacon-based application utilizes an Exposure Notification programming interface API for the apps to interact with. The power of Bluetooth is harnessed to help identify the virus exposure notification.

A smartphone running a beacon app android with Exposure Notification API will sporadically use Bluetooth to connect with other phones with a random beacon. The beacon frequently deviates from improving the security aspect. Meanwhile, the list of beacons is stored by the phone that it links with nearby.

A list of keys is downloaded by the system that has people with positive status at least once a day. Every device checks against the beacons list that is already recorded from its server. If a match is recognized between the stored beacons and the positive diagnosis list, the user will be informed by notification and advised.

Although the system does not rely extensively on smartphones, it surely helps to review an individual’s location history and find out if by chance they have come in contact with an affected person.

#2 Wearable bracelets to follow social distancing

Now that the spree has almost subsided, many businesses plan to recommence on-site operations. To prepare their employees with fresh, anti-pandemic gear, wearable tech comes into the picture to prevent the virus spread. Many companies are going forward with wearable bracelets that enable employers to track and maintain social distancing in workplaces with the Bluetooth beacon app’s help.

The bracelets’ hardware contains proximity sensors and GPS for location tracking. It is aided by Bluetooth and ultra-wide-band radio connectivity, a built-in LTE, and a rechargeable battery.

When the status is updated by a person that indicates possible infection, the bracelet sends notifications to others they have been in contact with depending on location-data history and proximity. A health dashboard lists a detailed log of possible contacts for centralized handling. One good example is TraceSCAN by Facedrive that uses wearable technology to contain the virus’s spread.

#3 Remote ordering at restaurants

As pubs and restaurants start gearing up for their safe reopening, technologies like beacons and QR Codes are being set up for ordering securely to control the virus’s spread. A mobile ordering app called OrderPay, an order and payment platform, joined numerous popular chains in the UK to support them in meeting their social distancing necessities.

It uses the ‘tap and go’ method, which enables the customers to serve themselves. It decreases the contact with staff and helps to avoid long queues. Simultaneously, it operates with beacon technology that supports servers to find the guests without going through their restaurant’s entire space. It facilitates easy and quick table service.

#4 Easy tracking of lost items

It is very common to misplace things like socks, keys, mobile phones, or even find parked vehicles in a parking lot. Beacons can identify any lost item for the users, given that the device and the lost item are within the beacon’s range.

A Bluetooth-aided beacon app developed by an Israeli start-up called Wiliot can help retrieve lost socks from the washer! The chief product is a -stamp-sized Bluetooth beacon. The beacon can attach to appliances, medicine bottles, clothing, and even wallpapers. The beacon communicates the location of the missing item. When combined with sensor pads, it can recognize its weight and temperature to send the user an alert of the missing item. No wonder it could make you feel like Sherlock!

#5 Enhanced asset and inventory management

A Bluetooth beacon has been developed by a company called Apptricity, which offers asset and inventory tracking management. It can communicate signals beyond 20 miles. The asset and inventory management usually has a labor-intensive technology like passive RFID scanning or barcodes bounded by distance and the person directly scanning the code, causing the possible human error.

Bluetooth beacons can locate an item’s position and send updates to the equipment that requires a routine check-up or maintenance. The newest Bluetooth beacons are accurate and help several companies track their inventory and assets, devoid of any mishaps.

Wrapping it up

Beacons come with multiple actions assigning features in a single beacon. It also permits the developers to edit code by adding them to the beacon dashboard. Using this advantageous feature, one can seamlessly build beacon apps and assign multiple interactions to those locations.

With so much the Bluetooth beacon apps can offer, numerous industries are placing themselves to pull out the most from this Bluetooth low energy technology. It improves the strategical front to gain more market share and caters to the users in more than one way to craft a seamless consumer journey.

With major tech players in action like Apple and Google recommencing beacon-based apps in 2021, this year might witness the technology come back for quite many applications stretching from remote ordering, contact tracing, and help hassle-free indoor navigation.