For a long time, hardware has been the key driver behind mobile phone uptake, but in today’s application-focused world, the ability to properly integrate hardware and software is now viewed as vital to create unique user experiences – as well as being a driver of revenue for app developers, while opening the way for increased competition in the app development space.
However, many small app developers find they are hampered by their inability to access the hardware resources of devices on the Android ecosystem, preventing them from fully enhancing their apps’ capabilities.
Akhram Mohamed, CTO at Huawei, points out that with only two large players in the app ecosystem space, developers and consumers require additional choice. He has some key recommendations around how application developers can – and should – be supported in their endeavours.
“The burgeoning applications market holds enormous potential for job creation and skills development in South Africa. But aspiring developers require access to the core services functionality, hardware capability and development tools they need to create world-class apps, as well as to create greater choice for the consumer,” he explains.
“For example, if a developer creates an app that needs to scan QR codes, they would need access to the device’s camera to enable this, but they often can’t add unique functionality that requires the power of the hardware because they don’t have access to hardware resources while developing their apps.”
For this reason, he talks about giving developers access to what is essentially a plug-and-play option so they don’t have to create their own ‘bridges’ to ensure their apps work in the back-end of their chosen ecosystem together with the device’s hardware. In other words, it becomes much simpler for developers to access various other functionalities – like machine learning and push notifications – and enable their app to work with these.
“It should be obvious that the developers want to earn from their creations, which is why they can only benefit from a simplified way of building apps. Additional support could come in the form of giving them access to a potential market for their apps, and also providing assistance in monetising them.”
If you consider that 195 billion apps are downloaded annually, and that 30 billion of those belong to Apple, with 76 billion belonging to Google’s Android, that leaves in the region of 90 billion apps on third-party Web sites, which is a significant market that developers need to be able to access. “What they need is a legitimate way of placing their apps on an app store. Generally, a developer working in South Africa might not have the financial resources to do this, so they also require support getting their app into an app store if that app has global appeal.
“The overall aim of supporting app developers is to promote the Android ecosystem as a whole, by enabling them to connect their apps across multiple areas within the ecosystem, encompassing devices such as speakers or televisions and even augmented or virtual reality solutions, by creating an all scenario solution that can extend beyond the home or office into manufacturing and other sectors. The idea is to allow the smartphone to integrate with a wide variety of devices – up to and including smart appliances – to deliver more capabilities to consumers.”
Mohamed adds that developers can also benefit from being given access to things like image recognition kits and satellite imagery, which can simply be plugged into their applications. For instance, they don’t have to create machine learning algorithms; these are already on their preferred platform and they can tie their app into that. The same goes for location, advertising and push capabilities. In general, regardless of the source, these kinds of plug-and-play functionality make it easier for them to plug into existing apps and capabilities where their app requires.
“In addition, developers can have access to a compiler program that converts the app into the right screen size, for example, so that the app will work with the existing specifications of whatever device it’s on. This means the app can easily be converted into the right format for a multitude of devices and screen sizes. The same goes for the language used to create the app – the compiler will convert this into machine language for the device, without the developer having to rewrite the app in multiple languages or codes, removing yet another barrier to entry for them.
“More choice is always better than less, and when application development offers a way of reducing the unemployment figures in South Africa, it goes without saying that supporting developers in this manner can only be beneficial in the long run. After all, not only will this offer consumers a far greater choice, it changes the game for developers too, by bringing more solutions, greater access to markets and increased revenue streams to them. And, above all, it gives local people the chance to develop local apps to solve local problems,” he concludes.
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