Things to Consider When Developing a Wearable Application

Wearable technology, introduced by hearing aids, have taken several steps towards disruption. It has today become the one supporting VR headsets and bands that keep users informed of their pulse rate and the total number of steps they have taken.

While on one hand, these disruptions are not just favoring the companies behind them and the end users, on the other hand, developers — amidst these innovations — are facing a number of pitfalls that can hamper the business value. And with it, the brand’s intention to develop wearable app that is long lasting.

These pitfalls cum considerations that we are asking you to take care of during your next wearable app project are ones that can have an impact on the wearable app development cost as well. The impact that you will either see today or at a much later stage in the development and deployment process.

Here are the things that the developers must consider when creating a wearable application. You can read them as a wearable app development checklist.

Factors to Consider for Wearable App Development

A. User Base

The traits of a smartphone user is very different from a wearable app user. In fact, the demographics and intent of use is also fairly poles apart when it comes to comparing both the platforms. Thus, there would be a difference in building a wearable app and a smartphone app. As a developer, it will be very important for you to have an in-depth understanding of whom you are making the application for and what action you want them to take.

B. App Complexity

Developing an application for smartphones is starkly different from developing an app for wearables. For starters, the computation power and the machine that a smartphone uses has been designed to meet the high real-time technical requirements. But a wearable, irrespective of its form, is devised to work on direct interactions and not to attend a lot of computational needs.

Noting the inherent differences, when you make a mobile app for your wearable device, you will have to decide which type of applications to show in the wearable and which ones to avoid.

C. An App First Approach

Every once in a while, tech giants like Apple, Google, and Samsung come up with new devices. And developers, in the race to make their presence on these devices start ideating applications. While good in the short term, it starts creating a problem when the device stops selling and the company decides to shut the branch down. In fact, it is one of the most common mistakes in developing wearable app.

The ideal and most disruptive wearable app strategy would be to go with an app first approach — find application idea for wearables, instead of other way around. Meaning, instead of starting the journey with a device, you should start at the application and then think of the best device to deploy it on. This is how you will be able to enjoy the long term benefits of developing wearable apps.

D. Testing the Wearable and the App

The quality assurance of a wearable app is very different from testing the smartphone application. There are a number of things that the testers of a leading wearable app development company will have to measure on an intricate level. Here are some features that should be paid special attention:

• Installation
• Usability
• Functionality
• Performance
• Security
• Connectivity
• IOP
• Memory Leak
• Localization/GPS

E. Avoid Over-Architecting

As a developer you must ignore the attraction of over thinking at all the individual development stages. Instead, you should incorporate a lean strategy that would enable a swift creation of hypothesis and the prototype. When creating a new application having a “fancy” feature, there’s always a temptation to add over-architecture in the mix while on the path of an overall user experience.

When this happens, the developers must look for the capabilities that the new technology comes with and stress test the specific feature during the smartwatch app development process.

F. Security Considerations

All the different types of wearables, purely at the back of the intention with which they are created, are extremely personal devices. In the different wearable use cases, they carry a number of sensitive data, related to your location, your health, your preferences, etc.

For a developer, securing the data — both when it is being captured in the wearable and when it is shared with the connected device — is the prime objective. Now, ensuring that the security remains intact is something that calls for the incorporation of advanced technologies, like AI or Blockchain and a solid encryption module.

The things to consider for developing wearable app that you read, while extensive, don’t just end here. There are a number of things that developers will have to take note of when developing an app for a device that although smaller in terms of size and computational power, is equally significant for the end users and the flourishing app industry. Things that go beyond the understanding of iOS and Android Studio wear OS. In short, the wearable app development checklist will not just end at these points, it will grow as your idea grows.