All posts by Mary Chan - 2. page

Apple device owners spent more than $20 billion in the App Store in 2015. Apple users broke App Store records by spending more than $1.1 billion on apps and in-app purchases this holiday season.

That figure includes money spent during the two week period ending on Jan. 3. New Year’s Day was the biggest day in App Store history, with more than $144 million spent in the 24-hour period.

Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president who now leads the App Store, said that Apple device users spent more than $20 billion in the App Store throughout all of 2015. That’s double the 2013 figure.

Apple is now busy expanding the App Store to new platforms, like the Apple TV. The early crop of Apple TV apps already provide some insight as to how apps behave differently on the TV versus the phone.

http://time.com/4169153/apple-app-store-stats-2015/

With apps losing their novelty and e-commerce firms revisiting their mobile web strategies, Google has emerged as the winner retaining its dominance of online ad. Apps as e-commerce companies told anyone who cared to listen, were the future. Many put their money where their mouths were, altogether withdrawing from the mobile web.

Now, as apps lose their novelty, and as smartphone users uninstall apps to clear up memory, these companies are revisiting their mobile web strategies. Start-ups across the board, especially those that had moved unevenly towards the app, are scrambling to improve their mobile web offerings.

Earlier this year, companies had reduced resources and efforts towards mobile web, and the app-only strategy was taking centre-stage. But increasingly, we are seeing re-prioritization of mobile web and companies are giving equal attention to mobile web again.

Nobody is saying apps aren’t important. But it has become crucial for start-ups to have functional and well-designed mobile websites or web apps.

Few predicted this shift, which wasn’t even on the radar of many start-ups a few months ago. The mobile web never died, and for those who moved to app-only…it was a faulty decision in the first place. For service providers like us, it is never an either/or choice. Slowly you are seeing a lot of innovation happen on the web; for instance, there are app-like features now available on the web.

India is expected to have close to 400 million mobile Internet users by June 2016, according to a report released in November by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and market research firm IMRB International.

A majority of these users will access the Internet only through their smartphones. With the growing popularity of mobile apps, which many say offer a superior customer experience than conventional websi-tes, start-ups shifted their pro-duct and business strategies towards the app at the expense of desktop and mobile websites.

During the funding boom of 2014-15, many investors regarded the number of app downloads as one of the indicators of a start-up’s performance. Entrepreneurs and marketing heads rushed to maximize app downloads. Soon, however, it was evident that they didn’t necessarily result in high growth.

Consequently, the focus moved to usage and customer engagement. In this scenario, many start-ups and their investors have accepted that their expectations of an app-only world haven’t materialized. There are several reasons for this. Many first-time Internet users, especially in smaller cities and towns, prefer using their mobile web browsers to shop and surf the Internet rather than download a multitude of apps on their low-cost smartphones that have limited storage.

Customers also tend to get rid of most of the apps they download because of the inconvenience of frequent app updates and the limited storage space on phones, studies have shown. Now, many start-ups are moving to building mobile web apps, which can potentially offer the convenience and superior experience of so-called native apps, but without their limitations.

A few business-to-business (B2B) start-ups are also increasing their focus on the web.

As long as you can offer an app-like experience, mobile web is better for customers and companies. Customers don’t have to keep downloading updates and they save on space. For companies, it’s cheaper to build a mobile app compared to a native app. The shift back to mobile web will also affect advertising and marketing spending.

Mobile web continues to be a way for consumers to engage with content. When it comes to monetization, it will continue on both. Still, there are people who believe that apps will eventually call the shots.In the mobile Internet world, it is an app war. And in an app war, you can’t win by betting on a mobile website.

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/LQEj72VEodIgrCscvSB07O/Startups-refocus-on-mobile-web-as-apponly-strategy-loses-f.html

Tech giants Apple and Google are the most valuable brands in the world. Apple’s iPhones and other gadgets are gaining attention of smartphone lovers, while Google’s mobile web is making several things easy for users. Today, the main objective of tech giants should be to offer simple and inexpensive Internet to users, but Apple’s focus on apps and Google’s focus on mobile web are making businesses grappling with online world.

Evan Ratliff, who runs an online publication The Atavist Magazine, said it becomes very difficult for him to make a balance between app and web. According to Ratliff, he had to continuously work on web and magazine’s app, which means double pressure. Ratliff, co-founder of the magazine, said it takes too much time to maintain the magazine’s website and update users via app. The pressure to do everything was the reason why The Atavist Magazine decided to shut its app and focus only on the web, Ratliff added.

“The decision was difficult because The Atavist’s app had a following, and it is hard to give up any audience once you have it. But in the end, the app’s limitations were too great”, according to Ratliff.

