App Stores + CordovaGet Excited!

Drake Emkodemko@revionics.com

Why App Stores?

Old Way:Y U NO buy my game?

Why App Stores?What game? I never heard of it.

You’re hosting it on GeoCities, how good can it be?

Why wouldn’t I buy a game from a publisher I’ve heard of?

How do I know it doesn’t have a virus?

You want my credit card? No Way!

How do I install it?

Why App Stores?

Now:

That looks nice! I’ll click install!

Your app is displayed on same footing as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, etc.

Why App Stores?Basically everyone buys their apps there

Payments are easy!

“We know from our user testing [of] tablets and mobile devices that users quickly accumulate numerous applications”

- JAKOB NIELSEN

I need this… Download!Oooh, cats… Download!Hmm, monkeys… Download!Furious birds? OK… Download!

The Journey Begins

Enter My App: Read Advice Columns!

Actual Screenshot!

Android or iOS?

iOS!“iPhone users spend an average of 19 cents per app downloaded, while Android users spend only 6 cents per download.”

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/07/18/iphone-users-pay-average-of-19-cents-per-app-android-users-pay-just-6-cents

Android!“80 percent of smartphone sales worldwide — especially in developing markets such as China, where Apple’s iPhone is seventh.”

http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/04/iphone-up-windows-phone-up-android-down-in-latest-mobile-marketshare-numbers/

Why not both? Yay PhoneGap!

Build your app in HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript

PhoneGap builds it for:

● Android● iOS● Windows Phone● Blackberry● … And More!

Or Apache Cordova, whatever!PhoneGap or Cordova?

● Both are Open Source and Free

● Would you rather type “cordova” instead of “phonegap” on the command line?

● PhoneGap build does allow you to build apps in the cloud (1st app free, pay for more)

(You can think of Apache Cordova as the engine that powers PhoneGap, similar to how WebKit is the engine that powers Chrome or Safari.)

PhoneGap or Cordova?

Doesn’t ReallyMatter

http://phonegap.com/2012/03/19/phonegap-cordova-and-what%E2%80%99s-in-a-name/

How does this thing work?Install Cordova 3.1$ sudo npm install -g cordova@3.1.0-0.2.0

Create app skeleton$ cordova create hello com.example.hello HelloWorld

Add platforms$ cordova platform add ios$ cordova platform add android

Run app on Android Device!$ cordova run android

Run app on virtual iPhone!$ cordova emulate ios

...code code code code...

Add to your app: Google Analytics

● You want analytics

● Can install with Cordova plugin

Add to your app: Google AdMob

Step 3: Profit!

Can install with Cordova plugin

$$

AdMob: Spend MoneyI tried: $2 / day I get: 5-7 conversions (installs) / day

AdMob: Spend Money

Pro Tip: AB test your ads

First… Android (Google Play Store)!

Wait time to publish: A few hoursRejections? No WayPain rating: Use Eclipse, but not bad!

Pro Tip: For your app to be showcased in the 'Designed for tablets' list in the Play Store, you need to upload at least one 7-inch and one 10-inch screenshot.

Android: Google Play Store

Google Play Store

First result!

Next Step… Kindle!

No Problem: Submit Same Android APK that you submitted to Google Play store

Wait time to publish: 3 days

Amazon Kindle App StoreRejections? Once, for good reason (AndroidManifest.xml showed app incompatible with 1st generation Kindle Fire, but I said it worked on all Kindles).

Solution: Edited device support section on dashboard and resubmitted.

Pain Rating: Low

Amazon Kindle Dev Dashboard

Amazon Kindle Store

OK! Now… Chrome!2 Types of apps:

Packaged Web App● Self contained code package● Strict JavaScript security restrictions

Hosted Web App● Basically just points to a web site

My Choice!

Chrome hosted web app

Just upload this zip…

app.zip:adviceOwl-128.pngadviceOwl-16.pngmanifest.json

Chrome hosted web appmanifest.json:{ "name": "Advice Owl", "description": "Read all your favorite advice columns in one app.", "version": "1.3", "manifest_version": 2, "icons": { "16": "adviceOwl-16.png", "128": "adviceOwl-128.png" }, "app": { "urls": [ "http://d2whqoo26gzkh3.cloudfront.net/adviceOwl/main.html" ], "launch": { "web_url": "http://d2whqoo26gzkh3.cloudfront.net/adviceOwl/main.html" } }}

Chrome Web App StoreWait time to publish: Few hours

Rejections? Once, because I mistakenly published the same app twice.

Pain rating: Super Easy (for hosted web app)

Any Caveats? See next slide...

Chrome Web App Store

Caveat: You can never delete an app from your dashboard

Chrome Web App Store

Chrome Web App Store

Launching from Chrome Browser

In Chrome, click this icon to see apps

My app!

Finally... iTunes App Store!

Pain Rating: HIGHLearn Xcode (kind of intricate)

Generate provisioning profilesCreate signing requests

Various stages of waiting

Rejections? Yes...

Submit To iTunes App Store

Wait…1 day…2 days…6 days...

Submit App (excited)…

iTunes App Store

Rejection!We found that your app only provides a very limited set of features. It only provides a simple RSS with no curation, or other features. While we value simplicity, we consider simplicity to be uncomplicated - not limited in features and functionality.

iTunes App Store

I Wrote My RebuttalThank you for taking the time to review Advice Owl. I would like to make the case that while it basically does provide a simple RSS service, it is not true that it provides no curation or other features: 1. The feeds are all...blah...blah...blah

I completely expected them to ignore it...

iTunes App Store

The next day…

Subject: The status for your app, Advice Owl (739076106), is now Ready for Sale.

They Listened! They Listened!

iTunes App Store

Live Version New

Version

iTunes App Store

My App On the iPad

iTunes rounds your app’s icon automagically for you

App Store RoundupAndroid: Steady Growth, Decent Ad performance

Kindle: Very little sales in Kindle app store, but analytics show many Kindle users (must be able to get from Android store)

Chrome: Easy to host, light activity (~7 visits / day)

iTunes: Most likely to reject your app, but Best growth and Ad performance so far