App Friday Download Center

With a fourth grader who does homework assignments using Google Docs, sometimes I feel like we’ve skipped a step by going straight to laptops without typing practice. This week, there is an app for that!

View all apps on the App Friday Download Center

Jellybean Tunes App Report: Volume 81

If you are a Scrabble fan looking for some math practice, this week’s volume of the App Report has a solution waiting for you.

View all apps on the Jellybean Tunes App Report

Community News

• For Developers: Tips on researching the app marketplace, from the App Annie Blog.
• For Developers: FTC adds more questions to the COPPA FAQ (see #80 on Push Notifications)
• For Book App Developers: App Pricing Data & Trends on the Digital Storytime Blog
• For Parents: Guidelines on kids & tech as summer approaches

Meet us on Facebook!

The kids’ app community gathers on the App Friday Facebook page every week (peak time at 10:00am San Francisco time). Stop by to share your news!

Link Exchange

If you have app news, please post the URL below. (Hint: when you enter the URL, completely delete the  ”http://” or else the link will break.)

The post Weekly News: May 24th appeared first on momswithapps.com.

Two key events are taking place this week for children’s app developers. First is the Dust or Magic App Camp on the Monterey Peninsula, where a variety of experts share best practices for making interactive media. Kicking off with a “State of the App” panel on trends and news, the conference continued into case studies about building apps for kids. Many of the highlights were tweeted out in the #dustormagic stream. If you are an aspiring app developer and want to learn from industry leaders, here are the people to watch: http://dustormagic.com/appcamp/appcamp-2013-speakers/.

This photo was taken in Merrill Hall at the Asilomar Conference Center, which is where App Camp takes place annually each May.

Meanwhile, another group of app developers headed to Washington DC to discuss immigration, STEM and privacy issues with policy makers. Hosted by the Association for Competitive Technology, 50 app developers and tech entrepreneurs met with state senators and local representatives. They visited the White House Office of Science and Technology whose staff advises the President about the internet, innovation and privacy. They also met with the Federal Trade Commission to discuss children’s online privacy and best practices.

Here are some photos of Ann Adair, the mom-with-app from Thinkamingo, on her trip to the White House and Capitol Hill (with Senator Marco Rubio!).

By speaking up and collaborating with others, app developers can make a difference in their industry. The challenging trifecta of ever-changing technology, crowded app stores, and increased regulation are tough problems to solve. But these issues are not impossible with a community dedicated to sorting it all out. Thanks for the photos Ann!

The post App Developers Speak Up About Design and Policy appeared first on momswithapps.com.

App Friday Download Center

I’m thrilled to see Puppet Workshop featured this App Friday – for FREE! Excellent app for open-ended play, and made by the team at Jump App.

View all apps on the App Friday Download Center

Jellybean Tunes App Report: Volume 80

Another new puzzle title from Apps Kids Love is featured on the App Report this week – perfect for kids who love cars.

View all apps on the Jellybean Tunes App Report

Community News

• Coming up this weekend: Dust or Magic’s App Camp in Monterey, California: http://dustormagic.com/appcamp/
• Coming up next week: App developers head to Washington DC for ACT’s Annual Fly In: http://actonline.org
• For Teachers: Happi Papi’s App Evaluation Program for Schools: http://happipapi.com/evaluation-program-for-schools
• COPPA News: FTC sends letters to developers about upcoming COPPA compliance: http://ftc.gov/opa/2013/05/coppa_education.shtm
• Slides from MamaBear Family Tech Conference online at Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/500startups/

Meet us on Facebook!

The kids’ app community gathers on the App Friday Facebook page every week (peak time at 10:00am San Francisco time). Stop by to share your news!

Link Exchange

If you have app news, please post the URL below. (Hint: when you enter the URL, completely delete the  ”http://” or else the link will break.)

The post Weekly News: May 17th appeared first on momswithapps.com.

In preparation for the new COPPA Rule coming July 1st, the FTC sent letters to over 90 app developers summarizing compliance information. Reading the FTC’s press release, in addition to these letters, would be an ideal crash course for interpreting new COPPA legislation. How do your apps need to be constructed to be in compliance with COPPA? Who is at risk? What are the exceptions? A summarized version of these answers is spelled out in the following resources:

FTC’s announcement about the letters: http://ftc.gov/opa/2013/05/coppa_education.shtm

Letter to developers who may be collecting audio and images in apps: http://ftc.gov/os/2013/05/130515coppadomesticimagesletter.pdf

Letter to developers who may be collecting persistent identifiers in apps: http://ftc.gov/os/2013/05/130515coppadomesticidentifiersletter.pdf

The post FTC Sends Letters to Developers About COPPA Rule appeared first on momswithapps.com.

App Friday Download Center

Over 10 apps are featured on the App Friday Download Center, including apps for patterns, number sequencing, puzzles and storytime. View them all!

View all apps on the App Friday Download Center

Jellybean Tunes App Report: Volume 79

Kidaptive recently released Leo’s Birthday Card Maker – for FREE! Check it out if you are ready to send some personalized birthday greetings.

