App Developer Challenges: Writing Helpful Bot Dialogue

The chatbot trend has been burning for a while now, and one of the biggest challenges facing app developers who jump into the fray isn’t entirely a question or programming. Instead, it’s a question of writing. Dialogue isn’t simple, and the trope of the anti-social hoodie-and-flip-flops San Francisco app developer doesn’t exactly lend itself to […]
The NYPD Just Got Smartphones: Not the Brand You’d Expect

The Windows Phone accounts for less than 1% of the US smartphone market. That might seem like a death sentence for app developers on the platform, but it has a ring of opportunity for an unexpected group: namely, the New York Police Department. The department has been working directly with app developers in NYC to […]
Thanks to iOS10 Sticker Feature, Artists Are App Developers

Finally, the singularity NYC app developers has been waiting for has occurred: stickers in iMessage. Stickers have been the hot new thing in the messaging app craze ever since they made the jump from Asia-centric platforms like Line Friends and WeChat to mainstream western chat apps like Facebook Messenger. Much like Line, iMessage opens their […]
Investors Vote with Their Wallets for Messaging App Startups

Messaging was a theme for the past three years of mobile app development, even before bots came into the picture. While SMS has long been scheduled to go the way of the dinosaurs, the ecosystem has gotten more complex rather than more streamlined. Between Slack, Messenger, Google Hangouts, and dozens more, group messaging is one […]
Mobile Tech for Elderly Users Is a Huge Startup Opportunity

If you’ve ever tried to walk your grandparents through the basics of using an iPad or iPhone, then you know getting elderly users is an uphill battle. Smartphones are simple to those of us who started using them as young people, but the basics of mobile app usage are as mysterious to older users as […]
What Are the Alternatives to SMS Codes for Digital Security?

Well, it’s happened — the hackers have gotten into the text messages. According to a new report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, SMS codes are no longer sufficiently safe for use in two-factor authentication. This is big news for web and app developers alike, as the symbiotic relationship between our phones and […]
Asian Chat Apps Suggest Mobile Environments Trump Interfaces

Line, a massively popular mobile messaging app from Japan, went public last week, jumping over 50% in it’s first day on the market. Mobile app developers are looking at the Asian messaging titans (Line and WeChat) with renewed curiosity and many questions. Are immersive, all-encompassing social messaging apps the future? In five years, will apps […]
Tech Company IPOs Are Rising to the Top Again

The recent Twilio IPO, on the eve of Brexit, has seemingly defined a bright new future for the tech IPO. While analysts continue to discuss whether it’ll steadily rise like Facebook or steadily descend like GoPro, the message to the mobile app development community is loud and clear: tech IPOs are hot again. Twilio doubled […]
Fintech company NextGenVest Helps Millennials Plan Expenses

The New York City mobile app developers at NextGenVest are out to solve a huge problem: the financial traps set for millennial students by predatory lenders and skyrocketing educational costs. To date, organizations aimed at helping students manage money better have failed — particularly when trying to profit in the process — because of the […]
Unmute Is an iPhone App Inspired by Old-School Phone Calls

If you’re old enough to remember getting landline calls from your high school date and having younger siblings listen in on the other line, you’ll have no trouble understanding what Unmute is all about. It’s just like that, but with anyone in the world listening in — instead of just your little sister. For teens […]