{"id":1655,"date":"2015-01-28T10:12:52","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T10:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gravityjack.com\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2023-11-30T10:13:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T10:13:21","slug":"apps-custom-software-staying-current-critical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gravityjack.com\/news\/apps-custom-software-staying-current-critical\/","title":{"rendered":"Apps & Custom Software: Why Staying Current Is Critical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Warning: This article contains opinionated statements, that may frustrate Bill Gates fan boys.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera\u2026Internet Explorer.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I could almost breakout in song. \u201cWhich of these things is not like the other\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you have great grandchildren or are completely ignorant to tech trends, you are probably familiar with the reputation that Internet Explorer has. Once the undisputed way to surf the net, good ol\u2019 IE is quickly becoming something that more closely resembles Netscape<\/a> than a browser that\u2019s legitimately competitive in today\u2019s landscape. (We wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the IE legacy dies with Spartan<\/a>?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it\u2019s not the most \u201chip\u201d browser. Can\u2019t they just rest in the assurance that it comes installed on one of the world\u2019s most well-known operating systems and be content in serving up aol.com email composing for grandparents for years to come? Not quite. The world of modern internet browsing isn\u2019t just a popularity competition \u2014 other factors can be critically detrimental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Google disowning you.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Google announced that it would (and it did) cease Google Apps support of Internet Explorer 8 (which only launched in 2009). Apps includes Google\u2019s flagship products: Gmail, Hangouts, Calendar, Google+, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, etc\u2026basically anything you want to do with your Google account, aside from searching for \u201cCat Memes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was followed shortly by Google cutting older IE support for their Analytics platform too. Then, as of an announcement at the end of 2014, they promptly did it again with IE9. \u201cBut there\u2019s a new version that they do support!\u201d you cry. Yes, but they aren\u2019t the only ones leading this charge. Microsoft itself has chosen to disown it\u2019s XP operating system. These major brands acknowledging what everyone else knows (and killing software support accordingly) is important and is a big time lesson to those of us in software design and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legacy OS & Browsers: Our Responsibility & What It Means for Clients<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you work with clients often, you\u2019ve likely heard something like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy app must be available to everyone! On every phone! On every platform! It must!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To those who don\u2019t work in an industry where platform and device support is a constant consideration, it makes perfect sense: If 10% of people download my project, then 10% of all available platforms<\/em> is going to be better than 10% of a few of them. It\u2019s an extremely high level point of view — and it\u2019s fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s when it comes to us. Being honest about the real costs and the realities of support is fair too. Custom software projects are, in their most simple form, investments. Like any other investments,there are good and there are bad. Just because investing in all the stocks<\/em> may garner a few profits come closing time, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s the best way to invest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

User Experience (UX) & The \u201cAndroid Complex\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whether you\u2019re #TeamiOS or #TeamAndroid — let\u2019s put down our \u201cfan boy\u201d hats for a moment and understand this purely from a conceptual standpoint: As you know, there are far more devices available that operate on Android\u2019s platform, than iOS. There are countless reasons for this, that include both pros and cons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put on your designer hat. Rational thought would explain that, as an app developer, the more devices, dimensions, platform versions, etc\u2026you choose to support, the harder it is (if we\u2019re truly honest) to maintain a controlled, beautiful, consistent and ideal user experience. Will the best user experience on a smaller Android device really translate to exactly how you would have designed the app for a much larger screen? Can the UX be good — even great? Sure! But, at the end of the day, not perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal for any software: Target your users\u2019 needs and provide the best possible experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stand with Savvy Support<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As we see major names like Google begin to cut support for legacy operating systems and browsers, it\u2019s our responsibility as software designers and developers (and often times the sole \u2018tech\u2019 experts for our clients) to be honest with our own support process too. Software support is a life cycle \u2014 and one that, if not respected, can cost our clients a lot of time and money \u2014 not to mention degrade the end user experience, as we\u2019ve discussed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Killing off support is a healthy part of the software process. It allows software to grow and improve over time, alongside hardware and UX improvements.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, there will be some cases where a client will require support for a specific (and potentially dated) system. This could be due to internal networking, corporate systems, etc\u2026but for the majority of public-facing projects it\u2019s important to encourage support that is current and forward-thinking. After all, what is \u201ccurrent\u201d today, is only going to be more dated tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But…but!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will clients potentially lose a few users who may not know how to update their OS, or do so for some self-righteous reason? (We\u2019ve all heard the \u201cI let them work the bugs out before I update\u201d guys.) Sure, but consider in how many cases the cost of adding that support will ever be recouped by the client from those few users. Rarely, if ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If our goal is to create amazing, functional software and meaningful trusting relationships with our clients<\/strong> — as their software experts, we have a responsibility to ask questions regarding support and lead them to this realization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Gravity Jack, we stand with the giants like Google and fully support the process of software phasing to ensure that current software provides the best possible user experience, at a cost and dedication level that works for our client and encourages trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to let us know your thoughts on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warning: This article contains opinionated statements, that may frustrate Bill Gates fan boys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nApps & Custom Software: Why Staying Current Is Critical - Gravity Jack<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gravityjack.com\/news\/apps-custom-software-staying-current-critical\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Apps & Custom Software: Why Staying Current Is Critical - 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