In redesigning my website I took the time to go back through a few blog posts and I found that on December 31st, 2009 I took a look back at the iPhone and the app world surrounding it. I wanted change in the mobile App world and it looks like that change is finally happening. 2009 was a big year for the app world and the iPhone in general ( Apple included ), but 2010 has quickly began to show us just what potential the app world really has.

In reading my post, “What We’ve Learned From the App World in 2009” I pointed out the do’s and don’ts for the app world to see continued success and to take the app world to a whole new level.

The ‘do nots’ that I pointed out were; no free apps, the way ads where integrated in apps need to change and don’t wait to market you app AFTER it is in the app store. Well, well it is has if the world listened to me. ( okay it probably wasn’t just me, but it makes me feel good thinking they did. )

At the time of me writing the “What We’ve Learned From the App World in 2009” post the average price of an app in the Apple App store was $1.29, now the average price of an app is $2.79. What does this mean? Less and less apps are free and if they are free they are ‘Lite’ or ‘Demo’ versions of the app that have all the real ‘features’. As I stated before you can not build quality on free, nor can you as the consumer demand high end feature sets when the developer can’t pay the cost of development. Another trend that is working is ‘in app’ purchases. This is driving free apps to add game changing features in their apps that require a purchase inside of the app. A huge success for this is We Rule from Ngmoco. Even I and Kevin Rose have fallen into the trap of We Rule

Now the ads. Oh how they stunk in 2009. No one had answers, stats were a joke and profits? They were far and few between. Nothing much to take to the bank. All of this is soon to change with iAds from Apple.

Demo here:

iAds is long over due and regardless of who brought it to the mobile platform first, in this case Apple, it will be successful. Why? Interaction, data and use of the platform.

Now the only thing that iAds does not do at this point is add the ‘sneaky’ piece to advertising success. Yes the iAds are fun, interactive and look amazing, but they are not something that someone will stop racing down the track and look at. We do need to see more sponsorships in ads and games that utilize the users already focused attention in the games or utilities. A few apps are working on this and will see success if implemented correctly. With iAds though ads in 2010 will go to a whole new level and will finally see some well deserved success. iAds is scheduled to launch in June.

Marketing of apps have taken a complete 180 turn from the strategies used in 2009. Developers are not just putting the app in the store and hoping for the best, they are now working with news media, marketing firms, facebook and twitter to blast out the app long before it is released in the app store. Developers are using blogs and demo to create buzz for an app. They are also using already successful apps in the app store to push their newest invention to the masses. All and all the marketing of apps has seen the biggest improvement from year over year.

There is a natural reason for this; more apps. We have gone from 115,000 apps at the end of 2009 to 185,000 apps at the beginning of April 2010 ( not counting iPad apps ). That is a huge jump in less then 4 months. Developers know that to survive in the app space they need to create brand and awareness of their products.

We are only 4 months into 2010 and already we have seen some amazing developments in the world of mobile technology. Just think what the next 4 months will be like.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Apple, Apps, Blog, iPhone, LIME

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