You have two ways to enter today&rsquo;s restaurant mobile apps market.&nbsp;
The first way works if you&rsquo;re running a restaurant business and want to extend your services online and on mobile platforms: you develop a standalone branded app for your restaurant. The second way is building a platform-like app to partner with restaurants and provide table booking and discovery services.
Regardless of what your business objectives are, you should, first of all, understand the state of restaurant apps market and build your business strategy according to it.
In this article, we&rsquo;ll first make a breakdown of restaurant apps&rsquo; market, and then explore what problems such apps - if done right - can solve both for restaurants and for guests.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">What apps for restaurants exist on the market now</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">1. Restaurant discovery and booking platforms</h3>
<a href="https://www.opentable.com/start/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenTable</a> is the world&rsquo;s largest table booking platform partnered with tens of thousands of restaurants around the globe with the focus on the US market. Through its website and mobile apps, OpenTable allows users to discover restaurants filtering them by cuisine and location, reserve a table, read reviews from other visitors, and collect loyalty program rewards. Restaurant owners must pay a subscription fee to stay visible on the platform.
Operating since 1998, OpenTable makes most of the income from selling POS (Point-of-Sale) hardware that allows restaurants to integrate with their service. Their revenue from subscriptions, while being impressive, is only a secondary income.
The success of OpenTable led to the appearance of similar apps on local markets all around the world.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 475px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/198/content_opentable_roll.jpeg" alt="Opentable for diners" />
OpenTable app for iPhone
Bookatable is an alternative to OpenTable in the UK. The service offers restaurant discovery and booking via their website and mobile apps for iOS and Android platforms. A unique feature that can be highlighted about Bookatable is their promoted hand-picked deals.
Dimmi is the largest restaurant reservation service in Australia&nbsp;and is basically a local OpenTable. Diners can use the website and mobile apps to find a restaurant, book a table, and get rewards.&nbsp;
Zomato is another global platform for restaurant discovery and reservations with headquarters in India. After the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zomato-buys-urbanspoon-2015-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquisition of a successful Seattle-based startup UrbanSpoon</a> in January 2015, the company got access to the markets of the United States, Canada, and Australia. Aside from that, Zomato operates in 23 countries. Zomato offers a wide range of services, especially focusing on the discovery of restaurant and food delivery services. Their app is available for all popular platforms, but the table-booking feature is fully accessible in a web version only - the mobile apps allow to reserve only in select locations.
As you can see, all these platforms spin around the same stack of services: discovery, booking, rewards and user reviews. However, there are restaurant booking startups that try to change the usual formula.
LocalEats, for example, focuses on offering reservations in a hand-picked list of US&rsquo;s best independently owned restaurants. The app works with local restaurants only, avoiding country-wide chains.
<a href="https://allsetnow.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">AllSet</a> app lets not only to reserve a table&nbsp;but also to preorder food. The startup targets at business people who have a&nbsp;busy schedule. AllSet provides booking via mobile apps for iOS and Android&nbsp;and is also one of the first booking services who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/allset-facebook-messenger-chat-bot-book-lunch-2016-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">implemented reservations via a Facebook Messenger chatbot</a>.
<a href="https://resy.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Resy</a> and TableSavvy are popular US&rsquo;s platforms providing last minute reservations with discounts. Resy is currently offering service in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Washington DC and San Francisco, while TableSavvy operates in Chicago area only.
<a href="https://www.tocktix.com/#/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Tock</a> is a startup launched in 2014 and currently available only as a web service. Tock&rsquo;s unique selling point is discovering the most unconventional restaurants in the US.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 569px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/199/content_tock_web.jpg" alt="Tock restaurant discovery" />
Tock offers to discover the most unusual restaurant experiences
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">2. Branded restaurant apps</h3>
However, <a href="https://www.fsrmagazine.com/marketing/pros-and-cons-opentable" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">not all restaurant owners are excited</a> about the idea of partnering with table-booking platforms like OpenTable. That&rsquo;s why some seek more visibility and enhancement of their services via a standalone restaurant app.
