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How AI Could Change The Way We Build Video And Mobile Games

“I’m sorry Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

If you’re a sci-fi film fan or (ahem) of a certain age, that quote from HAL 9000, the sentient computer and antagonist of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, will likely have sent a small shiver down your spine. Artificial intelligence, or AI, has long been a go-to Hollywood villain – think Skynet, Ultron and, arguably the most evil of them all, Proteus IV from ‘Demon Seed’.

Luckily, though, science fact hasn’t mirrored fiction (not yet, at least) and “friendly AI” is now in almost all our homes in the form of Siri, Cortana, Alexa and the like. It’s also used in more mundane processes like search engines, email filtering, and chatbots.

However, AI in game design needs to catch up.

Chances are you’ve heard lots about AI playing games – famous examples include AlphaGo, the computer program that plays the board game Go, and Deep Blue, the chess-playing computer that beat world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.

But there’s a huge difference between this and the AI used in actual games. In fact, game design is one area where AI is actually a bit behind the times. One of the reasons for this is because researchers are using these game-playing computers to understand how to train machines to perform complicated tasks in other, more lucrative, areas (which we’ll go over in more detail later). So this type of research is accelerating at a much faster rate than in-game AI.

There are other reasons why game design has fallen behind in this field. But before we get into those, let’s look at some AI basics.

A brief definition of AI

To simply put it, AI is the simulation of human intelligence by machines. By finding patterns in large amounts of data, we can train them to learn from experience and perform human-like tasks.

AI in games at the moment

If you’ve ever played a video game, then you’ve interacted with AI in some form or another. At the moment, there are two core components to game AI.

Pathfinding: this is used in all games and is where AI plots the shortest route between two points. A good example is the ghosts in ‘Pac-Mac’, which use pathfinding to decide which direction to go in.

Finite state machines: this lets designers define complex behaviors. It powers NPCs (non-playable characters) in games, especially in open-world RPGs like ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ or ‘Zelda: Breath of the Wild’.

These two techniques have been around since the 1980s and 90s, and the way games developers use them hasn’t really changed much since then. Obviously, as processing power has improved they made them look more sophisticated – but the underlying principles and fundamental concepts have hardly changed.

In practice, this means that while bosses in tricky games like ‘Dark Souls’ are using a form of AI to anticipate what players are going to do next, they’re still following set patterns which most of us can overcome without too much difficulty. And even games like ‘No Man’s Sky’ which uses a technique called procedural generation to build an almost infinite number of planets (18 quintillion if you’re counting), are still using long-established programming techniques to do that. So why aren’t game developers taking advantage of developments in this area?

The ghost in the machine

Precisely because it learns, AI is inherently unpredictable – which makes it a disadvantage in gaming. Developers ultimately want to know what a player will experience. So if you put in something that’s constantly adapting and learning from the player, there’s a good chance unexpected things will happen. At worst, this could make your game unplayable.

Imagine if all the NPCs in ‘Skyrim’ remembered every ‘bad’ thing you’ve ever done in Tamriel. It’d be carnage. So game developers have largely stuck with the type of AI that powers those Pac-Man villains – which nowadays isn’t actually considered all that intelligent.

To put it bluntly, they need to get over this. Why? Because used properly, AI could fundamentally change the way games are designed and played.

3 things AI could bring to the gaming table

1. It could make it quicker to create games

First up, AI could speed up the time it takes developers to build levels and craft open-world environments. In time, it could even build entire games from scratch. This would mean bigger and better games with more sophisticated and complex environments in much less time. This could particularly benefit small, indie game designers with less resources.

2. It could make your games more personal

Developers could also use AI to make the rules of a game changeable – so the experience I have playing it could be completely different to yours. Games could even learn what individual players like and dislike, and adapt things to suit them as they’re playing, creating a completely personalized experience. Automated game design like this could mean that every time you sit down to play a game will be like the first time – because the game is constantly redesigning itself, no two play-throughs will ever be the same.

3. It could bring self-learning characters into the mix

And lastly, while it’s not likely to happen any time soon, one day we could get a self-learning character in a game. One that can change and grow in the same way that we humans do.

So what are we waiting for? AI is the future of game design, and one we can and should embrace.

AI tools that are already about

Feeling inspired? There are lots of AI tools out there which you can use to add new features to your games and apps. Here’s a small snapshot of five of them we’ve found online.

Caffe2 – developed by Facebook, Caffe2 aims to be an easy way to experiment with deep learning (where artificial neural networks learn from large amounts of data). It works across various platforms and integrates with Android Studio, Visual Studio and Xcode for mobile development.

Core ML – you can use this to integrate trained machine learning models into iOS apps. It’s been designed for on-device performance, which uses less memory and power.

ML Kit – made by Google, ML Kit offers the technologies the search engine uses to power its own experiences on mobile, and comes in both out-of-the-box solutions and custom models.

TensorFlow – an open-source software library for building machine learning models. It has flexible architecture which makes it easy to use on desktop, mobile and edge devices.

Cognitive Services – marketed as a way to use AI to solve business problems, Microsoft’s Cognitive Services lets you add intelligent algorithms to see, hear, speak, understand and interpret your user’s needs.

The post How AI Could Change The Way We Build Video And Mobile Games appeared first on GameAnalytics.

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How Much Does it Cost to Market an App?

The post How Much Does it Cost to Market an App? appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store are the biggest dominants in the mobile app marketplace, with total mobile apps now touching 5.5 million in numbers.

  Both Android and iOS users interact with only a few good apps on their smartphones, which accounts for incessant competition.

Such environment requires App makers to realize the importance of app marketing and focus on planning a sincere budget for marketing an app.

  The main challenges through the entire mobile app marketing strategy are:

  Organic and rapid mobile App discovery

Reaching the target users

User Engagement and retention

Creation of loyal app users

Satisfying Conversion and ROI

  All these operations involve the question of how much the app marketing would cost you. To estimate the cost, we need to consider the essential components that constitute the comprehensive app marketing campaign model. Here is the quick glance at app marketing cost breakdown structure:

  Market research

App beta testing

App Store Optimization

App PR outreach

Influencer Marketing

App marketing agency pricing

Average Cost Per Install (CPI)

Cost Per Action (CPA): Register

  The Pre-Launch Marketing Components

  The pre-launch app marketing usually includes the most crucial components such as market research, beta testing, ASO (App Store Optimization), PR and pre-launch media coverage.

This stage of app marketing revolves around generating interest, excitement and anticipation as well as awareness of the app before it is accessible from the app store.

  This way people will also know the availability of the app and when to rush to the stores for downloading it.

  Market Research Costs

Conducting a healthy and in-depth market research is a step that precludes any other action for it lets you know the minutest aspects of the target market.

  However, your research is not merely limited to scooping up the facts about competitors’ success, trending features, user requirements and marketing Technologies (MarTech).

  It also essentially entails efforts for discovering robust options for social media coverage, viral marketing, good publications and influencers, bloggers and YouTubers. The cost for such thorough research appears between $5000 to $15,000.

  Beta Testing

Beta testing helps save your mobile app’s reputation when the app is actually being used. The testing determines the impeccable performance of the app and ensures your app is completely ready for the market and doesn’t contain any pitfall of bugs.

  Beta testers also come handy when posting unbiased reviews about app’s look and feel – which is an underlying part of app marketing.

  The usual cost estimation for such beta testing hits between $3000 to $5,000.

  App Store Optimization (ASO) Cost

  The process of App Store Optimization covers all the thoughts and attempts at tuning the mobile app to the rules of discoverability as decided by respective App stores like Google Play Store and Apple App store.

The efforts involved in ASO cleverly deal with optimizing keywords, title, screenshots, video and description to make sure the app is compelling enough to be easily found and downloaded by its potential users.

