In 1959, the first-ever dating service- Happy Families Planning Services- was launched by Phil Fialer and Jim Harvey at Standford. It was a class project where a questionnaire was used to match 49 men and 49 women with an IBM 650- an early digital computer. That is how the concept of technology-based dating services began.

Later, in the year 1995, Match.com and Yid.com, the first modern dating websites were launched and since then, online dating services have evolved tremendously. As of now, about 8000 dating apps/websites exist on the web. And the latest online dating apps like Tinder and Bumble have broken all the records and have proved to be ground-breaking discoveries in this domain.

As reported by Statista, a popular online portal for statistics, Tinder has an audience size of 7.86 million and Bumble has around 5.03 million users.

These numbers are good indicators to recognize the potential of this domain. Owing to this, startups, and entrepreneurs across the globe are focusing on architecting such unique dating apps.

So, this blog is an attempt to provide a brief guide on dating app development for those looking to create a new-age dating app. Here, we will shed light on several parameters related to architecting dating apps. Let’s get started.

Major Types of Dating Apps

• Geographic Proximity Dating Apps: It enables users to find a match based on their geographic proximity, by selecting a radius up to which they want to see the profiles. Ex. Bumble
• Matching Algorithm-Based Dating Apps: The app algorithm compares different profiles of the users based on personal survey information and suggests matching profiles to them. Ex. eHarmony
• Niche Dating Mobile Apps: These are apps targeted to a specific niche or group of people. For instance, ‘The League’ only allows people with advanced education and careers for matchmaking. Likewise, ‘DateMyPet’ is another dating app exclusively meant for pet lovers.
• Traditional Dating Mobile Apps: These are like so-called ‘old-school’ dating apps, simply replicating the features of the web versions of the apps. Ex. OkCupid.

Key Features of New-age Online Dating Apps

Features are the most important attribute of a dating application and play a vital role in the success or failure of the app. So, here we have enlisted the top features that the dating app development services consider while creating such advanced apps. These features are broadly classified into two main categories: Features for the user panel and features for the admin panel. Let’s have a look at both of these categories.

Features for User Panel

• Registration and Login
• User Profile Creation
• Geo-location Feature
• Search Bar and Filters for matching
• Match-making based on Gender, Location, Age, etc.
• Send, Accept or Decline Requests
• Match Feed
• Real-time Chatting and Audio/Video Calling
• Alerts and Push Notifications
• Reporting and Blocking Users
• Social Media Integration
• Online as well as Offline Accessibility
• Settings
• Safety and Security
• Multiple Languages Support
• Flexible Payment Options
• Rewards/Loyalty Bonus/Discount Offers for Referring New Users

Features for Admin Panel

• Secure Login to Admin Dashboard
• Verification of User Profiles
• Managing Notifications
• Managing Menu/Screens/Pages
• Managing Users/Requests/Rewards
• Multiple Payment Gateway Integration and Currency Support
• Managing Membership Packages
• Managing Affiliate and Partnership Program
• Running Promotions/Offers/Discounts
• Managing SMS and Email marketing
• Viewing Reports and Data Analytics
• Tracking Revenue
• Content Modification using CMS

Monetization Strategies for Online Dating Mobile Apps

There is tough competition in this arena and the cost of developing a unique dating mobile app, too, is quite high. So, it is essential to apply some monetization strategies to generate revenue down the line. Let’s explore them.

Affiliate Marketing / Selling Advertisements:

Affiliate marketing i.e. in-app advertisements is one of the best practices to make money when there is a good amount of traffic on your website or app. It is a tried and tested technique in which you need to display ads of diverse brands and companies for promoting their products on your app, by using Google AdSense or directly from the companies. You can earn money when the users either view the ad, click on it, or buy some product through the ad.

