'Net Features : app store

10 iOS Apps for Internet Professionals

Allison Howen — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:45:00 GMT

Mobile has changed everything – from the way we advertise and format emails to the way we design our websites and interact with colleagues when away from the office.

In fact, the biggest benefit of mobile may be that it connects us with our surroundings regardless of where we are located. This makes it easy for Internet professionals to stay connected with their colleagues, important data and even their business’s social profiles while on the go.

That said, Apple’s popular App Store contains hundreds of thousands of applications, which can make it very time consuming for business professionals to discover the best apps to keep them connected with their businesses. Luckily, Website Magazine has sifted through the App Store and has highlighted ten top apps for Internet professionals below:

Vine

Since its January release, Vine has taken the App Store by storm. In fact, this free video sharing tool is currently number one in the app store, and has been leveraged by everyone from retailers like Urban Outfitters to the White House. Businesses can use this app to spice up their Twitter feed and engage their followers with short video snippets.

Google Drive

Need an important file while away from your desktop? No problem. Just download the Google Drive app and sign up with the cloud service to receive 5GB of free storage. By doing this, you can save all of your important files to the cloud and access them from any device, any browser and anywhere. This free app allows users to edit and create Google documents and spreadsheets, share photos and view documents offline.

StratPad

StratPad helps business owners create plans and strategies for their enterprise’s success directly from their iPad. It provides tutorials and a toolkit to help users create business plans, map out their goals and produce data-filled graphs and reports. Reports can also be easily shared via StratPad, and the app even integrates with Yammer to allow teams to discuss reports together. The app comes in a free version as well as multiple paid versions that range from $9.99 to $54.99.

Zendesk

Zendesk’s updated iPad app includes new customer history features and a reporting dashboard, which helps keep companies aware of their performance from anywhere, at anytime. The reporting dashboard allows managers to monitor data and metrics with three different views: the leaderboard, ticket activity and first response. The leaderboard view gives users a quick glance at metrics like customer satisfaction, solved tickets and response time, while the ticket activity view provides details on the volume of tickets, efficiency and quality of agent responses. Conversely, the first response view contains an interactive dial that lets users discover how long it took to respond to customer inquiries across various time periods. The update also offers customer service history on a company or customer level, which allows service teams to gain insights on previous interactions so they can better address customers' individual needs.

Foursquare for Business

While Foursquare might not be the most popular social network, businesses should maintain a presence here in order to increase their visibility. And with the Foursquare for Business app, brands can increase their visibility while on the go. This app allows social media managers to create updates to be shared on Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, users can use this app to manage multiple business profiles, turn specials on and off, as well as monitor other important data like recent check-ins.

Adobe Eazel for Photoshop

If you’re a designer who wants to create art work while on the go, look no further than Adobe Eazel for Photoshop. This art app is a companion app to Adobe Photoshop CS5 software, and enables users to create works of arts with their fingertips. Moreover, artwork can be sent directly to Photoshop CS5, where they are re-rendered at a higher resolution and can be saved in any file format.

GoDaddy

Purchase domains from anywhere with the free Go Daddy app. Not only can this app be leveraged to buy and manage domains, but also to purchase hosting, Web Builder, SSL certificates and more. Additionally, users can access their Go Daddy email from within the app’s Mobile Workspace feature, as well as store and access files from the Online Storage file manager. And if those features don’t make this app an instant-download, then perhaps access to the company’s Internet-only commercials will.

Analytics Tiles App

Got analytics on the brain? If so, consider downloading the colorful Analytics Tiles App. This engaging app allows users to monitor and interact with performance data. The apps interface is customizable, as it allows users to add and remove reports (tiles) via drag and drop functionality. Tiles can further be customized with a variety of color options, and users can view additional details from a report by tapping on its tile. It is important to note that users must also have a Google Analytics account with at least one active website in order to use the app.

