Author posts Daria Ivantsova

New Guidance for Health App Developers from OCR

New Guidance for Health App Developers from OCRThe demand for health apps continues to grow, and Snappii has already written about the role of mHealth in healthcare delivery. We also have mentioned special regulations for mHealth solutions and the role of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in health app development. However, many app developers wondered when they are subject to HIPAA regulations. Fortunately, on February 11, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released “Health App Use Scenarios & HIPAA” (Health App Guidance), which addresses the applicability of HIPAA to mobile device apps that collect, store, manage, organize, or transmit health information.

“Health App Use Scenarios & HIPAA” Guidance is the latest invention of OCR’s mHealth Developer Portal, a platform linked to the OCR privacy site and created for mobile health developers and others interested in the intersection of health information technology and the HIPAA privacy protection.

“These scenarios address two questions under HIPAA:

  1. How does HIPAA apply to health information that a patient creates, manages or organizes through the use of a health app?
  2. When might an app developer need to comply with the HIPAA Rules?”

Also, “Health App Use Scenarios & HIPAA” Guidance has a series of questions that developers should consider to determine whether or not they may be a business associate under HIPAA.

The Demand for mHealth Solutions

mHealth is an extremely popular solution. According to Transparency Market Research’s report, “the global mHealth services market is expected to expand at a 23.90% CAGR during the period between 2014 and 2020 owing to the rising areas of mHealth applications, increasing incidence of chronic diseases, and the increasing demand for home care services. The global mHealth services market stood at US $5.8bn in 2013 and is predicted to reach US $23.4bn by 2020”. So, to be successful in this direction, modern app developers should make sure to comply with all necessary regulations.

A Mobile Breakthrough in Education

students-703001_1280-300x201Nowadays education goes hand in hand with technology, so their evolution is interdependent. The mobile revolution has fundamentally changed all spheres of life, including education. In fact, students generally find learning with mobile devices more enjoyable, interactive, and effective, while teachers appreciate the affordability, accessibility, and variety of education mobile apps currently available on the market.

The Growth of the Education Apps Market

Technavio, a leading market research company, has released a study which indicates that “the education apps market in the US is expected to reach USD 5.80 billion by 2019”. Also, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the market, dividing all education apps into 3 categories:

– Pre-primary education

– Primary and secondary education

– Higher education

Multilateral Benefits

According to the report, modern parents are overall tech savvy, thereby contributing to their children’s adoption of education apps. The report also predicts that with skills in this field of technology, modern students will enter the workforce as more skilled and digitally-driven professionals. As for teachers, they appreciate their speed and convenience, advanced tracking systems, real-time assessment, and on-demand access to student process, to name but a few.

Personalized Education

Individualized education is not uncommon in our days, and mobile solutions offer great opportunities in this respect. “Research in Turkey with 221 university students has found that e-learning was as effective as face-to-face instruction for learning English. A comparison of those who received training through electronic means reported more positive attitudes and equally effective results compared to traditional approaches” (Ekrem Solak and Recep Cakir, “Face to Face or E-Learning in Turkish EFL Context,“ Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education).

Darrel M. West, a vice president and director of Governance Studies and founding director of the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings, has written a curious article “Connected learning: How mobile technology can improve education” and came to a great conclusion that “mobile technology is a way to transform learning. It is a catalyst for creating impactful changes in the current system and is crucial to student development in the areas of critical-thinking and collaborative learning. Those are the skills that young people need in order to secure their place in the globally competitive economy”.

Mobile Emergency Response Apps

Mobile Emergency Response AppsSmartphones and mobile apps accelerate numerous processes in our life. Not surprisingly, emergency apps are on the rise since they allow users to immediately get in touch with emergency services and notify others of potential or imminent danger, thereby averting or minimizing injuries, crimes, and casualties. Continue reading “Mobile Emergency Response Apps” »

Mobile Apps Bring Field Work to Your Fingertips

Mobile Apps Bring Field Work to Your FingertipsAccording to the PewResearch Center, nearly two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone, and this number is expected to rise exponentially in the coming years. Nowadays thanks to mobile apps, they are not just a communication tool but a great means of work with multiple types of data. These constantly improving features make apps an extremely popular solution for field work.

