iOS Developer in Richmond: What Factors Should You Consider When Picking A Developer?
Finding an iOS developer in Richmond can be tricky when you do not know how to separate the good from the best. While most developers may claim to have the basic skills to weave together a functional app, there are more nuances that enable the best developers to fork out world-class iOS app implementations. At NS804, we have a long documented history of completing elite projects for clients in Richmond.
In this piece, we highlight qualities that make Richmond’s best iOS app developers stand out. If you are seeking a development partner for your next iOS app, this checklist should help you make an objective decision. We will also discuss why working with a Richmond-based app developer may be better than an offshore developer.
Mastery of the iOS Software Development Kit
The iOS Software Development Kit provides a set of protocols, classes, data types, and an overall framework for iOS app development. A firm understanding of the framework is necessary for the proper implementation of various app functionalities such as sourcing and filtering, resource management, text management, and date and time calculations.
Apple provides the SDK for free, which enables developers to build and test apps with ease. The best developers keep up with updates to the SDK as well as how best to leverage such changes to improve the products they are building. The best way to evaluate a developer’s proficiency would be to consider products they have built in the past. They should have evidence of building feature-rich, secure, and smoothly functioning apps.
Proficiency in Xcode
Apple’s integrated development environment, Xcode, allows for faster app building in MacOS. The IDE allows developers to interactively preview the features they are building while also offering enhanced code completion. Xcode is free and it’s user interface is user-friendly unlike other IDEs that can look complicated and intimidating. Nonetheless, it has a rich set of tools for simulating all Apple devices, easy version control, and extensions for customizing the development process.
Xcode is the only official IDE for building Apple Developers and any expert iOS app developer ought to be well-conversant with it.
Adaptability
iOS developers must possess the ability to respond to evolutions in the industry. Each year, there are new tools and frameworks meant to enrich app features or ease the development process. The best development companies have a firm dedication to embracing such changes. When picking an iOS app developer in Richmond, you ought to inquire about their stance on app development technologies. Inquire whether they have adopted emerging best practices in the iOS app space. There are developers who have managed to carve out space for themselves as thought-leaders on emerging technologies. At NS804, we are certainly part of the conversation and are keen on keeping up to speed with the evolution.
Adaptability extends to being able to customize projects to specific client demands. During the project scoping phase, it is important to lay out every deliverable and explain how exactly to build it.
Team Collaboration
Building an iOS business app often requires a collaborative effort. It is highly unlikely that a single developer is able to deliver the app on when there is a tight time constraint. A team of developers allows a development project to be broken down into parallel deliverables with preset milestones. A team setting also allows for specialization within the team whereby one or more developers works on the UI while others build and test the backend functionalities.
Working with a team also helps in ensuring project continuity whereby even when one person leaves the team, an equally capable replacement can be sought. A team setting is also more likely to lead to greater creativity and problem solving ability. The team can compare and choose between several approaches to a design problem, leading to richer output.
Project Management Skills
One of the biggest challenges in iOS app development projects is failure to adhere to agreed-upon project specifications. During an initial meeting with a potential app development partner, it is important to get a sense of their project management approach. Are they keen on fine project details and dates? Do they have a framework for reporting project progress? What tools do they use to report to clients? How do they handle projects that have extended beyond set deadlines?
These questions are important because improper management can result in project cost overruns. Running out of funds can cripple and otherwise well-built project. As such, it is important to map out exactly how the project will be managed and where necessary outsource the management to a third party.
Performance Optimization
The best app developers must adhere to best practices for performance optimization. A well-optimized app runs smoothly across all devices a user may be using. It is important to keep the code base clean by avoiding unnecessary lines of code. All images used in the app should be compressed and in the right formats for faster page loads. Good development practices insist on efficient memory management to minimize leaks.
When it comes to UI implementation, there are certain animations that could slow down the app. The team ought to pick light transitions and animations that add value to the user experience.
Part of optimization involves reducing an app’s drain on the device battery. By using lower accuracy modes on location tracking, it is possible to reduce battery drain without sacrificing app performance. Minimizing an app’s background processing when not necessary is another way to reduce battery drain.
Proper Security Architecture Design
A great development team must understand how to best incorporate Apple’s security features into the apps they are building. They must understand the security threats that an app is likely to face based on the features it has and expected user behavior. For instance, certain apps should not allow screen recording because sensitive details such as banking app login could be compromised.
All code should be assessed for vulnerabilities such as hard-coded sensitive information that hackers can exploit. The libraries and frameworks used in building the app should also be trustworthy. They should have a big enough community of users and proper documentation to inspire confidence.
All data transfers between the app and the server must be through a secure protocol to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. Adding two-factor authentication for the most sensitive apps adds another layer of security to the app.
Developer must make use of Apple’s security features such as FaceID for secure access to their apps. Regular security updates are important for fixing vulnerabilities that may be realized in the app’s lifetime.
When choosing an iOS development team, you must consider all this. Due diligence is paramount to establish whether proposed app security measures can are sufficient given the nature of your proposed app.
Quality Assurance Testing
The right iOS development team must be able to write and carry out tests for app functionalities as well as robustness and security. There is a wide range of frameworks for app testing, including XCTest and Test Navigator. The goal is to always write reliable and maintainable code without bugs.
While planning the app development process, there has to be a conversation about sufficient testing. The team should have a clear methodology of testing their code.
Flaws that end up in the production phase pose a significant threat to a brand. A bug can quickly tarnish a brand’s reputation for excellence especially when it takes too long to be flagged and fixed. Sufficient security testing also serves to protect a business from potential liability in case of a data breach.
App testing is also important because Apple has very strict guidelines for approving apps for the App Store.
World-Class Design Principles
Your app development partner should have a firm understanding of UI/UX design principles that enable creation of visually appealing and easy-to-use iOS applications. With a myriad of tools available for the design phase, the development team should have a formidable front-end development team.
Apple does provide Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) which, if followed, allow for the creation of intuitive and user-friendly apps. One such guideline states that the app’s elements should defer to the content being displayed. As such, the app itself should not distract users from the primary purpose of using the app.
The HIGs also propose a model for choosing controls to integrate into an app’s UI. A switch is best used to pick between two options while a slider is better implemented for a range. A Bluetooth on or off toggle is an example of a switch. Adjusting screen brightness on the UI happens through a range slider.
Customer Focus
Before settling on a developer to work on your iOS app, you need to consider their overall customer focus rating. How well do they meet their customers’ expectations? While this may sound like a broad question, there are specific indicators of commitment to user satisfaction.
First, there has to be a commitment to understand the business objectives that the app is meant to help fulfill. Whether it is a HR management app or an e-commerce channel, the app is linked to the bottom line. The development team has to link the building process with end goals such as improving productivity, customer engagement, information access, or any other specific goal.
Other indicators of this commitment are clear and effective communication channels. Every organization has its own culture, even when the stakeholders therein are not aware. There needs to be transparency with customers about project progress and challenges.
Proactiveness
The best iOS developers can anticipate challenges in the development cycle and take proactive action. This often comes from past project experience, but it is also made possible by keeping open communication lines amongst team members and with the client. Your initial meetings with a potential developer may reveal how well they are able to adjust when unexpected problems emerge during a project.
Choosing a Developer in Richmond
Businesses in Richmond may benefit from working with an iOS developer team that has worked with local businesses. First, by working with a local developer, you may have an easier time managing the project compared to having a developer from a different time zone. Where there are urgent issues to address, a developer in Richmond may be easier to access and perhaps even set up face-to-face meetings with.
It is also important to consider the legal and regulatory compliance standards that your app must meet. Failure to adhere to data protection laws for instance could result in reputational, legal, and financial jeopardy. As such, your app’s architecture must be set up in a compliant manner. A developer in Richmond is more likely to understand the local regulatory landscape.
You may also find it easier to verify the reported customer experiences of a developer based in Richmond. You could perhaps reach out to clients listed on their portfolio for answers to questions you may have about the technical or customer service credentials of a developer before working with them.
Working with NS804
At NS804, we take great pride in the projects we have delivered for clients in Richmond. All projects are unique and require taking time to understand client needs, the business objectives of the app, and the technical requirements of the proposed solution. Each project has a clear scope of deliverables, milestones, reporting requirements, and communication channels.
The NS804 team is rich in iOS app development talent and customer service. The team is constantly learning to incorporate newer technologies and best practices into our app development process. At the same time, we are working with clients in multiple industries and documenting learnings along the way. We continue working with clients long after the first iteration of their app by providing any technical support required and newer versions of apps.
Reach out to NS804 for a discussion on your next iOS application. A member of our team will be in touch quickly. Our focus is on delivering an iOS app that meets your business needs and exceeds your expectations.
App User Acquisition: How To Attract And Retain Users In 2024
Mobile app user acquisition is a long and complex process that will inevitably consume your time and resources as an appreneur or developer. While that may sound scary, it’s a process you can master and gradually reduce the time and money you need to make it worthwhile. Of course, you can make things easier for yourself by partnering with an established studio like NS804 to help you navigate those rough user acquisition waters.
Whichever path you choose, it’s worth knowing what the user acquisition process entails. We won’t say it’s easy because it’s not, especially with the overly stiff competition you will encounter in the app stores. Google Play is a good barometer of what to expect in 2024.
In February, around 52,000 apps hit the store, which is significant but also denotes a downward trend in app releases. Five years ago, during the same period, approximately 141,000 apps made it to Google Play. While this does show an environment with less competition than before, it also projects many hard truths about the current state of the mobile app environment.
In previous years, it was easier for developers to release low-effort, buggy, and even malicious malware-infected apps. That period is no more, as Google Play follows in the footsteps of the App Store. That means the app stores have no tolerance for apps with poor usability and violate user privacy and safety.
Inevitably, you have more hoops to jump through for your next release since the bar is set higher. So, your app user acquisition strategy for 2024 is more involved. Both the app stores and the users demand more from you, and you need to deliver to attain success and retain it for the long term.
Why Does Mobile App User Acquisition Matter?
Mobile app user acquisition is a thorough and involved process for obtaining new users for an application, primarily for mobile devices. For this process to succeed, it’s necessary to implement several marketing and promotional strategies that will inevitably increase the rate of downloads and installations of an app.
The best app marketers know that it’s crucial to attract users who are the likeliest to engage with the app. For example, the target users for a dating app like PreVue are those seeking serious relationships. So, it makes little sense to market this kind of app to those who are into the hookup culture and short-term relationships.
Furthermore, app marketers will use advertising and other promotional channels to reach the app’s potential core audience. They will also implement App Store Optimization (ASO) and finetune it to ensure the app enjoys a high visibility and conversion rate in both the App Store and Google Play. Several ASO techniques will also apply to the growing number of third-party app stores available, even for iOS devices.
Without app user acquisition, it’s almost impossible to attract a large enough audience to cover development costs. While you’ll hear about a few apps gaining traction due to word of mouth and organic growth via ASO, these are edge cases. Unfortunately, most apps fail due to a lack of marketing efforts, which only underlines how crucial this process is for releasing mobile apps in 2024 and beyond.
