 Learn what MVP development services are, how they differ from full-cycle product development, their key stages, and benefits for startups

What are MVP development services: The Ultimate Guide

Most businesses today need a digital product, whether for operations or profit. However, fully developed IT solutions can be costly, posing a major challenge for many, especially startups. For example, analysts at Business estimate that the mvp development cost of an average digital product can range from $60,000 to $150,000, and for more complex systems, the price can go over $200,000. Such costs can be expecially painful for startups which are limited on their resources and are not sure their idea will work out.
 A major challenge for startups is figuring out if their idea actually solves a real problem for users. If this isn’t tested early, it can lead to wasting time and money on a complete product that might not be needed. How they can check their idea with minimum costs involved? That’s where MVP development comes in handy. An MVP helps startups launch faster, cheaper and with minimum resources involved. Let’s find out how

An MVP is often a perfect solution for new businesses that enter the tech world. It’s a cheap way to launch your ideas, get people to use it, and gather valuable feedback. Basically, an MVP is a raw version of a product which includes the set of most essential features your users need to get the idea of the product. Main task of an MVP to show your idea to users &amp; get their feedback on, firstly, whether they need it at all and, secondly, what to change to make it better. This helps businesses test their ideas, avoid wasting money, and focus on what matters most. Some well-known examples of MVPs are&nbsp;Spotify, which started with just music streaming, and Uber, which focused on online ride orders. These products started with only basic features, allowing them to enter the market quickly and make improvements based on what users wanted.MAIN ASPECTS OF AN MVP For an MVP to work, it should:<ol><li> Attract users – give people enough value to make them want to try it.</li><li>Keep users – offer real benefits that make them stay.</li></ol><ul><li>Collect feedback – help get useful information to improve future versions.</li></ul>MVPs are part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_startup">lean startup method</a>, which is about building, testing, and improving products. This approach helps businesses create products step-by-step, using real feedback from users to guide the changes. It makes sure that time and money are spent on features people actually want, avoiding unnecessary work. For example, launching an MVP lets companies see important numbers like how much money they are making or how many people are using the product. This feedback helps improve the product without wasting time on features no one cares about. So, an MVP isn’t just a simple product; it’s a smart way to start and grow. Whether it’s a big idea like Uber or a smaller app, starting with an MVP creates a solid foundation for success.

Quick review of MVP Development Services

When deciding whether to go for an MVP or full-cycle development, it's important to understand what each option offers. An MVP helps you test your idea with just the basic features to get quick, affordable feedback from users. Full-cycle development, on the other hand, aims to build a full-fledged product right from the start. The choice between the two depends on your goals, budget, and timeline. Knowing when to choose one over the other can play a big role in the success of your project. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits and differences between these two approaches. Why many businesses start with an MVP:<ul><li>Testing the idea allows to check whether it works without spending too much money.</li><li>Early feedback from real users provides valuable insights for improving the product. - Saving time and money becomes possible by avoiding unnecessary features in the initial stages. - Attracting investors and customers is easier when the product's potential is showcased without needing a fully developed version. - Refining the product becomes more efficient when changes are made based on user feedback with minimal effort. An MVP also gives businesses the flexibility to change their idea or even abandon it if needed, which helps avoid spending unnecessary costs. While an MVP is a great starting point, full-cycle development (FCD) is a good choice if you have already validated your idea and want to build a complete product. FCD helps show the full potential of your product/ Here are the main benefits of full-cycle development: -&nbsp;Consistency comes from building all features at the same time, making the product feel smooth and complete. - Long-term vision focuses on making the product ready for growth and updates in the future. -&nbsp;Stability improves when there’s more time and resources to make sure the product works well. - Quality assurance means thorough testing to catch problems early and give users a great experience from the start. -&nbsp;Streamlined processes happen when one team manages the project, avoiding confusion and keeping things organized. Below is a comparison between Full Cycle Development and Minimum Viable Product approaches, highlighting their key differences:</li></ul><table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 736px; margin-left: 10.6409%; height: 248px;"><tbody>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%; background-color: rgb(243, 243, 243);">Full Cycle Development </td>
	<td style="width: 50%; background-color: rgb(243, 243, 243);">Minimum Viable Product </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Includes all features </td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Focuses on core features only </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Continuous feedback during the process </td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Early feedback gathered quickly </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Slower and detailed development </td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Fast and efficient development </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Stable but late release </td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Early release to market </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Requires a higher investment </td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Requires less investment </td></tr></tbody></table>What’s right for you? Choosing between an MVP and full-cycle development depends on your goals and resources. Both approaches have their strengths, so understanding their differences will help you make the best choice.

MVP vs. Full-Cycle Development: What To Choose? 

When developing a new product or solution, it's essential to understand the different stages of development: MVP, PoC (Proof of Concept), and Prototype. Each of these terms refers to a different approach to testing and validating an idea, and each plays a crucial role in the product development process. While they all aim to assess feasibility and gather feedback, they differ in their purpose, scope, and the stage of development at which they are used. Understanding these differences is key to making the right decision for your project and moving forward with the most effective strategy: PROTOTYPE A prototype is a simple model of what the product might look like and how it might work. It’s often just a design and helps find and fix problems early without spending much money. Startups use prototypes to visualize and pitch their ideas. Prototypes are not real products, they are designs that illustrate how the future product might work. Instead, it is mainly used to show the team or investors what the product might become. POC (PROOF OF CONCEPT) A PoC is used to check if an idea can work in real life. It helps the team figure out if the product is technically possible and worth the effort. While a PoC is quick to create, it isn’t for customers either. It’s mostly for internal use or to convince investors that the idea is solid. MVP As we’ve already discussed, an MVP is a product that includes only the most essential features to address a core problem or provide value. Startups typically develop MVPs after completing prototypes and PoCs, once they’ve validated that the idea works. Here’s the table with key comparisons:<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 97.1998%; margin-left: 1.36901%;"><tbody>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 20.0308%; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">Considerations </td>
	<td style="width: 29.8921%; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">MVP (Minimum Viable Product) </td>
	<td style="width: 25%; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">PoC (Proof of Concept) </td>
	<td style="width: 25%; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">Prototype </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">Key Differences </td>
	<td>MVPs are real products that customers can use. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">PoCs help you decide if the product can be built. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">Prototypes help you imagine the product’s look and feel. </td></tr><tr>
	<td style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">Development Time </td>
	<td>MVPs take longer, about 3–5 months, and need a bigger team (4–11 people). </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">PoCs usually take 1–2 months to make. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">To understand how the product might look and function. </td></tr>

<tr>
	<td style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">What’s the purpose? </td>
	<td>To figure out what features are most valuable and what the product should focus on. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">To see if the idea can work. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">To understand how the product might look and function. </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">Does it attract customers? </td>
	<td>Yes, if done well, customers can use it from the start. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">Not meant for customers. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">Not for customers; used for internal review. </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">Main benefits? </td>
	<td>Makes money from day one and helps understand the market. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">Helps secure funding and check if the idea is technically possible. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">Shows the look and feel of the product. </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">Who uses it? </td>
	<td>Customers can use it, and feedback is gathered from them. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">Mostly used by the team or shared with investors. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">Mainly used internally for review. </td></tr><tr>
	<td style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">Is it functional for customers? </td>
	<td>Yes, it’s a fully working product with key features. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">No, it’s just a concept. </td>
	<td style="width: 25%;">No, it’s just a visualization. </td></tr></tbody></table>In short, MVP, PoC, and Prototype are key parts of product development, but each has its own role and cover different needs: PoC checks if the idea is technically possible, Prototype tests the design and functionality, and MVP proves the product’s value to users and the market.

MVP vs. PoC vs. Prototype: What’s the Difference?

To create an MVP, it’s important to follow a simple, step-by-step approach.STEP 1: DEFINE THE PROBLEM Start by clearly defining the problem your product will solve. It should address a specific problem that people care about. Understand your target audience, what they need, and how your product can meet those needs. To gather this information, conduct research: analyze the market, talk to potential customers, hold focus groups, or use social media to gather feedback. This research will help ensure you’re not building a product no one wants. STEP 2: STUDY THE COMPETITION Next, study the competition. Look at what similar and different products are available in the market. Understand how your product will stand out and whether there is a real demand for it. This helps shape your product’s value proposition and ensures there are enough potential customers willing to pay for it. STEP 3: DEFINE CORE FEATURES Once you understand the market and competition, focus on the essential features your product needs. Identify the core elements that are necessary to solve the problem for your users. For example, for an online store’s MVP, focus on the basic steps like creating an account and completing a purchase. Other features can be added later. STEP 4: CREATE A PROTOTYPE The next step is to create a prototype. This doesn’t need to be a fully functioning product but a simple, interactive visualization to show how the product will work. A prototype helps visualize the user experience and gather feedback from potential users. It also helps with early marketing efforts, allowing you to test the concept before fully committing to development. STEP 5: BUILD THE MVP When you’re ready to build your MVP, you have two options: - Low-code/No-code Development. These tools allow you to build a product quickly and at a lower cost with minimal technical knowledge. They are great for creating basic versions of the product, butcan offer limitations for design and technical realization. - Custom Development. This option involves hiring a developer or working with an bespoke MVP development company. It can offer more control and flexibility over the product’s features. Be cautious when hiring freelancers, and make sure you assess their skills and reliability. STEP 6: COLLECT FEEDBACK AND IMPROVE After building your MVP, launch it to the market and gather feedback from users. Set up simple ways for them to share their thoughts, like surveys, feedback buttons, or direct emails. Analyze the feedback and use it to make improvements. Tracking how users interact with your MVP through analytics will also provide valuable insights into how to refine the product. Building an MVP is a crucial step in testing the potential of your idea. It allows you to avoid investing too much in a product that might not work and gives you the chance to refine it based on real user feedback.

Stages of MVP development

People often use mvp software development services differently than its founders expect. Take Instagram, for example—it started as a check-in app for locations before evolving into the social media giant it is today. Here are some great examples of how an MVP can help in specific industries: 1. SAAS (PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL) SaaS tools are shaped by user feedback. Without early testers, it’s hard to know what features matter most. For example, an MVP might include basic task management, deadlines, and goal tracking. After testing, the company learns users also need time tracking, budgets, and built-in communication tools. 2. E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS E-commerce platforms are complex and rely on smooth user experiences. Starting with essential features proves the technology works and identifies potential issues early. For instance, integrating payment tools like Shopify in the MVP helps test APIs and ensures key functions are reliable. 3. GAMING Games often take years to develop, with advanced graphics and detailed storylines. An MVP with basic gameplay mechanics lets developers test their idea and see if players are excited about the concept before fully committing to the final product. 4. LEGAL RESEARCH TOOL By developing complex tools, founders can waste time on features users don’t need. An MVP might launch with a simple database of legal cases and statutes. Testing will reveal whether the tool is valuable and easy to use, helping shape further development. In every case, an MVP helps developers learn early, improve quickly, and save time and resources.

Why do we need an MVP?

When building MVP, it's important to focus on creating a basic version of your product that addresses the core needs of your users. Many successful companies started with a simple MVP that allowed them to test their ideas, gather feedback, and refine their products. Below are some well-known examples of companies that began with MVPs and grew into successful, complex platforms. These examples highlight the importance of starting small and iterating based on user feedback: - Uber: Launched with a simple app to find drivers, estimate fares, and pay with a credit card, offering a quick, affordable taxi service. - Dropbox: Initially, Dropbox’s MVP was a 3-minute video demonstrating the software’s simple, seamless file-sharing capabilities. This convinced investors that it was a necessary product. - Airbnb: The founders tested the MVP by renting out an air mattress in their apartment during a local conference. This minimal approach led to the creation of a multi-billion-dollar platform. -&nbsp;Facebook: The MVP was a directory for Harvard students. It expanded to other universities and eventually became a global social network. -&nbsp;eBay: Started as an online marketplace experiment in 1995. As maintenance costs grew, eBay introduced transaction fees, and the platform quickly gained popularity. -&nbsp;Google: The MVP focused on search results based on backlinks, offering more relevant search results and laying the foundation for its search engine business. -&nbsp;Instagram: Originally a check-in app called Burbn, the MVP showed users loved photo-sharing, leading to the creation of Instagram. -&nbsp;Spotify: Initially, Spotify was a simple music streaming service with copyright-restricted content. Over time, it expanded to include playlists, podcasts, and other features.

