Spotlight
Do App Store Rules Matter?
After a decade of arguing about it, the writing on the wall is pretty clear at this point: regulators will change Apple’s App Store rules. Exactly how — or where it will happen first — is still up in the air, but the age of an uncontested walled garden around app distribution on iOS is coming to an end.
Benedict Evans takes a look at how much money we're talking about and what might happen next. But most importantly, who cares? Is this is big deal for a small number of companies (Spotify, Epic) and a wealth transfer for a larger number (mobile gaming studios), or is it something that will actually help typical mobile brands? And how many end users will actually notice or care?
Google “bought off Samsung” to limit app store competition, 36 states allege
Apple's App Store is bearing more of the heat around distribution monopolization so far for one simple reason: Android technically supports side-loaded apps and third-party app stores already.
In theory, iOS could end up following a very similar model. But in practice, will it make a difference? The Play Store still dominates on Android (outside of China, anyway).
Part of that is dominance is logical: defaults are important, and user habits are hard to change. But now, a consortium of US states are suing Google on antitrust grounds, claiming that they're also playing dirty to keep the lead.
Interesting Reads
Local News Outlets Upgrading Apps and Battling App-rehension
While it won't surprise most readers of this newsletter, native apps offer better experiences.
Local news organizations have discovered this too, and are capitalizing on it by improving their apps and getting readers to download them.
What I love about this article is it's a view from 'outside the bubble'. For those of us with scales on our eyes after so many years in the mobile industry, it's beautifully refreshing to read a clean take on many of the things (both good and bad) that we've come to take for granted.
From the excellent OptInWeekly (it's a meta-newsletter about newsletters — you'll enjoy it!)
Industry Buzz
Instagram tests letting anyone share a link in stories
Linking users out of Instagram has always been a challenge — for a long time, the only option was just a single URL in the user's profile. Instagram added swipe-up support to Stories a few years ago, but that feature is only available for selected users.
Now, there's a new 'link stickers' option in testing. Assuming this change rolls out more broadly, it has the potential to be huge for organic marketing campaigns.
Walled Gardens
TikTok parent ByteDance has begun selling the video app’s AI to other clients
TikTok’s incredible, almost uncannily-accurate recommendation algorithm has been the fuel behind its meteoric rise in popularity, and now that algorithm (along with a few other useful tools) is available 'for rent' as a service called BytePlus.
…but the algorithm is just part of why TikTok is such a star — the equally important flip side is how the entire TikTok product has been designed to feed that algorithm with extremely clean training data. It'll be interesting to see whether other implementations can extract the same level of success.
Privacy & Security
Apple wins privacy battle in China
Remember CAID, the China Advertising ID? It was the [ostensibly state-backed] fingerprint ID standard designed to replace the IDFA in China (here's a technical refresher on how it worked).
Well, it appears to be dead. Or — more precisely — Apple successfully killed it by rapping enough knuckles to keep it from ever getting off the ground.
This is great news for user privacy. And it also confirms just how effective Apple can be as the unilateral decision-maker for the iOS platform.
If you don't have a Financial Times subscription, here's another take on the story.
How Apple's Private Relay could be the beginning of the end for fingerprinting on iOS devices
Speaking of fingerprinting and AppTrackingTransparency policy compliance, the new iCloud+ Private Relay coming in iOS 15 is an interesting wrinkle: while this first iteration doesn't block the fingerprinting techniques some MMPs still use to track many app install ads today, Private Relay might indicate that Apple plans to focus long-term on technical solutions rather than policy enforcement.
However, I still think at least some policy enforcement will come in the interim — Apple has put an enormous amount of public messaging firepower behind ATT, so it would place them in an awkward position with their end users if they don't follow through.
Tips & Techniques
It's not eCommerce, It's experienceC.
With top-of-funnel ad performance taking a hit after ATT, it's a good time to remember that great user experiences are still the best way to improve long-term performance.
There are obviously a lot of whiz-bang ways to do that on mobile, but there are also some common-sense fundamentals that apply everywhere. Here are a few reminders (mostly focused on ecommerce) from Avinash Kaushik, who happens to be one of the best minds around in the world of digital analytics.
UX
"The new Safari in iOS 15 (currently in beta) introduces some new features including the Tab Bar, a radical change to browser UX, which has been pretty consistent over time…"
The challenge with radical UX redesigns is that by discarding years of convention, other things will break in funky ways.
As this thread proceeds to explore in depth, many mobile websites have 'sticky' floating elements at the bottom of the page (cookie notices, ad placements, smart banners). These elements were never built to accommodate an OS-level UI element (such as the new Tab Bar) hovering over the top of everything, which means many web developers have some work to do before iOS 15 launches.
US consumers can’t quit QR codes, per new The Drum/YouGov study
QR codes came of age during the pandemic — I know I've used them more in the past year than all previous history combined.
Once considered a gimmick, consumers now appreciate the functional benefits of QR codes and are increasingly using them for engaging with brands. That's great news for any company with an offline-online gap to bridge…but there's still so much untapped opportunity.
Data
Inside SK Part 1: publisher and advertiser app connections revealed
This is a pretty cool analysis — as a data visualization nerd, I particularly love the perfect application of a Sankey diagram!
One important caveat, however: yes, games are huge in mobile, but not quite as totally dominant as these graphs suggest. That's because AppsFlyer's ad attribution solution has long been popular with gaming studios, which causes the Gaming segment to be somewhat over-represented in their dataset.
Podcast
CMO @ Fishbrain: Lisa Kennelly
Scaling as the Dominant Player in Your Niche
Lisa Kennelly has been the CMO at Fishbrain for over three years and oversees marketing operations, strategy, and vision. Fishbrain is a mobile app and online platform with map-based tools, fishing forecasts, social networking features, and recommendations on fishing gear. Fishing is the most popular hobby in the world… and is huge in the US, Fishbrain’s biggest market.
Lisa led Fishbrain’s marketing expansion beyond their (mostly) paid advertising campaigns. Fishbrain’s social network feature attracts new users and contributes to their user retention. Fishbrain grows through SEO, word of mouth, influencers and even offline marketing (billboards, radio ads, etc) in some southern US states that have a thriving culture of anglers.
Lisa shares that to increase your premium subscriptions: make your pro membership content truly valuable and meant for the regular, high-frequency user - not just the occasional user. Split testing can be used to avoid making decisions. Sometimes, you just have to believe in your ideas and execute them because non-determinant results of A/B testing can be paralyzing.
Who’s Hiring?
- Wealthsimple | Crypto UA Manager — Toronto/NYC/Remote
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Do you have a mobile growth role you’d like to share with the community?
Just fill out this form — it’s free!
Aside from iOS 15, there have been some interesting developments in the app store antitrust department over the last few weeks…but before we get into those, a quick plug for a couple of resources that I hope you'll find useful:
And now, on to the rest of the news!
Alex Bauer