TECH DSV

Challenges that Mobile App Developers face nowadays

Designveloper8:42 PMsoftware No comments

Mobile users are increasing rapidly, and that’s why software developers are on the pressure to develop responsive applications to handle the increasing demand. Smartphone users are always drawn to digital solutions that enable them to be more updated, informed, and well-connected. Lovers of technology have been using different mobile apps for close to a decade now. This implies that they are well versed in what mobile app developers present to them.

Choosing the right application to develop

Every developer needs to clearly define its relevant target market segment to ensure good market penetration. Apps for business, games, education, and entertainment are some of the most popular.

One of the first top challenges faced by mobile app developers is deciding the type of app to develop.

Not all mobile devices are compatible with all software. Besides, the mobile app industry is so crowded and competitive, making it more challenging to create an app that will be noticed. If developers resort to cross-platform development, they can enlarge their consumer base to iOS, Android, and Windows. Here are questions to start with that can help developers know what app to develop:

How much will the app cost?
What is the function of the app?
Is it an original idea and will stand out?
Which market and size will the app target?
Is it an app other developers can imitate easily?
Is the app easily discoverable and downloadable?

Getting the app funded

You’ll need to attract funding from an investor or a financial institution. Based on the nature of an application, a fully developed app may cost between $3,000 and $150,000. If a developer raises the required funds, they would have to ensure that the amount is enough to finance the app development from start to finish. Finding a source to fund your custom mobile app development is not a walk in a park.

Battery life Vs app performance

To ascertain the result and fix it, developers usually run the check twice. They also tweak the features to make sure battery performance is excellent with the app. Building a bug-free app with high-performance and without any excess power consumption is a challenge.

To counter the problem, developers test battery performance to see how well their app consumes power. Developers also struggle with ensuring that their new app won’t be subject to overheating. Those still using previous versions of device OS, still have battery life issues. They release a Beta version and examine the pace at which the app drains the device to make sure it’s not too quick.

How long a mobile device battery will last when an app is being used deserves a lot of attention and sincerity during development. No app user wants an app that consumes their device battery power beyond normal.

Simplicity and user-friendliness

Users generally appreciate the performance of apps based on how simple and user-friendly they are compared to others. If an app’s mobile design is heavily complex, mobile app fanatics will most often disregard it. Their only solution would be to switch to an alternative app with an easy-to-use design.

Developers have noticed it, and their response is to build simply designed apps that offer an impressive user-friendly experience. This will include customizable features as well as functionalities. So, creating an app with so much focus on simplicity and user-friendliness is very challenging because of the need for competitively advanced functions.

The security of the app

Developers have to deal with how they shall always ensure regular and timely fixes and updates whenever they get user feedback on issues. It is an essential aspect that helps the app company to retain user confidence. Security is a very vital component of the success of all apps and comes at a high cost too, which is challenging. Thinking about how secure an app is, remains a big deal for users and therefore developers too.

Hackers, viruses, malware, software, and hardware fragmentations are some of the most challenging security issues every application must have a real solution for. No one trusts an application vulnerable to security threats. In any mobile app development plan, data and information security are considered pivotal. This aspect always poses a big challenge because hackers are also working day and night to try to break into every digital security barrier.

Volatility and limited lifespan

Like most modern-day technology products, mobile apps evolve pretty quickly. The reason is that user behavior in the mobile app industry doesn’t favor sticking to one product when the latest alternatives are accessible.

This implies that the lifecycle of any web app ideas you create is limited to when another developer creates a superior alternative. Most digital solutions can be everyone’s favorite, but once another latest and more advanced bigger player emerges and gets more appreciation from users, the other one becomes obsolete and forgotten so soon.

Top 10 best free Blogging Platforms in 2020

Designveloper2:09 AMwebdesign No comments

A free blogging platform is the perfect way to get yourself set up with your own corner of the web without too much effort. Everyone's focused on social media these days, sure, but there's something about the permanence of a blog.

