برچسب: Apps

A Packing List of Apps to Download Before You Travel

So you can whip together a weekend bag or fit a fortnight’s worth of outfits into a rolling suitcase, but does your status as “packing guru” extend to your phone or tablet? Think of your device as a second carry-on, with its own packing list of apps that are essential for entertainment, getting around, safety and more.

“Everyone talks about making the super app, the one place for everything you need,” said Gilbert Ott, partnerships director at Point.me, a website that helps travelers manage loyalty points, “but no one has done it yet.” Until that super travel app exists, here are some suggested apps to download before you go.

Safety and security

Public Wi-Fi networks like those in cafes and hotels may not be secure, so to keep criminals from intercepting passwords, credit card numbers and emails, “it’s better to encrypt your internet activity,” said Mr. Ott. One method to keep data secure is to download and use virtual private networks like NordVPN or ExpressVPN, which encrypt your web doings. Both charge about $13 per month for a monthly plan, and about half that rate for a yearly plan. Another VPN provider, Mullvad, charges about $5.50 per month.

It may be tempting to store copies of important documents like passports, health insurance cards and prescriptions on your phone as photos, but it’s more secure to use apps that encrypt that information, like 1Password (starting at $35.88 per year) and Microsoft OneDrive Personal Vault (included with a $99.99-per-year Microsoft 365 subscription or, for nonsubscribers, three files free storage).

Getting around

The U.S. government’s free Mobile Passport Control app can help U.S. citizens and some other groups — even travelers not in the Global Entry program — make their way through immigration and customs more quickly by scanning their passport into the app and adding a selfie within four hours of arrival. Preloading the information speeds your interaction with the officer.

For detailed information on public transportation that can go beyond Google Maps, Moovit (free with ads or Moovit+ with additional features and no ads for $17.99 per year) and Citymapper (free with ads or $9.99 per year) can help with routes, fares and trip length around the world. In cities like New York and London, make sure you’ve loaded a credit or debit card in your digital wallet and set it up for transit to avoid lines by using touchless payment at turnstiles.

In some countries, hailing a cab on the street may be difficult or unsafe. So where Uber and Lyft aren’t available, download local trusted ride-hailing apps that offer set fares and location tracking. In Vietnam, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, for example, Grab offers rides in cars, taxis and on the backs of motorcycles. In India, Ola is a popular choice.

Entertainment

For hours spent in planes, trains and hotel rooms, load your device with a mix of diversions and destination information. Taylor Beal, a travel blogger from Philadelphia, who leads high school groups on trips to Europe, recommends borrowing electronic library books using Libby and Hoopla. The apps are free but require a local library card from one of the more than 90,000 participating public libraries and schools.

For road trips in the United States, the phone app Autio ($35.99 annually, with a free trial) offers 23,000 short stories and information about the surrounding landscape and history, based on your location. Offerings include Kevin Costner on the northern Great Plains and John Lithgow on “Footloose” filming locations.

Traveling together

Keeping track of who paid for what among a group of friends can be a fun-killing chore. Jamie Larounis, a travel industry analyst for Upgraded Points, recommends Splitwise Pro ($39.99 per year, or a limited free version), which tracks and divides up expenses for taxis, meals and more. Other apps like Tricount (free) and Settle Up (free, or $19.99 per year for the premium version) offer similar services.

For tracking flights and making plans either solo or with companions, TripIt (free version or TripItPro $49 per year) and Wanderlog (free version or Wanderlog Pro for $39.99 per year) can tame even complicated itineraries.

Translating

You may already have Google Translate on your device, but that app also has some lesser-known handy features. Point your camera at a foreign menu, train station sign or receipt, for example, and Google can translate it — even with non-Roman characters. The Conversation button in the app lets you pass your phone back and forth when you’re trying to get directions, order food, ask for help and more. You can even create a custom phrase book in the app.

Local attractions

Bloomberg Connects has teamed up with more than 800 museums and other cultural spaces, like the New York Botanical Garden, around the world to offer free information on their exhibits, complementing local organizations like the Musée Carnavalet, a history museum in Paris, which often have institution-specific apps.

Of course, there’s also always the good, old-fashioned way to travel — wandering around and letting serendipity take the lead. Is there an app for that, too?

