You may already know that business apps have always attracted a great deal of interest, and as they have developed, they have also increased in importance within the business world. This was reinforced during 2014, when Apple surged ahead of competitors, assuming a commanding lead as the dominant platform in the business and enterprise app marketplace.
In fact, with mobile devices fast becoming a key factor in every business environment, no matter the size or scale, apps that are accessible via smartphones, tablets and laptops have risen to the forefront of the technology required to meet business demands. From handsets to tablets, Apple has dominated the business market. So what are the apps that have attracted so much attention, you may well ask? Here are a few of the most innovative and lauded apps of 2014.
1. iWorks
Among the best business apps are those that handle document creation with integrated features – such as spreadsheets, graphs and charts. These include iWorks (Apple), which allows access to various functions that allow you to create new documents on your iPad. You can also open documents created by alternative software programs to convert and edit them quickly. The Numbers feature allows you to work on and introduce spreadsheets, charts and graphs, while Pages focuses on your text input. Your presentations can be created via Keynote.
2. 2Do and Sorted
Both are excellent task management apps. 2Do is user-friendly and supports synchronization with Mac, Outlook and Toodledo. In particular, the Push notifications are brilliant (and often underused by business managers). Sorted has a sleek and simple interface, and with it you can handle multiple lists, apply notes and colors, as well as add due dates.
3. Evernote
With its straightforward presentation and efficient organization of text, images, video and websites, you may find that this organizational and search tool fast becomes indispensable in your business. Using iPad’s location awareness feature, you can organize and synchronize notes according to where they were taken. Synchronicity is an important feature (Web, PC and Mac) as is searchable text within snapshots. You will never forget anything again if you employ the full range of camera, voice recording and location awareness features on your iPad.
4. Dropbox
In today’s mobile age, streamlined document exchange and remote access are business essentials. While there are lots of ‘sync and share’ apps available today, Dropbox has remained a clear favorite for good reason. The beauty of this app is that it lets you view any document format, whether it is a PowerPoint, Word, Excel or PDF, so it also works as a great document viewer. As long as you install Dropbox on your iPhone as well as on your PC or Mac, then all you need to do to share a document is to drag and drop it into your Dropbox folder. Documents are automatically synchronized and available on your device: it doesn’t matter what the format is, Dropbox will be able to handle it. The process will also be impressively speedy.
5. Avast!
This is a classic security app for Android smartphones and tablets as well as for PCs. The prime feature is its ability to anticipate and then to design custom settings that will achieve the precise level of privacy and protection that you want. Try a quick scan to search for malware and viruses within your currently installed apps and take advantage of antitheft features that permit you to locate your devices via a GPS sensor. The standard version of the Avast app is free, but you can upgrade to the premium version for extra functions including data backups and adblocking.
Custom apps
Interestingly, there has been a surge towards the use of custom business apps that are particularly popular on smartphones, and the growth rate during 2014 has been such that many experts predict that this is the way business apps of the future are destined to go. If you own or run an online business, it is important to consider consulting a specialist app creation studio such as Worry Free Labs, which might be just the right place to go to make sure that your business app can compete in this innovative and fast moving marketplace.
Devices
One fascinating point of interest when it comes to assessing how you use business apps is that ‘device matters’: executives choose apps according to the device they use. For example, if you use your tablet a lot, you probably do so to edit documents, in common with 36 percent of other tablet owners. However, if your smartphone is your preferred gadget, you probably lean towards custom apps closely followed by security features such as secure IM and secure browser. No matter the device, however, there is sure to be an app out there for every business and entrepreneur.
