How to build a Blockchain App?
The increasing popularity of the Blockchain technology and huge impact is something to reckon with. Blockchain technology, after being introduced in the fin tech apps, continued to revolutionize several industries and business niches.
Today Blockchain is considered as a technology to help any business stay beyond the competitive curve by providing a safe haven for mission critical data, easily accessible data across multiple user interfaces without undermining the security and the advantages of tracing information of products in a supply chain in real time.
With such overwhelming benefits on offer, there can be hardly any wonder that the worldwide market of Blockchain is destined to touch $20 billion by 2024. Like every other era defining and innovative technology of our time, Blockchain has also made inroads into the mobile app development world. Now Blockchain powered apps are getting popular with several value propositions.
Here we are going to explain the key value propositions of Blockchain for mobile apps followed by considerations and examples corresponding to Blockchain app development and finally the steps for building a Blockchain app.
Blockchain for smooth and secure in-app purchases
In-app purchases are the bread earners for most app businesses. Most users just detest netbanking, credit cards, wallet apps and similar payment processing mechanisms because of the security concerns, charges and complexities. This is where Blockchain based in-app purchases offer a great solution.
The decentralized database of blockchain facilitating payment through digital currency can completely reduce the security concerns as Blockchain data is fully tamper-proof and can only be decrypted with mutual agreement. On the other hand, the payment processing charges will be reduced to minimum benefiting the developers and users.
Blockchain for optimum data security
Data security remains a big concern for most mobile apps. The instances of data breaches are too common these days and many apps are simply dumped by the users because of data security and privacy concerns. This is where Blockchain can provide a great answer.
- Blockchain database follows a “never delete and never overwrite” protocol meaning any effort to change can only be added as separate data entry while the previous data is kept as it is. This makes data tampering impossible.
- Blockchain database has a fully decentralised architecture allowing to save data in several segregated blocks instead of one centralised repository. This makes security breaches with data almost impossible.
- The third factor that makes Blockchain data truly secure is an advanced encryption technique for data. All Blockchain data is encrypted and stored using a cryptographic hashtag. This cryptographic code needs to be decoded using mutual permission for accessing data. This makes unsolicited data access really difficult.
Blockchain for unmatched data transparency
The decentralized database of Blockchain by maintaining all records in multitude of blocks in the public ledger, allows easy tracking of data whenever anyone needs to access. This data transparency facilitated by a mutually collaborative network of data nodes makes Blockchain so popular for mobile transactions and payment apps.
Blockchain for better in-app advertising strategy
Blockchain can really give a fresh energy to the in-app ads strategy of mobile apps. The ad agencies and the middlemen network in the business makes a significant portion of the ad revenue. Thanks to Blockchain, there can be direct deals with the advertisers and the app developers and this will help making a better in-app ads strategy and revenue generation.
Blockchain for smooth and transparent app approval process
Both Google Android Play Store and Apple iOS App Store take a considerable time in approving apps and often their approval process comes under questioning from the developers. With the use of Blockchain this approval process can be streamlined resulting in less time and more transparency.
Which industries should opt for Blockchain based apps?
Blockchain was first introduced as the technology behind the cryptocurrency Bitcoin and thereafter it was used by many other cryptocurrencies and fintech payment solutions. Soon, the promises of Blockchain technology were in full display through banking apps, enterprise software solutions, supply chain and logistic apps and practically any app that needs to handle a lot of mission critical data or transactions.
While fintech apps and mobile payment apps are likely to have the biggest claim on the technology, retail, e-commerce and supply chain logistics apps that need to handle a lot of transitioning data will also be hugely benefited from the transparency and real time data accessibility facilitated by Blockchain.
Some industries where tracking continuously changing price points and rates Play an important role for the customer’s buying decisions, Blockchain can play an important role. The financial investment or stockbroking apps and real estate apps will be benefited from the capability of Blockchain in tracking real time data.
Leading examples
What about having an understanding about how Blockchain works in practical fields? Well, let us cite here some examples across different industry niches.
- Spotify: This popular music app for handling its huge database of music tracks, publishers, artists and licensing information relies on Blockchain ledger.
- IBM Blockchain: This leading technology brand has come with its own Blockchain based supply chain management and logistics solution allowing transparent real time tracking of data about goods in transit or in warehouses.
- MedRec: This blockchain powered healthcare app allows patients, doctors and caregivers to access all medical records across different care provider facilities, hospitals, insurance companies and pharmacies and ensure streamlined decision making for better patient care.
There are hundreds of other Blockchain based apps across every niche with innovative utilisation of the technology for providing better customer experience, data security and privacy and easier real time access.
How to build a Blockchain mobile app?
Now that we have a clear idea about the key value propositions of Blockchain and how it benefits different industry niches, we will explain the steps in building Blockchain based apps.
Have a clear app idea and objective
You need to have a clear idea about the intended app and how it is going to work by utilising Blockchain technology. You should also know the value propositions of your app thanks to Blockchain. You need to have a clear idea about the user problems your app is going to solve and the role of Blockchain in the app solution.
Carry out deeper competitor research
Now list all the Blockchain based apps that are offering similar value propositions. Compare the pros and cons with that of your own app idea and accordingly consider extending or tweaking your original app idea.
Consider different options to integrate Blockchain
There are four different ways to incorporate the technology into the app. For understanding app development cost in 2021 involving Blockchain technology considering these different options can be helpful.
- You can choose the open blockchain such as Ethereum or Bitcoin and integrate these cryptocurrencies into the app.
- You can build a private Blockchain software powered network for the app.
- You can go for a BaaS (Blockchain as a Service) provider and incorporate different cloud services such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and others.
- Lastly, you can develop your own blockchain network and app on your preferred platform instead of relying on third-party solutions.
Select your suitable platform
When you have to choose a suitable platform for the blockchain app project, you have an array of options at your disposal. Here are a few of them.
- Ethereum: This platform offers a robust ecosystem based upon the Solidity programming language to build powerful Blockchain apps and smart contracts.
- Hyperledger: This platform is preferred by enterprise Blockchain apps who need to facilitate exchange of data internally within the company. The required programming language skills for building apps on this platform include Go, Java, and JavaScript.
- R3 Corda: For apps needing permissioned Blockchain across niches such as trade, ecommerce, fintech, healthcare, logistics and supply chain can go for this platform.
- Ripple: It is mostly preferred by fintech Blockchain endeavours for creating robust financial transaction and payment tools for sending and receiving money all over the globe.
Choose developers with right expertise
At the next step you need to decide the skill set and tech stack for the app development. It also depends upon your chosen platform. While some platforms allow developers using conventional languages such as Java, C++, JavaScript and Kotlin, some platforms may need more Blockchain specific languages such as Solidity and Simplicity.
Conclusion
While the general best development practices for Blockchain apps remain the same, the most important considerations are the choice of the platform, picking the right technology stack and embracing an incremental development approach such as MVP or Minimum Viable Product. By unrolling an app as MVP, you can easily make value additions based on user feedback.
