Are you wondering how to choose the best IoT app development company for your project? Our award-winning team consists of top IoT developers and has a strong background in developing big-league, complex BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) applications. Read our clients’ reviews, view examples of our IoT projects, and ask us questions to find out if we are the IoT (Internet of Things) app development company you are looking for.
Understanding the high-level demands and expectations of growing companies, we have spent 12 years meticulously developing and refining a process, that guarantees the delivery of top-tier application solutions.
Our unique method engages a team of experts, dedicated to achieving your objectives with the utmost efficiency.
As our client, you will have real-time access to project progress, budget management, and goal status, ensuring full transparency and control at every step.
We called this solution "TAP".
Read MoreWe monitor progress, overcome obstacles, find better solutions, and prioritize delivering value, while equipping you with the necessary tools to track progress.
By prioritizing the goal, we ensure the product meets both user and business expectations within budget, allocating funds only towards relevant features that provide tangible benefits
Our continuous automation of repetitive processes and use of intelligent tools in product development enable us to deliver within a short timeframe and increase the time to value ratio
Working with the Droids On Roids team was an exceptional treat. Their meticulous attention to detail and clarity around communicating roadblocks and deadlines is unparalleled in software consulting. Anytime the developers had problems, they were quick to let us know. That’s great because it keeps them able to move forward.
The quality of the developers Droids On Roids has is super high. I think they were some of the best that I’ve come across. The app that we shipped is solid and looks great.
We especially value Droids On Roids for their responsiveness, smooth communication, and really Agile approach – they reacted quickly to our guidelines, which were ever evolving during the development. The quality’s extremely high. The team really took the project on as their own.
The last, but not least asset of our partner was their transparency – we knew exactly how much the team works and what we were paying for. I totally recommend Droids On Roids as a partner.
If you are looking for a long-term partner who takes the whole IoT app development process off your shoulders – you are in the right place. We are Droids On Roids – a mobile & web development company from Poland (est. 2011) offering full-stack mobile, web, and backend services.
Being a 100% office-based team of 45+ talented professionals, we serve clients throughout the world, mostly in the US and the UK. We completed over 130 projects – here you can see our works. One of our key specializations is mobile app development for the Internet of Things.
Our services include native iOS development, native Android development, Flutter app development, React Native app development, frontend & backend web development, Product Design Workshop, UX/UI design, and app maintenance. Among our clients are start-ups and global brands, moreover, companies like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Bitrise use our Open Source libraries.
If you choose Droids On Roids for your IoT app development:
That makes us the best Internet of Things app development company you can choose.
If you are not ready for your IoT app development, we can start our cooperation with the Product Design Workshop which will help us to clarify the business vision of your product. The workshop lets us be clear about your business goals, technical requirements, and the development approach.
Based on what we work out during the workshop, we create wireframes to lay the structure of your application out, and we prepare a detailed estimation with a split for each platform and user story. What is more, you get the complete documentation necessary to start your mobile app development for the Internet of Things.
If you already have the complete documentation, don’t hesitate to estimate your project.
Try us for 2 weeks, retaining the rights to your code if you cancel the partnership
Receive your first working demo within 7 days of the project kick-off
You are the owner of Intellectual Property rights at all times
Be in a direct contact with each member of your dedicated development team
Our certified Scrum Masters ensure the efficiency of the team’s work
Set your project live when expected, and within your estimated budget
We use the best practices to ensure high-level security for your app and its users’ data
You will be able to examine and organize your data with the goal of better serving your customers
We will make sure your app is fully GDPR Compliant, so you won’t have to worry about it
You get all the features you need to manage your app easily
Your app will have everything you need to make your customers happy and engaged
The app will show what’s essential with a modern and user-friendly interface
Receive your first working demo within 7 days from the project kick-off
Bring your ideas to life using the fast and reliable Swift language developed by Apple
Delight customers with a secure, yet user-friendly app built in Kotlin - Google's preferred language
Reach broader audience with fast and user-friendly app built in Flutter and Dart
Smash your KPIs with our agile and proactive approach to web app development
Focus on product design and UX / UI to launch beautifully designed apps
Evolve your Custom Mobile App idea using our Product Design Workshop
What’s the simple definition of the Internet of Things? The Internet of Things (IoT) is a broad term that includes many types of devices. One way to define it would be as a worldwide network of an ever-growing number of electronic devices connected to the Internet.
