Posted by:


Only a few years ago, game makers were still haunted by the grim specter of Nintendo’s massive failure, the Virtual Boy. But in 2012, the launch of the Oculus Rift Kickstarter threw the development of games into a frenzy—every major tech company scrambled to build their own VR headset in order to stomp out the competition.

by Gabrielle Montoute

Whether you like it or not, VR is the next big trend in gaming, and tech companies are flooding the market with headsets of all shapes, sizes, and tech specs. Everyone is raring to jump on the VR bandwagon by buying their first headset, but first you should know what you’re getting into.

 

HTC Vive

With a price point of $800, the Vive is the most expensive VR experience on the market. The headset is packed with two controllers as well as the Vive’s patented infrared sensors which allow you to move safely around your living room without walking into walls or hitting your knee on the coffee table.

Along with Vive’s partnership with Valve, there has been speculation that the system will support the long-rumored Half-Life 3, so if you’re desperate to continue the adventures Gordon Freeman, the Vive may be worth the steep price.

VR headsets

Oculus Rift

Oculus Rift was the Kickstarter heard round the world, rocketing 18-year-old tech guru, Palmer Luckey, to stardom in a matter of days. So, if you’re looking for a tried and tested product with name recognition, the Oculus may be the system for you. The headset, with free Xbox One controller included, will run you about $600, but if you want the Oculus Touch controllers (to be released later this year) you’ll have to pay extra.

That’s in addition to the upgrades you will probably need to make to your PC: the suggested specs for the rift include an incredibly powerful (and expensive) graphics card and processor, as well as at least 8GB of RAM. Mounting hype over a four year period also means the waitlist is long, so you may have to be content with your regular old PC for several months before your order arrives.

Oculus’ partnership with Facebook may make you a little uneasy, but if you’re looking for a powerful machine that will stay relevant and stable for years to come, Oculus is the right choice.

 

Playstation VR

If you’re a dedicated Playstation gamer, then you can’t lose with the Playstation VR, to be released October 2016. Although the headset has a lower screen resolution than some of its counterparts, it also boasts a record 120 Hz refresh rate meaning lower latency, virtually eliminating motion sickness.

PSVR also has some of the best exclusives on the market—Star Wars: Battlefront, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, and a new Pyschonauts standalone will be only on Playstation VR. Having a VR headset as an accessory to a console means lower cost and most importantly no spending extra time and money upgrading your system.

Being an early adopter can be exciting, especially when what was once the stuff of sci-fi movies is being actualized by tech companies all over the world. VR is the next big step in the gaming industry and the tech will only get better as more and more companies develop and release their products. If the meteoric rise of VR continues, virtual reality systems will soon become a console standard, so it’s time to get in on the ground floor.

Posted by:


Today, the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store pack three million mobile apps. Consumers are spending 85 percent of their smartphone time in mobile apps, but only five of the daily mobile user’s apps experience heavy use. What gives?

by Sophorn Chhay

Failed retention, mostly, is responsible for the split dichotomy of app use. Often, most users downloading mobile apps don’t continue use after the first week. If you’re marketing your mobile app, you should prioritize retention over acquisition. Your brand depends on it, and for a few good reasons.

Reason One: Repeat App Users Offer the Most Revenue

It’s a simple mathematical equation. 80 percent of a business’s revenue is pulled from 20 percent of its existing customers. Mobile app marketing can be fickle, but a majority of gained revenue comes from day-to-day app users. App developers are shoveling money into advertisement campaigns, and they’re acquiring users who only constitute a fifth of their revenue. In 2016, word of mouth will serve your strategy more than initial outreach.

Reason Two: Repeat Users Use Opt-In Services

Today. 79 percent of mobile users rely on opt in mobile app and SMS services to assist the purchasing process. Acquisition fails to rake in the numbers of a good retention strategy. Even if your business’s opt-in services are SMS-centric, your mobile app’s ability to keep customers interested will power your opt-in baseline. To influence customers, you need to maintain customers in both app use and ongoing benefits.