Famous MVP Development Company

Creating an MVP can be a great way to enter the market with a budget-friendly product, but not without the challenges. Here are the most common issues businesses face and how to deal with them. KEY CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS 1. Skipping the Discovery Phase The discovery phase helps you understand your goals and users' needs. Skipping this step can lead to building features users don’t care about or missing the ones they really need. Solution: - Take the time to research and define your product’s purpose and target audience. - Focus on core features that solve real problems. 2. Weak Market Research Without proper research, you may end up creating a product that’s too similar to competitors or fails to meet user expectations. Solution: - Study your industry and competitors. - Ensure your idea stands out or offers something better. 3. Lack of Proper Planning Rushing into development without a solid plan can lead to poor execution and missed opportunities. Solution: - Map out your long-term goals. - Consider partnerships, user acquisition strategies, and monetization plans before development starts. 4. Poor Product Idea A good MVP is not just about what *you* want to build but about solving a problem that users care about. Solution: - Validate your idea with user feedback. - Analyze industry trends and potential demand. 5. Insufficient Testing Releasing an MVP with bugs or performance issues can hurt your reputation before you even get started. Solution: - Test throughout the development process. - Fix critical bugs before launch. 6. Choosing the Wrong Development Team Working with inexperienced developers or choosing the cheapest option can result in delays, bugs, or a product that’s hard to scale. Solution: - Hire a reliable team with experience in MVP development. - Look for providers who understand your needs and can support your product after launch. 7. Neglecting Maintenance An MVP launch isn’t the finish line — it’s just the beginning. Without ongoing updates and fixes, your app can quickly become outdated. Solution: - Plan for regular updates, bug fixes, and feature improvements. - Actively gather user feedback and make adjustments. 8. Poor Monetization Strategy If your pricing or monetization doesn’t match the value users perceive, your product won’t succeed. Solution: - Offer free trials or discounts to attract early users. - Avoid bombarding users with ads, especially during the early stages. An MVP is a smart way to test your idea and enter the market with less risk. However, it requires proper planning, research, and ongoing support to succeed.

Common Challenges in MVP Development and How to Overcome Them

MVPs can be grouped into two main categories:&nbsp;Low-Fidelity and High-Fidelity. Each serves different purposes depending on your stage of development and available resources. Low-fidelity MVPs are quick, cost-effective, and easy to create. They’re typically simple prototypes, such as sketches, wireframes, or basic models, aimed at testing core features and gathering feedback. They’re great for: - Understanding your audience's problems. - Checking if your solution is valuable to users. - Exploring whether the issue is worth solving. - Brainstorming effective solutions for your audience. High-fidelity MVPs are closer to the final product in terms of design and functionality. They’re more complex, take longer to build, and are more expensive. These MVPs help: - Test pricing strategies and customer willingness to pay. - Find early adopters to promote your product. - Optimize your marketing approach, including messaging and channels. - Identify the best growth strategies. How to Choose Between Them? The choice between low- or high-fidelity depends on several factors: - What’s your biggest risk, and how can you test it quickly? - How long do you have to build the MVP and get feedback? - What can you afford? Focus on learning, not perfection. Low-fidelity MVPs are ideal for quick, initial testing, while high-fidelity MVPs provide more detailed insights. Start small, gather feedback, and iterate until your product aligns with user needs and expectations.

Types of MVP

An MVP, is an effective strategy for testing business ideas with minimal risk. It allows startups to launch quickly, save resources, and gather user feedback to improve the product. By focusing on the essential features, MVPs help businesses validate their ideas, avoid costly mistakes, and attract potential investors. Although building an MVP comes with its challenges, a well-thought-out approach can lay the groundwork for long-term success. Whether build MVP or not depends on your goals and objectives, but it’s a crucial step in the product development process that can significantly impact the future of your business.

Wrap up

With a mission to lead our partners to digital brilliance, we can’t help but feel exhilaration whenever we receive a brand new review on Clutch.

Faster Than Light Earns 5-Star Review for Ongoing Development

The development of your site’s frontend has a significant impact on your product’s performance. Of course, people with extensive experience in development know that the backend is as important. But for many users, the frontend is what dictates their impression of the program.
In 2021, there are&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/geekculture/top-front-end-development-trends-you-should-follow-in-2021-64d7129fc066">different techniques and technologies</a> that developers utilize to innovate their frontend development. But if you’re looking to substantially improve your project, having a dedicated team of developers is an advantageous option. Here at Faster Than Light, we’ll help you turn your concepts into an outstanding digital product. As an extension of your team, our design and development geniuses will provide you with one-of-a-kind solutions to your project.
&nbsp; 
With a mission to lead our partners to digital brilliance, we can’t help but feel exhilaration whenever we receive a brand new review on Clutch. Here’s the latest addition to our collection of feedback: <img src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBa2NDIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--e8922e2385eb70128364c80666f4507db478c6f7/Screenshot%202021-08-10%20at%2011.02.20.png" alt="" width="850" height="458" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"> 
To explain, Clutch is an established platform in the heart of Washington, DC, committed to helping small, mid-market, and enterprise businesses identify and connect with the service providers they need to achieve their goals. Their team of analysts interview service providers’ clients to collect client feedback, analyze industry data, and compare competitors in a specific market to arm businesses with the information they need to connect with the right service providers. The platform is invested in publishing in-depth client reviews, data-driven content, and vetted market leaders that businesses can access for free.
&nbsp; 
Like Clutch, The Manifest, its sister platform, is another effective resource for businesses when looking to hire the <a href="https://themanifest.com/ua/software-development/companies/kiev?page=1#fasterthanlight">best companies</a> in an industry or location. We’re proud to be on The Manifest’s list of Top 100 Software Development Companies in Kyiv.
&nbsp; 
In their interview with Clutch, our partner, Papaya Inc. described the hiring process and the solutions they need from us in our ongoing engagement.
&nbsp; 
<blockquote>“We’re building a plant-based restaurant platform... Faster Than Light assists us with full-stack software development, but mainly in frontend development. We are working together on two websites.”
— Edoe Cohen, CEO, Papaya, Inc.</blockquote>

&nbsp; 
While the project is still underway, we’re honored to be recognized by the client for the quality of our work thus far.
&nbsp; 
<blockquote>“I feel that I have their attention and that I’m in good hands.”</blockquote>
&nbsp; 
To learn more about our work, feel free to <a href="https://clutch.co/profile/faster-than-light?sort_by=date_DESC&amp;project_cost=&amp;service_provided=&amp;review_type=">visit us on Clutch</a>.
 Or find out how we can help you realize your development vision by <a href="https://www.fasterthanlight.me/book-denis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">connecting with our CEO</a>.

Read a detailed comparison of Flutter vs Native Development, their unique features, pros, and cons to choose what suits your business goals most. 

Flutter vs Native Development: Step-by-step Comparison

Today, when it comes to mobile development, you have many choices. There are various programming languages and frameworks to pick from. This often leads to debates about which option is best for creating digital mobile products. The main question is whether to use cross-platform frameworks or stick with native methods while creating a mobile app. The answer is simple – both options work just fine. However, the feasibility of using native technologies is primarily determined by how many resources project owners are willing to invest in the digital product and what requirements, specifics, and needs for IT solutions are set. So, let's compare the two most popular mobile development approaches, Flutter vs Native, and figure out which one is the better choice for you.

Flutter is an open-source framework created for cross-platform software development that allows building beautiful, natively compiled, multi-platform applications from a single codebase. The framework is based on the Dart language and created and supported by Google.
Among Flutter's strengths are its native performance, modularity, and fast development speed, making it a trusted choice among developers worldwide.&nbsp;
While we are focusing mainly on Flutter in this article, it's crucial to remember that there are other cross-platform frameworks widely used by developers. These Flutter alternatives include .NET MAUI (Xamarin), React Native, and Ionic. They definitely have their own pros and cons, which are defined by the specifics, goals, and requirements set.
Yet, in this article, we decided to focus on Flutter as it's a much more popular framework than its cross-platform alternatives today. Thus, over 1M apps were created with Flutter, while around 46% of developers in 2022 used Flutter to create cross-platform applications, giving it a lead of nearly 14% over its closest competitor.

Flutter Development: Overview

Native development has a somewhat different approach than cross-platform frameworks. It involves using specific and separate SDKs and programming languages like Kotlin and Java for Android or Swift and Objective-C for iOS. Essentially, you need to create two separate mobile applications for Android and iOS, which can be somewhat more expensive and time-consuming.
The main advantage of native development is its high performance and the ability to fully utilize the platform's features. However, the downside is the complexity of porting the app to another platform due to differences in commands.

About Native App Development

So, let's look more precisely at how Flutter and Native Development are different and which one to choose for your project. For this, we will also look at the frameworks and their programming languages – Dart, Swift, Kotlin – to compare them from as many aspects as possible.

Let's compare: Flutter and Native Development

When it comes to native development, no framework can match their application productivity on devices. Kotlin-based apps will perform better on Android, while apps created with SwiftUI will have maximum speed on iOS. On the other hand, Flutter uses a rendering mechanism to interpret code during runtime on devices, somewhat reducing their productivity. Nevertheless, the framework is actively improving and narrowing the gap between itself and native technologies. For example, developers are already planning to revamp support for multiple Flutter views in 2024, with a focus particularly on iOS and Android, as well as to introduce compatibility with modern AI frameworks.

1. Performance

Regarding development speed, native frameworks and programming languages significantly lag behind Flutter. More precisely, during native development, it is necessary to create two separate iterations of programs for Android and iOS, either by allocating a budget to hire two teams or spending time on sequential implementation.
In contrast, Flutter has a single codebase, as well as a hot reload feature (displaying changes without fully reloading the application) and a widget library for quickly creating and customizing UI. All of this accelerates both app development directly and their adaptation to different systems.

2. Speed

Flutter has an active community and comprehensive documentation that can help solve basic and fairly complex issues.&nbsp; Right now, Flutter also <a href="https://flutter.dev/ecosystem">boasts</a>:&nbsp;<ul><li>155k Stars on GitHub</li><li>3rd most OSS GitHub contributors</li><li>240k Followers on Twitter</li><li>175k Members on Meetup Unlike native frameworks, where the community is less communicative and loyal, and the documentation is usually too complex to quickly search for necessary information. Regarding features, Flutter is also ahead, as it offers capabilities such as a layout editor, hot reload, and a widget library. Thus, Flutter offers over 20,000 packages, plugins, and integrations for custom UI components, authentication solutions, state management libraries.</li></ul>

3. Features & Documentation

As we've already mentioned Flutter turns out to be one of most popular cross-platform solutions. For example, search queries with the framework name Flutter were at least twice as high as Kotlin queries and nearly four times as high as SwiftUI queries in 2023, according to <a href="https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=Flutter,Kotlin,SwiftUI">Google Trends</a>. Additionally, Flutter has a significant presence on GitHub (where both professional developers and enthusiasts gather), with nearly<a href="https://github.com/search?q=flutter&amp;type=Repositories"> 650,000 repositories</a>.
Major companies like Alibaba, BMW, eBay, Square, Groupon, and CapitalOne trust and use Flutter. This indicates the popularity of the framework and the trust in it by corporations.
As for the native development, this method is mostly used by the developers of the Android (Google) and iOS (Apple) platforms, so the most interesting examples of applications can be seen in stock solutions. Regarding third-party applications, they are most often developed using cross-platform frameworks because it is easier than building separate versions of mobile apps.

