Significance of Real-time Features in the Success of your Mobile App

Significance of Real-time Features in the Success of your Mobile App

Why Real-Time Features Matter in Mobile Apps (2025)?

As we are progressing towards the betterment, everything is developing time by time.

In the time of our four fathers, they need to use letters to communicate with the opposite person, which is consuming days together or sometimes it can be months.

Later on in my childhood, the communication mode is through text messages (SMS), which will take minutes/hours to get a response from the opposite end.

For a small piece of text, you need to wait endlessly to get a replay from your loved one, which is very disgusting.

You don’t know whether the word reached or not, no information whether they are typing or not. Only one thing we can do is wait until you get a replay.

As time is evolving the waiting time is shrunken down to seconds with the help of real-time messaging apps. With the introduction of these apps, the fate of communication changed.

The first real-time app is for instant messaging is WhatsApp. After that, in the market, various apps came Facebook messenger, Imo, WeChat, and line.

In the past, it is an option for mobile users, but now it is mandatory for every smartphone user.

With this introduction, you may think that real-time feature only relevant to instant messaging apps, but that is false. We can use the real-time feature in various verticals.

Every industry is using the real-time feature like food, health, travel, etc.

Before going into detail, let us talk about the fundamentals of the real-time feature.

Understanding Real-Time Applications (RTAs)

A Real-Time Application (RTA) is a system where the correctness of an operation depends not only on the logical result of the computation but also on the time at which the result is produced. In simpler terms, it is an application designed to process and transmit data with minimal or no perceptible delay (low latency).

Unlike traditional web applications where the client (your browser) must constantly request updates from the server (pull model), an RTA uses a push model, allowing the server to automatically and instantly push new information to the client as soon as it becomes available.

Key Characteristics

1. Low Latency: Data transmission and processing must occur almost instantaneously. Delays are usually measured in milliseconds and can significantly impact the user experience or system function.
2. Concurrency and Throughput: RTAs must handle a massive volume of simultaneous connections and quickly process a high rate of data coming from many different sources.
3. Bidirectional Communication: Most modern RTAs utilize persistent, open connections (like WebSockets) that allow data to flow freely both from client to server and from server to client, enabling instant updates.
4. Event-Driven Architecture: These applications react immediately to “events” (like a user typing a message, a stock price changing, or a sensor reading a new temperature) rather than waiting for a request.

Types of Real-Time Systems

While the term “real-time application” often refers to user-facing software, it originates from engineering and control systems.

Type	Definition	Consequence of Missing Deadline
Hard Real-Time	Missing a deadline results in complete system failure or catastrophe.	Catastrophic (e.g., medical devices, aircraft control systems).
Firm Real-Time	Missing a deadline results in a useless result, but the system doesn’t fail.	Result is discarded (e.g., industrial robotics missing a quality check window).
Soft Real-Time	Missing a deadline results in degraded quality of service, but the system continues.	User frustration/Poor UX (e.g., video conferencing lag, slow chat message).

Most consumer web applications (like the examples below) fall under the Soft Real-Time category.

Common Examples

• Live Chat and Messaging: (e.g., Slack, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger) Messages appear immediately as the sender types or hits send.
• Online Gaming: Actions taken by one player must be reflected on all other players’ screens instantaneously.
• Financial Trading Platforms: Stock prices, bid/ask spreads, and trade execution notices must be delivered in real-time.
• Collaborative Editing: (e.g., Google Docs) Seeing another user’s cursor movements and edits as they happen.
• Location Tracking and Delivery Apps: Showing the precise, moment-by-moment movement of a delivery driver or taxi on a map.

Benefits of real-time application:

Real-time apps are helping both users and businesses. Let us know how each sector is benefiting with the help of real-time apps.

• Transparency: It may be a messaging or a gaming app, and the real-time elements will help the users to get a clear view of both the ends. With transparency, the app will get more installs and engagement.