  Since ASO is a tricky subject that needs good level of technical expertise, the in-house app creators must be skilled enough to use the right set of ASO tools whose monthly cost range from $50 to $1000 or more.

  If in-house expertise lacks awareness about tools-specific tactics, hiring an app marketing agency would be a great remedy.

  PR Activities

  Reaching out to PR is still considered effective for mobile app marketing as it is for any product marketing activities. Pitching an app to online publications and being visible through press releases is the integral part of successful app marketing strategy.

  PR outreach turns out to be a little more time consuming, though, and capitalizes greatly on media relationships. Eventually, it makes the app prominent on leading forums and publications. A good reputed PR agency may charge your company up to $300 per hour.

  Influencer Marketing Cost

Mobile app industry can boost its marketing power by tapping into the world of influencer marketing. Online influencers who are actually bloggers and reporters can magnificently endorse the app by developers in the most dignified and honorable way.

  The cost for influencer marketing for connecting an app to the target audience can reach $10,000. The marketing agency may levy up to $15,000 a month – which might strike as a little too expensive for independent developers. The method usually seems affordable for today’s big brands.

  The Cost of Digital App Marketing Assets

  To create an unforgettable online presence with glorious visibility, the mobile app of all genre needs a platform to flourish. This platform is better interpreted as a promotional website and social media accounts for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

  Companies or developers can either partner with a professional web design firms – which may cost from $5000 to $25000 – or alternatively opt for online web building solutions that charge nearly $20 a month.

  In the latter case, you still need a competitive, robust service for creating presentable, vivid graphics and images developed professional for branding visuals.

  Post-Launch Marketing Cost Estimation

  After launching the app comes the real hard work of getting users to install and take actions within the app. The post-launch user acquisition activities will have brands and marketers spending a significant portion of the overall budget.Mobile app life cycle is kept afloat by getting users to install your app.

However, the cost estimation for making users install app (CPI) is different for both iOS and Android platform since Android smartphone users are many and have different choices and locations than iPhone users. It is usual to expect the CPI for iOS to be $6 and $4 for Android.

  CPA(cost per action)is the crucial part of mobile app marketing campaign as it usually revolves around in-app actions excepted of users such as:

  Registration and account creation

Contents participation

In-app purchase

Product order or service reservation

Filling the surveys

Subscription of push message or other services

  Mobile only becomes profitable if users make purchase decisions. For this very reason, cost for getting users to take an expected action is quite higher than cost per install.

  Keeping the app monetization mechanism in perspective, we can deduce that the estimated CPA for iOS app could be approximately $120 and $180 for Android app.

  Given the higher cost of CPA, it is most important for brands and uptight developers to retain mobile users and get them to subscribe more often.

  Push Notifications Cost

Every app nowadays supports push notification marketing to keep the customer interactions alive and business going. Most effective and ubiquitously embraced, push notification solutions such as Beacons are powerful tools to communicate with existing app users about latest offers, special discounts and features to try.

  The personalized messages with relevant content can engage users for a long time, helping you stop them from quitting the app. Due to specially designed APIs, the cost of push notification marketing reposes within $30 to $200 a month.

  Hiring a Specialized App Marketing Agency

  To execute a perfect app marketing strategy with all the vital points, taking the help from professional veterans in the field is not a bad idea. Brands and mobile app developers will need to open their budget limit up to $25000 for a single app.

  The marketers will take over the job of preparing crucial marketing assets such as micro website, graphics and photos, video creation, and social media channels. these actions will make sure users will be able to discover your app across all marketing channels.

  Your Takeaway

  If you believe in holistic approach for marketing your mobile app, you will find the app marketing expenses swaying around the tail end of $10 to $12K.

  Considering how bad you want your freshly developed app to surface in the densely overcrowded app market, it will be great to stretch your marketing budget a little more liberally.

Regardless of industry niche and complexity, investing in promoting your app across major platforms and channels does involves a lot of hustles and creativity.

  If implemented adroitly on platforms that precisely deliver your message to app users, the app marketing strategy shows you bright prospects of impressive ROI and profits.

  The post How Much Does it Cost to Market an App? appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

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Release Notes: new iOS and Android features including 7-day view of Dispatches, Square enhancements, and more

These mobile releases include helpful enhancements to how you view Handoffs, your ability to see farther in the future when it comes to Dispatches, the ability to more easily connect GoCanvas Submissions to payments in Square, and an improvement to number fields on iOS.  Release Notes: new iOS and Android features including 7-day view of Dispatches, Square enhancements, and more published first on https://gpshandyorten.weebly.com/

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Keeping Your Head: A Beginner’s Guide To Header Bidding In Mobile Games

Today we’re exploring the world of header bidding and ad monetization for mobile games. If that just made you say ‘huh?’, then this is the post for you.

We’ll go through the basics, the advantages and disadvantages, and demystify the acronyms and jargon that surround it. So the next time someone starts talking about eCPM or RTB, you’ll know what’s fluff and what’s truly significant for your studio.

Jargon buster

It’s impossible to talk about ad mediation without using jargon and industry terms. So before we get started, take a look at this cheat sheet of words and phrases that you’re going to come across both in this post and elsewhere (it’s in alphabetical order).

Ad mediation – the basics

Before we get into the ins and outs of header bidding, let’s set the foundation by starting with how ad mediation works.

Most mobile publishers have more ad inventory than they can sell through their own sales team or one ad network. To sell as much of this as they can, they work with lots of ad networks at the same time. As with any kind of transaction, some ad networks will bring in more cash for a publisher than others (for example because they specialize in a particular industry or area). That’s where ad mediation comes in. Publishers use it to match the right inventory to the right network, and get the most cash for their impressions.

Traditionally, ad mediation uses a selling process called ‘waterfalling’ or cascading their ad requests by offering the placement to one network at a time (see the jargon buster for more on how this works). But, this has one big disadvantage, and it all comes down to cold, hard cash.

Don’t go chasing waterfalls

The main problem with waterfalling is that publishers can lose money. That’s because they’re taking the first bid, rather than the highest bid.

Imagine that impressions are cupcakes (stay with me). You try to sell a tray of these delicious cakes to your favorite shop, which says thanks-but-no-thanks. So you lower the price and move on to your second favorite shop, which also says no. Then you lower it again and move to your third favorite… and so on. You’re going to get a sale eventually, because those cakes are getting cheaper every time you get rejected. But you don’t have to be a Great British Bake-Off winner to realize this isn’t the way to get the best price – what if your fifth favorite shop loves your cupcakes? They would have been willing to pay a higher price had you gone to them first. But waterfalling means you’ve missed out on it.

This is where header bidding comes in.

So what’s header bidding?

Almost the exact opposite of waterfalling, header bidding means that impressions are all auctioned off at the same time. All the advertisers get first look at every impression and bid for them simultaneously – so they only get them if the price is right for the publisher.

The name itself is slightly misleading as it’s referring to webpage headers – in a browser, the header tag on a web page lets ad networks and exchanges know there are ads available and asks them to bid for them. Obviously, mobile games and apps don’t have these. But over time ‘header bidding’ has become a catch-all term for any process that gets simultaneous bids from multiple advertisers.

Why is header bidding better?

For publishers, header bidding means they can accept the highest bid for their ad inventory – not the first. To go back to our baked goods analogy again, all the shops get to decide if they want to buy your cupcakes at the same time. You get the best price for them, and none of the buyers feel like they’re getting low-quality products. And for advertisers, it offers more transparency as they can see exactly how much impressions are worth. Everyone’s a winner. Or are they…?

As always, it’s not all good news. Header bidding in browsers means that pages can take longer to load, which obviously has an impact on users’ experience. The same goes for mobile games – building header bidding into these is an extra step that can slow things down, especially when they’re running on mobile data. And in-app header bidding is still in its infancy – at the moment there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.

