Category: Mobile App Ideas

Great App Ideas

Great App Ideas: Mobile Apps that Make the World a Better Place

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Mobile apps target different audiences, have different functionalities, and purposes. But with how saturated the mobile app market is, the possibility of there being an app for everything is quite high. It’s quite a surprise sometimes when out of the blue, great mobile app ideas pop out of seemingly nowhere. How does one just come up with ideas like that (This post can give you a clue)? Most importantly, how do great app ideas turn into great instruments of a big change?

 

Great App Ideas for Promoting Social Responsibility

Beyond profit, an app developer should think of their users’ welfare. But what if the main goal of the app is to promote the welfare not only of its users but also the welfare of society? You earn some income from the app and you’re actually a socially responsible human being. Let’s take a look at how some app developers went about doing just that.

 

Apps for Getting Rid of Vices and Bad Habits

What if you find help in getting rid of a bad habit like chain smoking, overspending, and much more? And there’s more, not only will help balance your life, you can also help improve society. The premise is simple and the execution is mostly reward-based. Sometimes, the reward itself is seeing positive change in oneself.

Example: Get Rich or Die Smoking, Swear Jar, Forest

 

Apps that Help Companies Do Good

A lot of apps are now used as channels in which companies or organizations can give back to the community. The apps usually entail subsidized contributions or “donation matching”. These apps also team up with establishments wherein the app incentivize continued patronage, therefore promoting and increasing the business prospects of the establishments. In return, the app or the cause behind it receives a certain amount or item.

Examples: Check-in for Good, Tinbox, Flashfood

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Apps that Enable People to Help in Their Own Way

Not everyone has the capability to donate money or even their efforts. Apps that enable users to contribute even something as simple as a message for someone are amazing self-worth enhancers. It gives users the validation that no matter their wealth, or health status they can also help others in need.

Examples: HTC Power to Give, Pet To Give, Donate a Photo for Charity

 

Apps that Facilitate Community Involvement

A lot of organizations ask for monetary donations or for volunteers to contribute some of their time and efforts. A lot of organization-backed apps enable this to happen but there’s also other ways to encourage donations and volunteerism without being affiliated with any charitable organizations or without any resources. There’s no need to monitor anything and just let the sense of community run the cause. The app just needs to facilitate crowdsourcing, organization, and communication.

Examples: LeftoverSwap, SeeClickFix, GoodSam Alerter

 

Apps that Make Helping Fun

You can gamify everything these days, even charitable causes. The gamification brings not only the factor of entertainment but also the factor social proof. If one as much as shares that they are supporting a cause financially, it would immediately appear conceited or “humble-braggy”. But with this gamification approach, the sharing of any contribution is an invitation to join with the consequence of being left out from the trend.

Examples: Charity Tap, Involver, Budge

 

Apps that Help the Environment

There seem to be lots of tree huggers in social media. But not everyone can easily access the wonders of nature. So why don’t you let these people contribute from the comfort of their own homes? Environmental apps can either educate or empower users to make a contribution. There are different approaches but most of the time organizations either plant a tree for every donation.

Examples: Dropcountr, JouleBug, Recology

 

Though the apps cited contribute to the betterment of society and in extension, the world, a lot of these apps appear inactive. Take the Leftover Swap app, for example, it did not gain traction and did not publish any updates for two years now. A lot of great app ideas like this become lost to obscurity all because of poor or flawed execution.

 

So even if your great mobile app ideas are already taken, there’s still a possibility that your execution of the idea is better. At the end of the day, the one that leaves a mark – makes a real change in society is a tool that moves many.

Productivity Apps for Small Business

App Development Ideas: Productivity Apps for Small Business

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Apps that solve specific problems fill a need that target audiences may not know they have. Mobile apps, in general, has a lot of benefits for businesses, especially the apps for small business enterprises. But aside from the apps that are tailor-made for a specific company, there are also apps that can help businesses accomplish day-to-day tasks. This is where productivity apps come to the rescue.

 

Let’s take a look on what services, tools and types of small business one can target for a productivity app.

 

Productivity Apps for Small Business

Is still there an app that hasn’t been made? It seems like every other app is just an iteration of an existing app concept. Thankfully, there are still app niches to explore and develop. Businesses, even the brick, and mortar ones are now facing an ever-changing business environment. They need specific tools in order to make business processes more efficient.

 

A lot of productivity apps target a broad audience, therefore offering general features that almost everyone can use. Productivity apps for small business, on the other hand, often offer specific solutions for problems that large businesses solve with the use of expensive systems. But what problems are we talking about here?

