« Mobile App or Mobile Website

Keeping your apps relevant

OK so you have built your app, it got approved and you are among thousands of apps in the app store now, what can you do to stay relevant and make sure you app is not one and done?  There are a few top items that can be done to make sure that users continue to use your app after they have downloaded it.

Continued improvement and software releases
One way to keep an app relevant is continuous improvement and usability.  In regards to the Apple apps when a new update is added to their app store all of the iPhone’s will be notified when they open up iTunes or the app store app on their iPhone.  This automated notification can increase awareness for users who may have downloaded an app and not used it in some time.  These updates also provide and opportunity to communicate with the end users of the app letting them know what has improved and new features you may have added.  It also shows that if the end users are communicating with the app developers they are listening to that feedback and taking it seriously and implementing change.

Unique and Frequent Content Updates
It is important whether the app is a game or some other utility app that new and unique content is presented to the user each time they use the app.  For example with a game, a blog feed can be integrated so the end user can follow progress on game improvements.  Also a live score board can be used so that users can compete against each other for better scores.  As you design your app make sure that you think about a way to deliver new content to the end user on frequent basis.

Integration with social media outlets
Obviously social media is the hot topic of today.  How it applies to mobile apps is important as well to take advantage of this hot trend.  It is important that end users can share the unique content being delivered to them or share their high scores on the games they are playing.  In doing this the end users become a marketing component of your application.  These end users can become envangelists of the app and influence their friends and family to try it out as well so it is important to create hooks in the app to allow for the sharing and promoting of the app and app features through social media outlets.

Utilize the unique hardware of the smartphone
As new phones continue to be developed and the hardware continues to push the limits of what the smartphone can do it is important to incorporate those elements in to the app in some fashion.  For example, augmented reality utilizes the camera, accelerometer and compass features built in the smartphone.  An example would be an app called RedLaser [iTunes Link] in which the app uses the camera to read barcodes and then search for the best prices for that product.  Not all these aspects can be used with mobile websites and taking advantage of these hardware advances can keep the app fun and on the cutting edge.

These are just a few of the ways that an app developer can keep their app relevant and on the top of the end users mind.  There are more things that can be done to keep apps relevant, however doing the above four items will cover the base for any app.

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Print article This entry was posted by admin on Mar 13, 2011 at 9:55 am, and is filed under Mobile. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
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