Showing posts with label App. Show all posts
Showing posts with label App. Show all posts

Wednesday 22 November 2017

App Sizes - Annual Comparison - Does size really matter?

Since the original concept of skignz was ‘formed’ we have had a fascination with the size of Apps on our mobile devices. 

At first, we were more interested in understanding why Apps were the size they were and where efficiencies could be made to reduce the overall file size on your mobile device.

Further conversations and research helped us reason that most mobile devices had a certain amount of storage that was not supposed to include the OS. 

This in itself proved sufficient when we had a small/limited numbers of Songs, Photos and Apps. 

The big issue came when we increased the number of Apps on our devices (in addition to Music, Video, Photos,  Books etc) as they become available. It’s clear at this point, that none of the App developers were too concerned about file size. It was more around making their Apps look impressive and work as best they can.

Then as the OS’s were developed and upgraded (especially on your existing device(s)) the changes they made, would mean they would require some of this file storage space, normally reserved for your personal Photos, Music, Videos and favourite Apps. This, of course, has a knock-on effect with each of the App developers on the whole. It means each developer has to update their own apps in order to maintain the status quo in response to the changes in each update made by the OS.

This has become ‘part of the industry’ where annually the OS is upgraded to the next version and a number of times throughout the year ‘tweaks’ and 'updates' are made to that version. In many cases having this knock-on effect means App Developers are required to make changes to their apps immediately. Obviously, each change an App Developer makes to one of your favourite Apps, it's likely done in haste, in order to ‘maintain’ and it's more than likely that this change will further increase the App Size. 

In isolation this doesn’t present a problem, but with the average mobile device carrying 20 different Apps, if they all increase by 5-10% per OS update, plus the same twice a year as the developer pushes out increased functionality/updates, hopefully, now you can see why and where your storage gets eaten up ... not just a little but a lot.

Ask yourself: How many Apps do you have on your device? How much other personal ’stuff’ have you stored on your device? How many ‘new’ Apps have you download annually? Couple this with our previous point about the number of upgrades and impact of the increased file size of those Apps, then now you can see why (certainly on some older devices) you are requested to remove ‘your stuff’ or delete Apps just to make the OS upgrade to keep your device current.

You might say that with smartphones now having up to 256GB, why does it matter? We have plenty of storage space! Also add in the cloud access, which many device owners have access to, this should not even be an issue.

However, we would like to raise a few areas of concern with this approach:

  1. All the Apps being ‘reactively’ altered to maintain the Status Quo are essential a ‘multi-storey tower block’ built on a bungalows foundations, at some point they will have been added to so many times, tweaked and changed that they will either fall over, or they will slow down, or even become too complicated to keep up-to-date. Each App Developer has an enormous investment to make to rebuild from scratch in a more robust and efficient way, using the latest methods.
  2. As each of the OS develop new ways of doing things, point one will only accelerate.
  3. As the cost of the latest hardware increases, yes, they have increased memory, but are they in line with one another? 'Cost of memory' v's 'Increased cost to the user'. You may have noticed the changes from 8Gb to 16gb, then 32Gb, 64Gb, 128Gb and now 256Gb. In many cases, the jump from one to the other isn’t gradual with a new handset as hardware suppliers offer either 32Mb or 256mB, not each variation in-between.
One key question is, “If Apps were built to be as efficient and lean as possible, would the need still be there to keep increasing the storage size on our devices?”

Below is our annual App File Size comparison, now in its third year and as you can see many have doubled in size. Some have increased slightly, and a very small number have actually reduced. The ironic part is our own skignz App has seen the biggest increase, but then we would say that everything is relevant and our 300% increase from 1Mb to 3Mb, but this is nothing, compared to a 50Mb App increasing to 100Mb.



A further influence, on all of the above, is the introduction of technology developments and improved hardware such as ARKit/ARCore, camera improvements, barometers etc. The Hardware and OS developers are developing their relevant areas with App Developers in mind, and this allows the App developers to adjust and redefine their development roadmaps. 

