San Francisco Startup Takes On Wi-Fi Moochers
Coffeeshops are a favorite hangout for app developers and tech workers. They also have a serious problem: Wi-Fi moochers. You know the type — buying a small coffee and then taking up two tables and three outlets for hours on end of quality Internet hangout time. Honestly, most of us have been that obnoxious customer […]
Building Apps 101: The Core Resources Tech Startups Need
Marketing and growth strategy are the “software” of a startup. The “hardware” is the system of apps, products, and services that make running a tech business possible. Five years ago, developing an app was like riding off into the wild west. No rules, no guidelines, no support frameworks. The app development market has changed dramatically […]
Google Trips Proves a Promising Addition to Mobile Travel
It’s been a couple weeks now since Google’s mobile app development team launched Trips, their take on travel planning and mobile exploration, to the Apple App Store and Google Play. The reviews are pouring in and the verdict is that the app doesn’t offer enough customization options — but might make up for it with […]
Getting Your App Idea off the Ground: Zero to Critical Mass
Getting your app idea off the ground is similar to getting a rocket into space. Both are risky. Both take an enormous amount of fuel to reach their goal. And unfortunately, both crash and burn without careful planning. When startup founders look up and see big brands like Instagram and Facebook floating effortlessly across the […]
Investors Vote with Their Wallets for Messaging App Startups
Messaging was a theme for the past three years of mobile app development, even before bots came into the picture. While SMS has long been scheduled to go the way of the dinosaurs, the ecosystem has gotten more complex rather than more streamlined. Between Slack, Messenger, Google Hangouts, and dozens more, group messaging is one […]
Controversial iPhone 7 Headphones Put Software Center Stage
There’s a saying that for a carpenter, the solution to every problem is a nail. The saying holds true among techies — mobile app developers will always see software solutions, while hardware designers will always see hardware solutions. This debate is raging particularly brightly within Apple right now, as users discovered thanks to the iPhone […]
How Startups Can Succeed as “Mega-Apps” Dominate App Store
Apps are like people — they tend to congregate in the interest of convenience. User behavior has changed dramatically in recent years, and there’s no longer a feeling of excitement about seeking out, downloading, and learning to use smartphone apps. Instead, users expect things to “just work.” Between Google’s predictive information services and the prevalence […]
Studies Show Diverse Startup Teams Outperform Their Peers
Diversity is more than just a buzzword in Silicon Valley. A study in the last year by McKinsey found that ethnically diverse teams outperformed their peers by as much as 35 percent. MIT, Columbia University, and other leading research institutions have made similar findings. Overall, homogenous teams tend to make more predictable decisions — and […]
Facebook Messenger Opens Native Payments to Bot Developers
There’s been a lot of chatter about the “bot revolution” the past few months, but the spread of bot app usage among mainstream mobile app users has been slow at best. Part of the reason behind that, at least on go-to messaging platform Messenger, is the limitation on payments. Specifically, in order to make a […]
5 Hot NYC Mobile App Startups to Keep an Eye On
New York is a unique startup hub for US iOS app developers, sort of like the dark twin to sunny San Francisco’s thriving tech economy. Here are some of the hottest mobile app startups of 2016 coming out of the tech scene in Brooklyn and Manhattan. 1. Button App fatigue is real, and the NYC […]