2018 has been a noteworthy year for app marketing and the we’ve made it our mission to stay on top of new mobile and developments throughout the year. With 2019 fast approaching, the Yodel Mobile team have been mulling over what innovative developments and trends we think we’ll be seeing more of in the new year. Our app experts share what their predictions are for the industry, what they’re most excited for and where exactly they think the world of mobile and app marketing is heading. This is what the team think…
The Future of the App Stores
“As it currently stands, the Google Play and the Apple App Store are the most widely used mobile marketplaces across the globe, but the duopoly in the app world has posed its issues. Developers face a 30% cut on all purchases, app downloads and in-app purchases. Even with the iOS 11 app store, only a small percentage of apps achieve visibility in the stores, with a lack of focus on putting independent apps under the spotlight.
Interestingly, we’ve seen the duopoly being challenged this last year, and I think these developments will really shake up the marketplace in 2019 and pose new and innovative ways for app distribution. For example, in China we see 400 alternative Android app stores instead of Google Play Store. Businesses like Fortnight have escaped the walled gardens of the app stores, bringing their game directly to its customers.
Even companies like Aptoide are challenging the app stores by not taking a share of app purchases and instead offering developers the ability to use ‘AppCoins’ (cryptocurrency) paid directly to consumers for app usage, making CPI campaigns redundant. The app economy is changing and the effects will start to show in 2019. After all, no one stays on top forever.”
– Arazoo, Marketing Manager
Apple vs The People
“We could be gearing up for a major shake-up of the walled garden approach that Apple, and to a lesser extent Google, have taken towards app stores.
Many of you have probably heard of the long-running Apple v. Pepper antitrust case, but for those that haven’t here’s a quick overview. A group of iPhone buyers are arguing that Apple’s App Store is an unlawful monopoly, essentially forcing all developers to sell through the App Store. Because of the commission that Apple takes from these apps, developers are then forced to pass on inflated costs to consumers. The suit’s plaintiffs are arguing, in doing so, Apple has created an anti-trust monopoly.
Before this suit can even be heard, however, the Supreme Court must decide if consumers are even entitled to sue Apple in this case. This is because of a previous anti-trust case Illinois Brick Company v. Illinois heard in 1977. In this case, it was found that the consumer could not sue the Brick Company for damages because they were actually purchasing from middle-men; only the middle-men, those directly purchasing from the Brick Company, could sue. This protected the company from being sued successfully by both groups.
So, what does this mean for Apple? The Supreme Court will convene in July to decide if Pepper is even able to sue Apple, but so far it seems that many of the Justices are cynical of Apple’s defence of the Brick Doctrine in this case. If Pepper is successful in suing Apple for anti-trust practices, we could see a massive shake-up in how consumers are able to download apps in the coming years.”
– Lizzy, Data Analyst
The Future is Here With Smart Cities
“We’re in the middle of a smart revolution, and smart cities are next on the horizon.
A smart city is a city using technology to improve efficiencies of government services and living standards of its inhabitants. This already exists in various capacities around the world, with Singapore setting the example. The likes of automated meter reading, autonomous vehicles and smart lamp-posts that control lighting, measure air quality and rainfall, are all being implemented into the city.
Mobile apps are set to play a key role in the development of these smart cities, with examples of their implementation cropping up all over the world. In Singapore, the myENV app allows the public to receive environmental news updates, search track records of licenced food establishments and access real-time information on weather and air-quality. The OneService App allows members of the public to provide feedback on municipal issues without having to locate the agency responsible.
Similar apps are spreading over the U.S, like DSNY Infor in New York, Find It, Fix It in Seattle and BOS:311 in Boston. In fact, London has its own app called Love the Square Mile, although uptake has been low so far, possibly due to its limited features and clunky design. Once the potential value to both government and the general public has been realised, we can expect to see some heavy investment flooding in to bridge the gap between smart city and smartphone.”
– Declan, Data Planner
A New Wave of Fear for Brand Safety?
“Facebook continues to roll out a suite of new innovative formats and tools for advertisers, such as augmented reality, playable ads and unskippable Stories. Taking into consideration previous concerns over brand safety, it seemed that Google had removed a lot of the control that marketers previously had with the release of UAC, a trend that looked like it would continue with Facebook.