 

Problems that Apps for Small Business Can Solve

  1. The hassle of business taxes. According to data from the NFIB, taxes consistently rank as first of second most important problem for small owners since 2008. There are actually several small business tax apps out in the app stores. Most of these apps are geared for the US, though. A small business tax tool especially targeted for a specific region can help a lot.
  2. Business expense management. This can include keeping track of any bills, receipts, mileage, etc. An app called Mint not only track your personal financial data but also the state of your investments, especially your business. An app like this can also help in sorting out taxes by expediting the auditing process.
  3. Task management. There are lots of task and project management apps out there. One of the main problems with these apps is that they are designed with large and/or remote teams in mind. Sometimes, you just need a tool to organize, schedule, and remind employees of assigned tasks. A tool like this is especially handy when you are on trips. Though there are apps that already offer solid small business task management, a new take on the problem is always welcome.
  4. Business networking. Being a small business doesn’t mean that your world should also be limited to your establishment’s four walls. That said, business networking apps can be helpful especially for budding entrepreneurs.
  5. Lead management. There are apps that specifically track sales leads. This is dead useful especially for small businesses that don’t have the resources for CRM software or just want to focus on leads.

 

Industries to Tap

These are just five of the productivity solutions apps can offer to small businesses. But in order to narrow down the app’s audience and features, these specific industries/niches can benefit from apps for small business:

  • Farming/Agriculture Industry in general
  • Delivery Services
  • Home Services (plumbing, cleaning, etc.)
  • Childcare Services (daycare, babysitters, etc.)
  • Event Organizer

If you’re thinking of creating a unique solution for small businesses but don’t know where to start, just select a specific industry to tap and then search for sources of innovative mobile app ideas within the industry. You’ll be surprised on the potential that even simple solutions can have.

Innovative Mobile App Ideas

How to Find Innovative Mobile App Ideas

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How to Generate Innovative Mobile App Ideas

 It all begins with an idea. But how would you translate this idea into a great app? Learn about ways to not only find but develop innovative mobile app ideas of your own.

  1. Observe what ideas are working.

    Some mobile app ideas work just so. Observe how competitors and other developers make their ideas work. Know their marketing, monetization strategies, and solutions (especially the innovative ones) they create for specific problems related to the app’s functionality. Decide if you want to improve on these successful ideas. If you want, take another approach but still aim for similar results.

  2. Read user reviews.

    Consider app user reviews as a mine of inspiration. Filter through the flood of trivial complaints and you’ll surely find a novel idea or two. What’s great about this, is that these ideas are usually in an attempt to solve specific problems. Most of the time reviewers notice even tiny nuances that app developers and marketers alike do not often notice from their point of view. Reviewers are users – the target market; getting ideas from them is actually a great boon.

  3. Watch out for trends.

    It’s either you adapt or go with the flow. Always be on the lookout for trends that could affect your industry. Trends aren’t for everyone, especially with apps since complying with parameters set by a trend can make your app look dated fast. But trends can give you inspiration and a close observation of trend’s anatomy can give you a lesson or two on how to make an app stand out.

  4. Scratch your own itch.

    Are you wishing that some apps become simpler or become less of a chore to use? Do you need an app that can keep you from sleeping during work? Or do you want to explore the world through the luxury of your small screen? Then why don’t you make an app that solves one of your wants and needs at a time? Remember though that your mobile app ideas should also solve the needs of prospective users and not just your own.

  5. Have a clear goal in mind.

    What do you want to achieve? How are you going to make things work? The audience is, of course, the foremost consideration in searching for innovative mobile app ideas. You should have a marketing plan in mind and later on asses how an idea pans out with it. If the idea sounds good but the monetization avenues are limited and not sustainable in the long run, reconsider. This way, you know if an idea has potential from the very beginning.

  6. Think technological development.

    OS updates bring new features and capabilities. You can leverage on these updates so you can offer a user experience that is in sync with device capabilities. Technological development can also enable some mobile app ideas to work better especially those that were set aside because the technology wasn’t advanced enough. Search for innovative mobile app ideas like this, especially those that did not pan out due to technology-related issues.

  7. Just look around.

    Inspiration can actually be around the corner. Experience new things or just look at everyday processes in another perspective. You don’t necessarily need to think of solutions or even do your search in a linear fashion. Innovative mobile app ideas may pop up spontaneously – most creative ideas do. Don’t jump on the first idea that comes to mind; improve, innovate and go back to the drawing board until an idea is polished. Sometimes, great mobile app ideas come from unexpected places.

Common Features of Best Apps to Bust Boredom

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Everyone gets bored, even annoyed with boredom sometimes. But the sight of a very bored 20 something guy waiting in line is quite rare nowadays with the rise of smartphone users. There are apps that can keep boredom at bay after all.