OfficeTime – Time & Expense Tracking

Track all of your hours and expenses from your iOS mobile device with the free OfficeTime app. This time tracker allows users to track time by project and category, track time with multiple hourly rates, run multiple timers and work offline. Moreover, users that upgrade to the paid version have the ability to export time data to Excel or Numbers and track an unlimited number of projects and categories.

Website Magazine

We couldn’t compile a list of the top iOS apps for Internet professionals without mentioning the Website Magazine app. This updated app (which is available for iOS and Android devices – including tablets), allows users to access the Website Magazine daily blog, read current and previous issues, as well as explore information within each topic channel.

Bonus: Not enough apps? Discover additional top mobile apps for Web workers here.

Facebook Announces Social App Center

Michael Garrity — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Following in the footsteps of Apple, Google and many others, Facebook announced plans to unveil its own app store in the coming weeks.

This new offering will give developers a new avenue for promoting their work across multiple mobile platforms, while adding another place for users to discover new apps.

The thoughtfully named Facebook App Center will allow users to search for Facebook apps that run on the Web, as well as iOS and Android devices, provided the applications have some kind of tie into Facebook, which at the very least means using Facebook Login.

Apps will be searchable by category and ratings, with the most popular among them highlighted for convenience.

Facebook plans to set the App Center apart from its competitors by offering a social aspect to the discovery process. Instead of showing a single list of top apps that is identical for every user, each individual will see a list of recommended apps based on what their Facebook friends are using.

Developers can charge users for their apps, and anyone interested in building for the Facebook App Center can see the guidelines here.

Bypassing Apple's Rejection of UDID Apps

Michael Garrity — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Just a few weeks ago, Apple came out and said it was going to reject iOS applications that access the host device’s Unique Device Identifier (UDID) code. This makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for developers to test and track their applications.

UDID codes are also used to help marketers target ads, which helps improve payouts for developers. Basically, this is a major inconvenience for developers who want to sell their apps in the App Store (and make some money off of them).

Though little can be done about it, there are some solutions out there that can help ease some of the strain, one of which is the LeadBolt Visitor Match tracking feature that the mobile advertising company released last October.

Visitor Match, which was built to work across a wide range of platforms, including the Android and iTunes app stores, gives advertisers a way to automatically track mobile conversions in a quick and convenient manner with highly accurate results. According to LeadBolt, the Visitor Match algorithm is able to produce a 98.7-percent accuracy rate for server-side and other conversion pixel events.

Most importantly, Visitor Match is able to track conversions even if a UDID is not present, which really helps set the feature apart and gives LeadBolt users a leg up now that Apple has completely rejected UDID-based apps.

In addition, LeadBolt just made available its iPhone advertiser software development kit (SDK) in a non-UDID version, which should also help users adjust to Apple’s recent changes.

App Publishing Made Easier

Michael Garrity — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:00:00 GMT

Why didn't anyone think of this before?

After working at Apple for three years, Paul Canetti left to work on a series that would train businesses on iOS development. He's since turned his attention to MagAppZine, a new service that he co-founded that will make it much easier for users to publish content on the iTunes App Store.

MagAppZine's makeup is relatively simple, it is a white label, do-it-yourself platform that, as of now, is limited to allowing users to upload PDFs, make website viewing available in an in-app browser and let users offer in-app sales of multiple issues of any publication.

What really makes it a great service, however, is its simplicity and accessibility. The service began just last spring with the goal of evening the playing field for online app publishing, mimicking the strengths of blogging on the Web in an application-driven era.

Having your content available in the App Store means that your work is published on the world's most famous destination for applications, and with the total dominance of the iPad in the tablet market, that's a pretty good place to be. iTunes provides you with a central location for consumers to search for your app, download it, read reviews from other users and discover related materials.

The company is expected to roll out a new pricing schedule in September that starts at $99 per month, thanks in part to the soon-to-be released MagAppZine 2.0.

"Our most basic app package launched in April of this year," says Canetti, "But in September we are re-launching MagAppZine 2.0, which will include the new links and multimedia, an InDesign tool, and integration with Apple's upcoming Newsstand feature. We're also rolling out a new tiered monthly pricing structure that has plans starting at $99 a month."

