1 page.title=Developer Stories: The Opportunity of Android Tablets 2 walkthru=0 3 header.hide=0 4 5 @jd:body 6 7 8 <p>More and more, developers are investing in a full tablet experience 9 for their apps and are seeing those investments pay off big. The increased 10 screen area on tablets opens up a world of possibilities, allowing for more 11 engagement with the user — which can mean an increase in usage as well as 12 more monetization opportunities. And with the growing wave of Android tablets that 13 continue to hit the market, its an important piece of any developers mobile 14 offering. </p> 15 16 <p>Here are some stories from developers who are seeing real results as they 17 expand their offering to include Android tablets.</p> 18 19 20 <div style="margin-bottom:2em;" id="rememberthemilk"><!-- START STORY --> 21 22 <h3>Remember The Milk: Lifting installs with tablet design</h3> 23 24 <img alt="" class="screenshot thumbnail" style="-webkit-border-radius: 5px; 25 -moz-border-radius: 5px; 26 border-radius: 5px height:78px; 27 width: 78px; 28 float: left; 29 margin: 12px 20px 9px 20px;" src= 30 "//lh3.ggpht.com/xmnal18taauP2mjQFEhr1PhcItQ_W32IRuaD86IoL2U_4E-mfeKiliKtkISgOuA6Ln9n=w124"> 31 32 <div style="list-style: none;height:100%; 33 float: right; 34 border-top: 1px solid #9C0; 35 width: 220px; 36 margin: 4px 20px;padding: .5em;"> 37 38 39 <h5>About the app</h5> 40 41 42 <ul> 43 <li><a href="//play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rememberthemilk.MobileRTM">Remember The Milk</a></li> 44 <li>A feature-packed to-do list app; never forget the milk (or anything else) again</li> 45 </ul> 46 47 <h5>Tablet Results</h5> 48 49 <ul> 50 <li>83% jump in tablet installs following update </li> 51 <li>Nexus 7 is most popular Android device for app </li> 52 <li>Single APK for phones and tablets</li> 53 </ul> 54 55 <div style="padding:.5em 0 0 1em;"> 56 <a href="//play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rememberthemilk.MobileRTM"> 57 <img alt="Android app on Google Play" 58 src="//developer.android.com/images/brand/en_generic_rgb_wo_45.png" /> 59 </a> 60 61 </div> 62 </div> 63 64 <div style="line-height:1.4em;"> 65 <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12px;">When the Android tablet guidelines 66 came out in 2012, the team at Remember The Milk had already been thinking about 67 a redesign for their <a href="//play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rememberthemilk.MobileRTM">feature-packed 68 to-do list app</a>. Omar Kilani, Co-founder of Remember The Milk, explains how 69 <a href="//blog.rememberthemilk.com/2013/04/the-all-new-remember-the-milk-for-android-and-tablets-too/">updating</a> 70 their app to meet the tablet guidelines lead to an 83% jump in tablet installs: </p> 71 72 <p>We took this as an opportunity to think about how we were going to approach 73 Android tablets differently from a user experience perspective. The guidelines 74 were a helpful resource, and with the extra screen real estate tablets afford, 75 users have the opportunity to see all of their data in context and drill down 76 on more items. All of this is accomplished using a single APK on Play, even though 77 the phone and tablet versions each capture completely different use cases for us.</p> 78 79 <p>In the month after updating, we saw our tablet installs on Google Play jump 83%, 80 and the Nexus 7 is now the most popular Android device amongst our users. For us, 81 designing for tablets was an investment that has really paid off.</p> 82 83 <p>The team also came out with a number of other goodies — including a new set of 84 widgets and richer notifications, and more ways to provide an immersive experience 85 for their users.</p> 86 </div> 87 88 <div style="clear:both;margin-top:30px;width:auto;"> 89 90 <img src="{@docRoot}images/distribute/rememberthemilk.png"> 91 92 <div style="width:600px;margin-top:0px;padding:0 90px;"> 93 <p class="image-caption"><span style="font-weight:500;">Tablet redesign led to lift 94 in installs</span>: Following the redesign of the Android app, in part to meet the tablet 95 design criteria, Remember The Milk saw an 83% increase in tablet installs.</p> 96 </div> 97 98 </div> 99 100 </div> <!-- END STORY --> 101 102 103 <div style="margin-bottom:2em;" id="mint"><!-- START STORY --> 104 105 <h3>Mint: More screen real estate = more engagement</h3> 106 107 <img alt="" class="screenshot thumbnail" style="-webkit-border-radius: 5px; 108 -moz-border-radius: 5px; 109 border-radius: 5px height:78px; 110 width: 78px; 111 float: left; 112 margin: 12px 20px 9px 20px;" src= 113 "https://lh5.ggpht.com/0xAIZJ1uE05b4RHNHgBBTIH6nRdPTY660T104xY7O2GbHXwab6YVmpU5yYg8yacfBg=w124"> 114 115 <div style="list-style: none;height:100%; 116 float: right; 117 border-top: 1px solid #9C0; 118 width: 220px; 119 margin: 4px 20px;padding: .5em;"> 120 121 122 <h5>About the app</h5> 123 124 125 <ul> 126 <li><a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mint">Mint.com Personal Finance</a> by Intuit Inc.