How to create a mobile app for IPTV/OTT

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In this issue:

YEAR IN REVIEW 2018

IPTV and OTT services take the place of traditional TV. Viewers are attracted by video on demand, ease of content selection, multi-screen, and high-quality content. Learn about the latest industry trends in our report.

INFOMIR AT CES 2019: THE SOUND PERSONALISATION SECRET

Whooshi is a Hi-Fi amplifier with sound personalization from Infomir. We describe how the product was met by the world’s largest exhibition of consumer electronics.

DEVELOPING A MOBILE APP: 9 STEPS TO SUCCESS

Over the last decade, mobile applications have become business tools that are as important as corporate websites. At times, when applications fail to provide ROI, companies become disillusioned — all because of a failed strategy. Learn how to choose the right way to succeed.

INFOMIR AND AKNET: A HISTORY OF COOPERATION

We explain how they helped a partner grow from a local network to an international IPTV operator.

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‌DEVELOPING A MOBILE
APP: NINE STEPS TO SUCCESS

How to create a mobile app. We share key recommendations.

Author: Hennadii Mitrov

Over the last decade, mobile applications have become business tools that are as important as corporate websites. At times, when applications fail to provide returns on the investment involved in developing them, companies become disillusioned — all because of a failed strategy.

In the company’s Mobile Advertising Forecasts 2017 report, Zenith claims that almost everyone in the Netherlands, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Norway, and Ireland owns a smartphone. At the end of 2018, approximately 66% of the inhabitants of the world’s largest countries owned one. Tablets are not as popular and only 20% of the population of these countries own them.

Fifty percent of smartphone owners use their smartphones for more than five hours a day, and people spend most of this time using apps.

Mobile apps help businesses attract new customers and retain existing ones. They can be used to access content from anywhere in the world, instantly, seven days a week. In addition, maintenance apps allow companies to save millions of dollars a year on labour costs.

Start with a strategy

Why do most mobile apps fail? There are 2.1 million of them on Google Play and 2 million in the App Store, but only 16% of all apps generate revenue. The reason is simple: app developers ignore the importance of strategy and neglect marketing. As a result, their apps either aren’t downloaded at all or are deleted within the first three days of installation.

1. Check your concept
A successful app solves problems for customers, companies or employees. Games serve a different function: they entertain users. Does your product do either of these two things?

Study your competition from Google Play and the App Store. What problems do their apps solve? How popular are they? Pay attention to the apps with the best reviews and high download numbers. Find out what’s different about your idea when compared to other solutions. Analyse this and make a comparison table.

Don’t try to stand out with unnecessary features, and don’t be tempted to turn your app into a Swiss Army knife. It should have one key task.

Turn to developers, industry experts, and marketing specialists for advice. Show them your presentations, design layouts, content, and videos to help them get a sense of the essence of your application. They will help you improve your idea or let you know if they think you should abandon it.

Find out what users think. Present a concept and application layouts, either through social media, surveys, or a landing page with targeted traffic. Collect feedback to see if your app concept has a chance to be successful.

If the idea has a lot of potential, go ahead and develop it.

2. Select the distribution method

Most often, mobile apps are distributed through Google Play and the App Store. There are already over 4.1 million applications available in these two stores, which are popular in Europe and the United States. In other regions, they have a smaller share of the app market. Google Play, for example, represents only 3.6% of the Chinese app market.