Monday 21 June 2021

14 no-code apps and tools to help build your next startup

 

Discover popular no-code apps that can help you build and automate your next startup — without writing a single line of code.


We’ve all heard success stories about those startups that began in someone’s garage and went on to become large businesses. We love hearing about underdogs rising up and winning. Today’s no-code tools allow businesses to be the underdogs — enabling them to build and launch without the need to write code.

14 no-code development platforms for businesses 

From launching websites, building workflow automations, and developing apps, no-code platforms can help startups quickly build and launch.

Here are 14 no-code solutions to help you with your own startup and make what you need to do easier.

1. Webflow

webflow no code tool

Okay, we’re going to start this list with us. It’s our blog, right? But seriously, we are passionate about empowering everyone with the development tools to build professional websites. Webflow grants you the ability to create whatever website you’d like without knowing a single line of code — from SaaS websites to ecommerce stores.

With a variety of templates to get you started, and an intuitive drag-and-drop user interface, you’ll be able to bring your website from idea to launch quickly. Whether you want to start with a responsive template or build from scratch, Webflow allows full customization. Visual coding and development lets anyone take what's in their imagination and turn it into a working product.

changing font in webflow

Most startups don’t have a huge budget to spend on a website. Webflow gives you an affordable entry, letting you put up a high-quality website without spending a huge amount of time or money.

2. Scapic

scapic no code tool

Shopping online may be convenient, but not being able to see a product in person has its limitations. When looking through products on an ecommerce site, people want all of the details they can get. Photos are valuable, but they don’t always capture a true representation. This is where augmented reality comes in.

Scapic puts the power of augmented reality into your own online store — no coding required. People browsing through your products get a 360-degree view of what you’re offering. This gives them a much better representation of your products.

Having this flashy AR feature on your startup website may be what differentiates you from the competition. Scapic makes it easy to add this attention-grabbing tech into your own design.

scapic visualization

3. Mailchimp

mailchimp no code marketing platform

Building a startup means growing and understanding your audience.

Mailchimp’s platform includes all you need to collect customer information, analyze who they are, and get in touch with them.

You can conduct surveys, launch social media campaigns, and categorize your customer databases from Mailchimp’s all-in-one marketing platform. They also offer a number of no-code integrations with software like Square and LiveChat, making it versatile and simple to automate whatever you need.

Growing your customer base and communicating with them is important, especially at the beginning stages of a startup. Mailchimp’s web app makes this a faster and smarter process.

4. Parabola

parabola no code automation tool

Integrating data into automations and connecting apps can be a pain. Parabola makes all of this manageable. Whether it's an API, external database, or the intricacies of ecommerce, Parabola streamlines connecting and automating data-related tasks in a visually driven user experience.

With Parabola’s drag-and-drop tools you can automate a process or create a workflow. Whether your data is in Salesforce, Mailchimp, Shopify, or one of the other multitudes of platforms they support, Parabola is an indispensable data management tool for your business.

5. Voiceflow

design voice apps with voiceflow

As recently as a few years ago, it was hard to imagine how far voice-activated technology would come. Siri and Alexa were once strangers, but now they're our best friends, giving us the information we're after and fielding our weird questions when we're bored (we've all asked Siri if she could pass the Turing test — or is it just me?).

Voice apps shouldn’t just be limited to people who know how to program. Voiceflow makes voice app development for Alexa tools and Google actions possible for everyone without entering even a single line of code.

Creating a voice app involves arranging drag-and-drop blocks, which builds the logic and structure for rapid application development. It’s a simple visual interface that removes all of the complexity.

If you’re an aspiring app creator who has always wanted to build something for Google or Alexa, Voiceflow’s no-code application development platform lets you do just that.

design alexa skill with no code

6. Bubble

bubble no code tool

No-code also removes the obstacles to software development. Bubble lets you build your own app without having to know any programming languages.

Bubble gives aspiring app developers a visual set of components to assemble and launch fully functioning end products. A lot of options for functional customization makes Bubble a powerful tool for software development and building apps.

