Scribbly App

Scribbly App – New Way of Facebook Communication for Free

Scribbly is a free app that lets you chat with friends on Facebook by using text and hand-drawings. Connect with your friends on Facebook and send hand drawn images or pre-installed emoticons.

Show your emotions to your friends, families or colleagues in a different way. Use hand drawn images or edit existing images in your gallery. Take a picture and insert your emotions. Scribbly is your new way of connecting.

The best thing about Scribbly is you can write and draw and share the same with your Facebook friends in real time.

Whether you want to play Tic-Tac-Toe or tease your friends by making those amusing faces or by drawing on the snaps, Scribbly adds the spark in your chat and make your time special with your friends.

App Description:

Scribbly, an IM application is developed by Y Media Labs for iOS 5 and above.

Using Scribbly is very easy. Find friends who have Scribbly on their iOS device or invite them. Tap on the toggle switch and start a conversation by saying “Hi” in a new style. Use the color pallet for drawing or you can pick from the hand drawn scribblies available in the app. You can also click a picture or use a photo from the gallery and modify it in your style to show your artistic skills. Guess what? You can save your Scribblies!!

Scribbly for iPhone and iPod Touch includes;

-   A canvas to draw scribbles

-   A color pallet and eraser
- Easy and fun to use hand drawn templates

- Take a picture and put in your hand written messages

- Use pictures from gallery and put in your own thoughts

- Send Invites to your friends directly from the app

- Save the received or sent scribblies and reuse them

Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

The app can be downloaded from the App Store at https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/scribbly/id642764159?mt=8

For more information on app development and marketing strategy send in your email to marketing@ymedialabs.com

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App Discovery

What Are The Top Sources to Find Apps?

Before searching the preferred sources of users to find apps, let’s have a look on the current scenario of the app store, i.e. number of apps available and downloaded by the users:

GROWTH STORY

App stores are bubbling with the number of apps. And it’s not just about the number of apps available in the app store; users are equally interested in exploring and buying the apps from the app stores.

The recent App Interrogator research note from Research firm Canalys states, “The app industry for mobile devices is now a maturing market, and shows healthy growth for the download and purchase of apps on mobile devices.”

App market has grown exponentially over the years. For instance, the number of apps available on the app store as well as the number of downloads by users is increasing every year, see figure 1.

As per the reports of Statista, a statistics company, “As of early 2013, 40 billion apps were downloaded from the App Store, games being the top category.”

Games apps were at the top place with 16.77% share whereas, education apps were the second-most popular category, with a share of 10.55 percent of all apps being learning apps. Figure 2 shows the most popular categories of apps that generate the maximum number of downloads.

What are the primary sources for searching the apps in various categories?

From general browsing on app store to reading blogs and ads in TV, Radio and Newspapers, users rely on number of sources to download apps on their devices

In figure 3, a number of sources are listed from where the users learn about the apps and how much preferences they give to a particular source. A huge number (63%) of the iOS users rely on general browsing on the app store, whereas for Android Apps, 58 % used the same channel to learn more about the apps. The percentage of users searching for an app on the search engine (Google) is very less i.e. 14% and 16 % for iOS and Android respectively.

50% of the iOS users get to know about an app from their family members or friends.

In 2011, Nielsen conducted a survey on, “Where do downloaders say they learn about apps?” The graph here shows the difference between the users’ sources to find apps then and now.

As per the survey reports, 63% of iOS and Android users rely on searching the app store, whereas, now the number of Android users using the play store search has reduced to 58%.  iOS and Android users seeking recommendations from friends and family members have also reduced to 50% and 41% as compared to 53% and 61% in 2011 respectively.

Users for both the smartphones platforms rely more on browsing the “top-rated” or “most popular” categories on the app store, which was not available in 2011 (Check figure 4).

Focus areas of developers

A huge number of apps are being launched on the app stores every day. At an average rate of 13,000 new apps are being approved every month since the launch of app store. How developers and marketers get their apps to rise above their competitors? How to target the right set of users? These are two focus areas of developers who want their apps on the top of the app store.