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11/05/2025
‘The Interview’: Can Whitney Wolfe Herd Make Us Love Dating Apps Again?

That was Andrey Andreev, who was the head of Badoo and was a co-creator of Bumble. And then you faced another workplace scandal after Bumble started, involving him. In 2019 Forbes published an investigation, and he was accused of creating a toxic and sexist work environment at Badoo’s London headquarters. He denied these allegations but ended up selling his majority stake not long after the article was published. It’s striking that you had to deal with a second high-profile case of alleged male bad behavior in your professional life at the same time you were building a company whose brand was about empowering women. What do you make of that now? I mean, horrible. Absolutely the worst-case scenario. I obviously felt sick for anybody that felt the way they felt, and I did not know about any of these allegations, which to a lot of people, they’re like: “Whitney’s a liar. Of course she knew all these things, and she’s covering up for this guy.” The frank truth is I was in Austin running Bumble very much as a stand-alone business. It’s not like I was sitting in [Badoo’s London] office all day and intersecting with those people, and so it was gutting to me. When Forbes called me and told me this, I was speechless. I was shocked. It was really important to Andrey that I be honest about my personal interactions with him, which, the frank truth is, I had never seen anything to that degree. However, I would never question a woman or another person in their experience, and I said that. And I believe those allegations were stemming from several years prior. They were not active.

There was a range of allegations from different times. Right. But I think the bulk of the article was covering things that had been earlier days. I’m not trying to recuse myself from anything. That’s not what I’m doing. I’m trying to say if you look at the early 2010s, we’ve all seen the movies. The WeWorks and the Ubers. When you close your eyes and think about a tech company in 2012, you see beer pong and all the men together. I don’t think you close your eyes and think back on a progressive office space. What do you take away from this? I don’t know. Maybe I just found myself in two of the only situations, or was this painting a bigger theme of what was pervasive in tech culture at the time?

The other thing about that period is that it’s such a moment of tech optimism. All these apps were coming out, they were backed by incomprehensible amounts of money. They promised to solve so many of the world’s problems. Did you believe that back then? I did. To be able to get on an app, see who’s around you, instantly connect with them and all of a sudden end up on a date with someone that you never would have met if it had not been for this interface, that felt really transformational. So did being able to order a black car on Uber. We were just at this moment — gosh, if any Gen Z people are listening to us right now, they are going to be like: “These people, what? Did they live in the dark ages?” [Laughs]

Hey, listen, I remember the time before cellphones. So you know where I’m going with this. That was a huge leap in terms of efficiency and ease. I couldn’t believe we were in the center of this, and then — and I don’t say this in a self-promotional way at all — it’s really hard to do it twice. So many people over the years have been like, “Gosh, she’s just lucky, she wore a lot of yellow, she’s blond.” I’m not entirely sure people realize just how hard it is to get critical mass on an app twice.

The next era of Bumble, you had a lot of growth during the pandemic when everyone was stuck on their apps. It was a huge moment. You go public in 2021, ring the bell, baby on your hip, and the very next year user growth starts to slow down. What do you think was happening? My opinion is that I ran this company for the first several years as a quality over quantity approach. A telephone provider came to us early on. They said, “We love your brand, we want to put your app preprogrammed on all of our phones and when people buy our phones, your app will be on the home screen, and you’re going to get millions of free downloads.” I said, “Thank you so much but no thank you.” Nobody could understand what in the world I was doing, and I said it’s the wrong way to grow. This is not a social network, this is a double-sided marketplace. One person gets on and they have to see someone that is relevant to them. If you flood the system just endlessly — you’re not going to walk down the streets of New York City and want to meet every single person you pass. Why would you assume that someone would want to do that on an app? This is not a content platform where you can just scroll and scroll and scroll and scale drives results. What happened was, in the pandemic and throughout other chapters, growth was king. It was hailed as the end all be all.

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10/05/2025
5 Best Apple TV Apps to Help Design Your Home

Roomstyler is an extension of the website, roomstyler.com, a site where people enter contests and vote on the best room designs. On your Apple TV, you can browse through some of the top rooms from the contests, which incorporate more than 120,000 items from your favorite brands.