Bubble allows anyone who has an idea to build, prototype, and launch it into the world. No-code opens the gateway for creatives to make their dreams happen, no matter what their skillsets may be.

bubble backend logic flows

7. Makerpad

build no code apps with makerpad

You may know a little bit about what no-code can do but want to learn more. Maybe you’d like to create something, but don’t even know if anything out there can help you. Makerpad has tutorials, tools, case studies, new apps, and other resources to help anyone find a solution for what they want to do.

Along with these resources, Makerpad has paid services that offer education, implementation, and support to startups with no-code solutions.

If you’re looking for an extensive collection of all things no-code, Makerpad has so much to offer.

source :

Jeff CardelloFebruary 28, 2020

Monday 14 June 2021

How to Create an App Like UberEats



 If you are thirsty enough to set up your food delivery business, this blog will quench your thirst with essential insights. Firstly, you must understand the need to enter the food delivery industry. Though many business ideas are on par with the food delivery business, the scope and profit involved in food delivery services are unmatchable.

Create an App Like UberEats

It is a known fact that people love ordering food online through various platforms. In comparison to restaurant-to-consumer delivery, platform-to-consumer delivery gets all the attention from the user. Here are statistics that will validate the above-said statement.

“As per Statista, the platform-to-consumer delivery is the largest segment in the food delivery sector. Also, the revenue from this platform will be $79,608 million in the year 2021.” 

With this data, let us move on to the different aspects involved in creating a food delivery business like UberEats.

UberEats – King Of Food Delivery Apps

UberEats is the subsidiary of Uber that was launched in the year 2014. Initially, Uber launched its vertical in the food delivery services with the name UberFresh. Later in the year, 2015, the company was renamed as UberEats. 

Over the formative years, UberEats has grown into a massive food delivery giant serving 45 countries and more than 6000 cities worldwide. Apart from this, let us take a tour of the statistics of UberEats that includes various data on the growth and popularity of UberEats.

  • As per Business Of Apps, UberEats fetched a revenue of $4.8 billion in the year 2020.
  • During the pandemic times, the number of orders surpassed $30 million and saw an increase of 30% in comparison to the previous year.
  • As per the year 2020, UberEats has a user base of 66 million worldwide, which is thrice that of the year 2019.

We shall take off from here and land on the business model of UberEats.

Business Model Followed By UberEats




Business-Model-Of-UberEats

UberEats follows a three-sided marketplace model that connects users, restaurants, and delivery personnel. Starting, a user will register on the app and select a restaurant to order from. The concerned restaurant will get the order notification. Meanwhile, the delivery person will be allocated who is situated nearby to the restaurant. Once the order gets prepared, the delivery person will pick it up and deliver it to the user.

Unique Selling Point Of UberEats

Be it any kind of business, it is necessary to offer something unique to users, which is the key to sustain among the competition. Here, let us take a glimpse at the unique selling points of UberEats. 

  • UberEats deliver their orders in under 30 minutes. The maximum average delivery time is 35.31 seconds.
  • The company has established partnerships with multiple local restaurants and hence stands by the motto, “We don’t want your food traveling halfway across the town.”
  • There are many food delivery apps that employ a minimum order policy. But UberEats doesn’t employ the minimum order delivery, which is also another factor for the increased user base.
  • Another interesting fact regarding the USP of UberEats that they are quite active in their social media handles. A user can approach them on social media handles regarding any order-related queries. They solve the issue in a jiffy.

We live in a competitive environment where there are plenty of rivalries in a given business segment. Therefore, having a unique selling proposition is the ultimate key to keep your business afloat.

Until here, we toured on the statistics and popularity of UberEats. Next, we shall head to the need to develop an app like UberEats for your food delivery services venture.

How to launch your food ordering app like UberEats effortlessly?

In general, app development consumes time and money depending on the complexity of the app development project. The clone app development is the alternative to the traditional app development process. To be precise, in the clone method of app development, your app developer will give you a fully functional app. If you wish, you can personalize the app with your preferred set of features and UI themes. 

In this regard, you can go for the development of UberEats like an app that is a hot topic on the Internet. In the upcoming sub-topics, we will learn the stages of app development, features, money-making channels, etc.

Before delving into the app development stage, let us analyze the factors to be considered while developing your food ordering app.

