The Fastest Growing App This Year

For every smart phone owner, apps have become a part of our everyday lives from an alarm clock waking us up before work through to an Angry Bird’s game that keeps us entertained on the train during the journey home.

There are millions of Apps available in Apple’s App Store and this is always on the increase, but with so many apps available, which one has been the fastest growing in 2013 so far?

Before we reveal all, we will go through a couple of the other top growers among users this year. For some people these will come as no surprise whatsoever but for others it could be quite surprising.

We will start with the app that sits in third position in terms of fastest growth this year and that is Instagram.  Instagram is an online photo-sharing, social network that also allows you to share videos, add filters to images and share your experiences with other social networks. It has been at the top of many peoples’ download lists since its launch in 2010 and this year it has seen massive growth.

In the silver medal position is image hosting and video hosting website, Flickr (pronounced flicker). In March of this year, it was reported that Flickr had around 87 million registered users and 3.5 million images are being uploaded daily, that ought to do it then! With such a huge user base, it’s no surprise that Flickr makes it into the second spot for the fastest growing app this year.

The quite aptly named winner is Vine, who likes its name suggests it has climbed to the top. Vine has been a massive hit since its launch in January this year. Unlike the other apps we have mentioned, Vine has grown a massive user base over a quick space of time. Vine is a mobile app owned by Twitter and it is the perfect place to create and post short video clips all under 10 seconds. Our winner has seen a 403% growth this year already, making it the fastest growing app of 2013.

As you can see, the top three fastest growing apps are all video and image sharing apps but the top ten include the likes of Facebook, YouTube, Skype and Foursquare, but they all missed out on the accolade this year. Who do you think will take the crown next year?

Are Apple's Paid Apps Dead?

If you buy paid apps, you will think ‘no’ and if you only purchase free apps, you will be thinking ‘yes’.  The truth is, paid apps have slowly declined since their first release when the App store was born but people do still pay money for their apps

App producers are finding it more difficult to make money on their paid apps, but many are resorting to in-app purchases.  Although many people are questioning whether paid apps are dead or not, the revenues made through apps on both the Apple’s App Store and Google Play are on the rise and have been all year.

Apple introduced in-app purchases to its App Store in 2009 alongside the release of its iOS 3.0 software. This has opened up a whole new source of revenue for developers.  The idea behind this was, instead of purchasing an app from the outset, developers could create a free-to-download app which can offer in-app purchases for added extras to the original gameplay, for example.

These are called ‘Freemium’ apps and have rapidly become the standard for many of the most successful apps and games within the App Store.  In fact, according to new statistics, in-app purchases within the U.S’s App Store make up 76 per cent of their whole revenue. Paid apps only make up just 5% of this revenue.

So, what is the future of app pricing, you ask? Good question. The main problem app developer’s face is that finding the perfect combination of impressive download numbers, high conversion rates and high prices can be difficult. An app like Candy Crush Sage though, ticks all of these boxes and does it well.

When considering an app or an idea, it is worth keeping on top of the latest trends like this to see which will be a good return on investment for you. Freemium apps might be the way to go in the interim but every App Store customer is different, so paid apps are a long way off becoming extinct.

We would like to know what you do when downloading apps. Do you buy fewer paid apps but always end up making in-app purchases, or are most of your apps paid for before downloading? Let us have your comments.

How Much For That App?

Whilst browsing through recent reviews about the new iPhone and the release of the iOS 7 software, we came across an interesting infographic about apps.

The average price of an iPhone app is around $0.19 (12 pence) so we were surprised to see some of the pricey apps available on the App Store and thought they were worth a mention.

Top of the pile is VIP Black. This is the world’s first premium lifestyle app and is for those people that have an income above £1 million, which they must show proof of.  So, that rules a lot of us out even if we wanted to see what this app was about. Although, another thing that would rule many of us out is the price tag … $999.99 (£623). This is the highest amount of money that app developers can charge for an app on the App Store.

Another top-priced app is Agro, a functional App whose most common audience is Farmers. Tested by large organisations, this app is useful for storing client details pertaining to different chemicals, pests and crops. This app, along with VIP Black is optimised for the new iPhone 5, which is handy!

A little lower down the app chain is Preebs. This has been specially crafted to assist commuters on their daily drives or commutes. It makes full use of billboards during their journey by providing various types of outdoor advertising. Preebs, isn’t cheap either though, and will set you back nearly £500.

Next up is a football game, and no, it’s not made with gold footballers – instead it comes with high resolution graphics and animations that give you the ultimate playing experience and is named Barcelona vs Madrid. We would like to think that the game includes a few more teams than these two though. For this app, you can look to pay $349.99, or £220 for those in the UK, a lot dearer than FIFA.

