During an emergency or crisis, fear and panic quickly become the norm for most people. The unpredictability of these situations can make them even more frightening; one never knows what to expect or how bad it is going to get. Even those who strive to remain calm in chaotic events can find themselves overwhelmed by the stressful circumstances that arise when faced with a potentially life-threatening situation. 

Clearly, meeting an unexpected emergency or crisis head-on is nothing short of terrifying for the average person. Government agencies play a crucial role in emergency preparedness. Dogtown Media develops iPhone applications to help government agencies maintain contact with citizens during emergencies. 

Government roles during an emergency or crisis

During an emergency or crisis, government agencies are often relied upon to provide guidance and safety to individuals and communities. As soon as a potential threat is identified, these organizations step in with their state-of-the-art infrastructure and personnel to assist affected areas. They analyze scenarios and coordinate with local fire departments, medical personnel, and police forces–providing timely logistical support while simultaneously conducting drills that enhance the existing security policies across affected areas. 

Vital resources like transport facilities and medical services are also deployed to offer timely support. For example, during the recent floods in South East Asia, the government provided housing for displaced families alongside regular meals for those in need. Such strategic planning plays an essential role in helping people cope with large-scale emergencies more efficiently. 

Getting the information out

In times of emergency, it can be difficult for the necessary information to reach all citizens in need. Without a clear means of communication and access to the necessary resources, citizens may feel isolated and unable to take necessary safety measures. Whether citizens are using Android developed apps or another operating system, governments must get the message out.

This importance is why it is essential for government officials and community partners to come together and ensure that efficient services are made available during an emergency, such as providing relief materials, setting up designated shelters, and issuing directive alerts. 

Since these efforts require strong collaboration and preparation prior to an emergency situation, it is important that local authorities maintain coordination with other agencies at all times in order to strengthen their disaster plan. Government agencies are now beginning to embrace apps to deliver alerts during times of crisis. 

Emergency services and alerts apps

Government agencies, both nationally and internationally, are realizing the practical value of emergency services and alert apps in helping citizens become better informed in the case of a natural disaster or other crisis. Emergency services apps help to ensure that important updates, safety information, evacuation routes, maps, and additional resources can be quickly transmitted to those affected by a crisis. 

Apps can provide real-time updates on particular incidents, alert people to danger in their area even before public warnings are issued and keep people informed during the chaotic aftermath of a hazardous event. Government agencies have realized that emergency services and alert apps offer a powerful way to send official notifications across large populations efficiently.

Examples of how government agencies are using emergency services and alerts apps include: 

• Implementing emergency notification systems to alert citizens of dangerous situations such as natural disasters, severe weather conditions, and other imminent threats. 
• Utilizing geofencing technology in order to send targeted push notifications to individuals within a designated area. 
• Leveraging smart home devices such as smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors which can be connected to emergency response teams via an app. 
• Developing panic button apps for first responders to use when responding to emergencies.

Benefits of emergency response apps

Emergency services and alert apps are invaluable, offering numerous benefits to both governmental agencies and citizens. With notifications sent out quickly and targeted to those within a specific location, emergency agencies have seen increased efficiency when responding to an incident. Meanwhile, citizens have been provided greater safety with timely warnings preventing injury or the loss of life due to environmental or natural hazards. 

The cost associated with emergencies has also been reduced, as governments can better anticipate any issues before they become too unmanageable. This technology has further heightened awareness about specific types of emergencies among both citizens and governmental organizations. Additionally, it has provided an opportunity to strengthen relations between local agencies and citizens by providing useful information and assistance during times of crisis.

Potential Risks

While emergency services and alert apps provide many benefits, they also come with potential risks if not properly maintained. For instance, failure to update the app or keep it in good working condition could lead to inaccurate information being sent out, causing panic and confusion among citizens. 

Another risk is that data collected by these apps may be used for malicious purposes unless proper security measures are put into place. Finally, using automated systems can lead to delays or technical glitches, which can delay responding authorities or lead them to give wrong instructions. It is, therefore, important for government agencies to continuously monitor and maintain these applications in order to ensure they are providing accurate information and protecting user privacy.

