Nowadays, a mobile app needs to provide it all. It must have a great user interface that provides consumers with a variety of features and capabilities while avoiding the complexities that can come with too many options. Beyond that, a mobile app has to ensure it's bug- and glitch-free, as well as perform optimally, regardless of the devices it's opened on or the other apps running in the background. It should offer something that is unique, such as a loyalty or rewards program, as that can keep users engaged and frequently interacting. And perhaps most importantly, a mobile app must seamlessly connect with existing accounts to provide a personalized experience.
That probably sounds like a lot, but in the extremely competitive app market of 2016, overlooking a single feature, capability or end-user expectation could spell disaster – a poor review or, worse, a deleted app.
To build mobile apps that truly provide it all, brands should look for full-stack developers. Those are IT employees who "understand the implications of technical decisions from core layers of software onto the presentation layer," as Hossein Rahnama, founder and chief product officer at Flybits, explained to InfoWorld. Full-stack developers can work on the backend, integrating APIs into a mobile app's code one day, and the next, they're able to turn around and improve the end-user experience. No wonder Rahnama called these individuals "great assets": In today's cross-platform mobile app market that demands native experiences, brands want full-stack developers to bring their apps to every mobile platform while maintaining high-quality.
Overlooking a single end-user expectation could spell disaster in app development.
No full-stack developers for you
Unfortunately, finding a developer or IT professional with the traits for their full-stack fluent peers proves difficult. Randstad Technologies Group President of Technology and Engineering Robert Dickey said that full-stack developers are some of the most wanted IT employees in 2016, according to CIO magazine. After all, individuals with wide skill sets in the back-end and front-end of mobile app development likely want higher salaries and important positions.
Solving the problem
The best choice for businesses that want amazing apps that provide it all is to partner with organizations that specialize in mobile app development and use tools such as Xamarin that make full-stack skills obsolete.
Why partner with a specialized firm? Sarah Williams, contributor for Newswire, explained that the stack is wider than ever, making it difficult for brands to hire a developer on their own who understands Android and iOS development as well as how to build out and support back-end infrastructure. The "full-stack" only gets more complex when factoring in additional smart devices as well as must-have features such as mobile payments and loyalty and rewards system integration.
With a platform such as Xamarin and a mobile app development partner that has developers with a lot of experience in building apps across devices, brands don't have to worry about finding and hiring full-stack skilled professionals. Those companies can provide staff with passions in a wealth of areas, ensuring that the best UI people work on UI while the backend infrastructure is handled by someone with expertise in that regard.
Consumers might want to have "it all" with respect to their mobile apps, but brands don't need to find developers who can do it all when they can rely on partners that leverage cross-platform development tools and supply professionals that excel at what they do.