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Perhaps you’ve heard about the company De La Rue and their preposterous idea to put our passports on our phones. If you haven’t these massive producers of passports are looking into the technology to put passports on our phones, working in a similar way as a mobile boarding pass. Although the app hasn’t been perfected yet, people are already questioning the ramifications of such a technology. There already exists a few apps that allow you to use your phone as a passport in certain areas, but is it a good idea? Will this be the trend of the future?

It’s already been a couple of years since the first mobile passport app came out and the buzz that once surrounded it has died down somewhat. Initially, most people were excited by the prospect of ditching the pocket stuffing and using their phone to get through airports, but it seems that there are a few things standing in the way of this app in its attempts to get off the ground. One of the biggest issues is airport compliance. With the original mobile passport app you just have to type in your passport details, answer a few customs questions once you’ve landed at your destination and then have a code on your phone scanned to give you the all clear. At the moment, these scanners and lanes that are specifically for mobile passports are available in only a few airports in the U.S. and because of this not many people are downloading the app. But, the mobile service is available in only a few airports because airports don’t have enough people using them. The app and the airports are in a bit of a stalemate at the moment and so not much development has been done to make the mobile passport a common technology. So, it’s difficult to say what will happen to the idea at this point. Perhaps, instead of passports, we’ll see apps that can store our European insurance card or travel insurance information.

2016-12-01-mobile-passport

However, if, hypothetically speaking, the mobile passport was available at all airports and a lot of people used it, would it be a sensible alternative to a printed passport? On the one hand, people would probably be grateful to have a backup passport to use if they lose their printed one and in regards to convenience an app is a lot easier to use and keep track of. But, an app also opens up the possibility of fraud. What’s to stop someone from using someone else’s phone or passport information? Depending on how this technology is developed in the future, we may or may not find that these types of apps are more dangerous than they are useful.

It’s hard to say for sure what will happen to this app or if we’ll see more like it I our future. Although the technology is impressive and would certainly make our lives a lot easier, it is still very young and it has a long way to go before it will manage to convince people to switch their passports to digital.

 

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According to Comscore, 7 out of 10 smartphone users keep their most used apps on their home screen. Increasingly it is becoming more common for users to create folders of apps to stick them in. The primary reason for users moving the app to the home screen is because the app is used often.  The implication of this is a ‘crowding out’ of apps, and that we may only use a few apps as a result. The principle of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ may cause havoc for app developers. Is there reason to click the panic button?

If you have been in the app business for a while, you know that all the action is on the first few pages for top 25 lists of the app stores.  It may therefore be quite scary if the fight you just had on the app store to get discovered and downloaded now transfers to the handset and continues on an ongoing basis:

Source: Comscore

But is the way of the icon the way to go?

While the research clearly shows placement matters, the icon should be just that – an icon.  The true meaning of the word refers to something that has become a widely-known symbol. It implies it has been in existence for a while, and thus represents something – something that has been built up over time and gotten known.  The irony is that icons on the phone screen has become synonymous with something that is now in danger of being forgotten.  But here is why we think soon it will not matter.

Icons are old school

It will probably not be a shocker to say we are not fanboys. When we started the app business, phones had stamp sized screens, and the apps – in J2ME – had to be made in gazillion versions to fit all the handsets. But the 3G market for apps was quite good. But as everyone knows, the app market became tremendous with the release of the iPhone.  So, what annoys us the most about the iPhone still to this day?  The fact that the iPhone has an insanely archaic and boring layout of icons.  Seriously, with the amazing things you can do with Android, especially in forked versions, why on earth would you stick to this design to represent what is on the phone?  The answer is simply legacy. Apple has trained us to think this is how it should be – but it is not.

