Alleged NSA Leak Raises Alarms over Digital Security
While users often think of their phones and laptops as digital safe deposit boxes, the truth is that data is frequently more vulnerable than we’d like to think. In the wake of security contractor Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks, a group of hackers claims to have obtained even more critical NSA data this past week, and […]
How to Make an App Your Users (and the App Store) Will Love
Submitting apps to the Apple App Store is the scariest part of mobile app development. Apple is notoriously selective about the apps they allow into the iTunes ecosystem, meaning that only carefully-vetted iPhone and iPad app developers ever see their products reach end users. When it’s all said and done, around 30% of apps are […]
Social Networking App Developers: Go Niche, or Go Home
Instagram for photos. Snapchat for goofing off. Facebook for letting Mom know you’re still alive. Social network startups have changed a lot since the days of MySpace, and the trend for app developers is clear: niche services win out over all-purpose networks. The “social network-ization” of popular music video sharing apps like Thriller and Music.ly […]
New Film Explores the Cultural Effects of Mobile Technology
Mobile is entering adulthood. More than 60% of US adults own smartphones, and virtually everyone connects to the Internet daily. iPhone app developers launch around 1,000 apps every day. Everyone from grandmothers to children use smartphones to communicate and network. So, it’s a fitting time for a film by renowned documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog to […]
App Developer Input Could Make MedTech Mainstream by 2019
It’s been a big year for MedTech, and mobile app developers building medical products are partly responsible. The healthcare industry has been one of the slowest to adapt to our digital times, but ACT The App Association and other developer groups are confident that the pressure put on legislators to update medical systems will soon […]
How to Monetize Mobile Gaming Apps Without Churning Users
Remember Angry Birds? Then you probably also remember the annoying, repetitive ads for the ill-fated Windows Phone. Angry Birds was easily one of the biggest mobile app development stories ever, but the story might be different if they’d launched today instead. Today’s users are much more averse to blatant advertising — particularly among gamers, some […]
Facebook Algorithm Change Is Opportunity for Digital Brands
Facebook recently made another major update to their News Feed algorithm, penalizing news sources responsible for headlines like “You’ll Never Look At Your Friends The Same… Once You’ve Searched This Site!” For many brands on Facebook, updates to the algorithm spell disaster. Impressions on existing page fans are at an all-time low, and Facebook is […]
I Have an App Idea: What Do I Do Next?
Think about this for a second: Apple has twice as many credit cards on file as Amazon, to the tune of well over 800 million accounts. That’s a ton of opportunity waiting to be tapped. …Does that mean your app idea is worth 800 million dollars? Not necessarily. Ideas get a bad rap in the startup […]
Bots on Kik Pass the 20,000 Mark: How Will This Affect Apps?
While there are just over 100 bots actually featured in the much-publicized Kik Bot Shop, developer on the platform have created well over 20,000 to-date. The catch: most of these bots are invite-only, accessible only through direct invite from creators. That said, major brands like CNN and Funny or Die have embraced the platform. Kik’s explosive […]
How to Guess Startup Success Without Knowing What They Do
Yahoo’s $4.8 billion sale to Verizon in recent months has drawn the eyes of the tech community. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is bearing the brunt of that attention, but you’d never know it from a recent Bloomberg Businessweek interview. In conversation, Mayer seemed confident and relaxed about the huge changes to the company, and the […]