In its essence, the Internet of Things consists of many interconnected devices that gather and exchange data between each other. These days, virtually anything can be made into an IoT-enabled device.
Today (July 2020), IoT is a massive industry with 50 billion connected devices generating 4.4 zettabytes of data.
IoT ranges in complexity from autonomous vehicles to simple, sensor-based utility devices that collect data in our buildings. IoT can make use of artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning to streamline the data gathering processes.
From the perspective of users, IoT means interacting with a global network without using any input devices like keyboards or touch screens. Many of our everyday objects and home appliances can now connect to that network with minimal effort.
When talking about IoT, we can distinguish three main types of IoT devices:
Each of these IoT devices comes with its own IP address, and can communicate with an external, centralized data storage via a safe Internet connection.
An IoT network is made of devices that gather data using various sensors, from complex systems we find in autonomous vehicles, to simple sensors that monitor the temperature in office buildings. IoT also includes personal fitness devices like step trackers or heart rate monitors.
Sensors collect data by transferring it to a remote location where a machine is waiting to process and analyze it. This data transfer can be done wirelessly, via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), or using wired networks. Devices can send data via the Internet to a data center or cloud storage with a solution that has the computing power required to process it.
To unlock the value from data, the device collects, processes, filters, and analyzes it. Note that data itself can vary in complexity, from a simple temperature monitoring sensor to the complex full video feed.
This data can help machines to learn user preferences and adjust their work accordingly. This is what makes IoT devices “smart” – they can collect data from their surroundings and use it to change how they work using technologies like Machine Learning.
Most of the time, data processing takes place in data centers. But that’s not always possible due to larger latencies. Critical use cases like shutoffs in industrial settings or autonomous vehicles, make the delay of sending data from the device to a remote data center problematic.
It might render the system unusable or become a security threat. In such cases, local computing can help – this is where smart devices can aggregate data, analyze it, and then create demanded responses if necessary, all within close-to-real-time.
Data processing can also take place in physically connected edge devices that have upstream connectivity for sending data to be processed, stored, and analyzed further.
In the IoT world, you might also come across M2M communication. The machines created by the same manufacturer are often programmed to be able to seamlessly communicate with one another – for example, within a single household. This can greatly improve the performance of the whole system and contribute to its security. Users can set the devices up, give them instructions, or access the data – otherwise, the devices do most of the work on their own.
An IoT system requires many different components to work seamlessly together and deliver the functionalities for which it was designed. Here’s a list of the most important IoT components:
If you’re wondering what kinds of objects can be transformed into an IoT device, here’s some good news. Practically anything can be connected to the internet to transmit information and allow control.
For example, a light bulb that you switch on using a smartphone app is an IoT device. So is a smart thermostat at your office or a streetlight equipped with a motion sensor. An IoT device could be anything from a child’s toy to a driverless truck.
A popular type of IoT are smartwatches, fitness bands, and other wearable devices. It’s also possible to fill larger objects with multiple smaller IoT components – for example, a jet engine that includes thousands of sensors, which collect and transmit data to ensure its efficient operation.
Moreover, smart city projects are often based on filling entire buildings or regions with sensors that allow understanding and controlling the environment better.
Why wouldn’t we call a PC or smartphone an IoT device? After all, they can both transmit data and are often filled with various sensors. However, the term IoT is used primarily for devices that wouldn’t usually be connected to the internet or be able to communicate with the network independently of human action.
Here are three examples of IoT devices:
This smart device allows users to access features like media, alarms, lights, thermostats, volume control, and many more functions just by using their voice. Users can control their Tv, speakers, and other devices at their homes using this smart voice assistant. Read also: 7 ideas for growing your business with Google Assistant.
