Apps, Games and Insights

Learning to build successful apps faster and easier, whilst meeting user expectations may seem like a challenge. However, we look at how Google’s UI toolkit Flutter can help simplify things alongside creating beautiful apps. We’re joined by Larry Mckenzie and Corey Sprague from eBay Motors, who discuss building new high-quality Android and iOS experiences for buying and selling vehicles on eBay, using Flutter to build attractive, natively compiled applications for mobile, web, and desktop from a single codebase.

What makes retention so critical to the success of a business over other measures, and how do you optimize this strategy? Marcus Gners, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-founder at health and fitness app Lifesum and Nir Eyal, best-selling author of “Hooked” and “Indistractable,” explore the behavior apps should foster to drive retention, how to measure this effectively, and how to approach habitual usage.

Mobile gaming offers developers of PC and console games a significant opportunity. By going mobile, game developers can expand their player base and drive retention by providing a platform for players to stay engaged while they’re on the move. Jen Donahoe, Marketing and Growth lead for TeamFight Tactics at Riot Games joins us to discuss the challenges and opportunities they had in taking their games to mobile.

Have you ever wondered what goes behind the scenes to help you order your favorite foods from delivery apps? Delivering a quality app is essential to the success of your business, in both acquiring and retaining users. To explore how developers can ensure their users are getting the quality experiences they deserve, we’re joined by Maria Neumayer, Staff Software Engineer, at food delivery service Deliveroo, and Shobhit Chugh, Product Manager for Firebase, who discuss how businesses can rectify quality problems in testing and production.

How can we encourage diversity and inclusivity through the products we build? Drew Banks and Daniel Farkas from language learning app Drops, discuss how they actively foster diversity and inclusion in their business and how they have taken this opportunity by incorporating several indigenous languages into their app portfolio to reflect humanity’s diversity.

Winning at strategy games can be challenging and not just for players, but also the businesses who are building them. David Eckleberry, General Manager of the 4x strategy game Star Trek Fleet Command at Scopely, and Howard Chen, Developer Growth Consultant at Google Play discuss the game genre, how the team at Scopely approached Star Trek Fleet Command, and how other game developers can find success in the genre – or, in Star Trek lingo: how 4x strategy games can live long and prosper. Transcript → https://goo.gle/3eNtRrq  Read the full genre report → https://goo.gle/3kl4G0q 

Making the world a greener place and joining us for this episode are Jennifer Estaris of SYBO games, and Deborah Mensah-Bonsu, founder of Games for Good, and formerly of mobile games studio SpaceApe. They talk about the recent Green Game Jam – bringing more environmental education to games – and the innovative ways to educate players about climate change and empower them to take action. This one’s an important one for everyone and the future so don't miss it. Find out more: Playing for the Planet → https://goo.gle/3kPPk5n  Green Game Jam → https://goo.gle/3kTHyr6   Sign Up for Green Game Jam 2021 → https://goo.gle/2HQnuau   Transcript to episode → https://goo.gle/3jL84S8 

Season 2 of the Apps, Games, & Insights podcast kicks off with Babbel’s Elliot Rayner and John Quintana. They share their knowledge on app-based language learning, and talk about how the new normal is disrupting the delivery of all types of education. They also talk to our hosts Tamzin Taylor and Dirk Primbs about how learning a new language is about more than memorization and gamification, and how Babbel is transforming and adapting to a new future for education. As always expect insights, learnings, and laughs. Link to transcript → https://goo.gle/3kCdPCX

Subscriptions are an increasingly popular way to monetize apps & games, and for users to access content and services. Holly Ackerman & David Berlin from DAZN, share insights about setting up a subscription-based sports streaming service.  DAZN is building the world’s largest and fastest growing live sports streaming service. With the sport schedule disrupted, the global roll-out to more than 200 countries and territories is slated for later this summer.  (Due to COVID-19, timing of some episodes has changed)

The growth of Android and its application beyond smartphones means that apps and games can now run on devices that offer traditional laptop and desktop screen sizes. Maximiliano Rodriguez, Platforms Operations Director at Gameloft, discusses the challenges in taking games to larger screens and new platforms. CORRECTION: In episode 8, we will actually be joined by Holly Ackerman, Head of BD, Global Platforms, & David Berlin, VP of Product, at DAZN. (Due to COVID-19, timing of some episodes has changed)

Figuring out how to make your app or game accessible to all can be a challenge, from an organizational & technical perspective. Rosalind Whittam & Ceri Lindsay from the BBC, share insights into how the public broadcaster has ensured that accessibility and inclusivity permeates every aspect of their apps to reach listeners and viewers outside traditional broadcast channels. Transcript → https://goo.gle/3eHYG0v (Due to COVID-19, timing of some episodes has changed)

Ultimately, the most important part of a game is its players. Keeping players engaged is about more than simply delivering a regular stream of new features and fresh challenges. Actively involving players in the evolution of the game can be an equally powerful way to keep them engaged. This episode's guest is Ben Clarke, is Senior Marketing Director at Jagex. Ben shares insights into some of the unique approaches to feature testing and player engagement Jagex have taken in their game RuneScape. Note: Due to COVID-19, the timing of some of these episodes has changed.