A step forward is always required to achieve an advantage over anything. There is an adage,”you never get to grab an opportunity until you put your step forward”. IOT is the next step of IT towards the future, which enabled the user to do the task while coming over the sofa or while driving a car.
In any shopping place, convention centers or even office spaces finding a parking space away from home is quite a problem for people, as a result, there has been a significant rise in Parking app development. This is mainly because with the increase in the number of cars there has been a dearth of parking space in any locality’s public car parking area. Often the hunt for a free parking space becomes a nightmare for the driver and to make life easier for car drivers technologies are now used to bring in the smart parking system. This method will save time as well as ensure there is less hassle faced by the driver when finding a parking spot.
Introduction With Market Presence
Parking app business is picking up significantly in the market because it is not only helpful for the drivers since it easy parking access with reverse parking spaces. It also offers benefit to the parking space owners by taking non-cash payments from the drivers. A properly functioning parking app offers clear direction with real-time information to the drivers on traffic jams and such other benefits. According to surveys on parking app it has been estimated that by 2023 IoT App development analytics will spend $3.8 billion on smart parking app.
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If market pundits are believed then it is easy to say that the parking app is the new cash cow as almost everyone with a car is availing the service. The demand for car parking app can be easily explained with the MKE Park app. This parking app was developed especially for Milwaukee and since 2015 179,000 times the app has been downloaded and between 2015 and 2018 the download was increased from 6,518 per week to 16,913 per week. Example of another parking app PrakWhiz, used in about 190 cities in the US that shows 4,000 parking locations has over 40 million users. Other statistics reveal that in a city 30 percent of the cars are searching for a nearby parking spot. But while many of the parking spots are often vacant still drivers are unable to locate them because they are not aware of it.
These figures are indicative of the fact that parking apps are very much in demand so if you are thinking whether a parking app development is a viable app development option the answer is yes. The reason being despite the existence of parking apps people are still facing problem locating a parking space near their destination.
What is IoT Smart Parking Apps
A parking strategy that combines IoT with human innovation is the smart parking system, that also requires fewer resources so that it can achieve faster, efficient and easier parking solutions for the cars. To provide the best parking services that oversee the optimal level of occupancy IoT Smart Parking Apps are developed and used. IoT App Development for car parking with the use of several devices like cameras, sensors embedded into the pavements as well as individual parking spaces, counting equipment, gates has paved ways for less traffic congestion and drivers wasting time to find a parking space. As a result, this IoT influenced smart parking system is proving to the quite beneficial for the drivers as well as the parking proprietors.
But it is important to know that to develop an IoT informed Smart Parking App there are certain features that the developer needs to incorporate in them. In the next section, we will discuss them.
How Parking System App Works (Features)
When a mobile app development firm takes the project of developing a parking app for any operating system they consider 14 primary features for the app. These features can be divided into two categories with 7 features in each. The following are the two categories with 7 features in them.
Features of Parking Slot Finder App
1.Easy to Search: The app must allow the user to search for the parking spot easily so that they can go there without wasting time.
2.GPS: The app must have a GPS for the parking slot locator so that the user is guided with direction to the parking slot.
3: Street Parking Alerts: For any parking app it is always beneficial to integrate street parking alerts along with the GPS as it will allow users to know the areas that have metered parking option, no parking as well as any other street signs.
4.Price Comparison: A parking app that offers the parking price for a slot and compares it with nearby other parking slots is always helpful for the drivers.
5.Booking Option: There are many parking slots that can be booked in advance for a day, week or month. A parking app that offers the option of booking a parking slot in advance instead of booking it every single time on your arrival is quite a benefit.
6.Payment Option: Offering multiple payment options, i.e. cash, cards, and e-wallets ease the payment method for the user while they enjoy a sense of security.
7.Multi-lingual: Giving the option of multiple languages a variety of users can use the app to find a parking slot, thus making it easy for any driver.
Advanced Features of Parking Space Finder App
1: GPS: When developing a parking app it is crucial to integrate Google Maps, MapKit and iOS navigation system to the GPS system of the app so that the driver can find the parking space easily. The feature will find the easiest route and direct the driver to the exact location.
2: Push Notification: This is a feature that can engage a user with the app as it will inform the user about any added features, promo codes, discounts, app updates and so on.
3: Map Searching: The feature allows the driver to not only locate the exact parking spot but also the easiest and safest way to reach home with minimum delay in case of traffic.
4: Rate Card: With this feature, a user can make an informed choice about where to park as it will show the parking rate of a parking spaceaccording to the day and time.
5: In-app Communication: It is crucial for a good parking app to have an in-app communication system in which the driver can chat with other commuters, customers, admin and customer support representatives.
6: Heat Map View: In a parking view app for space it is important for the developer to integrate this feature as it will allow the driver to see the busiest route and the busiest parking space and the availability of slots in that area.
7: Multiple Cities and Places: To give the app a mass appeal it is important to add more than one city or place in the app. For users, it is always beneficial to use an app that offers parking space information for multiple places.
8: Tools Required: There are several tools that a parking app developer needs to integrate into the app and it can be divided into three categories, with each having its own list of tools. The categories and the individual tools for each of them are:
1. User Panel For Parking App Tools
- Registration
- Tracking System for vehicle location
- Search for pickup location
- Estimated arrival and departure time
- Schedule booking for the parking
- Integrating the payment option
- History of the parking
- Ratings 7 Review
2. Admin Panel For Mobile Parking App
- User Management
- Driver Management
- Manage Payment
- Add or remove a driver
- Manage Booking
- Manage Offers
- Add New location
3: Driver Panel of Vehicle Parking App
- Registration
- Adding ID proof
- Contact customers
- Receive payment from customers
- Check reviews & ratings
- Option to accept or decline parking request
Despite the market flowing with parking apps, there is still quite a lot of opportunity for developers and other start-up companies to develop parking apps that are user-friendly and encompasses much more features than the existing apps in the market.
