Tag: Apps

Most of us use apps on a daily basis. A majority of the smartphones, tabs, and other handheld devices run apps that allow us to catch up on the news, connect to the social media, and help us play games.

A leading California-based computer and technology company recently organized a “hackathon” for autism in their campus. More than 100 software engineers of the company and advocates for autism came together to develop touch screen apps for children with autism. The team members, working with autistic children, began developing apps to help them overcome challenges. Some of the apps include verbal and speech learning, games, and communication assistants. These new apps would be soon released free on the internet and will encourage children to learn according to their individual interests, develop communication skills, and forge a social relation with other children who have a common interest in technology.

These apps for children with autism have the potential to greatly improve social and communication skills. In a study about an autistic child, scientists used video inputs and FM audio trainers to see whether the two skills improved by using these devices. After a few weeks of research, the child showed substantially increased attention to auditory and visual cues. The new apps for children with autism being developed by the tech company, will use these cues to help develop behavioral and communication skills.

Most children today know how to use a tab or smartphone. They use it largely for playing games. The innovations at the “hackathon” will draw on the ease of using a touch screen for autistic children and allow them download apps that are both educational and fun.

A study of the new technology of smartphones addresses the old method of picture exchange communication system (PECS), and compares that to updated communication systems running on apps. Laminated cards were used in PECS to teach and improve social and communication skills. New technology allows digitization of these cards on a touch screen. Educators, children, and parents find it much easier using the new PECS.

Motivation to use apps for children with autism increases with the use of smartphones, computer, or other touch screen devices. Technology is becoming a more important way to provide fun and easy ways for autistic children to socialize and communicate. Many schools have already introduced apps in their curriculum.

Technology is engrained in our lives, starting at a young age. The advent of the touch screen will help children with autism learn important life skills. Everything from communication, social relationships, independence, to auditory and visual learning can be improved with these apps.

A heartwarming story about how apps for children with autism can change a child’s life, is the case of Jordan, a young boy suffering from the disorder. Jordan could never communicate verbally when he was young. But technology has changed his life. His touching poem “Silent No More” describes his journey from a boy who couldn’t communicate, to someone who now has immense potential in the communication technology domain.

Social media took off in 2004 when Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz launched Facebook from their Harvard dorm room. Since then, social media trends have skyrocketed, especially among teen users.

Over the last eleven years, social media has exploded. Teens post to several apps every day. Here are the top seven apps they use, according to Pew Research Center.

1. Facebook

Facebook is the number one app, with 71% of teens 13 – 17 using it every day. Facebook is extremely easy to use, and can be used on the go with a Smartphone. Link your Twitter, Instagram, and other accounts to your Facebook page, and you’ll be sharing all of your doings with your followers.

2. Instagram

Instagram is extremely popular with teens, with 52% using it. Once the app is loaded on your Smartphone, it’s easy to snap a picture of anything you want and post it instantly. You can even share it on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr with the click of a button.

3. Snapchat

Many teens also enjoy posting pictures and videos via Snapchat, but it’s not as easy to use as Instagram. 41% of teens use it.

4. Twitter

Twitter is still popular among teens, with 33% of them using it. With the ability to connect your Facebook page, Instagram, and other social media apps to your Twitter account, it’s easy to post content throughout the day. But many teens aren’t posting content directly to Twitter anymore. However, Twitter is a great place to hang out and chat with other users during events via Hashtags.

5. Google+

Google+ has become a bit popular with teens who already use Google for their email. Google+ gives users another place to post content, share it with friends, and find users with similar interests to follow. One advantage Google+ has over other apps: Google Hangouts. This app allows users to video conference each other, and even include up to ten people in a chat. 33% of teens are using Google+.

6. Vine

Vine is another video-sharing app, but only allows a six-second looping video clip. Some YouTube users will post a preview of their videos to Vine to entice new followers. Videos on Vine can be shared on Facebook and Twitter, once again making it easy to connect your networks. 24% of teens are on Vine.

7. Tumblr

Tumblr allows users to post multiple forms of content quickly and easily. You can connect other apps, such as Instagram, to your Tumblr account, so it posts automatically. 14% of teens use Tumblr.

These seven social media apps are the most popular among teens. Some apps are used by teens every day, several times throughout the day. Some are only used occasionally, and others only during certain circumstances. Try out a few to see which ones you like best.

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With people nowadays largely intertwined with mobile devices, businesses seek to build mobile applications for driving customers to their services or products. However, owing to the cut-throat competition in the apps market, appreneurs started realising the need for more deep and impactful strategies to raise customer engagement in their apps. Consequently, developers started integrating some effective social media avenues in apps apart from providing a great user interface and feature richness. The touch of social media can prove to be enough fruitful for the owners as it keeps the existing users hooked for longer beside attracting new users. So, here’s explaining some proven social media strategies that help in raising user engagement in apps.

#1 One-click share

Mobile apps that offer easy share options are more likely to engage the users better. With a one-click button for sharing on popular social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, apps readily allow the users to share anything they have liked, used and find interesting on the app with their friends on their social accounts. This not only gives app’s visibility on the social media but also help drawing customers from worldwide regions.