There are several sources that lead users to the app stores. One of the most important is getting listed in the Top 25 or the most popular categories in the app stores. It is clear from the figure 1 that Top 25 lists in the stores play a major role in most users' purchase decisions.

How to target the top 25 charts? Or How to get your app high exposure in the app store?

We have written two separate posts on the techniques on how reach the top of the app store and stay there? Click on the links to know more about the techniques to market your app on the app stores.

For more information on app development and marketing strategy send in your email to marketing@ymedialabs.com

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Enterprise Mobility

Enterprise Mobility: Is It The Next Big Thing?

“In a time of rapid change, standing still is the most dangerous course of action”

In an era of an always connected workforce, the enterprises are marching ahead in leveraging the mobile technology innovations to stay connected. Everyone, right from the CEOs office to the shop floor wants immediate access to everything on any device, all the time from everywhere. The innovations in the Mobile app industry are driven by the consumer demands (for new creative apps), who are much more aware and smarter than before when it comes to using the latest technology to make their lives easy.

In short, Enterprise mobility is the ability of an enterprise to connect to people and access information all the time from any location.

As per Gartner’s report on latest smart device projection from 2012 to 2017, the projected growth for Tablet shipments is 69.8% year over year from 2012-2013 i.e. 116 M units to 197M units. Overall, the total smart devices shipment grows from 2.2 billion units to 2.4 billion units, a 9% growth year over year.

 The figures above are a clear indication that with the proliferation of the smart devices at such a fast rate, enterprise mobility is the next big thing.

As per the latest Gartner report (released on May 1, 2013), it was quoted that “Rolling out applications throughout the workforce presents myriad new opportunities beyond traditional mobile email and communications.” Thus, enterprise mobility provides an opportunity for more innovations in the mobile app development arena. A few examples of such applications are time sheets, employee self-service HR application, product configuration application, sales analysis tool and global conferencing applications.

Considering the proliferation of smart devices, changing demands of the employees for more flexibility and ease to work and the mission of the employers to make the workplace a better place to work for, the enterprises are allocating  a good percentage of their IT spends on enterprise mobility.

As per the Nasscom – Deloitte joint study on “Enterprise mobility,” the IT spend on Enterprise mobility is expected to double from 5% to 10-12% by 2020.  The report also suggests that the global enterprise mobility market will be USD 140 billion by 2010, growing at a CAGR (compound annual rate growth) of 15% with APAC showing the highest growth of 21 percent.

Benefits of Mobility

Based on the study conducted by CompTia on 437 end-user companies, the following can be attributed for the increase in adoption of mobility in the enterprise segment:

a) Productivity gains : Employees can access work related applications, tools, emails, office data anywhere, anytime on the move  and now  executing business does not require them to be available at workplace with their work stations on working days . This leads to employee efficiency.  62% of the companies attribute this factor for adoption of Enterprise mobility as against 56% last year.

b) Support telecommuting / remote work: One does not necessarily need to be in office to attend important meetings or be close to the server rooms to access the servers. All this can be done remotely and this offer much more flexibility to the employees.

c) Cost savings: With the real estate costs soaring high, policies such as BYOD help to save cost. In roles like sales and marketing, where it is critical to provide data at the right time at the right place, investing in enterprise mobility is a good return on investment for enterprises. 47% of the end users companies have adopted mobility for cost savings as against 35 % last year.

d) Business continuity planning: 46 % of Enterprises against 33% last year are of the opinion that they need to stay at par with what is latest in the industry in order to sustain itself. Therefore, to maintain the continuity of business, and be easy to work with, it is mandatory for enterprises to adopt latest technology

e) Create new cutting edge opportunity: The field opens a plethora of opportunities for the Mobile App development, UI development, consulting, and system integration and managed services which, in turn, will add to the revenues of enterprises.

f) Retain top talent: 25 % of the enterprises feel that they need to adopt the mobility to retain their top talent since top talent is always on the look to explore and they work on something which would create a difference to the world. Therefore, providing them comfort while accessing information and with new tools will help them to focus more on the job which would, in turn, be beneficial for the company.