Will header bidding replace waterfalling?

The most likely outcome is that the two will continue to co-exist. Waterfalling lets publishers agree to exclusive deals with networks – where those networks get priority for certain ad placements. This allows networks to access specific inventory they may desire for their clients, and it also helps publishers charge a premium for their best inventory.

As a result, publishers may end up having a more “compressed” waterfall, which includes a network that has exclusive first access to a placement, with everything that doesn’t get acquired this way auctioned out to all networks.

It’s a ‘best of both worlds’ approach that gives both publishers and networks the ability to pick the partners most suited to them, while also earning more from their content.

So what should take away from this?

At the end of the day, in-app header bidding is good news for publishers’ bank balances, but the technology is still developing. Until it becomes the standard, game publishers who want to experiment with header bidding will have to find a balance between increasing revenue while maintaining game performance and responsiveness.

If you enjoyed reading this post, make sure to check out these ones too:

15 Ad-Tech Terms Every Mobile Game Developer Should Know

15 Metrics All Game Developers Should Know by Heart

50+ KPIs to Measure Your Mobile Game or App

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11 Best Car Racing Games For Android

The post 11 Best Car Racing Games For Android appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

Due to tremendous frisson and excitement offered by racing games, they are quite a hype in Android games market. Google Play Store is raging with a rush of best Android car racing games for justifiable reasons.

For once these games affords you your dream cars on fantasy tracks so you can drive behind the wheels and experience the control while racing against other players.

Second, to make the play even more vivid, it lets you customize its settings including levels, tracks, challenges and graphics. After all, what else will drive you crazy than steering your favorite cars on unimaginably surreal tracks.

Additionally, there is no hold barred as you can perform variety of exuberant stunts and actions in these games that are prohibited in the real world such as drift, police escape, speed limit breaks, free chasing, risky driving with nitrous.

If you want to know more about these adrenaline-boosting games, here is the list of 11 best car racing games for Android device.

1. Asphalt 9: Legends

Introduced by Gameloft, The Asphalt 9: Legends is the latest update of Asphalt racing game series that surprises you this time with a lot of exciting upgrades to augment original competitive racing experience.

This amazing latest version of Asphalt 9 is soon going to hit the Android play store with awesome elements of flashy graphics, licensed cars and even cooler in-app purchases.

Asphalt has kept its core values and attractions intact including its ability to defeat opponents or treating your eyes with ramps, nitrous and winning shortcuts.

  2. Real Racing 3

?

Real Racing 3 boasts of its outstanding simplicity and fascinating graphics. The game beautifully replicates real-world cars and race tracks, giving you a game experience that stands out from the rest.

What would amaze you is that you can choose your viewing sight and navigate the vehicle from various control options. The game offers multiple gaming modes such as standard race mode, time trials or Time Shift mode and challenge mode.

It has timely updates for introducing new content about new cars and racing events and as you win a few races, you can unlock new contents.

  3. Need for Speed: No Limits

?

If you are looking for more exciting actions, Need For Speed: No Limits is another graphics-packed option in the world of racing games for your phone.

In this virtual experience, players can drive on streets, fiddle with rules, drift, dodge police vehicles, use nitro and go frivolous. The Need for Speed races earns you points to unlock new more interesting contents like machines, and modified cars, etc.

The game is usually free but also contains in-app purchases for those who want to enhance the experience. Overall, due to its rich graphics and rule-breakers, even the free NFS version makes for a compelling racing thriller.

  4. Asphalt 8: Airborne

?

The Asphalt 8: Airborne has achieved quite a name in racing games genre for it is known to be dynamic. In addition to playing car races, you can also perform aerial stunts in high speed, knockdowns and drifts and use nitrous wisely.

The game offers over 180 events and 40 car models to pick from and various race tracks. Like many other games, it comes with multiplayer or solo mode and control options that suit your tastes.

  5. CSR Racing 2

?

CSR Racing 2 is quite different from others in the list. What sets it apart from other car racing games is that here you don’t have to typically steer and accelerate or use breaks but can instead win a race with proper start and timely gear changes.

Though it does not sound as dynamic as modern racing games, it does require good skills. There is chance that you may lose the race upon giving it an imprecise start. Players can enjoy the game with a single-player or multiplayer experience.

Moreover, you are allowed to customize your car with paint, interiors, rims as well as technical aspects about gear controls and tire pressure.

  6. Beach Buggy Racing

?

Beach Buggy Racing is built for those who look for fun car racing experience laced with surprises. Beach Buggy is packed with engaging actions where players are racing against drivers who all have unique personalities and racing skills.

Here there are 6 different modes and 15 original off-road race tracks on which your skills are tested when competing with tropical-loving rivals with road rage.

Some other interesting features of the game include customization, split-screen multiplayer, control options and power-ups.

  7. Powerboat Racing 3D

?

Powerboat Racing 3D gives player a water scooter to compete with others and win the race on favorable tracks. The game offers 40 difficulty levels and has many great competitions on the racing mode.

Players can compete either with computer or other players from around the world. You can go up to 4 players. As you win the race, you can upgrade from one watercraft to the next.

Here control options are quite simple and straight. You can tilt your phone for direction change and to use turbos and brake, tap on the screen.

  8. CarX Drift Racing

?

CarX drift Racing is one of the crazy drifting games for Android that can make you addicted. It is tremendous in its vivid graphics which is mainly the reason why it is quite popular.

It takes less storage space on your device – less than 500 MB. Essentially a car simulator, CarX Drift Racing will engage the players with its thrilling curvy tracks and multiple track modes like Drift, Time Track, Training and multiplayer.

More you drift and win, more you score and more money you can achieve. You can later use it to upgrade your race cars. Though it does not have any computer-generated opponents to race against, players can compete with their Ghost coming from the previously held record. If you possess great driving skills, you can steer cars well in CarX drift racing.

  9. Riptide GP: Renegade

?

Riptide GP: Renegade makes your boat racing fantasy come true. Developed by Victor Unit, jet-ski Android racing game that has Vector Engine 4 with stunning graphics matching arcade-style games.

The race is the same as previous Riptide GP versions where you run a jet-ski while performing mid-air stunts as you hit big waves. Compared to earlier, it has improved difficulty levels with same nitro boosters but you have ability to defeat your rivals in first race.

It offers includes campaign mode, local multiplayer mode and online multiplayer mode and allows you to play with four players through split-screen. Its career mode surprises you with Hot Lap, Elimination and Freestyle.

  10. FRZ: Free Racing Zero

?

FRZ Free Racing Zero is bellowed due to its ability to treat you with a lot of fun and engaging colorful comic-style looks. Built with a bird’s view, the game has retro looking design that reminds you of 90’s games.

Players will face a bunch of hurdles including the race track that is riddled with hard curves, rugged paths, oil-spills to test your driving skills. With no boost to help, the game will have you steering left and right with no other control options.

Though it may sound a little harder than modern high-control games, you will love it once you get the hang of it. The in-game currency and the upgrades it allows will enhance your ride as you play along.

  11. Horizon Chase

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Retro lovers will definitely relate with Horizon Chase which is a racing game with a classic retro theme. This classic game is inspired by 80’s and 90’s old-fashioned virtual racing games such as Lotus Turbo challenge, Out Run, Top Gear (SNES), Rush among others.

Players are likely to go nostalgic with Horizon Chase. Like most car racing games, each time you win you get access to new contents such as new racing tracks in the valley along with awards and recognitions.

  Final note

So these were some of the most wonderful car racing games for Android that you can try. Downloading them is easy from Google Play Store.

You can play these 11 best car racing games on your Android device and pick one or two as your all-time favorite. In case we have missed out on a few popular racing games in the list, you can leave suggestions in comments section.

