This Week in Apps: Photoshop for iPad bombs, Google Play’s new rewards program, iOS bug fixes

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the Extra Crunch series that recaps the latest OS news, the applications they support, and the money that flows through it all. What are the developers talking about? What Do app publishers and marketers need to know? How is international politics playing out in the App Store? What apps is everyone using?

As November kicks off, we’re looking at a number of big apps launches from Microsoft and Adobe — as well as what went wrong. We’re also looking at the iOS bug-squashing release, a bunch of data about app install trends around the world, Google Play’s new loyalty program and what it means for developers, the continued scrutiny of Chinese apps by the U.S. government, and more.

Fast Facts

eMarketer remindS us that it recently put out a big report on app installs with a ton of insights. It’s actually been live for a few months, but ICYMI, here are some of the key data points and highlights:

  • The average iPhone user in the U.S. downloaded 47 apps in 2018, up from 44 in 2017.
  • The average number of apps installed is rising — up 15% from 2016. In the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and Australia, users had more than 100 apps downloaded in 2018.
  • Smartphone users spend the most time using their top 5 apps. In 2017, the top 5 accounted for 87% of usage. Now (Apr. 2019) it’s 83%. The No. 1 app had a 49% share of the time spent, now it’s 44%.
  • The number of smartphone users in the U.S. will grow just 3% in 2019, compared with 13.2% in India and 12.1% in Indonesia.
  • Related, app downloads grew 165% in India from 2016 to 2018. In China, 70%. In Indonesia, 55%. And in Brazil, 25%. The U.S. app downloads grew just 5%.
  • In June 2019, the App Store had 1.8 million apps compared with Google Play’s 3.1 million.
  • 43% of iOS app install referrals came from Facebook properties, and only 6.6% came from Google properties.
  • Apple Search Ads drove 12% of non-organic installs in May 2019.
  • In-app video ads outperform display ads. Install-to-register rates for video were 35.1% in Q1
    2019 on the Liftoff network, compared with 28.5% for display ads.
  • App engagement drop-off rates after day one are the biggest in shopping apps. (25% engagement after the first day, but 8% at 30 days). Travel also sees a big drop-off. (20% after the first day and 6% after 30 days).

Headlines

iOS Bug Squashing: Apple fixed the iOS bug that killed your background apps. Apple this week finally squashed a very annoying bug in iOS 13 that made the OS overly aggressive about killing background apps and tasks. Apps like Safari, YouTube, Overcast and others were impacted, leading users to lose emails or the video they were watching just when they switched away for a few seconds. What Apple can’t fix is a growing concern that Apple has “lost the plot” following a series of extremely buggy software updates across its product line, which made users hesitant to upgrade to macOS Catalina, and bricked people’s HomePods.

Google admits it can’t secure the Play Store on its own: Google this week announced partnerships with security firms ESET, Lookout, and Zimperium to form what it has branded the “App Defense Alliance.” The goal, the company says, is to unite the security industry to fight malicious apps across Android’s ecosystem of 2.5 billion devices. Basically, Google will integrate its own detection systems with each partner’s scanning engine to help it uncover potential risks and threats. However, the fact that Google is now essentially outsourcing security to a partner ecosystem is an admission of failure, to some extent, about its abilities to keep the Play Store free from bad actors on its own. (But of course, we all knew that already, right?)

Photoshop for iPad is tanking: Adobe released its most important mobile app ever with this week’s launch of Photoshop for iPad. But fans panned the app because it’s missing several key features. Like RAW support! The app now has 2 stars out of 5…yikes. So what went wrong?

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Amid a sea of complaints and a terrible app rating, Adobe’s CPO shot back that if you try to make everyone happy, you’ll never ship. And also something about developing apps in public instead of “hidden in the lab.”

Okay sure, but perhaps there’s a larger lesson for app developers here — people no longer think of the iPad as some extra, lightweight computing device — it’s a real computer where they expect to do their real work. And if you’re going to publicly launch an app that’s still sort of in the MVP phases (and one that people have been waiting on for years, no less), maybe don’t charge for it like it’s a finished product?

So far, Photoshop for iPad ended up being too little, too late for some photographers. As one reviewer writes, “you’ve waited so long…we’ve all found alternatives we like.” Hopefully, Adobe learns something here before it brings Illustrator to iPad in 2020.

The other big app launches to know about from Adobe: The app stores saw a number of high-profile launches this week, thanks to Adobe’s annual Max conference and Microsoft …In addition to the controversial Photoshop for iPad, Adobe also launched AR authoring app Aero for iOS, a preview version of Photoshop Camera and is porting its iPad app Fresco to Windows.

Microsoft revamps its Office mobile app strategy: Remember when everyone was breaking apart their large software platforms into smaller, separate apps for mobile users? And then they realized that was a mistake and what really mattered was getting all the usage and engagement in one app? Microsoft is now going a third route that’s a hybrid of those strategies. The company this week announced it’s launching a unified Microsoft Office app on iOS and Android that combines lightweight versions of its core Office apps into one. If users require the advanced features, they can buy Office 365 subscriptions to get fully-featured, separate Office apps for their devices. This is an interesting model because it enables a developer to serve two audiences — both the casual and advanced users — from the same starting point.

