Now that we are in the second month of 2015, hopefully you are able to write today’s date without cursing at yourself for mistakenly writing “2014,” and scribbling a 5 over that 4. Even if you are, there’s a lot to expect in mobile in 2015. From wearable advances to mobile app evolution to changes in the way we make phone calls, here’s what we predict will happen in 2015 mobile. WiFi Calling For those who fight the good fight against low mobile reception, WiFi calling is the answer to boost mobile signal without draining battery life. As such, 2014 was a big year for WiFi calling as T-Mobile and Sprint made a push to expand coverage to hot spots with WiFi access. This means the pressure is on the remaining mobile carriers to support WiFi calling. Not only will mobile carriers support WiFi calling, but they’ll also promote the feature to fill in the missing spots on the map where reception is low and frustratingly not connected. Wearables It’s hard to imagine wearables truly taking a permanent hold on the appendages of America, but 2015 will be a big year for their advancement. Smart watches for example haven’t quite captivated consumers due to low battery life and overreliance on mobile phones themselves, however things are changing. Apple Watch is on its way, set to release in early 2015. This is an exciting move for the company that changed the way we listen to music and use telephones altogether. Not only that but consumer interest in the wearable subject has improved, as a Forrester survey of 4,500 US adults found that 42% of respondents would be interested in purchasing a wrist-based wearable. This is up 28% from 2013’s survey, a tangible nod that signs are pointing to wearable use. With the biggest companies putting skin in the game and consumer interest increasing, the wearable game is going to get a lot more interesting. Mobile App Advertising Mobile applications are positioned to play a larger role in the 2015 world of marketing. Mobile devices are used at a significantly higher rate than a desktop, and 80% of that mobile use is spent on apps. So it naturally makes sense that a mobile application would be used to promote businesses as well as offer important tracking user information. Vincent Tessier of LAPLACEMEDIA puts it well as he predicts, “For 2015, we expect that both programmatic and native advertising will dramatically change the face of the mobile advertising industry. Brand budgets will continue to rise as best practices from mobile pure players have been learned in terms of tracking and native, as well as programmatic is bringing effectiveness in reaching the right audience.” Hardware Advances The aforementioned Apple Watch is one such example of advances in mobile hardware that we can expect in 2015. Google is set to release its modular smartphone Project Ara, introducing users to the concept of swapping out components of the device they find useful or not.  Aside from the release of big projects from industry giants, we can expect to see more hardware integration as apps integrate with devices and utilities for everyday life. Expect to see more app integration with smart homes, medical devices, etc. Apps Breaking Apart, Becoming Singularly Focused We’ve traditionally been supporters of the concept of building apps incredibly skillful at one thing. You nor your app can be everything to everyone, and building applications that users love involves keeping it simple, usable and solving one problem exceptionally well. We are now seeing other companies realizing this seeming truth, as mobile apps are not only being built with a simple focus, but already successful apps are breaking their functionality apart into separate apps. As we recently mentioned, Facebook spun out their Messenger function into a separate app - and we can expect more of this looking into 2015. 2015 is shaping up to be an exciting year in mobile, app development, and technology in general. What are you looking forward to most in 2015 mobile? Let us know in the comments below.

When Facebook disclosed in mid-February that they had bought the messaging application WhatsApp, they had people asking “Who’s WhatsApp and why are they worth buying?” FB purchased the firm with a combination of cash, stock and shares for a total of $19 Billion. While other parts of the world were pretty familiar with the WhatsApp application, that was not so much the case in America. But the fact is that at the time of its acquisition by Facebook, WhatsApp had 450 million users and that user list was multiplying rapidly. The buying of WhatsApp gave Facebook a huge messaging footprint in areas where they were lagging behind. Blogger Gary Warner states,  “Apparently WhatsApp has been growing in popularity in other parts of the world, as documented by a survey released in November by OnDevice Research which was headlined as Messenger Wars: How Facebook Lost Its Lead,  which talked about the top Social Message Apps for mobile devices in five major markets: US, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, and China. While Facebook still led in the US, and WeChat clearly dominates China, WhatsApp was the leading app in Brazil 72%, South Africa (68%), and Indonesia (43%).” WhatsApp designed a crowd pleasing smartphone application that lets people using a variety of devices -  like iPhones and Android phones -  to text and send pictures seamlessly without having to pay for the fees carriers charge for SMS messages. It does have a miniscule price tag. It’s is free for the the first year, then it costs a dollar each year after that. Handling this new member of its family like it handled Instagram, Facebook plans to let WhatsApp operate largely as an independent firm. But Facebook will capitalize on what WhatsApp will bring to the table in mobile phone reach and in opening up doors that were closed in China (where Facebook is blocked, but Instagram and WhatsApp are allowed in.) There are some concerns about what doors the acquisition will open for spammers. In his blog written for the site Cyber Crime and Doing Time, Warner says that folks who keep track of spam and email threats have heard the name WhatsApp in the wind for months and call it a popular spam