1. Medium

It's a place to blog if you want your words to be taken seriously, and if you favour a polished, streamlined experience. But if you're big on customisation and control, look elsewhere. Medium is the brainchild of Twitter's founders, and appears to be their attempt to do for 'longreads' what they once did for microblogging. The result is a socially-oriented place that emphasises writing, although within an extremely locked-down set-up.

2. Blogger

You'd hope with a name like 'Blogger' that Blogger would be a decent free blogging service. Fortunately, it is. Sign in with your Google ID, and you can have a blog up and running in seconds, which can then be customised with new themes.

3. Tumblr

Tumblr also has a strong social undercurrent, via a following model combined with notes and favourites. Tumblr feels a bit like a halfway house between WordPress and Twitter. It offers more scope than the latter, but tends to favour rather more succinct output than the former.

4. WordPress

Alternatively, most web hosts provide WordPress as a free single-click install, and more information on what's possible there can be found at WordPress.org. If the folks over at WordPress are to be believed (and they seem suitably trustworthy sorts), the platform now 'powers' almost a third of the internet. It's easy to see why: on WordPress.com, you can rapidly create an entirely free blog, with a reasonable amount of customisation.

5. Jekyll

Making your blog with Jekyll avoids the need to work with technicalities such as databases, upgrades and so on, so there are fewer things to go wrong, and you can build something completely from scratch. Jekyll takes your raw text files, which may be written in markdown, if you like, and turns them into a robust static site to host wherever you want.

6. Contentful

It calls this an 'API-first' approach, so your content is stored on its servers and you can call it into any design or platform as you like. Nobody knows how they're going to want to display their articles a few years down the line, so Contentful provides a way to separate your content from your design.

7. Hubpages

Hubpages is a network of sites that enable bloggers (or Hubbers) to share their story with a vast open community. It has an Arts and Design section, which will be a happy home for creative bloggers, and Hubpages majors on its ability to connect its users with a wide audience and earn revenue from ads and affiliates.

8. Yola

Getting started is easy, with dozens of customisable templates to choose from, a straightforward site builder for putting everything together, flexible layouts and drag-and-drop widgets. Yola limits you a bit if you have grand plans for your blog – you can only have two sites and three web pages with its free plan – but the upside is a healthy 1GB of storage and bandwidth, and your site won't be littered with unsightly third-party ads.

9. Joomla

The Joomla community is much smaller than WordPress community, so there are fewer themes and add-ons than for WordPress. Powerful and flexible, Joomla can be used to build any kind of website or blog, with design features including the ability to create your own template and render HTML for objects/arrays of data. Open source software content management system Joomla is one of the best free blogging platforms around.

10. Wix

You get 500MB storage and 1GB bandwidth with a free Wix account. If you want to get started with your free blog, Wix is well worth a look. This drag-and-drop website builder offers over 500 designer-made templates as well as plenty of additional features and apps, along with top-grade hosting so you can rest assured your site will be there when you need it.

Understanding Cloud Computing

Designveloper9:43 PMtools No comments

In the past few years, cloud computing has taken the world by storm. In fact, it is expected that by 2021, cloud computing is going to replace traditional data centers almost completely. While the concept of the cloud is no news to anybody who owns a smartphone, cloud computing may need a few clarifications.

What is cloud computing?

A cloud-based approach can be implemented much faster and can be accessed from anywhere, provided the user has access to the Internet. Broadly speaking, cloud computing is defined as the concept of storing and accessing services and programs through the internet, instead of private servers or personal hard drives.

The on-premises approach involves the software product being designed to work with the client’s in-house infrastructure. The traditional method has proven to be inefficient in some situations, being more complicated to upgrade, more demanding and time-consuming. At its core, cloud computing is nothing but a software business model, which has proven to be more efficient than the on-premises model.

Key aspects

As opposed to traditional software methods where the client has full ownership of the infrastructure needed to support the applications when it comes to cloud computing, the infrastructure is owned by a third party and the client, also known as end-user, is paying for the services they need and use on a daily basis.

