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by David Jones

Developing an App is an exciting process. You design it, code it, and submit it. Now it’s sitting in the a few app stores gathering downloads, getting featured… but do you have a leaky bucket? Are you losing the users you’ve just acquired?

The BAD NEWS for Apps is that 80-90% are deleted within a year, according to a Compuware study. In fact, 22% of Apps are used only once. What this really means is that people have downloaded hundreds of Apps, but only a small handful are actually used!

Why does this happen? What is blocking your App’s potential? Let’s take a closer look.

The challenge: Your users need to change their habits

Your App may provide a great solution to a pressing need and:

  • Perform a task
  • Provide a solution
  • Or even, fill in some time and get rid of some boredom

However, what you are really asking your user to do is –

When the need arises:

  1. Resist the impulse to solve it the old way
  2. Instead, reach for the phone
  3. Open your App

It’s not just about convincing the user to commit their time. Your App must jump to the top of their mind when they make that split second decision.

Think about a personal example. Like me, you probably have an App that you just can’t form a habit around. Mine is with Evernote. Even though people would rave about it, I just couldn’t switch from Google Tasks – Google Tasks was my habit.

Turning the challenge to your advantage

If we re-examine the retention curve, there is actually a surprise at the end.

App User Retention (Source: Localytics)

This chart (from a study by Localytics) shows there is a usage chasm and then a large percentage of apps that have much better engagement (opened more than 11 times). It really shows just how important it is to think about the long term engagement of your App.

Habit works both ways. First you must overcome the usage chasm, but once your App is the habit, using it becomes natural. This then provides natural protection against incoming competitors.

How to build a strong habit

Looking at the chart above echoes classic personal improvement advice such as “repeat something 7 times and you’ve created a habit”

Think about the abundance of self development tips from posts like this. Consider how suggestions like:

  • repeat it
  • do it daily
  • get a buddy
  • form a trigger

can be applied to Apps. Strategies like these are almost by nature built into social messaging Apps. This is part of the reason Facebook and WhatsApp can have up to 70% of their users active on any given day.

We suggest two steps to help you achieve the same:

  1. Segment your users by strength of habit
  2. Shortcut the memory process

1. Segment your users by strength of habit

Not all users are engaged in the same way. How strong their habit is at the moment affects the next stage you want to get them to. The easiest way to characterize habit formation is by tracking Frequency and Recency.

StreetHawk console is a great new tools that we unearth that allows for individual tracking of user frequency metrics such as:

  • Number of sessions in the last 30 Days
  • Number of sessions in the last 7 Days
  • Total number of sessions
  • Average session time

Users with a high frequency of sessions are likely to be power users. In contrast, users with low session counts needs to be encouraged to take full advantage of the App. Users with an early spike and decreasing use are likely finding it difficult to disrupt their previous patterns.

StreetHawk’s recency metrics enable you to filter users around their “Anniversary”. The most common are:

  • Anniversary of User Installed the App
  • Anniversary of User Last Opened the App

A user that installed your App in the past 30 days but have not opened it in the last 7 days may be tipping on a critical point of no return. If they don’t rediscover your App soon, they may forget about it and ignore it in the future.

2. Shortcut the memory process

How do you get to the top of your user’s mind at the moment of need? Don’t rely on memory. Instead it’s about finding the critical moments to disrupt their previous patterns and build your own.  You need to add value for that unique person at the right place at the right time. This puts the focus on your App at a moment when the user can act, like when:

  • They’ve just completed a trigger action
  • They are walking nearby to your store
  • It’s their birthday or anniversary of joining your Loyalty program
  • Something they “Faved” is close

StreetHawk’s matching engine ensures your campaigns are highly targeted with the right notifications at the right time. Campaigns might include a second onboarding process, special offers or tips or geofence triggers for physical locations.  Start thinking now about a communication plan with triggers that support the formation of your users’ habit.

For more information on StreetHawk email david@streethawk.com or drop them a tweet at @StreetHawkApp and check out their site at http://streethawk.com.

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From Samsung:

This is the Samsung Apps Seller Office Team.
Thank you for your continued support of the Samsung Apps Seller Office.The changes detailed below will be introduced as part of our ongoing commitment to service improvement.
 Effective from
– February 28, 2014 (FRI)
 Major changes
No IAP in new bada applications
– Bada applications no longer support IAP.
  This means that IAP cannot be registered when a new bada application is registered.
  Any IAP previously registered to bada applications will, however, continue to be supported.

