The lines between digital, mobile, technology and apps are blurring in today’s world. We at Robosoft are keen followers of developments in this arena. Here’s a quick summary of what’s buzzing:
Microsoft announces Playable Ads to preview apps
Difference between Regular Ads and Playable Ads
Source: Blogs.windows.com
To improve the quality of apps available on the Windows App Store, Microsoft has introduced a new feature called Playable Ads. This new feature lets people interact and play with an app before downloading it to their smartphones or personal computers. Playable ads can be played for three minutes to preview the app, so users have enough time to decide whether they would like to download it after reading the product description page and watching the video. The new feature however doesn’t require the developers to make any changes in the coding. Developers would just have to enable the ’try now’ button and Microsoft will do the rest.
Microsoft hasn’t announced the time from which this new feature would be available to the public, but developers who are interested can try it out to create new ad campaigns. Playable Ads could prove to be helpful in taking users to apps built with lots of hard work and care.
Google introduces Family Link, an app for parents
Source: Blog.google
Last week, Google announced Family Link, a new app for parents to monitor their children’s Android smartphones. The app gives children under 13 a Google account that can be monitored, controlled and managed by their parents. For the whole monitoring system to work, it’s essential that both parent and child use an Android device and the Family Link mobile app is first downloaded on parent’s device. From their own device parents can approve or block apps, keep an eye on screen time and remotely lock kid’s device when they want.
The service is available only in US at present on an early preview basis. The app could prove to be of great help to parents and could also be a selling point while picking up mobile phones for kids.
Apple creates Indie Showcase to feature indie games
Love the games we’ve debuted? Starting today, we’ll have a permanent spot on the App Store just for indie games. https://t.co/M7fhi8kU4Dpic.twitter.com/d9Nt98EGvw
— App Store Games (@AppStoreGames) March 17, 2017
Getting discovered on Apple App Store is no easy feat, which is why Apple has added a new section named Indie Showcase to the App Store highlighting games from individual developers or smaller development studios. These indie games often get lost amidst big budget titles and free to play games but hopefully that would be a thing of the past now. The Indie Showcase initiative would ensure that games from smaller studios are given a chance to survive in the crowd. Although it’s not clear how often Apple will rotate the game titles in the showcase, it is for certain that the new section is going to be a permanent one.