Retention of customers

Reason Three: Deep Linking is Winning

If you’re an app developer, fueling deep links with retention should be a go-to strategy. In fact, staying on top in Google’s ranking system is often enough to secure a good amount of page views. App installs, while important, aren’t necessarily a business’s most-targeted goal these days. Deep linking is taking over, and it’s being powered by ongoing use.

Users click on apps for specific reasons. They browse the web, find an app and download it. They will, however, turn away approaches if an in-app experience fails to “capture” them. For this reason, app creators are using deep linking and SEO to maximize in-app use. Initial acquisition, while powerful, can’t begin to touch the importance of retention when entire Internet marketing strategies are at the helm.

Reason Four: In-App Messages Cement Engagement

Did you know 34 percent of mobile users abandon apps because of lost interest? Fortunately, the mobile marketing world has answered with in-app messages to boost engagement. Updates, reminders and personalized greetings, a byproduct of SMS marketing, are giving retention-focused companies a huge edge. Every time the consumer opens an app, they’re faced with a plethora of reasons to leave. Real-time alerts boost outreach campaigns. More importantly, they enhance the user experience to a point of mass integration.

Reason Five: Double Opt-In Strategies are on Fire

Automated mobile marketing providers like Trumpia are implementing retention-centric solutions, and they’re boosting business databases with relevant, real-time tools made to please mobile carriers. By opting in with a simple “yes” or “no,” customers effectively tie their texting experience to their mobile app experience. Consumers will always text, and they’ll stick with a mobile app capable of offering ongoing company support.

Assuming your mobile app offers unique utility, customers will stick around. Sure, they might have “flings” with other, interesting apps, but they’ll stay with providers able to create memorable, consistent experiences. Your mobile strategy has a long way to go, so you should power it with sustainable practices. Take advantage of the mobile world’s latest, greatest innovations, and stay up to date with the trends consumers care most about.

 

What’s Next?

How do you ensure that your customer is getting the best mobile experience possible when interacting with your brand? Make sure to share them with us in the comments below. I would love to read them.

 

Author Biography

Sophorn Chhay

Sophorn is the marketing guy at Trumpia, the most complete SMS software with mass text messaging, smart targeting and automation.

Follow Sophorn on Twitter(@Trumpia), LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+

 

Posted by:


We’re proud to be supporting the new developer survey run by our friends at VisionMobile! This is the 11th developer survey and it’s entitled Developer Tools Benchmarking – as you can understand, the focus is on developer tools.

The survey features questions on topics like programming languages, platforms, app categories, tool categories, revenue models, IoT verticals – and, of course – tools! It’s a survey made by developers, for developers – so the questions are very relevant!

Whether you’re looking to share your thoughts with the dev community, find out something new, contribute to the leading developer research – or win a great prize – this is the survey for you!

Participants can win one of the tens of prizes available, including an iPhone 6s, an Xperia Z5, a Nexus 6P, and more. VisionMobile will also share the survey findings with you, and show you how your answers compare you to other developers in your country.

TakeSurvey

 

 

 

Posted by:


A deep link is any URL that takes you to content within a website or app, rather than to the homepage. They can be used to bring the user from one page of web content to another, or from web to app or, as is becoming more common these days, from app to app. In the case of the latter, this is known as mobile deep linking, a tactic which has been used increasingly as mobile commerce and the use of mobile apps have expanded. So, why use deep links and how can you implement them?

by Olga Grigorenko

 

Step #1. Identify the Value of Deep Links

 

Deep links drive user engagement.

This is a factor which is tremendously important to the success of any website. As explained above, a deep link provides a direct route from one page to another, bypassing unnecessary content and funneling the user directly to the targeted page and/or app.

This streamlines the process, making it not only easier for the user but also ensuring that they go directly to the content you’re pointing them to. If you’re trying to attract new users to a new app, deep links can allow them to get there within the app store, as opposed to exiting their browser window and having to search for it themselves.