Government agencies have a responsibility to keep citizens safe and informed during times of emergency. One of the most efficient ways to do this is by working with app developers to create emergency services and alert apps. With this collaborative venture between government bodies and app developers, citizens will finally know they are significantly better equipped to respond to any emergency situation.

If anyone was still questioning whether or not AI was here, this article should put those concerns to rest. As a prominent artificial intelligence app developer, we’ve explored in other articles how AI is making its way into a myriad of fields and is even positioned to

However, as we see the application of AI take form in various domains, it seems that Salesforce is betting on AI making a significant impact on voice-driven coding.

Salesforce started to explore the implementation of AI back in 2016 when it first launched its AI framework called Einstein. The intention of Einstein was to enhance a user experience that spanned the entire Salesforce stack. Here, Einstein gathers data on every user action and provides predictive analytics and natural language processing (NPL) and machine learning to enhance the user experience for Salesforce users. And as an iPhone developer based in San Francisco mobile app company, we couldn’t be happier to see our neighbor release some fascinating news regarding AI advancements. Let’s dig in.

Meet Salesforce Chief Professor Silvio Savarese 

Last year, Salesforce brought on former Stanford professor Silvio Savarese, to act as standing chief. Here, Salesforce aims to expand on its AI initiatives, make better use of massive Salesforce datasets and explore ways to enhance the user experience.

So, where does Dr. Silvio Savarese plan to take Salesforce regarding the development of its AI practices? For starters, he’s looking to build on his vast experience in voice-activated AI. “One of the major directions that I’m pushing here is really to bring AI to empower people in business in new ways, and I’m really excited to deliver that power with experiences that are so simple that anyone can use them,” Savarese explained. Building on this, he and his research team of over 100 data scientists and engineers, are developing a property Salesforce AI voice technology called CodeGen. The idea behind CodeGen is to allow people to describe a certain functionality and CodeGen builds the code behind the scenes the fulfill the user request. 

But it’s not simply telling the AI tech what you want; Savarese said it’s more of a conversation. “CodeGen really provides a new way of developing software. Rather than writing code directly, users would simply describe the problem they’re trying to solve in plain English in a conversation. So the conversation part is very, very important,” he explained.

To touch on this a Salesforce blog post explaining CodeGen:

In this post, Savarese goes on to elaborate how yes, this is early and experimental, but it shows incredible promise for new solutions in the AI voice space in the coming years.

Example of conversational coding from Salesforce using CodeGen tool. Image Credits: Salesforce

“The goal is to address a couple of users. One is more experienced developers, which in this case CodeGen will assist them with writing the code and take over those manual portions of the processing, those parts that aren’t that interesting from the coding perspective. The second user is those people with no coding experience, so almost zero expertise in coding, but CodeGen can still give them a way to build software to solve real problems,” 

What Does This Mean for the Future of Voice-Actived AI?

This news understandably made a huge splash in the world of AI development and honestly, it’s got a lot of organizations and development firms eyeing the technology and thinking of ways they could leverage this type of technology as it makes its way to more mainstream application and services.  

Our take is this technology is still in its infancy but like all things with AI, technology evolves extremely fast. So, don’t be surprised if more applications of voice-activated coding development crop up in competitive services or new product offerings within the market. 

Interested in learning how Dogtown Media can help develop your next AI app? Contact us.

Perhaps it was a natural expansion of the cryptocurrency boom. Popular digital cryptocurrency options like Bitcoin or Dogecoin are an increasingly accepted form of payment for real-world items. This additional form of spending power moves cryptocurrency beyond a part of an investment portfolio. 

 People with cryptocurrency investments have a digital wallet that holds electronic coins. They use the digital wallet to transfer or trade the coins for goods or services through an online exchange platform. However, cryptocurrency like Bitcoin isn’t widely accepted, and in some ways, it is cumbersome (and potentially cost prohibitive) to use. So, it might come as something of a surprise that cryptocurrency has found its way into real estate.