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App localization became one of the hot topics in 2013 for app publishers. Seemingly every couple of weeks another article or blog post came out touting the benefits of localization on app downloads. Combined with an increasing need to globalize distribution, being an app developer suddenly means you are a global business. New companies, like our partner Tethras, focused specifically on app translations have popped up everywhere.  Analytics providers like Distimo and AppAnnie support the wonderful benefits of localizing your app with well researched reports and highly attractive graphs and charts. But is it really that easy?

2014 02 20 Language translationNow to be sure, these benefits are certainly real. Our preferred app store partner Opera Mobile has 100 million monthly users and most of those users are not in the U.S. They also show there to be huge increases in visitors to their storefront and CTRs on their campaigns when they used localized content.  In fact, their content teams are actively scouring their catalog for quality localized content to feature on their storefronts (yes, we’re talking free feature placement!).  And in regions like Latin America, just two languages reaches a huge market.

So, if a pot of gold sits on just the other side of the localization rainbow, why isn’t every developer localizing?

That’s the question we asked when we started CodeNgo. Why aren’t developers publishing everywhere and localizing for optimal sales? Among the plethora of reasons, we learned that the primary factor comes down to cost. Not the monetary cost of the translations themselves but rather the cost in terms of dollars AND resources necessary to acquire, manage, submit & measure results. Together these have pushed localization down the priority list. Similar to distributing to alternate app stores, we figured that if we could make it easy, even seamless to quickly have your app marketing text translated by real people at the time same time you’re submitting your app, then there will be very little reason not to at least localize for language. This means a huge savings in terms of time and effort for most publishers.

Soon every app submitted through CodeNgo can have the marketing text translated right from your account making the localization decision a much simpler one. Even if you make changes to the English version we’ll keep track and you can update your translations as well. We’ll soon add in-app translations as well. Localizing your app no longer needs to be a headache or suck up valuable time & effort meaning you now have another critical tool available to you to maximize your downloads.

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If you’re one of the increasing number of lawyers who uses an Android phone and/or tablet you’re probably always on the lookout for apps that can help you do your job better or more efficiently. Luckily for Android users there are now more apps than ever available for Android, most popular iPhone apps now having Android equivalents of the same or even better quality. The number of apps specifically developed for lawyers and law firms is also ever increasing. Let’s have a look at some great Android apps that could make your life as a lawyer a bit easier.

DroidLaw

You can throw away most of your law books after installing this app. DroidLaw is an app that gives you offline access to state and federal statutory laws and regulations. The app itself is free and comes with some basic content, but you will have to pay to get access to state or practice specific content. There’s a tablet optimized version which is great for doing proper research on, something you probably don’t want to do on your smartphone.

CaseManager

A well designed, simple case management app that syncs with DropBox so your files are always backed up and synchronized so you always have access to the latest version of a document when using the app from different devices. There are CaseManager applications for Windows and iOS devices available too. There’s a billing and time tracking feature built into the app that allows you to track the amount of time worked for a certain client and generate an invoice for the work performed. There are still some quirks to be worked out in future releases of the app but so far it’s looking good. CaseManager is $20 in the Play Store.

Law Guide/Dictionary

This app provides a free legal dictionary with more than 11,000 legal definitions. A must have for any lawyer.

FastCase

This great legal research app that helps you perform legal research faster. Many bar association have a subscription to the app, which means you may be able to use it for free if you are a member of the right association.

CamScanner

A free app that turns your smartphone into a portable document scanner. The app converts photos you take from a document into a PDF file and improves the quality of the photo, just about eliminating the need for using a real scanner.

Evernote

Note taking has never been as organized as with Evernote. This great note-taking app can be used for taking notes of anything you can think of and storing them in “notebooks”. There are also a number of great add-ons to have a look at and all your notes sync to the cloud of course. There are Evernote apps for just about any platform as well as a web-based version available.

Amazon Kindle

No need to take large books with you everywhere you go anymore, you can just use the Kindle app to read your books. Any book you buy from Amazon in Kindle format can be read on all devices with a kindle app as well as on Amazon’s own Kindle e-reader. The page you’re on is synced to the cloud so you if you continue reading on a different device than you were reading on before you’ll be able to start from the page you were on.

Zane Schwarzlose is a writer at Alamo Injury Attorneys, a personal injury law firm in San Antonio, Texas. Zane only uses a few apps in his work.

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By Satya Shetty

This post is bare bones App Store Optimization (ASO) for beginners. I explain to a newbee App developer what ASO means and which app parameters to optimize.