</li> 127 <li>Financial management app targeting 7- to 10-inch tablets and phones</li> 128 </ul> 129 130 <h5>Tablet Results</h5> 131 132 <ul> 133 <li>Able to offer richer UI features</li> 134 <li>Much higher user engagement</li> 135 <li>Longer sessions — more Android tablet users have sessions longer than 5 minutes</li> 136 </ul> 137 138 <div style="padding:.5em 0 0 1em;"> 139 <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mint"> 140 <img alt="Android app on Google Play" 141 src="//developer.android.com/images/brand/en_generic_rgb_wo_45.png" /> 142 </a> 143 144 </div> 145 </div> 146 147 <div style="line-height:1.4em;"> 148 <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12px;">When Intuit was thinking about 149 expanding their Mint mobile offering to include a version optimized for Android 150 tablets, they knew that taking the layout that worked for phones and simply 151 showing an enlarged version wouldnt take full advantage of the opportunities 152 that tablets afford.</p> 153 154 <p>We knew we had a lot more real estate, and we wanted to provide a more 155 immersive experience for our users said Ken Sun, Intuit Group Product Manager 156 at Mint.</p> 157 158 <p>Intuits Mint app, which has a 4-star rating on Google Play, brings a number 159 of features to Android tablets that arent available for phones, including a 160 more visual presentation of personal financial data.</p> 161 162 <p>Whereas our app for phones is used throughout the day for quick sessions, 163 weve seen a larger percentage of our tablet usage happen in the evening, for 164 much longer sessions, said Sun. People are doing a lot more than just checking 165 their spending. Theyre looking at historical trends, re-categorizing 166 transactions, analyzing the data and setting financial goals for the future 167 — digging much deeper and being more thoughtful. One example is how much 168 users are interacting with their own budgets in the tablet app. Customer budget 169 operations (view, edit, drill-down, etc.) are 7x higher on Android tablets than 170 they are on phones.</p> 171 172 <p>Fifty percent more Android tablet users have Mint sessions of 5 minutes or 173 longer than they do on phones. Weve found that phone usage is indicative of a 174 customers regular financial check-in, while tablet usage points towards more 175 analysis and interaction with that customers personal financial data. This is 176 the sort of immersive engagement experience we were looking for; the tablet and 177 phone apps serve as great complements to each other."</p> 178 </div> 179 180 <div style="clear:both;margin-top:40px;width:auto;"> 181 182 <img src="{@docRoot}images/distribute/mint.png"> 183 184 <div style="width:600px;margin-top:0px;padding:0 90px;"> 185 <p class="image-caption"><span style="font-weight:500;">Making the most of tablet screens</span>: Mint used the extra screen area on tablets to offer quick access to additional tools and information.</p> 186 </div> 187 188 </div> 189 190 </div> <!-- END STORY --> 191 192 193 <div style="margin:3em auto"><!-- START STORY --> 194 195 196 <h3>TinyCo: Monetization opportunities abound on tablets</h3> 197 198 <img alt="" class="screenshot thumbnail" style="-webkit-border-radius: 5px; 199 -moz-border-radius: 5px; 200 border-radius: 5px height:78px; 201 width: 78px; 202 float: left; 203 margin: 12px 20px 30px 20px;" src= 204 "https://lh6.ggpht.com/QTy7lOGRTS58NW4XEeym2sxpWKDmRNod_n3kBrHlqTRIyzIv2gkw8DfwiR4GIAdxiHw=w124"> 205 206 207 <div style="list-style: none;height:100%; 208 float: right; 209 border-top: 1px solid #9C0; 210 width: 220px; 211 margin: 4px 20px;padding: .5em;"> 212 213 <h5>About the app</h5> 214 215 <ul> 216 <li><a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tinyco.village">Tiny Village</a> by TinyCo</li> 217 <li>Game targeting 7- to 10-inch tablets and phones</li> 218 </ul> 219 220 <h5>Tablet Results</h5> 221 222 <ul> 223 <li>35% higher average revenue per paying user (ARPPU)</li> 224 <li>Consistent increase in user retention</li> 225 <li>3x increase in downloads to Android tablets in the last 6 months</li> 226 </ul> 227 228 <div style="padding:.5em 0 0 1em;"> 229 <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tinyco.village"> 230 <img alt="Android app on Google Play" 231 src="//developer.android.com/images/brand/en_generic_rgb_wo_45.png" /> 232 </a> 233 234 </div> 235 </div> 236 237 <div style="line-height:1.4em;"> 238 <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12px;"> 239 240 <p>Over a year ago, app developer TinyCo, makers of a suite of games such as 241 Tiny Monsters, decided to prioritize launching across multiple platforms 242 effectively. They chose Android as one of their primary launch platforms because 243 of its large installed base and global reach. They also knew that the growing 244 base of Android tablet users represented a huge opportunity.