Cryptocurrency and the relationship with home mortgages are in their infancy. However, as a matured financial app development firm we believe we have a sense of what’s to come. Two such companies recently tested the waters of cryptocurrency and its viability to secure a home mortgage loan. Milo, a Miami-based mortgage company, launched a full-fledged cryptocurrency service. Using Bitcoin as collateral, Milo qualified applicants for 30-year mortgage loans. It may not be long before other markets see crypto-backed mortgage loans, like what we’re seeing in New York City.

 Another company curious about cryptocurrency’s potential, United Wholesale Mortgage, briefly piloted payment of home mortgage loans using crypto in late 2021. The experiment didn’t last long as they paused the program indicating that the demand did not meet the need.

 Is this a new frontier for purchasing a home that early adopters or the financially adventurous will embrace? Or is it better to take a wait-and-see approach? Let’s take a look. 

What is Cryptocurrency?

In the simplest terms, a cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, is about trust. This statement might seem counterintuitive given the market volatility for cryptocurrency. However, the confidence comes from what supports cryptocurrency: the blockchain.

 The blockchain is essentially non-corruptible digital record keeping. It uses cryptographic technology, where the blockchain is a virtual ledger. Instead of a company or government maintaining this record, the blockchain ledger uses extensive computer networks that verify transactions. The ledger is visible to anyone that cares to look, thereby creating trust in its authenticity and validity.

 Understanding how the blockchain works, the concept of using cryptocurrency with home mortgage loans doesn’t seem that far of a stretch. Crypto-backed loans function similarly to a standard securities loan. In place of a car as collateral, cryptocurrency is the asset to back the loan. 

Mortgages of Tomorrow 

Milo is one of the first companies to consider an applicant’s cryptocurrency assets when deciding on a home mortgage loan. Instead of applicants cashing in their crypto investments for down payments, Milo decided to accept Bitcoin as collateral. This option saves the applicant from potential tax liabilities that come with selling Bitcoin. Nor would they miss out should Bitcoin continue to increase in value.

 Several factors appeal to people using their cryptocurrency investments for loans. Crypto loans typically offer better interest rates than traditional loans and are often lower than credit card rates. Crypto loans don’t require a credit check, which appeals to people who own cryptocurrency and have poor or no credit. When approved, funding for crypto-backed loans happens in hours rather than days or even weeks.

 The meteoric rise in cryptocurrency – particularly bitcoin – continues altering the financial landscape. It was inconceivable for home mortgage lenders to consider crypto as part of an application a few years ago. Today, adding crypto as an asset could be the difference in how much an applicant can borrow. It may even be the difference in getting approved for a loan at all.

A Healthy Dose of Uncertainty

Volatility remains perhaps the biggest obstacle to cryptocurrency’s acceptance within the real estate mortgage industry. Over the last two years, Bitcoin’s value has fluctuated between $11K to $66K at its peak. Even with these peaks and valleys, the daily fluctuation isn’t much better.

 Cryptocurrency remains largely unregulated. This pattern is typical for technology as advances and innovation outpace regulations and legislation. Some countries are closer to adopting regulations that may bring stability to the market. However, there aren’t many widely accepted cryptocurrency regulations globally.

 Currently, the demand for cryptocurrency as an alternative means to secure a mortgage loan isn’t very high. Perhaps that’s because cryptocurrency isn’t a common investment for many people.

Conclusion

Volatility, lack of regulation, and minimal demand make it difficult for companies to rely on cryptocurrency to determine a mortgage loan. While regulations with cryptocurrency lag behind the technology, legislation in the US does classify owning crypto as property.

 Using crypto to pay a monthly mortgage bill could be taxable. If there is a difference between the initial cost of cryptocurrency and the market value spent or sold, this could incur capital gains tax. This tax would be in addition to other taxes and fees associated with converting crypto to spendable cash.