Resource pooling: This was often compared to people living in the same apartment complex. Cloud computing allows multiple clients to share the same infrastructure while keeping their privacy and the security of their information.
Broad network access: all services provided through cloud computing can be accessed through any platform, be it a desktop, a smartphone or a tablet.
Measured service: This way, end-users can pay exclusively for the resources they used, making it extremely cost-effective. Resources are measured constantly, allowing both users and service providers to keep a record of usage.

Cloud computing services

While there are multiple cloud computing services available for users, they can all be categorized into three main service models:

SaaS (Software as a service)

SaaS application development has gained popularity because it cuts down on operational and maintenance costs. The most common uses of SaaS are emails and CRM (customer relationship management) software. Perhaps the most popular form of cloud computing, SaaS means delivering applications as a service, though the Internet, making it available directly from the browsers, with no need for software installation.

IaaS (Infrastructure as a service)

The services are highly scannable and far more cost-effective than traditional storage options, offering a large variety of services, from databases to big data analytics and machine learning incorporation. By using IaaS services, clients can rent servers, networking and storage blocks on a pay-per-use basis.

PaaS (Platform as a service)

Businesses turn to PaaS services, so that their developers have access to the tools they need, without affecting the in-house infrastructure. PaaS is more oriented towards developers, providing a set of services they can use, such as shared tools, database management, as well as operating systems, which help speed up the development and launch of applications.

Benefits

Businesses have tremendous benefits when using cloud computing, depending on the nature of their business:

Cost-effectiveness: By benefiting from the pay-as-you-go model, businesses will only pay for the services they use, eliminating monetary waste. When migrating to the cloud, businesses may find themselves making quite a significant investment, but the ROI is as significant.
Reliability: Plus, there will be far fewer service interruptions and downtime issues. An in-house infrastructure is fairly less reliable than the cloud, where service providers offer backup options far more efficient and reliable.
Mobility: the cloud allows end-users to access the software or data at any time and from any platform, making it easier for employees in a company to communicate with each other and share information whenever needed.

The best Apple pencil alternatives in 2020

Designveloper2:40 AMproductdesign, tools No comments

We've also got all the best cheap apple pencil deals, and there's bound to be extra deals of all sorts coming up for Amazon Prime Day, so be sure to bookmark that page.

Well, whatever your reason, there are plenty of well-designed, technically amazing digital styluses out there at a range of prices. Of course, just because you're looking for an alternative to the Apple Pencil doesn't mean that you won't be interested in any deals that come up on those styluses.

1. Wacom Bamboo Sketch

This is our top Apple Pencil alternative pick. If there's a quality stylus out there that can compete with Apple Pencil's precision and durable build, it's Wacom's Bamboo Sketch. With the two bluetooth-enabled shortcut buttons handily fitted on its side, there are loads of possibilities to customize how you use the pen as well.

2. Logitech Crayon

Combine that with the tilt support that will allow you to use different shading in your work, and you've got a top Apple Pencil alternative. This stylus is the only Apple-approved pen in the list, and an affordable option to boot.

Of course, as it's Apple-affiliated, it works like a dream on iPads and with all Apple apps. It's especially good for digital artists who dart around the digital page a lot as its palm-rejection tech will ensure no mark mistakes.

3. Adonit Pro 3

The Adonit Jot Pro 3 is a beautifully designed stylus for a great price. At the cheaper end of the range, Adonit has still put a lot of time into the finer details of the pen. There's a inbuilt clip so you can carry it around safely, a magnetic lid to protect the disk nib, and the quality aluminium build feels good in the hand. But it will work on any touch screen device, and as it's a passive stylus there's no batteries or charging required.

4. Wacom Bamboo Fineline

The stylus responds quickly and smoothly, and is extremely comfortable in hand. For those that like a little weight to their stylus, this might be right for you as it comes in at 20g.

While Wacom's Fineline stylus is well suited for detailed writing, with its fine tip, responsive pressure sensitivity, and ergonomic design, it's also one for the creatives too. The stylus connects wirelessly via Bluetooth and has a 1.9mm nib that offers 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity in compatible apps.