So, these are little more expensive than Angry Birds, even if we think we would have more fun on Angry Birds. For those of you interested in these apps you will have to pay a hefty sum - they will cost you more than buying an iPhone outright. Pricey!

Apple's Double iPhone Day

Apple has announced not one, but two new additions to their already existing collection of technology.

September 10th saw Apple shed some light on its latest releases, with the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C being the main focus. The delivery date for the new iPhone 5S is September 20th, so we don’t have to wait too long to see it first hand, but we will have to wait a little longer for the iPhone 5C.

The iPhone 5C is available for pre-order though, and you can choose from a number of different colours too, which include Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink and White. There is not much difference from the iPhone 5 but you can expect to see improved software (iOS7), better FaceTime and much more support for your networks.

The iPhone 5S is also armed with the iOS7 software which was touched on during the media event earlier in the week. Better apps, a smoother user experience and a new look are all key features of the new iOS7 software and will accompany both new Apple additions.

If you are due an upgrade, this will be the first time you will have the choice of two iPhones, but if you’re looking to find which one is best, the answer is difficult. Both models are very similar but have their differences, which makes the decision all the more easier. If you are looking for an app power model and prefer more security features, the iPhone 5S is the choice for you, but if you love the iPhone but don’t like the huge price you have to pay for them, the 5C might be the better option for you. Truth is, both are pretty good so you won’t go far wrong with either.

The iPhone 5S has twice the processor performance which makes it the number one choice for those who search for smoother gaming and usage, although the apps that will actually use this performance won’t be in the App Store for some time yet.

The iPhone 5C is basically the iPhone 5 with better choice of casing and for a lower price. So, to reiterate … it is entirely your choice.  All we know, is we look forward to seeing them up closer when they are finally released.

How Apps Sparked A Mobile Revolution

Let’s play a little game. Without looking on your smartphone or tablet, how many apps do you think you have on your phone? 

If you’re anything like us, you have probably lost count of how many you have downloaded, but our guess would be you quite a lot, especially if you count old ones you will have deleted as well as the current ones you have. 

Did you know that the average smartphone will have around 41 apps on their devices? It is also predicted that by the end of 2015, smartphone owners and technology enthusiasts will have in fact downloaded around 89 billion apps. Quite a staggering statistic, don’t you think?

We have mentioned previously how Apple’s AppStore has helped the app market rocket through the roof when it was first introduced in 2008. Since this date it has seen over 850,000 apps and a mere 50 billion downloads and these apps have included everything from games through to music-related apps and even health related apps. 

This introduction alone sparked many others to follow, including Google’s Play Store which we have also mentioned before. This app store has also given us a wealth of apps and is predicted to further improve our ‘app economy’. 

As apps continue to improve, so does our technology with a constant flow of new mobile devices, tablets and even glasses (Google Glass). Apps have become so much a part of our everyday life, we even use them to help us wake up in the morning, and now businesses are using them as a way to maintain their client base. In fact, many organisations are building their own internal enterprise app stores as a way to manage their corporate-sanctioned apps for the employees to use on their PC’s and mobile devices whilst at work too. 

It just goes to show exactly how far we have come in the app world since the first launch of Apple’s AppStore some five years ago. Although, we know that this has barely even scratched the surface of what we have to look forward to in the future. Apps have a long future ahead of them, and quite frankly we’re thrilled about it!

Apple's App Store Turns 5

This week has commemorated the fifth year of Apple’s App Store since its launch in 2008. Apple have decided to reward its customers by giving away apps from some of the most popular and highest rated games.

Since the App Store’s launch in 2008, which happened the day before the release of the iPhone 3G, Apple have continued to grow their ground-breaking App Store with over 50 billion apps being downloaded throughout this five year stretch.

CEO Tim Cook was staggered by this amount and did say that there has been nothing like the App Store that has existed, changing the world of technology. A big statement, but who are we to argue!

50 billion apps downloaded is a huge amount but this has been a huge benefit to the developers too. In fact, Tim Cook has said that Apple have paid out over $10 billion to the developers of these apps, who have received around 70% of all revenue made from them. This does actually mean that the App Store has clawed in revenue of around $14.3 billion since its launch, some five years ago.

Apple felt it is time they gave something back to the customer’s for all of their loyalty over these last five years and have done so by giving away apps and games all week. The five apps that the App Store has provided its customers include Barefoot Word Atlas, Day One, Over, Traktor DJ and How To Cook Everything.

The five games included Badland, Infinity Blade II, Where’s My Water? Tiny Wings and finally Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP.  Nearly all of these games and apps have in fact been rated either four stars or higher (only one not being rated quite as high), which is great considering five stars is the highest rating possible.

Although the App Store is celebrating its fifth year anniversary, we are under no illusion that we can be looking at more celebrations over the coming years and who knows; we might even see the decade of the App Store. But for now, Happy Birthday App Store!

