1page.title=Developer Stories: The Opportunity of Android Tablets 2meta.tags="google play, developer story, journal, tablets, pure" 3pdage.metaDescription=Developers are investing in a full tablet experience for their apps and seeing those investments pay off big. 4page.image=/images/distribute/rememberthemilk.png 5 6@jd:body 7 8 9<p>"More" and more, developers are investing in a full tablet experience 10for their apps and are seeing those investments pay off big. The increased 11screen area on tablets opens up a world of possibilities, allowing for more 12engagement with the user — which can mean an increase in usage as well as 13more monetization opportunities. And with the growing wave of Android tablets that 14continue to hit the market, it’s an important piece of any developer’s mobile 15offering. </p> 16 17<p>Here are some stories from developers who are seeing real results as they 18expand their offering to include Android tablets.</p> 19 20 21<div style="margin-bottom:2em;" id="rememberthemilk"><!-- START STORY --> 22 23<h3>Remember The Milk: Lifting installs with tablet design</h3> 24 25 <img alt="" class="screenshot thumbnail" style="-webkit-border-radius: 5px; 26 -moz-border-radius: 5px; 27 border-radius: 5px height:78px; 28 width: 78px; 29 float: left; 30 margin: 12px 20px 9px 20px;" src= 31 "http://lh3.ggpht.com/xmnal18taauP2mjQFEhr1PhcItQ_W32IRuaD86IoL2U_4E-mfeKiliKtkISgOuA6Ln9n=w124"> 32 33 <div style="list-style: none;height:100%; 34 float: right; 35 border-top: 1px solid #9C0; 36 width: 220px; 37 margin: 4px 20px;padding: .5em;"> 38 39 40 <h5>About the app</h5> 41 42 43 <ul> 44 <li><a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rememberthemilk.MobileRTM">Remember The Milk</a></li> 45 <li>A feature-packed to-do list app; never forget the milk (or anything else) again</li> 46 </ul> 47 48 <h5>Tablet Results</h5> 49 50 <ul> 51 <li>83% jump in tablet installs following update </li> 52 <li>Nexus 7 is most popular Android device for app </li> 53 <li>Single APK for phones and tablets</li> 54 </ul> 55 56 <div style="padding:.5em 0 0 1em;"> 57 <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rememberthemilk.MobileRTM"> 58 <img alt="Android app on Google Play" 59 src="{@docRoot}images/brand/en_generic_rgb_wo_45.png" /> 60 </a> 61 62 </div> 63 </div> 64 65 <div style="line-height:1.4em;"> 66 <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12px;">When the Android tablet guidelines 67 came out in 2012, the team at Remember The Milk had already been thinking about 68 a redesign for their <a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rememberthemilk.MobileRTM">feature-packed 69 to-do list app</a>. Omar Kilani, Co-founder of Remember The Milk, explains how 70 <a href="http://blog.rememberthemilk.com/2013/04/the-all-new-remember-the-milk-for-android-and-tablets-too/">updating</a> 71 their app to meet the tablet guidelines lead to an 83% jump in tablet installs: </p> 72 73 <p>“We took this as an opportunity to think about how we were going to approach 74 Android tablets differently from a user experience perspective. The guidelines 75 were a helpful resource, and with the extra screen real estate tablets afford, 76 users have the opportunity to see all of their data in context and drill down 77 on more items. All of this is accomplished using a single APK on Play, even though 78 the phone and tablet versions each capture completely different use cases for us.”</p> 79 80 <p>“In the month after updating, we saw our tablet installs on Google Play jump 83%, 81 and the Nexus 7 is now the most popular Android device amongst our users. For us, 82 designing for tablets was an investment that has really paid off.”</p> 83 84 <p>The team also came out with a number of other goodies — including a new set of 85 widgets and richer notifications, and more ways to provide an immersive experience 86 for their users.</p> 87 </div> 88 89 <div style="clear:both;margin-top:30px;width:auto;"> 90 91 <img src="{@docRoot}images/distribute/rememberthemilk.png"> 92 93 <div style="width:600px;margin-top:0px;padding:0 90px;"> 94 <p class="image-caption"><span style="font-weight:500;">Tablet redesign led to lift 95 in installs</span>: Following the redesign of the Android app, in part to meet the tablet 96 design criteria, Remember The Milk saw an 83% increase in tablet installs.</p> 97 </div> 98 99 </div> 100 101</div> <!-- END STORY --> 102 103 104<div style="margin-bottom:2em;" id="mint"><!-- START STORY --> 105 106<h3>Mint: More screen real estate = more engagement</h3> 107 108 <img alt="" class="screenshot thumbnail" style="-webkit-border-radius: 5px; 109 -moz-border-radius: 5px; 110 border-radius: 5px height:78px; 111 width: 78px; 112 float: left; 113 margin: 12px 20px 9px 20px;" src= 114 "https://lh5.ggpht.com/0xAIZJ1uE05b4RHNHgBBTIH6nRdPTY660T104xY7O2GbHXwab6YVmpU5yYg8yacfBg=w124"> 115 116 <div style="list-style: none;height:100%; 117 float: right; 118 border-top: 1px solid #9C0; 119 width: 220px; 120 margin: 4px 20px;padding: .5em;"> 121 122 123 <h5>About the app</h5> 124 125 126 <ul> 127 <li><a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mint">Mint.com Personal Finance</a> by Intuit Inc.