4. Usage & Popularity

The best thing about Flutter is that it has a single codebase, which significantly simplifies and speeds up the application maintenance process. Unlike native technologies that require changes to be made in each app version, in Flutter, you can simply edit the code, add new features or integrations, and save the changes immediately for all iterations of the application.
Moreover, the hot reload feature will also reflect the changes made in real-time. It is convenient, efficient, and innovative.
With native frameworks, it's necessary to separately maintain each mobile application version. This increases support costs and is less efficient than cross-platform technologies with a single codebase.

5. Code maintenance

As we've already mentioned Flutter has a powerful widget library and composition tools for rapid prototyping and customization of the app's interface.&nbsp;
As for native development, a separate design is implemented for each version of the mobile app. Additionally, stock SDKs do not have built-in generative functions. This somewhat increases the time it takes to create interface elements and effectively prevents compatibility (reducing the UX for the audience transitioning between systems) between apps for different platforms.

6. UI components

Speaking of testing and integrations, it's worth noting that when developers create apps using native SDKs, they usually need to use additional tools like Selenium, JMeter, and Postman for testing. However, Flutter comes with its own set of tools for testing and integration, such as Flutter driver for automated testing and Flutter CI for continuous integration and deployment.

7. Testing & Integration

On average, the cost of development with Flutter is lower than that with native frameworks. Since it has a single codebase and interprets commands directly during the application's operation in the system, fewer resources might be used for its development. That is, less time, effort, and specialists are required.
For native development, a larger team (sometimes meaning more time) is required, along with quite specific skills. Also, additional resources are required to support and modernize apps, which is not always a cost-effective solution.

8. Cost of development

Let's look at Flutter through the prism of a real application and for this let's take the <a href="https://flutter.dev/showcase/nubank">case of Nubank.</a> The goal of the Nubank team was to identify optimal frameworks for migrating the application to cross-platform solutions instead of using native technologies. Theoretically, this was supposed to reduce deployment time and lower maintenance costs. In practice, they achieved the desired result simply by comparing the potential of Kotlin Native, React Native, and Flutter. Switching to Flutter led to a 30% improvement in success metrics and a 600% faster deployment of new mobile app iterations.
And how about creating and releasing a life insurance feature in just three months? Such mobility is exactly what the Nubank team has been able to achieve after switching to Flutter.

Flutter vs Native: Nubank case

Given Flutter's rapid development, expanding capabilities, and narrowing gap with native technologies, it could potentially replace Kotlin and SwiftUI in the future. While it's not yet as productive as native solutions, even iOS and Android developers are enhancing their platforms for better technology compatibility.
In the next five years, the industry will see significant changes due to AI integration, like Copilot, transforming development processes. This might positively impact Flutter, making it the go-to solution for app development.

Could Flutter Eventually Replace Native Development?

We can state that Flutter is not yet a cure for all business needs but is on the right path. You can use its potential to present your digital product quickly and vividly to a broad audience, regardless of the devices they use.
Flutter offers an affordable way to enter the market, ensuring almost native performance and a high level of UX.
However, native development still maintains its market share, as it is indispensable when it is necessary to implement a high-performance mobile app with maximum compatibility between the application code and the OS functionality. So, if you want to launch your product,&nbsp;<a href="https://fasterthanlight.me/contact-us">consult with FTL experts</a>. We will guide you on where to start, what to focus on, and how to develop a digital solution.

Read a detailed overview of how tax changes in Section 174 lead to US tech layoffs, what to expect in 2024, and why outsourcing a software vendor is a solution.

What to Expect from Section 174: More US Tech Layoffs Coming, Abroad Software Vendors are Back in Game

2023 tax bills came as a shock for many US tech startups – the numbers appeared to be too unexpectedly high, for some businesses even not affordable. As frustration about new tax changes is growing, the US business community believe that these changes might make the country a much less competitive place to start a tech startup and bring an end to most of the bootstrapped companies.
So, let’s have a look at what all the fuss is about and what businesses can do right now.

Behind all these frustrations are the changes (which, spoiler alert, should have never been passed) to Section 174 of the US tax law. They kicked out few years ago and changed one crucial thing for US businesses –&nbsp;from now on, all R&amp;D costs including labor for software development cannot be expensed, but need to be capitalized and amortized over 5 years. In case, you have engineers from other countries on your team –&nbsp;amortization of software development costs from abroad should performed over 15 years.&nbsp; &nbsp;
Simply saying, now US tech startups will have to pay taxes on every software engineer hired. It becomes even worse when we look at actual numbers and examples.
So, let’s discuss the example provided by <a href="https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-pulse-75">Pragmatic Enginee</a><a href="https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-pulse-75">r</a>:
<img src="https://d1i9nl5qr197dz.cloudfront.net/production/posts/attachments/Niq5pg/Infographics for article section174.jpg" width="944" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" height="434">
Let’s imagine, there is a Company A that gets $1,000,000 of revenue which is fully spent to pay salaries to its software engineers. In 2021, it meant that Company A didn’t get any profit, so they needn't pay any taxes in 2022.&nbsp;
The changes to Section 174 interpret the situation differently. In 2022, if you’re a company A which spends all its revenue, let’s take the same $1,000,000, on software engineering labor, it would mean that your profit equals $1,000,000.
As the new tax changes deduct only 10% of the profit, it means that Company A now needs to pay taxes on its $900,000 profit, which is $189,000 to be paid in 2023. So, the fictional Company A which has no actual profit has to pay $189,000 of taxes from the costs it doesn’t have.&nbsp;&nbsp;
There are just few options left for companies like ours:&nbsp;
<ul><li>
Take a loan to pay taxes (which is crazy, because you have to return it somehow with obviously high interest rates).
</li><li>

Fire the engineering staff to cut on research and development costs, as well as the taxes calculated and issued.&nbsp;
</li></ul>

Evidently, the massive tech layoffs are not such a big surprise, after all.&nbsp;
Do you see the problem now?

Let’s get detailed: how the new tax policy is threatening US tech scene

As the new tax bills started to come only in spring 2023, businesses had been silent till that time. But now the reality has already struck, and tech startups are fearing even bigger damages from the 2024 tax round.&nbsp;
US businesses from the smallest ones to the biggest corporations all around the country are commenting on their losses and future tech layoffs. Here are only some of the cases described by <a href="https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/the-pulse-75">Pragmatic Engineer</a>:&nbsp;&nbsp;
<ul><li>


A business <a href="https://x.com/nanonichole/status/1735286724413038616?s=20">posted</a> a $90K loss in 2022 by the old rules, but is taxed on a $1M profit.
</li><li>Infra startup Gruntwork is <a href="https://x.com/OhMyGoshJosh/status/1735115351795568861?s=20">hiring software developers less</a> in 2024 because of the change.
</li><li>A startup that raised $1.25M and hired five employees, is <a href="https://x.com/spcomstock/status/1635722639099527171?s=20">likely to face a $150,000 tax bill</a> it did not account for.
</li><li>

A seed-stage startup that raised $3M and was operating at a loss became profitable due to the S174 change, so must budget for higher taxes.


Another US company let go of 23 engineers employed in India because of the tax change. </li></ul>Software engineers abroad can be amortized only over 15 years.



The changes did not affect only small startups, as big and well-known tech ‘whales’ also suffered from the new taxation in 2023. Thus, Microsoft paid almost extra $5 Billion of taxes in 2023, while Netflix faced additional $368 Million in taxes. Yet, these huge tax bills are still manageable for the tech giants, although certainly painful.

How it already affected tech businesses in 2023

Let’s start from the very beginning – when and why the changes were introduced, first of all. It all tracks down to the 2017 Tax Cuts &amp; Jobs act signed by then-president Donald Trump. As the act itself reduced tax, it also caused a reconciliation process. Simply saying, the need to introduce changes that delayed tax increases in order to balance back the reduction.&nbsp;
Among these changes were IRC Section 174, which claimed that software development costs need to be amortized over 5 years (for engineers hired abroad - over 15 years) and became effective 5 years later - starting from 2022.&nbsp;
These changes were expected to be reversed by the end of 2022, that’s why most accountants rest assured that new tax legislation would not work and they didn’t prepare their management and businesses for the possible outcomes.&nbsp;
Although Congress worked on three bills which would retroactively revert IRC Sec. 174 to its pre-2022 status, the amendments are still not passed and the new taxes remain intact and might hit businesses even harder up early in 2024.

How come no one talked or prevented the damaging tax changes beforehand?

While the majority of the businesses are staying positive and believe that the government would revert the damaging tax changes, entrepreneurs and tech leaders start to act and raise awareness about the possible damage using all available channels. Some of the tech corporations, including Microsoft, Amazon, Intel and others even created the US R&amp;D coalition to advocate in reversing Section 174.&nbsp;Yet, while paperwork and bureaucracy is to be done, tech companies need to react quickly to stay afloat and find the ways to save their businesses.
So, what are the options for US tech startups? There are actually several ways for businesses to go:&nbsp;<ul><li>


Introduce layoffs to reduce the number of software engineers. It’s a pretty tough, but obvious one, considering that most US companies are already cutting down their engineering staff. Yet, companies still need someone to develop and support their software, let’s not forget about that.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</li><li>

Part with non-US software engineers working with US companies. </li><li>Painful, but also an obvious way to cut down on taxes and 15-year amortization of software development costs.&nbsp;


Increase vendor spend and buy (not build) software. The new taxation put software vendors back in the game, as the purchase of the software does not necessarily fall under Research &amp; Development costs. Here's simple math: let’s take the average salary of a software engineer in the US – according to <a href="https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries">Indeed</a>, it’s somewhat around $120,000 a year. In 2021, businesses needed to pay just the engineer’s salary. After the tax change, companies will now be required to cover over $20,000 of taxes for each software engineer hired. Option with an outsourcing vendor seems much more appealing. With an average engineer salary of $50,000-60,000 per year in, for example, Eastern Europe, businesses don’t need to cover any additional taxes or worry about extra HR expenses, as they do not hire people but buy ready software from them.&nbsp;




</li><li>Move to more business- and tax-friendly environments. Unfortunately for the US economy, moving to the country with less challenging tax policy might be an answer for many businesses.
</li><li>

Look for some ‘workarounds’ and gaps in the legislation. With a team of professionals, businesses probably will be able to find some ways how to cope with the new tax changes and make them less painful for everyone.</li></ul>

So, what is the plan for US tech businesses and startups?

As the year unfolds, there is no time or resources to just wait and watch how Section 174 will or will not be reversed. Owners and CEOs need to prepare their companies and businesses for the new tax challenges and mitigate the risks of their own future.
There is a strong belief that IRC Section 174 will be reverted and US tech companies could continue working and creating awesome things under business-friendly conditions. Yet, it’s essential to be always armed with the information and plan any possible ways out to save your business.
We, as an <a href="https://fasterthanlight.me/">outsourcing partner,</a> would be happy to help you find more business-friendly options for your digital products to grow, aspire, and make people happy all around the world.

More US tech layoffs are coming or why abroad software vendors are a way out for tech startups: nitty-gritty of Section 174

Explore a detailed overview of functionality, tech requirements, and costs needed to develop successful healthcare web applications 

Healthcare Web Application Development: Complete Guide 

The healthcare industry is vast and highly competitive. So, having a high-quality, customized, and user-centric web solution can make all the difference in this intense market.
This article covers the essentials of creating a successful application in the health sector, including the specifics of healthcare app development, <span data-sheets-root="1" data-sheets-value="{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;healthcare website design trends&quot;}" data-sheets-userformat="{&quot;2&quot;:6787,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;4&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:16776960},&quot;10&quot;:2,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:3,&quot;3&quot;:1},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Montserrat&quot;}">healthcare website design trends and forecasts for the industry, and how it’s all implemented into working e-health digital solutions.

Healthcare is becoming more digital improving how people access care and interact with their doctors. This helps people feel less worried about medical issues and enhances relationships between doctors and patients.

A healthcare web application is a software solution designed to facilitate various healthcare-related tasks and services. Some of the widespread health applications people are actively using today are EHR (Electronic Health Records), mHealth Apps, Health Tracking Software, and Hospital Management Software.