 Using cryptocurrency to secure or pay for a home mortgage loan is a future that is rapidly becoming a reality. Dogtown Media understands crypto and mobile applications. We offer a free consultation for you to see how we can bring your mobile crypto applications to the hands of your customers.

Technological advancements change many aspects of our lives. Sometimes technology can have a global impact. Most of the time, when we think about world-changing technology, we aren’t talking about the planet. Maybe we should. The path to a solution for some of our climate change challenges may reside with advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).

 Science and climate technology experienced significant advances over the last few decades. With these advances comes a massive amount of climate data. Climate scientists, meteorologists, and climatologists analyze this data to understand the impact of climate change better. They create advanced weather models and better prediction tools. However, leveraging AI and Machine Learning to aid this effort is a newer concept. 

 Some may still debate whether humans are responsible for significant changes in the global climate. However, it is hard to dispute the Earth’s changing climate. Disruptions to historical weather patterns, an uptick in dangerous weather, and melting glaciers are but a few data-proven climate changes. As a prominent Los Angeles iPhone app developer, we intimately understand the potentially devastating impact of climate change.

 No matter the side of the debate, we can leverage technology to understand climate change better and discover ways to reduce the impact of climate change.

AI and Climate Science

AI, and its subset of machine learning, have the power to analyze data and images at a speed and scale beyond human capabilities. From this analysis comes better prediction models and algorithms to detect patterns. These results help make informed decisions, find efficiencies, or solve complex problems. When applied to the challenges of climate change, AI and machine learning prove exceptionally beneficial. 

 Partnerships between data science and climate science create a new dynamic to combat climate change. Until recently, climate scientists relied on information collected from simulations and observations, which followed predetermined rules. With AI, and specifically machine learning, the data and imagery collected from around the planet feed into AI learning models. The process uses machine learning to ‘train’ algorithms using large amounts of climate-based datasets.

 Successful implementations of AI and climate change nationally include Japan and Brazil. Japan employs AI as an early warning against natural disasters. In the Amazon, AI monitors and predicts deforestation.

 When applied to climate change, advances in AI and machine learning create exciting opportunities for companies to innovate. Kayrros is one such example. They are a data analytics company that provides insight into climate risk by monitoring energy, natural resource, and industrial markets.

AI’s Use to Reduce Carbon Emissions

Of all the ways that AI could positively impact climate change, the goal of zero-carbon emissions may be the best bet. Many world governments and leaders across global economies pledged a goal of net-zero carbon emission by 2050. This pledge is a needed yet ambitious objective to bring global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to a net-zero solution.

 The energy sector will have the most significant impact on the success or failure of this goal. Electric power produces 25% of greenhouse gases worldwide. Using AI to gain efficiencies by optimizing energy grids is a short-term application that could provide immediate benefits. AI can integrate and increase the use and efficiency of renewable energy sources combined with current energy grids.

 AI solutions return immediate benefits on a slightly smaller scale. The successful application of AI to operate commercial buildings’ heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is one such example. On average, nearly 50% of a commercial building’s energy usage comes from HVAC systems, with more than half going to waste. Large warehouses, factories, or industrial centers see significant cost savings and emissions reduction from AI-controlled HVAC operations.

Potential Diminishing Returns Using AI

The energy and carbon emissions to power AI on the scale needed could be counterintuitive. Some analysis predicts that the data centers used to power AI could consume upwards of 25% of the world’s electricity.

 However, large tech companies are aware, and some have taken steps to mitigate the impact.  Google successfully deployed AI to mitigate excessive heat loss. Partnering with DeepMind to develop an AI recommendation system, AI systems control data center cooling. The results produced a near-immediate 30% energy savings.

Conclusion

Applying AI and machine learning could be a turning point against climate change. The collaboration of data science and climate science is still in the early stages. However, the positive impact already felt by AI’s use to run the heating and cooling of commercial buildings is a reality today. 