While this product obviously hasn't reached its fullest potential yet, MagAppZine 2.0 sounds like it is going to be a very big step in the right direction. Those who have simple, print-based content that you want to get distributed to a larger audience (retail catalogs, perhaps?) should certainly consider application publishing, and as of now, MagAppZine seems to have that niche covered.

Want Mobile Revenue? Create an App.

Mike Phillips — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:30:00 GMT

Mobile commerce is one of those elusive goals. We've become numb to projections that the Mobile Web has finally arrived - mostly because we have yet to see evidence that mobile users are willing to complete transactions through their handheld devices. But some are doing quite well at earning revenue through the mobile channel.

Below is a chart from eMarketer, based on data from Billing Revolution, a mobile payment system. It shows the top purchases "...that US Consumers Are Willing to Make via Mobile Phone." (article continues below...)

All of these categories are entertainment or food related. At first glance, it might seem that these purchases are simply convenient mobile purchases, or small-ticket items with little risk. But the first item, "Pizza" is not a typical on-the-go order, and "Hotel rooms" and "Tickets for travel" are hardly small-time purchases. So why are these categories mobile-friendly? One answer might be how these purchases are made - through apps.

Pizza Hut offers an app, and it's resulted in more than one million dollars in sales to date. And the app is only three months old. Movie tickets are available for purchase through Fandango's app, as well as others like Flixster. The Fandango app saw more than one million downloads in its first three months after launching. Hotels reservations are available through Hotels.com's app, as well as the Hotel Negotiator app from Priceline.com. Hotel Negotiator soared to #3 for free travel apps after just one week. As far as coffee purchases, you might remember a little company called Starbucks recently released an app.

Of course, these are all very large brands with very high-level apps. But this correlation between potential purchases and apps is not to be overlooked. One of the biggest reasons might just be standardization. Instead of fumbling around a variety of websites and their individual challenges and payment systems, consumers might be more willing to purchase via mobile when it is convenient - on the iPhone, many apps share a certain navigation style. In addition, the inclusion of an "approved" app through Apple's App Store can offer a sense of security - something many brands might struggle to offer without Apple's "endorsement."

Even if your business doesn't have the resources to create an app to sell your products, consider a mobile-friendly approach. Making it easy and intuitive for consumers to purchase could make all the difference.

Oneforty: The New Twitter App Store

Mike Phillips — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:19:00 GMT

Twitter applications can be found all over the Web and that's been the problem - finding and sorting them. Now there's oneforty, an online marketplace for Twitter apps. The site is currently in beta, you must sign up for an invite.

Oneforty boasts more than 1,300 apps - both free and paid - for users to browse. They are broken out in categories such as business, image sharing and travel. Users can build profiles on oneforty to rate and share apps with their friends. For developers, the real excitement will be coming shortly. A full-blown e-commerce angle will be added, where developers can sell their apps through oneforty. That's important - one thing that frustrates current Twitter users and keeps new users from signing up is the lack of helpful tools to streamline the experience. And, of course, developers will be exposed to a multi-million member (and growing) audience. There will likely be a tidy fee charged by oneforty - currently they are earning affiliate commission on paid apps on the site, through Apple's App Store, for example.

Click to request beta invites to oneforty.

A Flurry of Analytics Data for Mobile Apps

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:39:00 GMT

Cross-platform mobile application analytics provider Flurry is making available its free service to all iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Java ME developers.

Flurry's technology allows developers to gather live consumer usage data (application behaviors, technical problems, etc.) to improve their products, increase user retention and compete more effectively in the new application markets like the App Store, which features more than 15,000 applications.

"Rapid adoption of Flurry Analytics validates we're solving a significant pain point for game and application developers. The response has exceeded our own expectations," said Flurry CEO, Simon Khalaf. "With more platforms supported than any other mobile analytics provider (1200) and new features being added all the time, Flurry offers the most complete solution on the market."