

The Biggest Problem in App Discovery - gaborcselle
http://blog.gaborcselle.com/2012/10/the-biggest-problem-in-app-discovery.html

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magsafe
I completely disagree. Most app/website referrals aren't verbal. Verbally
communicated referrals are easily forgotten (e.g. "what was that photo sharing
site Mike was telling me about at the party last night?") Most referrals are
via an email that includes a URL, a blog post or tweet from someone you
follow, or an email generated via the "Share" feature within the app itself.
All of these eliminate the "search" problem, and reduce the time to launch
significantly.

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pearkes
Can you point to data showing that most app referrals aren't verbal?

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magsafe
No, it's anecdotal evidence.

~~~
blantonl
it is reality for my business, on both fronts.

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f055
While amusing :) it's not really accurate. The Web part is missing "finding
the correct link on search results (damn Google keeps changing, also everybody
is running out of unique names it seems)", "finding the signup button or free
plan on plans&pricing (sometimes you need to find the p&p first!)", "oauthing
via twitter/fb or registering (if registering, then creating another pass,
verify email, log in)". Unless the Web example is a simple, non-interactive
content site. But where's fun in that?

~~~
guelo
You also have to look through the app store's search results. And sign up in
the app if it requires it.

~~~
flyinRyan
Actually, if the app requires sign up then I close and delete it (unless it's
a mobile interface like Skype).

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sehugg
But after the user downloads the app, it's a fixture on their home screen.
They can use it now, use it later, use it repeatedly.

The web side needs a 0th step: "What was that URL you sent me last week again?
I forgot..."

~~~
zerostar07
It's getting better with omniboxes. At worst you need to do a history search.
Really, the web is too vast to be browseable through icons.

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tomrod
Ah, but sudo apt-get cal<tab><tab> brings up virtually all the apps I need.

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seanalltogether
He forgot a few steps for web apps revolving around registering -> checking
email -> validating -> load first run page

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zxcdw
That only applies to sites which require user accounts for being usable. Also
using existing logins simplifies this step quite a bit.

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zerostar07
The only advantage of native app stores is in gaining initial
visibility/traction. Things like the google chrome store are not good enough
for that. We should have something effective for web apps instead of infesting
HN, reddit and various blogs. Are there any startups working on making the
process of bootstrapping a new web app easy?

~~~
PedroCandeias
I launched Threddie.com two years ago by submitting to web app directories
like appstorm.net . It was a manual and repetitive process which bored me half
to death, but it still yielded better long term results than posting on HN &
reddit or cold mailing big tech blogs.

From that experience I did notice that getting listed on a relatively big one
like KillerStartups.com always resulted in an avalanche of automatic listings
on smaller directories and blogs - as well as a lot of twitter activity.

From poring over google analytics, and talking to users, I concluded that
while a lot of that chatter is automated garbage, it does often end up being
read by real people who follow the links and sign up for the app.

All of this is to say that potential web users are scattered across too many
discovery vectors to solve the problem by simply building The One True
Directory.

What could be done, maybe, is build a sort of central repository to which
developers could post their apps in a standardized fashion and then have those
listings freely available. That repository could work a bit like Crunchbase,
except with less focus on money & people and more on categorization &
features. Ideally, app directories would then consume and relay that
information to their audiences - editorialized or not.

Such an initiative would require massive participation by app developers,
which, of course, is the real crux of the matter. In practical terms, there
would be little difference between building a solution now or simply flocking
massively to one of the already available directories. Which begs the
question: why don't we?

~~~
zerostar07
There have been many central directories in the past. What is needed is people
to actually give a go at the apps and spread them virally if they like them.
One would need to organize a large pool of mechanical turks around a pay-to-
submit-your-app model.

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jordaninternets
I think you can download Android apps directly from the web to whatever device
you select. Yet, I use an iPhone.

~~~
hahainternet
You can, and any URLs to the play store will offer an option to be opened in
the market. Which also won't ask for your password.

Instant open apps would be nice, that's something that should be aimed for I
think.

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mikek
iOS 6 now lets you update your apps without a password, but you still need to
enter your password to download a free app.

I don't understand why you need to enter your password to download a free app.
At the very least, you should be given an option to turn off the password
protection.

~~~
seiji
A lot of free apps are basically 900 numbers. Free to get, but then they want
you to pay $4.99/minute to play/work/have information.

I think a long time ago (a year?) the in app purchase options didn't require
passwords, so password-to-install was the only line of defense. It may be a
holdover from that.

~~~
Jare
What used to happen was that you had to enter the password to download the
app, then for 15 (?) minutes the device remembered your password and would not
ask you for it.

This blew up IIRC with the Smurfs kids game, one of the first really popular
freemium games. A parent would download the game, hand the device to the kid,
and the kid would be free to make as many in-app purchases (or other games?)
as he/she wanted. Someone got a bill in the thousands and complained.

Apple changed it so password entry for paid content must be re-entered for
each purchase. Free apps and updates still required password to download, but
honored the 15 minute window. With iOS 6, updates do not require the password
at all. Combined with the strict limitations for auto-renewal payments
(subscriptions only allowed for music, magazines and video content), it's
pretty hard now to spend money by mistake.

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ctdonath
But...the chart stops at "Open App", at which point the comparison is
"Rrrruuuunnnn" vs "RunRunRunRun".

~~~
erikpukinskis
It really depends. I know web sites that are super snappy and apps that are
dog slow.

And I would wager the minimum possible startup time is actually smaller for a
web page than an app. Apps usually take at least a second or two to open for
me, and Google has their page load time down below a second, right?

Either way, your choice of platform is not going to be the thing that prevents
you from building a fast app. It's going to be your failure to use the
architecture well.

~~~
rimantas

      > I know web sites that are super snappy and apps that
      > are dog slow.
    

Yes, but would dog slow app implemented as web app be any faster? Or even more
slow?

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borisjabes
the app store does make up for this deficiency in other ways though.

\- app reviews (incl. facebook integration now) that make it a lot easier to
know whether the app is working/useful/great.

\- highlights in the app store app itself. sure this is limited to what Apple
chooses to show but there's no perfect equivalent on the web (maybe HN or
TC?).

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justincpollard
"But once a user has signed up, make sure you take them by the hand along the
funnel." A few weeks ago, Danielle Morrill of Refer.ly, blogged about a her
company's new user onboarding process (<http://bit.ly/QZ9cxt>). She was
apprehensive at first to "hand-old" first time users, but ultimately the
strategy worked for getting people to share their first piece of content.

My question follows: What's the rate of returning users that create more than
one piece of content when using a hand-holding on-boarding strategy compared
to using a very minimal on-boarding strategy? That might be the next step in
Gabor's chart.

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salman89
I think the point is right, but comparing is to web was a poor choice. They
both have their own challenges that are unique to the platform.

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recursive
I've never had to enter a password to install an app.