Philips Hue is a widespread IoT device for building personal wireless lighting systems that allow controlling light and creating the best ambiance for a given moment. Users can synchronize the system with music, set light schedules, and benefit from comfort dimming.
This handy device measures indoor pollution and helps to improve the air quality in houses, workplaces, and indoor public spaces. It not only cleans the air but also keeps the right levels of humidity and temperature.
How to develop an IoT app? Development teams responsible for building an IoT mobile application usually follow this sequence of steps designed to eliminate errors and accelerate the development process.
Before building an IoT app, you need to consider a few things first:
Before starting a time-consuming and expensive development process, you need to have a clear idea about the app you want to build. Decide on elements such as industry requirements, key functionalities, access modes, alerts and notifications, and user dashboards. To achieve the best results and eliminate issues before they become big problems, develop a prototype or Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and test it with users to see what they think before building the full version of your product.
Depending on the industry, you might have to dedicate more or less time to choose the right hardware for your IoT implementations. Devices intended for IoT usage have a few key features in common such as low power consumption, wireless data transmission, and embedded operating system (OS). Naturally, the best way to do this is by hiring an expert who will help you to navigate between various choices of IoT hardware.
For your IoT system to work smoothly, you need to find the right centralized data storage. This is where you’ll be collecting, processing, and analyzing data. Cloud-based platforms are a great fit here because they enable data transmission even if the connection isn’t that great.
Global IT companies offer several solutions to help in IoT development:
Amazon Web Services provides a wide range of services that include file hosting, cloud computing, and excellent security.
Azure IoT Suite is another helpful tool that enables developers to integrate the collected information with the devices and offers a robust cloud architecture for handling great volumes of data.
Oracle IoT, one of the leading software solutions for creating IoT applications, offers features such as device virtualization, fast data exchange, convenient management, Rest API support, and more.
At this point, you’re ready to start the development work. When building IoT solutions, teams usually start with backend development. The main goal at the beginning is creating an optimized algorithm that solves routine tasks, as well as all of the key features of your app. Next, it’s time to focus on frontend development and build an attractive and functional user interface (UI) for your end-users to enable interaction. Build an intuitive interface with easy navigation to boost the popularity of your app.
It’s smart to engage Quality Assurance specialists already at the stage of developing the application. However, once your app is ready, you can also show it to a selected group of beta testers who will verify that everything works. The feedback of these users is critical to the success of your app – it will give you an opportunity to implement changes and improve your product before the official launch.
Risk management is a vital part of developing IoT solutions. Here are some of the dangers and risk factors you should consider before launching an IoT app development project.
Companies are often unprepared for risks created by unique vulnerabilities in IoT applications. In many cases, IoT apps are harder to secure than mobile apps, and the focus on agile software development makes these apps more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
At the same time, they have access to personal user data like name, date of birth, card information, and more, which is sometimes saved without any solid encryption. This is a threat to the privacy and security of users.
Imagine this scenario: a health monitoring app with access to data about a user’s illness history contains a vulnerability that causes a data leak, and the information is traced back to this user.
If your IoT app includes sensitive data, ensure that encryption and secure coding are integrated into your development process.
Other security challenges include:
Another obstacle is access to a good internet connection. In our digital world, there are still some places where good internet throughput is not available. The more IoT devices in one place, the more internet bandwidth they will use. Poor connectivity often results in monitoring and tracking issues.
Another common problem in IoT development has to do with data collection and processing pipeline. Because virtually any IoT application involves a significant quantity of data, its collection and processing pose some challenges for system engineers.
Teams need to plan well and establish how data will be gathered, saved, or processed within an environment. To accomplish that, you need data science professionals, analytics designers, and Machine Learning experts.
Another key problem in the introduction of IoT is the integration of multiple types of devices. The reason behind this issue is that device manufacturers haven’t reached a consensus regarding communication protocols and standards.
Every manufacturer creates its own separate ecosystem of IoT devices that don’t work with the devices and applications of competing manufacturers. In such a situation, there are no synchronous protocol developers could follow for data aggregation and communication. The non-uniformity slows down the process of adoption and reduces the potential scalability of IoT in sectors such as healthcare. To synchronize two different systems, clients need a tailored solution.
