From Samsung:
| Dear seller, Thank you for being a part of Samsung Apps.Please note that the following improvements will be made to the service. |
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From Samsung:
| We have made selling game applications in Brazilian stores more convenient. | |
| – | Before : An MJ/DEJUS certification must be acquired. |
| – | After : If an application has an ESRB or PEGI certificate instead of an MJ/DEJUS certificate, it will be assigned the corresponding MJ/DEJUS age classification. |
| – | If it does not have an age classification from any official agency, it will be automatically provided with an 18+ rating for sales. |
| – | Effective from : Thursday 1st November, 2012 |
| < Additional Announcement > | |
| The checking process for Android updates has been changed. | |
| – | Before : Version check by Version Name |
| – | After : Version check by Version Code When updating applications, the Version Code of the binary you are updating must be higher than that of the binary previously registered. ※ The Version Name refers to the version of the application that is displayed for buyers via the channel. |
From Google:
We’re writing to let you know that we will be introducing Buyer’s Currencies in two new countries, India and Russia. All prices for these locales will be in the Indian Rupee (INR) and Russian Ruble (RUB) currencies, respectively. Please visit the Google Play Developer Console to set prices for these new countries by October 25, 2012.
IMPORTANT: If you have not manually set pricing for the additional countries in the Google Play Android Developer Console by October 25, 2012, Google Play will automatically assign Buyer’s Currency prices for your products. Google Play assigns a price based on the price of your app in your home currency, converted to each target currency using the exchange rate on that day. This is a one-time conversion associated with the transition to the new Buyer’s Currency model. If you have already set your per-currency prices manually, Google Play will not override them.
You can continue to set and adjust the prices of your apps at any time, in your home currency and in any Buyer’s Currency available.
For more information about how Buyer’s Currency works, please visit the Google Play Help Center:
http://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1169947
What does it take to get an app approved by an app store? Sometimes a very dubious process where developers have little insight. BlackBerry App World however, just published their vetting criteria. Take a look!
From Samsung:
We understand that it can be a hassle to enter the binary file information when you register applications and we have tried to improve the Seller Office service based on your comments and opinions. Please note the following improvements have been made to device recommendations and category settings.
1. When you upload a binary file, compatible devices are recommended automatically.
– These improvements to application registration have been made for your convenience: some information entered in the manifest is now detected automatically and compatible devices are recommended based on that information, as well as information entered manually by the Seller.
– Target OS: bada, Android
– Auto Detection Items: App ID, API Level, Version (common), Mobile Network, VoIP (so far only available for Android), and more
– Other Manual Input Items: S Pen and more
– Effective from: Wednesday 10th October, 2012
2. Now, an additional category can be set when registering an application.
To help Sellers who had difficulty selecting only one category, because of the variety of features on their applications, you can now select up to 2 categories per application.
Primary Category: required / Secondary Category: optional
Effective from: Wednesday 10th October, 2012
If you have published anything to the Vodafone AppSelect store, you would have recently gotten this message (although chances are you have not, which is probably why this message was sent out in the first place):
Due to technical and operational considerations, Vodafone AppSelect will now close on 21 November 2012, which is earlier than anticipated and originally communicated. Accordingly, please take this email as formal notice that we will be closing AppSelect and ending our agreement with you on 21 November 2012.
Question is, is this a signal of the coming fall of the mobile operator app store? Rumors are certainly plentiful in the marketplace and many have predicted their downfall. Certainly a lot of mobile operators have proven that they are not good enough to be retailers, but still there are others that have been moderately successful. Mobile operators can more often than not customize the home screen on phones, and they can provide direct billing. These are important pillars for discovery and easy of charging – but they still need to be experts at content retailing. The unraveling has begun – but who will survive among the operators?
Everyone who develops for Android knows about the Google Play store. Slightly more sophisticated publishers go beyond Google Play and feature in the Amazon Appstore, Samsung Apps or possibly even Getjar. In report after report the number one thing developers look for when choosing a platform is reach. Naturally this also extends to the app stores that they choose to support. At CodeNgo we agree that reach is an important factor when choosing what stores to submit to but it’s not the only factor developers should consider consider. In addition to looking at reach developers should also look at the competition in your category, the app store’s track record of delivering installs and the promotional opportunities offered by the app store. With this in mind we’ll introduce you to 3 alternate Android App Stores that you should be in that you’re not.
Let’s start with Mobango, a multi-platform free app store. Mobango has over 8 million users and has delivered over 1 billion downloads to date across all content areas. It’s user base is strong in the U.S. and India followed by Europe and Asia. Their interface is clear and easy to use, but what we like best about Mobango is it’s promotional platform. They offer a non-incentivized cost per install program (aka pay per download) that delivers quality installs at a fraction of the cost of most other app marketing vehicles. Looking to drive installs for less then $1 per install? If so, then you’ll want to have a look at Mobango.
Another great independent app store that is just off the radar for most developers is the SlideMe App marketplace. SlideMe is preloaded on over 120 OEM’s devices and has global reach. We like it because it has a large user base (2nd only to Google Play according to SlideMe), it supports payment processors of your choosing at a fraction of the cost of Google Play and developers speak highly of it. The submission process is simple and the approval process comes back quickly!
Finally we get to the Opera Store. This one didn’t originally make our list but a combination of recent changes to the promotional opportunities through the store plus the popularity of the browser in developing markets (Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa) makes Opera unique among the major independent app stores. Don’t expect a huge lift right away but this store is one to watch.
If you’re not already in these app stores then you’re missing downloads today!
From Amazon App Store:
As part of our ongoing effort to help our developers reach new customers, you can now submit your apps for distribution later this year in Japan. In addition, we are only a few weeks away from launching the Kindle Fire family of tablets in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. To be prepared, localize and submit your apps now in the Amazon Mobile App Distribution Portal.