Apps Simplify Data Management

Long gone are the days where field work was limited to clip-boards, notebooks and pencils. These days mobile apps allow users to collect data in any location and process it without returning to the office. For example, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council has provided field workers delivering multiple services to its 200,000 tenants with mobile apps. “Berneslai Homes is responsible for managing more than 18,000 properties and providing landlord services to council tenants on the authority’s behalf. Before the new solution, their workers were spending a lot of time completing paper timesheets, which then had to be reviewed and approved by operational managers before the information was manually entered into SAP. Also, one of the apps, a tradesperson management application (TMA), enables gas engineers to electronically record and automate the inspection and production of CP12 gas certificates”.

Best Mobile Solutions for Your Business

Want the same agility and convenience for your business? Snappii, a rapid mobile business app development company, offers powerful apps for multiple industries and any types of operations, including field work. Now inspections and inventories are quick and easy processes which can be performed directly in the enterprise or warehouse or anywhere in the field. Snappii’s apps allow users to:

– Collect data with necessary details;

– Edit captured data anytime from anywhere;

– Create PDF and Excel reports;

– Share reports via email;

– Upload details to cloud drives;

– Sync data across multiple devices;

– Work offline.

Snappii’s apps are 100% customizable. Thanks to its codeless app development platform, you can build the app you need yourself or order custom mobile app development. Thousands of employees already enjoy Snappii’s solutions. Please visit our website for more details.

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Tips for Mobile App Testing

Tips for Mobile App Testing

All of us can be inattentive and miss some things from time to time. Who hasn’t looked for eyeglasses to finally find them on their head or looked for keys and discovered them in a place they thought they’d already looked. These situations are common and benign as long as they do not concern the business sphere. The latter requires special attention and regular tests since even a small shortcoming can badly influence your customers’ experience.

This also holds true for mobile apps, which are taking by storm companies of any size. App testing is a complex process, but following the steps below can assist you in it.

Testing in a Real Environment

“A test environment is described as an infrastructure that is needed to perform a test”. There can be several environments during the development cycle. “White-box tests are executed on the development environment; the first application tests are performed on the test environment, and the acceptance tests are executed on the “as-it-were-production” environment”. (Marc van ’t Veer “What is testing in production and why should it be performed?”) Production testing is the final stage which Wikipedia defines as “when you are testing a real live system, either about to go live or with live users”. Nowadays some refuse such tests because they are afraid to have a severe impact on the users and interfere with the existing system. However, we believe that testing in a real-world production environment is necessary. Moreover, to avoid potential challenges, you can use these tips for performance testing in production the right way.

Take Advantage of Emulators and Remote Testing Resources

Testing on real mobile devices is a rather costly process, but you can overcome financial barriers and use emulators and simulators. These are virtual well-instrumented test environments. Make sure that your emulators have the instruments and the network options to provide you with necessary flexibility. Nonetheless, given the above statement of importance of real environment testing, we recommend that you test on as many real devices as possible to avoid even the slightest slip. Fortunately, you can use remote testing resources, which provide a web-based interface to interact with real physical devices. Keynote by Dynatrace solution is one of such terrific tools.

Last but not least, we want to advise you to always think like your customers as this will make any testing easier and more efficient.

Two Great Apps for Business Travelers

4abd3851d7550575280ef9a0cb541b95-300x200If you travel for business on a regular basis, you know that the organization of business trips might require a lot of time and efforts, but it doesn’t have to be that way. These days, you can obtain virtually any information to successfully and effortlessly arrange a trip, keep records, and submit reports at the click of a button on your mobile device. Special mobile apps designed for business travelers make trips more seamless, productive and less stressful.

2 most useful business travel apps

Snappii, a rapid mobile business app development company, offers its two apps which can significantly benefit any business trip. With My Traveling Logs app, you can digitally document your trip on your mobile device. It is a perfect companion to organize your travel and allows you to add all necessary travel data like dates, locations, meetings, photos, notes, receipts, etc., edit them during the trip, and access this information anytime and anywhere.

Travel and Expense Reporting app is a perfect tool for tracking and reporting such travel expenses as lodging, meals, phone calls, conference fees, and materials. You can capture and insert the images of checks, receipts, invoices, and bills and share them.

Tips to Keep in Mind

– When planning a business trip to a foreign country, don’t forget about national, religious and local holidays. Visit websites like this one and mark upcoming holidays on your phone or tablet.

– Learn cultural information and etiquette when travelling to a different country. Studying websites like this one beforehand can help you avoid misunderstandings and possible cultural faux pas.

Installing quality travel business apps on your mobile device before you embark on a business trip and doing some research at the click of a button are what you need to organize a successful business trip and keep costs and stress level down.