What Steps Are Necessary For App User Acquisition?
It’s necessary to follow these steps to start acquiring users for your app:
- Pinpoint your target audience: Find the demographic data, behaviors, and interests of your app’s potential audience. Then, tailor your marketing efforts to target this audience as effectively as possible.
- Implement ASO: Optimize your app’s title, keywords, description, and visual assets. All these steps will help improve its visibility and ranking in all relevant app stores.
- Create appealing visuals: All your app’s icons, screenshots, and videos must captivate user attention while showcasing the app’s key features. If you do this right, it will dramatically increase your app’s download numbers.
- Targeted advertising: Use several online and social media ad networks to broaden your reach and grow your audience. But be mindful of your ad spend and always A/B test all your ad campaigns.
- Work with influencers: Reach out to influencers so that they can promote or endorse your app to their followers. While this is an effective way to gain additional exposure for your app, it will also come at a cost since many influencers charge according to their audience size.
- Social media marketing: Build your community on the most popular social platforms by creating content your target audience will enjoy and share. However, this is a time-consuming process that you may want a digital marketing agency to handle for you.
- Start a referral program: Motivate your existing audience to refer friends and colleagues to download your app by offering them rewards or exclusive content.
- Encourage user reviews and ratings: Always ask satisfied users to leave reviews and ratings, as these help potential users to try your app. If users leave negative reviews, courteously respond to these and make the necessary improvements to your app based on user feedback.
Should I Try Content Marketing To Acquire New Users?
Content marketing is tricky to pull off successfully, especially if you don’t have any prior experience in this approach. If you don’t know how to create compelling and informative blog posts, videos, or podcasts, it’s best to avoid content marketing. Moreover, you’ll need to create and share lots of content consistently, which will take up many hours of your valuable time.
Alternatively, you can hire experts who can create content on your behalf, but that will come at a cost. If your budget allows for this, content marketing will provide several benefits.
Initially, you’ll grow audience awareness of your brand and your app. Users love to read blog posts or watch videos about how apps start from the concept phase and enter production. They also enjoy developer interviews and behind-the-scenes content, giving them an insider’s view of the app development process.
All this will help your potential audience feel more connected to your brand and its app. So, you’ll drive them down the marketing funnel from the awareness stage onto the consideration stage if you’ve kept their interest. If you’ve built enough trust and conveyed your app as a solution to your audience’s problems, you’ll drive them further down the funnel and increase your conversion rates.
If enough time and effort goes into content marketing, it will significantly help your app user acquisition efforts. A side benefit of content marketing is that it will make you and your brand come across as experts in your field or market segment. But only if your content is available on a high-ranking website you own or other authoritative websites, video channels, or podcasts.
Is The Freemium Model Effective For App User Acquisition In 2024?
Yes, the freemium model is still effective, but with a few caveats. As part of your app’s marketing strategy, you must fully comprehend your target audience. Are they the kinds of users who prefer freemium apps, or do they detest the model? If they’re in the latter camp, your app will fail upon launch, and you’ll need to make several crucial changes very quickly, at additional costs to you.
The freemium model only works if your users are willing to pay for a premium version of your app but still need to try a free version first. Even with the reduced feature set of the free version, users must accomplish a few critical tasks with your app to appreciate its value. If your freemium app conveys all this effectively, it will be easier to convert users to the premium version.
However, the freemium model works best with apps that attract massive audiences. In the gaming sphere, Fortnite, the third-person perspective (TTP) looter shooter, is free to play but employs an in-game currency called V-Bucks so that players can purchase upgrades.
Outside gaming, Tinder, the popular dating app, has converted a percentage of its most loyal users into paying customers. Then, there’s Dropbox, the chart-topping cloud storage app that built its business on providing free storage to users. And users that need additional storage are more than willing to pay extra for the convenience that Dropbox provides them.
Therefore, if you wish to adopt the freemium model for your app, ensure that it can attract and retain a very large user base. This choice will also affect all the frameworks and application programming interfaces (APIs) you use to build your app since you’re building an app designed to scale.
How To Retain Users With Enhanced Engagement?
No matter how well you’ve marketed your app and how many downloads it attained, it’s easy to lose users due to churn. Thus, you want to implement effective methods to retain these users for the long haul. Of course, you should use churn analysis tools to pinpoint why users lose interest in your app. But you can radically reduce churn from day one by taking the following actions:
- Better onboarding: While this applies primarily to new users, existing users benefit from an easy-to-understand onboarding process. Whenever you roll out new updates and features, use videos and motion graphics to explain these cohesively.
- Implement push notifications: Users who have downloaded your app but rarely use it need an occasional nudge. You can do this with push notifications so long as you don’t inundate your users with too many. Instead, keep your notifications focused on new features that add value or offer personalized solutions to each user’s needs or interests.
- Reward system: Don’t allow your app user acquisition efforts to go to waste, so implement a well-strategized reward system. Incentivize your users to try new features or use your app for longer with rewards at timed intervals.
- Gamification: Add a game-like experience to your app and combine it with your reward system to keep users hooked. Let users unlock cool extras like badges or gain entries on a scoreboard via a well-implemented gamification strategy.
- Boost user social media activity: Many users enjoy sharing various aspects of their daily activities on their favorite social platforms. Make it easy for them to share fun and quirky in-app experiences with other users with a single tap.
What Technical Aspects Help Retain Users?
You must treat your app as an ongoing project that consistently receives regular updates, features, and improvements. This is crucial because users quickly lose interest in apps that don’t receive any updates after long intervals.
Users expect your app’s user interface (UI) to improve and reflect the current trends in design and usability. If you enhance the look and feel of your app regularly, then you’ll retain your users even if new competing apps emerge in the marketplace.
Your app’s performance must also improve with each major update. Furthermore, users must enjoy a similar or better level of performance when they upgrade their phones. And when they upgrade the operating system (OS) on their devices, they should not experience any performance degradation.
Don’t forget to plan a roadmap for your app’s upcoming features. These must align with your business goals, your app’s position in the market, your marketing plan, and the feedback you received from users. You may also need to offer a response to competing apps when they introduce new features that your app lacks. Always communicate about an upcoming update of new features to your users to keep them excited and to retain them.
In Conclusion
App user acquisition is not for the faint-hearted since it’s long, complex, and often challenging. But it’s a necessary process you must undertake if you wish to gain the maximum visibility, downloads, and installations your app can potentially attain. Furthermore, you must work on your app’s user engagement to retain the users you’ve already gained.
User churn is a very real problem you can’t risk ignoring, so ensure you take the necessary steps to deal with it effectively. If all this seems too convoluted or troublesome and you’d prefer to work with a professional studio to handle all the minute details, we’re here to help. Contact NS804 today to learn how we can assist you in acquiring users and keeping them engaged for your next app project!
Promoting your App through Apple Search Ads
Apple providers Apple Search Ads as an advertising service to help developers promote their apps. Developers can set up ad campaigns with predetermined monthly budgets and have them displayed to relevant users. With over 2 million apps listed on the App Store, gaining visibility is extremely difficult. A paid campaign allows developers to showcase the best features of their apps. With a steady funnel of users flowing to download their apps, an app can generate a critical mass of users, which then puts it on the road to long-term sustainability.
Basic vs Advances
When developers create their Apple Search Ads account, they can either choose to use a basic or advanced option. A basic account allows a user to set up a simple campaign where they just select the app they want to promote and their monthly budget. Apple’s technology uses the app’s metadata to automate how and where ads are displayed. The account owner, though, still gets a simper dashboard to track campaign performance.
An advanced account places more control in the account owner’s hands. The advanced account is more likely to be used by advertising professionals and agencies on behalf of clients. They can choose to have ads placed on search results, on the Today tab, and in other places for greater visibility. Whereas ads on a basic account are charged at a cost per install, the advanced account would have ads charged per tap. As expected, the account has a more detailed reporting tool and a myriad of recommendations for campaign improvement.
Why Is Search Ads A Must for Developers
Apple Search Ads is a powerful tool in the arsenal of any developer regardless of whether their app is a mass market product or a niche one. First, the tool is powerful in increasing the discoverability of an app. By just using the app metadata, Apple Search Ads will place an app in relevant search results. Users who are on the lookout for specific solutions are therefore likely to install and try out your app.
The pay-per-tap or install model applied by Apple Search ads is also quite cost-effective for developers who have great products. Users who click or install an app are considered high-quality leads. They are more likely to end up as customers. Paying for such leads only means that the cost of customer acquisition will be low in the long run.
Using Apple Search ads is a great way to create synergy with your app store optimization strategy. While app store optimization increases organic visibility and discoverability, ads serve to maximize the number of eyeballs on the app. The two can complement each other. By taking feedback on which keywords and visuals are performing better, this information can be used for such things as app descriptions and product pages.
Making the Most of Apple Search Ads
Finding success through Apple Search Ads is a result of sustained efforts and well-planned strategies to build a brand, gain visibility, and convert leads into revenue-generating customers. The rest of the article dwells on specific best practices for developers using Apple Search Ads to drive new customer acquisitions.
Carefully Planned Campaigns
Great campaigns must be well orchestrated from start to finish. There are multiple constraints in any marketing campaign, and the plan must consider this. A recommended best practice is to have multiple campaigns under one account. You could have a brand campaign, a category campaign. competitor campaign, a discovery campaign, and a generic campaign. You then could have keywords and ad groups attributed to each campaign group.
Brand campaigns will have keywords that are specific to your company. Category campaigns encompass keywords relevant to what the app does and the genre under which it falls. Competitor campaign keywords will be mainly focused on other apps that provide the same service as yours.
A well-organized structure ensures your ads have specific and measurable targets and they complement each other. The structure also allows for the effective spreading of the available budget so that areas with the highest return get the most while also ensuring no base remains uncovered.
Thorough Keyword Research
A common mistake Apple Search Ads users make is to slack on proper keyword research. The result is often inefficient use of their advertising budget. Proper keyword research involves using a keyword planner to find statistics on keywords. It also involves looking at the keywords competitors are ranking for and the ones they are bidding on.
There is a feature called Search Match within Apple Search ads that allows users to connect ads with queries. This feature is helpful when attempting to choose which keywords to prioritize for a particular campaign.
Lastly, the use of synonyms is a proven way to expand the pool of keywords. Through this, you may find high-volume search keywords that competitors may not be focusing on.
Negative Keyword Research
You can use negative keywords to add precision to your ad campaign. A negative keyword prevents your ads from being triggered if a person includes the keyword in their search. It is sometimes a good practice to include certain keywords as negative keywords in one campaign when they are the primary keywords in another campaign. This could help prevent an overlap between campaigns and possibly improve overall budget efficiency.