Time is money, and convenience is a valuable commodity.

Deep links increase acquisition and retention.

These are two of the most essential marketing goals of any company. If the end-goal of your site or app is to obtain new customers and keep them (as it should be), deep links can directly help you reach that goal.

One thing that marketers have learned when targeting millennials, is that those customers value ease and utility. Deep links offer both of these assets, creating a better user experience that will attract and retain your customers.

 

Step #2. Building Your Own Deep Links

Develop deep links from scratch.

If you’d like to build your deep links internally, your developer will first need to identify the URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) of each page in your app. From there, they’ll need to build and develop the code that will direct and launch the intended action of the deep link.

A useful resource to direct your tech team to is MobileDeepLinking, a guide which provides developers with implementation details as well as standard framework to help them get started.

Deep link tools for developers.

If you would like to use existing software to develop your deep links, there are a few great options out there that will lend a helping hand to your techies. A few big name solutions such as AppLinks from Facebook and AppIndexing from Google are two widely used options.

Other startup solutions are cropping up as well, offering customers a variety of options. All of these solutions are intended for developers (since they require a knowledge of coding), but they nonetheless provide invaluable framework which will ensure that you are making the most of your deep links.

 

Step #3. Set forth and unleash your deep linking potential

 

Build your deep links and let them work for you.

Now that you know the why and how, you can get started on implementing deep links in order to power up your site or app. Whether you are a developer or a marketer, understanding the capabilities of deep links will help you make the most of your marketing efforts and ensure increased usage and visibility.

By directing users to content other than what is on the home page, you will also increase the authority of your entire site, which is an important SEO strategy for most websites. With the number of various options out there to help streamline and simplify deep linking across multiple platforms, you are certain to find the right fit for you and your team.

Posted by:


The Verge recently posted a fascinating article on the fate of the app developer Pixite.  The story recounts what many developers are already seeing:  Relying on the App Store or Google Play for continued success simply will not fly. You could end up spending a fortune in just discoverability, and should you be so lucky to achieve seven figures of downloads (or more), your journey is actually just beginning.

The problem is not only that getting paid for the download is increasingly getting more difficult (In 2011, 63% of all downloads were paid, at $3.27 per download – last year only 27% were paid at $1.27 per download), but that users are downloading less apps per user per month. Downloads overall are going up as a huge number of new smartphones come online every day, but chances are those users are global of nature – adding more complexity in how to reach and monetize those users.  Being an app developer is becoming ever increasingly complex from a business perspective.

Where do you find revenue?

85% of the app store revenue goes to games.  And the majority of revenue in gaming today is predominantly in in-app purchases and/or advertising – i.e. it’s nearly impossible to charge for single app installs.  At CodeNgo however, we have seen an uptick in subscription based stores, where consumers do not pay for a single download of your app, but pay for a curated experience from app stores picking top of the line content where they can download apps that normally cost money for a monthly subscription fee. The reason this model works to some extent is similar to the overall app store problem:  Too many apps overwhelm consumers, and a value is placed on curation. Players like Opera, Mobango, Naranya – all CodeNgo channels, are seeing some traction in subscription offerings.

The problem of course in gaming is that your content is only relevant for so long. Just as movies die out over time, so do games.  Sure, you can try and discover new markets, but eventually you’ll run out or succumb to the complexity of localization. You can, as the movie industry does, try and produce sequels, or come up with entirely original content (Quiz: In 10 seconds, name 1 Rovio title published after Angry Birds that did not have anything to do with Angry Birds……. No? Yeah, point proven). But you will be in a hit based entertainment industry – and if you don’t already have a huge installed base to market to – be faced with distribution and marketing challenges for every title you produce.

So what if you do not have a gaming app?

Pixite’s story really tells the tale from a non-game app revenue perspective. Sure, you can create apps that are of incredible value, but then you really need to constantly re-invent your app and your offering to entice the user to come back and to keep spending. Your ability to charge much more than the standard amounts for in-app purchases are also there, as users are likely to value the utility of your app. But – copycats can come quickly, and you need to constantly evolve your offering too keep users enticed and fend off competitors.