According to the <a href="https://arc.applause.com/2016/06/22/best-restaurant-apps-2016/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">research</a> by Arc from Applause, 45 out of the top 100 restaurant brands don&rsquo;t even have a native mobile app. Sure, most of them have at least a responsive website, but they often lack the convenience and simplicity a mobile app for <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iOS</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Android</a> can provide.
In the same research, Applause suggests that the restaurant apps that enjoy the most popularity (according to app store user reviews) are those offered by casual eating and pizza places.
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/panera-bread/id692365393?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Panera Bread</a> is one example of such apps. The app allows users to search for nearest locations, order food and instantly become a reward program member. Among the additional features for iOS users are integration with HealthKit to count calories and a companion Apple Watch app.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 465px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/200/content_arc-by-applause-restaurant-apps-first-edition-figure-5.png" alt="eating apps reviews" />
The most highly rated casual dining apps. Source: Applause
One of the most successful branded apps (if not the most successful one) out there is <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.starbucks.mobilecard" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Starbucks</a> Coffee Company&rsquo;s one. The app has burst its way to the market thanks to a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2014/06/13/why-is-the-starbucks-mobile-payments-app-so-successful/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convenient mobile payment system and an automatic reward program</a>. With the latest updates, they brought engaging gamification elements to their loyalty system, including reward points called stars and informative dashboards.
<img style="width: 750px; height: 506px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/201/content_starbucks_stats.png" alt="restaurant mobile payments" />
Starbucks has experienced the continuous rise of mobile payments after the introduction of a mobile app. Source: Bloomberg
Momofuku&rsquo;s <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ando-momofukus-delivery-only/id1104421020?mt=8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Ando</a> is another app worth being mentioned here, even though it&rsquo;s rather a food delivery app. Yes, Ando is actually a food delivery app, but its example illustrates perfectly how a successful branded delivery-only restaurant app (or an app-only restaurant, as Ando is positioning itself) may look like.
At <a href="https://agilie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agilie</a>, we have some history with restaurant app development. We&rsquo;ve developed two branded apps for local restaurants: Reporter and <a style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;" href="https://agilie.com/blog/online-food-ordering-systems-how-to-create-a-restaurant-online-ordering-website" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coast</a>. These apps allow visitors to book a table, study the illustrated menu and read news about the latest deals. Both apps also feature 3D tours to promote restaurants and their branded interiors.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 486px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/202/content_coast_roll.jpg" alt="coast restaurant app" />
Coast app by Agilie
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">What should you focus on when planning your own restaurant app</h2>
At the end of 2014, TechCrunch has published an article titled <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/12/24/the-greasy-underpan-of-restaurant-tech/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">The Greasy </a><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/12/24/the-greasy-underpan-of-restaurant-tech/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Underpan</a><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/12/24/the-greasy-underpan-of-restaurant-tech/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> Of Restaurant Tech</a> written by a technology entrepreneur and investor Bryan Menell. The article was focused on analyzing the reasons why most tech startups spinning around the restaurant business tend to fail.
The focal point of most such failures is this: not everything that may appeal for restaurant goers is also good for the owners, especially when it comes to small restaurant businesses.
But that doesn't mean restaurant apps are useless. The examples of apps like Starbucks and Panera Bread are suggesting the opposite. To succeed in a restaurant app market, you need to consider the pitfalls that cause restaurant apps&rsquo; failures and low ROI&nbsp;and plan your app having the successful cases in mind.
The following are some of our thoughts on what should you consider planning your restaurant app, whether it&rsquo;s a discovery and booking platform, or a branded standalone app.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">1. Table booking isn&rsquo;t necessarily the problem your app should focus on</h3>