These wellness, medical, and healthcare apps are digitizing health processes for providers, patients, and the public. They optimize hospital workflows, reduce administrative difficulties, and prioritize patient care over paperwork. Integration of electronic health records, online appointment booking, or, for example, virtual patient portals on mobile platforms improves efficiency and user-friendliness.

Healthcare web applications also help secure patient data, comply with regulations, and maintain trust. By integrating technologies like AI and machine learning, apps continue to progress and provide healthcare management.

Before delving into the specifics, let's explore some trends of healthcare industry.

What is Healthcare Website Design and Development: Quick Overview

In the healthcare industry, mobile applications are driven by fast progress. Today, there are over 350,000 Health apps available for both Android and iOS. What’s more, the global health app market is projected to reach&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/mhealth-apps-market-102020">$861.40 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.2% from 2023 to 2030</a>.

Let's take a look at the expected growth of the healthcare sector:<table style="border-collapse:collapse;width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Sector</td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Statistic</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Global Healthcare Market</td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Estimated to reach $974.5 billion by 2027.&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Telemedicine Market</td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">$87.41 billion in 2022, expected to $reach 286.22 by 2030.&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Blockchain Healthcare Market</td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Projected to reach $14.25 billion by 2033.&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 50%;">US Healthcare Digital Transformation</td>
	<td style="width: 50%;">Investments in cloud technologies expected to reach $29.15 billion by 2026.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table>


However, developing a successful health app is challenging. Healthcare organizations must stay updated with the latest trends in the app development to ensure their apps are user-friendly and effective. By keeping up with these trends, they can create apps that stand out and significantly impact people's lives.

Outlook of the Healthcare MarketOutlook of the Healthcare Market

Healthcare software solutions can be designed for various goals and audiences – medical professionals, patients, or the general public. The type of application determines the appropriate business model for monetization, the need for a market-driven or professional-based design, and other considerations. Let's explore the major types of healthcare web applications in more detail:

Types of Medical Web Solutions

They help everyday users and patients manage, monitor, control, and track their health conditions. Examples of such apps for patients on Android, iOS, and the web can be:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<ol><li>Reminders: These apps use pop-up notifications to remind users to drink water, exercise, take vitamins, and improve healthy habits and lifestyles.&nbsp;</li><li>Mental Health Apps: This is a growing trend in meditation and self-care applications as more individuals find support for managing stress, trauma, and mental health challenges.</li><li>Diagnosis checkers: Tracking symptoms helps prevent the spread of viruses, infections, or diseases.</li><li> Women's Health Apps: Healthcare mobile app serve as tools to aid women in managing pregnancies, tracking menstrual cycles and ovulation, and keeping notes on symptoms and sexual activity.&nbsp;</li><li>Health Education and Monitoring: These platforms inform about various medical conditions and offer tools to track health changes such as cholesterol levels and blood indicators, to facilitate early diagnosis.</li><li>Nutrition and Wellness Control: Applications provide engaging and interactive support for weight loss, fitness goals, and managing eating disorders.</li></ol>These apps use marketing strategies to promote their services, featuring stylish and appealing designs with social features that allow users to share their results with friends or participate in group activities.

Patient Apps

These platforms designed for healthcare providers feature a simple design for optimizing the workflow of independent specialists or medical facilities. For example:<ol><li>&nbsp;Healthcare Databases: These apps store medical records and patients' health histories, which helps physicians stay informed about health developments and up-to-date with medical information</li><li>Clinical Assistance: Applications serve as robust solutions to streamline workflow by simplifying appointment booking, hospital visit registration, facilitating inter-departmental communication, overall management, and more.&nbsp;</li><li>Patient Monitoring: Cross-platform apps aid clinicians in tracking progress, test results, and monitoring patients' conditions and advancements. </li></ol>

Apps for Medical Facilities

Creating a healthcare web application can initially seem challenging, but by following these seven steps, you can streamline the process and achieve success. Surely, a skilled team of developers who specialize in healthcare web app development will increase your chances to complete each of the steps successfully:

How to Build a Healthcare Software App: Step-by-Step Guide

Initiating healthcare web development requires a thorough analysis of platform goals and identification of key challenges to address. Business analysts will gather requirements, define scope, plan functionality, and estimate costs for the web solution.
Stages in this phase include:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<ul><li>Identifying target audiences such as hospitals, doctors, healthcare organizations, etc. to tailor functionality.</li><li>Conducting user analysis through surveys or focus groups to understand user needs and pain points.</li><li>Performing market and competitor analysis to align with industry trends.</li><li>Planning functionality and creating initial design concepts in collaboration with clients</li><li>Estimating project timelines and budgets based on detailed requirements.
</li></ul>The output is a product roadmap outlining market research findings and the approved web solution concept.

STEP 1: Define the Problem and Run Product Discovery

Once you’ve finalized your product’s vision, it’s time to identify the minimal set of features needed to launch your product, test it with actual users, and, based on the results, – either enhance the concept or implement changes.
This is an essential stage when business analysts prepare a foundation for the UX designers who will outline your MVP functionality, user flows, and journeys.

STEP 2: Define product’s MVP features

To get the desired result, look for a specialist who designed the healthcare website. Medical websites designs focuses on user experience (UX) and interface (UI), emphasizing clarity and ease of navigation for doctors, patients, and medical staff. UX designers map user journeys and create interactive wireframes, while&nbsp;healthcare website designer ensure interfaces are engaging and adhere to healthcare design principles.
You can contact both a healthcare website design agency and a team specializing in design in various fields. But keep in mind that the goal of the team should be to ensure digital health applications are user-friendly, intuitive, and efficient.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <ul><li>UX Design: Focuses on user satisfaction by improving usability and interaction with the product.</li><li>UI Design: Focuses on the product’s look and feel.</li></ul>

STEP 3: Design the Healthcare Web App

After completing the UI/UX design, the next step is to begin building your healthcare web app. At this stage, developers translate your app’s design and functionality into a fully operational digital product. This phase brings your app to life, integrating the planned features seamlessly.
Here’s what occurs during this stage:<ul><li>Architecture Design: Before coding, the team outlines the software architecture. This blueprint defines how different parts of your app will interact and scale.</li><li>Front-end Development: Developers build the user interface based on healthcare web design mockups. They use front-end technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript frameworks to ensure the UI is interactive and user-friendly.</li><li>Back-end Development: Concurrently, back-end developers establish the server, databases, and application logic. They utilize server-side languages like Python, Java, or PHP, often leveraging frameworks for efficient development.</li><li>Database Integration: The selected database—whether SQL or NoSQL—is integrated into the back-end system.</li><li>API Integration: If your app requires communication with other services or software, APIs are integrated at this stage. This could involve integrating payment gateways or third-party healthcare data services.</li></ul>

STEP 4: Development

Once the healthcare web app is developed and aligned with industry regulations, it enters the Quality Assurance (QA) phase. Here, the app undergoes rigorous testing to ensure it meets standards for functionality, usability, and security. The goal is to detect and resolve any issues before the app goes live.
Testing in healthcare is crucial for the following reasons:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<ol><li>Ensuring Regulatory Compliance: In healthcare, adherence to regulations like <a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIPAA">HIPAA</a> is critical. Testing confirms that the web app complies with these standards, ensuring the protection of patient data and legal compliance.</li><li>Security and Data Protection: Security testing identifies vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious entities. Addressing these vulnerabilities proactively helps safeguard sensitive patient information and maintains the app's integrity.</li><li>Performance Optimization: Performance testing evaluates how the app performs under various conditions, such as high user traffic. Optimizing performance ensures the app remains responsive and reliable, especially during peak usage periods.</li></ol>

STEP 5: Testing

With bugs resolved, the medical web software is ready for deployment. Onboarding features and training materials are provided to facilitate smooth integration and adoption by patients, doctors, and staff.

STEP 6: Launch Your Healthcare Web App

Post-launch, user feedback informs ongoing updates and improvements. Continuous support and maintenance ensure the healthcare web app remains effective, secure, and aligned with evolving user needs.

STEP 7: Collect Feedback and Scale

The functionality of healthcare web apps can vary based on needs, but there are some widespread features that most healthcare apps include. Below, you can find some of them:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <ol><li>&nbsp;User Authorization and Profile&nbsp; Secure access to application features with password-protected user authentication. Profiles help identify individual patients and maintain their medical records.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</li><li>Online Scheduling for Medical Sites Helps users to check healthcare practitioners, book appointments, and view their appointment history. Notifications remind patients about upcoming appointments.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </li><li>Online Chats and Calls Patients engage with healthcare providers through integrated online chat or video call functionalities, and remote healthcare services.</li><li>Online Payment Secure online payment for quick and free transactions.</li><li>Search and Filters Easy information search and filter functionalities.</li><li>Reviews and Ratings Provides transparency and assists users in making informed decisions by displaying reviews and ratings.
</li></ol>In addition to the essential features, consider integrating advanced functionalities such as:
<ul><li>Social Login: Allows users to sign in using their social media profiles.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </li><li>Virtual Tours: Offers 3D virtual tours of healthcare facilities.</li><li>Gamification: User engagement and interaction with gamified elements.
</li></ul>Healthcare businesses benefit from embracing modern E-health solutions, which enhance customer service and increase physician productivity.

What Should a Healthcare Website Include?

Visuals play a crucial role in web design for healthcare as they effectively convey your services and vital health information to your target audience. Using the right images on your website can build trust, boost conversion rates, and help achieve business goals. Goals of UX/UI design in healthcare are described below:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<ol><li>For Healthcare Professional&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Quick and accurate access to patient data.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Improved productivity and streamlined operations.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </li><li>For Patients (own portfolio) :&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Easy navigation of health apps. Better understanding of health information.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Effective communication with healthcare providers.</li></ol>
Impact on Healthcare:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<ul><li>Enhanced Patient Outcomes:&nbsp;Lead to improved patient care and results.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </li><li>Increased Efficiency: Makes data more accessible and interpretable, facilitating faster decision-making.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</li><li>Patient Engagement: Empowers patients to participate actively in their care.
</li></ul>Role in Telehealth:
&nbsp; &nbsp; <ul><li>Enables smooth virtual healthcare experiences.</li><li>Improves communication and access to treatment, especially in underserved areas.
</li></ul>In summary, good UX/UI design in healthcare apps improves healthcare delivery, patient engagement, and outcomes by making complex healthcare data understandable and usable.