Order a custom app

3 Main Approaches to Mobile App Analytics

3 Main Approaches to Mobile App Analytics According to the recent data by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the market of mobile apps is going to keep getting bigger, and, by 2017, there will be over 268 billion downloads. That said, due to the intense competition in the modern mobile app market, it is not enough just to know how many people download your app. Instead, you also need to learn how, when, where and by what kind of audience your app is used. That is why mobile app analytics is key to remaining competitive and keep demand for your app.

Analytics is a key to app optimization

Josh Todd, CMO of Localytics, an analytics provider, “says that it’s crucial for digital content providers to invest in optimizing their mobile analytics to garner key insights into who their users are and how they’re behaving in your app, which can result in better engagement, retention and conversion”.

Mobile app analytics consists of several approaches.

– Business-related approach

This approach helps to track the status of the app from a business perspective. Such metrics as conversion, retention, engagement rates, etc. can directly show app’s impact on the business.

– User experience approach

The approach focuses directly on the user experience and helps to figure out what features of the app are used heavily or rarely and what users want to get from the app.

– App operation approach

This approach entails the analysis of the app operation generally, for example data on any crash, bugs or bad behavior. This analytics helps to prevent the problem with minimal disruption of the user experience.

Lauren Moores, vice president of strategy for Dstillery, ad analytics and targeting company, says, “Publishing an app without utilizing mobile analytics is similar to throwing up a website without any site tracking”. All things considered, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that mobile app analytics in some way supports the viability of your app. And using the analytics with multilateral approaches will give you even more advantages in app optimization.

iOS App Development Center and Other Ways to Become a Successful App Developer

iOS App Development Center and Other Ways to Become a Successful App DeveloperOn January 21, Apple announced the opening of iOS App Development Center in Italy. This is the first of its kind facility in the region, and its main purpose is to provide novice developers with training and mentorship to gain necessary iOS software development skills. According to the official press release, “the center will support teachers and provide a specialized curriculum preparing thousands of future developers to be part of Apple’s thriving developer community. In addition, Apple will work with partners around Italy who deliver developer training to complement this curriculum and create additional opportunities for students”.

App Annie reports that though Google Play leads in the number of apps’ downloads, Apple generates 75% more revenue than its primary competitor and, therefore, iOS app developers make more money selling their apps than Android developers do. In fact, according to Apple, “the unprecedented growth of the App Store has helped developers in Europe earn over €10.2 billion from selling their apps around the world”. The new center is expected to bring even more profits to iOS developers.

App Development Can Be Very Affordable and Easy

Today you have all necessary tools at hand to become a highly-paid app developer even if you have no coding skills as special codeless platforms like Snappii’s have made a real revolution in app development and gained its well-deserved popularity. Snappii offers both ready-made products and tools for development. Snappii’s cloud-based app development platform has a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG editor and requires no coding. Moreover, Snappii provides its customers with constant support, clear manual and the opportunity to order personal training. The company offers more multiple features than any other codeless app development platform and is about to release its revolutionary platform update that will significantly simplify the app development process and make it more convenient. Check Snappii out and see for yourself.

Mobile Commerce Trends for 2016

Mobile Commerce Trends for 2016According to the State of Retailing Online 2016 study from Forrester Research, Shop.org and Bizrate Insights, “The growing use of smartphones by consumers, a shift in investments by technology companies and continued optimization strategies from retailers have landed smartphones on top as a driver of mobile sales and traffic for retail companies”. In other words, it would be safe to say that mobile phones are here to stay and continue driving sales and customer service. Now let us take a peek at what is projected to play the most significant role in mobile commerce in 2016.

Focusing on Customer Loyalty

It’s widely known that promoting customer loyalty is of paramount importance due to high costs involved in getting new ones. However, there is no agreement on the exact numbers.  For example, Terry Gillen in her article writes, “Attracting a new customer can cost as much as 15 times more than retaining an existing customer”. According to the eMarketer, “acquiring a customer costs 5 to 10 times more than retaining one”. As  for Gartner, it estimates that “65% of company’s business comes from existing customers, and it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied”. All things considered, while the numbers might differ, everyone agrees on the necessity to ensure excellent customer service to keep already acquired ones satisfied.

What tools can be employed to do so? Nowadays, mobile commerce apps is what immediately comes to mind. Indeed, customers want to see their importance and know that their opinion truly matters. Apps, in their turn, allow constantly engaging with customers and getting their feedback. Moreover, apps are great for keeping existing customers by special promotions and offers.

