How to Create an App for the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things apps enable users to take remote control of their homes, vehicles, and numerous other devices. These applications are incredibly useful in daily life. They bring different technologies together to connect many pieces of hardware and enhance overall user experience. Since IoT apps are complex and require significant cross-platform compatibility, the best option is to find an experienced company, such as LITSLINK, to develop them.

Learning the basics of how IoT applications are built, however, can help you gain a clearer understanding of how your app should function and how to communicate with your future development team. Below are several aspects that you should consider before starting the development of your IoT application.

 

Consider the Platforms

Your chosen platform for an IoT application must be able to connect the hardware from different providers. Since all devices rely on different protocols and operating systems, it’s crucial to find a platform that can unify them smoothly and correctly.

Currently, the most popular and reliable platforms for IoT development include:

  • Microsoft Azure IoT Suite. This toolkit includes multiple services and pre-built connected solutions. The platform can be easily integrated with Oracle, Salesforce, and other systems.
  • Thingworx 8 IoT Platform. This platform focuses on providing incredible connectivity across many devices. Thingworx offers integrated machine learning capabilities and good connectivity with sensors and other electronic devices.
  • Google Cloud IoT Platform. This platform enables developers to create scalable IoT applications that can analyze big data and operate huge amounts of information. You can also cut the costs with this platform, since Google Cloud charges per minute of use and handles servers maintenance.
  • IBM Watson. Watson relies on IBM’s PaaS and provides many sample interfaces and application structures to help beginners get started. The platform also offers significant computing and storage capabilities, extensive security, and real-time data exchange.

 

Choose the Hardware

Unless you are planning to produce specialized software for your application, you will need to choose from the available third-party options. Make sure that the devices you choose can support the needs of your app, as well as have the potential to enhance your customers’ experience using the software. It’s also crucial to ensure that the devices function without fault and run together smoothly. Since the purpose of your application is to connect multiple pieces of hardware and allow users to interact with the app across multiple platforms, it’s critical that all devices provide the highest quality of service.

 

Ensure the Optimal Speed

The IoT structure requires you to send and receive increasing amounts of data. When several devices are used to not only share some information but use it to perform certain remote actions, it’s crucial that the process occurs without lagging. Performance and speed are the key factors that will persuade your customers to stick with your system. Therefore, it’s worth investing resources into optimizing the app dynamically and ensuring that the users have a high-speed connection at all times.

 

Take Care of the App’s Security

An IoT application operates on a large number of devices, all of which are connected to the same network. All of these pieces of hardware need access to large amounts of sensitive and important data to ensure the proper functioning of the whole structure. This makes IoT apps particularly vulnerable in terms of information infringement. The issue of security in IoT applications is also paramount because this software frequently grants users the ability to control their cars, healthcare devices, and instruments in their homes remotely. Therefore, successful attacks on such application can lead to dramatic consequences.

When developing your application, consider the following to ensure the app’s security:

  • The reliability of the platform. The platform where your application runs is responsible for a great portion of the app’s security features and capabilities. Use platforms that have been tested by many users and that are regularly updated.
  • The security of your networks. Make sure that all the data shared among the devices is transmitted via secured networks. Conduct timely maintenance and upgrade the security of the networks as needed.
  • The security of the actual application. Currently, numerous features beyond the simple password protection exist to help you keep the data and your customers safe. For better protection, your application can utilize application security threat modeling, two-factor authentication, data obfuscation, and encryption.
  • The reliability of the hardware. Some attacks are conducted physically rather than remotely. When deciding on the hardware for your application, consider how easily the data storage may be compromised. Also, consider the security features offered by your hardware providers and discuss them with a security professional if needed.

 

Scale Your App

It’s always a good idea to think ahead and assess how you may wish to extend the app’s functionality in the future. Scalability is a huge factor that determines whether users will use the application over a prolonged period of time, favoring it over the emerging apps with similar functionality. Generally, the best solution for making the application scalable is to move it to the cloud, since this approach greatly reduces the limits on data storage and computing power.

    Beautiful Newsletter Templates

    Professional newsletter templates that are fully responsive for desktop, tablet, and mobile. They are 100% cross-client compatible.

    See Them
    Comments

    No comments yet

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Want More Content Like This?

    Want More Content Like This?

    Join our newsletter to get more content like this via email!

    You'll receive a free, monthly email with a summary of very useful articles. No spam, just great content!

    You have Successfully Subscribed!

    Pin It on Pinterest