Building a Location-based Game or App Like Pokemon

building location based game

Building an App needs something that not many have – perseverance. Of course, we carry out our daily tasks with dedication. But, a game needs deep thinking and that is where we begin.

Apply some foresight

The game needs many things including the Pokemon like characters, the hiding place, some twists and turns in the plot, landscaping for the game, and more. As you think about them, they will grow, and you must put them down on paper so you will not go around in circles. For starters, make the list. Then, segregate the list into important and not important. You will see that this helps you get a better picture of what you are doing and what you have accomplished.

Pick the theme for the game

This is the fun part. You are not making Pokemon, only a Pokemon like game. This means you are doing an interactive geo-based game where you place the object for interaction in some public places. These are activated by the online game alone so they will not disturb anyone else. You might want to make cards for the game, just like you have in Pokemon but you could bring in your own modifications.

Build GPS based game

Design some roles

This is again fun. You can imagine the role playing you need in your story. It might be about vampires chasing innocent children or about aliens out to kidnap the small ones. Whatever it is, you must make the story run along without a hitch. There must be enough stops and the roles must fit in with the character of the story. You can add more roles for the higher versions of the game.

Or, you can have various levels with increasing difficulty of play. The children can choose the level according to their age. Also, plan some scale in the game. This means you need to have some side-plot that will turn the game into a smaller version of the main game. You could include lines such as the hero wanders off the main street and enters some side street.

Doing the design

You know how to use the Wikitude SDK to place the Pokemons around the user. You then list them in JSON format and you can fetch the creatures from any position. You also have features on the Wikitude SDK JavaScript API that fetches the user location and places videos 2D, and 3D content in geo spaces. These are AR.Geo Objects that have a callback function. You can use user movements, longitude, altitude, and latitude to run the code inside the Wikitude AR-View.

AR.context.onLocationChanged = function(lat, lon, alt, accuracy){

// store user’s location so you have access to it at any time

World.userLocation = {“latitude”: lat, “longitude” : lon, “altitude” : alt };

};

You can check Wikitude if you need more clarification on the codes. The real thing is to have an action plan and make the landscaping to suit the model you have in mind. Give users the option of choosing their own models and changing between them. It makes the game interesting for them but then it is your game.

Many alternatives to design

One of the best alternatives is to use Scratch to make the game and then improvise on it. The other one is to get a RPG Maker XP, download the Pokemon Essentials, and read the tutorials there. Then, you can make the game based on Pokemon.

Make realistic estimates for the game. You cannot just arrange a couple of objects and then hope to clinch the deal. It takes extensive planning and more often than not, you will be tempted to throw in the towel and start something else. This is because you have not thought the matter through entirely from all perspectives. Remember, planning is vital and only that will carry you through to the end. Wishing you luck on your journey.

Angular JS has gained Popularity as an open-source Web app development

angularjs-development services

Developing app is becoming a culture more than remaining a craze. The sheer number of ways to develop an app sets the tone of the challenge for the app developer. Angular JS is one choice for many of the developers due to its simplicity and easy integrability.

Easy for new developers

Angular JS is a JavaScript framework that helps new developers understand coding structure and application functionality. It works very well to manage heavy web applications, along with its complex requirements and many components. So, if you spend some time learning it, you will benefit.

Easy to adapt

The plug and play functionality helps the developer to copy and paste the existing features that he wants to use in the modern design. So, the old features will come in the modern design without any need for new code. But, this does not mean that the developer can become an expert without any knowledge. He will need to know JQuery and JavaScript. Once he knows these two, then the other things will move on easily. With more practice, the developer will become more proficient. With experience, one can design many stunning apps with Angular JS.

Most other codes need you to write an MVC pipeline. But, with Angular JS you need not do that. You can develop smaller data models using HTML. Besides, you have an evolving community because of the open-source nature of the language. Plus, Google developed it, so it will always have interested people and experts backing the entire project.

Less distraction during design

The development is so easy because the developer does not have to bother with the JQuery calls and DOM configurations. The UI developers find it easy to work with a greater focus on design. You get encouragement to work with models on the client side. And you also see the same thing happen on the server-side.

Developing apps with AngularJS is so simple and easy. The developers design new ones without breaking a sweat within a brief period. It is easy to get started and as easy to finish the design with simple HTML code. Another good feature that we see in AngularJS is that it exhibits two-way binding. So, you avoid writing enormous amounts of boilerplate code. The two-way data binding works to synchronize the model with the DOM working both ways.