The Importance of Visual Appeal in Healthcare Website Design

Over the past decade, rapid technological advancements have significantly transformed healthcare, introducing new solutions that have revolutionized the industry. Let’s look at some emerging trends in healthcare app development that are reshaping online healthcare services.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<ol><li>Blockchain Technology Integration&nbsp; Blockchain apps provide high security, clarity, and data ownership, empowering patients and improving medical data sharing.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </li><li>Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare AI is having a big impact on healthcare. AI-powered apps can analyze medical data, offer real-time diagnosis support, personalize treatment plans, and predict patient outcomes, improving efficiency and accuracy.</li><li>Growth of Telehealth &amp; Telemedicine Telehealth and telemedicine apps offer obvious comfort and accessibility. These apps, from virtual consultations to remote patient monitoring, improve access to health care, especially in underserved areas.&nbsp;</li><li>Use the Power of IoT The Internet of Things (IoT) connects medical devices and wearables to healthcare apps, generating real-time data. This data can be used for personalized health insights and chronic disease management. These devices exist for monitoring heart rates and detecting pulse irregularities in patient’s heart . Some sensors linked to these devices transmit real-time pulse data to the cloud, making it accessible globally from any location.</li><li>Augmented Reality Applications Augmented reality (AR) apps are transforming medical training, operations planning, and patient education. Visualizing complex procedures in 3D or overlaying medical information onto a patient’s body becomes possible with AR.</li><li>Cloud-Based Technology Cloud computing provides secure and large-scale data storage and access for healthcare apps. It facilitates collaboration among healthcare providers, improves data accessibility for patients, and supports remote care delivery.</li><li>Big Data Analytics in Healthcare The healthcare sector generates huge amounts of data. Big data analytics tools can analyze this data to identify trends, predict health risks, and personalize treatment plans, improving population health management.</li><li>Mental Health Apps Given the dynamic changes in the world's concern about mental health, stress management programs reduce anxiety. These programs provide affordable support and promote well-being.</li><li>Women's Wellness Apps Gaining great popularity, women's health apps cater to a variety of needs, from menstrual cycle tracking and fertility monitoring to pregnancy support and postpartum care. These programs help women to effectively manage their health.</li><li>Managing healthcare databases using EHR systems. Electronic health record (EHR) systems have huge patient data. Healthcare apps seamlessly integrating with EHRs can improve data accuracy, facilitate information sharing, and optimize administrative tasks, benefiting patients and providers.</li></ol>

Top 10 Healthcare App Development Trends 2024

A great health service site and app should empower patients to make informed decisions about their health and well-being. Let's look at the examples of best healthcare website designs:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<ol><li><a href="https://www.followmyhealth.com/Login/Home/Index?authproviders=0&amp;returnArea=PatientAccess#!/default">FollowMyHealth</a>: Known as best-designed hospital websites, FollowMyHealth isn't just a healthcare app — it's a comprehensive digital health management tool. Users can manage medical records, schedule appointments, and securely chat with providers, all with a user-friendly interface and gamification elements.</li><li><a href="https://iamaffirmations.app/">I am – Daily Affirmations</a>: This app promotes mental health with positive affirmations and customizable reminders in a sleek, user-friendly interface. It fosters a supportive community for users to connect and share experiences.</li><li><a href="https://www.teladochealth.com/">Teladoc Health:</a> Virtual Care: Redefining medical services, Teladoc Health offers seamless access to virtual consultations, appointment scheduling, and medical history retrieval through a clean, modern interface with a symptom checker.</li><li><a href="https://www.zocdoc.com/">Zocdoc</a>: Simplifies healthcare provider selection with an intuitive design for booking appointments and managing medical history, including features like reminders and in-app messaging for enhanced patient convenience. </li><li><a href="https://www.shiftkey.com/">ShiftKey</a>: Revolutionizes healthcare staffing with a streamlined interface for finding and booking temporary professionals, featuring a calendar display and direct messaging between providers and managers.</li><li><a href="https://www.scene.health/rebrand">Scene Health:</a> Enhances patient-provider interactions with tools for medication tracking, symptom reporting, and secure communication, emphasizing user engagement and health monitoring.</li><li><a href="https://www.epocrates.com/">Epocrates</a>: Designed for clinicians, Epocrates provides essential tools like drug references and calculators in a sleek interface that supports informed decision-making and efficient patient care.</li><li><a href="https://fasterthanlight.me/projects/medspoke">Medspoke</a>: Comprehensive platform designed to streamline and automate the remote certification process for healthcare professionals, enabling them to obtain the necessary licenses and certifications in any of the 50 states of America efficiently and effectively.</li><li><a href="https://takecareof.com/app">Care/of: </a>Personalizes health routines with a modern interface guiding users through quizzes and progress tracking for customized vitamin and supplement packs, promoting informed health decisions.</li><li><a href="https://www.forhers.com/">Hers</a>: Offers personalized women's health solutions with a minimalist interface for managing birth control, skincare, and wellness products, integrating quizzes and progress tracking for user empowerment.&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://ada.com/">Ada</a>: Uses AI-powered symptom assessment to deliver personalized health advice through a user-friendly interface, supporting quick inquiries and location-based service recommendations.</li><li><a href="https://thinkdirtyapp.com/">Think Dirty – Shop Clean</a>: Informs users about product ingredients with a minimalist design featuring barcode scanning for ingredient breakdowns and health ratings, empowering safe consumer choices. </li><li><a href="https://www.sanvello.com/">Sanvello</a>: Supports mental wellness with tools like mood tracking and guided meditations in a visually appealing interface that includes community support and progress monitoring for holistic care.</li></ol>These apps exemplify cutting-edge design and functionality in digital health, enhancing user experience and accessibility while promoting health management and wellness.

Best Practices in Healthcare Website Design Templates

Before diving into the development process of healthcare apps, it's important to consider the risks and regulations associated with this industry. Since healthcare apps collect and store sensitive health data, minimizing the risk of data loss is crucial. Such mistakes can result in unauthorized data access, hacking, and data leaks.
Additionally, healthcare apps must be approved by relevant industry organizations to ensure regulatory compliance. Managing the technological aspects to ensure data security adds to the challenge, as developing a compliant app and obtaining the necessary approvals require significant resources in terms of time and money.
Let's take a look at what specific regulations must be met by development and design for healthcare programs in different countries and regions.

Regulations of the healthcare industry to follow

<ul><li>HIPAA: Apps that handle protected healthcare information (PHI), HIPAA has protected the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of healthcare data since 1996.</li><li>HiTECH: This U.S. regulation strengthens HIPAA and promotes the adoption of electronic healthcare records, leading to improved healthcare and better care coordination. </li><li>CCPA: Similar to the European GDPR, the CCPA governs how organizations collect, process, and delete personal information in the U.S. Individuals can request information about data collection, processing, and storage, and have the right to request data deletion.</li></ul>

USA: HIPAA Compliance Health Web Designs

<ul><li>PIPEDA: In Canada, this act makes data privacy and security in healthcare apps. It requires data encryption, strong user authentication procedures during data transmission, and user consent for data collection.</li><li>GDPR: Introduced in the European Union in 2018, GDPR protects personal data, making it essential for apps operating within the EU to comply with these regulations. It applies to companies that collect and process personal data.</li><li>DPA: The UK's GDPR, the DPA protects personal data collected, processed, and stored by companies and apps, including healthcare ones. It sets conditions for data collection and governs third-party data access.</li></ul>

Europe and Canada

The cost of developing a healthcare web application depends on several factors:
<ul><li>The range of features</li><li>The duration of development</li><li>The technology stack used</li><li>The project's complexity</li><li>The geographical location of the development team
</li></ul>Selecting the appropriate development partner and meticulously planning the application’s features are essential steps in effectively managing these expenditures.
Cost varies by complexity and location of the healthcare web application, as shown in the tables:<table style="border-collapse:collapse;width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Complexity Level</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Estimated Development Cost</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Features</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Basic</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$20,000-$40,000</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Patient registration, appointment scheduling,&nbsp; basic electronic health records</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Moderate</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$40,000-$80,000</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Telemedicine capabilities, payment processing,&nbsp; secure messaging</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Advanced</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$80,000-$150,000+</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Real-time communication, complex data analysis, integration with existing healthcare systems </td></tr></tbody></table>Cost Depending on the location of the developers you hire:<table style="border-collapse:collapse;width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Location</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Average cost per hour</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Note</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">North America (US, Canada)</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$100-180</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">High-quality standards, but a premium cost</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Western Europe</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$70-150</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Offers a good balance between cost and quality</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Eastern Europe</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$40-70</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Cost-effective with acknowledged high-quality standards</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Asia (India/Phillipines)&nbsp;</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$20-50</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Most affordable, but often comprises quality. Recommended for less complex projects.</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Latin America&nbsp;</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$50-80</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Emerging market that is now gaining a place on the tech scene.</td></tr></tbody></table>Developing a healthcare web application's timeline varies depending on project complexity, team expertise, and chosen approach. Basic electronic health record systems typically take 3-6 months, while advanced systems with complex features may extend to a year or more.
Factors affecting development time include:
<ul><li>Planning and Requirements Gathering: Understanding client needs, gathering requirements, and creating a project plan, taking 2-4 weeks.</li><li>Design and Prototyping: Creating wireframes, mockups, and prototypes for user interface and experience, taking 4-6 weeks.</li><li>Development: Coding and implementing features and integrations, spanning 3-8 months.</li><li>Testing and Quality Assurance: Checking for bugs and ensuring compliance, typically 2-4 weeks.</li><li>Deployment and Maintenance: Deploying the application and ongoing maintenance, lasting 2-6 months, contingent on team size and updates needed.</li></ul>

How much does it cost to build a medical website?

Developing web-based healthcare solutions demands expertise, experience, and meticulous attention to technical standards, given their handling of sensitive health information and their impact on crucial healthcare decisions. Therefore, our focus during healthcare web development centers on cybersecurity, accessibility, secure data storage and transmission, and strict adherence to local healthcare regulations.
With the healthcare domain knowledge, it’s crucial to design solutions that cater to essential contemporary healthcare needs. Experts always prioritize efficient time management and outcome-driven implementation, whether for small clinics, medium-sized practices, or large healthcare enterprises.

Guide to Developing Healthcare Web Applications

Learn the essentials of Apple Vision Pro Development, what it takes to build and design Vision Pro app, and the development costs

Apple Vision Pro Development: Comprehensive Guide for Developers

Since Apple launched its decade-awaited Vision Pro device and an era of spatial computing at the <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/06/wwdc23-highlights/">WDC event in June 2023</a> started, people have been eagerly waiting to try this innovative technology.
By providing a highly-expected platform for customer engagement, Apple Inc. urged the development of apps for Apple Vision Pro and AR/VR. In this article, we will explore the new platform’s functionality, app development requirements, OS updates, and its place in the Apple Vision Pro ecosystem.

What is Vision Pro? Apple Vision Pro, a mixed-reality headset blending augmented and virtual reality, was <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-vision/apple-vision-pro">released in early 2024 at a price of $3,499</a>. It promises features and applications that make this investment worthwhile. Unlike traditional VR devices, the Apple Vision Pro integrates both AR and VR functionalities seamlessly.
Apple refers to the headset and its operating system as spatial computing, effectively combining vision pro software with the user's environment through video passthrough. Unlike typical goggles or glasses, the Vision Pro covers the user's eyes fully. However, its high-definition cameras transmit a 3D video of the surroundings onto ultra-sharp displays.
This new-age Vision Pro takes out vision apps and digital content from mobile screens and lets you interact amazingly with apps in physical spaces. It is not a distant future technology, it is already being used here and now. And if we want to be one step ahead, then we must be ready to adapt it to the development market.