 AI and machine learning applications focused on combating climate change that impacts the environment are a field brimming with opportunities. If you or your company have a climate-focused idea for an AI or machine learning application, Dogtown Media is your partner to develop and deploy it. Take advantage of our free consultation to see how we can partner together to positively impact the environment.

For years, Dogtown Media has been empowering businesses of all sizes with modern digital solutions. As a go-to provider of development solutions to many clients, we work tirelessly to craft intelligent apps with brilliant, intuitive, and innovative design. Through our expertise in multiple verticals, our team delivers the solutions that our partners need to navigate the changing business landscape.

In light of our dedication and passion for delivering high-quality solutions, we’re honored to have been listed as a Top Andriod App Developer in Los Angeles by Clutch for 2021.

Last year was a challenging year for many, but we were able to overcome the obstacles in our mission to lead our partners. Today, we’re excited to look back on the achievements we’ve made this year and celebrate our success with all of you!

At Dogtown Media, we value the thoughts and feedback of our clients — they help us truly understand how we can innovate on certain aspects of our services. They also remind us of the reason we do what we do and keep us motivated to aid our partners. In 2021, we’re proud to have collected multiple 5-star ratings from our customers through Clutch. More impressively, we’ve accumulated an overall perfect rating across all new reviews!

In all of these new reviews, we’ve also obtained a perfect NPS score as our clients have shared their willingness to recommend our services to their colleagues! We’re incredibly delighted to see these stats, and it’s all thanks to our partners for taking the time and effort to leave their honest feedback.

What Our Clients Are Saying

We’re always deeply grateful when we receive great remarks from our clients! Here are some recent quotes that have reinforced our belief that top-tier quality development practices truly make the difference.

“They were an effective team, met deadlines, and created a great end product.”

— Sarah Bauerle Bass, Director, Risk Comm Lab, Temple University

Lastly, we’re also proud to be recognized on the visual portfolio site Visual Objects this year!

Ready to partner with us for your next development project? Say hello to our team for a free consultation!

Designing and developing a new application is often an exciting project. Critical elements to get right are knowing your customer’s needs, the technology to use, and the sustainment plan. However, there are two elements that your customers will use every time they engage with your application: User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX).

UI and UX are two different but connected design features of an application’s development. Despite the two terms being used somewhat interchangeably, they are different. It is crucial to get each one correct to provide the best experience possible for your customers. And further, to stay ahead of developing app dev trends, we’ve made it a top priority staff only the most highly qualified UX app design team, ensuring to our Dogtown Media clients they are in safe hands. 

So, if you’re looking to get a better understanding of UI/UX, how it can influence your upcoming app, or how it greatly impacts app retention, we’re here to help!

What is UI/UX

UI and UX are two principles that have been around for a while, especially UX. Generally, both take a human-first approach to development and functionality instead of a technical one. Individually, however, UI and UX focus on different aspects of an application’s visual design.

• UI – User interface design is the primary way a person interacts with a digital product. Typically, UI is very visual and uses a combination of colors, images, and buttons that consumers use to navigate through an application.

• UX – User experience design focuses on the overall experience of using an application feels for both first-time users and loyal customers. UX identifies areas for improvement and pain points for consumers to create better design solutions.

As a dedicated iPhone app developer in San Francisco, we often time break down the relationship between UI and UX as such: UI is the steering wheel, seat, pedals, and dashboard, while UX is how it feels to drive the vehicle.

Why is UI/UX Important for your App?

It is essential to get all the elements of an application correct. From your customer’s perspective, their interaction and engagement with your application, and whether they enjoy it or not, are driven almost entirely by the UI and UX. This factor is especially true for mobile applications. An application can be a functional and technical marvel. However, if it is designed poorly and provides a miserable experience for your customers, the application will not succeed.

From a competition standpoint, UI and UX are essential to attracting customers, but more importantly, keeping them using your application. This factor is exceptionally relevant for startups and small businesses.

Top Three UI/UX Tips for Your App

Both UI and UX decisions and considerations start early in the development process. Here are a few tips to get the UI and UX right for your application.