Technology dictates that the end of the square is near

There are several reasons we are due for a change in how we access apps and services on the phone:

  • Voice commands and assistants like Cortana, Google Now, Siri and others are increasingly getting smarter and better. It is now very easy to launch an app with your voice.
  • AI and smarts in your phone should easily be able to predict what you need when. For instance, is it 730am and breakfast time? I am probably reading some news. 8pm and Sunday? Probably looking for some household stuff from Costco for the week (well, that could be me only, but you get the point).
  • AR and sensors built into the phone could mean you would be operating your phone in true ‘Minority Report’ style with hand gestures etc.  Heck, even biometrics could signal an app need (getting tired? Fire up the coffee app…).

The phone is already equipped with features that allow you to ensure that what you need is available when you need it. Furthermore, notifications and other features should save you from having to flip through icons to know what you want.

For developers, you will still need to spend to get discovered. However, once you are discovered your focus should be on user onboarding and engagement, and then figure out how to be top of mind for the user when they should be using your app. There is no reason to obsess about home screen placement or annoying push notifications. Instead, have notifications that are useful and relevant, and integrate with other means such as emails, reminders in other apps, or perhaps even ads reminding your app is available (and ensure the ad is shown at the right time). This involves thinking ‘beyond your app’ to engage the user.

Of course, your icon design should still be kick-ass. But the icon should and shall die in relevance.

 

 

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It is advised that you change our boiler every 20 years. Although your boiler may still work at an older age, it is found that they become far less economical at an older age and could be adding a considerable excess onto your energy bills. If it’s time for you to get a new boiler, you may consider getting a smart boiler with an app that allows you to monitor how much energy you’re using. DP Gas, who offer boiler replacement services in Haywards Heath, have found that customers who use services like Hive or Nest could save around £300 on their energy bills.

Here we take a look at a number of smart apps that enable to control a variety of appliances in your home, and all the while making your life easier.

Hive

‘With Hive, you control your home from your phone’ says the jingle you may recognise from many commercial radio stations. Hive is the genius innovation from British Gas that combines a cutting edge thermostat with a smartphone app and allows you to control your gas and electrical items from anywhere in the world. So this means the days of coming home to a freezing cold house after a long day at work are long gone. Instead, you can turn your boiler on while you’re still on the bus, allowing the house to preheat for your arrival. You can monitor everything in your house so you can double check if you left your hair straighteners on, and thus avoiding a serious accident.

Nest

It is now easier than ever before to track your energy usage thanks to Nest. They provide a Learning Thermostat that gradually schedules itself as it gets used to how and when you use your boiler. Every time you use your boiler is documented, allowing you to review why the heating was on at a certain time, and makes it easier for you to work out where you could make potential savings by using your heating less. Nest is extra clever though, as it can sense when there is nobody in the house and turn down the heating accordingly.

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Smarter Coffee

Now you can literally wake up and smell the coffee with the all new Smarter Coffee Machine that is Wi-Fi compatible. Through the Smarter app you can tell your machine to brew coffee, no matter where you are, You can control everything from the strength of the coffee you’d like and how many cups you need it to fill. The best part of all, you can set a schedule to coincide with your daily alarm clock so there’s a cup of coffee waiting for you as soon as you get up.

BT Smart Home Cam

Because you can’t be too careful when it comes to your home security, BT now offers the solution with their new Smart Home Cam. The camera looks a lot like their routers and can stream straight your smartphone or tablet via iOS or Android. So you can view a live stream from your home whenever you need to so you can check in on your home while you’re on a glamorous beach in the Bahamas or check in on your pets while you’re at work. With HD quality and a night vision feature, you can zoom in and out accordingly and like the device to multiple cameras so you can see every room in the house.

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The debate on mobile app vs mobile web has raged for years. We thought we had put it to rest a couple of years ago, when statistics overwhelmingly favored apps. New research from Comscore not only confirms this trend, but also shows that app users are a much more captive audience. But the days of publishing your app on a single app store and hope for an uptake are over.