Curate App Metadata with Care
As a developer, it is important to ensure your app’s metadata reflects what exactly the app intends to fulfill. The title, subtitle, and descriptions should not be intentionally misleading. The risk is that the app may attract a large number of people who are not the true target audience. There has to be a balance between the attraction or engagement garnered from ads and relevance. It is not beneficial for an app to appear in search results that are not related to the app’s core functionality.
Carrying out multiple A/B tests for variations of the metadata could help decide on what to settle on. For instance, you could have two versions of an app’s description displayed to separate audiences. Both descriptions would carry the same keywords but have different results in terms of engagement. The same goes for the choice of a name for an app. It should be powerful and memorable as well. Carrying out empirical tests before launch would be ideal.
Multiple Product Pages
Just as with metadata, it is possible to have different product pages displayed in ads for different target audiences. It is possible to create up to 35 different product pages and this is now seen as a best practice in app advertising. It allows the developers to capitalize on the versatility of an app by showing its different pages and functionalities to relevant audiences.
While creating multiple product pages may seem a daunting task, it ensures that the return on the advertising investment is higher than it would be with just a single page. It may be worthwhile working with professionals to create the different variations of the product page.
Optimizing the Campaign
Apple Search Ad’s reporting tools should be used to continually adjust and optimize your campaigns. Monitoring impressions will reveal well-performing ads versus non-performing ones while you could also adjust your bids on important keywords. The keyword volumes are also changing every so often. As such, keyword research must remain a continuous process within the team so that the available budget is directed toward the most effective areas.
The development team should also review performance from a creative angle. See what creative material yields the best results and double down on it. Normally, the team would have to go through multiple iterations of creative approaches until they settle on one that seems to work best.
Studying the Competition
The competition in the App Store is fierce and only a small percentage of all apps end up as viable and profitable businesses. As such, the space can be seen as a zero-sum game where your success might push a competitor out of the market. It is imperative to monitor what other apps in your category are doing, both in terms of advertising and design.
Find out which keywords they are ranking for because this may help you find gaps to fill. Study their creative assets because new trends are always emerging. Your creative designs should help your app stand out.
Lastly, settle and double down on a bidding strategy. With a big budget, you may decide to bid higher for keywords that your competitor is using. However, a more realistic approach would be to go for variations that allow you to still funnel customers to your app but at a lower cost.
Post Install Performance
One way to further track the performance of a campaign is to monitor the post-install events. Certain actions would signal that a user is likely to keep using an app and can certainly be classed as a successful customer acquisition. Launching an app, completing the registration process, or watching an in-app user guide can all be tracked for a more accurate estimation of the cost of user acquisition.
Post-install events could help to identify specific issues with app features or performance. For instance, if a lot of users do not complete the registration process, it could be a result of the process being too long or the registration feature not working as smoothly as initially intended. This is how an app’s development roadmap evolves organically over time.
Staying Updated
Slight tweaks in Apple Search ads policies and industry trends could make a huge difference in the app advertising landscape. Developers have a responsibility to keep up with the changes both within the platform and the advertising space in general. Beta-testing new features ahead of the competition could give you an unbeatable lead.
A need to strongly focus on return on investment cannot be understated. With multiple campaigns in one account, funds should go towards ad groups and channels with the highest return.
A world-class user experience within the app strongly compliments the advertising efforts. A smooth registration and sign-in process helps to ease any skepticism that first-time users may have about an app. Quick responses to concerns about glitches and bugs have a strong bearing on brand perception. No amount of brand campaigns can paper over poor user experience.
Combining Search Ads with Other forms of Advertising and Marketing
An app listed on the Apple store could benefit from other channels of advertising besides Apple Search Ads. Social media channels are particularly effective because a user who clicks on a post lands on the app download page. Some apps would benefit from awareness campaigns done through influencers. Mentions on podcasts and videos go a long way in building top-of-mind awareness for brands.
Throughout any campaign, all decisions should be data-driven. Behavioral targeting has helped to make campaigns highly nuanced. Users can be re-targeted based on past actions, such as having installed an app before but not using it frequently.
Work with NS804
Creating successful Apple Search Ads campaigns requires a lot of planning and exquisite implementation. Careful thought must go into planning objectives and the metrics to track. The team must determine the different campaign buckets to use and the keywords for the different ad groups. As highlighted, Apple Search ads complement the App Store optimization efforts.
Throughout the Search Ads campaign, the team has to monitor metrics, iterate different versions of ads, and study the detailed reports from Apple’s Search Ads dashboard. They must see audiences through different targeting lenses including demographics, device types, and customer types. It is prudent to have ads that target users based on the different existing segmentations.
All promotional efforts are likely to fail if the app itself fails to meet customer expectations. Building a truly world-class app is the only way to guarantee sustainable success for an app. Finding the right app development partner is the first step in this journey. At NS804, we pride ourselves in delivering world-beating iOS and Android applications for businesses in all sectors. With decades of experience in our team, we deliver projects on time and budget. We advise on every stage of the app development process, including launch and promotion.
To discuss your app development needs, reach out to us today.
Google AdMob: Understanding Mobile App Monetization
Developing a mobile app is difficult and often costly, so you must find a way to receive a just reward for all that hard work. One of the most efficient ways to do that is with Google AdMob, an advertising network that serves ads specifically for mobile apps. And while it is a popular Google service, it isn’t only for Android but also iOS devices.
But you may think that AdMob, or in-app advertising in the general sense, isn’t a great way to monetize your app. You may have heard horror stories of appreneurs and developers spending thousands of dollars on AdMob ads and receiving few downloads. Or they may have received hundreds of thousands of downloads, but revenue results were worse than expected.
The hard truth is that Google AdMob mobile app monetization is very tricky. If you implement the wrong strategy, you’re bound to end up with a shortfall in your ad budget — which you don’t want! That’s partly why so many digital marketing and advertising agencies have mushroomed over the past decade.
If you’re skittish about implementing AdMob, you should consider hiring an agency. Alternatively, you can partner with a reputable and multi-award-winning studio, such as NS804, to help you with your ad strategy. Getting that ad strategy right is crucial, as it will drastically impact the long-term fortunes of your app.
Whether you partner with NS804, an agency, or go at it alone, it’s best to understand what mobile app monetization entails. That’s why we’ve prepared this in-depth article that covers the benefits, drawbacks, and pitfalls of AdMob. We also reveal a few strategies to help you with the platform and alleviate some of your concerns and fears.
What Do I Need To Know About Google AdMob?
Google AdMob is hardly new at this point. On April 18, 2006, a business school student, Omar Hamoui, founded the ad network in California. In November 2009, Google began the acquisition process of the ad network that concluded on May 27, 2010. On May 16, 2013, Google announced during their I/O 2023 conference that they would revamp AdMob by integrating technologies from AdSense to assist developers in boosting their app businesses.
But has AdMob truly lived up to the promise of helping app developers with their revenue streams? Yes, the massive market share of the Google Mobile Ads software development kit (SDK) speaks for itself.
Near the end of 2023, developers integrated the Google Mobile Ads SDK in most mobile games. Approximately 75% of word games for Android and 32% of all iOS mobile games had an AdMob implementation. It also attained a respectable 55% for the fan-favorite casual genre on Android.
While this doesn’t mean that every developer enjoyed huge revenues from AdMob, it does show confidence in the platform. Furthermore, in almost every metric, AdMob outperforms its main competitors like Appodeal, Meta Audience Network, and Unity Ads. But it’s not necessarily wrong to partner with multiple ad networks, as this may prove beneficial as part of your overall ad strategy.
How Does Google AdMob Work?
Google AdMob lets developers display targeted ads within their apps for users to interact with. While the platform initially supported Adobe Flash Lite, Palm WebOS, and Windows Phone, those legacy platforms are no longer supported. Android and iOS still enjoy plenty of support and will likely remain at the forefront of mobile app monetization for the foreseeable future.
To enjoy the benefits of AdMob, developers start by integrating the Google Mobile Ads SDK into their mobile apps after following several guidelines. The platform is free to use, but Google does expect advertisers, appreneurs, and developers to follow its guidelines closely.
The SDK allows banner, interstitial, rewarded, and native ads to appear within an app. Then, developers create ad units within the AdMob dashboard and set their optimal ad formats, placement, and targeting.
The AdMob platform is also where advertisers go to bid for ad space. They will pick the kind of ads that will engage users the most based on their demographics, interests, and consumption of app content. Developers earn revenue through AdMob primarily based on user interactions with the displayed ads, such as clicks, impressions, or ad views.
But how does Google AdMob work out the revenue for appreneurs and developers? The platform weighs up advertiser demand, ad format, and user engagement. Also, the app category, user location, and device used impact revenue substantially.
The good news is that you’ll have access to a plethora of this information since AdMob offers you powerful analytics and reporting tools. These tools will help you stay current on your app’s ad performance, revenue, and user engagement. Having immediate access to this data will help you refine your ad strategy to increase your app’s revenue.
Why Is AdMob The Best Choice For Android Mobile Apps?
It offers seamless integration with the entire Android ecosystem, which is massive. Considering that Android runs on smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, Chromebooks, and Windows PCs, you’ll want to use a platform that lets you monetize across these devices, with some restrictions on PCs.
Furthermore, most integrated development environments (IDEs) and game engines allow easy integration with Google AdMob. So, if you’re using Android Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio, or the Unity Real-Time Development Platform, you won’t run into trouble implementing your ads. That’s not often the case with some lower-profile ad networks, as there’s often quite a bit of tinkering and back-and-forth with technical support to get things running.
Since AdMob enjoys so much support, even from the development community, there’s always a solution readily available. There’s almost a never-ending availability of code, documentation, and plug-in solutions for integrating AdMob with your favorite programming language, framework, and tools. So, you’ll never be in a situation where you’ll waste time dealing with tedious integration issues when you could be fine-tuning your ad strategy.
Is AdMob Any Good For iOS Mobile Apps?
Yes, Google AdMob is just as good for iOS as its Android implementation. It could even be one of the better choices since Apple discontinued its ad platform, iAd, in 2016. However, it’s common practice for many iOS app developers to opt for ad mediation services like AdMob, AppLovin, and ironSource.
Ad mediation lets appreneurs, developers, and publishers access several third-party ad networks through a single SDK. It’s a powerful tool because it simplifies the integration process. It also helps to improve the effective cost per mille (eCPM) and advertisement fill rates by picking the most optimal network per ad request.
But what is eCPM, and why should you care? It’s a metric that helps you determine what you’ll potentially earn after 1,000 ad impressions. On the other hand, cost per mille (CPM) is a metric that helps advertisers determine how much they’ll spend per 1,000 ad impressions. It’s crucial to keep tabs on these metrics, as they reveal conversion rates, the level of user engagement, and if ad campaigns are successful.
Be aware that a growing number of iOS mobile app developers prefer to use alternative monetization methods. Due to the App Store having more premium apps than its counterparts, developers will often focus on paid apps, in-app purchases (IAP), and subscriptions.
