iOS 15, TikTok’s records, a new WhatsApp cashback feature: what happened in the mobile industry in September
Let’s begin with numbers that app owners or marketers are sure to love — in the Q1 of 2021, time spent in app stores increased by 49%. And let’s congratulate TikTok — the social network has reached the 1 billion mark of active users per month! And YouTube Music reports that they have surpassed 50 million Music and Premium subscribers, including trialers. Now to the news.
Apple Event, iOS 15 and the option to add IDs to Apple Wallet
One of the big news was the Apple Event, where in addition to the updated line of devices, versions of iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and watchOS 8 were presented.
There is data that it takes users longer to upgrade to iOS 15 compared to iOS 14. In the first two days, 14.5% of users downloaded iOS 14, compared to 8.5% of users who have installed iOS 15.
New iOS has some exciting features. You can now (in the US only) add your driver’s license and state ID to Apple Wallet. So far, only in Arizona and Georgia. It will operate like Apple Pay. Future is here. Also, the Instagram integration is up and running — now you can quickly select photos in your gallery and send it to your account as a post or in direct messages.
New Android version rumors, Google announcements, and the Windows failure
Rumors about the release of Android 12 have almost been confirmed, a new stable version became available on October 5, but the smartphone users will receive the update in a few weeks. Pixel owners will be the first to receive it.
By the way, Android apps will not work on Windows 11. A lot of people were waiting for that, but alas.
But Google announced a lot of new Android features, some of which were exclusively available to Pixel owners. For example, now other smartphone owners will be able to control the phone with facial expressions, control Google TV and more.
Instagram animoji, Clubhouse updates, and long-awaited podcast recommendations
Instagram has launched a new feature similar to Apple’s Animoji — digital avatars with your appearance. Choose a character and post it to your Story. In the meantime, LinkedIn is shutting down Stories Videos — starting September 30, instead of stories, you’ll be offered to create a video.
TikTok cares about parents, so it added educational content to the app. With Family Pairing, adults can better understand how to help teens navigate their digital lives.
Clubhouse added spatial audio effect to make listeners feel like they’re really hanging out close to each other. It also announced Wave, so you don’t have to start a private room when you need to talk to your friends. It works like this: you need to “wave” at the people you want and they can join your private room as a speaker.
Telegram updates and the cashback feature on WhatsApp
Telegram has introduced many new features: interactive emoji that display full-screen when tapped, new chat themes, and live stream recording.
And WhatsApp users will be able to get cashback. But that will happen when Facebook launches WhatsApp Pay in Russia. That’s the plan, but nothing is known about the date yet.
Some cool new apps and gadgets:
- Sound Off: Voice Journal. Keep a journal using only your audio notes. You can talk about important things, work on your productivity, and practice mindfulness.
- Tape it. It’s the iPhone sound recording app for higher-quality sound.
- Facebook launched smart glasses in partnership with EssilorLuxottica. Sunglasses will allow users to snap photos and videos with a 5 MP camera, listen to music with in-frame speakers and take phone calls.
News for ASO specialists
One of the updates of iOS 15 is especially noteworthy because it’s directly related to ASO on the App Store. The App Store will hide screenshots of apps you’ve already installed, allowing other apps and games to become more visible. This will be especially important for those apps which are displayed when users search for major brands.
Another thing about the App Store: you can install apps directly from Spotlight (a search on the device). If there is an app for your query, iOS will show it to you and you can download it from the search without going to the App Store.
Apple also rolled out new marketing tools for app developers. Developers can now create their own banners and images to promote apps, across social networks too.
P.S.
We also have news — we released the new Keywords Tracking section (updated Keywords Analysis). It’s a killer feature to collect semantics. We added more unique features and metrics for analysis. Among them are Search Volume, Number of Impressions, Difficulty (calculated individually for each app!), Branding and others.
The killer feature for semantics and keyword prioritization is now even more accurate. Learn more about it in this post or sign up for a demo to see it work.