Separation of the logic component

The MVC structure remains implemented by AngularJS; the logic component and the data remains separate. It then uses dependency injection to put in place server-side services in the traditional manner. Some of these are view-dependent controllers and web applications on the client side.

The AngularJS framework helps develop small one-page applications. This makes it a favorite among new developers. The custom tag attributes remain embedded into an HTML page. AngularJS framework first reads the HTML page and reckons the attributes as directives. These directives help bind the input and output parts of the page to any model denoted using normal JavaScript variables. You can set the values for those variables in the code or JSON resources that may remain static or dynamic.

AngularJS is the frontend of the MEAN stack. This MEAN stack is the combination of MongoDB database and Express.js web application server framework. AngularJS makes up another part of this stack with the Node.js providing the runtime environment.

The premise for the construction of the framework remains based on the argument that the business logic of the application is best defined by the imperative programming. The creation of user interfaces and connection to software components remains done by declarative programming. Thus, you develop a structure for the building of an app from designing the UI to the final testing the app phase.

Hire Offshore AngularJS Development Company

hire-us-for-offshore-development

iQlance is a leading AngularJS development company, based in CA. Since its launch, it has become an amazing way of declaring static documents. Our expertise in AngularJS has saved a lot of time of our developers. with its skilled team of AngularJS developers is a highly experienced web and mobile app development company, which has delivered few exceptional mobile solutions to clients across the world.

Know about Android app shortcuts that are actually useful

android code shortcut tips

The android phone is a big boon due to the simplicity of use compared to the iPhone and the computer. But, when it comes to the crunch, does it deliver? How many times have you dug out the phone and then put it back because the moment had passed and you could not access the app in time? We come to the moment when we can finally install the shortcuts that allows instant access to apps you need to use.

Make a shortcut for Massages, Direct calls, Navigation

You can use the Messages and the Calls with just a tap on the Home screen. Go to the Widgets sections and activate the Directly Call and Message a contact. You can also use the Navigate widget to find the shortcut to any place you want to go. When you use communication apps like Skype or WhatsApp you can create groups. This lets you get in touch at a mere touch.

Use Activity shortcuts to go directly to the app android app shortcuts

You see Activities depicted as screens for an app. You can create app shortcuts and create links to specific pages within the app. Like this you can create a direct link to the Navigation screen of the Maps app. In addition, you can use the third-party launchers. This will come with the app you download. There you have the option of placing the app on the Home screen. You cannot use the shortcut on any other screen.

Use Google Voice Commands

This helps you manage your Android hands-free. You must activate the “OK Google” voice detection in the Settings. Under Settings, go to Voice. Then, click the OK button and you can activate the phone by saying “OK Google”. You can set reminders, make calls, take notes, or make a general query.

Make the Search for apps easy

When you have plenty of apps installed, searching for app that you use once in a while may be difficult. Then, there is one way around this. Google widget helps you locate and launch apps quickly. You can also use the search bar on the phone search page.

Scan a document

Did you know that Google Drive has a Scan button? You can quickly scan a receipt or any document but the process is tedious. Another way to do this is to tap and hold the Drive icon, you can then tap Scan. You will go immediately to the scanner viewfinder. The item you scan will upload to the top level in the Drive directory. You can change these files to another separate folder. For this, install Drive Scan widget. You will see this on your widgets screen.

Add a note fast

To do this, you must have Google Keep. Once you have downloaded the app you can tap and hold the Google Keep icon. Tap on New Audio Note and speak your piece. You will have a note transcribed of what you say in addition to recording your voice.

Easy touch

This may be a copy of the Assistive Touch from the iPhone but it proves useful. The idea of putting a floating button on the Home Screen was in the minds of many Android developers even before this. This EasyTouch button helps you with an array of functions including toggle Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, lock the screen, and much more. You can bring out the camera or launch your favorite app and do a lot of other things. It is fully integrable with the Android OS as it is today. And of course, you must be familiar with the pull-down screen to refresh the page.

So, those are the new things to brighten up your day. You will see more shortcuts as software developers come up with new things.

And with that you should be well on your way to implementing Android 7.1’s new feature App Shortcuts! You can find Android’s official documentation for App Shortcuts here. Feel free to leave any questions in the comments, and thanks for reading!