View all apps on the Jellybean Tunes App Report

MamaBear Family Tech Conference

If you are near Mountain View on Friday, come visit us at MamaBear, which will have a full day of topics for family-friendly tech companies. Tweet me at @momswithapps so I can come over and say hello!

Meet us on Facebook!

The kids’ app community gathers on the App Friday Facebook page every week (peak time at 10:00am San Francisco time). Stop by to share your news!

Link Exchange

If you have app news, please post the URL below. (Hint: when you enter the URL, completely delete the  ”http://” or else the link will break.)

The post Weekly News: May 10th appeared first on momswithapps.com.

Recently I visited the Settings app on my iPad to update the privacy settings on my device. I discovered a variety of options for parents who wish to adjust their devices for different ages and stages. Here are some details to note:

From your home screen, find the Settings icon (above), and then go to General > Restrictions. To Enable Restrictions, you need to enter a 4-digit passcode. Once the passcode is entered, you can adjust a number of variables from Safari web browsing to the App Store. You can also filter media content by disabling access to explicit or adult material. Most notably, In App Purchases can be turned on or off on a device-wide basis.

Scrolling farther down on the Restrictions menu is an area dedicated to “Privacy”. In this section, parents can set preferences for location services, contact lists, and social media services such as Facebook or Twitter.

Given “Privacy” is such a hot topic these days, you can also access it directly from the Settings menu (Settings > Privacy) to view the controls:

Finally, you can control internet access on the device through the wifi and airplane mode settings which are at the top of the Settings Menu. And don’t miss the Notification Center, which shows all of the apps that are set up to send you messages or alerts. Here, too, you can manage alerts according to your preferences.

If you have recommendations for parents about making tablets kid-friendly, please leave a comment so we can continue the discussion. I want to be careful not to dissuade parents and children from browsing the internet together. Just because this post focuses on physical settings and boundaries, some of the best preparation we can do is browse together, pointing out appropriate and inappropriate sites throughout our browsing session. Teaching kids to discern different types of online content can our best tool yet. Thanks!

The post Parental Controls in your iPad’s Settings Menu appeared first on momswithapps.com.

App Friday Deals

The classic Puss in Boots fairytale awaits you this App Friday!

View all apps on the App Friday Download Center

Jellybean Tunes App Report: Volume 78

Kids YoPower Journey focuses on social and emotional health and offers activities for separating good feelings from bad ones.

View all apps on the Jellybean Tunes App Report

More COPPA Homework

Developers, can you use 3rd party services in your app? The answers aren’t so easy. Check out this post from the Association for Competitive Technology to help you think through the issues.

Meet us on Facebook!

The kids’ app community gathers on the App Friday Facebook page every week (peak time at 10:00am San Francisco time). Stop by to share your news!

Link Exchange

If you have app news, please post the URL below. (Hint: when you enter the URL, completely delete the  ”http://” or else the link will break.)

The post Weekly News: May 3rd appeared first on momswithapps.com.

On May 10th in Mountain View, the MamaBear Conference will host an agenda for family-friendly technology companies. I’ve been invited to speak on the topic of App Store Optimization, and built a presentation with input from our kids’ app developer community. In case it’s helpful, I will share the highlights of the presentation in this post. If you plan to be at the conference, I look forward to meeting you. -Lorraine @momswithapps

What is App Store Optimization?

App Store Optimization (ASO) is the current buzzterm for SEO in the mobile marketplace, or, getting your app noticed on the app store. I think ASO has both a qualitative side and a quantitative side. If you are a data analyzer and number cruncher, you may pursue ASO with the analysis of app store ranking algorithms and the popularity of keyword search terms. For example, TechCrunch wrote about a new service from AppStoreHQ which tracks search results to provide you with keyword recommendations. Google’s Keyword Tool is another method to track the popularity of keywords. The hope is to describe your app in a way that maps to what consumers are looking for, so your app will pop up in those search results, increasing the chances for more downloads and visibility.

Some notes on Keywords

• Is your main keyword a popular search (i.e., “spelling”) or in a niche search (i.e., “4th grade spelling words”)? You can tell if a keyword is popular but looking at the top ranked apps in the category, and seeing how many ratings & reviews they have. Tons of ratings can equate to tons of downloads, and more competition. 
• What are some related keywords that approach the problem from a different direction? In other words, your app is the answer to which questions?
• What are competitors saying in their app descriptions?
• Are your keywords embedded into your app description?
• Have you tried searches with your keyword on different platforms? Are the results different?

More things to consider regarding the visibility of your apps

My argument includes a qualitative angle as well, and centers on three principles: A trustworthy storefront, purposeful promotion, and giving yourself enough room to experiment in a rapidly changing marketplace. To make this argument, I clarify a few assumptions. First, my experience with ASO is based mainly on the iTunes App Store “education” category. Second, I believe that unless you are an App Store employee, many discussions around ASO are speculative because the secret sauce of editorial features and search rankings are proprietary. Third, the experiments we run with ASO are relative to our definition of success. So a hobbyist developer with just one app may take a different approach than a professional developer with 28 apps. In other words, our context can help shape our ASO tool set.

