The Developer's Desk: Solving Complex Challenges in Software Development

Essentials of making fitness apps from scratch   As you are reading this that means you are looking to create a fitness application. But there is one question bothering you, where to start from? How do you build a solid application that will provide an incredible user experience? Don’t worry here I’m today to help you start. Here are 7, basic points You should take into account before making your own application:   WHAT KIND OF A MOBILE FITNESS APP  A wide selection of workout apps can be found, including home workout apps, personal trainer apps, activity tracking apps, Diet and Nutrition apps, yoga apps, etc.   USER PLATFORMS  Are you planning to develop a fitness application for a few particular operating systems, let’s take iOS for example? Or do you want to launch a cross-platform compatible application, which is compatible with all devices?   DEVELOPMENT APPROACH  Depending on your purpose if you are looking to generate great revenue by reaching both iOS and Android users, there are two options to choose from: cross-platform development and native development. Choosing the best to create a mobile fitness app that uses a single code base that works on both platforms. And choosing the other way needs to write different code bases for both iOS and Android. A cross-platform approach allows for reducing costs, While native solutions provide a better user experience.   FUNCTIONALITY  A wide range of complex and rich functionality results in a higher cost of development of an application and also increases development time. It's easy to determine what features will satisfy customers when you create user stories and use feature prioritization techniques.   MONETIZATION  This is another considerable thing you should acknowledge while creating a fitness app. There are plenty of monetization strategies, these strategies will help you in achieving large revenue. Freemium (where the user receives limited features and has to pay to upgrade to the PRO version) and in-app purchases are additional features that helps you earn more revenue.   PROMOTION  Despite developing a formidable fitness trainer app, that’s not enough. To attract millions of users and generate revenue you will have to prepare an incredible yet fascinating advertisement campaign to promote your application. There are various channels that can be used such as social networks, press releases, user reviews, application ratings, influencers, etc. Considering all the above-stated factors, you can develop a magnificent Fitness application.   The following stages should be considered for the development process:    COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS  Since there are many fitness mobile apps on the market from different providers, you need some unique features for your app. Get a closer look at your competitors, products, designs, platforms, user reviews and more. By researching customer feedback for competing applications on a given platform, you can develop a great competitive strategy. Competitors' strengths and weaknesses will help you understand how to differentiate yourself from them.   TARGET AUDIENCE ANALYSIS  Analyzing competitors will help you see what issues and preferences does the target audience have. You find your audience in social networks, groups, forums, etc. Reading all their relative posts and comments, communicating with them will help you to clarify their needs. Create a user persona based on factors such as age, country, and goals, such as getting fit, tracking physical activity, forming habits, or living a healthy lifestyle.   PREPARATION OF A TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION  You should consider the value your mobile fitness app will add to users, how it should appear and behave, how users will interact with it, and what tasks users can accomplish through it. If you are facing any difficulties doing all this research, a Fitness the app development company will always be there to help you or Hire fitness app developers working freelance.   DESIGN  The fitness app industry is a very vast industry, to succeed in the industry, you will have to build a chain of many loyal customers. An unattractive layout and slow content speed will repulse most people. So, it is essential for your mobile fitness application to have an appealing user interface that provides an amazing user experience.   MVP DEVELOPMENT  An MVP, or at least a viable product, is a solution that requires at least one set of features to run. MVP is not required, but we recommend using this method as it has many benefits. First, it reduces the cost of developing fitness programs. Second, it reduces access time a bit. Third, it helps you attract early adopters and collect feedback on your software. By analyzing customer feedback, you get a clear idea of what improvements and changes are needed in your software. By building the necessary capacity, Avoid high costs and attract an audience. Read more about this in our MVP start-up development article.   TESTING AND DEBUGGING  QA engineers verify compliance with the requirements along with checking for any bugs or errors in the mobile fitness application. Then, software developers fix all the issues. This is also why you should select the best workout app development provider with a great team for your application.   RELEASE  Once it's ready, publish it to Google Play and/or the Apple Store, publish it to these stores. At this stage, you need to take care of things like ASO (Apple Store Optimization), product image, display, and description. As you read everything above you might already have a brief overview of how to create a fitness application. Now move on to choosing the IT service vendor you will work with.   Is an IT outsourcing company a better choice for making a fitness app? Choosing a trusted Workout App Development Service is very essential as it can affect the quality of fitness apps, development time, and budget.   The following are just a few of the tasks an experienced and reliable App Development Company will help you with: 1) Formation of user stories, empathy mapping, impact mapping, etc. 2) Effective market research 3) Budget estimation 4) defining the functionality of a mobile fitness app 5) Development time estimation 6) Forming software requirements document i.e., feature list, wireframe, flow diagram, etc. 7) Forming a roadmap for a smooth development process 8) choosing the best tech stack that suits your application the most   So, why should you outsource your project? Recently, we all have witnessed a huge increase in IT outsourcing. Outsourcing an overseas company for development can be cheaper or even better in terms of quality.   