Be sure to to follow me on Twitter @iqlance for more awesome Android tips. If you found this article helpful, make sure to hit the green heart!

Top 5 White Hat and Black Hat SEO Optimization Techniques

seo-company-white-hat-seo

Optimization is essential for obvious reasons – the search engines will ignore your website otherwise. Now, the way one optimizes is subject to debate so much so that the unethical practices become the Black Hat optimization and those that are accepted are the White Hat techniques. You can see how everyone is doing it and so they will all get the same ranking. What you need to do is to use a Black Hat technique in a way that does not offend the search engines.

Sandwiched link on site

This is straightforward and qualifies under white hat techniques because it does not lead you directly to a low content site or mislead the reader. The idea is to create links to your site and place them in between high-quality links. For instance, you use a first high-quality link to a high-authoritative site such as New York Times. Then, after the required number of words, you place the link to your main site. This is the site that sells sports equipment. After you fill in the needed number of words, you again link to a high-authoritative site such as Wikipedia. Now, this might fool Google search engine into thinking all the links have the same value and if it works, your page rank surges upward.

Information and contact scraping

Undoubtedly, scraping qualifies under Black Hat means of optimization. This means you use unfair means to obtain information. However, you stop short of spamming the website you take the content from and merely use scraping to increase the connections and thus build a wide network that could prove useful to many people. How does this work? Scraping is spinning content you lift off other websites, digging out webmaster information, sending automated messages for links, and so on. Once you scrape the website of all the domains, you can use software such as Growbots. Growbots is automated software that helps you connect to the people shown in the domain links.

Create internal links for your web pages

This is easy to do. If you have 5 pages on your website, create links on each of the pages and link them to other places on other pages. Use the right phrases to create the link so they enhance the value of the links. These links must provide value to the end user and you can do this by listing out the advantages of the product you sell and then distribute it all over your site as little links.

Check the links used for images

The images you use on the site could improve your ranking. This is brought out by the fact that Google uses a separate tab for images. Optimize the images by using good descriptions and words that match the content to use as links for the image. Keep the priority in the right order with the content and you will get a boost in the search engine rankings. You could omit some information and show them as images. This will make the reader look at them and thus increase value of the images.

Optimize title tags

This is so obvious but where do we stop? I mean, after you have got the top spot on Google, you will have someone come up from number two spot and push you from the number one spot. You can resort to a little partisan behavior here. Check up the list of websites and find out their selling point – how they came up on the number one page. Then, include these points in your website in some form. Keep up with the others who follow you and your website will retain the top spot.

You cannot go wrong if you put in the effort. As for Black Hat strategy, you have it under your White Hat.

Avoid Black Hat Tactics

avoid-black-hat-tactics

Black Hat tactics traditionally involve methods of tricking the search engines and utilizing tactics that are purely based around exploiting certain characteristics of the Google Algorithm. All Black Hat tactics will damage your site and reputation.

Black Hat tactics include:

  • Purchased and/or irrelevant links
  • Duplicate content
  • Keyword stuffing
  • Link farms
  • Hidden, unrelated text

These tactics, while they can generate short-term success, can lead to your website being blacklisted by Google or other search engines. Once search engines catch on to tactics that violate their terms of service, a website utilizing these tactics could disappear from search results. This is why it is so vital to do SEO correctly. According to Google, “Not even the most experienced SEO can guarantee a certain rank for your site.” If someone says they can- RUN. They are bad news.

Conclusion

To the untrained eye, identifying if your site is potentially at risk from black hat techniques can be difficult, that’s why at iQlance we offer white hat SEO Techniques, So that your ranking up in SERP.

Win More Users of Your Business Through iPhone Apps and Android Apps

mobile app

A recent study has shown that the worldwide mobile app revenue for 2015 and 2016 has been $69.7b and $88.3b respectively. The projected revenue for 2020 is said to be an astounding $188.9b. Seeing such figures makes one wonder, what makes the app industry such a high revenue yielding sector? And how do companies make money when most of the apps on the app store are free? Well, the answer to that question is not a secret.

Having an app is far easier than visiting a website or a physical store to get some product information. Let’s just take banking for example. Customers have realized that transferring of funds or checking your balance on the app is simpler and saves them a bank visit. Over the past few years, we have seen immense growth in mobile apps and developers. Companies want to ensure that they have their apps available to all their customers.

