Why app stores may be restricting too much of your freedom

Here at Appguppy, we’re often asked where the mobile apps that you create actually live, since they’re not distributed through the app stores.  Our answer?  We’ll we don’t just have one response, we’ve got six: Facebook, Twitter, QR codes, text message, email AND your website.  Technically speaking, it would be most accurate to say that the apps lives in our secure servers, or Appguppy’s cloud.  But since the apps get distributed through these 6 different methodologies, in a sense, they’re living in social media.  But what does it mean for your app if it isn’t being deployed through the stores?  More trouble than you asked for.  Lets find out why:    

1)  Mobile app stores are too restrictive:  Let’s take a look at some of the terms you’ve got to be familiar with if you want your app to wind up in a store -- licensing, certificates, compilation...the list goes on.   Maybe you’re thinking you could rely on another entity, perhaps a company, to submit the app for you.  Unfortunately, even paying that company the big bucks doesn’t guarantee that your app will make it into the stores.  That’s because stores are constantly changing their restrictions, making it more and more difficult day by day, to make it in.  

2)  Mobile app stores take time:  What’s the minimum amount of time that your app will be ready for download by your customers once you submit it?  When it comes the Apple app store, you could be waiting as much as a week.  But what if you’re trying to generate interest in a special promotion you’re having right now or get more people out to your event while it’s still happening?  Unfortunately, the stores can’t help you out there.  

3)  Mobile app stores don’t give you discoverability:  So you get your app into the store, now what?  Chances are, you’ll be competing with hundreds of thousands of other apps for the attention of consumers. So on top of worrying about SEO optimization, you’ve got to be worrying about app discoverability in the stores?  At Appguppy, we don’t think you should have to deal with all of that extra hassle.  Our idea is that you should be able to distribute that app directly to your customers’ phones, harnessing the power of all of your Twitter followers or all of your Facebook likes.  

At Appguppy, we believe you shouldn’t have to struggle with all of the time, money and complexity currently involved in distributing apps through stores.  That’s our ultimate source of inspiration.  It’s also our solution to helping to make sure that your apps work on all smartphones, on all platforms.  So while we may be saying “Saynora!” to the stores, we know we’re saying “Bring it on!” to freedom. 

Will generation "mobile" give way to generation "app"?

Generation Mobile: strong majority of Gen X & Gen Y now own smartphones, what’s your strategy?

The kids are alright…with their smartphones that is. Nielsen survey results reported in the New York Times showed 62% market penetration for smartphones among adults aged 25-34. This is a staggering figure, indicative of an entire segment of society that is moving towards mass adoption of mobile computing. The article we linked to quotes a senior Nielsen executive on his opinion that the recently published figures should serve as a wake-up call to advertisers who have been waiting for some sort of “tipping point” before moving into mobile media and advertising.

Those are wise words and we recommend you take note.

The mobile e-commerce market is estimated to reach $119 billion by 2015. If you’ve ever wondered what’s fueling that growth, take a look at the figures we keep publishing on this blog. 62% of an entire generation leapt into mobile computing within less than 5 years. Smartphone usage is growing even amongst adults in the 44+ market. Today’s tweens and teens will reach adulthood with the expectation of owning a smartphone as soon as is financially feasible for them to do so.

Which means that within the next few years, the majority of adults from 18-40 will come to expect a mobile experience from any organization they interact with, including yours. Don’t believe us? Think back to 10 or 15 years ago. We’re actually old enough to remember when having a website was an option rather than a requirement. Then five years later, everyone was mulling over whether they really needed to move into social media and other web 2.0 technologies. Today these aren’t even questions. Consumers will grow to expect mobile connections the same way they grew to expect websites, Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

The Appguppy platform offers the first democratic opportunity for ordinary people, well, ordinary passionate people, to set the standard in meeting the growing demand for to provide consumers, fans and followers with direct mobile connections. Apps built through our platform can function as an extension of your overall business strategy, helping you to deliver news, unique content and e-commerce to forge a closer relationship with your app downloaders through whichever smartphone platform they prefer.

Here’s another fun fact for you. Mobile tablets are so ubiquitous that customers are crashing hotel wi-fi while cruising the internet on free connections. Wouldn’t you rather they be browsing your app?

Sign up for an Appguppy app here!