How to Perform a Competitive Analysis for Your App Idea
Would you go spelunking without a headlamp? What about mountaineering without a map? Well, pursuing your great app idea without performing a competitive analysis would be just as foolish. Finding and analyzing your competitors will shine a light on the “roadmap” for your business. Without it, you miss out on the chance to fill actual […]
Siri Needs an Upgrade for the Google vs Apple Mobile Battle
Google has been making serious advances into the premium-class smartphone market that Apple’s iPhone has dominated since the invention of smartphones. The Pixel phone could be a major chink in Apple’s armor, although reports that it levels the playing field are somewhat exaggerated considering Apple’s lead in upscale brand identity. Ultimately, the Apple vs Google […]
Resumes Fail Developers: Stack Overflow Seeks to Fix It
App developers and the recruiters looking to hire them can agree on two things. One, job hunting is a headache. Two, paper resumes are virtually useless in determining a coder’s relative skill, commitment, and quality of work. Thankfully, Stack Overflow just came up with a great workaround to the paper resume problem. “Developer Story,” a […]
Thanks to iOS10 Sticker Feature, Artists Are App Developers
Finally, the singularity NYC app developers has been waiting for has occurred: stickers in iMessage. Stickers have been the hot new thing in the messaging app craze ever since they made the jump from Asia-centric platforms like Line Friends and WeChat to mainstream western chat apps like Facebook Messenger. Much like Line, iMessage opens their […]
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 […]
Wikipedia Becomes A Battleground For Detail-Obsessed Bots
It turns out bots aren’t as peace-loving as Microsoft’s Tay might have lead us to believe. (I jest.) According to a research study published by Cornell University, Wikipedia has become a quiet, passive-aggressive battleground for communities of bots deployed to conduct routine maintenance and undo the work of socially-motivated trolls. Rather than concentrate on human […]
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 […]
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 […]
Apple Going All-in on IoT and Connected Home Devices
The smart home is here — it just isn’t evenly distributed yet. (Or, more specifically, properly organized.) The biggest critique against IoT startups among New York City mobile app development companies is that the field is simply scattered. Users have been slow to adopt IoT devices largely due to the friction of installing an individual […]