</p> 245 246 <p>Tiny Village was their first title to take advantage of the strategy, and 247 it proved to be a winning one — especially in terms of Android 248 tablets.</p> 249 250 <p> With continued optimization of the gameplay experience and a genuine 251 commitment to our Android offering through our Griffin engine, all of our 252 metrics started to rise, said Rajeev Nagpal, Head of Product at TinyCo. In 253 fact, theyve seen Android tablet downloads more than triple in the last six 254 months.</p> 255 256 <p>One of the first things they noticed about usage of Tiny Village on 257 tablets was an increase in average revenue per paying user (ARPPU)—about 35% 258 higher than on smaller-screen devices such as phones. Additionally, average 259 revenue per user ARPU is now about 35% higher as well. The game is just much 260 more immersive on tablet.</p> 261 262 <p>In addition to an increase in monetization metrics, theyve also seen a 263 consistent increase in retention over other platforms. These are really 264 important metrics for games — if you can get users to both stay around 265 longer and spend more while theyre there, you have a recipe for success.</p> 266 </div> 267 268 <div style="clear:both;margin-top:40px;width:auto;"> 269 270 <img src="{@docRoot}images/distribute/tinyvillage.png"> 271 272 <div style="width:600px;margin-top:0px;padding:0 90px;"> 273 <p class="image-caption"><span style="font-weight:500;">More monetization 274 on tablets</span>: On Android tablets TinyCo has seen higher ARPPU and user 275 retention than on phones.</p> 276 </div> 277 278 </div> 279 280 </div> <!-- END STORY --> 281 282 283 <div style="margin-bottom:2em;"><!-- START STORY --> 284 285 <h3>Instapaper: Riding the growing wave of Android tablets</h3> 286 287 288 <img alt="" class="screenshot thumbnail" style="-webkit-border-radius: 5px; 289 -moz-border-radius: 5px; 290 border-radius: 5px height:78px; 291 width: 78px; 292 float: left; 293 margin: 12px 20px 9px 20px;" src= 294 "https://lh3.ggpht.com/30KKcrIFO8V_wRfhnHaI9l0CLH_orIVFE7Xywtr9TBxAf0hi2BaZkKyBOs63Yfavpg=w124"> 295 296 297 <div style="list-style: none;height:100%; 298 float: right; 299 border-top: 1px solid #9C0; 300 width: 220px; 301 margin: 4px 20px;padding: .5em;"> 302 303 304 305 306 <h5>About the app</h5> 307 <ul> 308 <li><a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instapaper.android">Instapaper</a> by Mobelux</li> 309 <li>Content-browsing utility that targets 7- to 10-inch tablets and phones</li> 310 </ul> 311 312 <h5>Tablet Results</h5> 313 314 <ul> 315 <li>Tablets are now 50% of the app's installed base.</li> 316 </ul> 317 318 <div style="padding:.5em 0 0 1em;"> 319 <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instapaper.android"> 320 <img alt="Android app on Google Play" 321 src="//developer.android.com/images/brand/en_generic_rgb_wo_45.png" /> 322 </a> 323 324 </div> 325 </div> 326 327 <div style="line-height:1.4em;"> 328 <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12px;">Instapaper for Android is an app 329 for saving web content to read later. Developer Mobelux decided that creating a 330 great UI for Android tablet users would be an essential part of their initial launch 331 plan.</p> 332 333 <p>The app launched at the beginning of the summer of 2012, just in time to 334 take advantage of a new tide of Android tablets, including the <span 335 style="white-space:nowrap;">Nexus 7</span> tablet. The app has since seen huge 336 popularity among tablet users, in particular, on Nexus 7. On the day that 337 pre-orders of Nexus 7 began arriving, Mobelux saw a 600% jump in downloads of 338 its app on Google Play.</p> 339 340 <p>We saw a promising new set of Android tablets about to hit the market 341 and wanted to position ourselves to be ready for them said Jeff Rock of 342 Mobelux. It was a market that others were hesitant to explore, but the decision 343 to prioritize tablets has paid off very well for us.</p> 344 345 <p>Since that initial 600% jump in downloads, Instapaper for Android has 346 continued to see a successful run on Android tablets. In fact, Android tablets 347 now represent about 50% of their installed base. With more and more Android 348 tablets coming online, were excited to see how our investment in Android 349 tablets continues to pay off.</p> 350 </div> 351 352 <div style="clear:both;margin-top:40px;width:auto;"> 353 354 <img src="{@docRoot}images/distribute/instapaper.png"> 355 356 <div style="width:600px;margin-top:0px;padding:0 90px;"> 357 <p class="image-caption"><span style="font-weight:500;">Popular with 358 tablet users</span>: A great tablet UI and browsing convenience make Instapaper 359 popular with Android tablet users.</p> 360 </div> 361 362 </div> 363 364 </div> <!-- END STORY --> 365 366 367 368