• Knowing your audience might seem like it goes without saying, but it doesn’t. It is challenging to get the UI and UX correct if you don’t know who you are designing the application for, what problems it solves, or what services it provides. The most effective way to know your audience is to conduct user research.

• Wireframing is a tried-and-true method to create sample application variations. Comprehensive wireframing efforts test the look and feel of an application, useability, and some functionality. Due diligence with wireframing can save time and money during the development of the application.

• Deciding on an overall visual style and maintaining that approach throughout the application development provides uniformity. These elements include a color palette, design atheistic, and theme. Consistency is the main takeaway, and every design decision should be made to support the overall visual style.

Additional UI/UX Tips for Your App

And once you’ve knocked out the basics of UI/UX in your app, here are two additional considerations:

• Simplistic designs tend to be better accepted by customers. This approach does not apply to every application. However, cluttered, cumbersome, and clunky UI tends to be poorly received. If your application is difficult to use, your customers will find a similar application that isn’t. An effective way to determine if the design is working or not is to test iterations with potential customers – not necessarily members of your team.

• Don’t overlook or underestimate the onboarding experience. The UI is the first element a new customer will interact with. However, it will not be long – minutes, perhaps – before that person decides if the UI/UX works. If your application is complex for new users, or the customer needs some guidance getting started, a muddled or non-existent onboarding means losing customers. Additionally, provide an option to skip the onboarding as some customers just want to get in and go.

Next Steps

UI and UX are essential parts of an application. It is the most crucial part from a customer’s perspective, as this is the only way they will engage with your application.

Dogtown Media uses intuitive UI/UX design for our client’s applications. Our design team creates innovative and customer-focused user interfaces that enhance and compliments the overall user experience. Contact us today for a free consultation to see how we can incorporate UI/UX into your applications.

As we’ve always said, If you can dream it, we can build it — that’s our motto! Over the past decade, we’ve worked shoulder-to-shoulder with clients all around the world to commit to that motto. We couldn’t be happier to see it pay off.

And to that, we would like to extend a huge thank you to the Techreviewer team for naming us a top app development company in the US. The review list of leaders was compiled based on the expertise, experience, and reliability of the development companies. To make an assessment Techreviewer collected information about our services and client’s reviews. Their research placed us in the list of mobile app development companies out of over 500 competitors. Here’s to a big win for Dogtown Media!

As a prominent iPhone app developer in San Diego, we here at Dogtown Media, foster a collaborative experience with our clients to take their dream concept and turn it into a reality. We emphasize an iterative approach of ideation to creation to deliver functional apps that solve real-world problems. It’s these principles that have allowed us to thrive as an app development agency since 2011, and receive awards such as this one!

Our Reaction

To receive this recognition puts us over the moon! It’s always deeply satisfying to receive awards such as this, signifying we are on the right track! We also want to thank each and every one of our clients who believed in our mission to bring their innovative app ideas to the market. 

When we receive this type of feedback it reinforces that we as an app development agency are on the right track. We’ve worked tirelessly to deliver high-quality projects to our clients. This award shows we’re on the right track. We can’t wait to continue on this journey and help our clients develop new exciting revenue opportunities.

With the help of platforms like Techreviewer.co, we hope to continue to reach a greater audience of companies where we can deliver value through our application development services. Here’s to a successful 2022! We hope our dedication to our craft continues to foster these exciting accolades!

Our Reaction

Techreviewer.co is an online agency reviewing platform that conducts annual research to deliver market leader lists. Based on their industry-leading investigatory practices, Techreviwerer is able to identify market leaders are for a given industry.

Techreviewer prides itself on delivering high-quality agency rating services as an independent IT market research and analysis company. The platform helps to find the best companies that provide high-quality IT services for an array of services. As a result of objective market analysis, the Techreviewer platform determines the most successful and reliable IT companies in the industry. Techreviewer’s ranking lists help organizations select the right technology partner for their business needs.

