Author Archives: Ouriel

2013 non predictions

By Ouriel | Published: December 30, 2012

What extraordinary things will happen in the app ecosystem in 2013 ? nothing. our 2012 predictions were mostly OK.     Apple will still dominate by far the app ecosystem in terms of payout. Apple will pass 1m live apps in the App store and will announce it at WWDC WWDC tickets will sell out [...]

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Mobile Apps And Search

By Ouriel | Published: December 25, 2012

For some reason, many developers and bloggers still want to believe the world of Apps will behave the same way the world of websites has behaved: moving from a directory to a super miraculous way of discovering better apps through a wonderful, yet to be built new search engine. But that is not going to [...]

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Instagram: you’re not listening hard enough

By Ouriel | Published: December 24, 2012

Now that the Privacy and general conditions colourful (and frankly useless) symphony is over, we can focus again on what matters: the Instagram app itself. The noise of the debate has eclipsed the fact that the app became significantly less usable. Instagram first blocked the ability to post an app from a photo album and in [...]

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The unfair advantage

By Ouriel | Published: December 22, 2012

Remember: the leaderboard position does not mean much. What’s critical is the context: how did an app get to the top ranks? Techcrunch and TheNextWeb were quick in spotting that Facebook Poke, the Snapchat clone, got to #1 in the USA. To be accurate, Facebook Poke got to actually #1 in nearly every many countries [...]

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2012: A Year in App Store (Infographic)

By Ouriel | Published: December 17, 2012

So much has happened in 2012 in the App Store. Tons of new apps, a new iTunes Store design on iOS6 and the Mac. We thought now would be a good time to get some perspective and look back at this very healthy and very busy app economy. Before you dive into our insanely amazing [...]

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Instacrash: Instagram you have an App problem. A serious one

By Ouriel | Published: December 17, 2012

All eyes are now focuses on the background story behind the acquisition turmoil instagram went through. Not mentioning the new polemical privacy policy story… Well…. the real story is happening around the app itself. Instagram has recently made a update to the beloved app which is enraging the users. De facto its quality score (the [...]

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Developers, stop bragging about your vanity App store ranking

By Ouriel | Published: December 16, 2012

You probably saw this type of tweet, or self congratulation message in your timeline or mentioned around you. “we’re number 1 free app in the App store!” Good for you developers, if this has ever happened to you. Except there is absolutely nothing to really be proud of. Hitting a top 10 rank is something [...]

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Mobile apps and embargoes do not make a great couple

By Ouriel | Published: December 2, 2012

There is a tradition in the web world to manage your PR with a time bomb effect called embargo: you reached out early - prior to your launch - to some publication and ask not to publish before a certain time. Many bloggers and journalists hate them App Discovery is driven a lot by PR. [...]

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iTunes 11 and what it means for mobile app developers. Is better or not?

By Ouriel | Published: November 29, 2012

In theory the new iTunes 11 should not have a major impact for mobile app developers. Why? because the vast majority of downloads are not made from the computer but from the mobile. Right in the App store App. But developers can’t ignore the changes that just took place in iTunes 11. Why? because iTunes [...]

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Appsfire, spotted on iFive

By Ouriel | Published: November 27, 2012

What a great surprise to discover this morning that Appsfire is the first highlight of the iFive show by Sarah Lane. It says all there is to say. See the video embedded below But the best part, which made us really happy, is the what came next to this. The second app highlighted, Fotoffiti, was [...]

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