Latest iOS App Launch: Price Patrol

This article by Hunter Jensen, CEO of Barefoot Solutions, was originally published in the April 2008 edition of PHP Architect, a print magazine for PHP Professionals. It is the third article in a five part series on some of the different legal issues surrounding the web development industry. As a PHP programmer, if you have ever worked on a project that is even remotely interesting, then surely you have come into contact with a Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA). If you have ever been employed in a medium to large sized company, then quite possibly you have been presented with a Noncompete Agreement. It is vitally important to your career that before you sign these documents, you understand the implications they may have on your future endeavors. In a field that thrives on new ideas and rapid innovation, Nondisclosure and Noncompete Agreements have become major players in the competitive landscape of high tech industries. Companies and entrepreneurs feel compelled to protect their ideas while still having the need to share them with others. To solve this conflict of interest, many will require signed NDAs and/or Noncompetes before disclosing any trade secrets. One such proponent of NDAs is Sabeer Bhatia, the founder of Hotmail. Over the course of two years he collected over 400 NDAs from his friends, family, and employees – basically anyone that knew about his startup. He believes that his secrecy resulted in a significant head start on the competition, and in 1997 he sold Hotmail to Microsoft for $400 million. This article will not be discussing how to draft NDAs and Noncompetes. You can go your whole career without the need to draft either of these documents. If you do have the need, I suggest you hire an attorney. What it will discuss is how to react when approached with these documents. When is it appropriate to sign an NDA? A Noncompete? What should I look for in each? What are some pitfalls to avoid? At the very least it should give you the confidence to read, understand, and make a decision on whether or not to sign one of these documents. Do not forget, you do not have to be a lawyer to understand legal documents, and nearly all contracts are negotiable. NDAs – Secrets, Secrets are no fun A Nondisclosure Agreement – also known as a Confidentiality or Secrecy Agreement – is a contract between at least two parties in which they agree to protect confidential information that is disclosed during the course of business. The two necessary parties are the Discloser and the Recipient. The Discloser is the party who originally possesses the confidential information. They disclose this information to the Recipient, who agrees to protect it in accordance with the terms of the agreement. In the programming world, confidential information can be any number of things including: general business ideas, code, database schemas, documentation, development tools and techniques, business processes and much more. There are many different circumstances which could involve you being presented with an NDA. I am the owner of a Web development firm that focuses a good portion of our resources on startups. Often I am approached by entrepreneurs who would like me to provide a quote to build a Web application based on what they consider to be an innovative or bleeding edge idea. Understandably, they are uneasy with just disclosing their idea to me and my company. With our resources, we could surely be first and best to market if we were to try and poach their idea. So before they disclose any confidential information, they will send over an NDA for me to sign. This is a perfectly normal part of doing business, and I have signed several dozen NDAs over the last few years. As a programmer doing contract work, some business owners will require a signed NDA before giving you access to their code, schemas, or other technical information. Also, it is very common to sign an employment agreement which includes a nondisclosure clause. In these and other situations, it is quite often appropriate to sign an NDA. What is important is that you carefully examine the document, and make any changes that you need before you sign anything. Remember, with a little knowledge, contracts are both understandable and negotiable. So what should you look for when examining a Nondisclosure Agreement? The clauses with major implications include the definition of confidential information, the exclusions of confidential information and the disclosure obligations and terms. Any NDA should carefully define the nature of the confidential information that is being disclosed. This must be done without actually disclosing the information however, so it is generally described categorically. For instance, an agreement may include: PHP code, database schemas, and unique development processes. As the recipient, it is important that the definitions are not too broad, and are limited to what you actually may be receiving. Something like all business related information is too broad and should be avoided. More important than the definition of confidential information are the exclusions of confidential information. Sometimes the best way to describe something is by describing what it is not. This is a list of situations in which information cannot be considered confidential. Usually the list will include situations where: The recipient had prior knowledge of the information The recipient gained the information independently or from other resources The information is available to the public This ensures that you do not sign away your right to share your own knowledge to others. The final important clause of an NDA is the disclosure obligations and terms. This section outlines the obligations a Recipient has to protect the confidential information and permissible reasons for disclosure. In my situation, I often need to consult my programmers and graphic designers in order to provide an accurate quote. So if I sign an NDA it is important that I be allowed to communicate. Some common ways of structuring these terms include: Requiring that the Recipient use all ‘best efforts’ to maintain the confidentiality Defining a purpose, such as providing a web development quote, and allowing disclosure only to fulfill that purpose Requiring that the Recipient disclose only on a ‘need to know’ basis Requiring that the Recipient protect this information similar to the way they protect their own confidential information And always, allowing disclosure if the information is requested by a government agency or court of law. These terms are important to allow disclosure when it is truly necessary, whether for business or