Drawing more traffic to your app:

Website for your Business

Marketing your app is a crucial element for the apps performance in the market. It begins even before the app is fully functional and out on the store. Below is few of the key ways one can advertise the app before rolling out in the market to draw users towards the product.

Blogging: There is no surprise that blogging is a power tool to voice out your opinion regarding anything that is going on. So why not your app. Create a dedicated blog regarding the upcoming app. Keep readers posted with updates and changes you have been making. This will help customers to build expectations from the app and will let you know what you might need to work on.

Beta Version Testing: Considering releasing a beta version to the android / iOS developer forum to get inputs from other developers.

Video Demonstration: Once the app is up and running, it would be a good practice if you could give the users a demo tour of the app. Screen capture the different aspects of what the app can do so that the users are aware what the app is capable of and how it would help them.

Social Media: Ensure that you share you app updates on all your social media platforms to cover all the target users possible. Using a screenshot of the app interface, app logo and other aspects will help drawing more attention.

Alternate App Store: Alongside releasing the app the native play store / app store considering uploading it on alternative app store for example Amazon Appstore, 9 apps or Appslib

App monetization: There are a few common ways a developer or software developing company earns revenue of an app, which is available on the app store.

In-app purchases: In this method, the app is supposedly free to download on the app store. Customers would download the app without any cost; however they will not be able to use the complete feature of the app unless there is an in-app purchase made. For instance, let us talk about a racing game. The user has downloaded the game for free and has unlocked a new stage. But to win that race they will have to buy a featured car through the app to beat the rival. This method is most common in the apps on the app store. The disclaimer itself says that the app is free, but has “in app purchases”

In-app Ad model: As the name says, developers allow other websites to post some ads on their apps. This app could be a small banner at the bottom, which does not interfere with the app interface, while others are a full screen which can be skipped or canceled. There are two ways a developer or company can get paid in this method.

Customer Click: Every time the user clicks on the ad on the app, the developer or top mobile app development company gets paid.  It could be a shopping website or an informative blog. It does not matter as long as the user clicks on the ad button and site is redirected to that particular website.

Merchant Pay: If the ad featured in the app is a shopping website, and the customer buys a particular product from that website, the merchant would pay the developer a certain percentage of the product purchased by the customer.

User Pay: This is probably the least way to earn revenue on your app. In this method, the posted app is not free and user needs to pay a certain amount to download this app. As you might have noticed there are very few apps that are paid because consumers do not want to pay just to download the app.

E-Mail Marketing Services

Subscription: This method is commonly used in music and video streaming apps like Netflix and Wynk respectively. Customers are able to download the app for free and would be given the full features of the app for a set timeframe (mostly 30 days). However, after a certain point of time they would require to purchase a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription. User opts for monthly subscription thinking about the low cost and thus the cycle continues.

Email Marketing: Every now we come across apps which need an account to be registered to use that particular app. At the same time, it also gives us an option to register using the user’s Facebook ID / Gmail ID. Since users usually have their Facebook or Gmail already registered on his phone, they do not need to go through the hassle of creating a new ID. Using this method, the developer is able to acquire the customer’s email ID which is crucial information. Depending on which ID is selected by the consumer Facebook or Google would pay the developer accordingly.

Cost per Install: Like it says, the developer is paid depending on the number of times the game is installed on a separate device.

Product Sales: If you are a retail seller of any kind you can have revenue coming in by having products displayed on the app for the customers. Rather than going to the physical store, customers would like to order the items they want to purchase directly from their phone.

Now, the next important remaining step is to carefully choose and hire best web development company having experience in building on demand apps.

Make sure before getting down to implementing your idea, consider analyzing competitors and their respective business model to build your app successfully to stand in the marketplace.

Consider this 10 Common App Rejection Reasons while going to live your app on App store

ios-app-rejection-factors

As of January 2017, the Apple store has approximately 2.2 million apps in the market. Out of these 2.2 million, 26% of the apps are games. With the mobile technology growing drastically with every passing day, it is safe to assume that we would have an enormous growth in the app sector. With that being said, Apple certainly has some norms they follow to ensure that the apps released on their store are worth their shelf time. They would not want buggy and copied apps to flood over their store which would, in turn, hurt their reputation. Though there is no clear indication from Apple about what steps they take before authorizing a potential beta app to be published on the store, below are the top 10 reasons why Apple could reject an app before it goes live. read more about App Store Review Guidelines.

