Tarun Nagar 
Technology has crossed the boundaries of imagination. Mind blogging innovation and impressive implementations are building lives better. The interesting thing is the integration of innovative ideas into the existing system. The traditional technical advantages are streamlined with interconnected devices, where the reach of the network increases.
Interconnecting devices and maintaining interdependencies brings a huge revolution. If you are curious about how to build an IoT app, this blog will be helpful intake the right decision.
The 21st century has brought the Internet of Things to the forefront. People are enjoying automation with the help of several devices and their networks. Such as Alexa has impressively entered into the general lives. Users can accomplish small tasks with the help of Alexa.
Talking about the IT industry, there is a huge demand for IT products, and it tops mobile app development trends. But not all mobile app developers are familiar with the development. Businesses entering into the IoT app development need to hire a large team and proper guidance for future maintenance. IoT is evolving and so is its market.
Here is a quick knowledge of the things you need to consider for developing the app for the Internet of Things.
Table of Contents
What is The Internet of Things?
Internet of Things refers to the process, where sensors, electric gadgets, and other similar devices are interconnected through wireless. The data is shared between the devices through a wireless medium that makes the real-world objects behave accordingly. You can turn on/off any device through IoT.
As per the reports made available by Marina research, IoT is estimated to accrue around $3 trillion by the year 2025. Online investment is heading towards IoT and every industry is looking at IoT (Internet of Things) as a great opportunity to rebuild customer infra.
IoT market is gaining the highest growth in smart home premises because it is changing the way people live their lives, drive cars, work and amuse themselves. The number of connected devices is growing and all require an app. You can hire IoT developers and enjoy seamless growth.
Components of IoT
IoT is a unified technology that comprises multiple components. Here are some important components of IoT.
1. Cloud
While talking about the Internet of Things, it’s indifferent to ask about the cloud and its advantages. Business owners who have less tech experience and have limited tech knowledge find it difficult to understand, what is cloud and what is the relevance of the cloud with the Internet of Things.
How does the cloud work?
Cloud collects the data in real-time and processes it for relaying over the network. The platform is usable when the data needs are high and scalable. For the huge transmission of data, the cloud is preferable. More requirement of cloud emerges from the requirement of huge data and limited space on the physical infrastructures.
Data is constantly rising and to handle that data multiple data centers are used in cloud infrastructure. Cloud is therefore considered the replacement for traditional hosting spaces.
2. Network
The network is the bridge component of the IoT. It is a link between the physical components, where the gadgets are gathered data from varying components and send it over the network. The network untangles the messed-up data and systematically arranges.
3. Things in Themselves
Things are the activities in the platform. Forgiving any instruction to devices such as TV, music player, or other electronic devices, you need to install the specific software and operating system.
IoT devices are generally operated using the mobile app. People prefer to keep access through mobile phones, therefore it is preferable to integrate the device control into the apps. Due to successful apps, IoT is achieving high popularity.
Looking at the popularity of smart home devices, the world is favoring the integrated solution:
- In the year 2018, it was reported to make $4.6 billion in sales of smart home devices, which was figured at $1.3 billion in the year 2016. A similar pace is keeping up with the wearable app industry.
- Not only home devices but also other industries are joining the race. The high growth in the sales of wearable devices to more than 80 million units was recorded between the years 2016 and 2020.
- The number of installed devices is rising faster and is expected to reach above 75 billion by 2025.
- There is more than $212 billion in revenue from IoT.
- Google Homes is aimed to secure half of the market share in the next few years.
- According to Statista, there will be more than 38.5 billion IoT devices worldwide.
- As per Data port interpretation, there will be around 3.5 billion cellular-based IoT connections in 2023.
Consumers Receive The Best of Class Automation In
- Automobiles
- Healthcare
- Agriculture
- Child care
- Education and many more.
How to Build an IoT App?
1. Choose The Platform
Many platforms are reliable for building IoT applications. You can choose any platform them which are in mobile app development trends, but you also need to pay attention to the underlying technologies. You need to know what they cost and how much support the platform needs.
Here are a few proven platforms:
- Xively
- Azure IoT Suite
- HomeKit
- Oracle IoT
- Things Worx
- Ubidots
- IBM Watson
- Android Things
The majority of the platforms work for solving the inconsistency and are therefore favored by mobile app development companies. IoT developers can connect devices coming from different vendors, and speaks different protocols, with a unified system. Android Things is an IoT platform by Google. It supports devices from different manufacturers and connects.
On the other hand, Home Kit is backed by Apple, which gives a list of devices approved by Apple along with the guidelines for creating IoT software. Also, Home Kit and Android Things offer APIs for giving developers reach to devices that are out of the ecosystem provided by Google and Apple.