Prioritize these things while developing your app like UberEats





Prioritize-These-Things-While-Developing-Your-App

Purpose of your business

Identifying the purpose of the business is also called concept proofing. You have to work on the challenges faced by people and design a solution that can come as a saviour. For example, when people were struggling with the lockdown restrictions, the grocery delivery services came as a rescue. Similarly, pick out the challenges and stuff people with your business solutions.

Target audience

Once you have framed out your business solution, you must identify the end-users. The question here is how to identify the end-users. To find out users, you must prepare a questionnaire and circulate it over the Internet. From the inputs, you can easily identify the pain points and convert them into your users.

Business model

We have reached one of the crucial stages of the food delivery service business. You have to shortlist a business model that you think will align with your requirements and budget. In the case of the food delivery business, there are multiple business models. They are

  • Order only

In the case you opt for the order-only model, users will be able to only order food via your app. The delivery of the orders will be the responsibility of the concerned restaurants.

  • Order and delivery 

As the name itself is suggestive, you will take care of both the order acceptance and delivery if you employ this model. In this model, either you or your restaurant can look after the delivery services. The choice lies with you and your restaurant partner.

  • Fully integrated

The fully integrated model applies if you own a restaurant or chain of restaurants. You will implement an online ordering system and take care of the deliveries all by yourself. 

Therefore, these are the business models associated with food delivery services.

Mobile platforms

Let us assume that you have proposed a business solution, found out the target audience, and also picked out the business model. Now, you are one step away from delivery app development. Here comes the crucial phase in which you have to identify the mobile platforms in which you wish to deploy the app. 

Similar to identifying the target audience, you must also identify the mobile platform that has a wider user base. When it comes to selecting the mobile platform, you can go for Android, iOS, or both. 

Design

Design is another imperative stage in app development. While designing your app, make it visually appealing as well as easy to navigate. The user interface will decide the engagement of users. Therefore, keep the UI as minimalistic as possible.

Another important thing to consider is, do not to annoy your users with constant push notifications. Agreeing to the fact that push notifications are the direct way to attract users yet, you must limit the number of push notifications you send.

App development

After all, you must pay heed to the app development process. Here, you can either go for traditional app development or clone app development. How do they differ? In the case of traditional app development, your app developer will start from the prototype and gradually add the functionalities one by one. This method may take years to get a fully functional app. Also, the cost of development will also increase simultaneously.

As discussed earlier, you can choose the UberEats clone script that strikes out the hefty investment of time and money, unlike traditional app development.

Highly essential features of the food delivery app like UberEats — make your app like this:




Essential features for your app

Track orders

Users must get constant information about their orders. Hence, the order tracking feature is a must. Through this feature, users will know the status of their orders and the location of delivery persons as well.

Schedule orders

The scheduling feature will come in handy when users wish to book their orders in advance for a later date.

Payments

Add multiple payment options that let users pay through their convenient payment options. By integrating different payment options, you will never have to miss out on any users.

Order history

Users can easily have knowledge about previous orders via the order history.

GPS

The GPS is a mandatory feature in your app that will help the delivery persons in finding the user’s location easily.

We have almost reached the end of this write-up, and there is only one sub-topic left: the revenue streams. Come, let us discuss the different revenue streams of the food delivery business.

Revenue channels of food delivery business

  • Delivery charges
  • Commission fees
  • Advertising fees

Summing up, I believe that you would have definitely enjoyed reading this blog and found it informative. All the best for your food delivery business like UberEats!

Source : Jennifer Atkinson / 24 May 2021 / Apps / Entrepreneurs / Startups / Tech

How to Use Artificial Intelligence in Mobile Apps




Artificial intelligence is one of the biggest trends in the app development industry. AI is slowly pouring into every routine activity of ours whether it’s education, production, medicine, or economics through mobile apps. Here is how to use artificial intelligence in mobile apps.

The troubles and complexities with AI are decreasing and the ease in functioning is increasing with the advancement in technology.

Artificial intelligence in the mobile app is one such technological innovation which is emerging in recent times. The mobile app has not left any nuances to integrate as their trending feature and AI is gaining much popularity

Here is the global market revenue of artificial intelligence prediction reports according to the research of Statista.