One of the main reasons why iOS developers choose this route is because there’s a greater tendency for iOS users to spend on apps than Android users. Some iOS developers and publishers have tried mobile ads but later found that the other types of monetization earn them more. As an appreneur or developer, you should always try different monetization strategies to boost app profitability.
What Google AdMob Ad Strategies Should I Implement?
There are several AdMob ad strategies you must apply to increase revenue, which are as follows:
- Strategic ad placement: Test different ad placements and monitor user engagement. Continue to tweak your ad placement until user engagement is satisfactory.
- Ad formats: Implement several ad formats and ensure to serve the optimal format for each target group.
- Targeting options: Use the platform’s targeting tools to serve ads relevant to each user. Constantly fine-tune this process to increase user engagement and subsequent revenues.
- A/B testing: Always conduct A/B tests soon after you implement an ad strategy to determine if it is succeeding or if it needs further fine-tuning.
- Analytics: Use AdMob’s analytics and reporting tools to gain insights into your app’s ad performance, revenue generation, and user engagement. Be sure to use this information to help you further hone your ad strategies and boost revenues.
What Can Cause A Drop In AdMob Ad Revenue?
Several factors can lead to a drop in Google AdMob ad revenue. One of the most common factors is ad fatigue. Users don’t enjoy watching the same ads continuously within short periods and will subsequently engage with them less. Unfortunately, this leads to declining click-through rates (CTRs) and poor ad performance.
A decrease in user engagement within the app can also impact ad revenue. That’s mainly due to a lack of new features, outdated content, and poor app performance. Another cause for concern is market saturation, which often leads to increased competition for ad space. Furthermore, this drives down ad rates and decreases revenue in tandem.
The wrong ad placement and format will also negatively impact ad revenues. Furthermore, unexpected events, seasonal trends, and changes in user demographics often cause ad revenue fluctuations.
What Mobile App Monetization Strategies Can Benefit My App?
Mobile app monetization strategies are essential to succeed in the app space. But it’s the most optimal strategy that will help you unlock higher earning streams from your app. Here are several mobile app monetization strategies you should consider:
- In-App Ads: Displaying targeted ads to your users is one of the easiest ways to earn revenue from your app. But you must carefully monitor all metrics in your analytics and respond accordingly when Google AdMob revenue drops off.
- Freemium Apps: If you release a free version of your app with restricted features, you can later persuade users to unlock those features by purchasing the premium version. Offering extra functionality or content is an effective way to drive revenue, provided your target audience is willing to pay.
- IAPs: If you plan to release a mobile game, consider selling additional content, upgrades, and virtual goods. Users unlock these by making small microtransactions, which eventually end up in large amounts, especially if you build a large audience.
- Subscriptions: More app developers are implementing subscriptions, as it’s an effective way of generating consistent revenue. Users will pay a monthly or annual fee to access additional content and features.
- Sponsorships: Partner with brands to sponsor specific content or features within your app. You will generate additional revenue, whereas your sponsors will build brand awareness.
- Data selling: A monetization strategy becoming increasingly common is selling data to advertising networks. However, the process of selling data must be ethical, lawful, and transparent to avoid angering your users and drawing the attention of privacy advocacy groups.
How Is AdMob Improving In 2024?
On March 12, 2024, during the online Google for Games 2024 Developer Summit, an announcement about AdMob generated some buzz. A new real-time bidding feature and an upgraded mediation toolkit for Google AdMob will launch soon.
Furthermore, publishers can craft more dynamic ads to appear in-game environments. These ads will blend seamlessly into these environments and become more immersive to boost user engagement. Currently, developers are experimenting with these via the AdMob closed beta.
Due to user privacy concerns, Google will focus more on geo-based solutions in specific countries. The goal is to help advertisers invest further in these efforts and to gain additional insights into the performance of Android and iOS campaign spend. Be sure to take advantage of these new features to serve more exciting ads to your users and be more mindful of their privacy.
The Bottom Line
If you’re considering implementing ads in your upcoming app, then Google AdMob is one of the better choices — if not the best. While there are no guarantees that you’ll strike it rich, a sound mobile ad strategy will keep you on track. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you integrate AdMob ads and derive high revenues from your apps.
What You Need To Know About Alternative iOS App Stores
If there’s one thing that Apple has done exceptionally well — it’s to lock down its ecosystem — especially the App Store. Unlike how things work on Android, there are no alternative iOS app stores that come close to what’s available on Android. Apple has taken this hard-nosed approach to ensure a consistent and secure experience for App Store users.
While we can’t necessarily blame Apple for taking this approach, it does seem a little shortsighted. On the positive end of the spectrum, the App Store does offer a more secure, privacy-focused, and quality-driven environment than anything on Android. But on the negative side, this does limit where users can download their apps and what they can and cannot do with their devices.
One of the perks of being an Android user is the sheer freedom to download apps from several digital storefronts. It’s also easy to sideload apps, allowing developers to share Android apps via their websites or email. In many ways, the Android experience isn’t much different from that of a Windows PC, where users can access apps from various sources.
But this level of freedom also presents some risks, like the transmission of malware, viruses, and botnet miners. The latter targets a user’s digital wallet to steal cryptocurrency, which is becoming a more common scenario.
Undoubtedly, all this sounds extremely scary, and some will side with Apple’s approach of locking everything down. So, does this mean we won’t see any alternative iOS app stores pop up anytime soon? No, because alternatives are on their way. Below, we’ll delve deeper into this matter and outline several ways you can access apps outside the App Store.
Why Are Alternative iOS App Stores Necessary?
We only need to look at how Android users benefit from having alternatives to Google Play to understand the appeal. While Google Play does a stellar job of vetting developers and their apps, users often feel limited. That may sound strange, considering there were over 2.43 million apps on Google Play at the end of 2023, according to Statista.
But it’s not that Google Play has a quantity problem. As massive as it is, it just can’t fulfill the needs of all its users. There are app niches that only alternative stores seem to handle well.
For example, those who seek free and open-source apps built from libraries that don’t track users prefer to download their Android apps from F-Droid. What this store does so well is provide its users with full access to the source code of their apps from a repository. F-Droid compiles the apps from the publicly available code. However, you can build these apps alone, provided you sign the APK files with your key.
The entire process is very similar to how the source code of apps is verified and later compiled on Linux systems. It seems complicated and additional work for the user, but it exemplifies the open nature of F-Droid and the Android ecosystem.
An alternative gaming digital storefront where it’s easy to grab free and experimental indie games is itch.io. It’s a multiplatform site offering Android and iOS downloads, but only with a link to the App Store for the latter. Android titles are available as standalone APKs or via Google Play.
Many Android gaming sites in Asia offer NSFW gaming experiences. Due to the risqué nature of some of these titles, it’s unlikely that Google Play will ever offer them for download.
What Alternative iOS App Stores Existed During The Early Days Of The Platform?
The early days of iOS saw the debut of several unofficial alternative iOS app stores. On February 28, 2008, Jay Ryan Freeman, aka saurik — released Cydia for jailbroken iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad range of devices. While Cydia isn’t necessarily an app store in the true sense of the term, it does have digital distribution functionality.
Cydia is an advanced package manager that allows users to browse and download apps from a repository. These apps aren’t available on the App Store and are mostly free, with a few for sale.
While a Cydia Store that accepted payments via Amazon payments and PayPal became a reality, the developer reportedly terminated the store after experiencing issues with PayPal’s token authorization. On December 16, 2018, the Cydia Store ceased to operate, and the last stable version of Cydia made it to market on June 24, 2020.
A more accessible alternative to Cydia is AppEven. Several advantages AppEven has over Cydia are that it’s easier to use and install, no Apple ID is necessary, and jailbreaking is not required. Furthermore, AppEven was known to run on iOS 9 through 13, but now it runs on all iOS versions.
It’s possible to download modified and paid apps for free from AppEven. Unsurprisingly, Apple doesn’t endorse alternative iOS app stores like AppEven and likely never will. Apple continuously revokes the certification of AppEven and the apps available through it, so it’s not possible to enjoy the smooth functioning of these apps without workarounds.
How Flash Gave iOS Users More Avenues To Discover Great Content?
Another avenue for iOS users to access apps — particularly games — outside the App Store was via the many Flash game portals. Sites like Armor Games, Kongregate, and Newgrounds hosted some of the most creative Flash games by small developers.
But what was so special about Flash? Flash, a platform owned by Adobe, made it easy for indie developers to realize their game ideas and other creative endeavors. The accessibility of Flash was due to its programming language, ActionScript, an easy-to-learn interpreted language that ran within the Adobe Flash Player.
Released as a web plug-in, the Adobe Flash Player allowed users to enjoy games and other multimedia content in the browser. Undeniably, it was one of the most versatile cross-platform technologies available. It was also one of the few technologies that lived up to the write once, run anywhere (WORA) paradigm.
Thus, Flash games could run on a desktop PC, an Android smartphone, and any iOS device, provided there was a browser with the Adobe Flash Player plug-in. But not everyone was happy with this, especially not the late Steve Jobs.
Why Steve Jobs’s Open Letter Killed Flash?
On April 29, 2010, the Apple co-founder and CEO made several scathing remarks about Flash in an open letter. Steve Jobs lamented the poor battery performance, security issues, and redundant nature of Flash in light of modern alternatives. Of course, given Steve Jobs’s prominent position in the tech industry, everyone took notice. After the open letter, there was a slow-going shift away from Flash.
On January 12, 2021, Adobe began blocking all Flash content from running in the Flash Player and requested that users remove it from their systems. It’s sad to see the sunsetting of a technology that helped game developers and creatives build their careers. But Flash still lives on thanks to the Ruffle emulator, which runs natively on modern platforms and features a high degree of ActionScript compatibility.
Nevertheless, the open letter by Steve Jobs changed the trajectory of Flash forever. Apple users soon lost several avenues to discover and enjoy content outside the App Store. Many Flash developers soon shifted to HTML5 and WebGL game development, but some of the magic and camaraderie of the Flash community was gone.
Why Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) Caused Backlash?
Until now, the chances of legitimate alternative iOS app stores hitting the market were dire — and that’s putting things lightly. Apple had no plans to allow these stores on its platforms due to security and privacy concerns. But things will soon change due to pressure from advocacy groups, developers, and the European Commission.
Apple already faced scrutiny because of its policies on PWAs. Many developers and businesses that want to bypass the App Store will create and distribute PWAs. Developers build these using web-based technologies and languages like CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. Once built, the PWA is distributed on web servers and accessed via HTTPS.
That means any developer or business can distribute PWAs directly on their websites. The user will access the website with a desktop or a mobile browser. And with only a few clicks or taps, the user will download and install the PWA on their device. The process is so frictionless that it’s usually faster to download and install a PWA than an app from the App Store.
Furthermore, PWAs appear on the Home Screen with functionality like persistent authentication and notifications. It’s also common for PWAs to use fewer resources than native apps, which is advantageous for developers or businesses that want to distribute simple page-based apps.
