Category: Mobile Apps

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Awards Mobile Apps

COO, Bob Kernen Named MVP by Local Publication

Recently, our COO, Bob Kernen, was named MVP – “Most Valuable Professional” by Corp! Magazine.
The Corp! MVP awards celebrates individuals that make business happen in Michigan and serve their community. These individuals also demonstrate strong leadership skills in growing and managing a successful business, becoming industry experts, and delivering lucrative business results.
On April 19th, in Detroit Corp! awarded multiple professionals, entrepreneurs, and millennials for their pivoting work in our community. Bob was present along with some great industry leaders from many segments. Not only is Bob a Crop! MVP but he’s also an Emmy Award-winning writer and published author.
“This is a really nice honor. jācapps has been recognized by Corp! magazine before, and the whole team really deserves this one as well. I’m just one ‘professional’ on an outstanding team who demonstrates every day that when it comes to innovation and technology, Detroit is truly world class.” Bob Kernen explains. Here at jācapps we believe that our teamwork drives our success. Without an outstanding team and team bond, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish what we are today.
Bob is a seasoned entrepreneur and startup specialist, and has also worked closely with major brands including Ford, A&E Television, Microsoft, and Hearst. Throughout these experiences Bob’s focus has been on new product development with an emphasis on user experience and monetization.
Bob oversees strategy and operations for us, and with his help we have produced over 1100 apps, which have been downloaded over 22 million times. We are a premier app developer in the radio space, the mobile solutions provider for hundreds of innovative organizations, and a house developer for Ford.
We appreciate the support and posts from both MI Tech News, MAB News Briefs, and All Access Music Group! Thank you for sharing our accomplishments for us!
 
Click the links below to see their posts!
https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/176042/jacapps-coo-bob-kernen-named-most-valuable-profess

jacapps COO Kernen Named Most Valuable Professional By Corp! Magazine


 
http://news.michmab.com/jacapps-coo-bob-kernen-named-most-valuable-professional-by-corp-magazine/
If you are interested in us, the apps we’ve built, or a product of your own, contact us at sales@jacapps.com or (248) 353-9030.

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Mobile Apps

jācapps on FOX 2 Detroit

Paul-Jacobs-jacapps-fox-2-detroit

A few weeks ago, Derek Kevra from FOX 2 Detroit visited the jācapps offices and needless to say, our team was excited! The final piece, which aired April 10th on Fox2’s 6PM news, gave Fox’s viewers a taste of what jācapps is all about.
Derek interviewed Paul Jacobs, Bob Kernen, Ben Levy, and Kate Coyle-Levy about where we came from, what we’ve done so far, and where we see both jācapps and the tech industry going in the future.
Paul Jacobs described jācapps as the world’s oldest start-up, but the piece made it clear how far our “started in a storage closet” company has come.. jācapps has built over 1,100 apps – every single one right here in Detroit.
With mobile technology booming we are here to help our clients get to the next level. As Bob Kernen would say, Detroit is where builders and doers are born – we know how to make things, and we know how to make them well. California might be the tech hub of the US, but our “Detroit vs. Everybody” mentality extends to our tech companies.. With or without an Amazon location. 😉
We may have started as a radio app development company but we’ve produced logistics apps to help construction and trucking companies communicate with clients, apps for health and wellness leaders such as Dr. Nandi and ACCESS Community Health, and apps for travel companies.
Now, we’ve got our sights set on App Everywhere® – especially with the boom of Amazon Echo (Alexa) and Connected Car capabilities. These technologies create yet another sensor in which businesses can communicate with their employees and consumers.
We had a blast meeting with some of the FOX 2 team. Check out the official video below, or the FOX2 direct link here.

If you’re interested in us, the apps we’ve built, or a product of your own, contact us at sales@jacapps.com or (248) 353-9030.

Categories
Connected Car Mobile Apps Smart Home Smart TVs

jācapps Continues to Grow Into the New Year

Business people shaking hands, finishing up a meeting

BINGHAM FARMS, MI – January 30, 2017 — As the mobile application space continues to grow, our team grows as well. We have recently brought in a few new employees to help strengthen our mobile solution abilities and reach beyond our current industry base. Dante Ciullo, Senior Android Developer, brings with him 20 years of software development and 5 years of mobile app development experience. Jacquelyn LaFrance, Marketing Manager, is on course to ramp up our Marketing efforts, define our mark in the business and attract diversity in the industry segments we pursue. Marty Watson, Business Development Manager, will help to expand our mobile solutions beyond the Detroit and media industries. We are very excited to have our newest employees on the jācapps team and anticipate valuable insights from each of them.

We’ve officially begun the expansion into the office space next door!