YearMarket in Million US Dollar
20163221.8
20174819.11
20187345.35
201911283.76
202017267.75
202125995.68
202237987.17
202353231.4
202470971.51
202589847.26

The market for AI is in a very good position and is about to boom high in the upcoming years. The stats clearly show it. This is one of the major factors why top mobile application development agencies are upgrading their skillset and their apps and equipping them with AI developers and AI-enabled apps.

There are numerous reasons why AI is becoming people’s favorite. It offers benefits to tech giants and local users.

Benefits that Artificial Intelligence Offers

1. Neural Networks

One of the interesting things about AI is machine learning. Machine learning comes in great use for technologies like forecasting or voice synthesis, automotive, aerospace, financial market like real estate valuation, mortgage, credit counseling, and military use like recognition of signals, images, and autopilot.

All of these functions are easily carried out by neural networks. Neural networks or what we popularly call Machine learning are present and used by all of us in our day today.

Here are some of the common uses of machine learning:

  • When we draft the mail, there is automatic address recognition and mail sorting.
  • In banking, the automatic check reader, automatic voice recognition, and signature authentication system are due to neural networks.
  • Smart symbols and agents in computer games.
  • Automatic face detection and focusing on digital cameras.

Also, Google and Microsoft both have upgraded their translation apps with neural networks. They have released new AI-powered offline language translator apps for iOS and Android.

Neural network algorithms have proved to be more effective and availed users with offline working capability.

2. Learn User’s Behavior Pattern

When machine learning and natural language processing are combined, it offers a realistic interaction based on the user’s likes. Based on the users likes, technology can study user behavior and their pattern to provide them with exactly what they are looking for.

Having this feature in the mobile app will give users a very personalized experience.

Netflix is one of the popular apps which have integrated this feature to track and collect their user’s data. Based on this data, they give content recommendations to them. Mobile app users definitely like getting what they want without having to search for it.

3. Offers Conversational UI

The conversational UI feature is a great addition for better communication. It offers the liberty of interacting with computers on human terms. Speech recognition is not a very new concept but the conversational user interface makes communication robust.

Generally, management and finance apps integrate this technology and interact with their users through voice or text messaging. The AI technology also analyzes payments, balances, spending, and most probably to give the best financial recommendations to the users.

4. Offers Automated Reasoning

For improving productivity, this is one of the important AI technologies to install in the mobile app. The best example to fit this scenario is Uber.

Uber, a taxi booking app is using automated reasoning to get the nearest route to drop the users to their destination faster. The automated reasoning collects data from all the cab drivers who have taken trips to a similar route and know from the trips.

5. Completes Monotonous Tasks Rapidly

It’s really boring and frustrating to do the same tasks repeatedly at the job. Well, with AI these monotonous tasks get completed easily and quickly. Doing the same tasks repeatedly kills creativity and wastes time and resources.

When Artificial intelligence enters in such tasks, users have time to invest their time to do something innovative and solve some real-time issues.

6. Accuracy and Perfection

Artificial intelligence is one of the best ways to get speedy output with accuracy and perfection. The chances of mistakes are lesser in every sector where AI is implemented. A small numerical error can make a huge disaster. With AI, such errors get solved and

Top 8 AI Technologies used in Mobile Apps

1. Speech Recognition Technology

One of the most popular AI technologies used in mobile applications of the voice control system is speech recognition. Take an example of Siri and Cortana, they decode and convert human speech into a format that a computer understands.

Plenty of mobile app development companies integrate this functionality into their apps and make it compatible with the latest AI trends.

2. Chatbots

This Artificial intelligence feature is of great use when it comes to developing business apps. It helps the companies to interact with people who fill the feedback form or inquire about the company while visiting it.

Chatbots are the virtual assistant for the company answering user’s questions. Popular companies having virtual assistants include Apple, Amazon, Artificial solutions, Google, IBM, creative virtual, Microsoft, satisfy, and many more.

3. Natural Language Technology

If you are looking to develop an app for customer service, natural language technology is the apt AI technology to integrate. Apps for creating reports and market reviews need this AI technology into their mobile apps

4. Machine Learning

It is one of the most popular AI technologies integrated into the majority of the apps. For corporate, having an app with machine learning is very important.

The machine learning technology is extremely useful for classification and forecast. So, if your business involves forecasts, having an ML-based app helps a lot.