First, it is clear mobile web is growing.  In the US, there was a 36% increase in terms of number of mobile web properties that reached unique visitor milestones, whilst for apps this growth was only 7%.  This of course is a result of more and more businesses bringing their web properties to a mobile format.  This makes total sense when you look at Google thinking of changing how search results are presented based on your mobile presence, and the fact that mobile is becoming the primary usage channel for online.  However, when it comes to usage, apps are by far dominant:

Source: Comscore 2016 US Mobile Apps Report

At the same time, statistics is showing that app discovery is getting harder and harder. Publishers and developers alike need to start reverting to advertising to get discovered:

Source: Comscore 2016 US Mobile Apps Report

The big app stores are not growing in importance, and traditional discovery methods such as discovery from websites or ads are increasing. And if it is not clear already, you cannot, and should not, rely on a single store for your app. There are multiple facets to any marketing strategy, and distribution (the ‘Place’ of the 4 ‘Ps’ of marketing), is by far the most overlooked strategy in our opinion. Knowledge of ASO and spending on ads is well known, but you need to be smart on both where you spend and where you distribute.

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It has got to a time where there is such a reliance on our mobile phones, tablets and other technologies that mobile apps are quickly becoming something that we use every day and soon they will be something that we will not be able to live without. In fact a Smarts Insights report shows that the consumer preference for mobile media time is with mobile apps – with 89% of media time in mobile being used on them, compared to 11% being spent on media through the mobile web. Because of this, there is now a mobile app for almost anything these days, but the question is which are the most useful? Fortunately for you, we’ve put together a list of the top 5 most useful.

Waze

We’ve all had trouble with Google Maps at some point or another, and that’s where Waze comes in. Waze took the GPS navigation world by storm in 2014, as its interactive app allowed users to find the most accurate traffic reports with the latest accidents, police traps, road debris and any delays all reported immediately, by the users themselves as soon as you see them. Simply, Waze gets you from point A to point B in the quickest time possible, whereas we all know how Google Maps likes to take us around the houses. It can also help to make your daily commute a little more fun as the more accidents that you report, the more points you earn so you can level up. The app is compatible with iPhone, Android and Windows Phone and the best part is that it’s free. Waze has also had some excellent reviews showing just how popular it really is.

AroundMe

If you’re travelling around a lot for work, or you’re simply going on a few trips soon, then you might want to download AroundMe. AroundMe is an app that will simply let you know what is around you. Whether you’re looking for a new restaurant to try, a gas station or simply a place to park, AroundMe can help. It even has a GroupOn deals section so you can find the deals that are in your area saving you money. AroundMe can also show you the nearest activities such as beaches and casinos, so if you’ve studied some casino games with online information guides such as the Ladbrokes Basic Blackjack Guide and you’re looking for the nearest casino to try your new skills in, just log onto AroundMe. If you’re not sure where you are, then download AroundMe. Available on both iPhone and Android and available for free.

Source: Hexjam

Cloze

Cloze is a genius idea that works a little bit like Hootsuite in the fact that you can have all of your social media accounts all in one place. This way, you don’t have to check four different websites or apps to see what you want to see as with Cloze, everything is all in one place. It can also organise your contacts into who you last spoke to so everyone that you speak to is just a single click away. The app is available on both Android and iPhone, and on the plus side it is free.

Uber/Lyft

If you’ve never experience Uber or Lyft before, then you’re seriously missing out. Uber is essentially a taxi service where you can be picked up by a driver that is in your area, and while the fare is metered like a normal taxi cab, the price tends to be significantly cheaper and no money actually changes hands – it all comes straight from the bank card that is connected to your account. You’ll find that your waiting times are cut in half and that your journey cost is also significantly reduced with Uber. Lyft on the other hand is a ride-sharing service which works in a similar way to Uber in the fact that it’s a cashless system. With Lyft, all of the cars also tote giant pink moustaches to really give you that element of fun so you never feel awkward in a taxi again.