Apple restricted PWAs from appearing on the Home Screen during the second beta release of iOS 17.4. However, there was some backlash from the Open Web Advocacy group and the European Commission, causing Apple to ease its stance on PWAs. Apple will now allow PWAs to appear on the Home Screen, provided developers use WebKit and adopt best practices as those for iOS native apps.
When Will Alternative iOS App Stores Be Available?
On March 6, 2024, the European Union (EU) implemented the Digital Markets Act (DMA), requiring Apple to let users install third-party stores and browsers. But this regulation only applies in EU countries and from iOS 17.4 onwards. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost to EU users who wish to use PWAs, as Apple will remove support for these in the region.
The introduction of alternative iOS app stores that closely mimic the stores on Android appears slim. Since Android runs on devices from different manufacturers, it’s common practice for each manufacturer to have an official app store. For example, Samsung has the Galaxy Store, Huawei has the AppGallery, and Xiaomi has the GetApps store.
Another big player in the Android space is Amazon, which has branded Android-compatible devices like the Fire range of tablets and TV sticks. Amazon serves users with apps and games via the Amazon Appstore, which runs on Android, Fire OS, and Windows 11 devices.
In a nutshell, many leading alternative Android app stores are so big and mature that anything similar will not appear for iOS. But iOS users can expect smaller app stores similar to APKMirror, APKPure, and Aptoide. There are also many game-specific Android stores and HTML5 game portals that may pursue the iOS EU market.
Will Third-Party iOS App Stores Appear In North America?
Apple has not revealed any plans for alternative iOS stores for the North American market. And it’s doubtful that Apple will change its position on this matter as it did with the EU.
But is this a hopeless situation for North American iOS users who crave alternative stores? Not necessarily, as rumors abound that Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite, may push forward with an alternative store. While it’s purely speculative now, Epic Games is one of the few companies willing to land a hard blow on Apple’s tightly controlled ecosystem.
It’s no secret that Epic Games filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple back in 2020. The game developer accused Apple of taking anti-competitive and unlawful steps against users by necessitating them to use the App Store exclusively. Epic Games also claims that the App Store charges a 30% commission on all in-app purchases, and why Epic Games attempted to make Fortnite available outside the App Store.
Unfortunately, this move caused Apple to block Fortnite on the App Store. But users can play an older version of Fortnite natively or the current version via cloud gaming channels. Epic Games recently announced they will bring their game store and Fortnite to the EU for iOS devices. While there’s no news of an American store for iOS, some tech insiders and enthusiasts claim that it will appear in the foreseeable future.
In Conclusion
Alternative iOS app stores are on their way, at least in the EU. While this is a positive first step, it would be great to see a similar move in North America and other territories.
However, we understand Apple’s concerns about protecting user data and privacy and providing a consistent user experience across the board. A locked-down ecosystem isn’t necessarily a negative if users and developers see the value. Contact NS804 today to learn how we can help you build high-quality iOS apps that run natively!
App Store Submissions For iOS Developers (2024 Guide)
The App Store is undoubtedly one of the most successful digital storefronts ever conceived. And that’s proven by a barrage of App Store submissions, ultimately leading to approximately 36 billion iOS mobile downloads in 2024. Interestingly, Google Play’s 129 billion mobile app downloads overwhelmingly surpass the App Store’s download figures. But that’s due to the higher number of Android devices in circulation.
Even with this notable difference, no appreneur, business leader, or developer should ignore the iOS marketplace. Consumers in the US and Western European territories prefer iPhones over all the Android alternatives. The brand recognition, better security, and premium quality of iPhones have won over these consumers over the long haul.
Furthermore, App Store users spend more on apps via in-app purchases, premium app purchases, and subscriptions. Whether we like it or not, iOS users are significantly more valuable to appreneurs and businesses than their Android-using counterparts. Unfortunately, this has led to a degree of elitism within Apple’s user base, but it’s best to ignore this sentiment and focus on what it takes to succeed in the App Store.
Creating a marketable and high-quality iOS app should always take precedence. It’s usually your second step after planning your app or your third step if you’ve already built a prototype or minimum viable product (MVP).
But what do you do once you’ve completed your app — do you hand it over to Apple and call it a day? No, App Store submissions are a more complicated affair requiring about as much professionalism, foresight, and dedication as your app development procedures. You can’t cut corners if you want to enjoy a smooth submission process in 2024, so we’ve compiled this handy guide to help you succeed with your iOS app launches.
Why Are App Store Submissions So Important?
Apple built its reputation by delivering a computing experience that often exceeds anything similar by rivals. The computing giant’s world-beating product design and no-nonsense approach to quality leave many competitors far behind or trying to emulate the Apple formula. In most cases, these competitors fail since Apple has amassed the resources and top talent to remain in the lead.
But Apple hasn’t set the bar high only for itself and the industry; it has set the bar high for you as well. If you want to partake in the Apple ecosystem — especially the highly lauded App Store — bring your A-game to make it worthwhile. While the App Store was once a place for newbie developers to launch their careers or try out all sorts of quirky app ideas, this is no longer the case.
Like many popular digital storefronts, the App Store has no shortage of apps of varying quality. As is the trend with most app releases, the higher-quality apps do better while their low-effort counterparts languish behind.
Inevitably, the more successful apps bring home more revenue, which also benefits Apple since it charges a 30% commission on in-app purchases and subscriptions. However, Apple offers other rates for small businesses and the European Union (EU). In either case, Apple earns more from its chart-topping apps like Roblox, TikTok, and Uber.
Not every iOS app will set the App Store charts on fire, and Apple doesn’t necessarily expect this from developers. But it does expect them to meet their significantly stringent app review guidelines. The App Store is much more curated than rival storefronts, so iOS developers must meet a certain quality threshold when making App Store submissions.
Why It’s A Prerequisite To Join The Apple Developer Program?
Apple wants you to deliver your best work, so they’ve created the Apple Developer Program to help you with all the ins and outs of the development process. Enrolling in this program is mandatory if you want to develop for Apple’s platforms and release your apps on the App Store. There’s an annual fee involved that will set you back US$99. Apple also offers a program for enterprises for a fee of US$299 per annum.
Do note that enrolling in this program is legally binding, and Apple expects the following from you:
- Apple ID with two-factor authentication activated.
- Full legal name and address, and you must be of legal age.
- Provide a D-U-N-S Number if you enroll as an organization.
- Your organization must be a legal entity and have a publicly visible website under a domain name registered with your company.
What Are The Benefits Of The Apple Developer Program?
Apart from allowing you to make App Store submissions, membership will grant you access to the following tools:
- The latest operating system (OS) betas and software development kits (SDKs): iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, and watchOS.
- Apple’s proprietary integrated development environment (IDE): Xcode.
- Additional tools to facilitate quicker and easier development: CreateML, Reality Composer, and Xcode Cloud.
The Apple Developer Program also includes the following services for better app integration and a more meaningful user experience (UX):
- AirPlay: Allows users to stream across all their Apple devices.
- CloudKit: Access Apple’s iCloud service to store all your app’s data.
- Core ML: Easily implement the latest machine learning (ML) models into your iOS app.
- DeviceCheck: This helps keep the services running on your app and devices safe from bad actors.
- Face ID and Touch ID: Allows users to access your app with safety and usability in mind.
- Handoff: Allows users to work uninterrupted when moving from one Apple device to another.
- HealthKit: This feature regularly provides users with the most up-to-date fitness data on their iPhone and Apple Watch devices.
- HomeKit and Matter: Users can control all connected devices in their homes.
- In-App Purchase and Subscriptions: By implementing the StoreKit framework, it’s possible to unlock additional app features and content when users pay.
- Push Notifications: Inform users of the latest content updates and events to retain or increase engagement.
- Sign in with Apple: Make app and website access simpler for users by allowing them to sign in with their Apple IDs.
- System Extensions and DriverKit: Enhance app functionality and security with Apple’s wide range of extensions.
- WeatherKit: This handy framework lets users access up-to-date information to help them stay safe during rapidly changing and adverse weather conditions.
What To Check Before Making App Store Submissions?
To ensure that all your App Store submissions proceed smoothly, be sure to follow the points in this checklist:
- Rigorously and regularly test your app for any bugs and crashes.
- Provide accurate and comprehensive app information and metadata before submitting.
- Keep your contact details current so the App Review team can contact you when necessary.
- Ensure that the App Review team has full access to your app, so provide a demo account if it relies on having an account to access features.
- All your app’s backend services must be live when under review.
- Provide additional documentation to detail all your app’s more advanced or cryptic features.
- Regularly refer to Apple’s development, design, and brand and marketing guidelines to ensure your app complies with all these.
- If you’re a European developer, review the guidelines and notarization for iOS apps in the EU.
Which Safety Rules Does The App Store Enforce?
The App Store places user safety and satisfaction front and center. Thus, objectionable content of any kind isn’t welcome. To avoid failed App Store submissions, be sure to comply with the following rules:
- Don’t add discriminatory, distasteful, or offensive content to your app. Be mindful of any content that aims to harm, humiliate, or defame users of any specific race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnic group.
- Avoid content that aims to shock and disgust users.
- Cut out any realistic or overly violent scenes from your iOS app or mobile game.
- Pornographic imagery of any sort is unacceptable, and so are any so-called hookup apps that lead to exploitation, human trafficking, and prostitution.
- Provocative and falsified religious messaging is not allowed.
- No depictions of illegal behavior, drug usage, or dangerous use of weapons must appear in your iOS app or mobile game.
- Never submit an app with false features or information or attempt to trick or defraud users. If your app tries to prank users via calls or the SMS/MMS messaging features, then the App Review team will reject it.
- Don’t submit an app to profit from human suffering due to wars, terrorism, and pandemics.
- If your app relies on user-generated content (USG), make it easy to filter and block abusive users and objectionable content. Be sure to publish your contact details so users can notify you of any related issues.
- If you’re creating a children’s app, you may submit it for the Kids Category under specific conditions. Your app must not entice children to make purchases or have any external links.
- As an iOS developer, you must protect user data and disclose which third parties you partner with that collect user data.
Why Performance Matters During App Store Submissions?
The App Review team first looks at the overall completeness of your iOS app. So, you must submit a fully functional app that includes all metadata, even during the pre-order phase. If you submit a demo, ensure that it fully showcases the functionality of the finished product. Never submit an app with placeholder content, text, and non-existent app and company website links.
The overall performance of your iOS app is another aspect that the App Review team will scrutinize. To ensure you submit a relatively polished and bug-free app, you must beta test regularly before releasing it officially on the App Store. Use Apple’s excellent TestFlight SDK for beta testing, and ensure that you submit these builds to TestFlight App Review.
Keep in mind that you’re not permitted to offer any form of compensation to beta testers. Also, you may not release your iOS app to the public during the TestFlight process.
A big part of App Store submissions includes the correct and accurate completion of app metadata. Never leave this task to the last minute, as there’s plenty of metadata you must carefully evaluate and complete. You must include an app description, privacy information, screenshots, and previews accurately showcasing your app’s core features.