  The post 11 Best Car Racing Games For Android appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

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Overview of the Current Mobile Sports & Racing Games Market

A couple of months ago, GameRefinery took a look at the Match3 market and RPG market to see what types of games are driving revenues there. In this blog post, they shift their focus to mobile Sports & Racing games and examine how various games in this category are currently faring on the market.

Before we dive further into the data, it’s good to understand how GameRefinery views the mobile games market in terms of genres and game types. In order to classify games in a meaningful way, they take into consideration games’ feature-set, theme and defining mechanics, resulting in a three-layered taxonomy where every game is assigned into a one (and only one) i) Category -> ii) Genre -> iii) Subgenre. For example, Summoners War would go under Midcore -> RPG -> Turn-based RPG.

If you’re interested in reading more about the subject, check out their recent post about mobile game genres and classifications.

When taking a look at the category level (the highest tier in their genre taxonomy), we can see that the Sports & Racing category is quite small compared to other categories – for instance, it generates only a bit over 5% of IAP revenues in the US.

Which Sports & Racing subgenres rule different markets?

Let’s start the category overview by taking a look at how Sports & Racing games are doing in the “Big Three” markets – USA, Japan, and China.

The table below shows the number of different Sports & Racing subgenres currently in the top 100, 200 and 500 grossing charts in these three markets. Here games are classified into their respective subgenres: Licensed Sports/Racing games are characterized by their use of real brands (sports leagues, car brands, etc.), and Casual Sports/Racing games are based on actual sports but are not tied to any specific brands. These games are usually more casual than their licensed counterparts.

This data highlights some interesting points:

The overall number of games in each group is quite even between markets.

Getting into high grossing positions with Racing games has been difficult in the US. Only with a single game in each subgenre in the top 200 grossing, but 13 games in total in the top 500 grossing.

The same trend is visible in JP/CN as well, but there are even fewer racing games in the top 500.

Interestingly the Casual Racing subgenre in China is TOTALLY dominated by one game (QQ Speed) because there are no other games from the subgenre residing in the top 200 and only one other game in the top 500.

No Licensed Racing games are in the top 200 in China and only four are in the top 500.

Only one Casual Racing game is in the top 500 in Japan (Bike Race: Free Style Games)

Sports games in China are primarily games with different real-life sport brand licenses and there are only a handful of Casual Sports games even in the top 500. In comparison, US/JP games have a more even spread between Licensed/Casual.

Next, let’s dive a bit deeper in each genre.

Sports

Let’s start with the Sports genre. Different cultures enjoy different sports, but which types of sports games are in the top grossing charts in the “Big three” markets? Tables below illustrate the number of different types of sports games in the top grossing 100, 200, 500 respectively.

A couple of key take-outs from the tables above:

The Japanese market is dominated by soccer/baseball and the Chinese by soccer/basketball titles

In the US there are many more different types of sports games (nine different sports types in the top grossing 500, whereas in Japan there are six and only four in China).

There are clear market leaders in each sport type in the US (in eight different sport types only one game per sport is found in the top grossing 200)

EA’s Madden NFL game dominates the American football market, and Miniclip’s 8 Ball Pool dominates pool games in the US (both are the only games of their sport type in the top grossing 100, 200 and even 500)

Now, let’s focus on the US market with GameRefinery’s Market Share tool and take a look at which games are the “big hitters” and how the total market share of the genre is split between different games. The following table lists the top 10 biggest money-makers inside the Sports genre, together with their revenue share-%s (iOS US) during Q1 2019 and Q1 2018.

In terms of IAP revenue Golf Clash is in a league of its own in the Sports genre. It currently generates almost half of the whole genre’s revenues (44.99%). Gold Clash even increased its share by nearly 12% compared to Q1 2018.

Madden NFL is the market leader in the Licensed Sports subgenre, but when looking at the Sports genre as a whole, it carves up only a bit over 9% of the revenue. Last year was particularly challenging for Madden because its revenue share declined by close to 12% points. In other words, the huge “Overdrive” overhaul of the game wasn’t able to shoot revenues through the roof – at least yet.

When focusing on the top 10 performing Sports games, it’s quite interesting that there are only two new entrants in the whole genre during the past year – Boxing Star and NBA 2K Mobile Basketball. Boxing Star is FourThirtyThree’s reaction-based boxing game with a neat collecting meta that, for example, involves acquiring and upgrading your boxing gear. In the past, Boxing games have been a hard sport to crack in the mobile space, as there haven’t been any hit titles in the sport previously. Now Boxing Star has taken the market leader spot and is currently hovering around 200-250 in the top grossing iOS US.

The second newcomer in the top 10 sports games is 2K’s free-to-play NBA 2K Mobile Basketball. In the past, 2K Games has been focusing on premium NBA-titles, but now NBA 2K Mobile Basketball is looking to compete against EA more directly with its free-to-play model. Currently, EA’s NBA is still the king of the hill, but it’ll be interesting to see how the situation evolves in the future.

One more thing worth picking up is the baseball genre, dominated by Glu Mobile’s Tap Sports Baseball franchise. Glu is one of the last companies in mobile Sports games hanging on to a yearly title release practice. Their 2019 MLB revision released globally only just last month, and we expect it’ll take over the spot held by MLB 2018 (which has since been removed from the App Store after the launch of MLB 2019) shown here.

Racing

Now that we’ve pretty much covered the Sports genre, it’s time for the Racing games market. Let’s start by looking at the US market in terms of revenue shares:

By looking at this table, it’s pretty obvious that CSR Racing 2 reigns supreme by generating almost half of the entire genre’s revenue. Despite being a couple of years old, CSR Racing 2 has been able to tighten its grip on the top position with a 9.5% point increase in its genre share compared to the previous year.

The only other racing game that is currently in the top 200 grossing is Top Free Games’ Bike Race: Free Style Games with approximately 18% market share and a clear leading position in the Casual Racing subgenre.

Compared to last year, there are four new entrants in the top 10 racing games, indicating that the Racing games market is a bit more dynamic compared to its Sports counterpart.

Market shares on a category level

To wrap things up, let’s compare market shares on the category level (i.e. combination of all Sports and Racing games):

Here we see that Golf Clash is in a league of its own, as it rakes up over a third (34.58%) of all category revenue. CSR Racing 2, the market leader of the Racing genre, takes the second spot with close to 11.5% market share.

Madden NFL clearly had the most significant decline in market share over the past year, dropping from the second highest grossing position to fourth place in the Category.

When comparing Racing and Sports games in general, it seems that Racing is having a bit of a tough time, with only two of the top 10 games belonging to the Racing genre.

Conclusion

Both Sports and Racing genres are currently dominated by a single title that generates nearly half of the respective genre’s revenue. “Kings of the Hill” Golf Clash and CSR Racing 2 are both older titles that have dominated their market segment for a while. Despite their maturity, their success shows no signs of slowing down – on the contrary – as both titles strengthened their top dog position over the past year.

When looking at the near future of the Sports & Racing category, the highest expectations undoubtedly rest on the shoulders of Nintendo’s Mario Kart Mobile, planned to be released later this year. Backed up by a hugely popular IP, it just might disrupt the market the way QQ Speed, a similar karting game, did in China.

Interested in doing market research of your own? Try the free layer of their service here.

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15 Ad-Tech Terms Every Mobile Game Developer Should Know

Ad-tech is starting to get all the more significant in the mobile games industry, so it’s important that you’re schooled up. To give you a hand, we’ve put together some of the top key terms you need to be familiar with, in alphabetical order (feel free to bookmark this page, by the way, as we’ll likely keep this updated with new terms we come across).

Ad exchange

Online marketplaces where publishers, advertisers, agencies, ad networks, DSPs and SSPs can buy and sell ad inventory from each other.