</li> 128 <li>Financial management app targeting 7- to 10-inch tablets and phones</li> 129 </ul> 130 131 <h5>Tablet Results</h5> 132 133 <ul> 134 <li>Able to offer richer UI features</li> 135 <li>Much higher user engagement</li> 136 <li>Longer sessions — more Android tablet users have sessions longer than 5 minutes</li> 137 </ul> 138 139 <div style="padding:.5em 0 0 1em;"> 140<a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mint"> 141 <img alt="Android app on Google Play" 142 src="{@docRoot}images/brand/en_generic_rgb_wo_45.png" /> 143</a> 144 145 </div> 146 </div> 147 148 <div style="line-height:1.4em;"> 149 <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12px;">When Intuit was thinking about 150expanding their Mint mobile offering to include a version optimized for Android 151tablets, they knew that taking the layout that worked for phones and simply 152showing an enlarged version wouldn’t take full advantage of the opportunities 153that tablets afford.</p> 154 155 <p>“We knew we had a lot more real estate, and we wanted to provide a more 156immersive experience for our users” said Ken Sun, Intuit Group Product Manager 157at Mint.</p> 158 159<p>Intuit’s Mint app, which has a 4-star rating on Google Play, brings a number 160of features to Android tablets that aren’t available for phones, including a 161more visual presentation of personal financial data.</p> 162 163<p>“Whereas our app for phones is used throughout the day for quick sessions, 164we’ve seen a larger percentage of our tablet usage happen in the evening, for 165much longer sessions,” said Sun. “People are doing a lot more than just checking 166their spending. They’re looking at historical trends, re-categorizing 167transactions, analyzing the data and setting financial goals for the future 168— digging much deeper and being more thoughtful. One example is how much 169users are interacting with their own budgets in the tablet app. Customer budget 170operations (view, edit, drill-down, etc.) are 7x higher on Android tablets than 171they are on phones.”</p> 172 173<p>Fifty percent more Android tablet users have Mint sessions of 5 minutes or 174longer than they do on phones. “We’ve found that phone usage is indicative of a 175customer’s regular financial check-in, while tablet usage points towards more 176analysis and interaction with that customer’s personal financial data. This is 177the sort of immersive engagement experience we were looking for; the tablet and 178phone apps serve as great complements to each other."</p> 179 </div> 180 181 <div style="clear:both;margin-top:40px;width:auto;"> 182 183 <img src="{@docRoot}images/distribute/mint.png"> 184 185 <div style="width:600px;margin-top:0px;padding:0 90px;"> 186 <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> 187 </div> 188 189 </div> 190 191</div> <!-- END STORY --> 192 193 194<div style="margin:3em auto"><!-- START STORY --> 195 196 197<h3>TinyCo: Monetization opportunities abound on tablets</h3> 198 199 <img alt="" class="screenshot thumbnail" style="-webkit-border-radius: 5px; 200 -moz-border-radius: 5px; 201 border-radius: 5px height:78px; 202 width: 78px; 203 float: left; 204 margin: 12px 20px 30px 20px;" src= 205 "https://lh6.ggpht.com/QTy7lOGRTS58NW4XEeym2sxpWKDmRNod_n3kBrHlqTRIyzIv2gkw8DfwiR4GIAdxiHw=w124"> 206 207 208 <div style="list-style: none;height:100%; 209 float: right; 210 border-top: 1px solid #9C0; 211 width: 220px; 212 margin: 4px 20px;padding: .5em;"> 213 214 <h5>About the app</h5> 215 216 <ul> 217 <li><a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tinyco.village">Tiny Village</a> by TinyCo</li> 218 <li>Game targeting 7- to 10-inch tablets and phones</li> 219 </ul> 220 221 <h5>Tablet Results</h5> 222 223 <ul> 224 <li>35% higher average revenue per paying user (ARPPU)</li> 225 <li>Consistent increase in user retention</li> 226 <li>3x increase in downloads to Android tablets in the last 6 months</li> 227 </ul> 228 229 <div style="padding:.5em 0 0 1em;"> 230<a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tinyco.village"> 231 <img alt="Android app on Google Play" 232 src="{@docRoot}images/brand/en_generic_rgb_wo_45.png" /> 233</a> 234 235 </div> 236 </div> 237 238 <div style="line-height:1.4em;"> 239 <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12px;"> 240 241<p>Over a year ago, app developer TinyCo, makers of a suite of games such as 242Tiny Monsters, decided to prioritize launching across multiple platforms 243effectively. They chose Android as one of their primary launch platforms because 244of its large installed base and global reach. They also knew that the growing 245base of Android tablet users represented a huge opportunity.