Subscribing to Premium Plan:

This is one of the commonest monetization strategies being extensively used by most dating apps. By subscribing to monthly or yearly plans, the users can avail several premium features like removing ads, getting contact details of the matches, unlimited liking, swipes, and chatting, etc. options. For example, Tinder offers a premium plan i.e. a Plus Edition using which, the users can view users from other cities too and even change their location, they can undo their swipes done in the past, get unlimited likes, etc. Another app like OkCupid provides features like removing ads, matching with more number of users, receiving one boost every day, etc. in their Premium Offers

In-app Purchases:

This is another technique in which the users can buy something additional from the app, besides the free services. They can buy extra swipes, likes, stickers, emojis, etc. for instance. An app named ‘Badoo’ is a good example of in-app purchases. Users can get additional benefits like highlighting their messages, sending crush alerts, browsing anonymously, viewing who liked them, sending gifts, etc. in exchange for some money.

Rewarded Videos and Surveys:

Videos and surveys can be embedded in the app for the users to watch videos or take part in surveys so that they earn some coins to help them pay for their membership or even unlock in-app features.

Integrating eCommerce:

Users often wish to buy gifts for their partners, and so, they could buy from the app if eCommerce software is synched in the app. The only thing that needs to be assured is that eCommerce functionality should not affect your app’s working and ultimately the core aim of the dating app.

Cost Required for Dating App Development

The cost of mobile app development depends on the features to be embedded in the app, the technology stack, and the development strategy you choose. Besides, it also depends on whether you choose to develop a full-fledged app or go with an MVP model. An MVP model would cost $18,000 approximately. Also, we have calculated the approximate cost of creating a full-fledged dating app like Tinder or Bumble, as given below:

Native Android dating app: $25,000

Native iOS dating app: $25,000

Hybrid dating app: $45,000

So, here we come to the end of this blog, and hope it will be beneficial to you in your Dating app development journey!

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For a lot of people, Android is just a mobile operating system, just like they think for iOS. Being introduced to the world for the first time in 2008, Android has received constant updates pretty consistently, which is understandable, given the high levels of features and performance it brings for users.

However, the sheer size of the codebase is pretty difficult to maintain. This issue gets easily resolved with the help of React Native framework.

React Native- A Little Introduction

Originally a JavaScript framework, React Native enables the writing and native rendering of mobile apps for Android and iOS. Proper React Native app development has been on a constant rise since it was first introduced in 2015.

Apps on React Native are written by blending Javascript and XML, which is known as JSX. As a result, you get native apps that absolutely do not compromise the user experience as well. React Native also makes the lives of developers easy- allowing them to keep a single codebase.

As a framework too, React Native has elaborate documentation and a wide community which is a great step to start with.

How do React Native Apps Work?

There are three basic threads that govern the working of React Native apps-

The UI Thread

Debugging an application is the most essential part of the complete React Native development process before the application is pushed to the production phase. This is true for other technologies as well. Debugging involves thorough checking of the code and helps in the early detection of error conditions. Fixing these errors or bugs during the development process, instead of fixing them in the production stages can be highly economical for every React Native development company.  

So, how does the debugging take place in React Native? Well, thanks to the availability of a wide range of React Native debugging tools that help the developers debug their code efficiently in a short time.

This read is a brief guide for you, where we will be exploring the most popular React Native debugging tools used worldwide. So let’s quickly get started.

Most Efficient Debugging Tools for React Native Developers

Chrome DevTools

‘Chrome DevTools’ is usually the first name that comes to the mind of a React Native developer for debugging the code of an app. Being powered by JavaScript, this tool enables the debugging of both- web apps as well as mobile apps. The React Native framework supports this tool through its remote debugging abilities by default.

So how does this tool work?

When your React Native app is running on Android Emulator and you have to access the in-app developer menu, press ‘Cmd+M’ on Mac or ‘Ctrl+M’ on Windows. When the app runs on a real device, simply shake the device. Now, a menu will appear and you need to click on “Debug JS Remotely” to open the Google Chrome debugger. After this, press   ‘Command+Option+I’ on Mac or ‘Ctrl+Shift+I’ on Windows to open Developer Tools. You can now use console statements and debug the app. You may view your code by clicking on the Developer Tools Sources tab and open-sourcing the files. From here, you can add breakpoints and easily debug the app using the ‘Chrome DevTools’.

