Car parking apps are trending nowadays. Such apps help drivers save time & money. These apps are also super helpful for city infrastructure as they eliminate the no. of accidents, city traffic and improve space use. The smart parking market is booming these days. It is forecasted to build $11.13 billion by 2027, registering a 12.6% CAGR. There are several tools available in the market, from automatic space holders to community-based systems with connected parking.
Nonetheless, when a response to parking difficulties is required, mobile apps cannot be supplanted. Also, they are needed for high-end solutions like automated vault car parking apps. Therefore,
car parking app development might help you & your city.
Different Car Parking App Types
1. By Parking Time
There are two app categories target multiple parking needs. But you must remember that the app may have 2 options.
- Parking in advance: An on-demand parking app may allow users to pay in advance to reserve a place before they decide to park.
- Parking on the fly: Some apps are specifically tailored to find a parking space available on the spot.
2. By Geographical Coverage
When choosing a way to enter the market, a business should comply with one of these 2 tracks:
- Focus on localization: Car parking apps can be built for some megalopolis and cover as many spaces as possible within the coverage location.
- Focus on spreading geographically: Car parking apps can cover some towns or entire nations.
3. By Payment Methods
You can install maximum car parking apps for free. However, these apps require in-app payment to book a parking space. They render different payment methods, including Apple Pay, PayPal, and credit card. Some apps allow users to filter parking choices by payment type.
4. By Parking Place
- On-street parking: Some tools help you leave your car somewhere temporarily on the street.
- Off-street parking: This includes parking garages, private areas, and driveways.
Must-have Features To Build A Phenomenal Car Parking App
Building a car parking app requires a selected set of features. Mainly, they are classified into 2 as per their complexity: basic & advanced. You can develop an MVP with some basic functions and then add some powerful and advanced features.
MVP permits you to launch an app and get user feedback. Based on the data, you can ascertain what features you will add.
- Searching: The search procedure must be as easy as possible. For instance, the app can render the closest area in one click.
- GPS Tracking: To develop a user-friendly app for car parking, you should add a GPS tracking feature. This tech allows you to find the car location and decides the distance to the nearest parking area.
- Price comparison: Car parking apps offer an opportunity to compare prices. Therefore it is easy for users to search for the most cost-effective place close.
- Booking: This feature allows you to book a specific area. Users can find a place according to their budget and pay it beforehand weekly, monthly, or daily.
- Various payment options: Users should have different payment options to feel secure & comfortable. Therefore, you should integrate services such as PayPal.
Advanced Features
Indeed basic features will suffice for your car parking app; you should launch an app for car parking that has complex functionality to attract more users and make your app unique.
- Different cities: A scope to choose parking spaces in other cities is necessary while traveling or during business tours.
- Push notifications: This is another main feature to engage users as you can send alerts about app updates, discounts, and more. Also, it's good to notify users 15 minutes ahead of the parking lot expiry. Users can extend the palace or - return to their car quickly.
- Heatmap: The app can show the busiest ways in real-time mode. Based on this data, users can decide about their reservations.
- Waiting list: Every driver has a preference for selecting a parking space. Therefore, users will get alerts when a parking area becomes accessible.
- Tag Location: This function allows you to save the area where you have parked your car. Also, users can share the parking location via social media or messengers.
Follow These Steps To Build A Car Parking App
1. Determine Your Goal
Everything begins with an objective. What are the particular issues you want to solve? Will it be a parking management or assistance app? Will it have features for finding a parking lot and pay for that? Or is it going to recognize a totally different issue?
2. Perform Market Research
You should know about your competitors. Would your app work locally, or will you extend to a global market? What will make your app unique? This is an ideal time to determine ways of marketing & monetizing your app.
3. Find An App Development Team
Everything is straightforward if you have your app development team. You only require to instruct them and check their progress. If you don't have a team, simply outsource one. Make sure you choose a reliable app development team that is super experienced.
4. Prepare Your Technical Needs
Your app's technical requirements come from its purpose. Therefore, prioritize your app's features like search, booking, payment and prepare your tech needs accordingly.
5. Create A Great Design
After sorting all technical specifications, you must commence the developing, design, and testing process. You will get features & concepts combined in a clear picture in the design phase. The idea is to make a roadmap to help you connect among all screens and how drivers can navigate your app.
6. Develop And Test Your App
After all technicalities, your team will build server and client-side, setting up servers, databases, and storage solutions. Once that's done, you will get your original app idea totally in place & test the app to understand how it will feel & look.
7. App Launch
When it comes to launching a new app, app marketplaces have different policies. Therefore, you must start preparing for this phase too.
8. App Maintenance
The app maintenance involves solving every bug and thus improves a developed app version.
Final Thoughts
This is all you should know about developing a car parking app. You should prepare for the development process way ahead as there are several factors to consider and features to add. The end result depends on your app idea and the team's efforts.