This app is bred from competition, but it provides you with some amazing room designs that you can incorporate into your own renovation or build. The Roomstyler website runs themed contests regularly, and this app brings the top rooms from those competitions to your Apple TV so you can get inspired by them. Want to design a modern bedroom? Check out what others have come up with and been voted among the best designs for that theme.

The Roomstyler Web page is great for perusing the past contests, but sometimes you want to get inspired on your big screen. This app is great for that, letting you browse the winning designs with ease and see what others have come up with for the themes. Even better, the contests use items available from top brands, so you can find those gorgeous decorative items and furniture yourself for your own design.

You can download the app for free. It’s also available on the iPhone and iPad.

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09/05/2025
How iPhone Apps Are Changing After a Recent App Store Ruling

In recent days, iPhone apps have been changing. The Kindle app now lets people buy books directly from its site. Spotify is offering users free trials. And Patreon, a subscription service, is letting people pay creators more money.

The changes are an early look at how a recent court ruling could transform the shopping experience on an iPhone. Last week, a federal judge ordered Apple to start allowing apps to offer promotions and collect payments directly from users. The decision makes it possible for apps to offer people new conveniences, like buying books directly from their website. The ruling also lets apps bypass a 30 percent commission that Apple collects on every app sale, which could lead to lower prices for consumers.

For more than a decade, Apple required that apps use its payment system for purchases and collected commission on the sales.

Now, all of that is open to change. Here’s what could be different in the future and why.

What did the judge rule?

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who began working on this case after Epic Games sued Apple in 2020, ruled that Apple could no longer take commissions from sales that link out from the app. She also restricted the company from writing rules that would prevent developers from creating buttons or links allowing people to pay apps directly for their goods and services, and said it could not create messages — known as warning screens — that discourage users from leaving the App Store.

Amazon asked to update its Kindle app to allow people to buy books.Credit…Kindle

How will iPhone apps change?

For years, Kindle has not sold books on its app to avoid Apple’s 30 percent commission. Now, it has added a “Get Book” button that directs users to its website to buy books. Similarly, Apple prevented Spotify from offering free trials to new customers, but now Spotify has a button on its app for a three-month trial.

Other apps could begin offering links for buying directly from stores online, which would allow the business to avoid having to pay Apple’s 30 percent commission. Without having to pay those fees, apps could offer users lower prices, reducing a $10 monthly subscription to $7.

What will this cost Apple?

Apple makes $11 billion a year from app sales in the United States, according to estimates by Morgan Stanley. It won’t lose all of that, but the bank estimates that $2 billion of that is now at risk.

How much Apple loses will come down to how willing people are to change their behavior. The decade-old process for buying software and services on apps is not only familiar but also quick. People trust Apple with their credit card information. And the company makes it easy for people to cancel their subscriptions — keeping them all in one place. Many people may be reluctant to leave the App Store to make their purchases, and apps may prefer to maintain the current system.

What does this mean for the rest of the world?

Now that Apple is required to allow apps to collect payment directly, without paying the company a commission, in the United States, other countries are going to press for similar concessions. Regulators in Europe, Japan and South Korea, which have been asking Apple to loosen its grip on the App Store, would not want their own citizens or developers to have to pay more than Americans did.

Could Apple roll back the changes?

Apple said it planned to appeal the ruling, but it would be challenging for the company to have the decision overturned. In 2021, the judge wrote a less prescriptive ruling. Apple skirted the rule by introducing a 27 percent commission for app sales. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with the judge’s initial ruling from 2021 and is unlikely to change its position, said Mark A. Lemley, a professor of antitrust and technology law at Stanford. “They should take their licks and let it be,” he said.

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09/05/2025
Prepare your apps for Google Play’s 16 KB page size compatibility requirement
Posted by Dan Brown – Product Manager, Google Play

Google Play empowers you to manage and distribute your innovative and trusted apps and games to billions of users around the world across the entire breadth of Android devices, and historically, all Android devices have managed memory in 4 KB pages.

As device manufacturers equip devices with more RAM to optimize performance, many will adopt larger page sizes like 16 KB. Android 15 introduces support for the increased page size, ensuring your app can run on these evolving devices and benefit from the associated performance gains.

Starting November 1st, 2025, all new apps and updates to existing apps submitted to Google Play and targeting Android 15+ devices must support 16 KB page sizes.