The Developer Menu

The developer menu comes with a plethora of options for the developers to do various things, as given below:

• Reloading option for reloading the app
• Enabling Hot Reloading for watching the changes accumulated in a changed file
• Debugging js remotely for opening a channel to a JS Debugger
• Enabling Live Reloading for allowing the app to automatically reload when the save button is clicked
• Toggle Inspector for toggling an inspector interface. It enables the developers to inspect a UI element present on the screen along with its properties. This interface has some other tabs too, which include a tab for performance and for networking that show us the HTTP calls

React Native Debugger

This is a stand-alone desktop application that works on Linux, Mac, and Windows and one of the most recommended debugging tools. It can be integrated with the other two tools- React’s Developer Tools and Redux DevTools, thus giving you the best of both tools. This combination doesn’t require any setup and can be installed quickly with ease. With this combination, react native developers can get some of the best features as below:

• Profiler: Identify performance issues by getting a flamegraph with components
• Elements: for examining the styles of the elements, editing them, and instantly viewing the results in the simulator
• Console: for examining different errors and warning messages
• Network: for checking and recording network requests
• Sources: for debugging JS, setting breakpoints, and walking through the code.
• Memory: for detecting any memory leaks

React Developer Tools

Due to the two reasons mentioned below, it is considered one of the best tools for debugging React Native.

1. This tool allows the debugging of React components.
2. Its new version also allows debugging styles in React Native and also works simultaneously in the developer menu with the inspector. In this version, the developers can debug and employ the style properties and without even reloading the app, they can instantly see the modifications implemented in the app.

So how to get started with this tool?

You need to use the desktop app for debugging React Native with this tool. It can be installed locally as well as globally in the project by using the below command- “yarn add react-devtools” or npm- “npm install react-devtools --save”

Now you can start the application by running the command- “yarn react-devtools” which will launch your application.

Reactotron

This open-source desktop app was designed in 2016 by Infinite Red. This tool enables the inspecting of the apps quite effortlessly. It is available for various operating systems like Linux, Mac, and Windows. It offers amazing features like:

• state tab
• React Native tab
• timeline tab for tracking app events and Redux actions
• connections for running several devices simultaneously and quickly switching debugging

Redux DevTools

Redux DevTools is also a standalone tool and a state container for JS applications. It is meant for both- React Native and React JS. It is used for common state management and allows easy inspection between actions and their reflections on the data store. Redux DevTools allows using redux debug components directly into the applications. This tool comes with several useful features such as Chart, Slider, Inspector showing real-time actions, Dispatcher, State tab, Action tab, Diff tab, Log Monitor, Test tab, Export/import, etc. You can start using this tool by installing the Redux Devtools Extension to the firefox or chrome browser.

React Native CLI

This tool is majorly used for the development of React Native apps but also used as a debugging tool at times. React Native CLI helps to access some relevant information about the dependencies and libraries used in the app. This information can be then used for debugging some bugs that take place due to a mismatch of different versions of tools being used for your app development.

Nuclide

Nuclide is also an open-source tool and comes with the support of a strong community. It can be added as a plug-in on top of Atom- a renowned IDE built by Facebook. It offers some outstanding features like auto-complete, jump-to-definition, inline errors, etc. Also, it provides services like Hack development, Remote, and JavaScript development, working sets, built-in debugging, task runner, mercurial support, etc.

So, our blog comes to an end with this.

Final Verdict:

Apart from the tools mentioned above, there are several other React Native debugging tools like Flow, Expo, Ignite, Visual Studio Code, etc. that can be considered by the React Native development services for their projects. It depends on what tool seems right for your project requirement, what your budget and time considerations are, and what your developers are convenient with. You may even go with a combination of some of these tools. And last but not the least, hiring skilled and experienced React Native developers also impacts the debugging process.