The tech giants are not only strengthening their business, but also considering overlap. Mountain View, California, headquartered Google is also selling apps, while Apple is also making money by advertising. Both the companies know that there is an overlap, but they are tied to the vision of their core products.

http://nycity.today/content/286397-businesses-squeezed-between-apps-and-mobile-web

It’s the marketing slogan that has become a maxim for daily life in the tech age: There’s an app for that.
Apps – short for application – are downloaded programs that have become a staple of smartphones and tablets, turning what were little more than novel gadgets into photo studios, portable offices, vast libraries and video game consoles.
And, despite a stereotype of technophobia, older adults are also starting to embrace them. A study released in April 2014 by survey group Nielson, said 51 percent of cellphone owners over age 55 have a smartphone. Another study released by the same firm in July 2014 said, on average, that age group was spending 21 hours a month across 22 apps.
Locally, more than a few residents have incorporated apps, from the whimsical to the practical, into their everyday lives.
Some people said one app that has been helpful from a productivity standpoint is Office Lens, a free app that is part of Microsoft’s suite of programs. The app allows someone to take a snapshot of posters, whiteboards or documents – even at an angle – and it will automatically straighten and crop them into usable images.
People used it several times at conferences and to snap a picture of programs from events he／she’s attended with his/her friends.

http://www.gvnews.com/news/apps-make-life-easier-and-more-fun/article_aeb88d12-5efe-11e5-9882-4b7ebbc08774.html

Mobile apps are taking over — but, really, are you surprised?

A new report from Flurry says people are spending more time in mobile apps than watching TV. In 2015, U.S. consumers spent 198 minutes in mobile apps per day compared to 168 minutes watching TV. That time in mobile apps is up from 139 minutes in 2014 and 126 minutes in 2013, and that doesn’t include time spent in mobile browsers.

The report also notes it’s difficult to quantify how much of that time spent on apps overlaps with time spent on TV, since lots of people use their phones while watching TV. And while apps are making headway, TV usage isn’t decreasing. while apps are making headway, TV usage isn’t decreasing.

Meanwhile, mobile users have been trained to pay for content, according to the report. Games have traditionally dominated the top-grossing charts of app stores.And with a growth in sales from in-app purchases, traditional media companies could “move its content to apps and stream it over-the-top, charge consumers for it through the App Stores, and still make money from ads,” the report concludes.

Flurry’s data comes at the cusp of the new Apple TV announcement. At Wednesday’s Apple event, CEO Tim Cook said the television experience has been static while mobile innovation has flourished. His response is a simple vision: “We believe the future of television is apps. In fact, this transition has already begun.” With the Apple TV’s new OS supporting apps and an App Store for third-party apps, users can stream content from Netflix as well as shop and play games.

With new features like these, one thing is clear: The future of television means more than just watching television.

http://mashable.com/2015/09/12/time-on-mobile-apps/#qQ.Eq8Sb0Pkj

Today, mobile application development technology is evolving at a very shocking pace. However, in a market where quality and performance always come before brand loyalty, creating a fluid user experience (UX) is key to the success of any mobile app development project.

User experience is becoming an increasingly crucial feature when it comes to the digital landscape. It defines how the user feels and thinks about your product from his or her own perspective. It is about making something valuable, easy to use and effective for your target market.

Therefore, there is a need to adopt a user-centered approach to mobile application development that gives emphasis to the needs of target users. Improved UX translates into several key benefits for the companies that provide it, and here are some of them:

1. Loyal User Base :

Everyone has the experience of using an app with lots of bugs and errors, complexities, frustrating interactions and unexpected behaviors. The truth is that, a poorly designed application reduces customer loyalty. Users won’t have a high tolerance for unstable applications and nothing can turn them away faster than a bad first impression. You may not be able to foster a lasting relationship with users.

2. Reduce Support Costs :

A well-designed app can save you money and time. Consumers regularly struggle with simple issues that solutions can easily be found on a well-designed app. Mobile applications give customers a way to not only find solutions but to connect with your business 24/7, irrespective of where they are. They can offer direct personal calls with sales people, access to a help desk, live chat and even provide on-going support to customers.
3. Increased Customer Satisfaction :

Customer satisfaction is one of the keys to running a successful business. Success in any industry is often measured by the number of satisfied customers. The better experience you provide for your clients, the more satisfied they will be – and the opposite is true. The worse experience you create for your customers, the more frustrated they will become with your offering. They will rarely recommend your product to their friends and relatives. The same applies to mobile applications.

The most common reason why users might abandon or delete an app is poor user experience. If an app can’t provide a positive first impression, it is probably going to frustrate users and it is likely going to be deleted.

4. Increased Sales :

A well-designed app will have increased traffic, transactions, and conversations. These apps will attract and keep more clients who will buy more products and leave positive feedback. Happy customers often spread the word to their friends and families. Users won’t share your app if it fails to meet their expectations. They also review your application online, which plays an important role in convincing other potential users to download the application. Also, the reviews reflect the current user satisfaction with the application. Remember online reviews is a trusted sources of information, and building trust with users is a key component in ensuring that more people download and use the app.

5. It Gives You an Edge Over the Competition:

It is nearly impossible to stand out in a crowd of well over a million. It is important that your app stands out from the rest. However, making your product stand out in a saturated market is not as easy as you think.While there are a lot of tricky gimmicks that you can try to make your app noticeable, you need to involve the user from the beginning in order to succeed. You have to make sure your item is user-friendly – before anything else. Users are attracted to apps that can provide them with what they really want.

http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/importance-user-experience-mobile-apps-01321326