In my previous post, I’ve talked about the anticipated growth of the automotive software market and the types of apps that will be in demand in the next few years. So, how do you take the idea of a car app and turn it into a valuable product?

I’ve asked Bamboo Apps CTO Sergey Mischenko to share his perspective on business and technical factors that must be considered in mobile development for automotive. Read on for the key takeaways from our conversation.

Plan for scalability to keep business and development team aligned

Scalability is vital for the success of an app. It’s also very important for the alignment between business goals and the development process.

Development teams can work more efficiently and make more weighted decisions keeping the expected scalability of an application in mind. Plus, if you’re outsourcing mobile development to a vendor, having a plan in place will help you find a team with scalable experience for a long-term partnership.

Focus on native development

Mobile apps for cars are virtually not just a helpful tool for the users, but also extra communication and sales channel for OEMs and technology companies. Focus on native development ensures you can adopt new platform-specific features and gain an additional advantage without delays. It also eliminates possible issues and expenses from adjusting cross-platform apps to the nuances of each in-vehicle OS.

Use tests not only to debug but to validate the logic

While testing seems a default, the way you approach it doesn’t have to be. Use tests as a way to find the gaps between the planned logic and the implementation.

Hands-free use is the new UI

Driving safety is crucial, so designing any type of car software, including mobile applications for cars, we should aim for minimizing the distractions. That said, the integration of car apps with voice assistants or the addition of voice control is becoming essential.

Build versions for wearables to cover more use cases

Smartphones used to give us control of everything right at our fingertips but today with the growing popularity of smartwatches and bands things have changed. These devices give users, even more, control and functionality by covering their needs in cases where smartphones are out of the game.

For example, software that should be alerting the driver who’s falling asleep will be much more effective if installed on an Apple or Samsung Watch that can use a combination of sound and vibrations. Important security or vehicle health notifications are also less likely to be missed when sent to a smartwatch or band. So if your app is dealing with urgent information or can’t-miss alerts consider building a version for wearables.