Have a great idea for a mobile app, or iPhone or Android app? Or need to get the right content to people on-the-go?
Either way we have you covered. Byte Studios can help you concept and build a complete content-rich and function-friendly iPhone or Android application. We have more than a decade of content, design and data experience that helps clear the hurdles that prevent an application from being a great application.
Our services include:
- Mobile web / content integration
- Mobile app usability and interface design
- Mobile app strategy
- iPhone app design
- Android app design
- iPhone app programming
- Android app programming
- Mobile CMS (Content Management Systems)
Over the past decade, we've seen mobile application start as the most simple WAP systems for screens with no graphics to full-fledged browsers with more pixels than the computers of ten years ago. And today, the principles are much the same: the right content in the right place, and all the principles of good user experience and user interface, function at your fingertips.
Today, there is a lot more standards and processes to keep an mobile app well within usability guidelines and still be fun and worthwhile to a user. Whenever we build a mobile app, it's much like a web site in that our process includes a strategy phase, wireframe/content phase, a design phase and a build / deploy phase. Depending on the level of experimentation of the mobile app, we'll also do a rapid prototype that has much of the screen and navigation built but little actual functionality. That gives us all the ability to try different interfaces and find better solutions without spending the entire time on one solution to find out that there's something missing from either the interface or the business objectives.
We build iPhone/iPad apps and Android apps with a different life-cycle ideal than a web site, partially because of the release and App Store /Play Store nature, and partially for usability and that people rarely bother to update their apps. Thus, we'll build in systems to quietly pull new content or formulas from a web site any time we can, thus keeping minor updates to a minimum.
Because of the nature of the approval process and of the APIs that are allowed and change from OS to OS, we believe that any iOS or Android app will be a lot more experimental in nature, and a lot less is within the programmer's control. Thus, building in both a little extra time and extra functionality backups in the scope phase are important. Often times our programmers will find a function that will extend functionality that didn't exist in a previous OS, and we'll be the first to bring it back to a client and do some changes to scope and wireframes to make the application better before the final release.
One of the issues that's more common with iOS and Android apps is the question of outsourcing. Outsourcing sounds like a great idea -- get an application built for half the price -- but the reality is a bit different for us. We've seen outsourcing at some of our partner companies to be a lot more problematic, both plagued by quality and a lack of communication between the idea and the final produce. Because of the published nature of App stores, we can't having a silent, working box get delivered to us with the hope that everything was done correctly. Thus, we keep all application development work in our office so we can manage quality and keep in better communication with our clients, and keep pre-releases available for everyone on the team to use and test.
One of the things clients see at Byte is that this isn't a business-as-usual kind of place, and we don't look to cut corners or maximise profits. We build iPhone and Android apps because we love to build, and love to work with people who have great ideas and a solid vision. In the end, this is all about quality, and for us all about a partnership that works and delivers back new ideas and new work for us. A happy client is a definite referral, and that's the easy bulk of new clients we meet. Doing good work does great for our clients and in turn does great for us. Pretty much how this world should be, in our opinion.