For more information on iPhone app development and marketing strategy send in your email to marketing@ymedialabs.com

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Customer Engagement with Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality: The most sought-after trend in marketing in 2013

According to market research firm Canalys’ latest App Interrogator research, “App downloads from four of the major app marketplaces (Apple’s App Store, Google Play, the Windows Phone Store and BlackBerry World) were up 11% in Q1 2013 as compared to all of Q4 2012.” The report also revealed these four stores combined had 13.4 billion downloads, and $2.2 billion in revenue.

The combined revenue curve of the four leading stores is also showing an upward trend with a growth of 9% in the first quarter of 2013, over the whole year 2012.

The above stats clearly demonstrate that users are connecting with brands and mobile apps are a good way to keep them engaged for better results. According to Adam Daum, Canalys’ chief analyst, “Apps have a huge impact on consumers, which have now become a central point to know how they engage with content and connected services.” Higher the consumer engagement, better the performance in the app store.

So the question is how to engage the users and keep them hooked with the brand? What will be the most sought-after trend which will help marketers in reaching the goal of constant engagement in 2013?

Before answering these questions, let’s have a look on the current scenario of app stores.
All the leading app stores are over-crowded with apps, for instance, there are 800,000+ apps on Apple App Store, 700,000+ on Google Play Store and 100,000 + apps on Blackberry and Windows app stores. With these numbers constantly increasing, almost all the categories are overly crowded with apps. It has become imperative for the brands to create apps with a different approach and mindset.

Role of Augmented Reality

According to a report from Juniper Research, Augmented Reality (AR) will be the retailers’ favorite in 2013 and will emerge as a new way of customer engagement. However, the traditional pay-per-download payment model will generate maximum revenue; AR is expected to scale the heights.

The research report state that augmented reality in marketing across mobile applications will generate 1.4 billion downloads by 2015, as an increasing number of brands familiarize themselves with the technology and its possibilities.

Augmented Reality is around for quite some time now; however, its real potential is yet to be realized by the marketers. Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of digital information with live video and the user's environment in real time. It identifies visuals to blend new information and displays the virtual result. It all happens in real-time creating amazing experiences for the users. Devices like, phone cameras, GPS devices are used to engage with consumers in a manner which no other medium can provide. AR apps and devices (engage users in their actual surroundings, thus, making them aware and providing more information. There are many AR apps which are thrilling the users and help the marketers in keeping them engaged with their businesses.

Yelp's Monocle is the first iPhone App with augmented reality. The app makes use of your camera when you are out on a street or driving. The app shows you the names of restaurants and bars. The users get reviews, store hours and all the other pertinent data Yelp has been known to provide.

TwittARound is another app for the iPhone 3GS that uses the GPS, compass and camera to show where Tweets are coming from and are overlaid onto the landscape, augmenting users’ view of the world and allowing them to actually see where the tweets are coming from and how far away they are.

Many retailers are looking at it as an effective and efficient advertising tool to improve customer engagement and interaction. Besides, the new technology can be used in various other sphere of business. For instance;

Realtors can show their clients apartments in different designs and colors as per their requirement. It will save their time in visiting the place again and again. They have to visit the place only if they like it on their phone.

Buyers can take a quick look at all the products available in a supermarket store. With one click from your phone’s camera, an app can instantly capture the store displays and provide you with all the information about the products. You can find the product with best reviews or you can sort by price for the best deal, much like you can do online.

Google Glass, Nokia City Lens (exclusive to its Lumia suite of devices), Innovega’s Augmented Reality contact lens are going to be some of the most sought after devices in the year.

For more information on iPhone app development and marketing strategy send in your email to marketing@ymedialabs.com

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