I was recently in Nottingham speaking at the Mobile Marketers Conference 2012 on why we should bother about mobile at all. Why does mobile matter? 

In my role running an app agency I am frequently asked the same two questions by prospective clients.

1. How much does it cost to build an app?
2. How long does it take to build an app?

My answer is, more often than not, enough to scare off the prospective new client and they are never heard of again.

Apps are not websites!

Many such clients have had experience in running or commissioning web projects. This background tends to create a false expectation of both cost and timescales of an app project. Apps are fundamentally different to websites as they are real software. They are fundamentally more complex and require a more specialist skill set to design and build them. We have reached the stage with web technology that everybody has a brother, or an uncle, or a neighbour, or somebody that they know can knock them out a website in a few weeks for a couple of hundred pounds. Granted, a professional web agency will give you a better experience and an all round better end result for considerably more time and money but the cheap and cheerful option is available. This is not really the case when it comes to apps.

1. How much does it cost to build an app?
   Between £7.5k and £50k+ ;This is a typical custom developed app for your shop, sports club, school, college, news portal, music festival, organisation or whatever. This is the price for one platform. If you want you app to work on multiple platforms (windows, iOS, Android) then you need to multiply up the cost accordingly. The grand total will depend, obviously, on the complexity of the app and what other systems you might want to integrate with.
2. How long does it take to build my app?
   2 – 6 months ;1 – 3 weeks to develop the initial wireframes
   2 – 4 weeks to complete the design
   1 – 4 months to develop the beta version of your app
   1 – 2 months to test and make it bug free.

You have been warned

Be vary wary of freelancers who promise an app for a couple of thousand pounds in a few weeks. There are a large number of freelancers out there who are biting off more than they can chew and you may end up paying a lot more than you bargained for over a much longer period of time. If you get anything delivered at all.

Consider yourself warned. *smile*

This was originally posted on in-tracton.com. Join in the conversation here.

My mobile phone is an extension of me. Everything I do in my day to day life is through my phone in some form. It holds my photos, my music, my videos, my calendar, my email. I interact with my social networks through it, I answer life’s little questions with it. I kill time with it and I catch up with distant friends with it. I even make the occasional call. It’s always on my person, never out of reach. And I’m sorry to have to admit that it’s the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in morning. But I’m guessing I’m not alone.

This time it’s personal

You must have had that sinking feeling when somebody, for whatever reason, asks to have a look at your phone. Or even worse, use it to “check something”. You know that you have to allow this. You have to pass your shiny device into the hands of another. There is no socially acceptable way to not. But as you do, you know that a little piece of you is now at the mercy of an outsider. They have access to your world!

Because of the amount of time we spend with our smart devices, and the things that we use them for, we form an emotional connection with them. We are protective of them and do not tolerate lightly anything that may interfere with the normal running of them.

When our tools don’t work, we tend to blame ourselves, for being too stupid or not reading the manual or having too-fat fingers …. When our tools are broken, we feel broken. And when somebody fixes one, we feel a tiny bit more whole. -Steve Jobs

This is why your organisation must consider mobile when developing an online strategy. We are using mobile devices to access services and interact online with increasing regularity. Very soon (some estimates place it at 2014) there will be more people interacting online via a mobile device than via a traditional desktop / laptop. Our online behaviour is changing and this time it’s personal.

If I attempt to use your services or access your content and it doesn’t play nicely with my smartphone it is quite possible that I will not only find it frustrating, but I will offended by it. How dare you break my shiny device? This may sound a little strong but the emotional connection that I have formed with my device, that is an extension of myself, could lead me to place a black mark against your organisation if you didn’t deem it worth your time to consider me when providing your services.

Blue screen of death

If you are developing apps then they need to not crash my phone, access or share my data without permission, or negatively impact my experience of using my device in any way. When software produced a “blue screen of death” on windows then, no matter what happen or why, it was the stupid computers fault. If your app “breaks” my phone, no matter how or why, it’s your fault!

If your website is unreadable or unusable on my touch screen device then it shows that you were not interested in me. Forcing me to use a traditional internet access method (if I still have access to one) means that I am not important to you. And fobbing me off with a poorly implemented mobile alternative site that leaves me thinking that I’m missing something and looking for the “show full site link” makes me feel like you just don’t care.

It’s been emotional

Mobile device use invokes an emotional reaction. This means that the damage that can be done to the image of your organisation is greatly increased. If you have not yet considered mobile in your online strategy then do so soon. Before you do any more damage.