Many restaurant apps position table booking as the main feature of their app. However, on the markets occupied by OpenTable, the table booking feature can&rsquo;t be a unique selling point. Moreover, reservations are absolutely customer-centric and <a href="https://qz.com/383261/an-elegant-solution-to-our-terrible-online-restaurant-reservation-landscape" target="_blank" rel="noopener">don&rsquo;t ensure</a> restaurants from ROI losses caused by guests&rsquo; no-shows and cancellations.
Either way, if you have nothing to offer other than reservations, visitors would rather prefer the acclaimed table booking platforms like OpenTable over your app (if you offering a standalone app), or will seek for more valuable features in standalone apps (if you are considering running a booking platform).
That won&rsquo;t be a deal only if you don&rsquo;t have any competitors at all. Otherwise, your app must provide additional value to your target audience.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">2. Focus on enhancing guests&rsquo; experience</h3>
You can not only offer guests to reserve a table&nbsp;but also to place an order in advance, as the app AllSet does. That would be a valuable feature for busy people who don&rsquo;t have time to spend being in a restaurant&rsquo;s waiting list. Enabling app users to store and customize recurring orders will make dining at your place even more convenient.
Not all people love the very concept of eating out, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean they aren&rsquo;t the target audience of modern restaurants. You can reach out to these people by adding the possibility to order food with the on-demand delivery - just like Panera Bread or Momofuku&rsquo;s Ando. As a restaurant owner, you also should take a closer look at this concept, since on-demand delivery helps reduce the customer load in your place and serve more people&nbsp;at the same time.
Mobile payments are surely a valuable feature from the guests&rsquo; perspective, and they can be a great extension of services when implemented in a branded app (and done right, like, for example, in the Starbucks&rsquo;s case). However, restaurant owners may dislike this idea if mobile payments service is provided by a booking platform since it would mean more additional fees that may have a negative impact on the ROI.
The same goes for loyalty programs. Most OpenTable users love the platform for its reward program, but if you&rsquo;re planning a booking platform, be ready that some restaurant owners won&rsquo;t like the idea of third-party-provided loyalty programs.
For a dedicated app, on the other hand, a loyalty program is one of the major selling points. Apart from retaining guests, you can use it to encourage people to use your app&rsquo;s additional services rewarding them with more bonuses for, say, making food delivery orders or using mobile payments system.
Finally, aside from features and services, there is another important thing that enhances <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">user experience</a>: clean design and simple menu navigation. Comprehensive information about meals and beverages with filters, tempting images, and easy order placing functionality is another bunch of reasons why diners would prefer your app over a website, or another app or platform.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">3. Restaurant app can be an effective promotion tool as well</h3>
A standalone restaurant app can also be effectively used for increasing the restaurant&rsquo;s visibility and marketing your services. Here&rsquo;s how you can make your app a promotion tool:
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Start a referral program rewarding users with discounts or loyalty points for inviting friends to the app or for a diner.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Geolocation services implemented in the app will provide better discovery of the nearest restaurants.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Encourage app users (rewarding them with loyalty points, for example) to leave reviews that will be displayed in the app or on a website, thus promoting the quality of a restaurant&rsquo;s services.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Show off your place and meals using appealing photos.</li>
</ul>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 611px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/203/content_cafe_app.png" alt="cafe app concept" />
Invite friends and order meals together: a cafe app concept by <a href="https://dribbble.com/alex8volk" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Alex Volk</a>, a UI/UX designer at Agilie
Utilizing <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mobile technologies</a> and expanding restaurant guests&rsquo; experience via convenient food ordering and delivery systems and fair, simple loyalty programs is the winning strategy for any restaurant app, be it an OpenTable-like booking platform or a branded standalone app. But before you decided developing one, you must define the needs of your target audience and know exactly what problems your app will solve - both for restaurants and for diners.
<a href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Contact us</a> and get more information about <a href="https://agilie.com/blog/online-food-ordering-systems-how-to-create-a-restaurant-online-ordering-website" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restaurant mobile app development</a>, or visit our services page and learn more about technologies we can implement in your app.