Why duplicate what the OS/Hardware people are doing when you can take advantage of the billions they are investing? Which is allowing you (App developers) to focus on other areas of your App.

Although many see the size of their Apps as irrelevant or a small issue/price to pay versus the app working properly and looking amazing, we don’t dispute the latter part of this as the user should always be front and centre in any App developers mind. 

However, in a relatively new industry and growth sector, can ‘best practice’ be introduced, aspiration standards for us all to meet as an Industry. A more standardised approach may (just may) provide a framework for greater discussion between those developing Hardware/OS and those developing the Apps or similar technologies that are downloaded onto our mobile devices. 

So does size really matter? We think it does….

If you would like to find out more about skignz, please follow us on the usual social media channels.

Saturday 1 October 2016

The ever increasing file size of OS & Apps..!

When the idea first came about for what is now skignz, in fact before then, one of the key factors that we would focus on would be the file size.

Back in 2011 we kept getting asked to remove Photos, Music, Videos and even Apps from our SmartPhones in order to accommodate the latest version of the handsets Operating System (OS).

This trend not only continued with the increase in file size of the Operating Systems, but it seems the App Developers were ‘running just as fast as they could’ to keep up with the upgrades and their focus on making retrospective 'fixes' to remove errors and bugs from their own Apps in response to the OS change.

Over the last few years we have seen how this has continued with the file size of the new OS's and Apps almost irrelevant to those building them, which creates a massive issue for the user… 

Why? Because if you're running out of file space on your current SmartPhone, then when you come to make a change or renew (as many of us do under our 'SmartPhone' monthly contract plans each year) then we look at the size we currently have and immediately go for the next storage size up from what we have. 

This proves difficult if the SmartPhone manufacturers don’t just increase the memory by 50%, or even double, but in some cases a quadruple times jump in file storage, then the price of the handset increases quite considerably. 

In most cases, this is because of the OS increasing in size with every new version or even update. This is the same with the apps we have on our phone and nothing to do with the fact we have more Photos, Music or video on there.

With all of this in mind in August 2015 we decided to review a selection of apps most used by the people we know across all areas of our lives. Obvious ones such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, as well as Google Chrome through to the other key players in our sector, Augmented Reality. 

Various member os the skignz team found over the ensuing 12 months that when we raised this with many people, all of them were not only shocked at the file sizes but also that they felt that they were constantly increasing. 


We have decided to monitor this fluctuation in files sizes monthly, but thought it worth providing an annual summary over the last 12 months from 1st October 2015.
Another reason for our research is that we have managed to keep the skignz app to just over 1mB. Yes, you read that right, it's not a spelling mistake! Earlier this year Pokémon Go made a dramatic experience and tens of millions have downloaded the app, did you know when it was launched the app was 178mB! that's not a spelling mistake either!



However, when we checked this week it has now increased to a whopping 210mB, Facebook has increased in the last month also, as have many of the other apps in our survey. 



Could this be 
since the launch of the latest version of IOS?
It's very easy to conclude that unless something significant happens and the SmartPhone manufacturers, rewrite their next OS from scratch, removing a lot of the 'fat and waste' then this trend will not only continue but will accelerate.

What does this mean? will it reach the point where your SmartPhone has more memory than your desktop/laptop... 

One thing we can confirm is that skignz will do its utmost to lead the way and reverse this trend and will never be the app you need to delete in order to update your Operating System.

What do you think about the memory of our devices being taken up by over inflated app sizes and ever increasing Operating Systems?

For further information on how you can use skignz please visit our new website or check out the usual social media channels.

Friday 21 August 2015

Pepsi Max's version of skignz

Today we received links to the following video from an overwhelming amount of people... 


What do you think? Fun yes, Interesting use of drones yes, visual and engaging yes!


Here are a selection of the comments that were sent to us along with the link:

"they've stolen your idea"
"but you can do all that and more with skignz"
"it's not very inclusive as only a few people can use it at once"
"looks very expensive to implement"
"how is skignz different?"
"we hear a lot about drones for Amazon etc."
"where does this leave skignz?"
"how do you feel about this?"
"drones have been around since the 1940's - so what?"
"looks expensive to deliver"
"who actually controls the drones? drone pilots or through the app?"
"imagine if everyone tried to call the drone at once"
"what happens if it crashes in the crowd - ouch, wouldn't want to be underneath it then!"

