The iOS trends have started owing to the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) culture that the offices have started employing. This has prompted individual employees to buy their own iPads and iPhones into the office. Many organizations and individuals were surprised by the productivity gains which they saw and many organizations have opted to develop custom business apps for the iOS platform. The most common business uses were taken into account before the development of custom apps. Apps were used for solving specific tasks including inventory management and bill invoicing. There are apps which help in dealing with customer relationship management, as well as research and surveys. The new hi-tech Austin Convention Center proposed elimination of paper work orders resulting in 200 percent ROI for the tech giant. Similarly, Lee Medical automated its healthcare processes with business apps, which helped in quality of their services and several lives were saved at reduced costs. West Paw Design introduced FileMaker Go for iPad which prompted its entire business to go automated right from the first part of order entry to the final delivery, which saved thousands of dollars on an annual basis. Many organizations are very keen to automate their processes to iOS devices but most of them are stuck on how to implement them cost-effectively. The biggest challenge that many of them face is how to create and update iOS apps for business needs.

Organizations need developers who can provide custom iOS app development but the remuneration per hour is huge. It is good to have a web app which is advertised with mobile browsers. This requires extensive programming with JavaScript and CSS. Such apps lack complete interactivity with native apps and need a steady web connection to run. Additionally, the time and cost involved in the integration of custom apps is huge. Also, there is a strong need to acquire or build custom libraries for much of the functions in an organization including charting, reporting, or even signature capture. It is good to have an alternative which would imply using a platform designed for development and maintenance of custom business apps.

One such platform is the popular FileMaker which is actually an Apple subsidiary. Employees expect a lot from the iOS platform and the iPhone experience since Apple is known to be the pioneer of smart design and great quality in smartphones. Its design is pivotal to adoption. The tools need to be easy to use and design. Additionally, the iOS apps need to be simplistic yet comprehensive. The alternative platform should boast of support to the native iPad and iPhone clients since users will be expecting the same quality which Apple presents. It should have gesture support along with several touchscreen actions such as pinch and zoom, with support for location. A good platform goes far beyond client expectations and mostly offers support for common data exchange APIs along with integration with popular authentication systems. The popularity of the iOS and the supportive devices like the iPad and iPhone are making them essential for boosting business productivity.