Hobby to App 'Success'
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The document summarizes the development history of Chris Banes' social media apps: - Blue Notify was his first Android app in 2010 for Facebook notifications, which led to F-Plus with additional Facebook features. F-Plus was later renamed to Flow after receiving a cease and desist from Facebook. - Flow gained popularity with over 100,000 downloads in 2011. It was acquired by Handmark and renamed to FriendCaster, which now has over 1.6 million downloads. - Key lessons included being committed to ongoing development, being responsive to user feedback, addressing bugs quickly, and accepting that piracy will occur.
Hobby to App 'Success'
- 1. + From Hobby to App Success Chris Banes Blue Notify F-Plus Flow FriendCaster
- 2. + Me n Graduated from Aston University in 2010 n Sandwich year at IBM n Completed first major Android project (brightbuyr) n Joined IBM in Aug 2010 as a Graduate n Left IBM in July 2011 n Website: http://www.senab.co.uk/ n Twitter: @chrisbanes
- 3. + (Small) History Lesson
- 4. + Blue Notify n Started development in June 2010 n First release in July 2010, costing 贈0.59 n One function: Facebook Notification checking n Used Official Facebook SDK (just released) n Decompiled to find Intents n Limited interoperability with Official Facebook App n Would just open Facebook app at its home screen
- 5. + F-Plus n Wrote own Post Screen using API n Lead to the creation of News Feed n Photo Uploading n Photo Tagging n Notification Popup (iPhone like) n Changed name to F-Plus n Roughly 20,000 downloads at this point n Released Free Ad-Supported version in Dec 2010 n In Jan 2011, received Cease and Desist from Facebook for Trademark Infringement n Had to change name again
- 6. + Flow n Jan 2011 - Roughly 100,000 downloads n More features added: n Ability for Page Admins to post as Page n Checkins n Tag Users in Posts n Developed Push Notifications using Gmail app n Had to decompile Gmail app to work out ContentProvider n In March 2011, mentioned in Lifehacker article n Daily downloads increased 10x overnight
- 7. + FriendCaster n In June 2011, Flow acquired by Handmark n 550,000 downloads at this point n Started contracting for Handmark as the apps developer n Access to more resources n App renamed to FriendCaster n Developed FriendCaster for Tablets n Currently separate code base n Now moving to combined Phone and Tab code base n Has had over 1,600,000 downloads so far n Future plans n Lots!
- 8. + FriendCaster Tab http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqOaYyGQ98E
- 9. + Looking Back
- 10. + Lessons Learnt n Be committed n Try to develop an app which you will actually use. Starting lots of projects, then leaving them doesnt look good. n Be contactable n You want people to buy into your app n Encourage users to send ideas/bugs n (Try to) Respond to all feedback n Be timely n If theres a bug in your app, make sure you get a fix out asap n Creates a reputation of being a good developer amongst users
- 11. + Lessons Learnt n Be aware of localization n Try to translate your app into as many languages as possible n Weekly Active Users
- 12. + Lessons Learnt n Thick Skin n Try not to get too disheartened by low ratings in the Market. You cant please everyone! n Tax! n Remember you need to sort out your Tax (get an Accountant). n Open Source n Depending on license, make sure you publish any changes you make. n Try to target early Android devices n FriendCaster currently targets 1.6+ n Piracy n Accept that its going to happen
- 13. + Handy Projects / Apps n ACRA n App Crash Reporter n http://code.google.com/p/acra/ n OrmLite n Lightweight ORM library n http://www.ormlite.com/ n Flurry n Analytics n http://www.flurry.com n Crowdin.net n Crowd sourced translation engine n Appmonger n Google Checkout Sales App n http://rectangularsoftware.com/appmonger/
- 14. + Thanks!