So what if my app is great? Is publishing in the app store enough?

Even if you continuously innovate and improve your product, there mere presence in Google Play is not enough. As new markets continue to open up due to more and more affordable handsets and data plans thrown into emerging markets, the super stores ability to cater to locals dwindles.  And as any producer of a commodity (yes you may feel your app is not, but apps in general are), you need to think like the big soft drink producers in your distribution strategy – you will need to be everywhere your users are.  And increasingly in emerging markets, that is not on Google Play. And while some feel that Google will solve headaches for developers even in markets like China, we know they actually cause more (unless you have the big $$$s to spend to be on the top 25 lists).

If you are relying on in-app purchases for a living, you will also need to have a very clear understanding that while you may not need to localize your app fully, you need to localize billing capabilities. Maintaining multiple SKUs are a pain point, thus seeking to work with frameworks like OpenIAB should be explored.

Distribution does not unfortunately negate the need for marketing.  Your funds do not exclusively have to go to CPI, but chances are you will need to spend something. And the bang for your buck may be far greater in emerging markets and through non-traditional channels like Facebook and Google, where big publishers drive up the cost.  Talk to CodeNgo about how we can help you efficiently reach new users in markets you may not have thought of.

Distribution and promotion is only the beginning

Your journey as a markets is not over after spending money on ads and distributing your app everywhere though. There is a lot more to app marketing, that begins even at the product design level. From efficient use of notifications to entice users to user your app, to ASO, to analytics and tracking and more – you will quickly find more time needs to be spent on marketing than product development. We recommend reading the excellent compilation of marketing 101 tips from Apptentive.

Krypted.com

app store?

Posted by:


As an app developer, sitting firmly atop the rankings on the first page of Google may be enough to secure a sizable amount of page views. Be it so, it’s no longer the crowning achievement in determining the number of downloads or installs your app has. There’s a more effective method for that now, and that’s where deep links come in.

By Li Huang

There was a time when using a search engine to find an app brought you to its homepage, whereby you would download, install, and begin using it. But deep links have changed this game all together. Instead of spending time roaming the app to find and access what it was you were looking to to begin with, deep links bring you to that desired location right away. Basically, deep links narrow your priorities while broadening efficiency.

To you help you better imagine the situation before deep links, it’s best to understand the circumstances first.

On the user’s end, they’re trying to use an app for a specific reason. They search the web, find the app they want, and then download it. However, when the app is finally installed, there is still the hassle of spending time narrowing down what they actually want out of it. This can prove to be inconvenient, and with this in mind, potential customers could be deterred from using the app all together.

On the developer’s end, this is seen as success: your customers are downloading and installing your product, and your goal of getting the app to reach as many people as possible is met.

2016 02 23 Deep linking

Deep linking and SEO

But. There lies a great problem here. There is a rift of miscommunication and inconvenience that separate the customer and the developer. Deep links then play the role of savior in order to bridge this gap.

Mobile design is clearly not finished renovating the tech scene, and it is using deep links to plaster the walls and patch up the holes. The deep link tool extends beyond your typical Android and iOS app indexation in search engines. Its potential is being utilized in SEO, SEM, email, display, social, radio, and TV: “As much as 86% of mobile time is spent in apps. New studies show mobile consumers install on average eight new apps per month, making app re-engagement more and more challenging.”

Before deep links were widely recognized as a sacred tool in app marketing, one of the top priorities of app developers was to shoot for high rankings on the first page of Google. The introduction of deep links added an extra dimension to app marketing. Now, instead of solely trying to top Google charts, developers divert some of their efforts to allow potential users to access its fruition – without all the nonsense. This raises the ceiling of interaction and satisfaction, thereby heightening app popularity.