Apple details its security and privacy practices: If you want to know the ins and outs of how Apple’s most popular technology works, Apple’s new privacy website will now tell you. The company this week released several technical whitepapers on Safari, Photos, Location Services, Sign in with Apple, and more. Unfortunately, they’re not as detailed as you may hope — but still worth a read for anyone building apps for Apple’s platforms.

Apple Arcade hit a milestone of over 100 games. The company this week launched 6 more titles to its subscription-based app store. One, Sociable Soccer, a sequel to Sensible Soccer, had tried to make a comeback on Kickstarter and failed. Apple Arcade apparently proved to be an alternative path to getting a beloved title funded and launched. Another, UFO on Tape: First Contact is a sequel to an older, 2010 game UFO of Tape. This indicates Apple Arcade may be a way to get labors of love built which the original App Store business model didn’t really allow for.

Google Play debuts a loyalty program, Play Points, that will boost app usage: Google has come up with a new strategy to keep users in its own Android app ecosystem, where they’ll spend money and earn rewards, which helps then to boost app usage and engagement…and ultimately, revenue. Here’s how it works. Users earn points for everything they do on Google Play, like buying movies, books, etc. Those points can then be redeemed for in-app purchases in games and apps. (Google funds these so developers aren’t losing money.) It’s a way to nudge users back into apps where they’ll potentially spend more money over time. The program launched this week in the U.S., but is already live in South Korea and Japan. Not surprisingly, those are also the top 3 grossing markets for Google Play consumer spend. Google doesn’t want users to think it’s encouraging increased app usage, however. After all, that would surely be in conflict with all those new digital wellbeing initiatives it has underway. It’s just rewards!! Pay no attention to the impact to our bottom line!! 

TikTok and YouTube apps on screen iphone xr, close up

TikTok and Apple’s China business practices under continued scrutiny in the U.S.: The U.S. is continuing to look into TikTok and its business as well as how Apple is handling decisions related to its business in China. Last week, the U.S. launched a national security review of TikTok, and this week a Senate subcommittee hearing was held on the matter. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called the app a “Chinese-owned social media platform so popular among teens that Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly spooked.” TikTok continues to claim the app doesn’t store any U.S. user data in China and does not remove content from the platform at the request of the Chinese government. TikTok and Apple were both invited to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism hearing titled “How Corporations and Big Tech Leave Our Data Exposed to Criminals, China, and Other Bad Actors.” They both sat it out. Meanwhile, TikTok has been focused on expanding its U.S. influence with a new developer program, SDK and new integrations with third-party apps.

App Acquisitions: Per Apptopia, there were a couple of notable app acquisitions this week, including family tracker app Life360’s acquisition of the AI-powered screen time app ZenScreen, which had 577K lifetime installs. The move signals Life360’s interest in moving into the digital wellness space. In addition, the investment platform eToro acquired crypto portfolio tracker Delta. Since its debut in September 2017, Delta has generated $1.5 million in in-app purchase revenue, Apptopia says.

More Reading

Don’t forget the Amazon AppStore (says Amazon): The Amazon AppStore team sat down with a developer at AppyNation to discuss how they handle app parity. The article’s goal, obviously, is to help developers to remember that Amazon’s own AppStore is still a consideration for those wanting to offer a true cross-platform experience. The article is a bit of Amazon shilling, but for those considering going that route, it links to some useful tools and documents for making the Amazon AppStore a part of your business plan.

How an app “David” beat an app “Goliath:” The South China Morning Post looks at how a much smaller app with Chinese roots was able to beat out ByteDance in the news aggregation space. According to the report, Particle Media’s News Break app was downloaded more than CNN or Reddit to become the most-downloaded news app in the U.S. from January through September, and was the No. 2 news app on the Apple App Store. ByteDance’s TopBuzz, meanwhile, ranked below No. 20. (ByteDance now may be looking to sell the app.) There were several reasons why the smaller app may have won out, including its editorial guidelines — TopBuzz allowed individual publishers to post — but also its design style. News Break gave more space to text stories, not giant photos and videos.

Downloads

Aero 6App of the Week: Wait. It’s not Photoshop, right…or is it? Aren’t you curious if it’s really a 2-star experience? Okay, fine. Alright. Let’s give the “App of the Week” to Adobe Aero instead. The idea is to offer a way for designers to build AR experiences without coding through a visual interface. There do appear to be some launch bugs (hence a 3.5-star rating), but overall the app is meant to be very easy to use, as it lets you bring in Photoshop files and other existing assets from your Creative Cloud library to create your 3D-like scene. Assuming bugs get fixed in a later release, the app could be promising. High-quality AR content so far has been expensive, complex, and time-consuming to produce, but is a big deal in markets like retail, commerce, travel, and leisure, Adobe explained. Now it will be easier to produce.

Adobe Aero is a free download on the App Store.

Game of the Week: Minecraft Earth launched early this week across 9 countries on both Android and iOS. The anticipated new title is now live in the U.K., Canada, Iceland, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, and Sweden. The U.S. isn’t on that list yet, but the game will arrive here in “the coming weeks.” Be wary of those unauthorized APKs in the meantime, Microsoft has been cracking down. That, of course, hasn’t stopped people from trying — or changing their App Store country instead. But before you go the TOS violating route, at least try signing up for the beta first.

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