Tuesday 1 February 2011

5 Top Tips for Mobile Apps in 2011

Here are my 5 top tips for what I believe will be the big news in the mobile App world for 2011:

1. Apps are here to stay
Currently more than half a million apps are downloaded every hour and the average smartphone user has 22 of them installed (source: Borrell Associates data). 2011 will see an even higher number of Apps on smartphones; and importantly this same App model will appear on tablets (iPad, Android tablet), TVs (Google TV, Apple TV), desktop (Intel AppUp, Mac App Store, AllMyApps for Windows, etc.) and Web browsers (Google Chrome Web Store, Mozilla Open Web App Store, etc.)

2. M-Commerce
Until now virtually all App revenue has come from users buying the App in the first place. While 2010 has seen momentum gathering of in App purchasing (just a few weeks ago a lot of the top grossing iPhone Apps were free but generated revenue using in App purchase) 2011 will see true m-commerce coming to the fore. Until now there haven't been many options for in App purchase but this is changing. Just recently PayPal have introduced App integration (which we have working in an App!) so expect others to follow suit.

3. Smart Notifications
It has already been proven (source: Mobclix survey) that Apps using push notifications (for example, if you're using the Ebay iPhone App a popup appears to warn you of auctions about to end even when the App isn't running) are opened up 4 times as many times as a non-push App. In 2011 expect more and more push Apps as well as linking this to location based services to deliver timely notifications based on your preferences.

4. Apps hit the mainstream
The average smartphone user now spends 2.8 hours per day using apps and 3 in 5 people first turn to an app before searching the Web (source: Mobclix). Apps have gained more popularity over the browser this year (source: Parks Associates) as consumers under 30 are now using mobile Apps rather than the mobile web. With more smartphones and platforms emerging in 2011 with even tighter App integration this number is set to increase dramatically.

5. Platform Wars?
2010 marked the beginning of the smartphone platform wars, which was mainly a battle between Apple and Android. Expect more fun, games, and marketing stunts in 2011 not just between Apple and Android but also with Microsoft Windows Phone 7, Nokia, RIM (who make Blackberry's), and Palm.


There are lots of other things to look out for such as augmented reality (check out our App www.festfind.co.uk to discover what AR is all about), growth in business and enterprise App space, common mobile App standards, and a huge growth of in App advertising. All this should make for an interesting year!

Article written by Richard Eaton of Appware - www.appware.co.uk