1) Trustworthy storefront

As a consumer, I trust brands that put thought and effort into their appearance. This applies to the app icon’s graphic design, and the clarity and usefulness of the app store description. Specifically:

• Do the icons stand out?
• Are the screenshots crisp, bold and professional?
• When was the app last updated?
• Are the ratings and reviews favorable?
• Is there a link to a privacy policy, and easy-to-read disclosures about how the app works?
• Does the website look legitimate?
• Can I contact the developer if I have questions or concerns?

2) Promote with a purpose

Let’s assume that you launched a wonderful app and the testimonials are favorable. Maybe you were featured by Apple! But when the feature runs out, your downloads disintegrate, and you wonder what to do next. You consider updating the app, launching a press release, or putting your app on sale. Which way do you turn? Here are some suggestions:

• Don’t be random. Have a goal associated with your promotion, and coordinate all of the tools in your arsenal to get there. These tools include app updates, PR, blog reviews, iTunes reviews, advertising, price promotions, cross promotions, etc. 
• Get active in your community so fellow reviewers and developers can extend the reach through cross-marketing.
• Consider the risks for each promotional tactic. For example, if you update the app, the reviews are reset. If you go free, it doesn’t translate into an immediate uplift in sales. If you market with bloggers and throughout social media, it takes time. If you implement in-app promotional mechanisms like push notifications or rate/review pop-ups, you might come across as spammy. Strike a balance and have a strategy.

3) Give Yourself Room To Experiment

Your app is at the mercy of the App Store. The app stores change constantly. They have terms and conditions that can impact whether your app makes the cut. They have new products that launch, cannibalizing your original product. They have their own priorities that may conflict with your priorities. Yesterday developers were concerned about whether to make a LITE version of their app. Today, they are deliberating whether to make it FREE with In App Purchase. Yesterday families shared an iPad in the home. Today 10 year olds are getting their own Kindle Fires as a birthday present. The challenges of this marketplace will change over time. The question is whether you have enough time and patience to keep experimenting while doing your best possible work.

CREDITS: Thank you to our kids’ app developer community who reviewed the presentation and offered data and feedback. Specifically, the team at App Friday, L’Escapadou, Jellybean Tunes App Report, PKCLsoft, Thinkamingo, AppsKidsLove, The Blue Jackal, and the many many independent developers who strive to answer these questions daily. 

The post App Store Optimization at MamaBear appeared first on momswithapps.com.

App Friday Deals

Enjoy the animal fable, The Blue Jackal, FREE this App Friday April 26th!

View all apps on the App Friday Download Center

Jellybean Tunes App Report: Volume 77

Just released, an animal game for fine motor, matching and language skills from PlaneTree Family Productions (congratulations Shoham!).

View all apps on the Jellybean Tunes App Report

Get Ready for COPPA

This week the FTC released their Frequently Asked Questions for the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Kids’ apps are “online services”, which are referenced in this legislation. If you are an app developer who is not familiar with COPPA, this document can help get you oriented: http://business.ftc.gov/documents/Complying-with-COPPA-Frequently-Asked-Questions.

Meet us on Facebook!

The kids’ app community gathers on the App Friday Facebook page every week (peak time at 10:00am San Francisco time). Stop by to share your news!

Link Exchange

If you have app news, please post the URL below. (Hint: when you enter the URL, completely delete the  ”http://” or else the link will break.)

The post Weekly News: April 26th appeared first on momswithapps.com.

Once an app is launched, how many downloads can an app developer expect to sell? This is a constant question in the mobile app community. What number of downloads is average, what events trigger a spike in downloads, and how can those spikes be sustained?

Case studies have been published from our community in hopes of solving those mysteries. My favorite posts include charts, graphs, and summaries of personal experience. We all know the holy grail of an app launch is to be featured by the app store, but that scenario is tough to guarantee. Meanwhile, developers must assemble a tool set for increasing the visibility of their app. Here are three experiences from developers who share the results of their app launches and promotions:

Artgig Apps & Marble Math Jr.

Note: Pay attention to how the app stores are categorizing and curating featured apps, and how apps can benefit from their position on the app store even some time after launch. See full post at http://artgig.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-case-of-mystery-app-store-sales.html.

PKCLsoft and the Launch of Claustrophobic (short term & long term results)

Note: This is a two part analysis including the initial launch and a follow up several months later. Peter details his experience with setting some of his math apps to free during App Friday and with App Advice, and how those promotions impacted the downloads of his new app. Then he does a follow up promotion and compares the difference between having apps in the “games” versus “education” category. See first post here http://www.pkclsoft.com/wp/?p=531 and second post here http://www.pkclsoft.com/wp/?p=565.

L’Escapadou and his Educational App Sales for 2012

Note: This is a comprehensive summary of Pierre’s downloads for every app during 2012. He points out which app sold the most, where in the rankings an app can benefit from “inertia”, and his localization strategy. He also discusses the impact of press mentions, keeping your app updated, and recaps with specific recommendations for app marketing. This article is a “must read” for anyone entering the educational app space . See full post here http://blog.lescapadou.com/2012/12/my-sales-experience-in-education-app.html.

The post How many downloads did you get, and why? appeared first on momswithapps.com.