Every time you update your app, you must include new metadata that reflects these changes. Never misrepresent your app and its features in any way, as you risk being banned from the Apple Developer Program if you’re deemed untrustworthy.
Be sure to test your app on several iOS devices to determine whether it runs well on a wide range of Apple hardware. Moreover, ensure that your app runs smoothly on the latest version of the OS (currently iOS and iPadOS 17).
Which Factors Will Impact Approval Of An iOS App?
The App Review team will expect your iOS app to fulfill the following criteria:
- Smooth functionality: Your iOS app must perform flawlessly and work as detailed by the notes and documentation you provide.
- Overall usability: Ensure that your iOS app complies with the Human Interface Guidelines set by Apple. The App Review team wants to see a well-designed user interface (UI) with consistency on every page of your app.
- App accessibility: Make your iOS app usable for those with disabilities.
- Easy navigation: Use recognizable UI elements for the buttons, tabs, and gesture controls of your app. New and longtime iOS users should feel right at home when running your app for the first time.
- Satisfactory performance: Your iOS app must load quickly and be responsive at all times, regardless if it’s running on newer or older devices. Ensure that your app keeps battery drainage and memory usage to a minimum to avoid rejection by the App Review team.
- Tight security: Ensure that your iOS app complies with Apple’s guidelines regarding app permissions, data encryption, and privacy.
- Legal compliance: Your iOS app must comply with all relevant regulations, copyright, and trademark laws in your region. In some cases, laws applicable in other territories may impact your app, so seek legal advice if necessary.
In Conclusion
If you closely follow the pointers we’ve provided, your App Store submissions should go smoothly in 2024 and beyond. Expect to hear back from the App Review team in about 48 hours after you submit your app. On the off chance of a rejection, the App Review team will provide feedback and guidance on what you need to fix before submitting again.
But you can make life easier for yourself by partnering with a reputable mobile app studio. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you create iOS apps that will please the reviewers and your users!
Custom Mobile App Development: How To Benefit From The Latest Trends
As a forward-looking business leader, you want to utilize mobile technologies to put your organization in the lead. But where do you begin with all the options currently available — do you pick an off-the-shelf solution or venture forth with custom mobile app development?
The first option seems cheaper and hassle-free since you can use the product soon after registering your account. But with the latter option, a custom-built app will require a significant commitment from you, which will involve an initial cost outlay and consultation time with a mobile development studio.
Considering the mere accessibility of the first option, it should be the way to go, right? That may be the case if you only have a surface-level view of your organization’s short-term and long-term requirements.
For example, you may be running a startup with a limited budget, so an affordable off-the-shelf solution suits your needs now. But how robust is this solution when you decide to scale your business or require features that this solution doesn’t offer? Will you jump to another ready-made solution to fill these gaps, or do you opt for a mobile app custom-built to your exact requirements?
If you end up with several off-the-shelf solutions, you’ll add complexity to your organization’s existing tech infrastructure. Furthermore, your staff will require training to use these additional apps. While this isn’t necessarily bad, it’s seldom possible to train staff when you need them to perform mission-critical tasks required for the smooth functioning of your organization.
Fortunately, you can do away with these issues by embracing custom mobile app development. Your organization will enjoy several key benefits from the latest trends custom-built apps bring forth, which we’ll discuss below.
Custom Mobile App Development Solves Problems Exclusive To Your Business
Primarily, you want to approach custom mobile app development to solve problems that exclusively impact your business. Off-the-shelf solutions seldom do this because they attempt to solve issues affecting organizations in general. Since your business is unique, you can’t always rely on tools that all your competitors are using.
Let’s assume you’re operating a chain of bakeries that use wood-fired ovens. But all your competitors are using either commercial electric or gas-powered ovens. Thus, how you stock your inventory and prepare your baked goods will differ significantly from competing stores and chains.
The unique methodologies in preparing your goods will inevitably impact your tech infrastructure. You may need to create an inventory management mobile app to keep track of your stock levels based on your dough preparation and baking rates. Since your wood-fired ovens require skilled artisans to operate and bake slower than electric or gas ovens, your custom-built management app will work with this scenario.
If you had to use a similar solution to your competitors, you’d end up over-ordering or under-ordering on the wrong days. And this would impact the efficiency and profitability of your chain of bakeries.
But why create a custom-built inventory management mobile app when you could go with a desktop or web-based solution? A mobile app is often the better choice since all your employees have mobile devices and will be in different areas of your stores. Your chief baker can check inventory and place orders without leaving the bakery floor, especially if a desktop PC isn’t available here.
A Custom-Built Mobile App Offers Stellar Data Security
Not a day goes by without a major data security breach making the news. Sadly, the world’s most popular websites and cloud services are usually at the front lines of these data breaches. Whether it’s Alibaba’s leak of 1.1 billion chunks of user information or Microsoft’s Azure cybersecurity breach impacting executive accounts, no mainstream online product is safe from hackers.
But where does that leave mobile apps; are they safer? Yes, mobile apps are often safer if users download them directly from the App Store or Google Play. Both app stores have raised the bar on what they expect from developers regarding app security, user data, and privacy. However, unscrupulous developers and bad actors still manage to publish dubious apps on these stores, which poses a significant security risk to users.
The good news is that custom mobile app development allows you to lock down your security on all fronts. And enjoy peace of mind due to having a higher level of app security than any off-the-shelf solution can offer your organization. Moreover, you can integrate your custom-built app with a hybrid or private cloud service, giving you considerable control and data protection.
Take Advantage Of The Latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) Trends
Trailblazing large language models (LLMs) like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini are integral to the modern AI landscape. There’s a good reason for this since these LLMs radically improve the productivity and efficiency of users and organizations. And like all modern organizations, you want to take advantage of these LLMs if you haven’t done so already.
All the most popular LLMs offer application programming interfaces (APIs) that integrate with desktop, mobile, and web apps. So, you can easily tap into the power of these LLMs without requiring expensive hardware or knowing the minutest details of how these language models work. All your staff needs to do is learn how to enter prompts that will output the desired results from the LLMs you’ve integrated.
It’s also possible to build custom mobile apps that don’t use prompts but rely on other forms of user interaction, such as voice and context-based inputs. If you embark on custom mobile app development, consult a reputable studio like NS804 to help you plan and implement these inputs to suit your needs along with LLM integration.
Improve Staff Productivity With A Custom-Built Mobile App
Since you’re the leader of your organization, there’s no one better placed to understand your staff. You know how productive they are, their workflows, and what motivates them to perform at their best. You also know who the team players are and who are unengaged.
Ideally, you want your unengaged staff to step up by emulating the behavior of your best employees. But that largely depends on how well you convey your organization’s culture, expectations, and goals. Leading by example and initiating discussions with staff members who are lagging behind will also help.
Even if you take all these actions, your staff still needs the right tools to produce optimal results. If you’re relying on a mix of disparate apps from different vendors, you’re making things more difficult for your staff. And that’s because they’ll have to contend with differing user interfaces (UIs), workflows, and app usability.
Worse still, you’ll often encounter one or two apps within your suite of apps that create bottlenecks. These bottlenecks may be due to apps with poor performance, lack of updates, and unsupported features, ultimately making them redundant. Nevertheless, your organization can adopt a better app strategy by creating one or more custom-built apps that address all bottlenecks your organization currently deals with.
Thus, approach custom mobile app development with the intent to offer the features and workflows that will help keep all your staff members productive. Moreover, ensure all your custom-built mobile apps are fully compatible and integrate with your existing tech. In time, you can consolidate all the most crucial features into a singular mobile app, reducing complexity and maintenance costs.
Custom Mobile App Development Enhances Business Competitiveness
World-renowned brands like Domino’s Pizza, IKEA, and Nike rely on custom mobile app development. Also, NS804 has delivered custom-built solutions for leading brands like CarLotz, Dominion Energy, and Luck Stone. All these brands understand that custom-built apps offer them an unprecedented amount of control, efficiency, and security.
Another reason custom mobile app development is popular with brands is that it helps them stay competitive. They prefer using bespoke apps that align fully with their needs and goals instead of relying on off-the-shelf solutions that have little to do with their businesses. It’s not that brands will never use the latter, but tailor-made solutions will always play a central role due to their holistic design and implementation.
But how can a custom-built mobile app give your organization a competitive edge? If your organization is a startup or a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), you’ll have a tool designed specifically for your business processes. That won’t be the case for most of your competitors who opt for off-the-shelf solutions, as these won’t adequately cover all their day-to-day operations.
Increase Customer Engagement And Satisfaction
While custom-built mobile apps usually address internal business needs, you should also consider customer-facing scenarios. Nowadays, most existing and potential customers will seldom visit your website unless you have an e-commerce store or are regularly running special offers. So, you’ll need to consider a more effective avenue to reach and engage customers if your online presence isn’t having an impact.
An effective way to form a more meaningful relationship with your customers is with a custom mobile app. The app must make it easy for customers to learn about your products and services and receive round-the-clock assistance via AI-assisted chatbots.
To make it easy for them to make purchases, ensure that you integrate the most popular payment gateways into your mobile app. Apple allows third-party payment processors for iOS apps distributed in the European Union (EU) as of March 2024. Android developers enjoy more freedom in this regard, as they can integrate leading platforms like 2checkout, Stripe, and WePay for most territories.
Your customers will use mobile devices with different aspect ratios and screen sizes, and a growing number will use Android flip phones. Obviously, supporting these various screen configurations complicates matters from a development standpoint. But you want to give all your customers a satisfactory user experience (UX), and that’s only possible by implementing responsive design so that your mobile app adjusts its UI for each target device.
But to substantially increase your customer-facing app’s engagement, consider integrating the most favored social media platforms. Make it child’s play for your customers to share all the coolest products and services you offer across all their favorite social media accounts. Furthermore, this will help build awareness for your brand and its offerings without any marketing cost for your organization.
Connect With The Surrounding World More Effectively
The increased adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) devices offers businesses of all sizes countless opportunities to boost efficiency. IoT devices come in all forms, such as affordable single-board computers (SBCs), industrial sensors, and even security systems. The best part is that you can build an app that can communicate with all these devices and even automate specific tasks.
Now, consider a practical application for your organization’s office management procedures. You want to keep track of staff activities in the office related to their attendance, interactions, and movements. Why you should do this is to ensure that your office facilitates a safe and productive work environment.
While you can spend weeks or months monitoring the office environment in person, you can gather more meaningful data by installing IoT devices in the right places. These include an automated attendance clock, desk sensors, and room occupancy monitoring devices. Then, your custom-built office management app will draw data from all these devices and provide you with real-time analytics.
With this data-driven approach, you can quickly pinpoint troublespots in your office layout and even identify errant employees. And with all custom mobile app development endeavors, you can add additional features when required. For example, you’ve identified that staff members spend their lunch breaks at the office lounge and avoid the cafeteria.