Read our breakdown of today's restaurant apps&rsquo; market, and learn what problems such apps&nbsp;can solve both for restaurants and for guests.

A table booking and food discovery platform or a branded restaurant app? A breakdown of today's restaurant apps’ market and the problems such apps can solve both for restaurants and for guests.

What Type of Restaurant App Is Best for Your Business

Over the last several years, many large television companies went beyond blue screens and presented mobile apps that let their audience watch TV content live or on demand. Apart from that, TV companies also offer mobile apps specifically designed to promote and extend the experience of the fan-favorite TV shows.
In this article, we&rsquo;ll find out how local TV channels can benefit from applying these ideas and developing a mobile app for TV content streaming.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Live video streaming apps provided by TV networks</h2>
You might have already run across apps like HBO Now, Fox Now, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foodnetwork.watcher&amp;hl=en" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Watch Food Network</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cbs.app" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">CBS All Access</a> offered by television companies from all around the world, that provide full access to their channels&rsquo; content.
The major selling point of these paid subscription-only apps is that they allow their users to save money by subscribing only to the channel they want to watch, never needing to buy the full cable TV package.&nbsp;
<img style="width: 800px; height: 474px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/668/content_content_hbo_now_roll.jpg" alt="HBO now app" width="800" height="474" />
HBO NOW app by HBO company
Meanwhile, some companies - such as British ITV with their <a href="https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/itvx/id446079916" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ITVHub</a> and ITV Essentials - offer a freemium model. The subscription in this case only removes ads from broadcasts.
The same companies have also rolled out a handful of apps dedicated to their most popular shows like Game of Thrones, The Kitchen, America&rsquo;s/Britain&rsquo;s Got Talent and others. These apps are aimed to expand viewers&rsquo; experience, gather feedback, and, of course, promote primary TV production.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">What additional value a mobile app can bring to your TV audience</h2>
So, how can your television company or product apply these ideas and go mobile using <a href="how-to-create-a-live-video-streaming-website-like-twitch-and-get-your-revenue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video streaming technologies</a>?
First of all, moving the whole broadcasting schedule of your channel to the mobile live streaming format might be a too hasty and costly decision, regardless if you&rsquo;re broadcasting locally or countrywide.
The safer option in both cases is to start by testing the waters and rolling out an app dedicated to your most popular product. It may be a cooking show, a travel show, a talent show - anything that establishes an emotional connection with the major part of your audience.
As a result, you&rsquo;ll be able to retain your audience and to acquire new viewers. Here are the features that will help you do that.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">1. Mobile access</h3>
This is one of few cases when the phrase &ldquo;anytime, anywhere&rdquo; actually makes sense. Expanding your television production to <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mobile devices</a> will significantly increase your broadcast range, both in geographical and demographical meanings.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">2. Notifications about the upcoming episodes or broadcasts</h3>