Ad fraud 

Ad fraud is when an advert says it’s been seen, but a human has never actually looked at the ad. And the reason why it’s fraud is because there’s still a cost attached to this impression.

Ad inventory

The total amount of space a publisher has available on their site or app for adverts at any one time.

Ad network

A company that sells publishers’ ad inventory to advertisers, making their money by taking a cut of ad revenue.

DSP (Demand-side platform)

This stands for demand-side platform. It’s software that lets advertisers buy ad inventory from ad exchanges, and manage advertising campaigns. A DSP accesses data from lots of different sources, then analyses and bids for impressions as they come up for sale. It can connect to multiple ad exchanges.

CPM (Cost per mille) 

This stands for ‘cost per mille’ which translates as ‘cost per thousand impressions’ (‘mīlle’ being Latin for ‘thousand’, fact fans). It’s basically the amount an advertiser pays a website per one thousand visitors who see their ads.

eCPM (effective cost per mille) 

This is pretty much the same as CPM. However, the main difference here is the formula used. CPM is normally used to work out the cost of a campaign, whereas eCPM is used to determine the value of it. (Still sounds a bit complicated? Mobvista actually explains this pretty well. See their definition here.)

Daisy-chaining

See ‘Waterfalling’.

Impression 

A single view of an ad by one person. Online publishers offer their ad inventory as available impressions.

Header bidding 

Almost the exact opposite of waterfalling, header bidding means that impressions are all auctioned off at the same time. We’re actually putting together a handy post that discusses this topic in more depth. We’ll add a link here once it’s posted. 

Mediation platform

These give publishers centralized access to multiple ad networks.

Programmatic advertising

A system that automates the processes and transactions involved in buying and placing ads on websites or apps. It usually does this through an exchange or DSP. Programmatic advertising makes it possible to buy and place ads in less than a second.

RTB (Real-time bidding) 

This stands for ‘real-time bidding’ and is pretty much what it says on the tin – an automated auction process for buying individual ad impressions on websites, apps, games, etc in real time.

SSP (Supply-side platform)

This is a software system that lets publishers offer their available ad inventory for sale to ad exchanges and demand-side platforms (DSP)s.

Waterfalling

This is a romantic name for a not-very-romantic process used by publishers to sell ad inventory. Publishers create a list of ad networks they want to use and rank them in order of preference (which often means the one with the highest rates will be at the top). Then, when they have an impression to sell, a mediation platform tries to sell it to the ad network that’s top of the list. If that one doesn’t want it, it goes to the next one, then the next (and so on), until someone buys it (hence the name). It’s also called, equally romantically, daisy-chaining.

Think we’ve missed anything? Let us know, and we’ll add it to our list. Just to let you know, we’ll soon be releasing more content to cover this space (our next post tackles header bidding). But for the moment, you can learn more from these posts:

50+ KPIs to Measure Your Mobile Game or App

How To Determine Your Game’s Player LTV

15 Metrics All Game Developers Should Know by Heart

6 Ad Creative Strategies To Nail Your User Acquisition

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How To Make an App like Flipkart

The post How To Make an App like Flipkart appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

Online shopping mobile apps have enabled retail shoppers to purchase anything right on their smartphone without leaving their premises.

  Due to incredible convenience and enticing offers showcased by them, ecommerce apps with fancy digital shelves and infinite product choices are booming louder.

The trend of shopping with mobile apps like Flipkart is slowly making traditional shopping style vanish.

  With the rise of apps like Flipkart, the number of customers browsing shopping websites also plunged down.

  Being a proven ecommerce leader in India, the app can inspires many aspiring online shopping startups that wish to master the niche.

  So these startups can break into the market with a mobile app as successful as a shopping giant Flipkart?

  Read on to learn the secret to success and those crucial components you can adopt to create an app like Flipkart:

    Learning From Flipkart: An Online Shopping Giant

  The thought of entering an ecommerce niche with a prosperous business prospects must be essentially preceded by the even more daunting thought of overpowering the mighty competition.

  The online shopping giant Flipkart has a lot to teach aspiring businesses about how to incise the existing market and emerge as an influential player.

  Flipkart’s immense popularity goes to suggest its ability to study the nerves of current demographics, its rivals and market waves, and to eventually implements the knowledge into building a scalable and customer-oriented online shopping platform.

  The most rewarding features that wrote Flipkart success story could be:

  Spectacular and convincing app logo

Powerful search engine

Customer-specific products

Customized homepage with trending banners

Most relevant push notifications

Alluring offers and enticing discounts

Flexible shipping methods

Safe and reliable payment modes

  If you would like to mirror an app like Flipkart with lively features & functionality, you will need to learn the basics, and here it goes:

  1) The Focal Points of App Development Approach:

  it comes to building a successful ecommerce app that sustains the other surrounding online marketplaces, experimenting with novel innovations would not hurt.

  Try to be liberal and dispel all mythical misapprehensions and stereotypical stance, especially the ones that involve intimidating cost criteria, scope of project and finding the right mobile app development companies with unquestionable proficiency.

  Consider the following list of major focal points to smarten your approach towards the development process and optimize your time, efforts and other resources:

  2) Determine Your Primary Range of Products:

  Before you attempt to jot down your selling point, work on cultivating the idea of what exactly it is you want to sell. Having clear understanding of what you are going to sell and types of services to deliver will help you cement a clear-cut strategy which will go hand-in-hand with the actual development process.

Setting the clear benchmark is synonymous to drawing a fine line between what sells and what turns into fiasco. Moreover, your precise product clarity will also make it easy for you to boost adaptation to the changing market scenario and gain rapid competitive advantage.

  This is how ecommerce giants Amazon, eBay and Flipkart grew popular and were enthusiastically absorbed across the globe. You may launch a fairly limited range of products that you are confident about and then expand further after achieving a certain milestone.

  3) Gather Insight into Your Target Audience:

  The major activities happening at the core of ecommerce app development are solely driven by customer requirements. Usually, your sheer focus should be divided between middle-age retail app users and young audience opting for online shopping apps.

  Much of brainstorming for target audience also involves determining the products range in the early phase. Conduct in-depth research, observe market trends and analyze the e-retail customer impulses.

  4) Subtle UI/UX Design:

A well accomplished UI design is the one that is clever enough engage users, and is distinctive enough to stand out among similar products boasting in the leading app stores.

  Subtle interface architecture of this kind revolves around establishing deeper connection with human gestures and precision of elements.

  Since this phase follows your findings of target audience and market trends, designing an interactive UI that delivers addictive user experience is an objective worth spending time in.

  Focus on all the elements and components pivotal to your app UI. Make them easy-to-use, functional and comprehensible. A subtle familiar design makes users feel comfortable reaching the order completion page.

  5) Adopt Minimalist and Lean Standard

  Although having minimalist design is no tough science, often app makers forget this simple logic. Minimalism is still a superhit formula and puts positive first impression on new users.

  An overstuffed app is likely to confuse users, distracting them and making their shopping process even more challenging. Keep features as limited as possible, at least initially, to maintain quality and ease.

  Essential Features

  To create a clever Flipkart clone with features that affords convenience. Depending on the complexity you can manage, you can optimize them accordingly. However, better the quality you prefer, more chance you will have to battle the competition.

  1. Sign-in and Account Creation:

  Save users their precious time by allowing them to register and create an account via their personal social media profiles.

  2. Smooth and Effortless Navigation:

  Create easy-to-access menus and precise titles finding options comfortably. Indexing and filters should ensure rapid search. Offering a solution for suggesting related or similar products would also enhance shopping experience.

  3. Reliable and Secure Payment Options:

  keep the payment simple, secure and agile with trusted encryption methods. Users tend to appreciate secure and reliable payment options. PayPal, Stripe and Braintree are much embraced alternatives in this domain.