To reduce the chances of potentially harmful security threats, a multi-layered security approach is recommended for IoT application development. It’s best to assume that security breaks can happen anytime, so it’s important that you arm yourself with a plan to secure your data.
IoT provides many benefits to both business and individual consumers. By connecting devices embedded in larger systems to the internet, IoT allows these devices to capture data from any place and be controlled from any endpoint. This opens the doors to greater performance and efficiency of businesses, and better service delivered to customers.
IoT is set to bring significant benefits to the utilities industry, manufacturing, oil and gas, entertainment, retails, and many others. In its essence, the data generated by IoT implementation will help business leaders in these sectors to understand their processes better and make more informed decisions.
But this is just the tip of the icebergs.
Other benefits of IoT include cost savings, greater process efficiency, and enhanced asset utilization. By tracking devices with the help of sensors, companies can access insights from real-time analytics to make smarter decisions. This is how IoT creates new opportunities for consumers, businesses, and entire industries.
How large is the market value of IoT, and what volume is it going to reach in the near future?
The use of smart devices has increased across different sectors like transportation, hospitality, healthcare, and education. The rise of IoT is accelerated by the unique benefits it brings to businesses.
The use of smart devices helps to increase the productivity level of organizations in many different ways. IoT allows the monitoring and control of the different processes for optimizing operations and increasing team efficiency. For example, in the context of manufacturing, IoT can help in managing resources and real-time monitoring of different production stages.
By collecting massive amounts of data, IoT solutions give businesses the opportunity to examine recurring patterns and contribute to predictive analytics solutions. The insights they generate can then be used in the preventive maintenance of manufacturing machines and increasing the level of service delivered.
IoT is all about a rapid, near real-time response. The previously collected data allows companies to monitor systems in real-time and remotely. IoT facilitates the optimization of maintenance processes and decision making, offering companies a strategic advantage in monitoring anything from device operation to customer behaviors and market trends.
Real-time monitoring also reduces the associated risk with regular business operations and routine activities. For example, IoT dashboards help to keep the operation of machinery safe by informing the staff about anomalies through alert systems and digital panic buttons. The technology also identifies when machines or operators might be in danger.
IoT provides businesses with the ability to collect data from the network and use advanced analytics to uncover business insights, identify customer segments, and reduce operational cost.
For example, a company can select a sampling of data about its top customers and then break down the data that can be collected about them to create an initial baseline. The company can learn how customers are requesting services and what the typical response is.
This opens the door to optimizing the process and processing requests faster. By harnessing IoT data, you can create new opportunities and discover market niches.
IoT helps to reduce the costs of market research, as well as the expenses originating in human errors. Thanks to the complementary nature of technologies such as AI, IoT makes it possible to reduce the number of human-made errors to a minimum during mundane or repetitive tasks.
An IoT system can be put in place to discover and automatically report on process abnormalities, lowering the cost of labor and maintenance time.
Leading companies are using IoT to fine-tune their services and products. The customers might need a product or service, but if the flow of information is poorly tuned, you will never learn about their requirements. IoT offers you the opportunity to identify gaps or interruptions of data relative to the process in which your customer is engaged.
The Internet of Things (IoT) comes with a wide range of benefits for organizations that decide to invest in a system of connected devices.
IoT helps organizations in carrying out tasks at improved efficiency, leading to significant cost savings. The IoT devices and apps help companies to monitor equipment, minimize downtime, and eliminate risk. Remote control or predicting future system failures are also possible thanks to IoT.
Successful businesses know how to map their product and service offerings to the constantly evolving customer demands. With the help of IoT, companies can collect even more relevant data for analysis. This data is a valuable resource for learning more about customer preferences to develop successful applications and products.
By adopting the latest trends in software development such as IoT, organizations get access to real-time data about their assets, employees, and customers. IoT applications development also helps to streamline processes through automation, inform employees about expected technical disruptions, support remote troubleshooting procedures, and fix errors in work stations.