5. Hahakee iPad Stylus

Another top quality passive pen that doesn't need batteries or bluetooth to work, the Hahakee iPad Stylus actually works for pretty much all tablets, even though it's advertised as iPad-specific. Perfect for note taking, and sketching, this stylus also has an inbuilt clip to easily carry it around and will last you 40 hours of drawing time.

Our Project

Thanks to our fine and affordable services, we have gained a big reputation in the IT market and created a solid network of loyal customers.
With talented teams full of software developing experts, we put customers' satisfaction with the 1st priority. Since the day DSV was founded, as a moral commitment to our clients.
We always do our best to deliver highest-quality IT services to help them grow their business at a world-class level.

Entity GG	http://bit.ly/2MgLIKD	http://bit.do/fcTq4	https://tinyurl.com/yyvtcbe3	https://bom.to/VlpzD
GG Sheet	http://bit.ly/33y9ojs	http://bit.do/fcTq9	https://tinyurl.com/y3yvg5gt	https://bom.to/UkvQp
GG Doc	http://bit.ly/32hVwtt	http://bit.do/fcTrj	https://tinyurl.com/yy4rcpyv	https://bom.to/WcC5d
GG Slide	http://bit.ly/2pmfK6P	http://bit.do/fcTrn	https://tinyurl.com/y5rs9my9	https://bom.to/OImtt
GG Form	http://bit.ly/31gGx1B	http://bit.do/fcTrv	https://tinyurl.com/y5j8fflz	https://bom.to/xk2vR
GG Draw	http://bit.ly/2VIOdbI	http://bit.do/fcTrA	https://tinyurl.com/y5gjylmh	https://bom.to/XRUMl
GG Map	http://bit.ly/2MIPP19	http://bit.do/fcTrK	https://tinyurl.com/y3ey9tdx	https://bom.to/ZPLPa
GG Site	http://bit.ly/31cSk0R	http://bit.do/fcTrW	https://tinyurl.com/y5dzj3nk	https://bom.to/TVBXt

Designveloper put customers' satisfaction on the top of our list. After studying through users' needs, wants, and limitations, we apply cutting-edge technologies to create functional, large-scale, engaging mobile apps and responsive web designs.

Choosing a way to transfer Bitcoin funds

Designveloper7:31 PMbusiness, tools No comments

The most popular way to pay for an operation when buying bitcoins is with a bank card. Of its advantages, accessibility can be noted, since many Ukrainians have a bank card. And also – the transfer speed, bitcoins will be credited to your account almost instantly. You can also increase the transaction amount by paying with a credit card.

Of the most popular trading floors in the world and in Ukraine that accept a bank card for buying bitcoin, it is worth noting:

IO
Coinmama
Coinbase
Bitpanda
biz

Also, this method is not suitable for you if you do not want to shine your Bitcoin Storm income. But this method has several drawbacks – first of all, the higher cost of the transfer and even higher interest and commission rates if you decide to use the credit limit.

It is quite convenient to pay for a transaction using a current bank account, access to which, like with payment cards, can be ensured through Internet banking. If you have savings in your PayPal account – you can use this system to buy bitcoin.

But along with the difficulties of replenishing a PayPal account in our country, you should be prepared for a fairly high commission, which can reach 12% of the transaction amount. When choosing a payment method for buying bitcoin, you should pay attention to the following factors:

1. Bitcoin value

This is perhaps the most important factor. There is no single rate for bitcoin. It is set individually by each seller. But if you want to evaluate how much the seller’s value of the bitcoin is market-based, compare it with other offers or with the average price on the market, which, for example, can be viewed on sites such as Prev, BitcoinAverage, CoinDesk, and many others.

2. Additional expenses

All kinds of commissions will be taken from you for the operation: for the replenishment of the account, exchange, and withdrawal of funds, etc. Negotiate with the seller, if possible, some of them will agree to lower the tariff for large transactions.

3. Seller’s reliability

How much can you trust this seller? Ask how long the counterparty has been working in the market, whether there are any reviews from real customers and how positive they are. If the operation is conducted in cash – select a crowded place for the transaction.

