If you’ve been in a bank lately, you’ve probably noticed there aren’t many tellers—perhaps two or three at any given time, tops. Many banks now encourage their customers to use ATMs instead for most of their banking needs. (Don’t weep for the bank tellers, though -- because of the phenomenal growth in the number of bank branches, there are actually more bank tellers employed in the U.S. than ever before.)
Congratulations! You’ve developed, designed, tested, and now launched your app, which excited users have been downloading since the release date. While this is cause for celebration, your work isn’t over yet (is it ever?).
Even though your app has launched, you still need to continue to monitor its performance. Doing so on a consistent basis can help deter users from deleting it, let alone bad mouthing it on review sites.
Still, while you may be a pro in the design and development department, you may be a newbie when it comes to app monitoring—or could benefit from a crash course. Either way, read on to learn about app monitoring basics.
It wasn’t too long ago when developers like us had to build applications for Android and iOS in entirely different environments, with entirely different enginneering teams. This was soon remedied by frameworks such as PhoneGap, Xamarin and React Native. While we've had success with the three in the past, it always felt like they were missing that special something that makes native applications feel... well... native.
You ever open up instagram ready to consume some Grade-A content but immediately start seeing posts from '5 Days Ago' at the top of your feed? That's because Instagram sucks at algorithms and want to ruin your life.
You ever have a dream about a specific product then about 20 minutes after your REM cycle is over, BOOM it's on your Facebook feed? Yeah that's also an algorithm.
You ever say something out loud then it shows up as an ad everywhere you look. YEP YOU GUESSED IT MORE ALGORITHMS BUDDY.
There’s been a good deal of chatter in recent years about algorithms. This previously esoteric concept has become a household term because algorithms of various sorts are pervading our lives, in often not-so-good ways. There's some useful ones that make our digital experience much better though, for example: Google’s algorithms that determine what sites show up on that all-important first page of search results are closely guarded secrets and the subject of much speculation among search engine optimization experts. Amazon and Netflix use algorithms to make recommendations based on your past viewing or buying selections. The list goes on...and on and on and onnnnnn.
Quick note: this is the final segment to this series. If you haven't seen all the posts click here to start with the first one. There will be a round-up/reflection post up on MIT's blog soon. I'll keep ya updated.
At AndPlus, we’re pretty excited about recent advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics. That’s hardly surprising, considering that we’re a pretty nerdy bunch that digs that sort of thing.... and it's literally our job. Of course, as software engineers, we expect to be designing, developing, and using these technologies in new and creative ways.
Here at AndPlus, both in this blog and in our daily work, we talk a lot about robotics. They may not be quite as awesome as they are in the movies... but we understand their importance in the future of hardware/software integration, a field we specialize in. We believe that the convergence of advanced hardware, standardized software platforms and machine learning will bring about practical, intelligent robots that will help us with many, if not most, aspects of our lives—at home, on the road, in the office, on the factory floor, in the warehouse, and in many other settings.