This is a key technical requirement to ensure your users can benefit from the performance enhancements on newer devices and prepares your apps for the platform’s future direction of improved performance on newer hardware. Without recompiling to support 16 KB pages, your app might not function correctly on these devices when they become more widely available in future Android releases.

We’ve seen that 16 KB can help with:
We recommend checking your apps early especially for dependencies that might not yet be 16 KB compatible. Many popular SDK providers, like React Native and Flutter, already offer compatible versions. For game developers, several leading game engines, such as Unity, support 16 KB, with support for Unreal Engine coming soon.

Reaching 16 KB compatibility

A substantial number of apps are already compatible, so your app may already work seamlessly with this requirement. For most of those that need to make adjustments, we expect the changes to be minimal.
Our December blog post, Get your apps ready for 16 KB page size devices, provides a more detailed technical explanation and guidance on how to prepare your apps.

Check your app’s compatibility now

It’s easy to see if your app bundle already supports 16 KB memory page sizes. Visit the app bundle explorer page in Play Console to check your app’s build compliance and get guidance on where your app may need updating.

Beyond the app bundle explorer, make sure to also test your app in a 16 KB environment. This will help you ensure users don’t experience any issues and that your app delivers its best performance.

For more information, check out the full documentation.

Thank you for your continued support in bringing delightful, fast, and high-performance experiences to users across the breadth of devices Play supports. We look forward to seeing the enhanced experiences you’ll deliver with 16 KB support.
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09/05/2025
Building Intelligent Apps with Apple AI Models

This course explores on-device machine learning using Apple’s powerful tools. See how simple the Vision framework makes complex computer vision tasks, enabling your app to understand the real world, through tasks like object detection and face recognition. Learn to leverage the Translation framework for on-device, real-time language translation, breaking down language barriers for your users. Before finally looking at how to develop your own machine learning models, by customizing Apple’s pre-built models for specific use cases within your apps.

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03/05/2025
Generate stunning visuals in your Android apps with Imagen 3 via Vertex AI in Firebase
Posted by Thomas Ezan Sr. – Android Developer Relation Engineer (@lethargicpanda)

Imagen 3, our most advanced image generation model, is now available through Vertex AI in Firebase, making it even easier to integrate it to your Android apps.

Designed to generate well-composed images with exceptional details, reduced artifacts, and rich lighting, Imagen 3 represents a significant leap forward in image generation capabilities.

Image generated by Imagen 3 with prompt: “Shot in the style of DSLR camera with the polarizing filter. A photo of two hot air balloons over the unique rock formations in Cappadocia, Turkey. The colors and patterns on these balloons contrast beautifully against the earthy tones of the landscape below. This shot captures the sense of adventure that comes with enjoying such an experience.”

Image generated by Imagen 3 with prompt: A weathered, wooden mech robot covered in flowering vines stands peacefully in a field of tall wildflowers, with a small blue bird resting on its outstretched hand. Digital cartoon, with warm colors and soft lines. A large cliff with a waterfall looms behind.

Imagen 3 unlocks exciting new possibilities for Android developers. Generated visuals can adapt to the content of your app, creating a more engaging user experience. For instance, your users can generate custom artwork to enhance their in-app profile. Imagen can also improve your app’s storytelling by bringing its narratives to life with delightful personalized illustrations.

You can experiment with image prompts in Vertex AI Studio, and learn how to improve your prompts by reviewing the prompt and image attribute guide.

Get started with Imagen 3

The integration of Imagen 3 is similar to adding Gemini access via Vertex AI in Firebase. Start by adding the gradle dependencies to your Android project:
dependencies { implementation(platform("com.google.firebase:firebase-bom:33.10.0")) implementation("com.google.firebase:firebase-vertexai") }
Then, in your Kotlin code, create an ImageModel instance by passing the model name and optionally, a model configuration and safety settings:
val imageModel = Firebase.vertexAI.imagenModel( modelName = "imagen-3.0-generate-001", generationConfig = ImagenGenerationConfig( imageFormat = ImagenImageFormat.jpeg(compresssionQuality = 75), addWatermark = true, numberOfImages = 1, aspectRatio = ImagenAspectRatio.SQUARE_1x1 ), safetySettings = ImagenSafetySettings( safetyFilterLevel = ImagenSafetyFilterLevel.BLOCK_LOW_AND_ABOVE personFilterLevel = ImagenPersonFilterLevel.ALLOW_ADULT ) )
Finally generate the image by calling generateImages:
val imageResponse = imageModel.generateImages( prompt = "An astronaut riding a horse" )
Retrieve the generated image from the imageResponse and display it as a bitmap as follow:
val image = imageResponse.images.first() val uiImage = image.asBitmap()
Next steps

Explore the comprehensive Firebase documentation for detailed API information.