 

Game apps don’t have the highest retention rate but it is the most engaged app category. Games are engaged 10 times more per day compared to other app categories (as a whole). Strategy games average 3 sessions a day, closely followed by adventure games and then cards and board games*. Session length is longest for card and board games with users engaging on the app for 12-14 minutes. Strategy games place a far second with an average of about 11 minutes. Adventure games start in the same range on the first day before plummeting down to 8-9 minutes per session.

 

This just shows that users open game apps frequently but doesn’t really sit down for a long time to play, not even with the best of apps. It’s difficult (almost impossible) to ascertain what users are doing while playing these games but what is sure is that they spend some amount of time with the app and then return to it several times later in the day, which brings on the following questions:

  • Why are users engage this type of app more than others?
  • What makes the user continually return to the app?

 

To answer these questions, let’s have a look at common features of best apps that fall under the category of adventure, card, and strategy. All these boredom-busting apps have these common denominators:

 

Fast action

There is more time for gameplay instead of following through a storyline. Unlimited lives or tries is also a big bonus. While gameplay set against time gives the impression of time quickly passing by in real life.

 

Metagames

Mini games and adventures can keep users from leaving the game since has an option for quick and manageable sessions for non-hardcore gamers or for those who do not have plenty of time to sit through a full game session.

 

Easy interface

Access to navigation and gameplay should be only a few taps away. Most importantly, controls should not be something that needs a learning curve – it should be almost instantaneously instinctive.

 

No linear progress

There are level advancements but no storyline to follow with only one recurring goal in the gameplay. Games like this are called “Super Casual”. Some of the best apps are considered as super casual.

 

Strong character connection

This is in combination with interactions in the game environment wherein the user can customize characters and other game elements. Examples are the collection and combination of objects they can keep as accessories or as aides in gameplay. The user should have something to fixate upon.

 

Offline play and guest user option

A casual gamer should be able to access the app anytime, anywhere. Some users are also more inclined to download an app if it can be played offline since Wifi availability is limited in many areas.

 

Immediate feedback

Users should immediately learn how they did in a single game and not wait for the entire storyline or multi-level chapter before they receive scores and other stats. Immediate gratification should be at play.

 

Competitive play

Attract competitive players through leaderboards and social players through co-op plays. You want competitive and social players in your game. As long as they have someone they know to compete (or cooperate), they would return to the game again and again.

 

Game attachment

Facilitate attachment to the game with progress investment (the amount of time and money the player already spent on the game). Give a sense of progression even if they just started playing (free coins after the first game, etc.).

 

There are certainly more features and genre-specific formulas. If you noticed more features in game apps that could’ve contributed to its time killer status, let me know in the comments.

 

*Data is for iOS games only

Pokemon Go Plus

Is Pokémon Go Plus a Practical Peripheral?

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What is Pokémon Go Plus?

Pokémon Go Plus is an app peripheral that can be used as a companion for the Pokémon Go app. The peripheral is paired to a smartphone via Bluetooth LE . Some of Pokémon Go Plus features include:

 

  • You can wear the peripheral as a wristband or as a clip for your tie or lapel.
  • Light and vibration alert whenever a Pokémon is nearby. The peripheral eliminates the need for constantly checking your phone for the presence of a Pokémon.
  • You can throw a Poke Ball with just a press of the button. The peripheral would vibrate to indicate that your attempt was successful.
  • The peripheral will also notify you if there’s a PokeStop nearby. It is also possible to collect items like Poke Balls, berries and Pokémon eggs.

 

There’s a Demand but Is It Really Practical?

As one reviewer in GameStop stated, “The anticipation is unreal!” Even with the $34.99 price tag, it is sold out prior to its September 30 release date. But do the benefits of having this peripheral outweigh its shortcomings? Accept it, even if you’re a die-hard Pokémon fan, you still want to get what’s worth your money, right? Here are several issues that can undermine the need for an app peripheral like Pokémon Go Plus:

 

  1. Except for the purpose of convenience, it doesn’t really offer any new functionality which is the selling point of most standalone peripherals.
  2. And since Bluetooth is used, the paired smartphone should be within the range of the peripheral. Even with the one-time setup, Pokémon Go Plus can’t be truly considered a “standalone” peripheral since it can’t function without the app.
  3. The smartphone and the peripheral would vibrate at the same time whenever a Pokémon is nearby.
  4. You can only catch Pokémon species you already captured.
  5. You can’t control the throw of the Poke Balls. A lot of Pokemon Go users worry that the peripheral is just another way to burn through Poke Balls, facilitating more in-app purchases.
  6. Pokémon Go’s bugs and glitches would affect the peripheral’s performance.
  7. You may need to stake out more money to have one. The peripheral is no longer available for pre-order. A lot of people took advantage of this and started selling guaranteed deliveries ten times the original price. You may have wait longer to have one after all.