This post was originally published on boagworld.com

I thought that it was about time that I practised what I preached and so Dootrix (my mobile development agency) has a brand new responsive website.

That is pretty much all there is to this story, other than, ooo, isn’t it shiny and resizable!

If you are in need of any mobile development work or just want to have a chat about your mobile strategy then hop on over and get in touch.

Dootrix have been working with the nice people at Simpl on their new website building app. The launch is not to far away now and they produced this little video to wet your apetite.

I’ll post more detail on what went into the project after it’s launch early next month.

Check out simpl.com for more information.

We are in an app bubble. Still. We have been since the launch of the iPhone 3G in 2008. This is something that I hear a lot in my role running an app development agency. Apps are a fad; the .com boom / gold rush of our time. Where will you be when the bubble bursts in a year or two? One day we will all grow up and go back to mobile sites. etc etc etc.

Well, it’s now 2012. We are approaching four years of life in said bubble. So is there any truth in it? I think that the answer is yes. And no. We are in something of bubble, but rather than it bursting what we are seeing is a maturing of peoples approach to it.

The billion doller app

Every app developer wants to invent Angry Birds. Rovio, the company behind it, are now worth over a $1 billion. It was downloaded 6.5million times on Christmas day (2011) alone. That’s a big number. But with over 500,000 different apps now in the apple app store alone (plus the windows and android apps that are out there) for every Angry Birds there are many many thousands of apps that you have never heard of and are rarely downloaded.

Building apps is an expensive business too. Yes, you can find a freelancer to build an app for a couple of thousand pounds but you are taking your chances with what you end up with. I know many freelancers who are very reputable but there are also a large number who are after a quick buck or simply bite off more than they can chew. Building apps is not the same as building websites, as many prospective clients suppose. Software development is a more specialist and more expensive skill. The simplest of apps are going to cost you upwards of £7k. If you add any degree of complexity you need to be considering a budget of upwards of £30k. My point is, you can waste a lot of money seeking the next Angry Birds and chances are you will be one of the many who are either never downloaded or downloaded and used only once.

More smartphones than people

Sounds like a bubble then. We will soon all be wise to this and give up on apps. I think not. The growth in smart device technology take-up shows no sign of slowing down. By the end of 2012 some predictions suggest that there will be more smartphones than people on planet earth! We heard from the Office of National Statistics late last year that 70% of people aged 16-25 access the internet on a smart device while out and about. Current estimates suggest that by 2014 use of a mobile smart device to access online services will over take that of traditional desktop / laptops.

The picture is clear. Our behaviour online is changing because we are, increasingly, accessing services via this new breed of device. When using these devices the best experience in many (not all) circumstances is provided via a native app. And for this reason apps are not going away any time soon.

A maturing market

However, we will see a maturing in the market. The rush to join the app gold rush will give way to a more mature, considered approach. As an organisation you need to have clear goals for your app; both for yourselves and the intended users. Does this app have a purpose, does it meet a need? Do your users want or need an app? And, importantly, are you going to see a return on your investment?

I am going to put myself out there and say that you are not going to invent Angry Birds. However, with careful, considered planning you can develop apps, as part of a wider mobile strategy that will include a mobile optimised website, that are of value to your users and provide a solid return on investment.

Get in touch

If developing such a web strategy is something that you are interested in why not get in touch.

This article was originally published on in-traction.com. Head on over and join in the conversation.

We all know how important the mobile web has become, but what is the right approach? Should we build an iPhone app or mobile website? This factsheet explores your options.

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There has been quite a stir in recent weeks about Boston Globe. This American daily publication has shunned Apple and its in-app subscription model and decided instead to develop a new desktop browser based website  which is optimised for mobile browsers using a techniques called adaptive and reactive design. We are going to take a brief look at what they did, why it works for them, and whether or not you should care.

Boston Globe have produced a fantastic example of adaptive and reactive design.  It is the first major site of its kind to receive such public acclaim and has been heralded as proof that apps are a  short lived blot on the landscape of browser dominance. While it is a very impressive piece of work and a very good solution for their needs I don’t think we should be writing the obituary of the app just yet.

React

Reactive design is a technique where by the website reacts to the size of its containing browser. Resizing the browser will automatically adjust the layout of the website to optimise the content for its new surroundings.  This might mean making images smaller or changing column widths; even removing columns entirely.  The idea is that no matter what your reading preference you will have a view of the content that is optimised for you.