We hope this read was insightful!

Do share your knowledge and experiences about other React Native Developer Tools in the comments section.

Here is a detailed list of the top-notch React Native developer tools widely used for serving various purposes like development, debugging, testing, etc. in the React Native development process.

Also, here are some of the UI component libraries used in React Native for building world-class apps.

“Have you thought of a sensational app idea, but unable to decide the right software development framework for it?” Well, this is a common issue faced by several app creators and even businesses planning to build cross-platform applications, as there are a host of outstanding frameworks to choose from.

As per the latest trends, the leading cross-platform app development frameworks are React Native and Flutter. Facebook, Bloomberg, Instagram, Myntra, Pinterest, Office365 apps, etc. are products of React Native app development while Google Ads, Alibaba, Hamilton Musical, Coach Yourself, etc. are products of Flutter app development.  Both of these frameworks are loaded with several goodies. Hence, a thorough comparative analysis of these frameworks is necessary before choosing any of these.

My article compares Flutter and React Native, weighing their upsides and downsides. Reading this article will guide you through selecting the right app development framework to shape your app idea.

React Native vs Flutter: Faceoff          

React Native, introduced by Facebook in 2015, is an open-source app development framework targeting the Web, iOS, Android, and UWP.

Google’s brainchild, Flutter came into being in 2017. It is an open-source UI toolkit for developing apps for iOS, Android, Windows, Google Fuchsia, Linux, Mac, and the web.

Let’s compare them based on the following parameters.

Programming languages used

React Native is based on JavaScript, a popular programming language. The good news is that most professional developers have experience in working with JavaScript, and so a React Native app development company can easily find the required expertise.

Flutter uses Dart, a new programming language coined by Google that is not known to many developers. However, Dart is easy to master as it enables faster compiling of the native code and allows easy customization of widgets. But, one of its major downsides is that Dart skills cannot be used for non-flutter projects.

Inference: Although Dart is developer-friendly and has an easy learning curve, React Native is preferred owing to the huge resource availability for JavaScript. However, it is advisable to try Flutter, if your development team lacks prior technical experience.

UI and UX

React Native offers the following benefits regarding the UI and UX:

• The users experience a nearly-native look and feel as the widgets and buttons appear in the form of native components. As such, even Hybrid Android and iOS apps built in React Native provide a native app experience.
• Whenever the UI of the Operating System is updated; the app components get updated simultaneously.
• The React Native Developers can choose from a wide variety of external UI kits like React Native Elements, React Native Material Kit, Native Base, etc. UI kits offered by React Native are far more in number than Flutter.
• React Native provides good support to the style components of iOS.

Flutter offers the following features for User Interface.

• Flutter uses the proprietary interactive, platform, and visual widgets that are nothing but built-in UI components. These built-in components replace native components.
• Owing to its layered architecture there is good UI flexibility. It simplifies as well as fastens the processes of rendering graphics and customizing the widgets.
• Flutter’s widgets namely Cupertino and material design allow the developers to copy platform-specific native components.
• The pixel rendering feature in Flutter helps to manage each pixel on the screen. This makes the User Interface appear the same regardless of the device on which the app is installed, thereby minimizing support woes.

Inference: React Native delivers a nearly-native UX whereas Flutter provides more flexibility for creating the UI design.

Code Styling and Structure

Flutter app development eliminates the need to separate templates, data, style, etc. It allows developers to code anything from a single centralized location and gives access to all the necessary tools. But, as of now the code-sharing functionality has been implemented for Android and iOS apps only.

React Native has a more complicated code structure as compared to Flutter but employs third-party libraries to share the code across iOS, Android, Windows, and the web.

