Interview with Samantha Giro, Team Lead Mobile Engineering @ Bitrock

A few months ago, we decided to further invest in Bitrock’s User-Experience & Front-end Engineering area by creating a vertical unit dedicated to Mobile Application Development.

The decision stemmed from several inputs: first of all, we perceived a high demand from organizations looking for Professionals specialized in mobile app development that could support them in their digital evolution journey. 

Secondly, we already had the chance to implement successful projects related to mobile app development for some of our clients, primarily in the fintech and banking sectors.

Furthermore, since we are a team of young entrepreneurs and technicians continuously looking for new opportunities and challenges, we deeply wanted to explore this area within Front-end engineering, which we found extremely interesting and could perfectly fit in the 360° technology consulting approach offered by Bitrock.

Creating a unit specifically dedicated to mobile programming was thus a natural step towards continuous improvement and growth.

We are now ready to delve deeper into the world of mobile application development by asking a few questions to Samantha Giro, Team Lead Mobile Engineering at Bitrock. 

What is mobile application development? And what are the main advantages of investing in an app?

Mobile application development is basically the set of processes and procedures involved in writing software for small, wireless computing devices, such as smartphones, tablets and other hand-held devices.

Mobile applications offer a wide range of opportunities. First of all, they are installed on mobile devices - smartphones, iPhones, tablets, iPads - that users can easily bring with them, anywhere they go. 

It is thus possible to use them in work environments, such as manufacturing industries (just think about when workers control loading and unloading operations from a single device), to manage sales workflows, or events. Many solutions work even offline, allowing people to use them continuously and without interruption.

Moreover, mobile apps give users the opportunity to interact with the product readily and effectively. Through a push-notification campaign, for instance, it is possible to activate typical marketing affiliation mechanisms. These allow companies to run advertising campaigns and retain clients through continuous usage - for example by inviting users to discover new product functionalities or other related solutions.

Mobile technologies can also be associated with other external hardware solutions through bluetooth or Wifi connection, thus widening the range of usage possibilities.

The sensors and hardware of the device, such as the integrated camera, increase the number and type of functionalities that a product can perform. This brings great advantages and comfort to our daily lives: for example, if you need the digital copy of a signed paper, with the camera of your mobile device you can easily scan it and have the document online in real-time, ready to be shared with other users.

Last but not least, the interaction and integration with AI systems, augmented reality and vocal assistants grant easier access and an up-to-date user experience. 

Users can for instance “rule” their houses remotely: as we all know, nowadays we can easily turn on the lights of our house or activate the warning system simply by accessing an app on our mobile device. 

What types of mobile applications are there?

There are different ways to develop a product dedicated to mobile: native, hybrid and web applications. 

Native mobile app development implies the engagement of resources dedicated to devices that use Android as an operating system and other resources that use Apple systems. There are no limits to the customization of the product, apart from those defined by the operating systems themselves (Android and iOS). 

Native apps have to be approved by the stores before being published, and require a different knowledge base, since each platform has its specific operating system, integrated development environment (IDE) and language that must be taken into account.

They imply higher costs in terms of update and maintenance than hybrid apps since they usually require at least two different developers dedicated to the product. 

Native apps can take full advantage of the hardware with which they interact, and they are usually more performing and fast compared to their respective hybrid versions. Also the final dimension benefits from the fact they do not have any framework that converts them. Compatibility is always granted over time, net of updates that need to be executed following the guidelines issued by the parent company.

Thanks to specific frameworks, hybrid mobile app development allows the creation of applications for both operating systems with one, shared code, thus reducing maintenance costs. Development is subjected to the limitations of the framework and to its updates, which must be frequent and follow the native ones. For complex functionalities they still need a customization of the native part. Lastly, they must undergo the approval from the stores before being published. 

The most popular development frameworks are React Native and Flutter.Based on Javascript, React Native is widely used and known by many web developers. It is highly compatible with the development of hybrid applications, and it is highly fast and performing. Its nature as an interface for native development

makes applications less performing compared to the purely native ones; nevertheless, it is a good product since it facilitates the sharing of the code also for web applications. The community is wide, and the high number of open-source libraries makes up for any functionality you may need to integrate. It has two different development modes that allow to create applications entirely in Javascript or with the possibility of customization on native.

Flutter is a more recent product compared to React Native, and it is based on the Dart language developed by the Google team. The ease of the language and of the tool is convincing more and more developers to use it. Differently from React Native,  Flutter’s components do not depend on native: for this reason, when the operating systems are updated, the product keeps on functioning well. The plugins for specific functionalities, such as localization and maps, are created and managed from the Google team, which grants truthfulness, compatibility and constant update. Dart, indeed, is still a little-known language compared to Javascript, which requires a very  specific knowledge in the field.

Last but not least, there are web applications, which are similar to mobile apps, but are developed by using web technologies. They are not installed through stores, but as a website: the user can add a short link in the mobile screen and launch the web application. In this case, offline usability is limited and not granted. Moreover, it is not possible to take full advantage of the hardware resources. 

How is a mobile app created? And what are the most widely used programming languages?

The development of a mobile app generally starts with the study of its key functionalities and an analysis of what the customer needs, along with the creation of a dedicated design. Another preliminary step consists in working on the user experience: for this reason, a close collaboration with an expert of UI/UX is essential.

When all this is defined, the team decides what the best technologies and solutions to develop that specific application are. Then, developers write code, recreate the design and functionality, and run some tests to prove that everything works properly. 

Once the whole package is created through the system and approved by the customer, it is published on the different stores (Google or Apple) - of course, only if that’s the case. 

Let’s now have a quick look at the main programming languages.

If we’re talking about hybrid development, the main tools are Ionic (JavaScript), Flutter (Dart) and React Native (JavaScript). As for native apps, the top iOS development language is Swift or, alternatively, the previous language Objective-C. While the most popular Android development language is Kotlin, some still use Java. Of course, developers must rely on an IDE. Although there are many other alternatives, the above mentioned can be considered as the most widely used.

What are the main market differences compared to website development?

Let me start by saying that websites will never die, for the simple reason that when you need information rapidly and for a very specific circumstance, the product or service’s website is always available. However, websites cannot take advantage of all the instruments and hardware available for a mobile application. 

Mobile apps grant the memorization of a certain amount of data - this is something that a website cannot always provide (unless you have your own account and you always work online). 

They can access information quickly from hardware such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope and others. And other instruments enable the adoption of strategies for customers’ retention (even though nowadays there are push notifications for websites, too). With a mobile app, it is thus possible to grow customer loyalty with specific features and functionalities.

Furthermore, mobile applications are specifically designed to grant ease of use, while websites traditionally provide a different kind of usability. 

Most of the time, web and mobile can perfectly work together (see, for example, what happens with Amazon: users can buy an item via website or by using the mobile app); other times, a mobile app can “overcome” its web counterpart, especially when users have to manage specific things or data, or use specific technologies. For example, you will hardly do biometric authentication via a website.

At Bitrock, we always put clients’ needs first: the creation of the brand-new Mobile Application Development unit within our User Experience & Front-end Engineering team has the goal to widen our technology offering in the field. In this way, we can provide a broad range of cutting-edge, versatile and scalable mobile technology solutions to a variety of markets and businesses. 

We always collaborate closely with our clients to plan, create, and deploy solutions that are tailored to their specific requirements and in line with their contingent needs.

If you want to find out more about our proposition, visit our dedicated page on Bitrock’s website or contact us by sending an email!

Thanks to Samantha Giro > Team Lead Mobile Engineering @ Bitrock