So how exactly do deep links propel SEO? Well, whether you rank on the top of the first page or on the bottom of the fifth page, deep links will take the user directly to the context that they’re searching for in the featured app. Apps can be very broad and steep, and deep links drill to the source of interest without cutting. So, by using deep links, it helps your SEO by making life easier for your users.

Posted by:


Google just announced that they will now test including direct downloads of apps from Google’s search app thereby bypassing the need to go to Google Play. Many stories have been written about how Google is facing antitrust issues due to their anti-competitive behavior around Google Play services. It’s not hard to see how enabling direct downloads from Google’s search app puts other stores at a direct disadvantage as well. It’s also not hard to see how the EU might view this type of move if Google isn’t offering the same opportunities to other stores.

Perhaps even more scrutiny will come as a result it was recently revealed that Android is a massive source of revenue for Google.

Google’s attempt to monopolize both the distribution and discovery channels for apps is not in and of itself surprising. Large players in other categories have attempted this before before being disrupted, most notably the music industry. The labels controlled the content, distribution and discovery of music. While the number of labels competing with each other made this example different than what we see with Google, it was eventually technical innovation that broke the stranglehold. Here, Google is using technology too, to tighten the noose on alternative channels and force content producers to use their channels.

A more recent, large antitrust example, would perhaps be the case of Internet Explorer and Microsoft. That comparison holds today for Google Play and Android, where Google as the Android owner forces Google Play through archaic constructions and rules. This step that Google is now trying, would be similar to Microsoft hijacking the url for say productivity software and always changing it to Microsoft. Surely this will be the nail in the coffin for antitrust lawyers if Google goes ahead with this?

As a company that thrives working with players who seek a world less influenced by Google, we can confirm that the movement to break free is growing stronger every day. We cannot but quote Princess Leia on this one:

Posted by:


Smartphones or mobiles are increasingly becoming the primary devices for business use. They are here to stay, and their usage is increasing. It is estimated that the enterprise level mobile usage is likely to grow above 40% by 2018. Firms and enterprises have tested the success of mobile technology and are spending loftily on the Mobile Application development services to advance their businesses.

by Lindsey Patterson

Business owners

The Android, Windows, and the iOS app stores are increasingly overflowing with education resources including business tools. There were 1.3 million android applications by the end of 2014. This clearly indicates that there are so many options available for mobile users and are discerning about which app to prioritize, to download and keep.

For an App developer and business owner to succeed in this competitive environment, you must improve the performance of your apps and reach out to the fully competitive market. The challenges facing App developer business owners today concern application speed, scale, and power for them to achieve the most optimal performance and exploit the market. It is important for the app developers to understand that the difference between a profitable project and a failed one is meeting the challenges that face them both in business and development. The challenges include:

2015 12 Guest blog 2

Usage Peaks, A Gain Or Loss

Once an App developer releases his application into the market and starts gaining attraction from the users, he feels blessed. He feels his work is finished! But that’s not the case. For some applications, once the app has been deployed it just means work has started.

Take an example of the application called StubHub’s app whose incident happened on the day of opening the major basketball league season. The traffic was higher than expected. The StubHub’s application crashed due to the high demand stress. This resulted in frustrations from the fans, and the application lost sales to the other competitor applications. It is wiser for an app developer and business owner have a solid plan ahead of time. If the application owner had planned ahead of the popularity of his app, he would save the ticket sellers, the basketball fans and a lot of stress.

It’s not enough to simply create an app, send it out into the world, and then retire to the comfort of an office corner desk; app developers and business owners need to constantly reevaluate the performance of the app once it has been released. An app that has the capability to contain peaks and increased user performance will ultimately scale. By adding or removing resources when traffic levels change is necessary to protect against sudden jumps using cloud technology. This model is advantageous to business app owners pay for the extra computing resource cost to enable the app to realize extensive experience. The owner can set scaling rules that automatically run behind the scenes to cut down the costs and save on resource.