4. Transaction limit

The maximum transaction amount is usually limited and differs for different trading platforms and brokers. And if you want to purchase a large amount of bitcoin – it is worth clarifying the restrictions on the limits of transactions before the operation.

5. Purchase speed

How fast do you want to have surgery? The fastest way to buy cryptocurrency is in special ATMs, which are very few in Ukraine. But, you can also quickly buy bitcoins from some brokers and on trading floors in the event of sending funds using a payment card.

6. Transaction confidentiality

Such popular methods of sending funds as transferring from a current bank account, credit or debit card, or the system of international transfers (Western Union, MoneyGram, PayPal) will not work for you if you want to ensure the anonymity of the operation. In this case, you should use ATMs, some trading platforms, for example, LocalBitcoins, also offer this service.

Conclusion: Store cryptocurrency, not on trading platforms, but use hardware bitcoin wallets. They are more reliable, while platforms can be prone to hacker attacks. Confidentiality of the transaction will be ensured by the purchase of bitcoin using special ATMs and terminals; however, in our country, there are very few of them.

How to spy on a Cell phone without installing Software

Designveloper7:22 PMbusiness, mobile No comments

If we talk about that is this possible to spy on a cell phone without getting caught or detected? then the answer is Yes. You can spy on any phone device using spying services so the phone owner would not be able to detect you. There are a lot of people who somehow want to spy on cell phones for legal purposes.

Most of you would be thinking right now that how spying on any cell phone can be practiced for good use. Well, if you are a parent and you want to monitor your children’s activities by spying on his/her cell phone then this spying would come in legal means.

Competition between these companies is very high so you would have to figure out carefully that which spying service you should subscribe to. Choosing a reliable and safe phone monitoring service is very important for you to avoid any data loss or money loss. There are many phone spying companies that are working in the market to provide you the best phone spying services. Let’s find out which spying service would be best for you in terms of cost and quality.

Cocospy – Professional Spying App

Cocospy is a very professional and reliable phone surveillance company that would help you out in spying on any cell phone device according to your requirements. This phone monitoring solution is very easy and safe to use.

Cocospy aims to provide both quality and quantity, unlike some companies that prefer quantity over quality in order to generate extra revenue. This phone monitoring solution is offering a wide range of spying features that meet all of the spying requirements of the customers.

Another amazing thing about Cocospy is that it doesn’t ask users to perform any rooting or jailbreaking in order to spy on any target device. Cocospy believes in safety, stability, and reliability so with Cocospy you don’t have to practice such activities that could harm your phone device.

Features of Cocospy Phone Monitoring Solution. Let’s find out what type of features Cocospy is offering us to spy on any cell phone device without getting detected.

Track Calls

You can also view the time duration of calls along with timestamps. Support for viewing most engaged contacts is provided as well. Cocospy is offering a call tracking feature that allows you to view the record of each call either incoming or outgoing.

Track Text Messages

Also, you can browse MMS content as well. With a Cocospy phone monitoring solution, you can track all of the text messages of that target device you want to spy on. You can read received messages, sent messages, and deleted messages as well.

Track Location

Cocospy phone surveillance company has made phone location tracking easy and smart like never before. Also, Keep an eye on entry and exit location timing along with the support of reading geographical coordinates. Track device locations on the basis of WiFi or GPS.

Monitor Third-party Apps

Using this reliable service, users can monitor almost any third party application and it’s data. Like Facebook messages, WhatsApp messages, Instagram, Snapchat, and many other applications can be monitored by using Cocospy’s monitoring service.

Remember that you would not have to Root or Jailbreak phone device for using these phone spying features. Not only these, but there are many other spying features as well that can help you in spying according to your preferences.

How to Spy on a Cell Phone Without Installing Software?

Let’s start about the iPhone, we all know that the iPhone is way better than Android when it comes to security. You would be surprised to know that Yes, you can spy on an iPhone device without installing any software. All you need is the credentials of the iCloud account that is currently logged on that iPhone you want to spy on.

So, why not check out how can we spy on an iPhone without installing any software. If we talk about Android, the answer is No. You can’t spy on an Android phone device without installing any software because at least for once you would have to install the Cocospy app.