5. Biometrics

Biometrics is an AI technology that identifies, analyzes, and measures human behavior. It can recognize the physical aspects, structure, shape, and size of the human body.

The biometric AI technology also knows the voice, gesture control, and sensory recognition. Biometrics is mostly used in marketing and research.

6. Emotion Recognition

AI provides another interesting technology that allows reading human emotions from their face. The emotion recognition tech uses advanced image processing or audio data for emotion recognition. This allows capturing human senses with voice intonation and subtle speech signals. This technology is extremely popular among startups.

7. Image Recognition

Image recognition is a great addition to mobile app development. Image recognition technology depends on the process of detecting any object in a digital image or a video. This technology also identifies license plates, analyzes clients to check users by their face, and diagnoses diseases.

8. Text Recognition

This is also called natural language processing which allows the user to find all the relevant information you need in the news, search engines, and structure solid texts. At present this technology applies in the fraud detection system and security.

How to use Artificial Intelligence in the mobile app?

You need to decide the AI technology or feature you want in your application. Here are some of the ways you can integrate AI in a mobile app.

  • Optimize the searching process of the mobile application.
  • Integrate audio or video recognition in the app.
  • For learning behavior patterns of the app users.
  • Create an intelligent and friendly digital assistant.

Wrapping Up

Artificial intelligence has paved its way in app development. It is not going anywhere anytime soon. So, if you are going to develop a new app, you better equip it with artificial intelligence.

It is the best way to get new users and keep the existing users engaged. It tracks user behavior and entails them with a personalized experience.

Source : Pratik Kanada / 13 Sep 2020 / AI / Apps  READWRITE


Tuesday 8 June 2021

Apoorva Mehta at Startup School NY 2014 (The Beer Talk)


The Plan

I knew that if the Y-Combinator partners experienced my product first hand, they’d have to let me join. So I hatched a plan to get in touch with them. I pinged every YC alumni in my network looking for introductions to the YC partners for a meeting.

Within 24 hours I had several introductions to YC partners and things were looking pretty good. All I had to do now was wait for at least one of them to be interested enough to meet with me.

Then the responses started to arrive. One by one, each of Y-Combinator’s partners told me the same thing. “No way.” It was too late to enter the current batch, and I would have to apply again in the next batch.

In the final rejection email from Garry Tan, one of the YC partners, I found a glimmer of hope. “You could submit a late application, but it will be nearly impossible to get you in now.”

That meant it was possible!

I put together an application, and made a video describing my product. I waited for a response, and several days later I got one: another “No.”

The Hack

As I thought about this final rejection, I realized that so far, no one had seen my product in action. Did they even know what I was doing, and why it was different? I was determined to make one last effort to convince YC that I was worthy.

I opened my app and placed an order for one six pack of beer. I addressed it to Garry Tan at Y-Combinator’s headquarters. John, one of my drivers, handled the order and sent me a text letting me know when he was done.

Half an hour later I got a call from Garry. “What is this?” Garry asked. “This is Instacart!” I exclaimed. Garry asked me to come to Y-Combinator the next day to explain my company in more detail. I was so excited, I barely slept that night.

The Meeting

The next day, I arrived at the meeting location. I faced four YC partners and a barrage of questions about how my business worked and why it would succeed. We talked for almost an hour, but it felt like just a few minutes. I answered questions non-stop.

When our chat was over, I was asked to leave, and told that if they chose to fund me, I’d receive a call. This is standard practice for Y-Combinator, but at the time it felt cold, like there was no chance I would be accepted. It felt like the string of “no’s” would only continue.

Ten minutes passed. My phone rang. “Hello, this is Harj from Y-Combinator. I can’t believe we’re doing this. We haven’t let anyone in this late. Ever. But if you’re interested, we would love to have you. Call me back.”

Wow! I had done it! I reflected for a few minutes, and then called Harj back. Of course I would accept.

Fast Forward

It’s now two months later, and demo day is fast approaching. Thanks to YC, I’m working with the most impressive entrepreneurs and investors in Silicon Valley.

I learned a lot during Y-Combinator, but most importantly I learned that I’ll never take “No” for an answer again........

Today ...