Access to Imagen 3 using Vertex AI in Firebase is currently in Public Preview, giving you an early opportunity to experiment and innovate. For pricing details, please refer to the Vertex AI in Firebase pricing page.

Start experimenting with Imagen 3 today! We’re looking forward to seeing how you’ll leverage Imagen 3’s capabilities to create truly unique, immersive and personalized Android experiences.
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02/05/2025
4 Best Brain Training Apps and Games

Peak – Brain Training offers over 30 games to keep your mind sharp and expand your cognitive skills. With short workouts each day, a brain map to compare game performance, and advanced training options, you will learn where you excel and where you need improvement.

The easy-to-use app is perfect for keeping your brain in shape and helping you improve. With games that challenge everything from problem solving and mental agility to creativity and emotion control, the app gives you what you need to excel, expand, and progress further each day.

For daily workouts, features to monitor progress, and games that sharpen your mind, Peak – Brain Training is a terrific tool.

It’s a free download for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. A subscription is needed for most features.

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17/04/2025
5 Best Exercise Apps for Your Apple TV

Sometimes introducing any good habits into your life is easier said than done. But the Streaks app helps to make that a bit easier. The app, which is basically a to-do list for habits. And a companion app, Streaks Workout, focuses just on exercise.

Instead of needing to head to the gym for a workout, you can take advantage of the app any time of the day on the Apple TV. There are 18 different equipment-free exercises to select from. As a nice touch, you can select from four different workout lengths – 6, 12, 18, or 30 minutes. There is a video demonstration of each exercise and even tips to help refine your technique.

If you’ve enjoyed the original Streaks app, Streaks Workout is definitely recommended. It’s well designed, and the different exercises are easy to learn and really help you break a sweat. Being able to select the length of the workout really allows anyone to squeeze in some exercise daily.

The app is $3.99 and also accessible on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

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16/04/2025
How Property Valuation Apps in 2023 Are Important
Properties are a source of asset for you and we will support you with favorable ideas in this blog. If you are planning to buy or sell or list properties, then you should read this blog.

Property investment or selling could cause fraud, so it is better for you to avoid any fraud. Including the business, you can develop the property valuation app to evaluate better investing for the properties. Here in this blog, there is something for every one of you- buyer, owner, and lister.

The market evaluation for real estate has valued at $3.6 Trillion with an annual rate of 5%, which gives a favorable option for lenders, owners, and buyers to find property ideal scope for the properties they are interested in. The mobile application market for real estate properties is $10B showcasing a great scope of this market in the future.

Benefits for Property Evaluation Apps in 2023

Are you a seller? If yes, then you always want to get the best deal for your property. The real estate property listing platform helps you to list your property on top. For that, your property must have prime features like a self-introduction of your property via video or ads. That helps to expand your property sale value.

On the property valuation mobile app, the buyer has everything to understand the features of different properties. That helps in finding the right property for yourself. You can ask queries regarding any property that you like on the platform. VR features help to get an insight into the property.

Realtors are real estate agents who get a commission for every sale of property. It is his business part to know a variety of properties and categorize them according to his offline business operation.

Key Points to Find Land Valuation

Let’s start to understand the key factors that help to understand the land valuation price. Based on the below factors you can find out the whether the given property is fair enough for you or not.

Location is the prime factor to consider for property listing. If you are a seller or owner of your property check out its locality. The properties that are available in posh locations, probabilities you have more scope of pricing. For example, in metro cities like Noida, Bangalore, or Pune your property gets the best prices for it. While the suburban cities tier B, and tier C places have a low cost of assets like properties.