30/30

If your day needs a little more organisation, then turn to 30/30. Essential this is a to-do list, but in many respects it is so much more than a to-do list. It’s simple and colourful, and you can give yourself time limits on the tasks that you want to do, so your day is planned out from start to finish. This is perfect for work purposes and also for day to day life. The app will alert you when it’s time to move on to your next time, making sure that your day is organised to the max. It’s compatible on iPhone and Android and one of the bonuses is that it is free.

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“Whoever comes into the marketplace is going to have to work through us” – those were the strong words of then CEO of Vodafone, Arun Sarin in 2007. Arguable he missed that one by a few football fields. Whether greed, arrogance or technical ineptness served to marginalize mobile operator as the universal payment and billing gateway is up for debate.  But there are places where they do still matter.

Vision Mobile in their report “The Evolving State of Mobile Commerce” points to that mobile operators indeed matter in the Middle East and Africa, but that they have been marginalized pretty much everywhere:

Source: Vision Mobile

Of course, this considers all mobile commerce transactions. One can argue that for micro-billing (i.e. app purchases etc), they still do matter, as fixed costs from card networks and banks often can then be compared to the high % fees charged by operators due to the lower Average Order Values (AOVs).

Needless to say, companies who are entrenched in the mobile operator billing business may not be the most objective source of information on the state of the industry, but industry leader Fortumo does point to quite healthy growth rates, with way over 100% growth rates in massive markets like Indonesia.

What is the main reason behind this growth, besides increasing smartphone penetration? Well, few will argue that the one-click experience mobile billing offers is the key characteristic behind it’s attractiveness. But few will also dispute that greedy carriers who often keep 50% or more (still much the case in markets like Brazil and India), is some of the top reasons the industry shies away from using mobile operator billing. But even in markets like Indonesia, where payouts are in the 30% mark, we can see triple digit growth, which is impressive.

Carrier billing has puzzled us for years, and no doubt will for many more to come…

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There is lots of excitement about the revenue generated from Pokemon Go.  Sure, $1,6m per day or $200m in revenue in a month is nothing to shrug away, not is an expected $36,9bn in total mobile games revenue expected for 2016. But that is peanuts compared to expected growth in mobile gambling revenues.

How big is mobile gambling?

So how big is gambling on mobile? Figures vary. Interactive gambling is approximately a €35bn business according to iGamingbusiness. Out of that, approximately 30% or more is expected to be from mobile, so it would put it at app €10bn. However, Juniper predicted that over $60bn was wagered this year:

Total wager mobile gambling (Juniper)

(Source: Juniper)

The growth is expected to be staggering, largely attributable to changes in US regulation coming into play, as the US moves from fantasy sports to traditional gambling. The US market alone is expected to grow from $6bn wagered this year to $135bn wagered in 3 years.

Where can you find the apps?

So where can you find apps that involve gambling? Well Google is taking it slow, most likely due to the roll-out of US legislation on this. Alternative App Stores may be the way to go for anyone interested in these types of apps. Providers of betting related games, like online casino and the likes also allow direct downloads from their sites.  This market will no doubt be a very interesting one to follow in the next couple of years.

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Short message service (SMS) marketing is a tool that any industry can take advantage of. Whether it’s for internal use or promoting sales, text messaging has something to offer all businesses. It is a feature that almost everyone is comfortable with giving it a great advantage over other mediums such as email and social media.

Check out these four stats on SMS marketing:

● 75 percent of people would prefer to have offers sent to them
● The average millennial sends out 67 texts per day
● 80 percent of people use some form of texting for their business
● 23 BILLION text messages are sent per day

For more details on SMS marketing, take a look at the beginner’s guide below created by Trumpia.

The Beginner's Guide to SMS Marketing

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Pokemon Go has injected a much needed excitement into the mobile games market. An excitement not experienced since we all flipped birds on pigs. And while Pokemon Go started as a franchised set of characters, and Angry Birds went the other way – what constitutes them both is that they are originally genuinely fresh. The creators are heralded as geniuses, no doubt inspiring new game creators all over the world. But how normal is the phenomenon of original content mega hits in the creative world?