</p> 246 247 <p>Tiny Village was their first title to take advantage of the strategy, and 248it proved to be a winning one — especially in terms of Android 249tablets.</p> 250 251 <p> “With continued optimization of the gameplay experience and a genuine 252commitment to our Android offering through our Griffin engine, all of our 253metrics started to rise,” said Rajeev Nagpal, Head of Product at TinyCo. In 254fact, they’ve seen Android tablet downloads more than triple in the last six 255months.</p> 256 257 <p>One of the first things they noticed about usage of Tiny Village on 258tablets was an increase in average revenue per paying user (ARPPU)—about 35% 259higher than on smaller-screen devices such as phones. Additionally, average 260revenue per user ARPU is now about 35% higher as well. “The game is just much 261more immersive on tablet.”</p> 262 263 <p>In addition to an increase in monetization metrics, they’ve also seen a 264consistent increase in retention over other platforms. “These are really 265important metrics for games — if you can get users to both stay around 266longer and spend more while they’re there, you have a recipe for success.”</p> 267 </div> 268 269 <div style="clear:both;margin-top:40px;width:auto;"> 270 271 <img src="{@docRoot}images/distribute/tinyvillage.png"> 272 273 <div style="width:600px;margin-top:0px;padding:0 90px;"> 274 <p class="image-caption"><span style="font-weight:500;">More monetization 275on tablets</span>: On Android tablets TinyCo has seen higher ARPPU and user 276retention than on phones.</p> 277 </div> 278 279 </div> 280 281</div> <!-- END STORY --> 282 283 284<div style="margin-bottom:2em;"><!-- START STORY --> 285 286<h3>Instapaper: Riding the growing wave of Android tablets</h3> 287 288 289 <img alt="" class="screenshot thumbnail" style="-webkit-border-radius: 5px; 290 -moz-border-radius: 5px; 291 border-radius: 5px height:78px; 292 width: 78px; 293 float: left; 294 margin: 12px 20px 9px 20px;" src= 295 "https://lh3.ggpht.com/30KKcrIFO8V_wRfhnHaI9l0CLH_orIVFE7Xywtr9TBxAf0hi2BaZkKyBOs63Yfavpg=w124"> 296 297 298 <div style="list-style: none;height:100%; 299 float: right; 300 border-top: 1px solid #9C0; 301 width: 220px; 302 margin: 4px 20px;padding: .5em;"> 303 304 305 306 307 <h5>About the app</h5> 308 <ul> 309 <li><a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instapaper.android">Instapaper</a> by Mobelux</li> 310 <li>Content-browsing utility that targets 7- to 10-inch tablets and phones</li> 311 </ul> 312 313 <h5>Tablet Results</h5> 314 315 <ul> 316 <li>Tablets are now 50% of the app's installed base.</li> 317 </ul> 318 319 <div style="padding:.5em 0 0 1em;"> 320<a href="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instapaper.android"> 321 <img alt="Android app on Google Play" 322 src="{@docRoot}images/brand/en_generic_rgb_wo_45.png" /> 323</a> 324 325 </div> 326 </div> 327 328 <div style="line-height:1.4em;"> 329 <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12px;">Instapaper for Android is an app 330for saving web content to read later. Developer Mobelux decided that creating a 331great UI for Android tablet users would be an essential part of their initial launch 332plan.</p> 333 334 <p>The app launched at the beginning of the summer of 2012, just in time to 335take advantage of a new tide of Android tablets, including the <span 336style="white-space:nowrap;">Nexus 7</span> tablet. The app has since seen huge 337popularity among tablet users, in particular, on Nexus 7. On the day that 338pre-orders of Nexus 7 began arriving, Mobelux saw a 600% jump in downloads of 339its app on Google Play.</p> 340 341 <p>“We saw a promising new set of Android tablets about to hit the market 342and wanted to position ourselves to be ready for them” said Jeff Rock of 343Mobelux. “It was a market that others were hesitant to explore, but the decision 344to prioritize tablets has paid off very well for us.”</p> 345 346 <p>Since that initial 600% jump in downloads, Instapaper for Android has 347continued to see a successful run on Android tablets. In fact, Android tablets 348now represent about 50% of their installed base. “With more and more Android 349tablets coming online, we’re excited to see how our investment in Android 350tablets continues to pay off.”</p> 351 </div> 352 353 <div style="clear:both;margin-top:40px;width:auto;"> 354 355 <img src="{@docRoot}images/distribute/instapaper.png"> 356 357 <div style="width:600px;margin-top:0px;padding:0 90px;"> 358 <p class="image-caption"><span style="font-weight:500;">Popular with 359tablet users</span>: A great tablet UI and browsing convenience make Instapaper 360popular with Android tablet users.</p> 361 </div> 362 363 </div> 364 365</div> <!-- END STORY --> 366 367 368 369
