Mobile App Trends for 2017: Design, Monetization & More

MOBILE APP TRENDS FOR 2017

NICK CULBERTSON DALLAS APP DEVELOPERS - FEB. 2, 2017

▸ Design, Monetization & More

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Outline▸ Recap 2016 - App Market Data

▸ What’s New For 2017

▸ Design - Icon, Screenshots, User Interface

▸ Monetization

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WHAT HAPPENED IN 2016

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Fun Facts▸ The global revenue growth rates for both the iOS App

Store and Google Play were greater in 2016 than 2015

▸ China become the largest country in terms of iOS App Store revenue in 2016

▸ Pokémon GO launched in July 2016 and made the top five apps for worldwide revenue

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New in 2016‣ iPhone 7, Google Pixel, Samsung Note

‣ Pokemon GO & Super Mario Run

‣ Messages Store

‣ macOS

‣ Search Ads

‣ VR/AR

Users spent 25% more time in apps

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Downloads increased by 15%

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Revenue increased by 40%

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Streaming apps took off in 2016

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Pokemon GO rapid growth

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TEXT

Games became more dominant

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25% of apps are games

TEXT

1000+% difference in 1st & 10th

top grossing apps

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Now over 2 Million iOS Apps!

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Revenue projected to double by 2020

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WHAT’S NEW FOR 2017New screen size, new OS, same design?

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Design▸ Icon

▸ Screenshots

▸ User Interface

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Icons▸ Apple

▸ White logo w/ color gradient or opposite

▸ Games are the exception

▸ Android

▸ Material design w/ Flat colors

▸ Apple Style Rounded rect or Circular Pixel-style icon

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Examples

White Logo with color gradient or color logo on white

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White Logo with color gradient

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Android icons look similar with some changing to circular

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Google’s icons use Material Design look with flat colors

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Dallas App Developers Icon Mock-Up

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Screenshots▸ Apple shows screenshots of screen exclusively

▸ Other developers frequently include the outline of a device with a description (users tend to read text on screenshots before the description)

▸ Google uses a combination of two styles depending on the app

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Screenshots with device and description

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Screenshots with device and description

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Screenshots with device and description

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Screenshots with In-App Screen

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Android screenshots with In-App Screen

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Android screenshots with device and description

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User Interface▸ Minimal (UI and functionality)

▸ Blur layers

▸ Outline iconography

▸ Colorful

▸ Heavy use of native UI elements

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WWDC iTunes UMusic Memos

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Other Design Considerations▸ Watch App Store features, Apple’s apps, and iOS updates for shifts in design

trends (last major update iOS 7).

▸ Design with future updates in mind

▸ Minimal Design - What would this look like if it were simple?

▸ Autolayout

▸ Have a few great features

▸ Go native

▸ Reuse your core codebase

DEMO - EZSwift (https://github.com/NickCulbertson/EZSwift)

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Monetization▸ 3 Models

▸ In-App Purchases (Consumable, Freemium, Subscription, pay-what-you-want, etc.)

▸ Ads (Banner, Interstitial, Video, Reward Ads)

▸ Premium

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Top Grossing▸ Most are free to download

▸ Games - Monetized with Reward Ads & IAP Consumables

▸ Others - Subscription

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Example 1: Angry Birds Blast▸ Reward Ads & Consumable IAP

▸ Pros: Makes winning feel like saving money

▸ Cons: I played the entire game without them earning any revenue from me (ads only pay when they are clicked).

▸ Also incentivize user to return daily, rate prompts & time refills lives

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Example 2: Okay▸ Pay-what-you-want & Reward Ads

▸ Pros: Marketable

▸ Cons: Doesn’t work

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Reward Ads▸ Uses

▸ Should add an advantage to the player without them feeling like they are cheating. i.e. checkpoints, power-ups, hints, continue/save life

▸ Sample locked content - Crossy Roads, Epic Orchestra ;)

▸ Implementation

▸ Can earn more than IAP - Crossy Roads (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMqIHm3dDJI)

▸ Great Reward Ad Providers - Chartboost, AppLovin’, Unity Ads

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Subscriptions▸ Access to information, media or service

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Other Monetization Considerations▸ Think of your monetization strategy early

▸ Study other successful apps in your category to see how they are monetizing

▸ It is never too late to change your monetization model (i.e. Hulu, Netflix, etc.)

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Discussion▸ When should you update your apps?

▸ Are premium apps dead?

▸ How can you get featured in 2017?

MOBILE APP TRENDS FOR 2017

NICK CULBERTSON DALLAS APP DEVELOPERS - FEB. 2, 2017

Next Meeting▸ Show & Tell / App Lightning Talks - March 2nd