• Smooth & faster: The data transfer and communication between real-time apps are seamless and faster when you compared with the other. The point to be considered in the real-time apps is they response even we have low latency of the network.

• Easy & funnier to use: The real-time apps are more entertaining to use because of shared activities and collaboration. You can access the apps from where ever you need as it is locating in clouds.

• Multi-tasking: These apps help the user to work on more than one app at a time without any delay in the processing time. The multi-tasking feature will attract more user engagement for your mobile app. In the current system, we have cloud delivery networks, which will save the developers from conservation costs and expenses, when developers are updating or adding new features to the existing mobile app no need to pay extra as it is in the cloud network.

Now we are going to discuss the importance of the real-time features in the success of your mobile application.

1. Push Notifications
2. Real-time messaging
3. Multi-User Collaboration
4. Location Tracking
5. Live Streaming
6. IoT Devices
7. Live Order Status

1. Push Notifications:

In India, every user of the smartphone has more than 80 apps, among which they will use 40 apps every month. As the human brain doesn’t remember about all the apps in their mobile device.

The real-time push notifications will alert the mobile users about the latest offers, feed, and news about a particular app, also that mobile app will be on the top usage by the user.

The significant push notifications come from messaging and email apps.

There are three types of push notifications:

• Transactional
• User

There are some essential aspects you should know about the real-time push notifications:

In the market, every app will use the push notifications as the primary source of communication between user and service provider.

Mainly the notifications help for re-engagement of customers and transactions.

Push notifications utilized by the startups as well as large companies, and they act as a powerful medium for interaction.

E-commerce:

The e-commerce vertical is highest benefited with the help of push notifications. The notifications act as a tool to increase the sales for businesses.

The companies will list out the customers based on previous browsing history & purchases. Depending on that, they will send notifications when they place offers or when they launch a new product.

To get an in-depth idea, I am going to recite an example:

I am very much interested in buying wrist watches, as per my browsing history the company will send push notifications.

The reason behind the sending notifications to the customers is for creating urgency in them.

Read more: Top 10 AR Augmented Reality Apps You Need to Check Out Now

2. Real-time Messaging:

In this faster moving generation, no one has the patience to wait for minutes. You are thinking it’s a joke, but that is the reality.

So that is the reason real-time messaging is an essential feature of every mobile app. Every mobile development company every day coming up with the new features for real-time messaging.

Today all the instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook messenger, and WeChat are coming with the new features which are very imperative for communication.

In the initial stages, they supported text and MMS. However, now we can share documents, location, images, and videos. Even we can make a voice call and video call with the help of these apps. This feature redefined association and communication to a momentous extent.

The reason behind the real-time messaging has moved from the communication app feature to important feature in most of the apps like on-demand and healthcare.

Healthcare apps:

Ever you thought 80% of the medical errors would occur due to a lack of communication between patients and caregivers. We are living in the 21st century, and we are saying we are developing the country with inadequate healthcare facilities.

The health care apps are now utilizing the real-time messaging feature to connect the patient and caregiver by bringing them all to a single platform. Many healthcare organizations, private hospitals, and doctors can use these real-time apps to serve the people within less time to save many lives.

Nowadays, with the help of real-time feature, the treatment is going through the internet using video call to the people who can’t come to the hospital. This facility is now coming up in all the real-time healthcare apps, which saves time and energy of the patients. 

3. Multi-User Collaboration:

In a multinational company, a large group of people from various locations working together to reach a common goal. They all will work on a single platform to work together, and the companies investing a massive amount on collaborative apps.

With the use of a real-time feature in collaborative apps, it enables multiple users to work, add, delete, and update data.

This feature is making the work easier for all the employees and employer to get instant feedback on the updates. With the multi-user collaboration, we can work on multiple projects at a time.

For better understanding, I am going to give an example.

Let us take a Google document, which is a real-time application. The multiple people can use the Google doc at a time for editing, adding, and updating information.

The one thing we need to make a point is the employer need to permit the employees to access the doc.