Building an app business is much more about designing an app

Challenge In The Unavailability Of Mobile Analytics

Most websites today allow you to measure their performance by using numerous analytical tools, to check out on the areas they need to improve on. This is however not the case with the mobile application development business owners. They find it hard for them to do something like this. Typically speaking, there is no cross-platform/cross app and mobile web analytic software available at the moment. It is a shocking truth. For instance, it is not possible for a mobile enterprise solution provider to get more details about app users, what other apps they are using or even what other content the user might be browsing on the device (unless done illegally by placing a tracker on the device).

The situation might be gradually changing but has not yet reached the expected pace. Major companies have now started investing in mobile analytic strategies and app developer business owners should emulate this. These analytics can provide solid foundations for enhancements, improvements and decision on the next course of actions.

2015 12 Blog 4

Challenge Of Integration

Integrating applications both new and existing is the most prominent challenge mobile application development business owners, as well as the enterprise mobility solution providers, are facing today. Upgrading the traditional systems to integrate them with the newer mobile technologies in the many platforms is a big task that is time and energy consuming. Most mobile solutions have gone out of time and budget. They have failed to integrate the existing database structures and other setups. A business owner by now should be looking at solving this challenge to increase his app download in other platforms to make more profits.

Will your app business be going up up and away

App Performance Reigns Supreme

In history, users have had no patience with web pages that take too much time to load. 46% of users abandon a website that takes more than two seconds to load. This trend has been transferred to the mobile app landscape. For app developers and business owners, this can be a daunting challenge to overcome.

It often doesn’t matter to consumers whether the app loads using more or lesser data. What they simply want is fast load times. 40% of users will abandon an app that takes more than 40 seconds to load. To improve on speed and load times, app developers should look at data usage. For many applications, this is still a challenge that needs to be addressed.

There are many factors that mobile developers and business owners need to act upon to ensure optimal application performance for their applications. This is the primary goal of business, to create demand, satisfy demand and make good and lasting business. They should continually monitor their aps and release updates to provide the best possible user experience and take advantage of the market.

 

2015 12 Lindsey PattersonLindsey Patterson is a freelance writer who specializes in technology and the latest social trends, specifically involving social media. She is currently a social media advisor.

Posted by:


Did you know, as per the report by Localytics, there has been a drop in app retention from 39% in 2014 to 34% in 2015? Though, there are many factors that are playing a role in this drop; increasing number of apps is one of the reasons. Your customer has alternatives to your product and would switch the moment they get bored from your application

by Shoeb Ahmad

2015 11 02 Guest blog_1
We know that app market is getting competitive and it is becoming difficult to strike a monetary balance. However, there are some easy and effective ways that could help you retain customers. Following are those 10 trusted and best ways that every app owner should know.

#1 Gamify your app

This might sound strange but it’s true. Users are hooked to games. Gaming apps come as stress busters and they spend maximum time on them. So, add some gaming element to your app. This could be in terms of rewards and some challenges. Seek assistance of your app developer and add game features to your application, if possible.

#2 Social Media Marketing

Social media can be used wisely to retain customers. Create social media communities and invite your users to share their valuable feedback and reviews. During the development process, through this medium, you can easily get in touch with your users and get a direct feedback on your app.

This would help you solve the issues quickly and gain user’s loyalty. Look at the Angry Bird social media platforms to learn some effective marketing strategies.

#3 Personalize your App

With the help of the latest software, you can get informative customer behavior report. You can know how much time a user spends on your application, where he/she is clicking on page and taking an exit.

A thorough analysis of this report would help you add personalized features like push notification, based on their interests. Also, it would help you have a conversation even when they’re offline. These small features would make them feel special and loyal.

#4 Keep Updating

In this evolving world, updating your app is equally important. This would help you survive the cut-throat market. Keep on adding interactive and engaging features whenever required. It would help you to be in the competition and would show your care about user experience.

However, restrain yourself from too much updates as the user would lose interest and you would lose the battle to your competitor.

2015 11 02 Guest blog_2

#5 Push Notifications

Push notifications are widely used by app owners. It is because it grabs quick attention. For better results, correlate it with user behavior. Consult your developer regarding this feature.