Amazon expands Appstore to China

Amazon has become the first Western company to offer paid Android apps to consumers in the world’s largest smartphone market.

Amazon has attempted to capitalise on the expanding mobile economy  in China by beating Google, who remains limited to only free Android apps, this means Amazon’s Appstore for Android is now accessible to  200+ international markets.

The move into China is a great move for Amazon and is part of their strategy to dig deeper into the country’s phone market; a market of around £17.6 billion. Amazon controlled just 3% of this market before offering paid apps, so it still has a lot to conquer.

After originally opening to the US consumer market in March 2011, the store has expanded to countries all over the world. This store promises user experience which is rooted within the company’s expertise of e-commerce.  It also highlights a series of automated marketing features which broadens Amazon’s well-known product recommendation engine into mobile software merchandising and a Bestseller’s section. These additions are aimed at improving consumer discovery.

The software screening and merchandising processes of Amazon guarantee China’s consumer market and developers a safe and secure experience.  A huge emphasis is on home grown firms in China including social networking website, Sina Weibo and video-sharing site, Youku Todou.

Over the past six months, Amazon has already begun improving its presence in China by launching the Kindle Store. They have remained silent on their expected launch of the Kindle range in the country but it does let us know that the introduction of its Android Appstore means that they will soon be ready to offer consumers devices that are more than capable to run its applications.  

Amazon’s intentions are quite clear. By investing in the Chinese consumer market and improving on their current 3% that they shave in the market, they are aiming to become closer to key competitors Apple, who already have a major presence in the country. Apple actually has over 17,000 outlets in China selling their products and the country is Apple’s second-largest market. Amazon has quite the distance before they can be on the same playing field, but expanding their paid apps for Android is a good start.

Apple's App Crackdown

Apple is on a mission to track down all of the apps that are posing as app stores.

Apple has decided to take action against deceiving apps by searching through its App store and rejecting those apps that are fooling down-loaders.

This crackdown began in April when AppGratis was rejected from the App store for promoting products from other sources, rather than its own. This could mean a huge clear out of apps that are promoting anything other than itself.

AppGratis was originally approved until it was later removed, which caused quite a controversy. CEO of AppGratis, Simon Dawlat was in complete disbelief when he found out that his app had been rejected because the iPad version of this app was approved just days before.

Since then, there have been more and more developers who have reported rejections from Apple because of this very problem.

The App store has been referring to its regulation, 2.25, to track down these ‘app discovery’ apps. This regulation bans any apps that it feels customers could mistake as an app store within the App store.

There are a number of ‘app discovery’ apps that are purely the efforts of a developer trying to force an app into the chart’s. These apps can also be recognised solely as the efforts of marketing strategies.

Apple have a history of targeting these apps though. Back in 2011, the App store was vigilant against any app that offered in-game currency in exchange for downloading any other apps. So this is not something we should be surprised about. 

In fairness, this may actually come as good news for those customers who have already been deceived by ‘app discovery’ apps, like AppShopper for example. This new crackdown is likely to bring a stop to these deceiving apps and will mean we can browse through the App store without worrying about any apps posing as an app store in its own right.

The only thing that could be a problem though is if Apple decides to get to into its policing and ruins the App store altogether.

The NHS now has an App Store

The NHS has recently released their own App store of apps that are safe and trusted which aim to help people with any problems they have.

http://apps.nhs.uk/

The purpose of this App store is to make it more convenient for the general public to find health and care apps that will answer any questions they may have. The apps in this store aims to cover certain criteria in order to cater for the public and their problems.

This criteria of apps includes:

Informational – This is an app that will provide any general information about a particular topic. This will not be a personalised description though.

Monitoring – This type of app collects any information that is related to the health and care of the individual. These include things like weight, exercise and any data collected by near-patient devices.

Decision Support – This app provides personal information and guidance that has been accumulated by any data entered by the individual. This app will then create an automatic calculation or decision on what data has been entered to inform you of any problems.

Transactional – This type of app includes things like booking an appointment or requesting a prescription.

Appware are also proud to announce that the NHS has included an app created by ourselves in this store. This app is one of the first apps within the store and has been created to make the mundane task of cleaning teeth a lot more entertaining.

www.brushdj.com

The main feature of this app, named Brush DJ, has an inbuilt timer that will play two minutes of music, randomly selected from the user’s device, throughout the duration of you brushing your teeth. Not only does this make brushing teeth much more fun but it also makes sure that you brush your teeth for the correct amount of time.

Other features include a reminder that can be set to make sure that the user brushes their teeth at least two times a day, how often to change their toothbrush and when to visit the dentist.

If you think that you could do with an app similar to this then you can go and check the NHS App store and download any app that you feel can benefit you and your health.