Not factoring the target audience: One of the top reasons why apps fail is due to the fact that the target audience is not considered when developing the app. The whole purpose of the app is to reach out to the required users in order for them to use it on a regular basis. However, many app developers overlook this crucial step during the early stage of the project. Focusing on the target consumer helps a developer understand what an average user expects from the app. Apple knows this and would want the app to relate to the consumer. Your app might be well made but if a layman cannot understand how the app works or what are the functionalities of the app; this would lead to the failure of the app.

Read also : Why iPhone Application is Better Platform for your Startup?

Inadequate market research: Another reason why apps fail to hit the shelf is because of incomplete or in-depth research. If you have thought of a brilliant idea for an app it is most likely that there would be somebody else who has had the same thought. Thorough research is required before even developing the app you intend to. This helps developers understand the number of competitors in the field you want to build your app on. Also, it will help you determine the shortcoming of the rival on the market giving you an opportunity to supersede them. Lack of market research prior the development can hamper the success of the app in a major way.

mobile app testing

Buggy App: Nobody likes a buggy app. And Apple is no different. Having a bug free app is every developer’s dream. Such an app helps to build a reputation for the developer. Apple would not even consider apps that have bugs or crashes midway during the run time. As a good practice to thoroughly test the app for bugs and debug if any prior to submitting it for approval, you can see here many apps live in app store with bug free.

Incomplete App/Broken Links: The person who has set the Guinness record of the highest score on Pac-man said there was no end to the game. After a certain level binary codes and random computer language covers half of the screen. There are no credits, no background music or fade to black. You had nothing to do but go and die. The developers never expected anyone to reach that far in the game. The point here is that developers need to ensure that their app is robust and complete without any broken link. for best example like GPS Tracking app, The last thing Apple would want is the back-end code written in your favorite programming language shows on the phone screen.

Poor UI/UX: Apple has always strived on making their products stand out in the market. The design, form factor, and user interface of the phone is unlike any device in the market today. It is all the more true for an interface of the iOS.  An iPhone user usually finds it extremely difficult to switch back to an android or any other platform because of the simplicity and elegance of the iOS. And that is exactly what Apple would expect from their developers. Apps with a poor user interface or user experience would be rejected by Apple straight away because this would eventually harm their reputation.

Backward Compatibility: iOS 10 is currently the latest OS for iPhone. However, an app developer must realize that there are about 20% of iPhone users who are still using iOS 9 and 8. The reason for this could be because the users have not upgraded their OS or their iPhone. Whatever may be the reason, a developer needs to develop the app which will work on across all the variations of the OS. Apple will want every user with an iPhone can run the app from the app store.

No Monetization Strategy: An important part of app development is the monetization strategy. How the app makes money can make or break the deal? Apple knows that users do not want to pay money just to download the app. This leaves developers to either place ads on the interface of the app or gets paid for the number of times the app gets downloaded. Either way, if Apple feels that hosting the app on the store would not be profitable, it would be rejected.

Memory/Battery Usage: Apps which constantly run in the background draining the battery and using the phone memory are a big no. Users eventually feel that it is the phone which is facing issues when in reality the app is using up the phone memory making it run extremely slow. Users must be able to exit and quit the app whenever they want. Once the app is closed, it should not wake automatically and end up using the phone resources.

Approved app

Content:  The content of your app plays a crucial role in getting the approval from Apple. If your app is redundant or there are already apps like yours running in the market, it would be very difficult for you to attract consumers. Considering the competitor app has been on the market for a while, users will not want to have two apps of the same category on the phone. And eventually, would decide to stick with the current app they have.

Misleading users: Apps should never be misleading. Go to the App store and read the reviews of the lowest rated apps and you would realize that most of the customers had a different understanding of the description about the app.

Once you successfully done your apps with fixing this factors, you can easily make animations on view objects. Though, if you’d like to get to more advanced level, or make your iPhone application with advanced animations, graphics you may hire iPhone app development company and make recommendations for the improvement in your idea.

Have Something in Mind? Let's Talk

Have a look at the services and development process of the iQlance solution. See What process we follow for mobile app and software development. Have a look at how we are praised by our clients Start a conversation to innovate your next great idea into reality with us.


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