Taking Advantage of Mobile Payment Systems

The “Starbucks Card Mobile” payment system has given a good impetus to multiple transactions with the so-called “mobile wallet”. In fact, Starbucks already receives 16% of its total transactions from payments via its mobile app. “The mobile-payments industry will start to show significant growth after consumers’ smartphones and merchant’s payment terminals become more standardized and available,” said Thad Peterson, senior analyst at Aite Group, a consulting firm. Hence, if your app is connected to a payment system, it dramatically improves its chance for success.

Ways to Price Your App Just Right

advertise-766823_1280-300x200When publishing their apps into general app stores, their creators often wonder about the most suitable cost of their products. This task is not an easy one as it includes the analysis of app’s future maintenance, initial expenses, in-app purchases, in-app advertising, customers’ experience, and much more. It’s great if you have solid marketing skills, but what if not? Below we’ll try to shed some light on how to price your apps right.

Check the Competition

Nikos, the owner of Zabkat, a small software company specializing in desktop productivity applications, says, “Most software “one man shows” like me don’t have a due about marketing. So you check the competition and see what is “reasonable” for the kind of software you sell. I start selling somewhat lower, but not too much lower, as many people equate cheap to junk”.

Price iOS Apps Higher

It’s believed that iOS apps are more complicated to develop and submit into the App Store, so iOS users have proven more willing to pay for apps than Android users. That is why iOS apps can have slightly higher prices.

Consider the Future Pricing Policy

Most developers see their apps as a source of income, so this becomes one of the main purposes of their products. In this case, it is important not to just determine the initial price but to consider the future pricing policy. Thus, a well-thought-out policy can bring you substantial income even if your app is originally free. Indeed, giving an app away for free but loading it up with advertising can generate more revenue than a paid app because much more users will download a free app. In addition to ad placements, pricing models can include updates, in-app purchases, beta versions, etc.

All things considered, the key to pricing your app right is knowing your customers and their preferences. Also, think about your app’s price as a wider revenue mix and try to think in terms of the future life of your app.

Role of mHealth in Healthcare Delivery

Role of mHealth in Healthcare DeliveryResearch2guidance in collaboration with the mHealth Summit in Riga have conducted the largest mHealth research so far. More than 5,000 experts shared their views to determine the status of modern mHealth and make some predictions for the next years. Here are a few findings of this research study.

mHealth Apps in the App Market

The 2015 mHealth App Developer Economics Study shows the growth of investments into the market. “Today there are 45,000 mHealth app publishers that have published at least one mHealth app into one of the major app stores. mHealth now represents 5% of the total app market in terms of number of apps”. Below you can see the spread of mHealth apps among the main app stores.

MHEALTH APPS IN THE APP MARKET

Who Are the Publishers of mHealth Apps Nowadays?

According to the research, the majority of modern mHealth app publishers are not related to medical industry thanks to codeless online app development platforms like Snappii’s, which make app development possible for anyone with basic computer skills. Nevertheless, many publishers consult with medical professionals. This is a win-win situation, allowing building high quality mobile apps at a fraction of the cost and significantly improving the healthcare experience of patients and their families.   “Today the main motivation for publishing mHelath apps is helping people with improving their health conditions (53%) and reducing costs or increasing efficiency of delivering health care (48%)”. The graph below shows what else motivates people to create mHealth apps.

motivation for publishing mHelath apps

What to Expect in the Future

The study shows that the primary target device for mHealth apps is a smartphone. This is expected to remain true over the next 5 years. Android and iOS are also projected to remain the dominant mHealth app development platforms.

Some researches on the business potential of modern mHealth apps have revealed that diagnostic apps have the highest potential in the next 5 years. Among other prosperous categories are medical condition management apps, electronic health records, and nutrition apps.

Despite these significant figures of mHealth market, it is just starting to change the way healthcare is delivered. Both patients and medical specialists have high expectations of mHealth solutions. It’s hard to foresee to what extent their expectations will be met, but close cooperation of medicine and technology is sure to bring more benefits in the future.

Why Opt for a White Label Solution?

Why Opt for a White Label Solution?In the era of mobile technology, all businesses come to a point when they need to decide how they are going to develop mobile business apps to stay competitive. Do they build them in-house or outsource? Of course, the do-it-yourself solution ensures full compliance with one’s needs and brand. However, it also Continue reading “Why Opt for a White Label Solution?” »


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