Apple Vision Pro: Quick overview

Until now, AR/VR headsets have primarily served entertainment and gaming purposes with a market value of around <a href="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/report/augmented-reality-software?utm_source=GNE&amp;utm_medium=PressRelease&amp;utm_code=xrx6zt&amp;utm_campaign=1904117+-+AR+VR+Software+Market+Set+to+Reach+%2477.5+Billion+by+2028%2c+Propelled+by+5G+Technology+Advancements&amp;utm_exec=jamu273prd">USD 32.5 billion in 2024 and planned growth of USD 77.5 billion by 2028</a>.
Apple Vision Pro's appearance contributed to these statistics' undeniable growth. In just the first 10 pre-order days, Apple sold more than 200,000 of its expensive Vision Pro AR headsets. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in his newest report says that they expect to sell between 400,000 and 450,000 Vision Pro units in 2024.
Apple Vision Pro has opened new possibilities across various industries, presenting a range of impactful use cases for businesses and users alike. Below, explore some of the use cases of Apple Vision Pro:<ul><li>Interactive product demonstrations using augmented reality empower manufacturers to showcase product prototypes, granting customers the opportunity to preview future offerings or purchase existing ones.</li><li>Revolutionizing education and training these learning tools dissolve the boundaries separating theory and practice, enabling life like simulations.</li><li>Telemedicine and Healthcare Advancements involve healthcare professionals utilizing the high-quality video capabilities of Vision Pro for remote consultations, diagnostics, and patient care. </li><li>In the realm of&nbsp;real estate and construction visualization, Vision Pro facilitates intricate visualizations of construction projects, providing clients with comprehensive views of future perspectives and design options.&nbsp;</li><li>Innovative marketing campaigns leverage AR-enabled advertising to explore fresh avenues for virtual product trials and engaging brand interactions.</li><li>The headset might also introduce new business models in the entertainment sector by providing&nbsp;immersive experiences&nbsp;to visitors at museums, historical sites, or live events. </li></ul>

Apple Vision Pro in Use

As the competition intensifies in the Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality market, there's mounting anticipation regarding which tech giant will deliver the ultimate experience.
In the arena, you can see PlayStation VR2 with great controls with haptic feedback, Viture Pro XR Glasses with lightweight, comfortable, and premium design, HTC Vive XR Elite with massive 110-degree FOV. However, the leaders of this market are well-known Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 - VR headset developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms.
So, let’s compare these innovations and determine which aligns best with your plans to venture into the XR realm.
<table style="border-collapse:collapse;width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;"> </td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Apple Vision Pro</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Meta Quest 3</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Price</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Starting at $3,499</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Starting at $499 </td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Processor</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Apple R1 and M</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen2</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Resolution (per eye)</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">3660 x 3200 pixels</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">2064 x 2208 pixels</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Storage</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">1TB / 2TB / 4TB</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">128 GB / 512 GB</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Tracking technology</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">LEDs and infrared cameras</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Improved near-field speakers</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Audio</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Two speakers with spatial audio</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Improved near-field speakers</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Refresh rate</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">90 Hz</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">120 Hz</td></tr></tbody></table>
The Vision Pro impressive displays and seamless multitasking capabilities enhance user experience. Additionally, its eye and hand-tracking functionalities, coupled with features like FaceTime using virtual Persona avatars, can be groundbreaking.
However, for those seeking an affordable option in exploring mixed reality, gaming, and fitness, with work-related advantages, the Quest 3 option might be interesting.
Here's a comparison table to help you understand the difference:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <ul><li>The Quest 3's display still presents some fuzziness and distortion. While the 3D video feed is adequate for observing your surroundings and checking messages on the phone or watch, you might need to strain your eyes a bit. On the other hand, the Vision Pro's cameras offer much sharper images and are sufficient for briefly using your phone through the headset.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</li><li>Both Meta and Apple allow apps to overlay onto the real world, but the Quest 3 can only run one app at a time. In contrast, the Vision Pro can handle multitasking with numerous apps simultaneously, giving it a more versatile feel as an office tool.</li><li>Meta also offers a range of 2D apps, such as Microsoft Office apps, but the Quest's operating system is not integrated into Google's ecosystem. Apps can be opened concurrently across various locations, rendering the operating system much more adaptable than that of the Quest.&nbsp;</li><li>Meta Quest 3 is great for gaming, while Vision Pro leans more towards entertainment overall. So, if you care most about gaming and you can afford it, go for Meta Quest 3. But if you want a device that's good for lots of different things, Vision Pro is a solid choice.</li><li>The Quest 3 is particularly well-suited for this compared to its predecessor, thanks to its enhanced displays and wireless connectivity. In contrast, the Vision Pro currently offers only a limited selection of games. </li></ul>

Meta Quest 3 vs. Apple Vision Pro

<h3>About visionOS
</h3>In order to understand how to develop Vision Pro, first of all, you need to learn about the visionOS operating system. Custom-designed for spatial computing, it contributes to the development of immersive apps and games that integrate digital elements with the physical world. While it draws from the foundational elements of Apple's established operating systems, visionOS introduces a dedicated "real-time subsystem" tailored specifically for interactive visuals on the Vision Pro.
Architecturally, visionOS shares core components with MacOS and iOS but introduces innovative features such as a three-dimensional interface that allows apps to exist side by side on varying scales, liberating them from traditional display limitations.
At its launch, visionOS will offer a diverse range of applications, including native Unity apps optimized for Vision Pro, Adobe's Lightroom, Microsoft Office suite, medical software for anatomical renders, and an engineering app that visualizes physics phenomena on real-world objects.
In visionOS, users can open windows that function as planes in this virtual space, supporting both traditional 2D views and controls, as well as the integration of 3D content alongside 2D elements. Apps can also create movable three-dimensional volumes containing objects and scenes, allowing for flexible design and interaction.
Here are some key programming tips for Vision OS developer:<img src="https://d1i9nl5qr197dz.cloudfront.net/production/posts/attachments/oyxxHD/Apple vision pro - about VisionOS.png" width="647" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" height="528">

Vision Pro App Development: Key Aspects

Next thing to talk about is technology stack required for Apple Vision Pro development. To make apps for Vision Pro, you'll need a Mac with macOS Monterey or a newer version, the latest Xcode, and the Vision Pro developer kit. You'll use tools like SwiftUI, RealityKit, ARKit, Unity, and Reality Composer Pro.
Let's review the essentials needed for your personalized Apple Vision Pro development kit:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<ul><li> SwiftUI, an Apple UI framework, is perfect for Vision Pro apps, offering immersive experiences by superimposing 3D models onto the real world with precise user motion tracking.</li><li>Xcode, Apple's macOS IDE, is essential for crafting apps across Apple platforms, including Vision Pro. Its array of tools, notably the simulator, facilitates easy app development and testing in a virtual environment.</li><li>RealityKit, tailored for Vision Pro, is a 3D rendering engine enabling lifelike, interactive 3D content creation. Packed with Vision Pro-specific features like spatial computing and AR support, it's ideal for Vision Pro apps.&nbsp;</li><li>ARKit, Apple's AR framework, aids in crafting apps overlaying digital content onto reality, perfect for creating immersive experiences ranging from games to educational tools and training simulations.&nbsp;</li><li>Unity, renowned for visually stunning games, is also excellent for Vision Pro game development. With support for spatial computing and AR, Unity offers vast potential for Vision Pro experiences.</li></ul>

About Apple Vision Pro dev kit

About Design Updates
Alongside its technical specifications, VisionOS introduces a unique interface concept with volumes and windows floating in space, departing from the traditional desktop and home screen paradigms of Mac OS X and iOS, respectively. Let's explore these UI elements:
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <ol><li>Windows: Like in conventional computing environments, windows in VisionOS provide the main interface for interacting with applications. These SwiftUI windows maintain a familiar structure for users accustomed to Apple's mobile OS, ensuring a smooth transition. They can display text, buttons, and even 3D objects like the Tango Ball, offering a versatile user experience.</li><li>Volumes: Representing a significant shift in UI design, volumes showcase 3D content essential for immersive AR experiences. Developers can leverage RealityKit or Unity to create these volumes, opening up possibilities for interactive, 3D-rich applications. Volumes can be bounded, residing within a window, or unbounded, overlaying the physical world as digital objects, enabling unique experiences like playing soccer in the kitchen.&nbsp; </li><li>Spaces: Introducing a novel approach to multitasking, Spaces come in two primary types. Shared Spaces allow multiple apps to coexist, akin to multiple windows on a Mac desktop. Full Spaces focus on a single app, incorporating windows, volumes, and even portals to different virtual worlds for immersive experiences. These spaces offer flexibility and organization in navigating through VisionOS applications.
</li></ol>To make 3D stuff look really good in apps and games on visionOS, developers can use a new tool called Reality Composer Pro. It helps them get 3D models, animations, pictures and sounds ready to make the experience awesome on Vision Pro.
Also, developers can try out their apps in a pretend version of visionOS called the visionOS simulator. They can test how their apps look in different rooms and lighting.

About Design Updates

The appeal of the Apple Vision Pro lies in its ecosystem, which seamlessly integrates with existing Apple products and services. This integration encompasses:<ol><li>
Built-in Apps and Continuity: Users benefit from a variety of pre-installed apps and the convenience of continuity across other Apple devices, enhancing both productivity and entertainment experiences.</li><li>Mac Virtual Display: This feature allows the Vision Pro to connect to a Mac, transforming it into a large virtual display for a more expansive workspace.</li><li>App Compatibility: Initially supporting 600 specially curated apps and millions of iPad apps, the Vision Pro promises a diverse and rich application ecosystem.
</li></ol>Additionally, the Vision Pro's user interface is tailored to enhance the spatial computing experience, featuring:&nbsp;Home View, Apps View, People View, and Environments View. These views enable users to manage apps, stay connected with contacts, and customize their spatial environment with three-dimensional scenes, all accessible from a central Control Center.
This comprehensive support and ongoing development of capabilities underscore Vision Pro's versatility and innovation within the spatial computing domain.

Apple Ecosystem

After you have decided to engage in the development of the Apple Vision Pro solution, you need to calculate the time and cost of the project.
Making the first version of the product and getting it out there could take anywhere from 640 to 1280 hours of work with total VR/ AR app development costs between $10,000 and $200,000. But these numbers can change a lot depending on how complicated the project is, how skilled the team is, the location of your development team, and if any unexpected problems pop up.<table style="border-collapse:collapse;width: 100%;"><tbody>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Region</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Average Hourly Rate</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Project Cost Range</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">North America</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$150</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$96,000-$192,000</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Asia</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$40</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$25,600-$51,200</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Western Europe</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$150</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$96,000-$192,000</td></tr>
<tr>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Eastern Europe</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$90</td>
	<td style="width: 33.3333%;">$57,600-$115,200</td></tr></tbody></table>

Costs for Vision apps and Apple Vision Pro development

The Apple Vision Pro marks a new era in spatial computing, with its high-quality visuals, immersive audio, and intuitive interaction setting a new standard for virtual and augmented reality experiences across.
The device is already reshaping the world of VR/AR products dictating new expectations, forecasts, and trends. With this, the rise of new niche apps and platforms, tailored to the specifics of VisionOS and its users, is inevitable. And we must learn and be ready to create new product that gonna rock the world.

Wrapping up

How to render long lists with React-select and React-window? This article shows how to use a common virtualization technique to reduce render time and significantly improve performance.

Efficient rendering of really large lists with react-select

Using React as the UI framework of a web application always leaves developers with many choices through the development process. One of the most popular decisions to make is which Select component to use. <a href="https://react-select.com/">React-select</a> is the first choice when selecting component (with many other features) is required - it has 20.5k stars on GitHub and 2 million weekly downloads on npm.&nbsp;

Like any common open-source component, react-select solves the common use cases very well. However, at the edges, react-select might disable, falls short sometimes and calls for customizations.
The problem we want to tackle with react-select is quite common: we would like to allow selection from a large list of options. How large? While working on some of <a href="https://fasterthanlight.me/projects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FTL projects</a>, we've seen the component start to break at around 1,000 options.&nbsp;
So, keep reading and we'll show you how it breaks, when react-select desabled, and also demonstrate to you how we improved the performance by using another open-source library -&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/bvaughn/react-window">react-window</a>. Finally, we'll dive into the react-window implementation to understand how it is achieved.
By the way - the entire code used in the post is public.

Introduction

To demonstrate the problem, we've created a new project with create-react-app. We added the react-select component by running `<code style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239);">yarn add react-select</code>`.

The most simple code for displaying a select component would be:<pre>import React, { useState } from "react";
import Select from "react-select";
import "./App.css";
 
const options = [...Array(100).keys()].map(idx =&gt; ({
 value: `value-${idx}`,
 label: `label-${idx}`,
}));
 
function App() {
 const [inputValue, setInputValue] = useState("");
 
 return (
 
 
 React-select With Large Lists
 
 
 setInputValue(val)}
 options={options}
 /&gt;
 
 
 );
}
 
export default App;</pre>


 This would result in a high-performance select component, with 100 options. We'll use the same code to generate a large and long list of items to include in the select.
The following two gifs compare the performance of a React-select dropdown with 100 options to that of 10,000 options: 
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdHNCIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--9b68801905f0b24ee608026b098b1ed251bb767f/1WNemZzm8ZLPIPcxs6Vse0ozqnXA1T0AGCLEZEFY.gif" alt="React select 100 options" width="595" height="455"></td>
<td><img src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdHdCIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--e361afc06a6675d4e27c79df72680391bebd6456/1Y89oZvmrGG0DmPHokp_6W54JjKhvx3wLwQskscw.gif" alt="React select 10,000 options" width="514" height="455"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
React select 100 options
</td>
<td>
React select 10,000 options
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp; 
The performance degradation is significant. With 10,000 options, the react-select component takes about 5 seconds to open its options menu. Why should it take so long? In both cases, only the first 8 or so options are visible. This is the first hint to how react-window approaches this problem - let's go into details.