We’ve included some resources below to help you localize and market your apps worldwide.
How to Localize Your Apps
- Mobile app developer Playrix provides best practices on localizing apps.
- Update and localize your app’s metadata in the Distribution Portal.
- Learn how to show local currencies, date/time formats, and more in your apps.
How to Market Your Apps
- Use colorful, engaging imagery when creating Billboards, a new marketing feature on Kindle Fire HD and the all-new Kindle Fire.
- Write effective and localized descriptions for your apps.
- Request a featured marketing placement.
How to Optimize Your Apps for Kindle Fire Tablets
- Download the Kindle Fire HD 7″ emulator.
- Learn how to target your apps for specific Amazon devices.
- Capture screenshots from Kindle Fire HD.
AWS re:Invent
Don’t miss your chance to attend AWS re:Invent to hear from AWS experts and mobile app developers like you to learn how to make the most of AWS. The AWS re:Invent conference will be the perfect opportunity for you and your team to dive deep into AWS and partner services that will enable you to improve time-to-market, address scalability issues, optimize performance, and lower your costs.
Follow us and stay up to date with our developer blog and Twitter. Post your questions on our developer forums or, if you need extra help, contact the Amazon team directly.
We have mentioned before that Microsoft Windows is definitely there in terms of developer mindshare. However, developer support towards iOS and Android is so dominant due to those platform’s reach, and for Android, it was also considered by developers to be the easiest to develop for:
However, now it seems like Microsoft has been able to take advantage of something they have done so well for so long in the PC space: Provide excellent tools to ease development. According to Taiwanese ISV’s, development costs for Windows Mobile is 1/3 rd that of Android, mainly due to the development tools. The claims from Taiwan are actually quite staggering, and it would be interesting to hear if other developers in other countries feel the same.
Of course, reach is still a problem for Microsoft, and it is quite clear that Windows as a phone OS still struggles when you look at at markets like the US:
So the question the becomes, what will it take for Microsoft to increase its market share? Well, the obvious is more phones that people want to buy. For quite some time, Nokia has been the only company putting out any new Windows Phones, which of course Microsoft paid a hefty price for. Nokia is also an early supporter of Windows Phone 8, but the question remains whether the new Lumia’s will move the needle with consumers (Tomi Ahonen and Asymco seem to think they will not, which is too bad given Elop’s statement that this may be Nokia’s last chance).
However, there is hope in that other handset manufacturers like Samsung and HTC may move the needle, and they have certainly made good looking devices. Whether any of these first batch devices are good enough is quite questionable, but probably Windows Phone 8 is only a “Galaxy Siii away” from grabbing significant market share (I realized the pun in this one after writing it).
We fundamentally believe that consumer sentiment and loyalty is fickle, and really it should only take 1 really, really good device for consumers to embrace Windows Phone 8.
So assuming there will be good phones out there, what are the other things Microsoft has to get right? Well, there are a few. There has to be a healthy app eco-system beyond development tools. This is where Microsoft may be struggling, by closing the non-Microsoft shops and forcing sales through Windows Marketplace. While a closed system works well for Apple, we do not subscribe to that other players should follow the closed system strategy. iTunes is actually not good for the majority of app developers (90% make less than expected according to Vision Mobile), and having one place for discovery and purchase simply creates and over crowded space too quickly. Furthermore, the large app stores offer very little innovation in terms of content presentation, discovery or marketing (excluding Amazon here as they are the stand out as expected).
To get a healthy app eco-system, one must also have good business models in place. It should mean a free choice of in-app billing systems, so as to not constrain what developers are using. Here Microsoft for now is making the right decision by allowing developers to choose what they want to use.
So do we believe Windows Phone 8 will become a viable third OS? If some really good devices get made, and Microsoft does not over regulate the app market eco-system, there is no denying they will have the backing of the developers, and then eventually the consumers.
To make money on your app, there are two things to focus on to make money: Distribution and marketing. Marketing is a complex field, and while developers hope to rely on the viral factor and word of mouth recommendations, having Facebook sharing buttons or newsfeed posts simply will not make it for you if you rely on that alone, thus you cannot get away from spending on marketing – and probably spending quite a bit.
The flip side – increased distribution – allows for your app to be discovered in multiple places, for you to possibly build more SEO, perhaps even get feedback from a smaller group of users on small app stores – allowing you to adjust it before you go out wide. Alternative App Stores (is that an expression to be capitalized yet?), or Alternative Android App Stores (as there are very few iOS listing alternatives out there) are really just what any new organization is trying to be: An editor of content, attempting to present interesting content to you in the best possible manner and make money in the process. They can also be the best avenue for making money, simply because competition is less.
We have tried to do some research to assess which app stores are the best ones, and that is the basis for the current selection of app stores we have selected for our CodeNgo plans . We have also dug up a number of good blog posts on the subject and wanted to share some of them with you:
- Martin Gruner, who has written some excellent case studies on app marketing, warns not to ignore the alternative app stores.
- How-To Geek’s list has some nice screenshots of the mobile versions of the app stores
- The most complete list we have seen comes from the Wireless Industry Partnership. It is somewhat out of date, but still very comprehensive
What about mobile operator stores? Are they still relevant? Yes, probably (although many argue for a limited period of time), but distribution there is often exceptionally difficult (which we hope to address at CodeNgo soon). What we are missing though is a good list of international app stores, i.e. not targeted towards the English speaking world. Besides which stores work best in China, even an overview of international stores in key markets like Brazil and South East Asia are hard to find. If you do know of some, please contact us, share your experiences, and we will make sure to spread the word about them and consider adding them to our plans.