4. Location Tracking:

It is another real-time feature which is affecting the success of mobile apps. The location tracking is an inbuilt feature of every smartphone, which is realizing in-market iPhone, Samsung, One plus, etc.

This location tracking/sharing is beneficial for everyone. In every mobile app, we have a location share button which we can share with the other person over the internet if we require.

Mostly the location tracking can be used on logistics vertical like food delivery, eCommerce, and taxi booking.

This real-time feature is helping the transport industry to work efficiently and effectively. The reason for this real-time feature in apps is to know the status of your product delivery.

Transportation tracking:

The real-time tracking feature help to track your taxi and logistics which you requested. This feature will help the taxi/cab driver for easy navigation to reach the destination accurately and quickly.

Let us take an example you booked a taxi for your parents to reach a particular destination. With this real-time feature app, I can track the cab where it is heading towards, and I can also check whether it’s reached the target or not in the given time.

It also gives the exact time to reach the arrival destination and drop off target.

 

 

5. Live Streaming:

Another real-time feature of the mobile app which can improve the number of installs of your app. Both individuals and businesses can utilize the live streaming feature to get benefited. 

In recent times many business verticals logistics to media, real estate to entertainment, and transport using the live streaming real-time feature, which will bring the customers to close to the business.

With the help of this real-time feature, we can generate and deliver the data through the mobile and web app, and we can build deep user interactions.

It will be helpful in various sectors, let us discuss one of them.

Social media:

If you want to develop your social media app, live streaming is the most crucial factor. For the first time, Twitter has started live streaming real-time feature, after that, other social media apps Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

According to the survey conducted by Facebook, the watch time of live broadcasts grow 4x times in a year.

6. IoT Devices:

IoT device is another real-time feature of the mobile app, which can improve the number of installs of your app.

IoT is the most trending topic in the world as well as in India. It is a great tool which is used to transfer the information from the devices to the users.

I think many are not aware of how the IoT devices work; for them, this can be helpful.

Steps how IoT works:

• Sensors: The sensors in the device will collect the information from the environment.
• Transfer: The collected information will go to cloud storage with the help of Data or Wi-Fi.
• Analyzing the information: After the cloud receives the data, then it will be analyzed by the top end IoT software.
• Delivery to the user: After the analysis, it will send back to the user.

We can use IoT devices in various scenarios in our daily life, and now we are going to see some of them.

Home automation:

There are a lot of home automation tools available in the market. Among all the Nest is top and most used home automation device. In the recent Google I/O 2019 conference, Nest renamed as Nest Hub, and it also released Nest Hub max with the latest features included.

Healthcare:

IoT not limited to one particular vertical, it is vastly spreading for all the verticals. IoT is showing a significant impact on the healthcare industry.

With the use of this real-time feature, the doctors/hospital management can send documents like MRI, CT scans, and X-ray directly to the patient device. With the use of IoT feature, we can decrease the use of paper with which we are indirectly saving the environment from deforestation.

It helps in buying the drugs from the pharmacies from automated stores.

In case of any emergency or fire accident, it will alert all the people in the hospital.

7. Live Order Status:

Live order status is another real-time feature of the mobile app, which can improve the number of installs. It is providing some additional advantage to different industries like on-demand and shipping apps.

This real-time feature live order status will keep the user updated about the order. This feature helps to build a relationship with the customer, and it will increase user engagement.

Apart from the live order status, if we add-on some features like real-time tracking and push notifications will improve the transparency between the user and company.

 

Conclusion:

The main focus of the real-time features is to give the robust and productive product to the end users according to the situations which are happening in the world.

I hope this article will give you a complete insight into how real-time features are essential in mobile applications. With the latest advancements, mobile development companies are working hard to come up with new real-time features to increase the installs of their mobile apps.

If you are passionate about developing a mobile app, we are happy to help you. Please reach us as our professional team very much experienced in delivering a quality product to the customer effectively and efficiently.