protection from legal sanctions. Finally, a few minor points to make note of in an NDA include the term of the agreement and the right to receive an injunction. Be sure that the term is of a reasonable length; one to five years is common. Also, it is standard that the Discloser has the right to receive an injunction if the terms of the agreement are breached. However, be wary of any other relief options like attorney’s fees. The last thing you need is to pay for someone to sue you. Noncompete Agreements – The NDA’s Ugly Stepsister While an NDA is fairly common and can be approached with little trepidation, Noncompete clauses are less common and must be approached much more carefully. A Noncompete Agreement – also known as a Covenant not to Compete – is a contract, generally between an employer and employee, that restricts the employee from working in any related business for a certain length of time after termination of employment. The purpose is to protect the employer from training an employee in all of the trade secrets and practices of a business just to have the employee turn around and work for a direct competitor, or start their own competing business. For instance, suppose an existing search engine hired you as a programmer and gave you access to all of their code and procedures. After a year, you were unhappy with your job and felt you could create a better search engine on your own. Your employer would not want you to be able to start your own competing search engine, using all of the tricks of the trade learned during the course of your employment. As such, they would have required that you sign a Noncompete Agreement before you began your employment. Unlike the NDA, there are only a few situations where it would be appropriate for a PHP programmer to sign a Noncompete Agreement. The most common circumstances would involve a Noncompete clause in an employment agreement. Even in that situation, the job should be in a specialized industry, not just general programming. Be wary of others sneaking Noncompete clauses into agreements like NDAs, Independent Contractor Agreements, or Employment Contracts. As always, be sure to fully read any document before you sign it. On more than one occasion, I have had an entrepreneur try to include a Noncompete clause into a document titled, “Nondisclosure Agreement” or “Independent Contractor Agreement”. In those specific instances, I do not think there was malicious intent. Instead, I just think the entrepreneurs included the clause out of ignorance. Regardless, I did not and would never sign a Noncompete in that situation. These clauses are generally fairly straight forward, and as such there is not too much to look out for in the language itself. Most importantly, be sure that the duration of the agreement is reasonable. These vary from area to area and industry to industry, but somewhere between two and five years is a reasonable amount of time. Ten years ago, geography was an important factor in a Noncompete Agreement. Most limited employees from working in a competing business within a certain distance from the employer. For instance, if I sold dolls in Virginia, I would not want my former employee to sell dolls in Virginia. But if he wanted to sell dolls in California, I doubt he would be serious competition, so that would be allowed in my Noncompete clause. Given the current technology however, geography is often not included in Noncompete clauses. If I sell dolls in Virginia, and I have a website, then I sell dolls in California too. While there is not too much in the language to look out for, there are certainly a lot of other extenuating factors to consider before signing a Noncompete Agreement. First, it is important to note that enforcement of Noncompetes differs greatly from area to area. In the U.S., each state has its own policy and precedents concerning the enforcement of a Noncompete. For instance, Michigan has a history of enforcing Noncompete agreements, while they are generally thrown out in California. Some have argued that the unenforceability of Noncompetes in California is what helped lead to the success of Silicon Valley as a technology startup haven, while other areas remain much less successful. The ability of bright young employees to jump from company to company and share knowledge allowed Silicon Valley to thrive at a much faster pace than would be possible if these employees were mired by Noncompete Agreements. Another important facet to consider before signing a Noncompete Agreement is how this factors into your overall employment situation. As a potential employee, it is important that you include this in your decision just as you would the salary and benefits. It also could give you leverage during your contract negotiation. Not being able to work elsewhere in the industry could be a major detractor, so perhaps the employer can provide something to help account for this. Further, some employees are approached with a Noncompete after they have signed their initial employment agreement. This is common in the case of startups that bring on their first employees before hiring an attorney. If you are in this situation, it is important to realize that many states require that the employee benefit from signing a Noncompete. For instance, signing the agreement could be coupled with a raise in salary, a bonus, or better benefits. Because you are forfeiting some of your rights, most courts agree that it is only fair to receive something in return. In Wisconsin however, precedent has shown that not being fired is considered a benefit. So, an employer in Wisconsin could tell you to sign a Noncompete or you will lose your job, and be within the law. Once again, this is different from area to area, and it is important to consult a local attorney to review your agreements. Finally, let us suppose that you sign a Noncompete and eventually choose to leave that job. When applying for a new job, it is important that you disclose to the potential employer that you have previously signed a Noncompete. The employer could be vulnerable to a lawsuit by hiring an employee that is in violation of a Noncompete Agreement. Not disclosing this information would certainly be grounds for firing if the new employer were to find out, or even worse, get sued by your former employer. The Last Word Unfortunately, NDAs and Noncompetes are a part of the business we have chosen. We are forced to navigate carefully and sign only when necessary. Armed with a little knowledge, these legal documents are understandable and negotiable. If you have any doubts however, particularly with Noncompete Agreements, be sure to consult an attorney before signing anything.