A study by Clutch found that businesses in the USA choose this method for its ability to boost efficiency, access expertise specific to the field, and relieve employees from software-related tasks. While you do that, you cut your expenses by 30-60% based on the location you selected for your project development.   Design of a mobile fitness application Designing your fitness mobile app is one of the most important phases of project development. If users don't like the look, they probably won't install it, especially when there are many competitors in the market. You should focus on creating a quality design: first, visualize the structure of the program using wireframes, then create a clickable prototype to see it in action. Do not overload our product with too many elements, as this will disrupt the user experience and make it difficult to find the necessary buttons, information, etc. Make sure your solution looks good and works well on all screens and mobile devices.   Top 8 must-have features for fitness application The number and complexity of features are one of the main factors influencing the cost of the final product. Before building a mobile fitness app, determine what it needs to do to meet your budget and user needs. For example, consider an exercise program that provides a series of exercises that track the user's activity. There are 8 basic functions that can develop. User account and login  Wearable connectivity and activity tracking Goal setting Workouts Calorie counting Geolocation Educational content Push notifications   The cherry on the cake features for your mobile fitness application More than 75% of users open their health or fitness programs at least twice a week, while 25% of loyal customers open them more than 10 times a week. But how can a product with better statistics be offered? Check out the features that will help you attract an audience and increase your revenue. Social Media Integration Gamification   How much burden does developing a fitness application will reduce from your pockets? Depending on a number of factors, Fitness app development costs can range from $15000 to $200000, a few out of them are as follows: A number of functions. The complexity of functions. Customize a visual design. Platform (iOS or Android, or both, or cross-platform development). The rights of the programmer or country to which you are sending the development of the fitness program.   Closing thoughts So, why should you outsource your project? Recently, we all have witnessed a huge increase in IT outsourcing. Outsourcing an overseas company for development can be cheaper or even better in terms of quality. Although the market is very competitive, there are secrets that can help you create a successful solution. Before building a mobile fitness app, analyze your competitors, identify your target audience, and learn about user needs and preferences. This gives a clear picture of the performance of your product. Start your project with MVP to improve marketing time, reduce costs, experiment with ideas, collect customer feedback, and develop your product accordingly. Contact an experienced iOS and Android Development Vendor to build a high-quality fitness app and earn real money from it. You can find it through reliable B2B review and ranking platforms like Clutch, Good firm, Appfutura, or TechReviewer. For free advice on how to create great fitness programs, give us a line through the sales form or email us at Appic Softwares.

What is GYM management software? GYM management system software! Don’t you know what it is? Let me explain, In simple words, gym management software is a type of software that helps GYM owners by providing essential services to manage their fitness business easily and effectively. Gym management software can be called by other names such as Fitness software, Gym operational management software, etc it depends on the Fitness app development company by whom that particular software is developed. Regardless of the nomenclature, all of these platforms share almost similar core feature sets and are used for the same purposes. A gym management system helps fitness center owners and operators in managing their batches and trainer scheduling, keeping track of their members, communicating with clients, and processing payments. What kind of businesses need it? As the name states gym management system software, the word GYM points toward all sectors like Health clubs, Fitness Studios, CrossFit studios, Swimming institutes, and all other fitness-centric institutes, all business that falls under any of the above categories and wants to manage their business easily and effectively can use this software. The software will be used by whom? A business can have different people with different roles, such as instructors, front-desk staff, hygiene managers (cleaning team), etc. All staff members will be able to use the software as long as they are assigned a specific role. For example, here are a few roles and their use-case 1. Trainer and instructor: • Manage their availability. • Check their schedule. • Access member information (Weight, Height, Aim, Medical history, etc.) 2. Front-desk staff: • Enroll clients. • Assign memberships to the client. • Assign schedule times to members. • Process payments. • Print invoices. 3. Owners and Operators: • View reports (Income, Expenditure, etc.) • Create new programs or facilities. • Run and manage Payrolls. • Define and assign targets. • Manage Staff and their access to the software. A Gym management system tool is also used by the business' clients. Choosing the right software for your business also means choosing one that provides a great customer experience. A poor customer experience can damage your relationship with your clients. Is it necessary to have gym management software? It might not be necessary to have a gym management software, but having one can reduce your efforts while improving your services to many extant by: Optimizing institution's internal operation: As if you don’t have any software, you will just have the option to rely on spreadsheet work in the starting phase everything goes well with it but eventually as your business starts to grow administrative workload increases tremendously. Meanwhile, Gym management system software can automate data entry work like check-ins, schedule management, membership renewal, etc. As management software incorporates with day-to-day activities in the institution, the staff now has much free time, focus, and energy that they can dedicate to the business to make services and customer satisfaction even better. Increasing member satisfaction: As gym management system software eliminate the front desk hassle and provide their progress without having limitation like time and