However, Facebook are trying to avoid this with their new tool. Facebook recently unveiled its newest ad control tool, meant to give advertisers pre-campaign insight into the exact placement of advertisements before purchase. The tool will allow for more transparency, and it underscores that Facebook is taking measurable steps to meet its pledge of user accountability. This is in response to industry ‘gossip’ that Facebook are seeing a larger percentage of users moving away and towards Twitter and Instagram.”
– Alexa, Media Planner & Buyer
5G is Coming…
“Thought 4G was fast enough? Think again! 5G is just around the corner, and with up to 10x faster speeds than 4G offers, it’s about to shift the whole mobile landscape. As well as speeding up every day browsing, downloading, and streaming while on the go, 5G will likely lead to a few more significant changes. Faster speeds and reduced latency pave the way towards a revolution in the way we use our phones, with technology such as VR, AR, and cloud-based gaming poised to expand beyond the home once WiFi is no longer a pre-requisite for running them properly.
Something else to watch out for will be consumers’ shifting expectations. As they get used to never having to wait for anything to load online, they’ll come to be less tolerant of laggy or slow apps, so it will become even more important to ensure they’re optimised, and your servers are capable of handling user requests quickly and efficiently.”
– Matt, Project Manager
A Move Towards Cloud Apps
“As technology advances, particularly in the competitive app industry, businesses are looking to find and implement the latest tech to differentiate themselves. With AI, machine learning and IoT (Intent of Things) becoming increasingly popular, and more readily available, the standard app is going to struggle to keep up with storing all the data needed for these technologies. Cloud apps look to resolve this issue.
Users often don’t have enough storage on their phones as it is – Cloud apps offer a cost efficient and practical way for business to overcome this problem. It has been suggested that Cloud apps will drive 90% of total mobile data traffic by 2019; in fact, one of the most popular apps on the app stores is a Cloud app – LinkedIn! This approach of having remote servers offers fast response to business needs, simplified operation, instant scalability and improved data security. For these reasons, we believe that an increasing amount of businesses will choose to adopt this approach, following LinkedIn’s footsteps.”
– Rachel, App Marketing Executive
Edge Computing Will Change the Game
“Computing paradigms change and evolve with the technology available at the time. With the increase in internet speeds and availability, we moved to a cloud-based model that utilised the computing power of centralised servers and then passed the processed information over to the device through Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G.
While apps and devices have become more powerful, they have become more data hungry. A portion of that cloud-based paradigm will be moving towards Edge Computing depending on the type of app or device. This is when a system moves some of the burden of processing from servers to as close to the data source as possible in order to make decisions as quickly as possible and reduce latency. The most obvious example is in autonomous vehicles.
Whilst all that data will be passed between the server and back, sometimes the car’s own software needs to process that information in real time and decide based on information it is receiving. Rather than sending the data to the cloud, being processed by servers and passed back in increasing the time it takes to decide.
The same principle is now being applied to other devises such as smart devices, smart phones and apps that control those devices and apps in general. I’m interested in seeing how Edge Computing develops over the next year and what that means for app design, size and performance.”
– Mupeta, Campaign Manager
Continued Momentum of Augmented Reality
“As Augmented Reality (AR) no doubt continues to do well in
the gaming sector (who’s ready for the new Harry Potter: Wizards Unite game?),
app owners in other industries will begin to understand the true value and
potential of AR. It took time to understand that AR has the potential to
disrupt industries with an incredible level of accessibility that, while
flashier, VR has never had.
While we may have seen a slow(ish) start, use cases within a variety of fields
– including Froggipedia in the medical field, JigSpace in education, and IKEA
Places in retail – are already being explored, leading to real value-adding
interaction. We expect to see a tonne of new, innovative applications in 2019.”
– Megan, Senior Strategic Growth Manager
These are just some of the things that we’re excited to see more of in 2019 and we think their impact will become evident for app marketers and mobile leaders for the coming year. One thing is clear, whether it’s topics like mobile advertising or app distribution, this year will unveil developments that stress the importance of continued innovation and the evident benefits available by harnessing mobile capabilities to achieve app success.
Want to find out more about optimising your app and keeping up with the latest OS capabilities? Make sure to subscribe to our Mastering Mobile Marketing video series. You can also get in touch by visiting the Contact Us page. Follow us on LinkedIn, chat with us on Twitter @yodelmobile, and join our #mobilemarketingUK LinkedIn group.