Mobile users are always online. Thus, another benefit of mobile broadcasting is that you can notify users with the help of push notifications. Remind them about the upcoming viewings of the new episodes of your show or inform them about important events they can catch turning on your channel.
Notifications sent at the right time will ensure viewers from missing new episodes, which, in its turn, will ensure you from losing the audience. And even more - notifications also help you feed the audience&rsquo;s interest in your primary TV content.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">3. Watching video live or on demand</h3>
Apart from airing new episodes and broadcasts, you can let users rewatch on demand previous streams that will be stored in a cloud.&nbsp;
If you start with a smaller app dedicated to one show only, you won&rsquo;t need significant server capacities. Of course, in case you&rsquo;ll decide to go further and streaming live all your TV content, be prepared for greater server-side expenses.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">4. Gathering feedback from the audience</h3>
Sometimes, it&rsquo;s really hard for TV broadcasters to get reliable information on how the audience is engaged with their production. In a mobile app, on the other hand, you have two ways to get feedback and measure people&rsquo;s engagement.
First, organizing various user polls will help you both gather feedback on your show and engage people by providing them with a possibility to influence the future broadcasts by their vote.
Second, using app analytics tools, you can effectively track user engagement while they watch the broadcasts and interact with the app itself. Thanks to that, you will know how to make both your mobile and television products better and more engaging for viewers.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">5. Social features for community building</h3>
Almost any modern mobile app has social elements. And that&rsquo;s surely a must-have feature if you want to build a community of devoted and engaged active users.&nbsp;
You can encourage users to invite their friends and followers from social networks like Facebook and Twitter, as well as to interact with each other within your app discussing new episodes and participating in polls.&nbsp;
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">6. Unified login system</h3>
Implementing the unified login system makes adding connections from other social networks much easier for users. Moreover, new users will feel more comfortable if your app gives them options to log in quickly using their existing profiles in social networks.
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">7. Unique content</h3>
Many TV channels provide online access to their content via social media and video hosting services like YouTube. However, such an approach makes your online content too scattered around social media and difficult to find. It also makes your content totally non-unique. Offering exclusive, well-structured and accessible content in your app will motivate the TV audience to try your mobile product.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 463px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/641/content_content_b_live_roll_2.jpg" alt="b.live live video streaming app" width="800" height="463" />
b.live video live video streaming app by Agilie
Feel free to <a href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">contact us</a> if you are interested in more ways to expand your TV products&rsquo; audience or want to hear about other possible applications of video streaming technologies.&nbsp;Also, we're more than happy to create for you a <a href="how-to-create-a-live-video-streaming-website-like-twitch-and-get-your-revenue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">service to share video online</a>!