Challenges of setting React-select for long lists

The key to improving the React-select performance is limiting the rendering of the long list. It's enough to only render 8 items while keeping the same usability as rendering all 10,000 items.&nbsp;

React-window is another prevalent open-source library, with 8.5k stars on Github and 300,000 npm downloads. React-window is used to render large lists in a virtual way: only the visible elements of the list are actually rendered.
How do we combine the two? Lucky for us, react-select exposes an API that allows us to replace any of its core building blocks. In this case, we would like to replace the MenuList component with our own, custom, MenuList. The new declaration of react-select would look like so:<pre>...
 inputValue={inputValue}
 onInputChange={val =&gt; setInputValue(val)}
 options={options}
 components={{
 MenuList: CustomMenuList,
 }}
/&gt;
...</pre>
And now in our own CustomMenuList component, we utilize react-window to virtually render the list of options. To enable the virtualization, we must provide the virtualized list with some basic data about the it: the list's height, and the height of each item in the list. That way the component knows exactly how many and which items to render.&nbsp;
The list's height is passed to the component as the props of the MenuList component, as provided by the react-select library. We determine the item heights ourselves, per our usability needs.
This is how the CustomMenuList ends up looking:<pre>import { FixedSizeList as List } from "react-window";
 
const CustomMenuList = props =&gt; {
 const itemHeight = 35;
 const { options, children, maxHeight, getValue } = props;
 const [value] = getValue();
 const initialOffset = options.indexOf(value) * itemHeight;
 
 return (
 
 
 {({ index, style }) =&gt; {children[index]} }
 
 
 );
};</pre>

The first thing we would like to see is performance improvement. This is the normal react-select rendering alongside the virtualized list one:
&nbsp; 
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdDBCIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--3ac32457a8f04ff0b4cb455a58df12f69b0bb64c/3.gif" alt="react native select dropdown" width="536" height="455"></td>
<td><img src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdDRCIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--7fd3353b1be2fa99dfe6798752f65d6a1d74342e/4.gif" alt="react-native-select-dropdown" width="514" height="455"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
React select 100 options
</td>
<td>
React select 10,000 options
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp; 
The time to render with the virtualized list is almost the same as the list with 100 options. Also - the rest of the react-select functionality is enhanced: filtering options by value search, selecting an option or scrolling down the list. These were almost unusable before virtualizing the list.

React-window comes to the rescue

React-window solves the performance problem by virtualizing the list, and only rendering the visible items. At this point, it's important to note that mounting elements to the real (i.e non-virtual) DOM is the most expensive operation for the browser to perform. In order to avoid performance degradation, we will try to minimize the number of such operations. What does it look like in the real DOM?&nbsp; 

This is the DOM of the normal react-select options list:
<img src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdDhCIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--bb1a74e55fd23fe3b63470b8e64973b2d6c959ae/5.gif" alt="React-select with large lists" width="860" height="447">
And this is the new DOM with the virtual list:
<img src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdUFCIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--4eb440265b421729c29af007be1a48a1e23b60c9/6.png" alt="React-select with long list " width="860" height="436"> 
The new DOM only has 9 list items. Of course, when scrolling down the list the items that are rendered change, but the amount of items remains 9 all the same. 
To better understand how this is achieved, we can inspect the react-window code. The key is a couple of methods called getStartIndexForOffset and getStopIndexForStartIndex:<pre>getStartIndexForOffset: (
 { itemCount, itemSize }: Props,
 offset: number
 ): number =&gt;
 Math.max(
 0,
 Math.min(itemCount - 1, Math.floor(offset / ((itemSize: any): number)))
 ),
 
getStopIndexForStartIndex: (
 { direction, height, itemCount, itemSize, layout, width }: Props,
 startIndex: number,
 scrollOffset: number
 ): number =&gt; {
 const isHorizontal = direction === 'horizontal' || layout === 'horizontal';
 const offset = startIndex * ((itemSize: any): number);
 const size = (((isHorizontal ? width : height): any): number);
 const numVisibleItems = Math.ceil(
 (size + scrollOffset - offset) / ((itemSize: any): number)
 );
 return Math.max(
 0,
 Math.min(
 itemCount - 1,
 startIndex + numVisibleItems - 1 // -1 is because stop index is inclusive
 )
 );
 },</pre>

The start index is calculated by the scroll offset, and according to the item's height. The stop index is fitted to the start index and is calculated by the provided height and item height. The visible items are inferred by the start and stop indexes, and rendered to the screen accordingly.
&nbsp;

React-window Shallow Dive

React-select is a great choice for dropdown components in React applications. We analized react-select options, and how the react-select component might break for a large list use case, while also discussed how to handle it. React-select dropdown is smart to provide a strong customization API, which should be a consideration when choosing an open-source component.

Moreover, we explained how to use react-window, as a very straightforward solution to handling large amounts of data, and rendering long lists efficiently.
The virtualization of list rendering can be used in many cases. Any time we would want to render a long list, we can utilize virtual rendering to enhance performance. Even such seemingly tiny change in list perfromance might be a good start for <a href="https://fasterthanlight.me/blog/post/increasing-performance-react-next">improving your app's efficiency overall</a>. So, give it a try!

Conclusion: Choosing React-select dropdown for long lists or not?

Read why generating 6-digit code for SMS authorization using sprintf() method is essential and what can go wrong applying ordinary range approach  

Generating 6-digit code for SMS authorization using sprintf() method  

&nbsp; 
The simplest and most obvious bugs are the trickiest ones. That was the case on my recent project where the task was simple as it might seem - to generate a random 6-digit code for SMS authorization.&nbsp;
The simple and easy solution here would be to use a range method with diapason from 000000 to 999999. That’s the one I went with. Taking into account the practicality and simplicity of the approach chosen, we didn’t prepare the additional tests to run the feature through. And that, actually (surprise, surprise), played the joke with us.
So, already at the production stage – when a lot of people tried to complete the registration – we bumped into the undesired bug. We’ve noticed that in some cases the length of the code generated was shorter than expected. Not a very neat situation for production.&nbsp;
So, why did it happen?
It’s, actually, simple as it is – we didn’t consider that <code style="margin: 0px 0px 16px; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); font-family: Terminal, Monaco, monospace; font-size: 14px;">000000 == 0</code>, so the generation was done incorrectly. To fix it, there were two ways: either to change the diapason from<code style="margin: 0px 0px 16px; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); font-family: Terminal, Monaco, monospace; font-size: 14px;">&nbsp;000000 to 100000</code> or to use the&nbsp;<code style="margin: 0px 0px 16px; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); font-family: Terminal, Monaco, monospace; font-size: 14px;">sprintf'%06d'</code> method. We’ve preferred the latter.
What is <code style="margin: 0px 0px 16px; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); font-family: Terminal, Monaco, monospace; font-size: 14px;">sprintf('%06d', rand(1..999999))</code> method? '<code>%06d</code>' is a format that ensures that string must be 6 characters long, so it adds up nulls, if the number that goes as the second argument is of a shorter length. The main difference between <code style="margin: 0px 0px 16px; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); font-family: Terminal, Monaco, monospace; font-size: 14px;">(100_000..999_999)</code> range and <code style="font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 16px; background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); font-family: Terminal, Monaco, monospace;">sprintf('%06d', rand(1..999999))</code> is that sprintf returns the line that does not pass the requirements.
To sum up, this case shows us how important it is to write tests for all critical parts of the product, even if we’re talking about the simplest and most obvious features. It’s much better to detect and fix them before going to production. And most importantly, don’t forget to acknowledge your failures, embrace and learn from them.&nbsp;

 Learn the prominent software development trends in 2021. Stay up to date with the latest tech innovations on the Faster Than Light blog!

Top 8 Software Development Trends in 2021: 1. Big Data Solutions 2.Rise of AI... 

2020 marked a challenging year for all of us. The global pandemic has shaken the world, which led to the significant transformation in various industries&mdash;and software development was no exception.&nbsp;
Social distancing, lockdowns, and related restrictions caused - tremendous <a title="Covid-19 impact on software and app development" href="https://www.designrush.com/agency/software-development/trends/covid-19-impact-on-software-and-app-deveopment-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impact caused by Covid-19</a> - forced millions of companies to abandon their offices, which only fueled the demand for management and enterprise systems. Other software solutions were on the rise since we witnessed a significant increase in <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1116831/business-software-spending-covid19-forecast/">software spending</a> across all areas, including web conferencing applications, collaboration, and remote tools, e-learning platforms, etc. These were&nbsp; software development trends 2020.&nbsp;
Since social distancing and other precautionary measures seem likely to stay with us a while longer, investing in and leveraging the latest technology in software development might be a good solution to keep your business afloat.&nbsp;
To ensure you succeed in this challenging endeavor, we compiled a list of the top eight software development trends that will dominate the global market in 2021.

Here's a quick overview.&nbsp;

The Most Prominent Software Development Trends of 2021

“The world is one big data problem.”― Andrew MacAfee
Data is power, and those who possess it will dominate the industry. Big data solutions are frequently listed among the current software development trends. Businesses and large corporations have been utilizing big data to extract meaningful insights and apply them to better market their products and services.&nbsp;
While 54% of companies are taking the first steps in adopting big data analytics, unstructured data remains a top problem for 95% of companies worldwide. The demand for big data solutions remains high, which means it’s going to be a leading software industry trend in the upcoming year.

Big Data Solutions

Artificial intelligence has already received multiple applications across industries. It’s widely applied to automate business operations, carry out in-depth market research, gather analytics, enhance data flows, and more. It all makes AI on of the biggest trends in software engineering.
According to <a href="https://www.idc.com/">IDC</a>, AI revenues are expected to hit $156 billion in 2021, which is a 12% increase from 2019. If you’ve been wondering which new technology to apply to software development, artificial intelligence might be a good option. With the capabilities it provides, you’ll have every opportunity to build a revolutionary solution to disrupt the market.

The Rise of AI

5G has been making the headlines of all IT blogs for almost two years. It’s one of the current software development trends that are going to stay with us in 2021. This technology innovation caused a real buzz on the market, but, unfortunately, hasn’t seen a wide deployment in recent years.&nbsp;
In 2021, 5G is expected to meet the needs of its advocates and introduct a new wave of innovative software development. With the release of 5G New Radio, a radio access technology designed for 5G native mobile networks, the network capacity will increase, which will enable businesses to use it for everything from machine learning systems to large-scale IoT devices.&nbsp;
If you’ve been waiting for this innovation, 5G technology might be the best choice of software development trends for you.

5G Technology

We’re now seeing a dramatic shift from monolithic structures to microservices architecture, and that trend is only predicted to accelerate in 2021.&nbsp;
Monolithic architecture has been successfully applied across industries. But with changing consumer demands, and the emergence of new tech that required reduced downtime and more agile development, companies faced the need for a new architecture.&nbsp;
Microservices allow applications to be built as a set of small independent units that can be developed and launched separately. This software industry trend will provide businesses with greater flexibility, reduced costs, increased agility and innovative software development.

Microservices Architecture

If you’ve been operating in the IT market long enough, you’ve probably heard about DevOps. It was a leading software development trend in 2018, and it undoubtedly continues to perform an important function in all IT organizations.&nbsp;
However, the latest tendencies clearly show that we’re likely to see the integration of security practices in DevOps processes, which will result in the rise of a new field called DevSecOps.&nbsp;
The ascent of new software development technologies&nbsp;will enable DevOps to conduct security testing without the need to involve a security expert. DevSecOps provide companies with more opportunities to build reliable systems, capable of processing high-load operations.