2021 may have just begun, but it’s already shaping up to be a promising year for Dogtown Media. We were recently recognized as one of the best iPhone app developers by Digital.com! Thanks to our clients, team, and community for your support — we couldn’t have done this without you!

iPhone App Development to Meet Your Unique Needs

Mobile app development is a fast-growing and rapidly-changing industry. Whether they’re trying to reach new customers, improve user experience, or engage with an existing audience, businesses from a variety of sectors turn to iPhone app developers to deliver a product that lets them stand out from the crowd.

Since Apple’s App Store launched in 2008, development companies have sprung up all over the world. Each offer their own unique features and services. With such stiff competition, it’s an absolute honor for us to be featured as the best of the best by Digital.com. Let’s take a moment to learn more about their meticulous evaluation process for this prestigious award.

How Digital.com Digs Deep for Insights

Originally founded in 2015 as Review Squirrel, Digital.com has quickly become a trusted source of information for small businesses to find the best tools and services to solve their needs. By analyzing public sentiment through social media and scoring companies’ products and services, the website has established a solid reputation for finding unique insights into what would work best for small businesses across a multitude of industries.

Digital.com’s list of 2021’s best iPhone app developers originally had 160 candidates for consideration! To narrow it down to the top 15 companies, Digital.com’s team spent 40 hours researching and analyzing companies with gleaming reviews on the internet. During this time, Digital.com evaluated three criteria: the service lines offered by each company, the sizes of firms they’ve worked with, and the industries they focused on.

Each candidate had to be capable of providing a wide range of services such as mobile app development, marketing, and design. Candidates also had to demonstrate a consistent track record of successfully helping both large and small businesses. Last but not least, each development firm had to be versatile — that is, could they help businesses in a variety of sectors? With Dogtown’s previous work ranging from machine learning to the Internet of Things (IoT), Digital.com knew that we were a top contender.

Above all else, Digital.com emphasized firms who made the complex capabilities of emerging technologies easily accessible: “Making your service or software accessible to iPhone users requires an efficient and expert iPhone app developer,” says Christelle Feniza, Communications Manager of Digital.com. “This review guide was designed to help small business owners find top firms that can tailor services to meet their industry and needs.”

Thank You for Your Support!

Besides being recognized as one of the best iPhone app developers of 2021, we’re also grateful to have been recognized as a top mobile app developer in Los Angeles by Digital.com! These awards come off the tail of recently being featured as one of the Clutch 1000 List of Best B2B Service Providers for the third year in a row, so we couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come in this new year.

Thanks so much to Digital.com for awarding Dogtown Media with this prestigious honor. And we’d also like to take a moment to thank our clients, team, and community again. We’ll continue to work our hardest to make you proud!

ABOUT DIGITAL.COM

Founded in 2015, Digital.com reviews and compares the best products, services, and software for running or growing a small business website or online shop. The platform collects twitter comments and uses sentiment analysis to score companies and their products.

Siri is steadily becoming more prominent each day, meaning iPhone app developers will want to keep Siri in mind when developing their apps. By doing so, developers can potentially increase their app’s retention and discoverability. Two ways of doing this are through Siri Shortcuts and deep linking.

1. Siri Shortcuts & SiriKit
2. Deep Linking
3. Getting Started with Siri Shortcuts & Deep Linking

Siri Shortcuts & SiriKit

Included in the iOS 12 release was Siri Shortcuts, which gives users the ability to create custom Siri voice commands. Siri Shortcuts present a slew of new opportunities for developers that can lead to increased retention, usage and rediscovery. With Siri Shortcuts, users can speed up common tasks like searching for music, booking an Uber and ordering a custom Starbucks coffee.