In this article, we&rsquo;ll find out how local TV channels can benefit from applying these ideas and developing a mobile app for TV content streaming.

Over last several years, many large television companies went beyond blue screens and presented mobile apps that let their audience watch TV content live or on demand. Let's, find out how local TV channels can benefit from applying these ideas and developing a mobile app for TV content streaming.

7 Benefits a Video Streaming App Can Provide to Your TV Production

Live video streaming apps like Periscope keep gaining popularity among casual social media audiences. However, the technology stack established for this type of apps can be successfully applied in other domains that deal with live video streaming. If you are a security and surveillance system hardware provider, you might, too, be interested in the application of this technology for your business.
The existing third-party solutions often have poor hardware compatibility and, ultimately, may compromise you as a service provider&nbsp;since you can&rsquo;t control what happens to your customers&rsquo; data.&nbsp;
On the other hand, developing your own <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mobile</a> and <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">web</a> app for monitoring your security systems and camera feed live streaming is a secure way to make your products more effective and appeal to new customers.
<h2>How mobile technologies can make surveillance systems smarter</h2>
There always was a number of mobile and web apps that allow users to connect remotely to DVRs, NVRs, and IP cameras and watch the feed from them live. Such apps are often too limited in functionality and don&rsquo;t provide the level of flexibility most users desire. Moreover, an incapable app can compromise both your product and a user&rsquo;s personal data.
To solve this problem, you can incorporate your hardware products with a native mobile app for <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iOS</a> and <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/ui-ux-design" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Android</a> (and even with a <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/web-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>) that is designed to work with your products specifically. This will enhance the user experience and make your security systems more flexible and effective.
A smart surveillance mobile app powered by the live video streaming technologies lets users to:
<ul>
<li>Watch high-quality live video feed from cameras using their phones, tablets or web browser.</li>
<li>Control a PTZ camera remotely using simple gestures to pan, tilt, and zoom.</li>
<li>Store and have permanent access to recordings right from a device&rsquo;s disc and in a secure cloud.</li>
<li>Get push and email notifications about the events (motion detections, noises) captured by the security equipment.</li>
<li>Schedule recordings, so cameras would work only in hours required by a user. &nbsp;</li>
<li>Incorporate any number of cameras to the system, scaling it according to current needs.</li>
<li>Broadcast the live feed from the camera to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.</li>
<li>Make snapshots from the feed.</li>
<li>Map surveillance locations using geolocation capabilities.</li>
<li>Feel safe about their personal data: all data is encrypted by secure data transmission protocols.</li>
<li>Monitor the video stream using any device - from handset to tablet to laptop/desktop computer.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Use our team&rsquo;s experience to build a security ecosystem</h2>
We at Agilie have&nbsp;developed a live video streaming app b.live. It&rsquo;s designed and built natively for iOS and Android systems using different sets of technologies for each platform. Here's how our experience can help during the development of your app.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 468px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/186/content_b_live_roll_1080.jpg" alt="live streaming app design" />
b.live app by Agilie
<h3>Less time needed for development</h3>
Since we&rsquo;ve developed a live video streaming app, we already have the technology stack for both iOS and Android platforms to establish live video feed streaming, which significantly decreases the time required for app development. We don&rsquo;t need to integrate video streaming protocols or backend infrastructure from scratch - we only need to fit with your hardware.
<h3>Continuous support</h3>
We&rsquo;re ready to provide full post-release support: from app updates to backend server maintenance. We&rsquo;ll make sure the app is compatible with your new hardware and will be up-to-date with the latest mobile devices as well as the latest versions of OSs and web browsers. Also, we can multiply server-side capacities proportionally to the growth of your user base.
<h3>Security</h3>
Since your customers will now use the app provided by you, and not a third-party solution, all their data will be stored on a private server cluster. This guarantees the security of the data and safeguards you from being compromised by poor third-party software. Also, the video encryption protocol ensures the video is transmitted securely from camera to user&rsquo;s device.
<img style="width: 800px; height: 533px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/185/content_photo-1461175128502-8b13d90ee1ec.jpg" alt="security mobile video streaming" />
Incorporating your video surveillance systems with native mobile and web apps means forming an ecosystem that will make it much easier for your customers to monitor their business, house, or private property.
The knowledge and the technology stack we&rsquo;ve got at Agilie allow us to build a smart surveillance mobile app in the shortest term, make your security system more flexible, and, finally, keep you and your customers from cybersecurity threat. You'll <a href="how-to-create-a-live-video-streaming-website-like-twitch-and-get-your-revenue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">get a real-time video streaming app</a> which will even your exceed expectations.
If you are considering to modernize and expand your security services by giving your customers more control over their security with the help of mobile and web apps - please, <a href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">contact us</a>. We&rsquo;ll be happy to hear your thoughts!

There are a number of mobile and web apps that allow users to connect remotely to DVRs, NVRs, and IP cameras and watch the feed from them live.

Developing your own mobile and web app for security systems and live camera feed monitoring is an effective way to give your customers more control over their security.