iOS8 was one of the most exciting updates Apple has yet offered from a developer perspective. A big reason for this is the update came with Extensibility, which enabled developers to extend functionality of apps into other important parts of the phone. One of those parts? The keyboard. App developers can now build the custom keyboards you’ve always envisioned, while still experiencing the security benefits of iOS. This is because extensions run in the same sandbox as the apps they extend from but operate within separate containers. Basically - you get all the functionality you dream of yet maintain the privacy and security of the system Apple has become known for. Now that developers can essentially replace the default, system-wide iOS keyboard with almost anything you can think of, we wanted to explore the possibilities that have been released so far.   Swype + SwiftKey For years Android users have enjoyed the Swype and SwiftKey keyboards, and both are now available on iPhone and iPad. While theses are two different keyboards, they are similar in function and benefit. The user begins both typing experiences by simply placing their finger on the first letter key of the word. Then without lifting a finger, they then slide to the next letters. A few more swipes like this and the Swype and/or SwiftKey will offer options for what is predicted to be the word, and the user then selects the intended word. Both keyboards get “smarter” with more use, as the predictive technology both feature starts recognizing frequently used words. The one big difference between the two is SwiftKey offers emojis, while Swype does not.   Gifmoji  There’s no better way to express excitement than with a GIF of Stephen Colbert happy dancing. Gifmoji had the same opinion and created the solution for mobile comedians to express themselves through moving GIFs and slapstick emojis. The app comes with three different sections, the first being moving emojis.These are those familiar emojis texters have been using for years, except they perform the movements of blowing kisses or shaking heads from side to side. The second section is a collection of popular kaomoji, such as o/ or (-_-*), making these communications more easily accessible rather than typing them out. Finally is the best part of the app, the GIFs. These are complete with short  2-3 second expressions of popular actors and cartoons acting out full ranges of emotion such as flipping over tables or dancing in happiness. Your friends will not misunderstand your meaning again.   Stack Most of the keyboards we’ve seen thus far focus on features like glittery emoji, predictive text or gesture typing. Stack took a different approach and focuses on an entirely different type of keyboard - by not even opening a keyboard at all. Instead, the area where a QWERTY keyboard usually appears simply displays a blank space, in which the user can draw letters. The keyboard is fast enough to recognize each letter that the user can write the letters on top of each other. This is a good option for those who don’t tend to like traditional keyboards and prefer drawing. We see this most likely being predominantly used on iPads with a stylus pan as opposed to on an iPhone, but the keyboard is available for both.   TextExpander 3 While messages usually must be typed in their entirety, the app developers who created TextExpander are making the ease that is the texting game even easier. With this keyboard new to iOS, users can access a database of commonly used abbreviations, which TextExpander will expand into full phrases or sentences. Such commands can include typing “TY” which TextExpander will translate into “Thank you very much!” This keyboard can also be customized with whatever abbreviations you commonly use and prefer.   Texting can be viewed as a lazier form of communication, in that it doesn’t require much of a greeting or a goodbye, and ideas can be conveyed in one simple line of text. This is much to the delight of the socially awkward or the plainly lazy. However the possibilities have now opened up in such a way that entrepreneurs filled with ideas and developers anxious to try something new, can now create new custom keyboards for the iOS audience.  Do you have a favorite iOS keyboard? Let us know what you think in the comments below.  Or perhaps you have an idea for a new keyboard that hasn’t been released yet. We’ll be happy to help you get started.  

