subject: Mobile Application Design Practices [print this page] Mobile phones have become the most important part of our lives. They are always in our pockets, mind and an integral part of our social lives too. This small device is capable of holding lots of information, audio, video etc. There are many applications that support all this data and make the mobile more interactive. This is possible with the help of mobile application design and development software that are present in the phones. There are various languages that can be used to create these applications. These software languages are Java, J2ME, BREW, Python, Flash Lite and so on.
Mobile application design and development is the process of developing an application software for low power devices like PDA (personal digital assistants), mobile phones etc. The benefit of the development is that these applications can be downloaded by customers who do not have these systems installed in their mobile phones or devices already. The latest models of most mobile phones come with inbuilt mobile application design and development applications. Various types of platforms can be used to develop these designs. The applications are then tested through various mobile application testing applications.
They are exposed to user interface testing, external factors testing, security testing, automated testing, power supply testing, compatibility testing and many more. There are also many challenges that a mobile application design and development application goes through. There is always a chance of failure in the field. The application is not tested thoroughly in a real wireless environment. Hence its operation in a real environment can pose to be a challenge. Due to advancements in technology, there are many new mobile technologies in the market. It is not possible to check the application on every emerging mobile technology. To automate the application is not very easy in mobile phones. There are many hardware constraints.
All these can become a risk for the mobile application design and development. Few of the very important practices that need to be followed during the mobile application design and development are advanced functionality, clear and consistent labels, personalization of the support services etc. It is very important that the application is user friendly in all aspects. This leads to the popularity and global acceptance of the application. The applications must have sessions or information arranged in a single page form so that users just need to scroll down for its use. Turning pages is not preferred by many users.
The scroll bar on the screen also needs to be a little bigger so that all the important data is visible. These types of practices are ideal for mobiles which do not have touch screen features in them. The mobile application design and development solutions are for every mobile technology whether it is Palm Pre, Blackberry, Android or Symbian. This job is generally done by skilled mobile developers who constantly update the software and then test them for feasibility. Only then is it applied to a particular mobile or device and introduced in the market.