Along with our team expansion we are also in the process of expanding our office space! We have acquired the office space next door to house our Development and Production teams and give them space to grow their departments. This expansion would not be possible without the hard work put in by all of our employees, but our fantastic clients as well. Without you, none of this would have been possible.
We also want to highlight our entire team for their amazing volunteer work at the end of 2017. In honor of Thanksgiving, we adopted a family to provide them with a Thanksgiving dinner. To celebrate the holidays together, our team also volunteered for Project Remodel to help remodel the previous Durfee School in Detroit, which will open as the Community Innovation Center. We are so excited to watch our team grow and continue their work in the local community.
To learn more about how mobile apps can benefit your business, reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com we love talking mobile!

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Mobile Apps

Delivering News To Millennials, There's An App For That

Reading news on mobile phone. Hand holding smartphone with newspaper, news website. Modern flat design graphic elements, thin line icons set for web banner, web site, infographics. Vector illustration

By: Paul Jacobs
Great news for news stations! Mobile Apps Are the Gateway For News Stations to Reach Millennials.
All news stations – whether commercial or public – struggle to generate great ratings among the notoriously hard to reach Millennial generation.  There are many reasons for this, and a new study from Qualtrics on behalf of Localytics indicates the best way for news-formatted stations to reach Millennials is with a mobile app.
The survey focused on consumers who have news-oriented apps on their smartphone, and found that overall, one-third (36%) report usage of these apps has increased in the past year.  Among those people, increased use of news-oriented apps was highest among Millennials:

Apps for news stations are a perfect fit for these young consumers as 85% of respondents get news from their smartphones.   The study finds that three-fourths (75%)  will get news on their app when they receive a push notification about breaking news.  Clearly, this is a feature you want to have in your mobile app.
Finally, we want to draw your attention to an outstanding mobile app we created for WTOP in Washington DC.  This study also concluded that the most effective news apps provide some level of personalization which is a prominent feature in WTOP’s new app.  Check it out – we feel this app is “best in breed” and exemplifies what a great mobile app should be for a news radio station.
Download the WTOP app from iTunes here. It’s also available in the Google Play Market here.
You can read more about the study’s findings at:  http://info.localytics.com/blog/news-and-streaming-apps-survey-2018?utm_medium=email&utm_source=marketo&utm
Simply having an app isn’t enough.  Understanding how to make the app reach new listeners and increase engagement is key to maximize your investment in your mobile strategy. And solidifying your future with a younger audience is pretty important too.
To learn more about how mobile apps can benefit your business, reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com we love talking mobile!

Categories
Mobile Apps

Delivering News To Millennials, There’s An App For That

Reading news on mobile phone. Hand holding smartphone with newspaper, news website. Modern flat design graphic elements, thin line icons set for web banner, web site, infographics. Vector illustration

By: Paul Jacobs

Great news for news stations! Mobile Apps Are the Gateway For News Stations to Reach Millennials.

All news stations – whether commercial or public – struggle to generate great ratings among the notoriously hard to reach Millennial generation.  There are many reasons for this, and a new study from Qualtrics on behalf of Localytics indicates the best way for news-formatted stations to reach Millennials is with a mobile app.

The survey focused on consumers who have news-oriented apps on their smartphone, and found that overall, one-third (36%) report usage of these apps has increased in the past year.  Among those people, increased use of news-oriented apps was highest among Millennials:

Apps for news stations are a perfect fit for these young consumers as 85% of respondents get news from their smartphones.   The study finds that three-fourths (75%)  will get news on their app when they receive a push notification about breaking news.  Clearly, this is a feature you want to have in your mobile app.

Finally, we want to draw your attention to an outstanding mobile app we created for WTOP in Washington DC.  This study also concluded that the most effective news apps provide some level of personalization which is a prominent feature in WTOP’s new app.  Check it out – we feel this app is “best in breed” and exemplifies what a great mobile app should be for a news radio station.

Download the WTOP app from iTunes here. It’s also available in the Google Play Market here.

You can read more about the study’s findings at:  http://info.localytics.com/blog/news-and-streaming-apps-survey-2018?utm_medium=email&utm_source=marketo&utm

Simply having an app isn’t enough.  Understanding how to make the app reach new listeners and increase engagement is key to maximize your investment in your mobile strategy. And solidifying your future with a younger audience is pretty important too.

To learn more about how mobile apps can benefit your business, reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com we love talking mobile!

