Burning Fuse

Keeping your apps relevant

admin — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:55:10 +0000

OK so you have built your app, it got approved and you are among thousands of apps in the app store now, what can you do to stay relevant and make sure you app is not one and done? There are a few top items that can be done to make sure that users continue to use your app after they have downloaded it.

Continued improvement and software releases
One way to keep an app relevant is continuous improvement and usability. In regards to the Apple apps when a new update is added to their app store all of the iPhone’s will be notified when they open up iTunes or the app store app on their iPhone. This automated notification can increase awareness for users who may have downloaded an app and not used it in some time. These updates also provide and opportunity to communicate with the end users of the app letting them know what has improved and new features you may have added. It also shows that if the end users are communicating with the app developers they are listening to that feedback and taking it seriously and implementing change.

Unique and Frequent Content Updates
It is important whether the app is a game or some other utility app that new and unique content is presented to the user each time they use the app. For example with a game, a blog feed can be integrated so the end user can follow progress on game improvements. Also a live score board can be used so that users can compete against each other for better scores. As you design your app make sure that you think about a way to deliver new content to the end user on frequent basis.

Integration with social media outlets
Obviously social media is the hot topic of today. How it applies to mobile apps is important as well to take advantage of this hot trend. It is important that end users can share the unique content being delivered to them or share their high scores on the games they are playing. In doing this the end users become a marketing component of your application. These end users can become envangelists of the app and influence their friends and family to try it out as well so it is important to create hooks in the app to allow for the sharing and promoting of the app and app features through social media outlets.

Utilize the unique hardware of the smartphone
As new phones continue to be developed and the hardware continues to push the limits of what the smartphone can do it is important to incorporate those elements in to the app in some fashion. For example, augmented reality utilizes the camera, accelerometer and compass features built in the smartphone. An example would be an app called RedLaser [iTunes Link] in which the app uses the camera to read barcodes and then search for the best prices for that product. Not all these aspects can be used with mobile websites and taking advantage of these hardware advances can keep the app fun and on the cutting edge.

These are just a few of the ways that an app developer can keep their app relevant and on the top of the end users mind. There are more things that can be done to keep apps relevant, however doing the above four items will cover the base for any app.

Mobile App or Mobile Website

GenFusion — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 12:23:09 +0000

A mobile application is an application that runs native to the client operating system. They are developed for small handheld devices with the biggest market being smartphones. End users will either have pre-installed mobile applications or be able to download them from through various app stores. Mobile applications offer the ability to run in an offline state when a user is not connected to a data or cell network.

A mobile website is a slimmed down version of a website accessed through a mobile device such as a smart phone. They are geared towards delivering the most relevant information for that particular website and the mobile device at this point will need to be connected to a data or cell network to access the website.

Pro’s:
Mobile Applications

Ability to run native to the mobile device only needing to be concerned with one operating system.
Applications have the ability to run offline when a cellular or wifi connection do not exist
Ability to store reasonable amounts of data (embedded database, file storage)

Mobile Website

Can be built once and leveraged across multiple mobile devices.
More cost effective to build and maintain a mobile website
Deploying a mobile website is very easy and every mobile device has access

Con’s:
Mobile Applications

Each device has a different development platform to learn and understand.
Typically the development of an application can be very costly compared to a a mobile website.
Some platforms require an approval process which can restrict creativity and/or delay completion.

Mobile Website

As HTML5 evolves there is limited accessibility to device specific functions (GPS, camera, etc).
Support for AJAX and DHTML is still limited.
Still need to cater and code to browser differences (10+ relavant browsers for mobile devices).

It all comes down to the goals and requirements for each company. Unfortunately there is not a clear direction to go at this point and in order to have a solid mobile strategy it might be required to go down both avenues. If the goal is to simply have an extension of your website to format your website in such a way as to make it easier for user’s to view on a mobile phone then the suggestion would be to build a mobile website. However if the device functionality is needed such as a GPS or the camera and additional storage space is necessary then it makes sense to build a mobile application. The best course of action is to lay out a roadmap for your mobile strategy and as a direction is defined the solution of mobile website or mobile application will become clearer.

QR Codes Influence

GenFusion — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:23:56 +0000

A QR Code is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data. The full Wikipedia description is here

QR Codes were originally invented in Japan in 1994 and are in widespread there in just about every marketing channel. They are now becoming more prevalent in the US in magazines, movie posters, billboards and other marketing materials. These codes have become mobile-friendly ways to point people in the offline space to online resources. While these codes are making their way in to the public eye that is only half of the equation. The other half is the consumer tools to read these codes. Currently a consumer will have to download or use an integrated QR reader on their smartphone which could slow the rate of adoption and consumer frustration.

There are quite a few websites that can be used for generating a QR Code as well as open source code that can be used to generate codes. QR Codes can be placed anywhere they can be printed. With the launch of Google’s URL shortening service goo.gl when a URL is shortened there is also a QR Code generated for use as well. HBO has also run a few campaigns for new shows and returning shows in which they placed QR Codes in bus stops and in other advertising mediums to take the user to exclusive mobile content only for consumer’s who followed the QR code.

Where should you go with QR Codes? Well they are definitely not the new hot thing yet. For marketers, QR Codes take a well thought out campaign and even then the rate of adoption is going to be slow. Consumers won’t know the difference between ScanLife and other applications readers. All the application readers are also implemented differently and work in a different fashion. This being the case in a world where a consumer wants information in an instant any stumbling block is going to have a negative impact. Until there is a more standard approach with how a consumer interacts with QR Codes the only place they will be widely used for now is in Japan.

Xcode iPhone/iPad SDK past versions

GenFusion — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 11:23:45 +0000

Each time you install the latest Xcode environment from Apple if you install to the same location, you can wipe out the older SDKs that might still be required to compile some of your projects. Apple doesn’t remove those SDKs immediately, but they don’t publicize the links. You can find the older SDKs below:

*Please note you will need to be logged in to your Developer Account before being allowed to download these.

Apple turns innovations into profit

GenFusion — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 18:19:13 +0000

Great article that discusses even though Apple may not sell the most mobile handsets they clearly know how to profit from what they sell. Check it out at goo.gl/muTk

Apple opens iOS to third-party dev tools, approval guidelines updated

GenFusion — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 21:27:10 +0000

The full statement from Thursday is included in its entirety:

The App Store has revolutionized the way mobile applications are developed and distributed. With over 250,000 apps and 6.5 billion downloads, the App Store has become the world’s largest mobile application platform and App Store developers have earned over one billion dollars from the sales of their apps.

We are continually trying to make the App Store even better. We have listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart. Based on their input, today we are making some important changes to our iOS Developer Program license in sections 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.9 to relax some restrictions we put in place earlier this year.

In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need.

In addition, for the first time we are publishing the App Store Review Guidelines to help developers understand how we review submitted apps. We hope it will make us more transparent and help our developers create even more successful apps for the App Store.

The App Store is perhaps the most important milestone in the history of mobile software. Working together with our developers, we will continue to surprise and delight our users with innovative mobile apps.