Imagine developing an application that doesn't run on a single server and utilizes the capabilities of thousands of workstations globally. Yes, such mobile apps do exist and are known by the name of decentralized apps.
Back in 2015, there were around 25 dApps only but thanks to the upsurge in cryptocurrencies, today, we have more than 3,600 decentralized applications, ranging from games to social media platforms to financial services. In fact, a 2022 report suggests that such apps are accountable for almost $182.5 billion worth of user transactions annually.
A lot of businesses have no idea what a decentralized application is and why they should invest in its development. If you are one of them, keep reading!
In this blog, Techosquare - a mobile application development firm in India - will document everything about decentralized applications. From meaning to benefits and development process to examples, we will cover all important aspects.
Let's understand the meaning of dApps first!
To comprehend the meaning of decentralized applications, we need to talk about centralized apps. We all use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp in our daily lives. These centralized apps run on a system that is owned and operated by an organization. If the centralized server crashes, the app will cease to function across user devices until the issue is fixed.
Decentralized apps are different. They depend on a peer-to-peer network instead of a centralized server. Powered by blockchain technology, they are built on a decentralized ledger which is sustained by a network of workstations rather than a single server. Meaning, there is no single point of failure.
Decentralized applications bring scores of advantages to businesses over conventional apps. The following are some reasons why entrepreneurs should think of investing their money into decentralized app development in 2022:
Imagine you are conducting a very important meeting and suddenly one of the attendants, who accidentally forgot to put his phone on silent, received a call. We bet you might feel frustrated. No one likes interruptions. And this is also true in the case of applications.
Since the need for a centralized server is blotted out in decentralized applications, entrepreneurs can make certain that the functions get executed with fewer interruptions. Their users can retrieve needed information without a hitch. Fewer interruptions also mean high availability. In simple words, businesses can also improve and earn huge profits with decentralized apps.
One of the biggest benefits of investing in decentralized application development. As we said earlier, centralized apps are dependent on a single server. No matter how strong the security is or what measures the company is taking, centralized storage and processing centers of an application are always vulnerable to hacking attempts including ransomware where attackers can take possession of critical information and let go of control only after receiving ransom money.
Since decentralized applications are based on a shared database, the chances of hijacking are extremely low. Why, you ask? The stored information gets replicated across all other nodes. Meaning, even if a hacker manages to get control over a single computer, he cannot restrict your ability to access critical data.
The distributed nature of blockchain-based decentralized apps also makes it difficult for individuals to alter the stored data, boosting user trust in the process.
Learn differences between web vs native mobile application
For those who don’t know, uptime is the percentage of time a server or computer has been working for and is available. Because the operations of decentralized applications don’t depend on the set of circumstances of a single node, they can easily maintain higher uptimes. In fact, the failure of 3-4 nodes due to unforeseen issues will not stop other nodes from operating and providing data.
This isn't the case with centralized applications. A single major fault in the server can cause an app to crumple. It may lead to delays in planned operations, which may cost your business to a great extent.
Another major benefit of decentralized application development. Unlike centralized apps, they don’t ask businesses to install huge servers and hire or outsource experts who can supervise and sustain server and stored information. This type of app offers a higher transaction speed, which results in cost reduction.
While some companies are giving a try to decentralized applications for earning huge profits, others don’t know what goes into their development. Building a dApp, for starters, requires Ethereum’s services. Why? Because they will provide a huge amount of resources to help you and your hired developers save the time and money required for the app development.
Consider the following steps to develop a centralized application for your business in 2022:
Should a restaurant owner add a dish to the menu without considering customer tastes and preferences? The answer is NO! Similarly, it is really essential for you to understand your decentralized application project from the ground up. Cogitate on how exactly your application will decode problems you are thinking to design it for.
Also, ask yourself these questions to get a proper vision of the end product:
Just like builders need to lay the foundation to support and anchor the superstructure of a building and transmit its load directly to earth, you need to choose the right technology stack for building your decentralized application. Ask your hired app developers to figure out what technology is best in for the following key areas of development:
Done with figuring out requirements and choosing the right technology stack? Your next step of decentralized application development is to set up your business project. Install the development framework first. Arrange all selected tools for the front-end development of your application afterward. Also, ask your hired team of app developers to only use coding language they are fully cognizant of.
Now here comes the most difficult part of developing a decentralized application. Build a single smart contract or amalgamation of smart contracts to allocate the logic of your decentralized app. Once done, start working on the front-end i.e. user-facing side of your mobile application. Create a visually gratifying and navigable layout for providing a captivating user experience.
Make sure that the relevant information that you want to display on your decentralized app is easy to interpret. Also, make headway with the backend of your application to make it easy to support front-end user services and interfaces with needed resources.
Got no understanding of developing a decentralized application? It is best for you to hire a team of leading mobile developers.
Learn more about the best mobile application development services.
Another crucial step of a decentralized application development process. Test your dApp rigorously before deploying the smart contract to mainnet. It will help you understand how the user will perceive the application once it goes live. Test it to see how it deals with repeat votes thrown by the same user.
Also, consider the following parameters while looking out for bugs in your decentralized application’s code:
After eliminating all bugs and errors, you can launch your dApp easily.
There are many decentralized application examples that are used for different purposes. Here are the popular ones:
Those who downloaded video games, music, movies, and TV shows back in the 2000s might have heard about BitTorrent. It is a well-known peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) decentralized application that enables the massive distribution of files over the internet. Available for mobile and desktop in the form of a native application as well as a web application, BitTorrent allows users to join a swarm of hosts or download files from each other simultaneously.
According to DMR, BitTorrent is used by 45 million active users every day and by 170 million users every month.
A play to win crypto game that has been gaining gobs of internet users’ attention lately. Splinterlands is an online collectible card game designed using decentralized blockchain technology. All cards in this dApp are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can be ceded just like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Players can earn real money by playing tournaments, ranked play, and quests in Splinterlands. This decentralized application is available on iOS, Android, and web browsers.
One of the greatest decentralized applications to consider as an example in 2022. Steemit is an innovative social media and blogging platform that runs on a unique blockchain-based social media model called Steem. It uses native crypto STEEM to recompense users for content creation and curation.
Also called the flagship app of Steem chain, users can also earn money using this decentralized application by commenting, voting, vesting, and associating with writers who have a huge fan following on the platform.
There you go!
We told you everything about decentralized applications. Although its concept is fresh, the technology is irrepressible and has a good promise, especially when it comes to data security and ownership. Still, we recommend you to do thorough research, give some time to decentralized app development ideas and use proper planning and tools.
Also, hire a robust team of mobile application development experts like Techosquare. We will help your business build an eye-catching decentralized app and take your business growth to the next level.
Got any queries to ask? Send them to info@techosquare.com and have them answered by our experts.
Everything about dating app development
Mobile app design and development trends to follow.
Mobile app categories prospering in the post-COVID world.
PHP development services in India.