Inference: Despite Flutter’s simple and organized code structure, React Native is one step ahead as it provides more code-sharing options, enabling developers to focus on code creation without worrying about compatibility concerns.

Performance

React Native uses JavaScript for connecting with native components through a bridge whereas Flutter eliminates the need for a bridge for interacting with native components. This speeds up the developmental process.

While architecting hybrid apps with React Native, it becomes quite complex and challenging for React Native developers to run the libraries and native components without issues. Flutter contrarily eases out things for developers as the existing code can be reused effortlessly. Also, Flutter is supported by the C++ engine which ensures better performance in the end-product.

Unlike React Native, Flutter has been compiled into the native ARM code for iOS as well as Android, and so it never encounters any performance woes.

Inference: Flutter surpasses React Native in terms of performance.

Other differences

• React Native offers APIs that support Bluetooth, Geo-location, and other features. If there is a requirement for native interfaces like Wi-Fi, NFC payments, biometrics, etc., React Native is the right choice. But it lacks the tools required to customize the graphics. Flutter, apart from easily offering various APIs, makes use of the Skia Graphics Library that processes the graphics and loads apps faster.
• Owing to the ready-to-use components, React Native involves a speedier development cycle than Flutter.
• Flutter’s documentation is well-organized, detailed, and easy to understand while React Native’s documentation is a bit disorganized.
• Hot Reloading works much faster in Flutter than in React Native.
• Flutter, being a newbie lacks the strong community support that is enjoyed by React Native.
• React Native offers lesser testing tools and depends on third-party toolsets. Flutter, on the contrary, offers a rich toolset to test apps at the widget, unit, and integration levels.

Final Verdict

Both Flutter and React Native possess specific strengths and have some drawbacks too. Therefore, the choice of framework depends on your project requirement.

In case of any assistance, contact Biz4Solutions, a leading mobile app development company, offering React Native as well as Flutter app development services. Write to us at sales.enquiry@biz4solutions.com.

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One of the vital segments of the React Native development is the payment integration process and this blog is all about that. 

Well, making online payments through the web or mobile apps is a common practice today. As a result, millions of apps have the payment processing feature embedded in them. Various payment gateways are used for this purpose, like PayPal, Braintree, Stripe, Expo, RazorPay, AWS Amplify, etc. to name a few. Out of these, Stripe is one of the most widely used and fastest-growing gateways. It is also being extensively used in a diverse range of React Native apps and is a preferred choice of several React Native app development services worldwide.

So let us have a glimpse at what is Stripe, its working mechanism, and the step-by-step method to integrate it in the React Native applications.

What is Stripe?

As discussed earlier, Stripe is a popular payment gateway or a payment processing platform founded in 2010. It is used by individuals or businesses- small or large, for accepting payments via credit and debit cards, recurring payments used for subscriptions, sending payouts, and also process automated clearing house (ACH) transactions. It also serves as a third-party payment processor and supports various payment methods such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, Masterpass by Mastercard, Wechat Pay, Microsoft Pay, etc.

Stripe is quite easy to integrate due to the availability of easy-to-use APIs. Also, it provides prevention from frauds, banking, and technical infrastructure, etc. that is needed for on-line payment systems operation. A large number of eCommerce solutions are using Stripe. Currently Stripe powers the payment processing for some of the well-known brands including Lyft, Pinterest, Blue Apron, Under Armour, etc.

Working Mechanism of Stripe in React Native Apps

Let us understand how Stripe works in React Native apps with a pictorial representation.

• A payment is initiated in the frontend of a React Native app. Details like card number, expiry date, CVV, etc. are sent to Stripe.
• In case of valid details, a token is sent by the Stripe server to the app.
• After this token is received on the app, payment information along with token information has to be sent to your backend server. Your backend server will communicate with the server of Stripe along with the token and payment details.
• After successful completion of payment, Stripe sends the transaction response to the backend server.
• Then the backend server sends the payment success response to the app.