Quick trivia question: How many titles did Rovio have before Angry Birds? The answer is approximately 50. How many titles does Rovio have that have gone to top of the charts that is not a variation of Angry Birds? Zero. So while the geniuses came up with the idea, they have not come up with any new ideas. And the glut does not stop in Finland.

A look at Hollywood

Surely there can be examples of creative people that keep creating good stuff? Well, George Lucas created something amazingly exciting in Star Wars – a New Hope in the late 70s, but all the following milked the original (or rather were part of the same story told over several movies). You could argue Indiana Jones was pretty cool too, but never achieved the height of Star Wars. But surely Hollywood keeps on throwing out new original amazing stuff? Not exactly. Out of 2014 box office hits for instance, none were original. Spinoffs, sequels, making movies out of books — you’d have to turn a lot of stones in Los Angeles to find any script that smelled of original content that made it big.

Jack

How about musicians?

Well ok, so the movie industry may be subject to milking existing concepts over and over again. But music, surely that is a different story? Well, you will be surprised to find out that the majority of hits on the charts are written by a few bald Norwegians. Sounds crazy right? Taylor Swift, Fifth Harmony, The Weeknd, Minaj, David Guetta, Britney Spears, Nsync, Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5, Katy Perry and more — all get a substantial portion of their material from a few individuals.

At least the “music makers” keep producing hits. That is more to be said about games makers, film makers and the like. Authors may be best placed as J.K. Rowling seems to make no mistakes, and Tolkien is a legend. Jo Nesbo keeps coming with the hits, and so does others. So writing seems to be the one creative art form where creativity lives and can be replicated – and where the power of creativity is spread out among many. Not the case for gaming.

Hang in there

The beauty of it though – it can still be done. As more and more mobile developers join the party, we hope soon that means more creativity, more original content, and more Pokemon Go like hits. Keep at it!

p.s. To note, our title “A Few Good Men”, was indeed an original screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. Again, writers rule…

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Facebook is the undisputed king of mobile app advertising. For the price of $3.40 per install on average, $2.9 billion is spent of marketing apps on Facebook. Few can argue the platforms strong ability to target users. But the price is steep. Does it pay off?

It starts with your business model. Appsflyer claims that in-app-purchase (IAP) models are by far more lucrative than advertising financed apps. Regardless of the category of your app, you can expect that a user utilizing IAP will spend $7.17 on Android each month:
In-app spend per user (Source: Appsflyer)
That is good news, of course the report does not say anything about churn. However, if you consider that only 4.6% of users end up spending, it means in order to recover your $3.40 investment in the install, your paying users have to be paying for more than 10 months in order for your Facebook investment to be worth it. That is a tall task.  Of course that is assuming the gross revenue goes to the developer, which it never does. If you consider a 30% app store share and potentially other billing costs in emerging markets, developers may end up with only 50%, meaning you need a paying user to keep paying for 20 months. It would not be a stretch to say that the average economics here do not add up.

There are good news however. Some regions have significantly higher spend, like Asian users:

Asian gamers spend (Source: Appsflyer)

That means for gamers in Asia, you can recover the average cost in about 4-6 months. However, in Asia there are far better paths to market for installs than Facebook. First, there are a huge variety of alternative app stores, like the T-Store, Mobango, 9Apps, 1Mobile and more. Second, CPI campaigns for these countries can be significantly cheaper than going through Facebook. We have a strong CPI offering for the region just here at CodeNgo.

Of course, as Appsflyer points out, the solution of focusing on Asia (or other regions like Latin America) is not that simple. The market is vast, business models (including price points, user behaviour on paid vs free, etc) varies widely, and you may have to spend on localization as well – at a minimum on your marketing. Clearly, no better time to build a small global business though!