The following conversations again seemed to raise more questions than answers, but one core element was people wanted to know where this left skignz and what did we think of it?

Well we think it's AWESOME! Way to go Pepsi Max for risking their reputation to create such an experience, linking mobile devices with drones and then applying it to a crowded festival/concert.

It actually proved that there is the need to find your friends, there is a need to find places like the toilets, the bar, exits etc. something skignz has been advocating for the last few years!

So we at skignz are really happy that Pepsi Max have done this and it looks like the 5 million plus people who have viewed the video on YouTube think it's innovative, interesting and the overall concept is very cool.

Where does this leave skignz? 
Exactly where we were before this was launched, however now more than 5 million people have been exposed to the possibilities of this type of experience being created around you at live events such as festivals and concerts.


How does it compare to skignz?
Without knowing the ins and outs of how Pepsi Max provided this installation at this year's 'New Look Wireless 2015', the very glossy/well edited video to promote it and no doubt all delivered and filmed at the one location. 

Also how many different drones they used? Then compare this to the amount of people who attended 'New Look Wireless 2015'skignz can be used by EVERYONE in attendance and is personalised to them, so they only see what they want? When they want it? Where it's relevant to them!

One other key element we feel they got right, was the interaction with varying locations & mobile devices. The big issue we see, is the amount of people who can access this type 'brand experience' at the same time and is it only relevant at that one location.


We thank everyone who took the time to send us the link, comment on it, compared it with skignz and asked what we thought? 

skignz is not just a one time installation, a brand gimmick, a fad to be used in isolation. 

It's considerate of the environment and does not require anything further to access than the mobile device the majority of people carry with them day in day out. Plus it can be used anywhere on the planet, 24/7, 365 days per year!

skignz was developed to be a technology platform that allows the users who download it, to take it everywhere they go, use it when they want and with whom they want, personalise it, shape it to their needs, from finding your tent at a festival, your friends at a concert or even your car in a supermarket carpark, a first time meeting for work or even a date?


In summary we applaud what Pepsi Max has done and the way they did it, however we feel they have only further highlighted a range of needs of current society, put the spotlight on a few core issues people face in certain circumstances like live events and demonstrate that although '5 Million People' are interested in what they did, their solution was not quite what it should be!

After reading this short summary and watching the video, do you think skignz is the right solution?

If you would like to download skignz then please visit www.skignz.com/downloads or the Apple App Store/GooglePlay.

You can follow us on all the major social media channels, even contribute using the skignz 'capture function' and sharing the pics on your own social media channels. We look forward to see what you are 'skignzing'

Sunday 1 March 2015

skignz Developer Site

Recently skignz decided to have a think about how we could allow other app developers and integrators to understand and get the chance to work with skignz to get used to our technology. 


Well after thinking what we could do, we decided to create an interface so that other app developers could launch the skignz app through their own app themselves. 

The site has been launched and you will be able to find it here 

The site provides information for those wishing to integrate the skignz geo-located augmented reality viewer app into their own app.

If you are regarding more information on more advanced integration then please see below. 

http://www.skignz.com/developers.htm

For example: skignz to display a 'Done' button which, when pressed, causes skignz to relaunch your app.

By 'more advanced integration' they mean that, if your app is considered suitable (no adult content) they'll give you a user code, which you embed in the URL scheme. Pass that and your own app URL scheme and the skignz app will provide a 'Done' button, which, when pressed, will launch your app again.
It works well.

More integration options are in the pipeline and they're busy 'running catch-up' with the Android version to get it in line with the iPhone version.

However you can find more information and all of this on the developer site. http://www.skignz.com/developers.htm.

If you have any comments, questions or special considerations please contact gary.baker@skignz.com.

If you would like to know more about skignz then please visit our website at http://www.skignz.com and don't forget to check us out on a range of the popular Social Media Channels.