#2 Share of reward points or achievements

To make engagement on apps more exciting and tempting, makers can embed the feature of social sharing of user’s achievements on them. Many mobile applications depending on the utility let users earn reward points, virtual coins or scores with every step/stage they proceed. For instance, users of fitness apps are assigned with scores for the total miles walked with every passing day. Henceforth, allowing users to share their endeavors on their social account pages provide in them a sense of motivation. There’s pour in appreciation comments or congratulatory wishes on their performance report from social network circles which boost the confidence in users and lure others too to join the hard-hitting race.

#3 Referral programs

Mobile apps can gain considerable new users from nowhere by making their app viral overnight with specific social targeting. Referral programs in the app can help in that! Such schemes encourage the existing users to draw other new users by sending the app’s links to their social media friends. They are offered in return some appropriate reward points which they can redeem later for availing the app’s offers. Thus, referral schemes are a proven way to scale up the user base and can increase it at most by 15%.

#4 Tools for socialisers

Users love discussing common topics on social media platforms and know each other’s opinion. Hence, allowing users to get responses for their interests in the app is one effective way to increase engagement. The developers or owners can provide an easy feature in the app through which users can post their views, queries and seek answers from non-users in the social media. Such type of interaction on the social media helps inevitably in keeping users engaged and active on the app.

These are the some of the tried and tested techniques for engaging users of mobile applications through mass platforms. These help appreneurs to acquire more users by spreading word about their application as anything shared on social media platforms generate enough curiosity and lure the interested ones to try the same.

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Every online marketer recognizes the power of social forums. It can make or break a business. But with so many social media channels, how do you leverage on these platforms?

Whether you are a fan of Apple, Android or Windows, there are many apps with different features that can help you organize multiple accounts. Besides, these apps are smart enough to show you information on what’s trending, the latest practice and how people respond to your messages.

To help you optimize your social media marketing strategies we have listed out 5 of the best apps for social media aggregation.

1. HootSuite.

Hootsuite-a social forum management platform serving over 15 million users worldwide. It is available in five versions: Free, Pro, Team, Business, and Enterprise. HootSuite is fully integrated with most social networks allowing you to manage your activities on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn account on a simple dashboard. The app has a simple, intuitive dashboard with advanced workplace filters. Some other features of Hootsuite include:

1. A help desk for queries.

2. A Wise guide. Shows you how to schedule a post, add a social network, check keywords/mentions, share content using Hootlet, and social media network.

3. Social media courses where you can learn the basics of social media marketing.

4. Hootsuite forums allow one to connect your Facebook or Twitter page to this forum.

5. 30 days free trial for Hootsuite Pro plan

6. Provide support for WordPress blog.

2. Sprout social

Sprout Social is a Saas service with three main functionalities: engagement, publishing, and analytics. As a social media aggregator tool, it aims to promote communication between people and a business. It monitors the social conversation, lets you perform tasks and manages a portfolio from a single platform. The app has got features such as:

1. Smart Inbox

2. Collaboration

3. Publishing

4. Mobile

5. Analytics

6. Monitoring

7. Account Structure

8. Discovery

9. Reports

10. Social CRM

These features are available on the dashboard and are divided into six sections: Feeds Dashboard, Task, Messaging, Reports, Discovery, Publishing and Scheduling, and Integrations. These subjects area lets you know where you stand with your prospects and customers besides letting you build your presence on social media platforms.

3. Buffer

Buffer is a social media integration software used for scheduling post, text, images, and photos to your Facebook, Twitter accounts, and other social networks.

The app is available under four different plans- an Individual plan which is free, Awesome, Small, Medium, and Large. The app is Internet-based and allows you to create, schedule post and update all your account with a single click. The app has got browser extension and seamlessly integrate with Chrome, RSS, and WordPress.

Other additional features of Buffer include:

1. RSS feeds support

2. Connectivity functions

3. Team collaboration

4. Analytics and insights

5. Stats comparison

6. Social profile sharing

7. iOS and Android support

8. Multiple posts and tweets

9. 2-step account login

10. Multi-media format sharing

11. Customized scheduling

12. Informative social analytics

13. Profile management

14. Standard buffering

15. Agency/business planning

16. Stats comparison

17. 14 day trial for every plan

4. Brand watch

While other social engagement tools are for sharing and managing content, Brandwatch is more of analytics tools. It listens, monitors and collects data from the Internet, social media platform, product review, blogs, news on what people say about your service or product delivering a huge amount of data for analytics and sentimental analysis.

Brandwatch analyses sentiments weeding out spasm and unnecessary messages. It can also integrate with HootSuite and Spreadfast letting you use data on those applications.

5. Social Oomph

As a social media aggregator, SocialOomph allows you to manage all your accounts on one platform. It has both free and paid version. The free version lets you manage up to five Twitter profiles while the paid version lets you unlock other platforms like FB, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Tumblr. It is easy to handle, enable URL shortening, got a keyword search feature and tracks the clicks you get on each URL.

Besides, the paid version offers contact suggestions and allows linking of many Twitter accounts, manage blogs and RSS feeds, perform social updates by mail and has got filters to weed out unnecessary messages.

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