Have you ever transformed your face into an adorable deer? Do you know the satisfaction of swiping over a photo and discovering the perfect geofilter to match your weekend mood? Ever troll your close friends with a series of silly faces? Welcome to Snapchat. Snapchat has become a cornerstone in the social media application world since it was first released in 2011. The app soon amplified its primary function (sending real-time snapshots to friends) by introducing new features, and quickly gained momentum amongst high school students. Snapchat now has 166 million daily active users (for comparison, Facebook has 1.28 billion) who send an average of at least 3 billion snaps in 24 hours. While Facebook’s users are distributed across all demographics, Snapchat’s audience is the highly coveted high school and university student market: Generation Z and millennials. A recent study showed that 88% of students use the application. Despite Instagram and Snapchat being in a tight race for the top spot, an Adweek survey found that 67% of respondents thought Snapchat’s features were better — something that could continue to boost Snapchat’s popularity and market dominance in the future. If you’re developing an app and you haven’t yet studied Snapchat (especially if your target market is Gen Z), you’re missing a prime opportunity to learn from one of the masters. Snapchat introduces a lot of new and seemingly silly features — and not all of them knock our digital socks off — but what makes it one of the most successful social media apps is that it continues to innovate with its users in mind. If you want to tap into Generation Z with your own app, start by looking at what Snapchat does right. Here are the features that have propelled Snapchat to success with its users. Easy Photo Chatting Don’t overlook the first aspect that made Snapchat popular: the ability to send disappearing photo chats. Users were encouraged to share genuine snapshots of their daily activities. This was a refreshing step away from the posed, curated, and edited images often shared on Facebook and Instagram. It met a key consumer need for Generation Z at a time when students were growing discontent with the nature of existing social media, and were looking for a new outlet. The disappearing act is key. Snapchat’s designers anticipated a potential consumer pain point with their product, and solved it in advance. What was the one downside to taking “real” photos of yourself (particularly in the eyes of a teenager)? They show the real, imperfect you. While sharing “real life” photos may feel embarrassing or compromising, users could rest easy knowing their pics would disappear in less than 10 seconds. Potential problem, solved. Snapchat Stories Aside from one-to-one photo sharing, users can also create Snapchat stories to share with the world (or at least, their own circle of friends). Stories are series of individual photos or videos which followers can choose to view any number of times with a 24 hour period. This innovation took something users were already doing — sharing Snapchat photos with all of their friends — and made it much easier. Instead of scrolling through to select each of your contacts, it just takes one click, and your photo is posted for all of your friends to view. Today, Snapchat stories are also shared in the “Discover” section by brands and celebrities, a feature that introduced monetization to the app. With the Stories feature, Snapchat became a true trailblazer. The release of Instagram stories in August 2016 was regarded by most as a near-identical incarnation of Snapchat stories. Facebook, which now owns Snapchat, incorporated a similar stories feature at the top of its News Feed just a few months later, further proving how successful this feature was. Lenses Galore One of Snapchat’s most well-known features is its diverse offering of lenses — digital masks that can turn your face into an animated animal, add fake cosmetics effects, and distort your voice. These lenses (also referred to as filters) are purely meant for entertainment, and are hugely popular amongst Generation Z users. The lenses are regularly refreshed, offering fun new masks for users who want to become someone new. And, guess who followed its cousin by quickly adopting a version of lenses? You got it — Instagram. Geofilters and Stickers Geofilters allow users to easily add stickers to their photos that share their location with followers. By swiping on a photo or video, illustrated filters pop up based on your location — from a glammed out New York skyline, to a custom geofilter a company has created for an event. FOMO (fear of missing out) is a real thing for Generation Z. Geofilters offer a clever and colorful way for users to do something they already do frequently; give their friends more information about where they are and what they’re doing. Businesses quickly recognized this as an opportunity to create branded filters, embracing Generation Z’s love of sharing to spread and strengthen brand recognition. Learning From Snapchat The development of Snapchat is an interesting case study — for reasons beyond the founders’ refusal of an initial $3 billion takeover deal from Facebook. Build for Success, and Let the Money Follow Unlike many apps, Snapchat didn’t begin by focusing on monetizing its features or finding investors. In fact, for the first several years, the application didn’t have an obvious monetization pathway at all. Its founders have said time and time again that they aren’t in this for the short-term gain, and for the most part they’ve done their own thing. That includes starting with a small team and being agile enough to introduce features they thought users would like, without much thought to the immediate profitability. The lesson to those trying to build a new app? Think more about what your users want and need than what will make the most money. If you can deliver a great product to users, monetization will come later. Be Open-Minded and Adaptable Another lesson to learn from Snapchat to have a willingness to adapt to new forms of technology. Snap Inc. (Snapchat’s parent company) recently launched Spectacles, a set of glasses that allow wearers to record 10 second videos. The world will see exactly what you’re seeing. Spectacles sync wirelessly to a user’s Snapchat account and recharge when they’re put back in the case. The technology is still in its initial stages, but at $129.99 a pair, this could be an effective way for Snapchat to rake in more cash. Innovate with Users In Mind Finally, Snapchat isn’t scared to shake up and innovate an established market — for the right reasons. Innovations for your users are much different than innovations for your investors, which may benefit your users. Snapchat’s next feature will likely be the introduction of short video shows, and the company is in talks with Saturday Night Live and comedian James Corden to find a way to revolutionize television offerings for a Generation Z audience. The agility and creativity Snapchat brings to the table is enough to keep app developers on their toes. These traits have made the app both an inspiration and a leader in the social media market, particularly for younger audiences. Above its agility and creativity, though, sits a genuine desire to please, delight, and support users. If app developers take anything away from this Snapchat case study, it’s that building a successful app comes from putting users at the core of what you do. When you cater to your consumers’ interests, ease pains and inconveniences, and make their lives more enjoyable, they will want to use your app. The business success follows naturally. With new features incorporated all the time, we can anticipate Snapchat’s success sticking around much longer than its photos do.