2. Choice of Hardware
The businesses that are not willing to launch their products need to choose from the available hardware in the market. The device needs to correspond with your requirements. Also, the device needs to be reliable, capable, and durable. It is worth choosing the sensors bubuilty a reliable device maker.
3. Opt Scalability
When you launch your app, it will transact a large amount of data. Website development company needs to plan the functionality of the app and ensure that the device stays scalable. Cloud technology is best suitable for IoT data transactions.
4. Ensure The Optimum Speed
IoT app needs to be fast. In IoT devices, all actions are majorly required in real-time, otherwise, it can cause damage. The performance of the devices and corresponding apps needs to be optimum.
5. Keep Security at a High Rate
An IoT app needs to ensure great security. When an app is connected to a device it shares the data that can be reached out for some bad purpose. IoT is vulnerable to the infringement of data, and security is now a greater concern because data is usually related to homes, health care, and vehicle. You need to ensure the use of secured devices for building the Internet of Things app.
6. Choose The Vendors Carefully
Not all vendors offer devices that are perfect for IoT apps. In other words, we can say, that every device cannot be considered reliable for IoT. Make sure that you choose any credible hardware.
7. Proven IT Platforms are Best
IT platforms are famous for their capability of developing suitable applications and modifying complex things into easier ones. Always ensure the choice of a reliable platform for testing and updating.
8. Look for The Physical Attack
Always there is a threat of network attacks. But you need to ensure the physical security of the device. It should not be easy to remove the storage.
9. Protected Networks
The data transacted between the devices can be interrupted. The networks need to be secure and encrypted over the cloud.
10. Best Practices For Security
There are some best security practices in the wearable app industry, which save data from trespassing. Encryption, two-factor authentication, obfuscation, and several other techniques ensure IoT apps to barbered.
Challenged Associated With the IoT
Mobile app developers are associating with IoT projects for building better products and enjoy the power of IoT. But before starting any IoT app, you need to understand the challenges associated with IoT apps:
1. Security
Security is the biggest threat to IoT apps. As per the data released by Brain, the majority of the users stay concerned about security while using the device and implementing the solution.
For IoT consumers, the number of devices is many. Where lack of security protocols and the traditional poorly lack of standard development techniques may compromise the data.
An IoT network is open for multiple tasks and therefore it is too vulnerable over each point. A hacker can gain access to all your fat data using home devices and can control the whole system.
2. Inconsistency
One major challenge for IoT app development is the incompatibility of the devices. The issues have not been solved yet. If you are creating an IoT app for home appliance automation, you need to ensure the app is connected to devices. Here the glitch comes. All smart devices cannot connect unless those devices are made by your company.
If your customer buys a smart bulb from a company and the thermostat from any other company, major chances are that they won’t work together. Therefore consumers are limited to only one manufacturer. This technological inconsistency makes fragments the whole IoT industry. Each company has its own set of standards, its , and specific security standards.
Although there are many mobile app development companies in the market, which offer a platform for IoT development. Hopefully, it can make a unified system.
How to Approach IoT Development?
IoT is not a single technology. The full-stack IoT is many times more vast than the ordinary Full-stack. The complex technology requires a specific set of skills, which sometimes makes it a hard choice to find a good IoT mobile app developer. Also, IoT needs to be secure, therefore the developer you hire needs to be an expert in security mechanisms and network knowledge.
How Much Does IoT App Development Cost?
1. Feature List
The cost is directly proportional to the features included in the app. More the number of features, the higher the cost of the app.
2. Third-party Services
An app needs to include third-party tools for several operations. If too many third-party tools are included the cost of the app goes higher.
3. Hourly Development Rate The most
Most comprehensive cost varying factor is the app development cost. The hourly rate of developers in the tier1 countries are higher compared to the other part of the world. An app costing $90000 in Ukraine may cost around $30000 in the South East Asia market.
When you hire a dedicated app developer from mid-level countries, the cost of an app can be estimated between $15000 and $30000, whereas the complex app may cost more than $30000 and below $80000, which depends on the number of features and above-mentioned factors.
Wrap Up:
IoT mobile apps are booming high and the technology has taken its inseparable place in the common lives through the wearable app industry. The integration of technology to the local chores and petty household tasks make it more futuristic.
While developing an app, you need to take care of Security, speed, network stability and several other factors. After reading the above blog you are damn sure how can you build an iot app?
A secure app is trusted by user and the loyalty of the market take time to grow. If users are satisfied, they leave a good review. Therefore always ensure the optimum data security, amazing speed and ease of features before launching the app. Further, you can hire dedicated app developers for sophisticated knowledge of app development.