Modernizing Surveillance Systems with Live Video Streaming Mobile Apps

The market landscape of taxi services changes rapidly. Especially, since Uber came to the stage and turned the market upside down by popularizing the idea of peer-to-peer (p2p) mobile taxi booking and ridesharing.
This variation of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/sharing-economy" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">sharing economy</a> for taxi services has different names (ridesharing, ride-hailing, carpooling, private taxi services) and shapes (booking of cabs, private cars, personal chauffeurs, buses), but the idea is always the same: instead of traditional taxi services with dispatchers, car fleets and hired drivers, apps like Uber offer the format where passengers deal with drivers using the booking service only as a proxy.
Uber had not just disrupted the market. They had kickstarted the emergence of the new ridesharing marketplaces. And even though the concept of apps like Uber is often <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber_protests_and_legal_actions" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">questioned and criticized</a> by traditional taxi services, such apps are now taking over local markets across the world. Even in the US, Uber is facing competition presented by Lyft and - <a href="https://time.com/nextadvisor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">until recently</a> - Sidecar, a company that co-pioneered the mobile ridesharing business.&nbsp;
What does it all mean for app developers, drivers, and taxi services? Let&rsquo;s see how different ridesharing and private taxi services achieved success in their local markets&nbsp;and try to&nbsp;answer this question.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Lyft</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 606px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/180/content_lyft_carpool-screens-1200x909.png" alt="lyft app" />
Source: Forbes
<a href="https://www.lyft.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Lyft</a> started as a US-only peer-to-peer ridesharing service in 2012 and eventually evolved into a hybrid between p2p rideshare and taxi booking formats. As for 2016, it has increased its market coverage significantly by partnering with other market giants from all over the world: Grab (former GrabTaxi, Southern Asia) and Didi Chuxing (China).
Although Lyft is far from Uber&rsquo;s domination in the US, it has become an honorable (however still a distant) No. 2 on the market, having their&nbsp;own peachy market share and continuing to expand.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">myDriver</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 380px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/205/content_mydriver_roll.jpg" alt="mydriver chauffeur and limousine booking app" />
<a href="https://www.mydriver.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">myDriver</a> is a Berlin-based subsidiary from Sixt, a large European multinational car rental company. myDriver was launched in 2013 as an alternative to conventional mobile taxi and ridesharing services. The company&rsquo;s main idea is to provide quality limousine and chauffeur services for both corporate and private clients with competitive fixed rates.
Today, myDriver extends Sixt&rsquo;s services offering Android and iOS users chauffeur, limousine, and private car services, as well as airport and exhibition transfers. For group business trips the company provides business-class vans and SUVs.
The service is operating in the majority of Europe&rsquo;s large cities and keeps expanding to Japan, South Africa, UAE, and other countries around the world.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Didi Chuxing</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 377px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/178/content_didi-app.jpg" alt="Didi taxi booking app" />
<a href="http://www.xiaojukeji.com/index/index" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Didi Chuxing</a> (formerly Didi Kuaidi) is China&rsquo;s largest taxi and vehicle booking company that formed after the merger of two rivals, Didi Dache, and Kuaidi Dache. In May 2016, the company <a href="https://fortune.com/2016/08/04/apple-invest-didi-chuxing-china-uber-merger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">got $1 billion of investments from Apple</a>.
Didi has been building international partnerships with Lyft and India&rsquo;s Ola to strengthen the competition with Uber in the US, India, Southeastern Asia and China until in August 2016. That's when Didi and Uber China announced their <a href="https://yourstory.com/2016/08/uber-china-didi-chuxing-deal/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">merger</a>: Uber basically sold its regional subsidiary to Didi Chuxing. Was it a truce? A surrender? That - as well as how this merger will affect China and another big local market -&nbsp;is yet to be seen.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Grab</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 463px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/181/content_grab-new-app-screenshots.jpg" alt="Grab taxi app" />
Source: Tech in Asia
<a href="https://www.grab.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Grab</a>, formerly known as GrabTaxi, is the largest Southeastern Asia&rsquo;s company providing taxi booking, vehicle booking, and ridesharing mobile services&nbsp;operating in 30 cities throughout Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Grab is operating in Southeastern Asia since 2011 and now, partnering with Didi, Ola, and Lyft, they can expand their reach to more markets.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Ola Cabs</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 404px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/182/content_ola_roll.jpg" alt="Ola cabs" />