availability this increases user experience. It also allows owners to set up marketing strategy/workflow on various data points like birthdays, their engagement with the institution, and some others, which makes clients feel esteemed and admired. Helping in making better business decisions: Gym management software also helps in better, quicker, and more informed decisions with real-time data and insightful analytics on important factors. It eliminates the need to export data from various sources, put it in a spreadsheet, and run calculations to get useful data. The essential feature of the gym management system When it comes to selecting a perfect solution for a gym management system there are several features to consider. Here are a few important and essential features that are a must for Gym management software. Automated Billing It’s a big must for an ideal gym management software to have an automated billing feature, it will help you in getting paid easily and effectively. By using this feature customer satisfaction level also increases to a large extent. It also allows you to charge penalties from a member for late renewal and also charge him if he made any damage to property or assets. You can set gym standard terms and conditions like cancellation charges, if a member wants to cancel the subscription, the member will levy the cancellation charges as per standard policies. As an automated billing feature eliminate all the complex problem of billing everything is done easily and saves time by helping in alleviating the time-consuming tasks and reducing hassles. Easy Online Membership and Sales You can link your gym management software with your website it will help you to improve your customer interaction by using active analytics which will provide you essential data to improve the interaction of your website with your client. These insights will also help you in improving your online portal and a user-friendly and interactive portal attracts potential parties to connect. You can also provide other facilities like Online short sessions, and discounts to attract more fitness worshipers and widen your customer base. It makes it easy for members to their progress and feedback over a variety of social media platforms. Appointment and Class Management This feature allows the customer to book appointments and schedule their classes on the go from any place at any time. The instructor can send automated reminders to members to join fitness sessions, which also helps in managing the waitlist much easier. It also helps the gym business to reach a sustainable growth level and ensure a heightened customer satisfaction level. Membership Management As it is widely known that renewal memberships are among the main revenue-generating streams of fitness institutes, so it is crucial to have a complete understanding of membership functionality. Your management software should offer auto-renewal and should charge a member’s card on their renewal date. But before renewal, it should send a reminder to the member to inform them about the renewal date and amount. Staff Management Maintaining efficient and smooth operations requires effective management of staff. A role module should help owners assign tasks to their staff, and a staff portal should allow staff to manage their schedules, availability, and access client information. The payroll module in your management software should be capable of managing employee timesheets so that calculating payroll is an automated process. Member Portal Club management software should provide a way for your members to interact with your business. Whether on their computer or through a mobile app, customers need access to browse their schedules, manage scheduling and payment details, and sign up for new programs. On the Upper hand, software should also provide clients the ability to manage other members of their family, meaning no duplicate contacts and a more friendly user experience. Email and Text Management In today’s it is essential yet a big challenge to keep track of the employees. So, it is a must for the software you selected for your business to be equipped with effective email and texting solutions. Email marketing helps in keeping in touch with popular personalities related to your field (fitness) and marker to them in optimal ways. The texting solution let owners and operators acknowledge member birthdays, their milestones, and other important days/accomplishments. This is an effective way to retain customers as well as help in marketing the gym efficiently. Profile Management and Performance Tracking Performance tracking is a must-have feature for every gym software. It allows members to stay in touch with their goals and chart progress to date to reach their target. This feature allows members to have uninterrupted access to their progress reports. As it also let member assess their past performance and give allows them to have a hunch for their future results with the help of the performance tracker. This will allow them to judge and gauge their performance and improvement levels. Looking for a gym management software provider? Here are some questions to ask You've done well if you've read this far! The purpose of this article has been to explain what gym management software is, why it is valuable, and the key features to consider. However, there is one last piece - what about the software provider? However, the features and functionality of the software are only one part of it - understanding the business you are partnering with is also important. Is it possible to configure the software to my business needs? Can the provider demonstrate innovation and foresight? Are the provider's services a good fit for my studio's growth? Is the provider a potential partner for my studio's growth? Final Words There are plenty of features that gym management software should offer, and the features listed above are just a few of them. When users' software does not have or can't accommodate some of the parameters listed above, they must choose another option. All tasks need to be handled efficiently by gym management software, from attendance management to customer retention. To manage payroll, gym owners must keep track of the money they receive from their customers. In addition, gym managers can track the salaries their employees receive using this feature. Using the dashboard, employees and gym members can view all pending payments in an intuitive and streamlined way. It is also crucial to get Gym management software developed by the best gym software development company as your business grows, requirement for some other advance features like a Gym management app to offer the best and easy interaction and a few other features depending on your needs.