Mobile app design is so much more than aesthetic graphics and scintillating colors. A perfect UI is not just determined by how the app looks or how the interface appears for the users.
It is also determined by its ease of navigation and responsiveness. In fact, these are the most significant factors that ensure consumer satisfaction and frictionless experience.
For instance, if you have a WordPress app then the various categories of your blogs and other segments that together constitute the app menu, should be easily navigable within the app.
Adding a bottom navigation bar can take the load off of your main menu and declutter the app space. There are many other benefits that a bottom navigation bar can ensure for your app.
AppMySite has this feature on the app builder to ensure that you cultivate all these benefits. Today, we will tell you how you can make the most of it. So, stay tuned and know all about it.
The significance of bottom navigation bar in your app
Before we tell you how you can make the most of the bottom navigation bar, let us briefly introduce you to the significance and benefits of adding the bottom navigation bar to the app.
#1: Declutters app real estate
The bottom bar navigation menu brings the important sections of the app and significant navigable items to one place at the bottom of the app. Here, the sections remain within the thumb’s access of the users and also free up space on the app screen for other elements.
#2: Reduces load on app menu
The app menu determines how your app users discover the contents of the app. It is a recommended practice to list your inventory or blogs or other objects in the main app menu (likely a hamburger menu) while keeping the more layered ones on the bottom bar menu. Doing so helps independent sections stand out on the app and also reduces the load on the other menu of the app.
#3: Makes items easily accessible
The bottom navigation menu corresponds to the “thumb rule” of design. It implies that a good interface keeps the most used things within the easy access of the users’ thumbs. Therefore, a bottom navigation menu also makes the app easily navigable and the app contents, easily discoverable.
#4: Enables frictionless navigation
Forcing users to go through a string of steps again and again to unlock some basic functionalities, can end up frustrating them. This can lead to serious grievances that can further compel users to abandon the app altogether. On the contrary, if your app is easily navigable, then it reduces friction and offers ease to users.
#5: Boosts engagement & conversions
A well-designed bottom navigation bar can lead customers forward in the purchase cycle, help them discover useful content, and in turn, earn more engagement. This directly impacts and increases your conversion rate and also gives a boost to your positive brand image.
Read in detail: Bottom navigation bar in mobile apps: Here’s all you need to know
Design the bottom navigation bar effortlessly on AppMySite
Let us cut to the chase now. In this section we will tell you how you can design the bottom navigation bar for your app on AppMySite and make the most of it.
As you open your AppMySite account, you can find the section for Bottom Navigation under the App Settings module. Just click on it to open the dashboard where you can manage the settings related to the bottom navigation bar.
It has the following two main tabs in the section:
- Items: Here you can enlist and optimize items for your bottom navigation menu
- Style: Here you can manage the aesthetics, color scheme and layout of the menu
The best practices for optimizing the destinations on the Items tab and defining the appearance of the bottom navigation bar on the Style tab are as follows:
#1: List the right items for the menu
AppMySite enables you to list up to five items on the menu. Disable some items using the toggle button, if you want to limit the number of options available on the bottom navigation menu. We recommend listing at least three items on the menu.
You can choose these items or destinations based on the niche, category, and characteristics of your app. For instance, if you are planning to develop an eCommerce app, then you can add destinations like Home screen, Profile, Product Categories. Cart, etc.
#2: Pick the best name for the destination
When it comes to naming the items, there are some default options listed for the bottom navigation menu, in the items tab. If suitable, you can retain these names for your item, or edit them to add new and desired items.
Click on the settings icon against the item that you wish to edit. Here, enter the name of the item as you want it to appear on the text label of the bottom navigation menu. We recommend using generic and easily identifiable names. As a convention, you can capitalize the first word of the item name or label.
#3: Select or upload a suitable icon
As you click on the settings icon against an item name, you launch a section where you can update multiple things. Besides updating the name, as described above, you can also update the icon for that item.
Click on the icon field to launch the add icon dashboard. Here, type in related search queries to find a suitable icon for your item. Choose between Light, Regular, or Bold appearance for the icon and click on ADD to save it.
#4: Define the type of the item
This is an important field under the settings section. In this Item Type field, you can define the type of item that you include in the destination.
The selection determines where the app users will be redirected upon clicking on this item. You can choose from the following options available in the drop down menu of the field:
- Home – Opens the Home screen of your app
- Product Categories – Opens the Product Categories screen of your app
- Product Search – Opens the Product Search screen of your app
- Post Categories – Opens the Post Categories screen of your app
- Post Search – Opens the Blog Post search of your app
- Cart – Opens the Cart in the app showing items that the users have added
- Profile – Opens the Profile settings screen of your app
- Settings – Opens the Settings screen of your app
Apart from these options listed above, there are two options that further enable you to add more dynamism to the bottom navigation bar. These are as follows:
- Web View – This option enables you to open a web view interface of your website within the app. When you choose this option, a new field will open where you can enter the URL of the website page you wish to render within the app.
- Pages – This option opens a grid of all the pages you have added to your app home screen.
You can manage the additional settings related to pages in the other sections of app settings.
#5: Manage the style and miscellaneous settings
You can also add new items, delete the existing ones, and mark the items as default using the easy to manage settings. When done with the settings of the Item tab, proceed to the Style tab and define the aesthetics of your bottom navigation bar.
Here, begin with picking a background color for the navigation bar. The items will appear in this space, so ensure that this color is in contrast with the color for the item icons and labels. Click on the field to launch the color palette and glide the cursor over it to pick the best suited color, or enter the RGB values or hex code for the same.
Similarly, pick a color for the border of the navigation bar to make it distinct from the rest of the app screen above. Next, pick a color for the icons of the menu and their labels, under the Item Color field.
Next, pick a color in which you want the item selected by the user to appear on the bottom navigation bar. Make sure it highlights the icon and makes it stand apart from the other icons on the navigation bar.
You can also choose to show or hide the text labels for the icons by turning the Show Text toggle on or off.
Once you are done with managing and defining the settings, you can click on the SAVE button and proceed. As you make the changes and updates, preview them live on the emulator located at the right side of the screen and modify accordingly.
That is it! Now that you are a pro, go ahead and design a stunning bottom navigation bar and offer the best experience to your app users.
Suggested Read: Mobile app navigation: Best practices to enhance your UI and UX
Intrigued? There is more to unravel on AppMySite!
Has our bottom navigation bar feature intrigued you? Well, there is a lot more on AppMySite free app builder that can leave you mesmerized.
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