In most cases, this feature is highly abused thus turning the results otherwise. Wise use of this feature can maintain user engagement of your app and could increase the possibility of user loyalty.

#6 Fast is better

Look around you! People appreciate that’s fast and quick. The same rule applies to your users as well. They would love an app which is quick to launch and functions smoothly.

In order to improve user experience, app makers add more graphics without realizing that it may further affect the app speed. Thus, speak to your developer and try to make your app appealing yet faster.

#7 Brilliant content

Apps of all sorts, mostly e-commerce and content apps, can benefit from brilliant and engaging content. They can put their latest blogs and posts on their applications, thus allowing users to come back, every time there’s something new for them.

For instance The Guardian App and Flipboard Apps. This is a newspaper application that uses push notification with appealing content. This way, it not only informs its users, but also encourages them to read the news through their app.

#8 Free from distractions and bugs

Your user would uninstall your app if they get distracted by ads, too many tweets, emails and unnecessary push notifications. Thus, to keep them hooked to your app, keep your app free from such distractions.

#9 Give rewards

Users mostly use application to get rewards or discounts. It was observed that discounts not only increase the first user experience, but also boost up the brand loyalty. Thus, use this feature wisely to attract users and increase the loyalty.

Take shopping apps as an example. They use push notification to inform their users about daily rewards and discounts. Users use that information and shop through their application to enjoy that reward.

#10 Integrated social media

People are active on social media. If you integrate social media in your app, there is a huge chance of app retention. For instance, Instagram allows you to create an account through your social media account. Besides, it also allows you to share your latest photographs on your all social media account easily.

The competitive app market is making it difficult for app owners to sustain. The aforementioned effective and quick app retention strategies would help you to have loyal customers. Use these strategies wisely, as per your requirement, and see the changes, yourself.

 

Author Bio:

2015 11 02 Headshot Image_AutorShoeb Ahmad, with an experience of 15+ years in Digital World, heads Digital Marketing at Mobisoft Infotech. He has a rich experience in SEM, SEO, Social Media & other verticals of Digital Media. He also has been a consultant for a variety of industries, enterprises & startups. He loves reading & traveling. He often writes on various forums since he believes ‘Knowledge increases by sharing.’ Follow him @shoeb_ahmad

 

Posted by:


Services like CodeNgo are one way to get you a few steps ahead of your competition. You’ll maximize the numbers of eyeballs that potentially see and download your app. Something is still missing though in your worldwide equation. It’s time to give back to the community who likely made your iPhone or Android phone and release your app in China.

by Max, MakeThatApp.com

Making money in China with apps

We’ve listed out 5 things you should know to embark on publishing your apps in China:

1)      App Size Is Crucial

Tons of the users in China only have access to 2G at the most, so your bloated 50mb+ apps would not be a great fit. Android drives over 80% of the revenue, so focus on getting that apk really tiny.

2)      Register a Hong Kong Corporation

This is the easiest way for you to get a license to do business with the different app stores and payment processors that you will need without having to expose your business too much.  There are services that will allow your company to register a Hong Kong company online.

3)      Intellectual Property Theft

If your app is popular, your IP might already be in China. You’ll need to be aggressive with the stores in order to get them to take down your apps. We’ve read a better strategy is to send them the legal documents required to prove that you own the app and have them re-route all traffic and rankings (if positive) to your new listing.

4)      Focus on the 10 Biggest App Stores

We’ve put together a List of Chinese App Stores (China) to help you focus your publishing efforts.

5)      Use a Publisher

If you’re not willing to open up 10 separate accounts + payment processing, check out services like Appigniter, AppInChina, Yodo1, Chukong, or Dreamsky. They might cost a lot , but they’ll help you your app into China and take care of all the payment processing headaches.

 

About the Author:

Max from MakeThatApp has a curated list of app development tools to help mobile developers create better apps. He can be contacted at http://www.twitter.com/MakeThatApp with any questions.