DevSecOps

As more and more companies are moving online, the cloud becomes a helpful tool in digital transformation and software modernization. The capability to store corporate data securely on someone else’s device, without the need to keep it on your own computer, allows for better synchronization.&nbsp;
Cloud services have been listed among the top software development trends for several years, and continue to occupy a position as one of the most demanded&nbsp;technologies in software development which is on the market in 2021.

Cloud Computing

If you haven’t heard about multi-cloud infrastructure yet, you probably will in 2021 as it becomes one of the destinctive software trends. The release of <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/ru/blogs/containers/introducing-amazon-ecs-anywhere/">Amazon ACS Anywhere</a> next year will mark a prominent event in the software development industry.&nbsp;
In addition to AWS-managed infrastructure, users will be able to store whole data centers in the cloud without fear of missing important information. Even when connectivity is lost, the infrastructure will continue running on the customer premises.Tech behemoths have already caught up with this software engineering trend. A number of big corporations, such as Google and Facebook, are investing in technologies capable of building reliable serverless and microservices applications.&nbsp; <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/ru/blogs/containers/introducing-amazon-ecs-anywhere/">Quarkus</a> and <a href="https://micronaut.io/">Micronaut</a> were designed to support a majority of cloud features, including Kubernetes and Eureka. They eliminate dependence on third-party services and provide support for AWS Lambda, which makes it possible to build innovative and scalable serverless apps in no time.&nbsp; Implementing new technologies in software development will enable companies to improve their data flow, launch solutions that better-fit market demand, and accelerate the development of more flexible and agile software systems.&nbsp;

Multi-cloud Infrastructures

When listing the latest software development trends, we can’t neglect to mention cross-platform development. The euphoria about native applications has come to an end. Modern multi-platform technologies, such as React Native or Flutter, simplify the creation of innovative applications with an appealing design that run seamlessly on any platform and provide an exceptional user experience.Such software also enables businesses to reach a wider audience, which opens up more opportunities for marketing and promotion. Opting for cross-platform development may become the key software engineering trend in 2021 and keep its position among software trends 2023 and 2024.

Cross-platform Development

Progressive web apps or PWA are not new to the market. PWAs have been on the rise for several years due to their potential to provide a near-native experience.&nbsp;
In 2019, more than <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/568684/e-commerce-website-visit-and-orders-by-device/">half of online shopping orders </a>came from mobile traffic, which means optimizing your website for mobile users will be a must in 2021. Progressive web apps allow your customers to visit the website from any device without downloading a special application, which removes extra barriers to purchasing products in your store.&nbsp;
When every business moves online, having cost-effective software that can be built within tight deadlines is paramount. Thus, PWA will definitely be among the top software industry trends in 2021.

Progressive Web Applications

Now when you’re aware of the upcomingsoftware development trends that will dominate the industry in 2021, it’s the right time to act! <a href="https://fasterthanlight.me/services">Faster Than Light</a> has a professional team of software engineers who will analyze your request and introduce the latest technology solutions and top trends in software to your business.

Conclusion

8 Software Development Trends to Implement in 2021

In this article, you can read hacks and instructions how to get 100% of Lighthouse Performance score for React.js and Next.js apps

Increasing React/Next.js Performance in the apps for Google Lighthouse

<a href="https://saleslion.io/sales-statistics/39-of-people-will-stop-engaging-with-a-website-if-images-wont-load-or-take-too-long-to-load/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">39% of users </a>will stop engaging with content when loading time takes too long. Performance is highly important for each website. Only if your website quickly responds, is optimized, loads fast, and so on, in most cases, these will be taken for granted by users. Your designers can do incredible work and make your website sweet like candy, but if it loads slowly, believe me, the user will notice it first and leave with an unpleasant aftertaste.

Google is aware of user's preferences and therefore performance is one of the most important metrics it uses to decide which search page your site is shown on. To determine such indicators, Google has its own Lighthouse service. At the moment, the current version is v8, but some Google documentation already mentions the ninth version. While Lighthouse defines metrics like performance, accessibility, SEO, best practices, PWA, performance is where the most contentious issues arise.

The performance by itself is determined by several sub-metrics – TBT (Total blocking time), LCP (Largest contentful paint), CLS (Cumulative layout shift), TTI (Time to interactive), FCP (First contentful paint), Speed index. I’m listing them in order of performance impact. We will practically not talk about the Speed index, including Speed Index Lighthouse, since this is a very difficult metric to understand and change on the part of a programmer.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdWNDIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--dc89604f8e2438f1248a403dae4b627955192eb1/unnamed.png" alt="speed index metrics" width="883" height="402">
Lighthouse has two verification options: for desktop and mobile devices. During testing on mobile devices, performance metrics will always be lower. Let's be honest, we are looking for information using our phones more and more often. So you can't just ignore that fact. Your application should run fast enough on any device.
There is another metric that we have not mentioned yet, but it is extremely important. This is the time to the first bit (Time To First Byte – TTFB). TTFB measures the duration between an HTTP request and the beginning of the server's response. Back-end specialists have more opportunities to influence it. However, frontenders can at least avoid requesting unnecessary data, which is especially true if you are using GraphQL.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdWtDIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--12b50a2a43a0c04bc83e94de3459ddff376ab10a/unnamed%20(2).png" alt="Time To First Byte description" width="891" height="280">

Lighthouse Performance

This is the time between the first rendering of site content and the moment your application becomes fully interactive. And, no… Your application does not immediately become interactive as soon as you see its first elements. There is a short period when the main thread is blocked and does not respond to any user reactions. How long it will be blocked, entirely is up to you. Each time the main thread encounters a task that takes over 50 milliseconds, that task is automatically considered as too long and the thread is considered as blocked. Fortunately, TBT takes into account only the time greater than 50ms. So, if you have a long-lasting task that takes 53 ms, then TBT will be only 3 ms. But if there are several tasks like this, the extra execution time will be summed up.

Total Blocking Time <300ms for mobile devices

This is the time on the scale between the first rendering of content and the so-called “quiet window” of 5 seconds. This is the 5 seconds when there are no long-lasting tasks for execution. Server rendering can cause a page to look interactive but it's not actually interactive due to blocking the main thread. Hereby, you see the button, but nothing happens when you click it. It infuriates users, as Google informs that your site is slow. It can lead to unexpected page jumps, so don't be surprised if you don't rank on the first page.

<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdW9DIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--7aff266fa51783ebde738f39d89c83e20826ba56/unnamed%20(3).png" alt="Time to interactive metric" width="894" height="507">
<h2><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdXNDIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--09bc2982c3bc0a9123b6bc0ec86e6812cef8d9a1/unnamed%20(4).png" alt="Time to interactive metric" width="892" height="237"></h2>

Time to interactive <5s

As you can see, these indicators are interconnected. Therefore, you can optimize the application for both at once.&nbsp;

<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You should reduce the impact of libraries that are being loaded and processed at that time. For example, Google Analytics. It is often forgotten to turn it off when the business no longer needs it.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">All blocks that do not have the highest priority for the user, and are not on the first screen, can be loaded dynamically via lazy loading, as well as imported dynamically.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Minimize the duration of the main thread. If you have a lot of different animation – you should not place them on a large number of layers. In order for your browser to understand at all that you want to animate some elements, you should add the will-change CSS property to them. The browser will already notice that this is an animation, but it will be easier for it to find such elements, which will speed up loading. Don't forget to use debounce for your event handlers. Styling inputs inside event handlers also loads the main thread very heavily. Try not to do it.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Decrease the Javascript timeout so that it takes less than 2 seconds. This is easy to do by avoiding unnecessary renderers. Try to keep your event handlers as simple as possible. For example, don't write inside the if-else handler, use different handlers for different conditions inside the if-else. Split your code and try to diminish the bundle size.</li>
</ul>

How to optimize TTI and TBT

The first thing a user sees on a page when it loads. According to Lighthouse, it can be any image, not a white &lt;canvas&gt;, as well as SVG elements on the page. The important thing is that everything inside the iframe is not counted. It's also text, and therefore fonts, so make sure they're displayed. Add a property font-display: swap; to your @font-face. This is the fastest way to resolve the issue.

First Contentful Paint <3s

This is the largest element in the viewport. Usually, people are used to thinking that this is an image because often the biggest element on the first screen is the cover image or image slider, but this is not always the case. For example, this is the h1 heading on <a href="https://fasterthanlight.me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our website</a>.

<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdXdDIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--ae9464e13b221baefda2ba3749d54a02fac17aa5/unnamed%20(5).png" alt="Faster Than Light website" width="894" height="856">
LCP can be:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">&lt;img&gt; elements, including Next.js &lt;Image&gt;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Block element with text. Text can be not only symbols but also any inline elements, for example, emojis.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">&lt;image&gt; inside SVG – they should be large enough and it is better not to do this at all, but as an option – it is possible.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">background-image inside CSS, which is specified via url(“ “) </li>
</ul>
They all can be optimized to increase Next.js performance.&nbsp;
<h4>How to improve the LCP performance</h4>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Upload the main image in advance</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Optimize all your images (tinyPNG, SVGOMG, etc.)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Optimize fonts</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Optimize CSS</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Optimize Javascript on the client.&nbsp; </li>
</ul>
Use these best practices (as well as Next.js best practices) to improve your performance.&nbsp;

Largest Contentful Paint <2.5s

Have you ever visited a site, clicked on any button or product, and as a result, another element appeared on the top? And it turns out that you clicked on a completely different block or even on an advertising banner? Users do not like this and Google, accordingly, too. Block size jumps like this increase the value of the CLS factor, which is bad for performance.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://home.fasterthanlight.me/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBdTBDIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--8435fc27072b835a7f3ec6243ec9e4e9ae28cec8/unnamed%20(7).png" alt="cumulative layout shift" width="889" height="398">
<h4>How to avoid and reduce the CLS:</h4>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Reserve space and set a fixed height for blocks that will be loaded dynamically. Or you can use skeleton to improve your UX even more.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Track which device the user came from to show him the correct blocks of the correct size right away. You can do this in native ways with cookies, or you can use ready libraries.</li>
</ul>

Cumulative Layout Shift <0.25

The easiest way is to read carefully the Next.js documentation, which developers update periodically. There you can find out that:

<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">By adding the "priority" property to the next &lt;Image/&gt; you can improve the value of the LCP</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">All links in next.js have prefetch=true by default. Thus, next trying to preload information for pages on the links. But it takes time and resources. Set prefetch=false to at least those links that users rarely click on, such as the privacy policy.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You can change the script loading order for the &lt;Script/&gt; component yourself using the strategy property. It can take the values beforeInteractive (for bot detectors, cookies confirmation), afterInteractive (tag managers, Google Analytics), lazyOnLoad (social media widgets, chats support).</li>
</ul>
This will help you improve next.js performance, too.

Let’s hack it: Use documentation to help

Next.js bundle analyzers make it easier to keep track of the bundle size, so use these several tools:
<ul><li>Import Cost is an extension for VS Code that tells you how much each imported element takes.
</li><li><a href="https://packagephobia.com/">Package Phobia/Bundle Phobia</a> are services that will show how much your library has, what libraries it pulls along with it, and also what other analogues you can use.&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://github.com/vercel/next.js/tree/canary/packages/next-bundle-analyzer">Webpack Bundle Analyzer</a> is a webpack plugin, which visualizes the look of your bundle, showing its structure. A tutorial on how to use it can be found here.</li></ul>

Bundle master

There is such an interesting feature in Next.js as shallow routing. This is one of the options you may see when using router.push or router.replace. The default is false. But if set to true, then the whole page will not be reloaded when the URL changes and getServerSideProps will not work and will not load new data again. Be careful, the rerender may not be noticeable in local development, but it will definitely show up in production. If you're using filters based on URL query parameters, it's better to track that the URL has changed and load the data in useEffect again just for the desired block.

Shallow Routing

Use SWR to load data on the client instead of useEffect. It was specially created by Next.js. It automatically caches and revalidates data, and also allows you to request data from the server at regular intervals.

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