A developer’s mindset is typically something like this: “Develop an awesome app and put it in the app store. Users will love my app and my app is so freaking awesome that my app will then be in the Top 100 on the charts or will be featured by Apple or Google Play.”

While there is nothing wrong with the developers way of thinking, the real app world doesn’t work on the “If you build it they will download” principle. You need to promote and optimize your app so that it’s found by your target users and downloaded.

App Store Optimization (ASO) is FREE marketing. Well almost, it’s the most economical way of getting your app discovered and downloaded. There are certain parameters which the app store algorithms take into account for ranking an app. We will deal with them one by one:

Icon :


Awesome looking icons = Get the users attentionDealNoDeal

  • I am pretty sure the above icon has your undivided attention
  • For today’s Attention Deficit users your app is just a finger flick away from your competitor
  • Your app icon needs to jump out at the user and hold his/her attention
  • Once you have made the user stop and look at your app, half your sale is done

 


Screenshots :

 HungrySharkEvolution
  • After the icon the next thing the user will look at is your 1st Screenshot
  • Your 1st Screenshot should convey to the user what your app is all about
  • The following Screenshots should highlight and educate the users of your app’s main features
  • The best way to educate the user is to have informative text on each screenshot explaining the feature you want to highlight
  • The goal is to make the user not have to read the app description and still understand what the app does with just the screenshots

App Ratings:

 RatingsHungrySharkEvolution
  • You need to have 5 star ratings! Well if not 5 star, close to it. The rating system is a feedback mechanism which indicates user satisfaction and acceptance.
  • Think of it as a vote of confidence by the users i.e., if your app solves their problem and has an awesome design then they will rate you higher.
  • So on the Google and Apple app stores the higher your rating, the better the chances of your app being ranked higher

Updates:

 Updates
  • Each time you update your app, your app gets a boost in terms of number of downloads (in the Apple store)
  • Updates indicate that you care about your app and are striving to improve it, hence the importance given to updates in the ranking algorithm
  • Caution – Don’t just update your app to get a boost in downloads without actually updating anything. This is frowned upon by the app stores

 

Download Numbers:

 AppDownloadsIncrease
  • More app downloads = Higher ranking of your app
  • Downloads should show a consistent increase day to day basis or remain constant
  • Your app ranking will not increase if you get a spike of 1000 downloads today and 100 downloads tomorrow
  • A spike in downloads indicates an anomaly and is disregarded by the algorithms
  • Try increasing your downloads by doing Icon, Screenshot, Keyword, Title Optimization for Apple & Icon, Screenshot ,Title, Description Optimization  for Google Play

Keyword / Title Optimization:

 Title
  • Find the right keywords for your app
  • Include this in the keywords field for the App Store & in the Description on Google Play
  • Include the most important Keywords in the Title/Name of your App, for example: You have Slots, Casino, BlackJack, Roulette, Poker & Free the above title
  • Keywords in the title have more weighting i.e., the app will get ranked higher for the same keywords when compared to the same keywords being in the keywords field
  • You get 100 characters for keywords in the App Store, make the best of them

About the Author:

Satya Shetty is an App Store Optimization (ASO) Expert. He lives in Bangalore, India which is the Silicon Valley of India. He has helped many Indie developers & App Companies by Optimizing their Apps. 

His Blog: http://www.OptimizeMyApps.com/category/app-store-optimization-blog/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/satyashetty

LinkedIn: in.linkedin.com/in/satyaappstoreoptimization/

 

 

 

 

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From Samsung:

Dear Seller
This is the Samsung Apps Seller Office.
Thank you for your continued support of the Samsung Apps Seller Office.The changes detailed below will be introduced as part of our ongoing commitment to service improvement.
 Effective from
– January 23, 2014 (THU)
 Major changes
1. Improvements to the My Applications page
The My Applications page will have been improved in the following ways:
– The Summary/ On Sale/ In-Certification/ Pre-Certification tabs have been integrated into My Applications.
– A section for Content ID has been added to the application list and search filter.
– You can see applications with the status registration or rejection at once under the Registering/Rejected tab.
– You can click the Update button to go to the Update page from the applications list.
2. Addition of Touchscreen to Device Recommendation Items
Touchscreen has been added to the Auto Detection Items for Android.
– Auto Detection Item for Android : API, App ID(Package Name), Version Code, Version Name, Telephony Only (Call/SMS), VoIP, NFC, Faketouch, GroupPlay, Touchscreen
3. Multi Binary VersionCode Policy Relaxation
Policy on VersionCode is relaxed when registering Android applications.
– In the past, new binaries could not be registered if the API level was higher and the VersionCode was lower (or vice versa) than the previously registered binary. However, registration is now allowed regardless of the API level as long as the VersionCode is different.
※ However, if the VersionCode of the new binary uploaded is lower than the buyer’s current VersionCode, the buyer cannot update to the new binary.