  4. Add to Cart Feature/Wish list:

  Add to cart feature lets users choose the items they like and add them to a cart on the top corner. They can also choose to put them in their Wish list or Saved Items list to place the order later. Purchase history is also common nowadays.

  Promo Codes/offers:

  This is highly customizable and sought-after feature in the world of online shopping. Buyers rarely refuse an offer tailored for them specially.

  Loyal customers should be the first to avail bank-specific discounts, promo codes, gift card, waivers, etc.

  Apart from these fundamentally momentous features, your online shopping app like Flipkart can also be made unique with the following set of functions:

  Customer support – your professional spirit of care and assistance is much appreciated. Provide your customers with excellent support service and boost loyalty.

Social profiles– Let your customers connect with other users and flaunt their fashion wardrobe to make shopping fun.

In-app Wallet – Let your customers accrue extra cashback or returned item refund right in the app’s wallet.

Currency converter – Upon expanding your business outside, currency converter makes for a great feature.

  Three Major Ecommerce app Stimulants to Remember

Personalized Homepage:

  In any circumstances, don’t take the risk of serving your app users with plain, bland and monotonous homepage content.

  Make the opening page of the app dynamic and vibrant with banners on hot products, seasonal discounts and limited-time offers.

  You may use latest trends or customer’s purchase history and cart items to design the personalized homepage.

  Custom Notifications and Offers:

  Just like homepage, offers and notifications need diversity and customization as well.

  To effectively deliver on a long-term value proposition of your brand, show your shoppers how much you care by engaging them with relevant notifications on attractive offers, fresh updates as well as gentle cart status reminders

  Checkout Page Metrics :

  No modern and innovative app would be actually modern or innovative without integration of powerful analytics software connected to it.

  The analytics dashboard presents you with the real-time data on monitoring of customer behavior inside your app, especially as they reach the critical checkout stage.

  Final Remarks

  Developing a shopping app involves as many challenges as fighting the competition from big names in the niche market. However, if you have unique ideas on mind, you can turn the routine shopping process of customers into a smooth, unforgettable experience with your app.

  To prevent the complexity and cost-related burden from obstructing your mobile app development process, it is advisable to find the right development partner that understands your ideas and make them work.

A perfect shopping app is built of superior UI/UX, features and smooth functions. Not every company has a powerful team of strategists, designers and developers to meet such standards.

  Fortunately, Redbytes surfaces as a finest resort with impressive reputation, track record and experience in diverse mobile app development projects. For thorough consultation, you can contact us.

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Three Ways Mobile Can Help You Move Toward Industry 4.0

The manufacturing industry knows it needs to digitally transform itself, but not all companies are yet onboard — a full 40 percent of manufacturers have yet to even launch a pilot, according to a McKinsey survey, “Digital Manufacturing – escaping pilot purgatory.” And many that are already onboard may not fully realize how central mobile manufacturing apps are to getting to Industry 4.0.

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GoCanvas Now Accepts Square Mobile Payments

GoCanvas and Square now make it easier to get paid faster.  GoCanvas Now Accepts Square Mobile Payments published first on https://gpshandyorten.weebly.com/

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Q1 Updates – Mobile Action Platform

The first quarter of this year has been a very happening one at Mobile Action. We are very excited to introduce you to all the new features you will now be able to benefit from! Our product team has gone to tremendous lengths to make updates and design cool new features, all with one thing […]

The post Q1 Updates – Mobile Action Platform appeared first on Mobile Action Blog.

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Q1 Updates – SearchAds.com

Our SearchAds compliments the philosophy of our Mobile Action ASO products. We believe that every app should have the ability to be discovered. The first quarter of this year has brought with it some very exciting updates that you all will love. The updates make it easier for you to discover, bid and scale your […]

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How To Market an App Successfully

The post How To Market an App Successfully appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

The basic strategy of mobile app marketing revolves around the truth that Apple App Store ad Google Play is laden with nearly 3 million apps, and that the number is still climbing up.

Therefore, for your mobile app to be a successful digital authority in the stifling competition of the digital market, you must need proven caliber. And by caliber, we mean extraordinary features and a solid marketing strategy.

But how would prospect users know your app has something that only you can offer in terms of value, engagement and novelty? This is where implementing a competitive and effective marketing techniques become inevitable.

Based on our market research and mobile app expertise, we have narrated a few strategies to successfully market an app.

1) Dedicate More Resources

There are a lot of diverse opinions coming from marketers when deciding whether or not spending more on mobile app marketing yields great effects.

The study by Mobile Marketing Association suggests that dedicating 7-9% of total marketing budget on mobile is wise.

While reserving good part of budget for app marketing is important, it is also equally important to efficiently use that budget on planning mobile resources.

Nearly 80% of customers seek location-specific service alerts on their mobile devices, which require you to invest in technology for push notification, geo-fencing and multilingual support.

With so much on stack, without planning your budget for creative advertisements and engaging content, you could flip out in the nick of time.

Your budget must cover different aspects of marketing to enhance your app’s visibility in key online marketplaces.

2) Burst Campaign For Organic Users

The ultimate goal of any app marketing campaign is to boost app’s rank through ad spend, app store optimization and organic downloads.

Media ads help drive more downloads which further heightens app ranks and visibility in app stores. The paid installs is a viable short-term formula that falls under “Burst Campaigns” and triggers the peak volume of organic downloads.

The technique of Burst campaign used by mobile app marketers today revolves around generating a burst of paid media exposure over a brief period depending on budget limit.

The approach not only helps you climb app store ranks and improves app discover ability, but you also see a rush of organic users downloading your app. After attaining desired success, your ad budget can be scaled down back to minimum later.

If you still wish to maintain this high ranking and steady downloads from organic users, you can keep the momentum of paid advertising alive even after the burst campaign concludes.

The best example of capitalizing on a successful short-term ad spend would probably be Nike that enviously drives burst campaign tactic.

3) App Store Optimization

App Store Optimization (ASO) process helps your app appear at higher rank in online app stores and boosts its visibility to potential users.

As Nielsen report reveals, 63% of Android and iOS users depend on the search within app stores to discover the desired app – which is the primary reason why ASO strategies stand as a sturdy pillar to the app marketing endeavors. The three target points of ASO are:

a) Optimizing the Title:

To optimize the title perfectly, you need a thoughtful mindset and a distinctive name that reflects brand value, business goal and easily discoverable search terms. Adding the specific functionality also adds a marketing edge to the title.

b)  Optimizing Keywords:

Keywords are the key to app finding process and keyword optimization should be done within 100 characters with main focus on search volume, competitor’s practices and relevance. Try to test the effectiveness of keywords before decide to keep or even change them.

c) Optimizing the Description:

Intrigue users by creating an ad appeal in the initial lines of app description since these are the first 2-3 lines of text users are likely to see before they choose ‘more’ button. You can also highlight the update section to reengage with the new updates, fixes, offers and more.

4) Market the Great Experience

Because customer experience greatly affects the overall app success, business could count delivering awesome experience as main ingredient to effective marketing strategy.

This is especially critical in order to combat the raging competition and meet the highest stature of modern app standards.

The story of businesses building the apps to for customers to use is long buried in the past. As audiences have different expectations now, your app must survive on the unique experience it creates.

Hence, when you market the app, you bear in mind that only your app has power to please customers with the experience not found anywhere else in the market.

Also as 86% of consumers appreciate keep-it-simple approach, brands that believe in simplified experience instead of stupefying information can have more purchasers. From description to inside content, keep everything relevant and specific to customers’ life.

5) Build a Microsite

When you build a microsite, you add one more opportunity to market your app outside the app store and drive the traffic there via organic SEO techniques.

The site of such unique sort can be leveraged to exhibit your app to the widest audience and create a huge buzz on and before the launch.

