App Store Kids Category Rankings

Photo was edited to show all featured apps without scrolling or tapping

Here's our quick scoop on the new App Store Kids category with a side dish of app sibling rivalry.

We have four apps currently featured in the Kids category: Marble Math and Marble Math Junior, Mystery Math Town, and Alien Buddies.

Needless to say, it's been quite a lift for us.
Sales are up 200-300% since the category launched last week.

Here's what Marble Math Junior looked like on the charts the day before iOS 7 dropped:

And here's what Junior's rankings look like today:

It's interesting to note our apps show nearly identical rankings in both the Education and Kids categories.

Of our four featured apps, Marble Math Junior is the only one to appear above the fold on the front page of the Kids category and that really helps. We know any amount of scrolling or tapping to find things will cost you sales.

Junior's older sibling, Marble Math, can actually be found on the front page of the App Store (all apps) but you have to scroll down and across to find it at the bottom of the page under Kids Apps & Games.

We're expecting to see the features rotate this week as they do in the Education category but who knows what Apple has up their sleeve?

Stay tuned...

App Icon Showdown - (A New App From Artgig Apps)

iOS 7 arrives today and soon we'll see shiny new and colorful iPhones hitting the streets.

We've been busy testing our apps on the new platform and prepping for the new Kids App category, and I'm pleased to report that our apps are iOS 7 ready.

(Pause for applause)

But that's not all.

I have even bigger news to share this morning.

We've been busy making the sequel to our best selling education app.

If you like Mystery Math Town...

You're really going to like Mystery Math Museum.

It's scheduled to launch next month for iPad.

But first we have to pick the all important app icon.

We've narrowed the design to two options.

Which icon do you like best - the Artist or the Queen?

New Esquire Web App Celebrates The Life of Man

Ever wonder what Derek Jeter is most looking forward to as he turns 40?

What about the best advice Robert Redford has ever gotten in his 77 years?

We're very pleased today to share The Life of Man - a new website we've been working on for Esquire to commemorate the magazine's 80th anniversary.

Users can browse The Life of Man Gallery to see noteworthy men, spanning ages one to eighty, in photographs and video and see what they have to say about their life right now.

If you feel inspired to add your own story, submit your portrait to the Interactive Gallery and join a living exhibit of men from across the country in 2013.
 
We designed The Life of Man as a responsive website that adapts to a wide variety of web browser scenarios, from super wide windows to mobile devices, to ensure every user has the optimal interactive experience.

So go on - be a man and check it out.

We're pretty proud of it.

The Life of Man

If You Love Your Educational App Set It Free

You may have heard the argument against app promotions and giveaways that is centered on the notion that price reductions only contribute to a race to the bottom in the App Store.

You may have also heard that short term app price reductions do not help overall app sales.

Well, I'm here to tell you that you can't afford not to consider price promotions as a weapon in your educational app marketing arsenal.

On August 23rd we set our Shake-a-Phrase educational app to free (normally $1.99) as part of a weekly App Friday promotion and we extended the giveaway through Saturday to make sure everyone had a chance to download it.

A little backstory...

Shake-a-Phrase was the first educational iOS app  we produced under our Artgig Apps label over two years ago (that makes Shake like 60 in human years). The app was selected early on by Apple as a featured Writing app and remains forever featured as a result. The app has always been popular with educators and SLP's and we see a good amount of volume educational purchases, but it's far from a sexy chart topper. Of all our apps, Shake seemed like the best candidate for a visibility boost in the App Store feeding frenzy of the Back to School season.

App Promotion Results: 

We saw nearly 21,500 downloads over Friday and Saturday with 15,000+ downloads on App Friday.

We were fortunate that Shake was featured by App Advice for the Apps Gone Free daily listing which always translates to an instant download boost.

Additionally, Shake-a-Phrase was a Top 10 Free Education app for a short while early Saturday morning (luckily my 3 year old woke me up at 4:30am so I was able to snap this picture to prove it):

We also got a couple of new iTunes reviews and a nice new blog review here by the highly regarded @rmbyrne which set off a flurry of Twitter RT's to complement the stellar social media support we received throughout the giveaway. You cannot underestimate the importance of mentions like this.

In all, it was generally a terrific promotion for an educational app that is admittedly a bit long in the tooth.

As I type, the app is #72 in Paid Education when it normally slinks along the bottom of the Top 300 (and I didn't have to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to snap this):

So, it's hard to argue about the success of the promotion. We dusted off an old app that is pretty popular in schools and got some fresh eyes on it - and that was the goal.

For kicks, I dug up our original Shake-a-Phrase App Friday promotion from exactly two years ago today.

On App Friday, August 26, 2011 Shake-a-Phrase had 2,602 downloads.

This Friday we had 15, 097 downloads.

What a difference a couple of years makes.

Back to School Stress Reliever (App Sale)!

Back to School.

If you're a teacher or parent and the very mention of these three words causes you to break out in a cold sweat, we're here to help.

This Friday, 8/23 we are giving away our featured App Store writing app, Shake-a-Phrase (normally $1.99), to promote giggle inducing grammar fun.

Ahhhh - don't you feel better already?

The silly sentence maker shakes up wacky scenarios and writing prompts in 5 different themes and includes a quiz mode for playful parts of speech practice.

Check out this teacher's review of the Android version of the app to see how Shake-a-Phrase can be used in your CCLS classroom.

Sure, you could probably use a nice weekend at a spa but what do you expect for free?

Download Shake-a-Phrase for FREE on the App Store - Friday, 8/23

A Summer Splash With Our Alien Buddies! (FREE APP INSIDE)

You’re invited to a summer app celebration! 

When: This Friday, August 2nd 

What: FREE award-winning Alien Buddies early learning iOS app (normally $1.99)

Bring your iPad, iPhones (and kids, ages 3-6)

Tell your friends!

Download Alien Buddies

Summer App Promo Results - In Pictures

Mystery Math Town for iPhone in Toca territory - Education Top 10 Free Apps

We'd like to thank everyone who helped to spread the word about our Mystery Math Town for iPhone app giveaway on Friday 6/28.

We let the sale run into Saturday morning to make sure everyone had a chance to download the game.

And the evidence suggests that making your app free for a day continues to be a good way to get the attention of new users.

We're happy to report Mystery Math Town for iPhone was downloaded to over 7,000 devices during the promotion.

That's a lot of fireflies.

Here's what the promo looks like in pictures:

Twitter link clicks peaked the day of the promo

Facebook activity - over 6,000 people talking about the promo (if you believe anything Facebook says)

Blog activity/views peaked the day before the promo

appFigures paid sales - positive trend, even better after the promo

appFigures units downloaded