![Chapter 3: 3CHEERSCABLE APP
• 3CheersCable is a leading cable entertainment company[Europe]
• The enterprise has decided to bring its TV channels onto its consumers’
mobile devices to extend the entertainment experience outside the set-top
box.
• That launch a native Android app – 3CheersCable app – that will
cater to the following use cases.
1. Authenticate consumers before they use the app.
2. Subscribe a set of channels.
3. View program schedules for each channel.
4. Share favorite shows with friends and family.
5. Watch live TV on the go.
6. Contact customer-care executives.
7. Persist user credentials and preferences.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/md-iii-ch-ppt-221128052758-98ba7dcb/85/MD-III-CH-ppt-ppt-2-320.jpg)
MD-III-CH-ppt.ppt
- 2. Chapter 3: 3CHEERSCABLE APP • 3CheersCable is a leading cable entertainment company[Europe] • The enterprise has decided to bring its TV channels onto its consumers’ mobile devices to extend the entertainment experience outside the set-top box. • That launch a native Android app – 3CheersCable app – that will cater to the following use cases. 1. Authenticate consumers before they use the app. 2. Subscribe a set of channels. 3. View program schedules for each channel. 4. Share favorite shows with friends and family. 5. Watch live TV on the go. 6. Contact customer-care executives. 7. Persist user credentials and preferences.
- 3. To design and implement the 3CheersCable app can be logically summed up into the following two layers: • 1. The mobile app itself. • 2. The backend enterprise application.
- 4. The mobile app comprises of six logical building blocks: • 1. App user interface is the topmost layer intended for user interaction. • 2. App functionality is the “app logic” layer. • 3. Native hardware access is the layer that enables mobile app to access native device hardware such • as accelerometer and camera. • 4. Native data access is the layer that accesses app data residing on the device. • 5. Enterprise data access is the layer that enables remote data access. • 6. Native data storage is the layer that physically stores the app data on the device
- 6. • The enterprise data access layer of the mobile app sources the required remote data from the service layer of the enterprise application, as depicted in Fig. 3.1 (represented with a dotted line). • The data layer of enterprise application hosts the required data entities such as • Channel list and • TV guide–related data. • The business layer of the enterprise application actually hosts the application logic to provide • Channel list and • TV guide, which is further exposed by service layer to be consumed by external systems (such as a mobile app in this case).
- 7. MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES 1. User experience–specific challenges 2. App functionality–specific challenges 3. Data-specific challenges 4. Platform-specific challenges • User experience–specific challenges: User experience–specific challenges primarily comprise the following four areas:
- 8. Short span of user focus: Mobile apps get very short span of time to make an impression on the user. Thus, it is important to structure the app in such a manner that the most important things are the ones that • The user gets to see, as soon as the app is launched. • The learning curve of using an app must not be steep. The more an app engages the user, the longer and better it would be used.
- 9. Native look and feel: • Mobile users get used to the native look and feel of the platform in the long run of its usage. • An app developer needs to make sure that the look and feel of the app should be consistent with that of the platform.
- 10. Responsiveness: Mobile devices provide the user the liberty to do things on the go. Hence, • The user expects mobile apps to be fast and responsive. • The user should be able to perform desired operations in the app within a short span of time. • Complex operations should be divided into simple subtasks that gets completed in short period of time. • An app that keeps a user waiting would never be appreciated. Thus, it is the developer’s responsibility to structure the app and optimize the code for simple and fast operations.
- 11. Personalization: The app can be customized to suit individual users. For example, • The device location may be used to provide information that is more relevant to the user location. • It may also be a good idea to store username and password on first login, and keep the user logged in for subsequent access. • Storing user preferences and using them to personalize the app would also delight the user
- 12. 2. App functionality–specific challenges: App functionality–specific challenges typically include the following two categories: • Battery life and computational power • Network access Battery life and computational power • The computational power of an average mobile device is less than a modern personal computer or laptop. • Battery life is yet another hardware constraint. • Smartphones and tablets tend to consume more battery owing to touchscreens, graphics, sensors, and multiple apps running together. • The developer has to ascertain that app functionality does not demand excessive computational power or battery life.
- 13. Network access: • The advent of 3G and 4G mobile communication standards has marked a phenomenal rise in data transfer speed limits. • However, network reliability is a big problem. • Apps should not make the user wait for too long while data is being transferred across the network. • Additionally, they may also have an offline mode in case of unavailability of network.
- 14. 3. Data-specific challenges: There are mainly two types of data- specific challenges: • Security • Privacy Security: The ubiquity of mobile devices provides numerous expediencies to the consumer, but also makes him or her vulnerable to security threats. • Mobile devices store valuable user information, which if compromised may result in varying degree of losses to the user. • Such loss may vary from an embarrassing social networking update to transmission of confidential e-mails to unauthorized recipients or even unauthorized monetary transactions. • It is the developers’ responsibility to build apps that prevent unauthorized access to any information.
- 15. 4. Platform-specific challenges: Platform-specific challenges primarily include the following: • Platform fragmentation • Screen types • Input mechanisms Platform fragmentation: The mobile device market is highly competitive with a variety of operating systems and platforms powering these devices. The diverse offerings come as a blessing to the consumers who get a lot of options to choose from. But this also poses a huge challenge for app developers.
- 16. Screen types: Mobile devices come in a variety of screen sizes and types. • While Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) strive continuously to provide choices to the consumer, developers have to make sure that their app works well on all targeted devices. • Mobile devices in different price segments sport different screen sizes, resolutions, pixel density, and display technologies. • The onus lies on the developer to ensure that the app works consistently across different devices. • Besides this, developers also face the challenge of adapting the app to change in device orientation. • Some developers even go a step further, and exploit the change in orientation to provide additional functionalities.
- 17. Input mechanisms: Mobile devices in today’s market come with different input mechanisms such as • Touch screens, • QWERTY keyboard, • trackballs and touchpads, • and sensors ---To facilitate user input. • Mobile devices could use one or more of these mechanisms to capture user input. • The app has to be designed in such a manner that it can be used on any targeted device using any available mechanism for user input.
- 18. TENETS OF A WINNING APP Though the challenges for developing mobile apps are multifold, to create a winning app we have to design • It in such a way that it always enjoys advocacy from end users. • This may be achieved by following five tenets, as proposed in Fig. 3.2. • The app should be intimate, interactive, immediate, intelligent, and insightful.
- 20. • Intimacy element ensures the belongingness of user with the app. • Interactivity element ensures cooperation of app with the user, and delights the user on each interaction. • Immediateness element ensures instant gratification to the user by providing direct access to information required at that moment in time. • Intelligence element ensures pertinent inferences for the user, by way of reasoning. • Insightful element ensures appropriate suggestions for the user by exhibiting relevant insights and perspectives in the app. This brings us to the end of Part I of this book. Now, we will take a deep dive into understanding the building blocks of a typical Android app using 3CheersCable app as the reference application.