Stripe and React Native development

Stripe can be implemented in the frontend of the React Native apps in two ways as mentioned below:

1. Integrating the Stripe SDK for Android or iOS
2. Using a 3rd party library like Tipsi-stripe

Both of these methods have their share of pros and cons. The Tipsi-stripe library can be easily implemented and works smoothly. But as of now, Stripe has not ‘publicly’ approved the React Native library from Tipsi. But preferring Stripe’s SDK’s is considered a smarter choice when one is looking for maximum compliance in a production environment.

How to implement Stripe?

Note: Here we have considered the Tipsi-stripe library for integration of Stripe. Also, version 0.60 of React Native was used. Also, we considered a Firebase server for the backend part.

Step 1: Creation of Stripe Developer account and getting the API keys

For creating the account, visit Stripe.com. Note that the services provided by Stripe are limited to certain countries. After account creation and registration, you will land in the Stripe Dashboard. Then go to Developer Tab > API keys for accessing the keys. Ensure that for viewing the ‘Test Data,’ you ON the toggle. All the development tasks must be carried out with ‘Test Data’.

‘Publishable key’ is used to connect the react native app with the Strive Native SDK or Tipsi-stripe library. This key is used for generating a token. ‘Secret key’ is used in the backend for the actual payment processing, where your server makes a connection with the Stripe server using this secret key. After testing the process, you may toggle to ‘Live keys.’

Step 2: Development of a React Native app for integrating Stripe

For developing a basic app, ensure that you are equipped with all the pre-requisites pertaining to the React Native’s official documentation. Now create a blank app and run it in a simulator or device. The default start screen will appear on the simulator or device. You may use the user interface of the Tipsi-stripe library because it supports all kinds of payment options viz. Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc.

Step 3: Integration of the Tipsi-stripe library for the generation of token

Install Tipsi-stripe package for integrating Stripe functionality into your react native app. Now, set up your Podfile for the integration of appropriate pods in iOS apps and then run pod install. Then set up the Xcode project, link the Tipsi-stripe package against your Xcode project, this will install all dependencies related to CocoaPods. Import the library in your app for the generation of the token. Now initialize it with the Stripe credentials which you will get from Stripe Dashboard. The Publishable key is used for generating token only. Now replace the Publishable key with your own key.

To generate the token, the ‘paymentRequestWithCardForm’ method can be used from the library. This method will open the card details Stripe form. User will receive a token from the Stripe after entering the card details in the above form.

Step 4: Creation of Firebase function or any other backend server

For completing the payment, we can create a Firebase cloud function (or any other backend server) and execute it using REST calls from your app. This function will interact with the Stripe server and successfully complete the payment. The sub-steps involved in this process are as follows:

• Create a Firebase project and cloud functions
• In the app Install Firebase tools
• Connect your React Native development environment to the Firebase console.
• Developing a Firebase function for making payment requests. This function accepts request object from the app, then sends the request of payment to the Stripe server and returns the response from Stripe to the application.
• Testing the Firebase Function internally using firebase serve, as external API calls are allowed by Firebase only for paid accounts.
• Deploying Firebase Function to live server

Step 5: Connection of the app with the deployed live Firebase server and completion of the payment

The final step involves making an HTTP call to the Firebase function and completing the payment request using the generated token. In this way, payment processing happens in the React Native apps using the Stripe gateway.

Also read our article "How to Migrate Chat Applications from Layer to Firebase?“.

Concluding Lines:

In this blog, we learned that there are two important sections in the Stripe payments- frontend for the tokenization process and backend for the payment requesting and completion. The Tipsi-stripe package is used for the frontend part and any server can be used for the backend part. We have gone through the significant steps involved in this process which will be very helpful to React Native developers and every React Native app development company aiming to design top-notch apps with a sleek payment processing feature.

We hope this blog was useful to you! Please share your thoughts in the comments section. For any other details, you may mail us at sales.enquiry@biz4solutions.com!