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29 March 2024

App stores reach beyond smartphones

GetJar offers 68,000 free apps for smartphones and feature phones. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Antony Bruno

Offering 150,000-plus apps that have been downloaded more than two billion times, Apple's App Store is far and away the leading source of mobile applications driving today's mobile entertainment market.

But who is No2? A little-known startup called GetJar, founded in 2004 in Lithuania. Now based in San Mateo, California, the company has 68,000 free apps that have been downloaded about 900 million times, and it is planning to launch a paid app system around midyear.

By way of comparison, Google's Android Market has close to 50,000 apps with about 40 million downloads, while BlackBerry has slightly more than 6,000 apps. (Download figures are not available.)

Unlike those app vendors, which are each dedicated to a single mobile operating system, GetJar distributes apps for multiple platforms and devices. That's what makes it interesting for artists and labels as they look to maximise their reach among mobile consumers.

While many players in the music business are content with creating apps for the iPhone, the fact remains that many consumers do not own one. Independent app stores like GetJar make it easier to reach other mobile subscribers by aggregating apps for different phones at one location, saving companies the trouble of creating different marketing efforts for multiple devices.

When GetJar customers select an app to download, the site automatically detects the type of handset they are using. If the app is compatible with the handset, GetJar serves up the appropriate version of the app, whether it's for a BlackBerry, a Nokia phone or an Android-based handset. For iPhone users, it redirects them to the Apple iPhone App Store for downloads.

"We're the Walmart of app stores," GetJar Chief Marketing Officer Patrick Mork says.

GetJar is not alone. It's merely the largest among a slew of independent app stores that include Handango, acquired earlier this year by PocketGear; Handmark; AppBoy; and Mogango.

What makes them particularly compelling is that they offer apps for devices other than smartphones. Called "feature phones" by the mobile industry, these devices contain web browsers and multimedia capabilities but don't have the same screen size, processing power or custom operating systems that are the hallmarks of the smartphone category.

In fourth quarter of 2009, only 21 per cent of US wireless subscribers were using a smartphone such as an iPhone or a BlackBerry. While that's up 14 per cent from the same period a year earlier, according to a recent report by Roger Entner, senior VP in the telecom practice at Nielsen, it still means 79 per cent of available phones are feature phones.

About 60 per cent of the apps downloaded from GetJar are for these types of phones. If a participating developer doesn't have an app than can run on a GetJar user's phone, the service instead provides a downloadable shortcut to the mobile web version of the app through the feature phone's browser. App developers are mindful of the fact that many consumers using entertainment apps are replacing their feature phones with smartphones.

A recent comScore study tracking mobile gaming use found that US mobile users with feature phones played mobile games 35 per cent less last year than the year before, while mobile gaming on smartphones increased 60 per cent during the same period, credited primarily to the fact that mobile gamers were shifting to smart phones. And thanks to low prices and the expanding capabilities of the devices, Entner projects 51 per cent of US wireless subscribers will be using smart phones in third-quarter 2011.

But that means feature phones will still make up about half of the U.S. market in two years – and will retain a greater presence in emerging international markets. For developers that focus on a single platform, such as the iPhone, GetJar isn't a top-of-mind outlet.

Still, it's proved effective for app developers looking to maximise their reach. Mobile instant messaging app Nimbuzz, which was one of the first apps available on GetJar when it launched, credits the service for more than 30 million downloads.

GetJar provides app developers with an additional distribution channel at little to no cost.

As walled-garden app stores such as Apple's App Store and the Android Market get more crowded, independent aggregators like GetJar could become more valuable to artists and labels that are trying to reach mobile consumers.

Pulitzer opens Apple doors

A once-rejected NewsToons political satire application for the iPhone was available at iTunes on Tuesday after Apple granted its Pulitzer Prize winning creator a reprieve.

Apple had rejected the NewsToons application in December on the grounds it violated the iconic California firm's developer rules by lambasting public officials.

Newstoons creator Mark Fiore was awarded a Pulitzer Prize this month for his work, triggering a story about a winner of the prestigious award being spurned by Apple. Apple called Fiore and prompted him to resubmit his NewsToons application to iTunes. He did so on Friday and it was swiftly approved for the App Store.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs was publicly quoted as saying initially rejecting Fiore's application was a mistake. Fiore was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper as saying it felt "weird" to apparently get special treatment because he won a Pulitzer. (AFP)