You could remodel the cafeteria to make it more appealing. Alternatively, you can install vending machines in the office lounge to dispense drinks and snacks. And make it easy for employees to make purchases by introducing near field communication (NFC) payment via a newly-introduced feature in your office management app.
The Bottom Line
Custom mobile app development is the way forward for all businesses that want to perform at their best, especially when presented with harsh economic conditions. A custom-built app is designed to exclusively serve your organization’s structure, goals, and business processes. It’s never a one-size-fits-all approach like many popular off-the-shelf apps that usually run on a Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription model. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you build a custom app to help you stay ahead in your industry!
Strategies for Effective Mobile App Marketing in a Crowded/Saturated Market
In mobile app marketing, a saturated market refers to an environment that offers more or less similar apps with the same features and capabilities, and all apps target overlapping demographics of users. This unhealthy competition creates rivalry, making it hard for new entrants to gain traction.
In such a competitive market space having the right and the most effective marketing strategy can make a difference and help you stand out. Without the right strategy to target and attract potential consumers and users, even the most robust and the highest quality app can fail to succeed.
The right and the most effective marketing strategy can not only improve the app’s visibility but can also help the app influence user perception, lead to customer acquisition, and promote the overall success of the app.
Strategies for Effective Mobile App Marketing in a Saturated Market
1. Conduct Market Research to Identify Your Target Audience and Their Needs
Market research is the cornerstone of any successful marketing strategy for an app, especially in a saturated market. It involves gathering information about your target market and clients, their needs, preferences, locations, and perceptions. By understanding your audience, you can tailor your app’s messaging, features, and marketing efforts resonating with your audience.
Demographic Analysis
Start by identifying the demographic traits of your target audience like their age, location, gender, education levels, and income. This information helps create user personas that represent different segments of your audience.
Psychographic Analysis
Psychographic analysis primarily deals with analyzing your clients’ and potential users’ interests, values, lifestyles, and buying behavior. Knowing you’re the psychology of your users helps you craft messages and communications that resonate with their aspirations and motivations.
Needs Assessment
Identify the specific needs, pain points, and challenges your audience faces and explore how your app can overcome those challenges. Conduct focused groups, interviews, and surveys and gather information from potential users.
Analyze your Competitors to Identify their Strengths and Weaknesses
Competitor analysis is vital for understanding the market and identifying opportunities for expansion and differentiation.
- Identify competitors. Identify direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors are players with similar offerings as yours, while indirect competitors refer to players whose products and offerings can easily replace yours.
- SWOT analysis. Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the market. Strengths may include a strong brand and unique product features and weaknesses may entail limited market presence and poor user experience. Opportunities may capture emerging trends and market gaps, and threats may entail changing regulations and new entrants.
- Differentiation Strategy. Look for areas where your app can provide added value. You can focus on strengths that your competitors lack and identify weaknesses that you can improve.
Use Data Analytics Tools
Use data analytics news to gather information about your user behavior, measuring the effectiveness of the marketing campaign and measuring its effectiveness. Leveraging data analytics tools to collect client and consumer information may help you tailor effective marketing campaigns and optimize the app’s performance.
- User behavior analysis. Use tools like Firebase Analytics, Google Analytics, and in-app performance to track navigation paths, user interactions, and engagement levels. Analyze this data to identify trends and areas of improvement.
- Conversion funnel analysis. Analyze the conversion funnel from app discovery to conversion to optimize conversion rates and identify bottlenecks at every stage.
- A/B testing. Conduct A/B tests to experiment with different app features, messaging, and marketing strategies. Measure the impact of these variations on user behavior and iterate based on data-driven insights.
Using data analytics tools helps you collect insightful information, helping you build knowledge and insight about your marketing efforts.
2. Develop a Unique Value Proposition
Define what makes your app stand out from the competition. This could be its innovative approach, features, niche market, or a combination of all these. The goal here is to define what makes your app special and unique and why should consumers choose your app over others.
One of the most unique value proportions is unique features. For your app to stand out in a competitive marketplace or saturated market, it must exhibit unique features and functionalities. This means your app must be different and must provide distinct benefits and capabilities that are specifically unique to the app and not to other apps in the same market.
Innovative technology is another distinguishing feature for developing a unique value proportion. Apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Slack, and Microsoft Teams are innovative because they represent innovative technologies in their respective industries and fields. Similarly, to stand out in a competitive marketplace, your app must provide an innovative technology that’s unique in its way.
Your app must provide an exceptional user experience for it to stand out in a competitive market. The apps must focus on delivering an intuitive, smooth, and speedier interface that responds at the slightest touch. Emphasize how your app saves time, simplifies tasks, and enhances productivity for its users.
Another aspect of creating a unique value proposition is creating a specialized niche focus. If your app caters to a specific industry, market, and user segment, you must emphasize and highlight the specific value it provides to that target market. Highlight how your app addresses their challenges, unique needs, and interests better than other apps.
Crafting a Compelling UVP
There are various strategies you can use to craft a compelling unique selling proposition:
- The unique selling point must be clear and easy to understand.
- The USP must communicate the relevance and ease of use of the new app.
- The USP must contain an emotional appeal.
- The app must communicate its benefits and value to the end users.
It is important to note that your unique selling proposition is an opportunity to sell your product to your target audience by communicating the features, benefits, and overall value of your app.
3. Optimize Your App Store Presence
To make your app stand out in a crowded or saturated market, it’s important to optimize your app store presence. If your app is designed to run on IOS, it is important to take advantage of app store optimization. Some apps are cross-platform, meaning they’re designed to run on both Android and IOS. Regardless of the IOS, it’s important to leverage your app store to reap maximum benefits.
Use appropriate keywords
It’s advisable to use appropriate keywords in your app’s title, description, and meta-description. Using the right combination of keywords strategically in your app’s metadata will help to improve its visibility in the app store and hence improve adoption and retention.
Some of the strategies you can use to ensure appropriate use of keywords include:
- Keyword research
- Natural selection and incorporation of keywords
- Optimizing app title and description
- Metadata optimization
Keywords improve searchability and visibility, ensuring you’re at the top of the search engine and easily visible to a large target audience.
Design Eye-Catching Icons, Screenshots, and Videos
Visual elements play a crucial role in capturing users and encouraging them to explore your app even further. Invest in creating visually appealing assets that showcase your app’s unique features and capabilities.
- App icon. Design a visually appealing and striking app icon that stands out on home screens and the app store. Ensure the icon reflects your brand identity and communicates the essence of your app.
- Screenshots and videos. Create high-quality promotional videos and screenshots that highlight the benefits, functionalities, and user experiences of your target audience. Use clear captions, engaging visuals, and annotations to demonstrate the app’s value and encourage downloads.
- Preview videos. Pay attention to the preview video feature in the Play Store or App Store. Use this opportunity to demonstrate your app’s unique features, user interactions, and app functionality clearly and compellingly.
Encourage positive reviews and ratings
Encourage positive reviews and ratings to encourage downloads. Positive reviews not only influence user perception but also contribute to higher app store rankings and visibility. Implement strategies designed to encourage users to leave feedback and give ratings on the app’s user interaction and speed.
Some of the strategies that you can use to encourage positive reviews and ratings include:
- Prompt user feedback.
- Ethically incentivize any reviews.
- Address any negative feedback.
- Maintain app quality and functionality.
By encouraging feedback and ratings, you can engage with potential users better and shift their perceptions.
4. Leverage Social Media and Digital Marketing
Social media provides an excellent platform for connecting and reaching out to your target audience. Social media allows you to build meaningful connections, obtain feedback, and provide continuous improvement to your mobile app. In a highly saturated market, here’s how to use social media to build an app that stands out.
Platform selection
It’s advisable to select platforms most frequented by your target audience. Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, or X are all potential social media channels you can leverage to build meaningful connections with your target audience.
Profile optimization
Optimize your profile with the appropriate colors, logos, and messaging to ensure it communicates your values. Provide clear information about your app, its functionality, and benefits.
Content strategy
Create content that resonates with your audience. It’s advisable to use catchy phrases, captivating colors, and designs to attract user attention and influence adoption. Create a mixture of content types, including videos, audio, polls, stories, images, and quizzes.
Develop engaging content
Engaging content plays an instrumental role in attracting and retaining your social media followers while promoting the app effectively. It’s advisable to consider the following formats of content.
- Videos. Create captivating videos that showcase your app’s story, features, and benefits. Include animation, visual storytelling, testimonials, and behind-the-scenes footage to amplify your app.
- Blog posts. Develop informative blog posts that explore topics relevant to your niche. Include industry guides, how-to guides, case studies, and industry trends content. In addition, it’s advisable to blog posts for search engines to attract organic traffic.
- Infographics. Design visually appealing infographics that communicate tips, key information, statistics, and comparisons related to your niche. Infographics are highly valuable and can attract attention on social media platforms.
- User-generated content. User-generated content UGC encourages users to create and share content related to your app such as testimonials, user reviews, success stories, and feedback. User-generated content adds credibility and authenticity to your marketing.
Use targeted ads
Use targeted ads on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Targeted advertising allows you to reach your audience based on their interests, behavior, likes, demographics, and online activities. Here’s how to leverage targeted ads effectively.
Audience segmentation
Segment your audience based on gender, age, demographics, location, interests, app usage, and app preferences. This will help you create targeted ads that target users based on these specific user preferences.
Ad formats
Leverage various ad formats offered by different platforms such as Facebook (lead ads, video ads, and carousel ads), Google ads (app install ads, display ads, search ads), and Instagram ads (video ads, carousel ads, and story ads).
Ad creative
Develop compelling ad creatives with attractive and attention-grabbing visuals, clear and concise copy, and thought-provoking calls to action. Test these ads on different platforms to optimize performance and improve conversion rates.
Budgeting and optimization
Set realistic marketing budgets based on your marketing goals and monitor ad performance through metrics such as click-through-rate CTR, cost per acquisition, and retention rates. In addition, leverage ad campaigns regularly to maximize reach and returns on investment.
5. Leverage Collaborations and Partnerships
Identifying and establishing collaborations and partnerships with the right organizations and individuals can significantly boost your app’s credibility and visibility. Here’s how to identify potential partners and collaborators.
- Alignment with your target audience. Identify influencers, brands, and organizations who share the same target audience as yours. Consider factors such as user behavior, demographics, interests, app preferences, and gender.
- Complementary services. Look for apps that offer complimentary services or products like yours. Collaborating with partners whose offerings complement yours can provide mutual benefits to both parties.
- Influencer identification. Research and identify influencers in your niche who have a significant following and engagement with your target audience. Look for influencers who align with your brand value and who can authentically promote and grow your brand.
It’s important to note that partnerships and collaborations play an instrumental role in ensuring your app stands out in a highly competitive marketplace.
NS804 – Building Apps That Stand Out
NS804 is a trusted provider of custom mobile app solutions. The company focuses on both iOS and Android apps, providing excellent mobile app solutions for businesses of different sizes and industries. We believe that marketing is crucial for the success of any app.
