Mobile technologies have been evolving at a high pace over the last decade. Mobile network has seen growth from 1G to 4G. The fifth generation of wireless network, which is expected in next few years, promises great advantages such as increased data rates beyond 1Gbps and will provide higher broadband density with reduced latency. Computation capabilities of mobile devices are also increasing, along with the change in network infrastructure. New mobile devices are coming with more RAM, high resolution cameras, better processors and compact form factor.
The way applications are designed has a high impact on end user experience. Responsive design allows user interface to adjust itself as per form factor of device. A Progressive Web App (PWA) further extends the capability of responsive design and gives a local application experience with offline line capabilities using service workers. One of the disadvantages of PWA is that it cannot be deployed on Play Store. Trusted Web Activities (TWA) is a new way to integrate your web-app content such as your PWA with Android App. TWA allows deployment on Play Store in a simple way and is a latest offering from Google. Cross Platform Mobile Apps offer the feature of write once, run anywhere. Flutter is one of the emerging platforms for the development of hybrid Mobile Apps from Google.
This issue of Appscape covers some of the recently launched and popular Mobile Apps, which belong to different sectors such as Agriculture, Health, Governance & Administration and Rural Development. Custom Hiring Centers of Agriculture Machinery Mobile App helps farmers avail custom hiring services of Farm Machinery Banks, while e-BloodBank App provides information about blood stock availability. eVidhan App is meant for the empowerment of Members of the Legislature. SS Tank App helps monitor Summer Storage Tanks. Lok Kalyan Mitr App provides awareness on various social and public welfare schemes being run by the government. Traffic Management Himachal Pradesh App enables to control and manage vehicular traffic effectively and HP Circle Rates App provides information on Stamp Duty and Registration Fee Charges.