<a href="https://www.olacabs.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Ola Cabs</a> is the leader in India&rsquo;s taxi booking app market - Uber is only second to it. In 2015, Ola reasserted its domination by <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2015/03/02/olaforsure/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">acquiring</a> a taxi aggregator TaxiForSure.
After the Uber-Didi merger in China, Ola <a href="https://yourstory.com/2016/08/uber-didi-merger-ola/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">has reasons to worry</a> about the reignition of their rivalry with Uber in India. It&rsquo;s even possible that this rivalry will end up in another merger. Otherwise, it may become an opportunity for smaller players in India&rsquo;s taxi booking market, who could use this clash of giants to their advantage.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">GoCatch and ingogo</h2>
<a href="https://gocatch.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoCatch</a> and <a href="https://www.ingogo.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">ingogo</a> are two small taxi booking apps that emerged on Australia's&nbsp;market as alternatives to Uber X which appeared there earlier. As a selling point, GoCatch uses more affordable pricing and ingogo offer fixed fares to their passengers.
Although the two apps have instantly got their own audience of ride-booking Australians, they couldn&rsquo;t disrupt the local market already occupied by Uber. According to SimilarWeb&rsquo;s research, after some initial growth in Q3 and Q4 2015, both apps saw a decline in active app users over the first two quarters of 2016.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Shark Taxi</h2>
<img style="width: 800px; height: 451px;" src="https://d12zh9bqbty5wp.cloudfront.net/ckeditor_assets/pictures/183/content_shark_taxi_roll.jpg" alt="Shark taxi ridesharing in ukraine" />
Shark Taxi is a private taxi app for <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iOS</a>, <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/mobile-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Android</a> and <a href="https://agilie.com/expertise/technology/web-development" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web</a> platforms developed and being supported by Agilie. Operating since 2013, Shark Taxi constantly expands its presence on Ukraine&rsquo;s mobile taxi booking/ridesharing market, appearing in more and more cities and metropolitan areas all over the country.
Uber hasn&rsquo;t yet stepped on the markets of most developing countries. In Ukraine, Uber X has been launched just recently - in July 2016, - and it&rsquo;s now operating only in the capital, Kyiv. For Shark Taxi, which has already established itself&nbsp;in other regions, the hype around Uber X&rsquo;s launch became a marketing booster that only increased the number of the app&rsquo;s active users.
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Is there still room for new mobile taxi booking and ridesharing apps?</h2>
Yes, there is. And the biggest advantage has the local services operating in the territories still uncharted for Uber and other big companies. The success of apps like Uber has raised people&rsquo;s interest in mobile taxi booking and ridesharing services (and even beyond them, as we can judge by the &ldquo;Uber for X&rdquo; phenomenon), and those who fit the niche before Uber&rsquo;s arrival have more chances to succeed. Otherwise, they might not be so lucky - as we see from the experience of Australian apps GoCatch and ingogo.
The key to achieving success for taxi booking apps that operate on a local level is applying Uber&rsquo;s experience and its way of doing business, at the same time, making their services more affordable to customers.&nbsp;
Specifically, they should focus on three key points.
Placing an order. The benefits of mobile don&rsquo;t go down to the possibility to book a car &ldquo;anywhere, anytime&rdquo;. Mobile technologies allow using a device&rsquo;s GPS capabilities for a faster search for the closest car, the shortest route, and online payment services for paying for a ride in advance. All this helps to eradicate the unnecessary lags in passengers&rsquo; experience.
Payment processing. The integration of mobile payments has become a must in almost any type of apps. However, for taxi apps - especially for those operating in local markets - it&rsquo;s important to support all popular types of payment processing: online payments, plastic card payments, and the old good cash.
Building trust between passengers and drivers. Uber is notable for its approach to partnering with the trustworthy drivers, as well as for its rating systems that allow both passengers and drivers to learn who will they interact with and what riding history these persons&nbsp;have. This is not the flawless way to build trust between passengers and drivers, but it works nonetheless.
Transportation service companies must act now and adopt mobile app technologies. It&rsquo;s a perfect opportunity for them to partner with the established local mobile services or consider developing their own mobile taxi booking app. On the other hand, entrepreneurs should, too, consider fitting this market before other companies will do that. One way or another, it will lead to the enhancement of the taxi services&rsquo; quality and the emergence of new successful marketplaces.&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re interested in <a href="step-by-step-guide-on-taxi-app-development-features-and-business-model" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taxi app development</a>, check out our Shark Taxi case study, and <a href="https://agilie.com/contacts" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">contact us</a> for further collaboration.

Let's check some stories from local markets where taxi booking and ridesharing apps coexist with the industry giant.

Uber seems to have international domination. Or does it? Let's check some stories from local markets where taxi booking and ridesharing apps coexist with the industry giant.

Local Taxi Booking and Ridesharing Apps vs. Uber: Market Landscape and Opportunities

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