Microsite is your minimalist site, a landing page with call-to-actions and a brief contact form to collect prospect emails with which to engage with the interested audience.

The microsite not only makes you more visible, but also improves its credibility. Additionally, as you connect your own blog with the landing page of the microsite, you can discuss the app features and ongoing progress to better promote the app.

6) Capitalize on Social Media

Marketing your product on social media platforms drives big public interest and hype needed to steer traffic to pre-launch microsite and the app store where it belongs.

Invest your efforts and resources on social channels and blogs to keep the buzz alive and intense and build a sincere community of prospect users.

Create a Facebook page or spread a word about it on Twitter using various hash tags as it will promote your app among target users. You can even run a contest and encourage Tweeters audience to make a tweet, re-tweet and share it on other online networks.

To smoothly maintain the ongoing campaigns and engagement with creative content, you should remain active on social channels or alternatively hire an expert Social Media Manager.

7) Create Engaging Promotional Videos

Promotional videos can play both a quintessential part of the app launch strategy and an effective marketing tool to flaunt app’s actual interface, UX features and core capabilities.

To successfully market an app, apply constructive creative to the video that can be a powerful voice and bring value to your brand.

Make a demo video that allows prospects to sneak a peek into app’s attractive features while also telling an engaging story on how it impacts their life.

It is also great to share and promote the video on socials. If done well, the video visuals will encourage users to visit the app store and download your app.

8) Feedback, Performance Testing and Analytics

With numerous marketing channels toughening the competition, applying conventional marketing metrics to measure the content performance (classic ads, posts and email campaigns) would not suffice.

This is why it is important to update your current research and creative practices, and to choose the ones that are invariably productive.

Enables users to contact you and provide their honest feedback and reviews based on their experience. Satisfied and happy customers will readily evangelize your app; hence, keeping them happy is your religious priority.

Read also : How to Market an App on Social Media?

Keep a sharp watch on most loved features, disliked/least visited sections and frequency of use. Measuring these key metrics via analytics tools (including that of social media channels) helps you understand user’s interactive pattern based on which you can decide what needs to be improved.

9) Online Networking and influencers

Building a power network through promoting brand awareness is surefire key to app marketing success. Reach out to eminent bloggers, journalists and reporters whose influential words elicit ample impact on the target audience.

Visit forums where you can engage with a community. Have an article published on a famous tech blog to generate more traffic.

Also, reach out to the popular app review publications that cover apps like yours. Send them a professional pitch and a detailed demo in an email with:

Your app logo and price

Features explainer video

App store link

These sites can foster a gigantic buzz around your app by writing informative content.

Conclusion

From the discussion so far, one can easily guess how mobile a critical component for app marketing is. Also, it is clear that having an app drives incredible impact for brand awareness and ROI.

Successful app marketing tactics will have marketers exploring the depth of customer engagement methods and developing the functional environment for app’s popularity on all virtually available marketing channels.

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11 Best Beauty Apps For Android

The post 11 Best Beauty Apps For Android appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

Being a pro in professional makeup and style comes with its own perks. But going to the parlor and physically visiting a celebrity stylist or professional Makeover artists would be unfeasible and quite expensive, too.

  Also, it is not less challenging to size up the pile of products to pick the right one and apply right amount of it to perfectly suit your skin type.

If done right, doing makeup could actually be a lot of fun. This is where beauty apps come to your rescue. If you have Android smartphone, you can download a few amazing beauty apps and become a self-learned makeup artist.

  Even if you are a beginner, these apps can teach you to master the art of styling your hair and achieving that flawless gorgeous makeover.

  Consider here the list of 11 best beauty apps for Android devices.

  1. ModiFace Makeup

  ModiFace Makeup is crowned top on the list of best beauty apps for Android. Regarded as excellent, the app is also available for iPhone and Windows users.

  Its simple interface and user-friendly features make it more desirable. Users take a picture from their smartphone or choose an image from the local gallery.

ModiFace then opens the options for attractive makeovers from which to pick your favorite and add to your picture.

  It works by allowing users to undergo a virtual makeover which is of an entirely new level. There are numerous options users can choose including state-of-the-art makeup simulations, cosmetic colors and hues, and elegant makeover effects.

  Users can even try several cosmetic hues and colors to see its effects in just a few seconds. On top of that, there are also more 40 celebrity hairstyles and several accessories (earrings, sunglasses, jewels) to make the makeover more attractive.

      2. L’Oreal Makeup Genius

  L’Oreal, the leading name of makeup industry, has ventured into the digital market by launching its most original virtual makeup tester L’Oreal Makeup Genius.

  Due to its unique in-built capture and makeover technology not usually found in other beauty apps, Makeup Genius lets you take a selfie and upload it to the app for quick makeover implementation.

Its mechanism works in same fashion as video camera using nothing but the front camera of your Android device.

  To deliver high-quality results, the smart and nifty app scans up to 64 points of the face to achieve perfection in all makeup essentials such as the touch of lipstick, eyeshadow, foundation, blush and liner.

      3. The Glam App

  Developed in association by thehairstylist Joey Maalouf and actress Cara Santana, the Glam App is considered as one of the best beauty apps.

  Due to the personal involvement of actual makeup specialists, you can seriously give it a high priority among other beauty apps and glam up your look and makeover.

The most lovable part about this beauty app is that it is curated by freelance stylists who are always there for expert advice on makeup, hair, manicure right on your smartphone.

      4. MakeupPlus

  MakeupPlus is a brilliant creation of Meitu, Inc. and is packed with loads of features. Its Play Store ratings are dazzling 4.4, standing tall with more than 50 million downloads.

  As developers claim, the app is a built of association with many industry professionals like makeup artists and photographers who would provide useful makeup and beauty tips.

Its advanced AR powered camera lets users preview glamorous makeovers with cool accessories.

  Users can try out exclusive makeup looks created by artists and professionals including Nikki Tutorials, Bretman Rock, Lisa Eldridge, Christen Dominique, Angel Merino and more.

  MakeupPlus also lets interested makeup enthusiasts purchase products to adopt the favorite makeovers in real life.

      5. Lakme Makeup Pro

  Lakmé Makeup Pro is another best makeup app that shows you how you may look after trying its makeup products. It uses the camera as a mirror as you try out all the latest suggestions on looks virtually.

  It has a simple interface – you click the selfie and upload or choose your image from the phone’s local gallery. You can then embark on experimenting with different makeup kit.

After you have discovered with your newly created look, just save to your phone and share with others on socials.

  From foundation and blush to makeups like eyeshadows and lipsticks, this app lets you check out how each Lakmé product enhances your facial beauty.

  The app also presents you with the signature stylist looks that are recommended by LakméMakeupPros themselves.

      6. GLAMSQUAD

  GLAMSQUAD is a premium beauty app for Android users built to provide on-demand services.

The app sends to your doorstep a team of professional experts and veteran stylists trained to assist beauty cravers in achieving their beauty goals. You will find tons of tips and reviews from its community and blog posts.

  The beauty-at-your-service app offers unique, unseen styling solutions and makeup suggestions to transform your overall look without physically visiting a local salon.

The app is only available in selected US cities and is hopefully planning to expand to other countries. You can also create your own profile to post your reviews and book quick appointments.

  Its barcode scanner makes product finding easy. For payment, it offers the ease of automatic credit card transaction.

      7. Pretty in my Pocket

  As cheeky as it sounds, the app is quite interesting and handy. Pretty in my Pocket functions in a way perhaps no other app does.

  It saves you from spending exorbitant amounts on buying expensive products and finding that it isn’t worth your penny.

  It is also a struggle to analyze reviews and confirm the quality standing at a beauty products store.

Pretty in My Pocket allows you to use your smartphone at the store that has the app installed. You scan any product using the app and view several critical reviews about the specific product.