Spying on an iPhone device without installing software actually works by using a Cocospy phone monitoring solution. Let’s follow some simple steps to get know-how Cocospy iOS solution works.

Step 1: Open up your web browser and visit Cocospy official website. Click on the Sign Up Now button to start the Cocospy account creation process. Enter your email and password to proceed further
Step 2: Now, enter the credentials of an iCloud account that is signed on that iPhone device you want to spy on.
Step 3: After entering the iCloud account details, you would be able to complete the whole account creation setup.
Step 4: Open up your web browser on a PC or any device, visit the Cocospy website and log in to your newly created account.

Conclusion

In this article, we got to know that spying on a cellphone without installing software is possible but only for iOS devices not for Android. For Android, you would have to install the app at least one time so you can configure your Cocospy’s account in the device.

Top 5 best InDesign alternatives

Designveloper1:33 AMdesign, graphicdesign, indesign No comments

If you're looking for InDesign alternatives, you've come to the right place. Launched in 1999, Adobe InDesign quickly became the industry standard for desktop publishing (DTP), and it’s remained so ever since. However, it’s now part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, and so to access it, you need a monthly subscription, either to the app itself or the Creative Cloud suite as a whole.

1. Affinity Publisher

Launched in 2018, and emerging from public beta this June, Affinity Publisher is our top pick if you’re looking for a subscription-free alternative to InDesign. This desktop publishing software offers excellent page layout features for both printed and online media, such as live master pages, including nested master pages; image frames with intelligent scaling options; text wrapping with fine padding control; advanced guides, grids and snapping; OpenType support, drop caps, text on a path and custom table formats.

You can import and export to all both raster and vector files with Affinity Publisher, including layered PSD, PDF and EPS formats. Until recently you couldn't import InDesign files; you could only save them as PDFs and import either the whole PDF or individual pages. However, IDML import will be in v1.8, which is already available in public beta for users to try.

2. QuarkXPress

Back in the 1990s, QuarkXPress was the king on the desktop publishing block. And many designers, publishing houses and corporations who started using it before InDesign arrived have continued to do so. The software can be used to create everything from posters and flyers to brochures, catalogues, and magazines, as well as ebooks and web and mobile apps.

First launched in 1987, this reliable and feature-packed software can do almost everything that InDesign can do, plus importantly, it can import InDesign files. Available for PC or Mac, it continues to be updated on an annual basis, usually around late spring/early summer, and the latest version is Quark XPress 2019.

3. Scribus

If you’re looking for a free and open source alternative to InDesign, then we recommend checking out Scribus. This excellent tool has an interface that’s very similar to InDesign and is surprisingly feature-packed for a zero-cost tool.

First launched in 2001, Scribus has an enthusiastic developer community around it that keeps it constantly updated with new features and ensures its stability. Available for Mac, Windows and Linux, it supports most of the desktop publishing features you’d find in paid software, including support for OpenType, CMYK colours, spot colours, ICC colour management and versatile PDF creation, as well as some unexpected touches, such as vector drawing tools, emulation of colour blindness and the rendering of markup languages like LaTeX or Lilypond.

4. Swift Publisher

Swift Publisher is a budget desktop publishing app for Mac only. It comes with more than 500 templates for a range of specific projects, including bi-fold and tri-fold brochures, catalogues, business cards, social media, disc labels and covers, address labels and more.

You’ll also have access to a collection of 2D and 3D heading presets, 2,000 free clipart images, 100 image masks, and it includes some sophisticated page layout features including two-page spreads, unlimited layers, master pages, customisable grids, rich text tools, printing to RGB or CMYK, and export to PNG, TIFF, JPEG, EPS and PDF.

5. LucidPress

Lucidpress is an intuitive, web-based, drag and drop tool that allows you to create content for print and digital, including flyers, brochures, business cards, invitations, leaflets, newsletters, magazines, photobooks and more. Largely targeted at people with minimal DTP skills or experience, it comes with both free and paid-for templates to make this super-easy.

