Our everyday lives now revolve around smart gadgets like laptops, tablets, smartphones, and smartwatches. Constant advancements have made it possible for humans to wear cutting-edge technology and use it to make life simpler and more effective.
Prominent IT companies have been realizing the importance of wearable app development and how it may help their target audience since the arrival of smart wearable devices. There were no wearable apps before, wearables have recently gained popularity because of their amazing sensory and scanning feature set.
Businesses can experiment with countless wearable app development concepts. However, it might also provide significant challenges in terms of development.
In this post, we’ll examine some of the most frequent problems that developers run into when making these wearable applications and how they resolve them.
Challenges During Wearable App Development
Creating wearable apps is challenging even though these tiny devices have many practical uses. We’ll go over some of the typical problems that developers of wearable apps are now facing and how they’re addressing them.
#1 Building the Use Case
Make a list of questions that are relevant to the wearable set first. This will help you find the best wearable gear and solutions, including development frameworks and platforms, APIs and SDKs, and other effective mobile app development techniques.
The three main questions that any developer must answer are what, when, and why. Once these three W’s are taken care of, it will be easy to start the concept and design phase.
Solution
Prioritize the three W’s since doing so will make conceptualization and design much simpler. Even if it seems a little challenging, this step is crucial to the process. Additionally, rather than designing a perfect replica of an already-existing iOS or Android app, the app should have some original features.
#2 Right Platform and API Selection
Making a wearable app for every platform or all of them is another challenge in wearable app development. Additionally, there are some technologies and APIs on the market, including Apple, Salesforce, and Android. Therefore, choosing the right platform based on the requirements is essential.
Solution
Even though there are numerous versions for various platforms and devices, end users will want a single app that functions well across all of them and reacts rapidly. Choose the API that will work best with the apps in your niche. App compatibility is the biggest obstacle to the wearable revolution, and it must be solved for an application to be successful.
#3 User Interface
The screens of wearable technology, such as smartphones and tablets, are smaller. A new user interface is also required for this. As a result, developers find it challenging to create a wearable application’s user experience. During the process, several factors need to be considered, such as platform support, icon compatibility and size, display size changes, and numerous other aspects.
Solution
A different kind of user interaction is required for wearables with smaller screens, which calls for a different approach to development. Mobile App developers should promote speech-focused instructions, quick and easy engagement, and passive data collection methods. Furthermore, there is typically not enough space or need for gaudy iconography or intricate navigation on wearables.
#4 Fragmentation
One obstacle in the development of wearable applications is fragmentation. There is fragmentation since most wearable applications lack cross-platform interoperability. The overall cost of creating a wearable app is increased by this issue. If the app is cross-platform, developers will have access to a wider audience.
Solution
Preventing fragmentation should be the first and most crucial task. A native platform will restrict your reach, so stay away from it. In order to reach a larger audience, make your software available on multiple platforms. Cross-platform compatibility boosts revenue in addition to decreasing fragmentation.
#5 Privacy and Data Security
Since wearable technology is still in its infancy, security issues are to be expected. Wearable technology devices need a variety of synchronization or third-party tools or functions to connect with mobile apps on Internet-enabled devices because they are unable to connect to the Internet on their own. Numerous wearable apps experience data privacy breaches daily. Because of this, wearable app development companies need to be very mindful of privacy issues at every stage of the process.
Solution
A secure wearable device ensures long-term connections, improves communication, and keeps customers. To boost user confidence, wearable app developers need to take into account efficient security measures. The apps should have sophisticated security features that safeguard private information. They might select clear communication and sophisticated privacy settings to maximize the whole experience.
Additionally, the program should receive regular security upgrades. Every other day, professionals in this field make quick, profitable, and efficient adjustments. In this instance, the app ought to stay current with emerging trends and technologies.
#6 Tethering
Because of their smaller screens and restricted functionality, the majority of wearables are connected devices rather than standalone gadgets. Their access to the full functionality of a program is dependent on other larger devices. They therefore lose almost all of their value if the tablets or smartphones they are connected to have low batteries or simply stop functioning.
Solution
Until wearable technology develops to the point where it can function on its own, developers must deal with this issue. When a wearable device leaves the Bluetooth range, they should also think about the consequences of a dead smartphone battery.
#7 Features and Functionality
For every wearable app, “ease of use and mobility” is the main objective and problem. Developers must make sure wearable technology is simple enough for novice consumers to use.
Solution
The most crucial step before production is to incorporate a feature-rich set of functionalities and capabilities that will benefit end consumers. Developers need to be able to understand consumer demands and apply them.
#8 Battery Usage and Memory Space
Memory and battery life are two of the most crucial features of any smart gadget. People are constantly searching for apps that consume less memory and electricity. Since nobody enjoys constantly updating their apps, it also makes them more likely to be uninstalled. Short batteries are a problem with wearable technology, particularly for people with short stature.
Solution
Creating an app that uses energy in a balanced way is the answer. Create a simple wearable app, which entails eliminating any unnecessary functionality. Therefore, when creating a wearable application, the developer should modify the code to make it run better by using less memory and battery power.
#9 Extensive Testing
Organizations are hunting for more effective solutions, while users are searching for mobile solutions that are targeted to them. Performance is one of the most crucial indicators of a wearable app’s success, and it can only be determined by extensive testing. Therefore, don’t even think about avoiding the quality assurance process. Have you ever thought about what might happen, though, if a wearable device suddenly ceased functioning? Because of this, there will be a loss in efficiency.
Solution
Always keep in mind that an app for a wearable device should undergo rigorous testing to make sure it has all the required features and is compatible with other devices before being released.
#10 Multi-User Selection and Authentication
Maintaining individual health profiles for each user presents a difficulty for developers in situations when numerous users use a single wearable device. It becomes crucial to guarantee safe and easy authentication processes for any user gaining access to health data on shared devices.
Solution
Safe access can be provided to individual health profiles by putting strong user authentication procedures in place, like secure PINs or AI-powered biometric recognition. Additionally, AI development services can allow seamless profile switching by detecting and verifying the user in real time, ensuring that the correct health data is accessed.
Conclusion
Developing wearable applications is challenging, rewarding, and time-consuming. The wearable app development process requires special care because each app has different features and functionalities. These are a few of the growing difficulties that every app developer encounters when making wearable applications. As platforms and devices evolve, developers need to be prepared.