We believe that businesses must invest exhaustively in developing effective marketing campaigns that educate and inform people about its features and benefits. As part of this realization, we help businesses align their app development efforts with the needs of the market, ensuring that our apps answer the needs and interests of the target audience.
Contact NS804 today for superior and custom mobile app solutions.
Android Gaming: 6 Most Popular Mobile Game Genres In 2024
Android gaming offers the most accessible way for users to enjoy trailblazing games without requiring expensive hardware. Unlike PCs and consoles, low-spec and mid-tier Android devices are powerful enough to run most hit games on the platform. And if you’re a mobile game developer, publisher, or investor, that’s a compelling reason to build your next game for Android.
With over 3 billion devices running the Android operating system (OS) in 2024, your potential worldwide market is enormous. Moreover, you’re not limited to smartphones and tablets since Android games run on Android TV devices, Chromebooks, and PCs. Then, there are many app stores where you can publish your games, like Google Play, Galaxy Store, Huawei AppGallery, F-Droid, Itch.io, Aptoide, and Amazon Appstore. If you plan to release in Asian markets, your app store choices increase substantially.
All these digital storefronts make Android gaming incredibly ubiquitous. But you’re probably wondering what mobile game genres are truly popular with Android gamers in 2024. If you’re itching to create your first or next masterpiece, you already have many exciting ideas. You may want to make a boomer shooter with rogue-lite elements or a racing game with a level-up system.
But are such ideas feasible, or should you be less enthusiastic about their potential success? It’s difficult to predict the next big genre or hit mobile game. Yet, it’s possible to gain some valuable insights by delving deeper into the genres that Android gamers enjoy playing.
And given the dynamism of the Android platform and the Google Play store, game genre popularity seldom remains static. Thus, we’ll focus strictly on the genres that remain profitable, popular, or are trending upward in 2024. Below is our list of six genres that you should consider for your upcoming Android game.
1. Role-Playing Games (RPGs)
Dungeons and Dragons, the world-famous tabletop RPG series created by Dave Lance Arneson and Ernest Gary Gygax, set the groundwork for all computer RPGs to follow. Initially, RPGs served a small but dedicated following who loved the high fantasy settings, heroic exploits, and detailed narrative of the RPG genre. A few other draws of the genre are the ability for players to customize their party of heroes and engage in turn-based or action-oriented battles against numerous monsters and unforgettable larger-than-life bosses.
Another reason why players enjoy RPGs is due to their longer-than-usual play lengths. Older RPG titles could take 10-20 hours to complete, but newer titles can reach or exceed 300 hours. And that’s significant because the longer play time ensures that developers interested in creating RPGs will enjoy a high average revenue per user (ARPU). It’s realistic for RPGs targeting the Android gaming community to hit an average ARPU of $7.22, far higher than many other popular genres.
While that figure makes RPGs worth pursuing, they’re expensive and time-consuming to develop due to the large amount of content required. Furthermore, you’ll have to compete with established RPG developers from China, Japan, and South Korea. Several of the most successful and highest-earning Android mobile RPGs come from Asia and include the following:
- Genshin Impact (miHoYo / Shanghai Miha Touring Film Technology Co., Ltd.)
- Fate/Grand Order (Lasengle / Delightworks / Aniplex)
- Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle (Akatsuki / Bandai Namco)
2. Simulation Games
Simulation games offer players a more cerebral and slow-burn Android gaming experience than most genres. Similarly to turn-based RPGs, simulation games seldom require quick reflexes or force players to make hasty decisions. Instead, players will build and manage cities, factories, or farms. But the genre is near-limitless in scope, as business scenarios are also popular, as in Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon and the many other titles it influenced.
The genre rose in popularity on the PC due to how well the platform’s mouse and keyboard make control and navigation intuitive. Fortunately, the touch controls found on all modern mobile devices allow for a fluid gaming experience. And that’s helping with growth on Android devices, as the simulation genre trended upwards by 7.27% on Google Play over the past year.
But does this mean you should tackle a simulation game as your next Android project? Simulation games are much cheaper to develop than RPGs, making them ideal if you have a limited budget and staff. But they’re challenging to make, especially if you don’t have any prior experience in the genre. If that’s the case, consider partnering with an established studio like NS804 to help you with the development process.
Another upside of releasing a simulation title is that you won’t have to limit yourself to Android (or even iOS). Due to the genre’s substantial traction on the PC, you can port it for additional revenue. Some of the most popular and profitable simulation games on Android include the following:
- Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe)
- My Time at Portia (Pathea / Nuverse)
- Game Dev Tycoon (Rarebyte / Greenheart Games)
3. Arcade Games
Traditional arcade games hit their stride in the late ’70s and rapidly became the primary way electronic gaming gained mass appeal. Arcade titles like Atari’s Asteroids, Namco’s Pac-Man, and Taito’s Space Invaders became massive global hits — ultimately influencing the wider culture. A combination of addictive gameplay, accessible controls, and bold graphics led to the success of these titles and many more.
While these older arcade games seem archaic, they still appeal to retro gamers and those who grew up with these titles. So, it’s unsurprising that updated versions of older arcade games have hit Google Play to scratch that omnipresent nostalgia itch. Perhaps a few of the lower-quality titles in the arcade genre are shameless cash grabs, but there’s no denying that Android gaming enthusiasts can’t get enough of these action-packed titles.
So, how popular is the genre on Android nowadays? It’s one of the most popular genres, with over 56,000 arcade games on the Google Play store, comprising 9.81% of downloads globally. Since many arcade games are relatively easy to develop compared to other genres, many smaller indie developers prefer to focus on these.
However, easy-to-develop doesn’t mean you can pump out arcade titles and find immediate success. Arcade games require plenty of play testing, tweaking, and game balancing to satisfy the demands of Android gamers.
Furthermore, Google Play’s recent app policies require that new developers who plan to publish on the platform have their apps or games tested by a minimum of 20 people. If you want to compete in this genre, you must release a game that meets or surpasses the standards of the following titles:
- Downwell (Moppin / Red Phantom Games / DevolverDigital)
- Golden Axe Classics (SEGA)
- Geometry Dash (RobTop Games)
4. Action Games
Android gaming is synonymous with the action game genre. Several of the most impactful titles on the platform deliver fast-paced gameplay, intense set-pieces, and phenomenal graphics. The player often assumes control of a heroic character that can pull off moves like jumping, wall running, and hand-to-hand combat.
It’s common for action games to adopt a shooting element, often straddling the fine line between the action and shooting genres. However, if a game relies on a third-person perspective (TPP), it falls squarely in the action genre. Most shooters (apart from top-down or horizontal-scrolling shooters) are in the first-person shooter camp, popularized by Doom and its many clones.
Hack-and-slash titles, where game characters wield swords, lances, or other piercing weapons — are also part of the action genre. While these can be mistaken for fighting or beat ’em ups due to some gameplay similarities, there are notable differences. Most fighting games offer duels between two combatants, whereas beat ’em ups often adopt a belt scroll side view to display the action.
Action games can be 2D or 3D, but most modern gamers prefer 3D TPP games due to their more realistic blockbuster movie-like presentation. They can also be single-player or multiplayer, with the latter increasing in popularity due to better bandwidth on recent Android devices. And their popularity doesn’t end there, as there are currently over 34,000 action games in the Google Play store, comprising 15.2% of downloads globally. A few of the leading titles in the action genre for Android include the following:
- Overdrive II: Shadow Battle (GEMMOB Adventure)
- Grimvalor (Direlight)
- PUBG Mobile (Lightspeed & Quantum / PUBG Corporation / Level Infinite)
5. Racing Games
As one of the oldest video game genres, the racing game has been a mainstay of the games industry for at least five decades. In 1973, Atari released the world’s very first racing game, known to all as Space Race. It was an incredibly rudimentary title that caused Atari’s Japanese rivals like Namco and Taito to offer players more improved and refined alternatives.
But the racing genre truly wowed players when Sega released Out Run (often written as OutRun) in arcades in 1986. Sega had incorporated advanced super scaler technology into its arcade boards, which left the competition in the dust. These boards could create convincing 3D visual effects by scaling and manipulating 2D bitmaps at jaw-dropping speeds.
Super scaler graphics remained in vogue for several years, but the industry shifted to actual 3D polygon rendering technology in the early ’90s. It’s also the decade that defined and set the groundwork for modern racing games. Stylish racing titles like Wipeout by Psygnosis and Ridge Racer by Namco helped sell PlayStation (PS1) consoles to the masses.
Fortunately, much of the fun and spirit of these early 3D racing games remains intact today. Today’s Android gaming enthusiasts have embraced the genre due to its high-speed thrills, stunning presentation, and cool factor. In a way, it’s as if the PS1 era of racing games never went away due to the continued support from Android users.
Moreover, racing games trended upwards by 2.93% on the Google Play store over the past year and received 2.6 billion downloads in the US market alone. A few good examples of the genre for Android devices include the following:
- Horizon Chase (Aquiris Game Studio)
- Riptide GP2 (Vector Unit)
- Rally Horizon (GRAYPOW)
6. Hyper-Casual Games
We can’t talk about Android gaming without covering the hyper-casual genre. Casual games have always enjoyed prominence due to their accessibility. And that’s because the average mobile user prefers to play titles that offer fun in short bursts and have simple controls — the simpler, the better!
In fact, many casual titles are so simple that they offer players a passive-like experience. Search the top-trending titles in the Google Play store, and you’ll find many idle games in dominant positions. A typical idle game only requires simple actions from the player, like tapping on an icon continuously to generate currency.
Quite often, it’s not necessary to tap at all, as the game will play itself while it runs in the background. But to add depth, the game may offer the player additional ways to generate income at incremental intervals. These options often come in the form of farms, factories, and rental buildings — giving the idle game a more simulation-oriented gameplay loop.
However, this additional depth doesn’t make the idle game genre appealing to hardcore gamers or those seeking something more substantial. But don’t let this discourage you, as the hyper-casual genre remains in the lead in the US with over 16.4 billion downloads. While this sounds good, you must avoid releasing a hyper-casual title in an oversaturated subgenre.
We mentioned idle games earlier, but you may want to pursue more diverse subgenres and themes. Creature collection, survival, and dress-up games appeal to hyper-casual gamers seeking something different. A few outstanding hyper-casual games available on Android devices include the following:
- Antistress – relaxation toys (JindoBlu)
- Hyper Trainer: Gym Games (GenI Games)
- Kick the Buddy: Second Kick (Playgendary Limited)
The Bottom Line
Android gaming is one of the most enthralling segments of the games industry now. If you plan on making your dream game that will be momentous for the industry, then there’s no better platform to target. But choose your genre wisely by considering all the aspects we covered above. If you’re a small startup or tackling your first game project, it’s best to keep things more manageable by focusing on an arcade or hyper-casual title. Also, don’t forget to build a prototype or minimum viable product (MVP) to test the validity of your game idea. Contact NS804 today to learn how we’ll help you create the next Android gaming hit!