The software is also integrated with Google Docs, YouTube, Dropbox, Flickr, Facebook, Unsplash and other tools to allow you to import existing content. Once you’ve completed your designs you can publish them online, embed them in emails or webpages, push to social media, download them as print-ready files, or order directly from the Lucidpress print shop.

The 6 best Illustrator alternatives

Designveloper1:20 AMillustrator, tools No comments

Adobe's software might be the industry standard, but Illustrator alternatives are available. Why is Adobe's vector graphics editor so popular? Well, Illustrator was first released in 1987 and has dominated digital art, illustration, and graphic design for several decades. There are many benefits of using the software, you can find out more via our download Illustrator post.

However, as it's part of Adobe's Creative Cloud, to use Illustrator, you'll need a monthly subscription, either to the app itself or to the Creative Cloud suite as a whole.

1. Affinity Designer

In our view, the best all-round alternative to Illustrator is Affinity Designer. First launched in 2014, this vector editor from British software company Serif has gradually grown in popularity and influence, and for good reason.

And while Illustrator still isn’t available on iPad (although it's coming soon, and it looks very cool), you can now use the full version of Affinity Designer on iPad (for £19.99), with optimized features for the Apple Pencil.

Affinity Designer can also boast a few unique features that Illustrator doesn’t have, including the ability to switch between raster and vector workspaces within the same tool, one-million plus zoom, and unlimited redos. Unencumbered by legacy code, the software generally runs a little bit faster than Illustrator, and if you have a relatively new Mac, a lot faster (which is largely why it won an Apple Design Award).

2. Sketch

If your need for a vector drawing program is primarily for digital design, then Sketch is probably your best alternative to Illustrator: as long as you’re using a Mac.

It’s not a fully comprehensive drawing program, with all the features offered by Illustrator, so you wouldn’t use it to create complex illustrations or art. But by the same token, this means it has a simpler and more user-friendly interface that makes an icon and UI design quick and easy.

First launched in 2010, Sketch has a strong focus on UI and icon design that quickly led it to become the industry’s go-to for the app and website prototyping. A Sketch license costs $99 and will give you one year of free updates. Once your license has expired you can still use the app for as long as you want, but you will need to renew if you want the latest updates.

3. CorelDRAW

First launched in 1989, CorelDRAW is a vector drawing program with a big following among artists and illustrators. For most of this time, it was Windows-only, but this Spring a Mac version was finally released too. There’s no easy way to say whether CorelDRAW or Illustrator is the 'better' tool. Both are packed with features and both have their passionate advocates.

CorelDRAW is available for a one-off fee, but the upfront cost is relatively large: £599 at the time of writing. Essentially, then, the main reason to buy Corel Draw over Illustrator seems to be if you prefer the interface and workflow. What is the objective fact is that Illustrator is the standard software for the design and illustration industry, but that said, you can easily import and export AI and PDF files to CorelDRAW. The two tools can’t easily be separated on price, either.

4. Gravit Designer

Gravit Designer is a tool that allows you to work on a diverse range of design tasks, including illustration, UI and screen design, printed artwork and logo design. You save your work onto your computer in the .gvdesign format, and you can export it as SVG, PDV, PNG or JPEG files. Gravit Designer is available either online in your browser or on your desktop as a downloadable app for Mac OS, Windows, Linux or Chrome OS.

The tool supports a number of vector and raster file formats, including AI and Sketch files. It has a lot of similar features to Illustrator, including a freehand drawing tool that smooths the paths as you draw, the ability to create custom shapes and the equivalent of the Pen tool.

5. Inkscape

Inkscape is a free and open-source vector editor using Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) as the native format. As well as Windows and Mac, it will also run on Linux. The main downside lies in its performance: it can be quite slow and laggy at times.

It’s lightweight, so will run on quite low-powered computers, but it’s surprisingly capable for a free tool, with a lot of useful features including layers, object grouping, drawing, shape, calligraphy, pencil and pen tools, path simplification with variable threshold, bitmap tracing and Boolean operations. Inkscape natively supports opening or importing a range of formats, including SVG, PDF, EPS, AI (Adobe Illustrator) and CDR (CorelDraw).

