Smart devices, like laptops, desktops, tablets, smartphones, and smartwatches, have become essential to our daily lives. A few decades earlier, computers’ capability was restricted by their vast size; nevertheless, relentless improvement has enabled us to wear advanced technology and use it to make life easier and more efficient.
With the invention of smart wearable devices, eminent IT businesses are witnessing the significance of wearable app development and how it can benefit their target audience. Wearable apps were previously non-existent. Credit goes to an incredible sensory and scanning feature package; wearables have only recently begun to take off.
In the IT sector, this technology has opened multiple doors of opportunity. Some well-known wearable products, like the Apple Watch, Fitbit, Pebble, and Google Glass, have reshaped customer expectations, encouraging developers to develop wearable devices. This game-changing technology has prompted many sectors to inspect its utility and potential. Education, fitness, fashion, music, gaming, tourism, transportation, and finance are just a few fields where the app has impacted.
Bespoke mobile app development services for wearable devices are now bringing personalization to a new level. You’ll be wearing it now, from clothing to sunglasses to helmets to watches. The Internet of Everything (IoE) aims to provide context-based and beneficial connections and will drive all possibilities.
Despite all of the positive statistics, creating wearable apps is not an easy task. There’s a lot to conquer, from security problems to different user interfaces. Wearable technology app developers encounter obstacles that directly impact wearable apps’ efficiency.
In this blog, we will look at a few of the most common challenges developers face while creating these wearable apps and how they defeat that.
But first, let’s see what we understand by Wearable apps.
Wearable Technology
Have you ever heard the word “wearable technologies” but had no idea what it meant? Wearable technology refers to electronic devices worn as a fashion accessories.
Wearable technologies refer to electronic devices worn as accessories, embedded in clothing, implanted in the body, or tattooed on the skin. These gadgets link to the Internet or your smartphone to transfer data and conduct various operations between your device and the internet network.
Wearable Apps
Wearables Apps have permission to access the device’s hardware, which involves sensors, receivers, and other elements. They extract data from hardware and, with the assistance of the network to which they are connected. Then they use it to generate the desired output. The output is mainly provided or displayed by the device itself.
Challenges During Wearable App Development
Although these little gadgets have a lot of valuable functions, developing wearable applications is challenging. We’ll go through some common challenges that wearable app developers currently face in their solutions.
Building the Use Case
Begin by composing a list of questions relevant to the wearable set. This will help you discover the perfect solutions and available wearable hardware, like APIs/SDKs, development frameworks/platforms, and other booming mobile app development procedures.
Every programmer faces three fundamental problems: what, when, and why. The notion and design procedure will be simple to start with after all these three W’s have been resolved.
Solution
Answer the three W’s first, as it will be much more effortless to go on to conceptualization and design afterward. Although it appears to be a bit difficult, it is a crucial phase. Further, the app must have some unique features rather than just being a carbon copy of other iOS or Android apps.
Right Platform and API selection
Another problem in wearable app development is creating a wearable app for each platform. Several technologies and APIs are available in the market, like Android, Salesforce, and Apple. Consequently, it’s crucial to opt for the appropriate platform based on the requirements.
Solution
To be successful, an application must conquer the most significant barrier to the wearable revolution: app compatibility. Though there are multiple versions for various devices and platforms, end consumers will prefer a single app that runs with all of them and responds fast. Select the API that best fits the apps of your niche.
User Interface
Wearable electronics, like phones and tablets, have a smaller screen size. Thus, making UX design for a wearable application difficult for developers. This also necessitates a new user interface. Several elements must be considered during the procedure, like the display size variations, icon compatibility and size, platform assistance, and various other traits.
Solution
Wearables with smaller screens entail a different type of user engagement, requiring a different development approach. Further, the wearables usually do not have much room or requirement for flashy icons or straightforward navigation. Quick and seamless interaction, speech-focused instructions, and passive data-collecting strategies must all be prioritized by app coders.
Fragmentation
Fragmentation is a heavy-handed block in the creation of wearable apps. Most wearable applications lack cross-platform compatibility, resulting in fragmentation. This issue raises the overall cost of developing a wearable app. Software developers can access a larger target audience if the app developed is cross-platform.
Solution
The first and foremost thing to achieve is to avoid fragmentation. Cross-platform compatibility not only lowers fragmentation but also enhances revenue. Dodge using a native platform will restrict your reach. Make your app available on multiple platforms so that you can reach out to a broader audience.
Privacy and Data Security
Wearable technology is still in its growing stage; thus, security problems are to be expected. Every day, many wearable apps fall victim to data privacy breaches. Since wearable tech devices cannot connect to the Internet independently, they demand various synchronization or third-party tech tools or functions to communicate with mobile apps on Internet-enabled devices. Consequently, wearable app development businesses must pay utmost attention to privacy concerns throughout the procedure.
Solution
Customers are retained, communication is boosted, and long-term relationships are assured with a secure wearable gadget. Wearable app designers must consider effective security procedures to increase user confidence. To optimize the entire experience, they could go for refined privacy settings and transparent communication. Advanced security mechanisms that protect sensitive data should be included in the apps.
Experts in this industry make speedy, successful, and practical adjustments every other day. In this case, the app should keep up with the latest technology and trends. Also, regular security updates should be applied to the application.
Wrapping Up
Wearable application development is difficult, time-consuming, and gratifying. Because the features and functionalities of each app vary, the wearable app development process necessitates extra caution. These are also some of the increasing challenges that each app developer faces when creating wearable apps. Developers must be ready as platforms and devices change.
Our custom software development company has a professional wearable app development consulting team adept at adopting new technologies, staying current, and delivering the needed results per the client’s objectives.