According to a survey, people find properties for rent or for living that would have a great quality of construction for development. So if you are looking to list your property on the listing platform and estimate the property valuation in the market. If possible then hire experts to evaluate you price rates of your property.

You should find out the property’s age and its development year. The property valuation apps can help you to predict a property’s age which would fairly estimate its price.

Builder specification helps you to know who has made your property. That will emphasize its history and how quality is used for development. Higher branding builders charge much cost of the property.

Different Property Valuation Methods for Your Properties

When your property listings are landed under SEZs (safe economic zone) the price would eventually come in good condition. For unauthorized properties, it is better to avoid planning to shift to that location. Below are a few comparison methods, that come under property valuation apps.

With the property valuation app, you can find the effective price of your property and compare it with other properties. This will help to identify the best price for your property based on factors like age, location, quality, SEZ locality, etc.

Check the cost of properties of other properties mentioned on Property Valuation Apps for a better analysis of your property and its condition.

When you refurbish your old property and resell it, the property valuation app helps you to predict its value in real-time.

How Does Property Valuation App/Software Help You for Better Pricing?

As the economic market has touched the rich class, many investors come into the market of real estate property. 2023 is probably a great time for every big investor and business development company to find better analyses and solutions for property real estate.

With the property estimation mobile application you can estimate your property’s actual value/price in the real market. The mobile application has features including price details, location, ownership type, property age, etc. You would find the actual price of your property based on the current market situation and where it is inclining.

A better analysis of financing decisions for your property only on a personalized property valuation mobile app. If you are going to buy property or land, then the application helps you to evaluate the financial condition of the best properties for buying. You can find out the best deals and times of sale when prices are fairly down.
- Evaluate Better Pricing
When you have a property to enlist and find the best renters or owners for it, then you could find it on the mobile app. Not only better pricing the app helps you to know more about your property value.
- Reference Value of Property
The property rates would undergo great fluctuations in the uprising and downfalling rates. For a better approach, you should discuss with a lender or loan provider to know about your property details. The banks give you refinancing options when you do have 18%-20% equity at least for your property.
- Predict Value Net of Property
The net value estimator of property helps the client to get an idea about the individual property investment. Does the property have any scope for future sale and gain or not? This interprets the potential value of the property.

On the other hand, the property valuation app helps the realtor to check their commission prices from the individual property. 5% from every property on average is what the real estate property agent commission acquires for him.

Business Model for Better Evaluation of Property Valuation Apps

Like every application, the property estimation/valuation mobile app has various business models. If you have a broad business model and vision for your property then you can evaluate the best mobile application for property valuation application.

With this model, the best properties are placed in the “SALE” category. This category is ideal for evaluating the better enclosure of properties.
- Business Model for Rental Properties
Under the rental properties, the user can find apartments, rooms, and properties under their budget. This business model comes in a premium subscription.
- Business Model for Listing
The recent posts for real estate properties are placed in the category whose visibility is potentially high.

Important Features to Develop Property Valuation Apps

Property valuation apps have a huge scope in the market to prevent users from any fraud. You can hire a property valuation mobile app development team that can prepare the mobile app from scratch keeping the important features as stated below.

The Currency Converter tool evaluates the quick conversion of international prices into local format. Such that international users can predict the cost of property on the platform in the currency they have used.
- Decision-Making Algorithm
Technologies like AI and ML are used to evaluate property valuation application decisions like demographics of users, listing property analytics, pricing calculation, market price inflation, and other important factors in heat map format.

Mapping and Geolocation features map every individual property as a point. The dataset is prepared with mapping, and geolocation helps to trace the shortest distance of the property in the GPS.
- Real Estate Agent Directory
Under the real estate agent directory, you can find a list of real estate agents with whom you can coordinate for marketing your property valuation apps.

The property valuation mobile app quickly connects the owner, buyer, or realtor to exclusive properties that are not possible to visit in real-time.

Conclusion

The property valuation app idea can be a successful hit for you in 2023. Investors or mobile app development client businesses have great scope in the real estate industry. One reason could be to bridge the gap between the existing market and property valuation needs. Hopefully, the blog, helps you to understand reason how property valuation apps in 2023 are important to evaluate your property value in the market.

Your finding for better properties and their evaluation could become easy with a property valuation app. For any guide or consultation, you can ask our experts.

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16/04/2025