6. Vectr

Overall, Vectr is super-simple, which can be viewed as a positive or a negative. In other words, it’s never going to replace the feature-rich capabilities of Illustrator, Affinity Designer or Corel Draw, but that also means a very low learning curve (there are very good tutorials featured within the app itself).

Vectr is a totally free, browser-based tool that offers a quick and easy way to get started with vector editing via an intuitive interface. Because it’s based on the web browser, anyone with an internet connection can use it, and that makes it quite straightforward for multiple people to collaborate on a design, too. Each image has a bespoke URL you can share with others, and you can export your finished work as an SVG, PNG or JPEG file.

5 Dangers of using pirated Software

Designveloper11:06 PMsoftware No comments

Software piracy can also come in a variety of other forms that you may not think are bad. Software piracy is defined as an act of illegally copying or distributing software without being the rightful owner or having legal rights.

Depending on your business, software help to enhance its efficiency. However, with the abundantly available software, there is also a lot of software piracy on the internet.

With the growing technological advancements, there are so many useful programs and software available online for businesses. So forget about debating whether you consider a certain act as piracy or not. Simply purchase the legitimate software.

1. Software Piracy is Illegal

Just to spruce up your knowledge, in case you are unaware, software piracy is a felony. This means that if you are found guilty, hefty fines can be imposed on you or you could even face jail time. This is because one can consider software piracy as cybercrime and theft as it results in abuse and misuse of property that you don’t own.

In fact, many firms have been raided and taken down simply for pirating and using unlicensed software. For such corporations, it not only fines, but the consequences can even mean up to five years of jail time for senior management.

2. Potential Malware Attacks

In actuality, individuals that visit piracy sites or download unlicensed software are almost 50% more likely to suffer from malware attacks on their devices or networks. So if you are selfish enough to not be bothered by fines or jail time, malware attacks should scare you. Because this means that you are losing the very same thing you have been working on. Using pirated and unlicensed software puts you at greater risk of malware attacks.

Some of the common risks you are exposed to when using unlicensed software include credit card and banking info theft, identity theft, ransomware, ad fraud, and even risk the quality of your work being compromised. This gives these same shady people easy access to your devices and even networks. This design, for example, makes ransoming very easy to execute. Better back up your data, or better yet do not pirate software!

3. Losses To Legitimate Software Developers And Companies

Yes, the online world is virtual and may appear to be superficial. However, legitimate software companies and developers do depend on the sales of these software. So pirating and the use of unlicensed software does actually equate to you physically robbing a store. This does bring about losses to these companies and directly affects the individuals that work for it.

It’s like a chain reaction – you and a million other pirate software, the company suffers significant losses in sales, and has to retrench some of its employees. Turns out it the same company that your sister works for and she is one of those retrenched. Yet, incapacitating them financially can get them out of business or even limit their resources to allow for more protective software designs. So this, in fact, turns out to be both our loss.

4. No Updates for Your Software

Because you have unlicensed and pirated software installed on your devices, this means that you will not be able to do the constant updating of the software. Once the software is newly introduced, over time it becomes susceptible to bugs and other malware attacks. This is because crackers use their time to try to navigate and penetrate the system.

Hence, because a pirate program is cracked by illegitimate individuals after certain updates, the software fails to download the legitimate updates for the actual software developer, thus, leaving your devices and networks vulnerable.

5. Pirated Software May Be Malfunctioned

Because they are acquired illegally, you may not know who developed the software and even where they came from. Thus, if the software malfunctions, you will not be able to know this.

Because the pirated software s cracked and slightly alter to be available for free online, this process affects its performance, making it different from the actual software. This means that pirated and unlicensed software is more likely to crash, lose files, and even corrupt files.

Therefore, as much as legitimate software appears to be expensive, it is always wise to go for them. This ensures that even your work and the durability of your devices are not compromised. The touch screen compatible Microsoft 10 or cloud-based Office 365 for example, cannot be accessed with pirated software – so you will be missing out.