Adapt

Adaptive design is a similar technique in which there are 2 or more predefined states. The website adapts when it is loaded or resized to a predefined screen size. For example you might set an adapting point at iPhone screen size, or at iPad portrait screen size. This is useful in providing an optimised view of your content for specific target devices.

Boston Globe combined these two approaches and produced a fully reactive adaptive site. This reacts and then, at specific points, adapts. It is a very good implementation and it goes some way to solving their major mobile problem. Post September 30th, when the pay wall goes online, they will not have to give 30% of their sales to Apple while still offering a mobile specific context to their users.

Emerging app use cases

Notice that I didn’t say app like context. It’s mobile specific but it’s not app like. Clear use cases for browser technology and apps are emerging. If you are looking to provide a function or an interactive service; if your service requires users to do something then you need to seriously consider an app. If you are providing traditional or corporate content then a mobile optimised web site is what you should be looking into.  Admittedly subscription news providers do fit somewhere in the middle but Apple’s policy on in-app purchasing revenues have push this one way instead of the other. On the other hand news services providing free content have tended to go down the app route. The BBC News app is a great example of this.

Boston Globe’s approach hasn’t, by any means, killed the app. However, what they have shown is that there is a viable alternative for content providers who are looking for mobile optimisation rather than mobile functionality.

[box type="info"] This post was originally posted on in-traction.com. Head on over and join in the discussion.[/box]

Following on from last weeks post from Kev about how the size of the device really does matter I have found myself considering how I actually use my devices. While I was aware that use of my laptop had changed since I started using an iPhone I was quite surprised to realised that my usage of my iPhone had radically changed since I started using an iPad.

The arrival of smart phones and, more specifically, “Apps”, has led to the usage of mobile devices expanding far beyond even what happened with the initial arrival of the camera (feature) phone. Walk along any high street in any town and you will see people walking along, head down, tapping an a screen. However, it is emerging that while you can use your smart phone for many things, and that there is indeed an “app for that”, you may not want to use your smart phone when you have a viable alternative.

Smart phones are now number one

Smart phones, for the first time, have now out shipped feature phones. They are well and truly mainstream tech. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to not buy a smart phone. It’s the default sale. Smart phones are now, simply, mobiles phones. Everybody will soon have one. You might think, therefore, that getting you services onto a phone is a must. But there is a newer arrival that is complicating the landscape.

Tablets (such as iPad) have put a huge dent in the sales of other types of PC. For many light computer users they are a viable alternative to a PC while other, heavier users, are looking to augment their PC with a tablet. As one such user I own a smart phone, a tablet, and a laptop PC and I have found my usage of each device has changed as a result.

When I first started using a smart phone I used it for everything. Web surfing, email, social network, games and reading the news. I found that it was much more convenient, not only when I was out and about, but when I was at home. Rather than turn on my laptop I could use my iPhone. It was better suited to some tasks that others; writing long emails could be a pain for example, but it was so much more convenient that using my laptop that I put up with it. Not any longer.

Now I have a tablet. My iPad is much better suited to reading and writing email or taking notes in a meeting. Surfing the web on the sofa is a breeze with my tablet and would choose this experience every time over the inconvenience of switching on my laptop or the small screen of my iPhone. Reading books or magazines, again, is now a job for the iPad. The iPhone is now reserved for tasks when mobility is all important. Tweeting, posting photos, reading news, yes, but only on the move, maybe on public transport.

One device does not fit all

From one device fits all we have started the journey towards the use of specific devices being dependent on task and context. It is no longer good enough to simply publish a smart phone app. We need to think a little more deeply about it.

My three devices have three very specific roles. My laptop is the work horse. Writing serious documents and any kind of creative work where I will be doing something for an extended period of time. My tablet is for day to day use. Reading, writing quick messages, taking notes, etc. My smart phone is used for convenience while on the go. It’s becoming increasingly important to know and understand these device differences. Your apps can be tailored for each context and for each task. Apps for smart phones, tablets and increasingly desktop / laptop PCs with the arrival of the Mac App Store and forthcoming Windows 8 Market Place mean that you can tailor the experience for each device. Not only is your tablet not just a big smart phone, it’s also not a small PC. They are different, and need to be treated as such.

When considering app development for your organisation you will, of course, start with a smart phone in mind. However, it’s worth being open to the possibility this may not be the right device for your customers.

Cross device winners and losers?

Do you have any thoughts on tablet apps that should have been redesigned when imported from the smart phone? Or have you come across any great examples of smart phone to tablet conversions?