IoT applications can help consumers in carrying out many different tasks, from paying for products with mobile card readers to navigating a shopping mall using an IoT-enabled app that connects with sensors. This is how businesses can streamline the customer experience and lead their target audiences down the sales funnel to conversion. Moreover, IoT technologies such as smart grid technologies and smart meters help users to identify and resolve problems.
IoT also plays an increasingly important role in workplace safety and security. Many devices connected to such applications include embedded sensors and wearables that help workers who work in high-risk environments. Such implementations also allow companies to monitor real-time data to identify potential threats before they emerge.
Since IoT implementations embed multiple devices and applications in a single system, they pose new requirements to development teams. Mobile devices with IoT functionalities allow users to complete novel actions such as switching the lights on or checking their security cameras.
So how has the process of building apps for IoT purposes affect mobile developers?
Development teams usually focus on creating apps that are functional, high-performing, bug-free, and user-friendly. However, IoT poses new requirements in mobile app development:
The Internet of Things includes protocols that we can divide into two basic types: IoT Network Protocols and IoT Data Protocols.
Here’s a list of the major IoT connectivity standards and protocols:
The primary function of an IoT platform is acting as middleware or plumbing that connects devices or applications to the other end. IoT includes a mixture of functionalities like sensors and controllers, a gateway device, communication network, data analyzing and translating software, and an end application service.
IoT cloud platforms handle massive data volumes from devices, customers, applications, websites, and sensors – and take action for a near-real-time response.
How to select the best Internet of Things platform? This depends on your requirements for physical hardware, real-time processing capabilities, custom reports and analysis, budget, development skills required for system creation and maintenance, and your business model.
Here’s a comparison of the most popular platforms to help you choose the best solution.
IoT is predicted to become a key technology trend across many industries, vertical, and platforms, connecting devices ranging from wearable fitness trackers to trucks or smart farms. According to Statista, by the end of 2020, there will be over 30.73 billion IoT devices around the world. What’s in store for IoT in the near future? Here are some key directions in which IoT is going to develop.
5G is a groundbreaking technology that will allow users to download an HD-quality movie to their device in just a few seconds. The mobile network combines speed with low latency and broad coverage. Experts predict that it’s thanks to 5G that will make fully-autonomous vehicles more realistic. The deployment of 5G will expand the IoT networks as well, allowing companies to control even more devices remotely through applications. Healthcare is set to benefit most from this next-generation mobile network, with 73% of executives working in healthcare expecting to offer new services and products thanks to 5G.
The growth of IoT devices transmitting data in real-time will require more computing power than available today. This is where edge computing comes in. Edge computing is expected to bring computations and data closer to the device to avoid latency issues, which today affect application performance so much. This is going to make a real difference, especially for real-time data. Edge computing will also help to lower the bandwidth costs for IoT data that will travel very long distances.
The fields of IoT and augmented reality (AR) are becoming increasingly connected. While the former fills a gap between physical assets and digital infrastructure, AR brings the digital elements to life. The combination of IoT and AR could help employees in sectors such as retail. For example, a handheld AR device could identify the data that should be displayed to employees, and IoT sensors could be used to measure and transmit this data (for instance, temperature). The mix of these technologies will be used in the future for maintaining equipment in distant locations or in hazardous conditions.
Digital Twin is a digital copy of a physical device, bridging the gap between the physical and virtual worlds. The constant transmission of data allows both of these entities to work at the same time. The primary advantage of this technology is that it solves a significant risk present in IoT implementations – security. A digital model built with the help of specialized platforms can auto-update IoT devices remotely and grant full control over devices, shutting them off remotely whenever they suspect an attack.
In the near future, IoT is going to begin transitioning from consumer to industry (IIoT) sectors. Industries that are expected to take the most advantage of the Internet of Things are healthcare, retail, agriculture, and household technologies.
For example, in healthcare IoT devices could help doctors to keep track of their patients’ conditions remotely or hospitals to monitor the work of employees and the condition of medical equipment.