lure. He states. “At least three distinct spamming groups have already used WhatsApp as a lure for their scams.” But Jan Koum, who started WhatsApp, answers that concern on the WhatsApp Blog by saying, "We don’t know your likes, what you search for on the internet or collect your GPS location. None of that data has ever been collected and stored by WhatsApp, and we really have no plans to change that," he went on to say, "Everything that has made WhatsApp the leader in personal messaging will still be in place. Speculation to the contrary isn’t just baseless and unfounded, it’s irresponsible. It has the effect of scaring people into thinking we’re suddenly collecting all kinds of new data. That’s just not true, and it’s important to us that you know that." Koum is now a director with Facebook. On the life-is-Karma side of things, years ago Koum applied to work at Facebook, but didn’t get the job. Sources: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-19/facebook-acquires-whatsapp-for-19-billion

So you built, or want to build, an app. Obviously the creation of a successful app involves many moving parts and a multitude of steps. The research, planning, hours and effort required add up to a helluva process - but that’s only half the battle. To fully bring your idea to life there is an important final touch you can’t forget - user acquisition. Given the competitive mobile app market, gaining usership can be a battle. With over 2,000 new apps published every single day, you better plan ahead and get your marketing act together if you don’t want to end up with a dead app. You worked way too hard for that. Now that we have you a little rattled, don’t panic - there’s plenty you can do to get noticed. Start with social media. For example, you can easily set up advertising such as a pay-per-install campaign on Facebook. Find out what tweeters are tweeting and get your hashtags rolling. While you do that, here’s a few tips that will help you get the visibility you need to get those coveted downloads and industry buzz: Learn and Master ASO You’ve heard about SEO and know what a pain in the ass it can be. ASO is certainly not the same thing, but a game you must play if you want downloads. App Store Optimization, ASO, is the sprint to get your app visibility in app store search rankings. Tools such as App Annie or SearchMan are helpful to manage and monitor your soon-to-be-climbing ASO. Keywords are important in ASO, so be sure to carefully think about the title and description you put together. Think about what kind of search the user you’re targeting will type. For example if you were marketing Pandora, you would want to include keywords such as “online radio,” “free streaming,” or “music playlist.” Get inside your audience’s head and figure out what they will search to try and get to an app like yours. Word-of-Mouth Never, under any circumstances, underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. Get your friends and family to download your app and ask them to spread the word. Even better, ask for their feedback and make the changes they suggest. Few people are going to care more about your success than your friends and family, and fewer still will give you the honest feedback you need to improve. Mom may not be the savviest app user, but she’s not afraid to give it to you straight. Utilize the Blogosphere Bloggers are always looking for a hot topic to muse about. Guess what? Your app is a hot topic and damn straight they should be talking about it. Tech bloggers not only love to get their hands on the latest technology, but vie to be the first ones publishing their witty thoughts on it. Comb through tech publications, find out where the early adopters chat, and fire away offering first time access to your app. Writers eat that up. Keep in mind, while you may not have a ton of control over this, do what you can to coordinate publication releases at or around the same time. What this does is hits the Internet like a charging horse, click-a-clacking across the information highway to maximize hype and improve results. And hey, you’re a patron of the internet too - get involved yourself. Comment on the blogs, share on social media, be interactive and boost that buzz. Become a Student of Your Users Listen. L-I-S-T-E-N. Was that not clear? Listen to the users who took the time to download your app. People are happy to provide feedback because they want products they want (see what I did there). If you can fashion your app to something users really want, they’ll tell their friends and increase their own usage. Don’t be surprised if they may have some pretty radical requests. Keep an open mind. While your vision for the app is certainly brilliant, try not to hold too tightly to these original ideas. There may be great suggestions outside the round-one-dev-box that can take your app places you never thought of. Ratings and Reviews Plug in functionality that asks users for ratings and reviews. Users don’t really care what you have to say about your app and what it can do. Users care what other users think and listen to their peers far more than you. Apptentive is a great app to get started with this. Ask users for reviews and again, listen. Make the changes that affects common use cases as quickly as possible. The Internet is instant, it lives in your users’ pockets and purses. They are not a patient bunch and will speedily move on if dissatisfied. Keep Users Happy This is a no-brainer and a theme you may have picked up on. But seriously - keep users happy. ASO also looks at user behavior such as discard rate (how often an app is deleted), ratings, download counts and frequency of use. Ensuring your app is something they really want will increase their use of it, and encourage them to tell their friends how great it is. If you can keep your users happy they will have no reason to delete your app and rate it highly. Happy users are the gold to go after in your marketing campaign. Publishing your app and getting people to use it can certainly be overwhelming - but you can do it. Mobile users want you to make their lives easier with a new fantastic app. Get the word out there, actively listen, and build a happy user base.