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by Mark Harper

Creating apps is really fun and simple these days. It is quite a nice idea to think that a simple app you develop in your own home could help you become a big brand name in the app market.apps

There are many things to think about when developing an app and choosing the programming language is one of the key things to think about.

Here are some tips to help you select the right language for your app.

Your Prior Knowledge

Naturally, the first thing to think about is your own knowledge. If you already have a good grasp of a specific programming language it might be the best to start your app development with that language.

You could also think about the other languages that are closely related to the language you know. There are often some similarities and therefore it might be easy to pick up a new language that shares these similarities with the language you know.

For someone who has no experience or prior knowledge the choice is really open for other factors.

Timeframe For Development

You also should think a little bit about the timeframe you have for developing the app. If you have a very tight deadline and you have no experience in programming you should definitely pick one of the easier languages. For example, Lua and Python are good for people starting out.

The more time you have on your hands the more options you have for choosing the language. It is a good idea to start by learning the coding language well first before venturing into making the actual app.

The Platform You Are Developing For

Of course you also need to take into consideration the type of app you want to develop and the platform you are developing it to. The good news is that there are many good cross-platform software options out there that can help you create an app that will run on many different platforms.

The most used languages in apps these days are Java, Objective-C and C++. Although they are mainly focused on a specific platform you can use them in any platform if you opt for cross platform developer software.

Community Support

It is a good idea to try to pick a language that has a really strong community behind it. This way you can get help and advice a lot easier and thus developing your app further will be easier and quicker.

There are some coding languages with stronger communities than others and it is a good idea to look around the different forums and see what kind of atmosphere there is. Check out Striving Programmers for some great forums and articles on programming, for example.

The above tips can help you select the right programming language for app development. Take your time in choosing a language that feels easy enough for you to understand and always use your prior knowledge as advantage.

This is especially important if you are developing your first app. The internet is full of programmers who can help you get started and get past the first hurdles.

Featured images:

Mark is interested in developing apps and he is also a big fan of trying out different apps. When he isn’t thinking about new apps he likes to spend time playing some console games.

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From Samsung:

Dear Seller
This is the Samsung Apps Seller Office.
Thank you for your continued support of the Samsung Apps Seller Office.The changes detailed below will be introduced as part of our ongoing commitment to service improvement.
 Effective from
– December 19, 2013 (THU)
 Major changes
1. Limit the upload of binary files with IAP SDK version below 2.0
– For new application registration, Android binary files with an IAP SDK version below 2.0 cannot be uploaded.
– When you update content with IAP SDK version 2.0, a binary file with an IAP SDK version below 2.0 cannot be registered.
2. Improvements to the way that Item information is edited
– Regardless of the status of content mapped to the item, information such as the Item Title, Payment Method, Price, Description, etc can be modified without Certification.
(Note that Item Type and Period cannot be modified, and it may take about 10 minutes before the changed information is actually applied to editable items.)
– Accordingly, the Item Price Change button is integrated into the Item Details page.
3. Ability to set Minimum Remittance
– Select My Profile > Financial Information and manually enter a minimum remittance amount of $20 or more.
– Actual transfer will only take place when the settlement payment exceeds the minimum remittance, and a change to the minimum remittance amount will apply from the 1st of the following month.
※ In some cases, the recipients are required to pay handling fees for overseas transactions. Please consider this when you adjust the minimum amount.

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There is nothing better than having an app on your phone that can make a difference to your life. No, we are not talking about the fame of leading the scoreboard in Angry Birds or Temple Run, but about the best premium finance apps that you can download onto your android device and start using immediately. For a small fee, you can enjoy a range of features not available on free applications that will help you do an even better job of personal finance management.

Our infographic does not just look at the personal budgeting side of finances, either. We look at how you can use an app to manage any debt repayments as well as your work expenses. Another app will appeal to those who are interested in investing in stocks and shares, but do not know where to turn to find the best information. This infographic shares the best premium finance apps for android that could change your life immediately.

James is a student interested in various areas of the financial industry. One of James’s relatives told him he was looking for reliable accountancy companies in the UK, inspiring him to write a report as part of his studies around who are the best ones.

friendly_accountants_-_infographic_top_5_paid_android_finance_apps_450

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Success in in-app payments require a great deal of things coming together. First, your app has to be compelling and the item the user purchases has to be priced right and provide a value to the user.  Then the payment experience needs to be seamless.