  In the matter of credibility, the app comes handy and makes it easy for you to learn real experience of people using those products.

      8. YouCam Makeup

  YouCam Makeup is a considerable digital solution for your beauty makeover goals. Being one of the best beauty apps for Android users, the app offers plenty of beauty and hair styling options.

  With an amazing range of digital makeovers, the app features great personalized makeup looks for users. You can customize hairstyles, lip color, eye appeal, hair color and more with You Cam Makeup.

The changes you perform happen in real-time and this excellent app also allows you to record a makeover mashup video as you give yourself a dazzling celebrity look.

      9. Sephora

  Sephora also graces the category of beauty apps being a professional Skin Care, Beauty Makeup and Fragrance shop app developed by Sephora USA, Inc. the app brags about its 1 million+ downloads and amazing ratings of 4.4 in Play Store.

  Available for both Android and iOS, Sephora addresses all-round the beauty essentials starting from head to toe.

Its astonishing range of features include look-transforming virtual artist makeover such as skin care specific to skin type, beauty rewards, treatments, makeup advises and Hairstyles and nail care and several more features.

      10. Mary Kay Mobile Virtual Makeover

  Mary Kay Mobile Virtual Makeover is also there for beauty enhancers who wish to customize their facial charm by means of numerous combinations related to eye makeup, hair colors, hairstyles, blush, accessories and more.

  All you need to do to get started is capture a snap from your device or pick a photo from its gallery.

You can even select from a variety of models presented in the app. After preparing your makeover, you can save it directly to your smartphone’s local photo gallery.

  Users can create their shopping lists of favorite products or own the look as they wish. Apart from Android, it is also available for Kindle Fire, iPad and iPhone 4 devices.

      11. Facetune

  Facetune is another beauty app booming in beauty, makeup look and style domain. The powerful app revolves around creating the selfie and portrait image and offers you fun ways to edit them.

The editor-cum-makeover app has kept in place many exciting easy-to-use tools that have power to get you the perfect, desirable look. Once you are editing, you can see for yourself how you image closely resembles that of a model from a fashion magazine.

  This amazing beauty app for Android smartphone also lets you share the favorite look instantly with your friends.

      Conclusion

  If you are an Android user craving digital beauty enhancement solutions, you will painlessly find plethora of amazing beauty apps for Android smartphone.

To get into the favorite makeovers and adopt a perfect style, you need to make the precise choice about the best beauty app that keeps you informed of what makeup & style best suits your personality. Check out these 11 best beauty apps and experience the transformation.

  The post 11 Best Beauty Apps For Android appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

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The Missing Link in Industry 4.0: Employee Engagement

The march towards re-inventing manufacturing using digital transformation continues, as manufacturers spend hundreds of billions of dollars on digital projects en route to Industry 4.0. But no matter how much money they spend, their efforts may be doomed to fail if they ignore one of the most important component in digital transformation —engaging employees.

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9 Reasons Why Adding AI to Your Mobile App is a Must in 2019

The post 9 Reasons Why Adding AI to Your Mobile App is a Must in 2019 appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

The past chaotic decade is the testament to how technologies are changing the paradigm of business executions across the globe. Every now and then, we hear a whole new perspective on how Artificial Intelligence can not only transform but bolster your prospects about business growth. AI is obtrusively, and incessantly, creating new virtual land of opportunities for companies to leverage.

With AI chatbots, virtual assistants and automation constantly making the headlines, we can debunk that AI is no longer a transient wave.

As mobile apps are etched forever on the minds of busy users, adding AI to mobile apps could be a surefire way to stay relevant and intact in the business.

If you still wondering if AI will uplift your business in 2019, we give you 9 good reasons why adding it to your mobile apps is must.

1. AI is a Habit of Convenience

Mobile apps added much convenience already in our life, but users desire to taste more of novel technologies for solving their lifestyle challenges.

Users are therefore welcoming the change driven by AI so much that relying on mundane intelligence has almost become their habit by now.

Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri are a few predominant examples of how users are addicted to depending on AI for things they are likely to forget.

This means your mobile app with AI features will have greater chance to align with user expectations than those without intelligent power.

2. AI is Quite a Trend

It goes without saying that a new technology always enters the vibrant world of young generation. Intelligent technologies with deep learning capabilities make for a hot trend and AI is most likely to be a technology worth every penny of your investment in 2019.

Numerous investors especially from finance, healthcare, gaming and education have already looked to investing in AI with optimistic eye as studies confirm. As more and more apps are joining AI revolution, the technology has found its raging momentum.

3. Value Addition

What is business without value? We live in time when product quality is as important as services offered. In many ways, AI integrated mobile apps help your business add great value to your business proposition, which ultimately boosts brand value and helps market your products via AI-powered service standards.

For instance, it would bring immense value if you have most generic customer queries resolved by the means of AI bots.

4. Data Management and Monetization

    AI even creates creative revenue channels through proper utilization of piles of data. Your app not only looks better with intelligent solutions in place but its ability to gather more data from app users also results in tempting more investors for ads.

This means the wealth of data processed by AI software can be monetized in several ways to generate an additional stream of revenues.

5. User experience getting even better

User experience shares equal influence on customer behavior as much as customer service does. Your smart business apps can offer personalized experience to people while they cope with their daily tasks.

Modern users appreciate apps that can suggest choices, remind forgettable routines or place Starbucks orders on your behalf. Enhanced UX in a way means getting a sharp edge over competitors.

6. AI means smart decisions

Apart from monetization, user data from AI can also help analyze what users exactly like, dislike and explore on inside your mobile app.

The insights you gain from the data analytics can help you decide what features and pages of your app are least visited or used and therefore can be eliminated.

In the same way you will know what may charm users more often and hence can be retained.

7. AI supports your economy

    AI does not place massive burden on your financial capacity since you can always have a choice to keep those functions you need most in your app.

Being intelligent does not mean drilling a huge hole in your budget especially when you decide to develop AI-enabled features at the beginning of app development phase.

This way, it doesn’t turn out expensive. Additionally, as your app looks unique among others with its outstanding capability, it becomes more remarkable and marketable, bringing you handsome ROI.

8. Voice capability

What makes your mobile app more popular and valuable is adding voice-enabled services. Voice feature sets users free from typing and excessive hassle as they can simply use their voice command to get the job done. These days, apps with voice capability are high in demand.

9. AI embraces IoT

    As Internet of Things and AI come together, you can expect high-grade solutions with auto-sensing power.

Today Chromecast apps, fitness apps, Smart home appliances are all run by the apps that are designed with the combination of AI and IoT.

With seamless voice control and IoT- connected devices, users will be able to enjoy multiple integrated apps with more power and automation.

Conclusion

Artificial Intelligence is not just here to take the world by storm with its massive caliber, but it also empowers your business to do, create and deliver more.

You should opt for AI integration in mobile apps, not because the trend is forcing you to do so, but solely because AI is a change welcome heartily by end users and loyal customers.

As the ripples rising in digital market suggests, world’s largest companies have made a pact to develop intelligent apps next year. This could be a great positive inspiration for SMBs to follow the footprints of established leaders and dive smartly into the pool of intelligent solutions.

    The post 9 Reasons Why Adding AI to Your Mobile App is a Must in 2019 appeared first on Redbytes: Custom Mobile Application Development Company [iOS, Android, Windows].

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Updated Estimation Models for Market Intelligence

Reason For Updating Our Estimation Models Market Intelligence is an essential tool for having a successful ASO strategy. However, reliable data on mobile markets with regards to trends, competitors and usage statistics are extremely scarce. Mobile Action’s market intelligence tool has helped thousands of users to grasp what is happening in the mobile ecosystem. Seeing how beneficial it was for […]

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