Categories
Connected Car Mobile Apps Smart Home Smart TVs

Reinventing Legacy Brands

By: Bob Kernen
Among all the enormous city state-sized displays, and scrappy start-up booths, one of the things that caught my eye at this year’s CES2018 in Las Vegas was the presence of brands that have been around for a long time, but are hardly associated the cutting edge.
From Blackberry and Kodak to Polaroid and Sylvania, they were all there, some in better shape than others. What was clear is that while there is undoubtedly value in a recognizable name, consumers’ associations with that name are what really matter, and changing those associations is really difficult.
Some of these brands are truly “legacy” and their products have changed little from their pre-digital heydays, others are playing the “retro” card, while a few have truly reinvented themselves.
Companies like RCA and Sylvania are largely in that first category. While their products may be modernized, upon closer inspection they are haven’t really changed that much. RCA showed off a number of pretty standard-looking TVs, and even a portable media player that had a slot for a DVD (kinda retro, right?). Sylvania still makes lightbulbs, they’ve just gotten a little “smart”-er.
The “shake it like a Polaroid picture” guys had a colorful, brightly lit display. And while it had a number of interesting digital elements, the center of attention was the old school polaroid camera, now dubbed the OneStep 2. The camera is still the same boxy shape as it’s been since the 1970s, and it still spits out your picture (on actual photographic paper) from the front. Polaroid has embraced its retro, analog past with gusto, and is trying to make it relevant to a whole new generation of Millennial and GenZ hipsters as the new (old) way of enjoying instant photography. And it just might work: if you use Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that their icon on your phone borrows heavily from the original Polaroid camera. How it ultimately works out for Polaroid is hard to say, but people at CES were definitely enjoying taking their pictures, albeit digitally, sitting on the giant Polaroid camera at the entrance to the booth.
Some of those legacy brands, however, have transformed themselves into something entirely new. Rand McNally, the map people for those of you old enough to remember, has completely changed their business. As printed maps have been almost universally replaced by Google Maps, Rand McNally has morphed their business into one that could be described as a “data” business. They use their massive store of mapping data to drive a number of new products, most of them targeted at a very specific audience segment: truckers and trucking companies. Among their products are digital driver logs, and purpose-built tablets for helping truckers turn any truck into a connected vehicle.
Also in this category is Blackberry. Even though they were arguably among the first smartphones to market, they were overwhelmed by the innovations that came from Apple and Android to the point that their handsets went from being ubiquitous to punchlines. Their devices may have faded in popularity, but at heart Blackberry was always a software company. Now their software operating system QNX has become a popular OS for a variety of embedded systems, including dashboards, where real time processing and high security are important. The “crackberry” may be extinct, but Blackberry has successfully transformed itself into a robust software company.
I was most surprised by the Kodak booth, where I found not a single role of film, but instead drones, solar panels and smart lightbulbs. All of these new products were found beneath the familiar red and yellow “K.” The company even made an announcement about a new crypto-currency (think Bitcoin). Not exactly the Kodak of the flashbulbs and film era. But as a company that has always relied on technology, Kodak was perfectly positioned to put its legions of scientists and engineers to work on new problems. It may be a smaller, more focused company, but Kodak is still in the game, in new games, and it’s got a real shot at redefining this century old brand.
All of these established brands prove that while brands can be durable, the technology world never stands still. Brands must work hard to constantly evolve and redefine themselves for consumers, lest they be consigned to the attic of nostalgia.
To learn more about how mobile apps can benefit your business, reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com we love talking mobile!

Categories
Connected Car Mobile Apps Smart Home Smart TVs

CES 2018

Next week, jācapps will be at the Consumer Electronic Show 2018 in Las Vegas. CES 2018 is a must for anyone wanting a glimpse of the newest gadgets, toys, car tech and more. As you’d expect, AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) will be hot topics of conversation.
Smartphone technology, as always, will be at the center of much of the technology exhibited at the show. Smart speakers, the hot gift to give of this holiday season, and the voice control technology behind them will be another theme of the show.
Not only will we be exploring what the future of technology holds, our sister company, Jacobs Media, will be leading a select group of radio industry leaders on an exclusive tour of CES. We are looking forward to next week’s event and hope to see you there!
Our founder, Fred Jacobs, talked to the CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, Gary Shapiro, about this year’s show. Check that out here.
To learn more about how mobile apps can benefit your business, reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com we love talking mobile!

Categories
Mobile Apps

2017: A Year In Review

Infographic concept 2017 year of opportunities. New global trends and perspectives in online search, internet tools for business and project management. Vector illustration in thin line style.

As we approach the end of the year, we want to express our appreciation for our clients and their business in 2017. Many of our clients put their trust in us when we were a small upstart.  With their support, we have been able to take that trust and invest it in people and new products in order to become a full-service software company.  That investment has created tremendous growth as our team doubled in size and we added a variety of new capabilities. We could not have done that our amazing clients. Here is a brief overview of where we are and what the future holds:

  • There was great interest in our App Everywhere® program as many of our clients added support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto into their apps.
  • We also added Alexa skills and are proud to have developed skills for close to 100 clients. If you saw our recent “smart speaker” study, it’s clear developing at-home presence will be a big deal next year,
  • In 2018, the App Everywhere® program will grow as we add products for devices like Google Home, AppleTV and Roku.
  • We’ll also be adding other new capabilities including push messaging and analytics.