In the now over a decade long history of mobile content, mobile billing has been an important component to achieve a great payment experience.  The simplicity of not having to fickle with user IDs or password, not having to put in a credit card number, and the speed of payment through sending an SMS enabled the entire ringtone and later game and content market.  Mobile content, and also in-app billing is typically priced fairly low, making the purchase an impulse buy, which makes the ease of payment so important:

Dominant Virtual Item Sticker Price in Mobile Games

Dominant virtual item sticker price (Source: Virtual Economists Ltd)

Source: Virtual Economists Ltd, 2012

The “grandfather” of payment methods enabling this was premium SMS, or PSMS.  PSMS is still around, but increasingly it is falling out of favor, and  most recently operators in the US said enough is enough and decided to scrap PSMS altogether. Rogue content provider charging weekly subscriptions to users who thought they were paying for single items, questionable sign up mechanisms (crazy frogs anyone?) and the true cost of signing up shown in ultra-small print flashing on the screen not only caused need for detailed legislation in each market, but policing by telcos and high costs associated with complaints and refunds has made it a “love/hate” service the operators have provided.   This (along with sheer operator greed) caused pricing to be outrageous, often ranging from 40-70% of end user price, up to 90% in some markets, however given the simplicity for the user to pay, content providers simply could not ignore it. The simplicity translates directly to much higher conversion rates, highlighted by recent research by Juniper:

Billing Mechanism Conversion Rate Comparions, Low Value Purchases: Credit Card vs Direct Carrier Billing

Conversion rate on billing mechanism (Source: Juniper)

So while PSMS may be slowly killed by operators around the world, the focus has shifted to direct billing.  Direct billing is superior in many ways:

Tmobile billing (Source: Lookout)=> It allows for a true one-click experience, as shown in the example to the left (you can actually see two options, but clicking the green button to pay right away is clearly superior). There is no need to send or receive an SMS. This is the absolute key to convert impulsive app users

=> The rates are significantly better. US payouts on PSMS ranged from 50-55% typically, while payouts for mobile direct billing is +80%.

However, there are still a number of issues needed to be resolved before mobile direct billing wins the battle for app developers.

Multi-SDK issues needs resolving

Supporting in-app billing across app stores and across markets require multiple integrations. This is a pain for developers, and solutions are needed. We have previously written about players like Lotaris and the OpenIAB project from Open Platform Foundation.  Companies like Bango and Fortumo also specialize in this, and have made deals with multiple app stores.

Sign-up processes are complex and need to be made simpler

Different countries have different rules for direct billing, but commonly telcos are eager to avoid the mistakes they made when rolling out PSMS.  They cannot solely rely on aggregators to police the market, so for instance in the US they put tight requirements on developers and merchants to provide complete list of all the SKUs sold.  Even though more and more developers use virtual currencies, so there is really only a few SKUs to maintain (like “Gold”), the need to constantly update and change your  game to maximize adaption and revenue will inevitably require you to change your SKUs often. How this will scale we cannot possibly see, and surely there must be better onboarding/signup processes to come.

Taxes need to be simplified

In markets where VAT has to be charged on digital goods, like most countries in Europe, you are as a merchant subject to double taxation. The telcos will deduct VAT from the payment amount, and you as a merchant will also have to submit VAT to the European governments (or the app store or billing partner has to on your behalf if they act as the merchant of record).  With European VAT ranging from 17-26%, the cost is significant, and if avoided should bring mobile direct billing down to the 15-20% range across the board.

The cost sweet spot needs to be found

While PSMS certainly enabled the market for mobile content, the low payouts pretty much forced a subscription model as content providers needed to ensure users bought more than one item to recoup user acquisition costs.  So the key to unlock a healthy market for content is most likely a minimum of 70% to the developer (while experiences from Japan and Korea has shown that larger pies of 80-90% unlocks an even larger market).  Hopefully operator greed can be avoided, and lessons learned enable less consumer complaints and costs of managing the billing, so operators can charge more normal rates.

These days of course the onus is on the app developer to ensure multiple in-app purchases rather than subscriptions to pieces of content, but the more developers keep of the pie for each purchase, the more the market will grow. As not only co-founders of CodeNgo but fathers of small kids who love playing games we even hope this can possibly reduce the need somewhat to charge for  absolutely everything within a game, to bring a bit more peace at home. One can always hope.