Expert verifiedHighlights
- IoT application development connects devices to exchange data over the internet automatically, without human intervention.
- Building IoT apps involves key decisions around platform selection, hardware, scalability, latency, and security.
- Cloud-based low-code platforms simplify IoT development by abstracting infrastructure concerns away from developers.
- Low-code IoT development is faster, more agile, and more cost-effective compared to traditional development models.
- IoT apps benefit industries ranging from healthcare and automotive to supply chain, logistics, and government services.
- Low-code platform APIs let IoT hardware push data directly to the platform, enabling operations like anomaly detection and device monitoring.
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the network of hardware devices that can connect and exchange information with each other using the internet. Zoho Creator is an AI-powered low-code development platform that allows you to build apps for the Internet of Things 10x faster, using application programming interfaces (APIs).
What is an IoT application?
IoT applications enable the exchange of information between interconnected devices through the internet, without any human intervention involved. These cloud-based SaaS apps serve as a bridge between IoT devices and the internet, facilitating the gathering, analysis, and interpretation of data generated by the hardware.
What is IoT application development?
Engineering apps for IoT devices is called IoT application development, or machine-to-machine (M2M) application development. These apps act as the software layer that makes sense of the data your connected devices generate, turning raw sensor input into actionable information. As businesses deploy more connected devices across operations, having a dedicated IoT app to collect, process, and respond to that data becomes an operational necessity.
Steps in IoT app development
Step 1: Choosing an IoT platform
This depends upon the target audience of your IoT software and devices. These platforms offer APIs which allow app developers to interface with the hardware. Some examples of IoT platforms are AWS IoT Core, AWS IoT, and Cisco IoT Cloud Connect.
Step 2: Selecting the hardware
This step necessitates selecting the hardware which will form the backbone of your IoT system. You'll have to choose the embedded sensors, actuators, processors, and transceivers.
Step 3: Factoring in scalability
You need to ensure that the IoT apps you engineer scale automatically with the number of users upon deployment. Scalability can be auto-accomplished by building your IoT apps on a cloud platform like Zoho Creator, which scales automatically.
Step 4: Engineering low latency
The hardware and software of your IoT network should function at low latency, to offer optimal responsiveness and performance. High-speed connections are of the essence here.
Step 5: Ensuring app security
As information processed over IoT networks is highly confidential and sent and accessed through the public internet, security is a crucial factor. IoT apps need to be developed with adherence to stringent security standards and protocols.
"A cloud app development platform like Zoho Creator simplifies IoT app development by abstracting away infrastructure, scalability, and security concerns."
Advantages of IoT apps
IoT apps come with several advantages—prominent among them are:
- Universal communication: IoT apps enable seamless communication between people, processes, and a wide variety of things which can connect and exchange data over the internet.
- Access your information anywhere, at any time: IoT apps enable you to remotely access the information of your IoT devices whenever you need, as they're connected via the cloud.
- Augmented automation: The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)—the application of IoT in industrial settings—plays a major part here. Through constant monitoring of devices, IoT apps provide insights which help in increasing the automation of business processes, subsequently leading to a reduction in manual effort involved in monitoring devices and hardware.
- Rapid feedback: IoT apps and systems enable rapid fabrication and optimization of new products, due to the continuous feedback received from their devices. This allows manufacturers to provide immediate responses to constantly changing product demand.
Applications of IoT software
Software developed for the Internet of Things have wide applications across a multitude of industries. IoT apps can be deployed in sectors such as:
Government
Governments can deploy IoT apps in energy and resource networks, like power and water supplies. The feedback provided by deployed IoT apps can assist in quickly resolving any service outages.
Supply chain and logistics industry
IoT apps can be of immense use in ensuring supply chain efficiency and logistics sustainability. IoT apps can track vehicles through telematics and feed real-time data into routing systems. Warehouses fitted with IoT sensors can also aid in monitoring storage conditions.
Healthcare
This is a major industry benefited by IoT apps. Wearable smart IoT devices can assist people with monitoring their vital statistics, and healthcare professionals can assess the data gathered by wearables to ensure the well-being of their patients.
Automotive industry
IoT devices can help in streamlining the manufacturing processes in automotive factories. IoT sensors can assist in foreseeing and preempting spare part failure, in real time, in vehicles. Self-driving technology in cars is also enhanced by IoT feedback.
Low-code and IoT app development: The perfect combination
| Conventional Internet of Things software development | Internet of Things fuelled by a low-code app-development platform like Zoho Creator |
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Zoho Creator offers application programming interfaces (APIs), with which IoT hardware can push data onto the platform. Upon feeding this data to Zoho Creator's analytics features, a multitude of IoT operations, including anomaly detection, device status, and device uptime, can be performed.
Less code, more connected.
Frequently Asked Questions
Smartphones and smart watches are examples of IoT-enabled smart devices, as they can harness IoT apps to analyze and process the data from their sensors.
Any device that can provide information directly from its sensors, or indirectly from other hardware, can become a part of the IoT.
Your data is secure with IoT apps. Platforms like Zoho Creator adhere to industry standards, such as encryption at rest and in transit, when it comes to ensuring the security and integrity of your data. Zoho is ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, SOC-2 type II, and TrustArc certified, and GDPR compliant.
Most low-code platforms offer a monthly or annual subscription-based pricing model. You pay only for developing your apps on the platform, not for the technical infrastructure, as Zoho Creator is an aPaaS (application platform as a service) solution. You can check Zoho Creator's prices here.