Using SiriKit, developers can build an extension within their app that integrates with the Shortcuts App, enabling custom shortcut capabilities. This is key for developers, as shortcuts increase ease of app usage and creates an overall better user experience. If they receive an improved experience, users are more likely to continue using an app. Finally, once a shortcut is enabled, users have the ability to quickly and constantly come back to the app by simply saying “Hey Siri…”

By integrating SiriKit and enabling Siri Shortcuts, developers can strengthen their app’s use. In addition to using Siri to grow an app’s usage, developers can also work with Siri to increase their app’s discoverability through deep linking.

Deep Linking, Spotlight Search & App Packs

Deep linking is the process of specifying keywords within an app’s content. When users are searching via Siri Search Suggestions (Spotlight), links to relevant apps appear. For example, searching “coupon” yields apps that are targeting “coupon” in their build. Apps already installed on users’ phones containing relevant deep linked keywords appear as well.

In addition to this, deep linked apps can also appear in Google Search within App Packs, which is a content block containing apps relevant to the search query in Google’s online search results.

This is important to note because when users are searching via Siri, it provides both an opportunity to discover and rediscover your app. To ensure that developers are maximizing their discoverability potential and App Store Optimization strategy, deep linking is highly recommended.

Getting Started with Siri Shortcuts & Deep Linking

As Siri becomes further prominent in the Apple ecosystem, so will it in users’ lives. It is important that developers take this into consideration when developing their apps, as Siri can potentially increase app discoverability and usage. With Siri Shortcuts, developers are able to create extensions that make their app’s functions easier to navigate via Siri. Additionally, by deep linking searchable keywords in an app’s build, they are made easier to discover via Siri. Overall, iOS 12 and Apple present new methods for developers to create better experiences for their users. By taking advantage of Siri’s integration, developers will be increasing their user retention and discoverability.

For information on how Dogtown Media can help with designing and developing your app, talk with their mobile app development team. To learn more about app store optimization and Gummicube visit https://www.gummicube.com.

News surrounding iPhone X updates, the launch of iPhone XS and XR, and the Apple Watch were expected, but the company surprisingly had nothing to say about Macs, iPad Pros, and MacBooks.

iPhone X’s Lineup Grows

Apple added a 5.8-inch iPhone XS and 6.5-inch XS Max to the iPhone X family. The company removed the iPhone X in the process of launching the newer models. Both models will come equipped with a new A12 chip, OLED display, Dual-SIM functionality, and FaceID.

Neither of the new models had their front-facing camera taken away; in fact, Apple added more photography features to the models: better depth capture, Smart HDR, bokeh effects, and user-adjustable depth of field.

Another less expensive iPhone X phone was added to the lineup as well: the iPhone XR. With the display coming in at 6.1 inches, it’ll cost $749. Apple will take pre-orders starting October 19th, but Apple stores will stock the XR starting October 26th. Intended to replace the iPhone 8 Plus, it also replaced the physical home button for gesture controls and FaceID.

Pre-orders for the XS and XS Max opened September 14th, and the store will stock the phones starting September 21st in the U.S.

Battery Warranty

Part of the presentation, weirdly enough, was dedicated to Apple’s battery replacement costs for out-of-warranty batteries. The company will raise prices in 2019, starting January 1st.

Currently, replacing your battery costs $29. Battery prices were lowered temporarily after Apple faced public backlash for slowing down iPhones with older batteries to force customers to buy new batteries (or new phones). The new batteries will cost a whopping $69, so get yours replaced before the Christmas rush.

The New Apple Watch

Updates to the Apple Watch include a bigger screen, better speaker, ECG tracker approved by the FDA, and improved reception. Apple’s super proud of the ECG, and for good reason: it’s the first over-the-counter product offering an ECG feature. Although the device looks for signs of atrial fibrillation, some doctors are warning that the technology is still in its infancy.

No News on Other Products

The launch event seemed to be dedicated to only the smaller devices; MacBooks and iPads weren’t mentioned in the presentations. Some industry experts think that means Apple will have another press conference, this time covering the bigger devices and a newly-improved feature: Memojis in group FaceTime video calls. The conferences could also revolve around new macOS and iOS development.

What was your favorite announcement from this year’s Apple conference?