All of these solutions are because our clients told us they needed them, and we really value the many ways in which they make us better.
2017 brought us a flurry of new mobile devices – the iPhone8, iPhoneX, the Galaxy S8 and Pixel 2, along with an upgraded iOS, and our platform was upgraded to handle this flawlessly. Our team is now focused on modernizing the platform to ensure it performs perfectly into the future.
In 2018, we hope to become more than just your mobile app developer. We are now providing web solutions and applications, and with the hiring of Research Director Jason Hollins, will roll out a package of research services, including usability, surveys, focus groups, and more.
We recently teamed up with our sister company, Jacobs Media Strategies, and Sonic Ai to conduct a national online study examining consumer interest in voice-controlled smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home during the 2017 holiday season, take a look at our results here.
One thing we’ve learned after nine years in the mobile business is that it never sleeps, so we can’t either. Stay tuned as our products grow and evolve, and you should always feel free to call us to discuss any element of your digital strategy, share ideas or needs you may have, or just talk about the mobile space.
On behalf of our wonderful jācapps team, we wish you health and happiness in the coming new year! Reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com to learn more.

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Alexa Amazon Echo Google Home Mobile Apps Smart Home

Consumer spending within app stores is expected to hit $110 billion in 2018

Consumer spending within all app stores is anticipated to surpass $110 billion in 2018, with a shift in popularity of app categories. Entertainment apps have typically gained more popularity with consumers, but need-based apps (e.g., food delivery, payments, etc.) are on the rise. Need-based apps are usually discovered through word of mouth, but more consumers have begun seeking them out to help simplify their daily lives. Additionally, Apple and Google have begun work to reorganize their app stores in an effort to make newer apps more discoverable to users, which is likely to promote more downloads.
Popularity of AR apps will also be on the rise in the new year. Facebook, Google and Apple previously announced they are working to expand their AR capabilities. This type of expansion will open up the app stores for more developers to publish AR apps, generating more excitement from users.

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Astonishingly, downloads for Amazon’s Alexa app surged from 1 million to 3 million within just 3 months last year. This year’s trends are expected to show a growth well beyond that mark as more virtual assistants have been released before the holiday season.
We at jācapps wish you and yours Happy Holidays and look forward to speaking with you about your mobile needs in the new year! Reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com to learn more.

Categories
Mobile Apps

The Difference Between Native Apps and Hybrid Apps

Melbourne, Australia - May 23, 2016: Close-up view of Google Play Store on Android smartphone and Apple's App Store on iPhone. Both stores allow users to download app, music, movies and TV shows.

Over the last few years, many businesses have made the commitment to mobile. They understand the power of having a mobile app, and how it can grow their brand, reach consumers, and capture more revenue. There is more than one approach to mobile, and one of the first strategic decisions you’ll have to make is: Native or Hybrid.

Here’s a quick rundown on both native apps and hybrid apps

Native apps are developed specifically for a given mobile operating system (OS). This type of app follows the technical and user experience (UX) guidelines of that particular OS. The reason for this is so that the code runs more efficiently and that each function of the app will work smoothly with the device’s internal tools such as the camera, microphone, compass, accelerometer, gestures, etc. This allows for faster performance and an app that “feels right” to the end user based on their experience of and knowledge of the Android or Apple operating system. Since all native apps must follow the same guidelines, each one will have a look and feel that’s consistent with other native apps on the device. This means it will take less time for users to familiarize themselves with your app.
Hybrid apps are essentially driven by a company’s website. This kind of app loads most of the information on the screen as the user navigates their way through the app versus a native app that downloads most of the content when the user initially installs the app. Since one app can be released across multiple operating systems, hybrid apps are typically easier to develop. This makes life easier for the developer since they only have to maintain one version of the source code. What this also means is that getting the app into each app store takes less time and effort because there are fewer requirements to meet. Furthermore, updating a hybrid app is much simpler for the user. Instead of updating the app through the respective app store, the user will see updates within the app as they navigate through it – unless a new feature that dramatically changes the user experience is added.

Which route should your business take?

There is no wrong choice when it comes to deciding which route to take for your mobile app. However, there is a better choice and that choice is native apps. Overall, native apps perform better than hybrid apps, offer the highest security possible, and present a better experience for the end user. The user experience is probably the most important difference. In fact, according to Dynatrace, almost half of consumers are less likely to use the mobile app again due to a poor experience – and 34% would switch to a competitor’s mobile app. Click here to learn more about the importance of mobile UX.
 
Source: Dynatrace Mobile App Survey Report
Check out a few of the native apps that we’ve developed here. To learn more about how mobile apps can benefit your business, reach out to us at 248-353-9030 or marketing@jacapps.com we love talking mobile!