Appeer Makes App Discovery Social

Those of us who are regular twitter users might have noticed when, a while ago, twitter started pushing updates that inform us about what some of the people we follow have been up to. I would wake up and find that A, B & C users have favorited a tweet, or retweeted user X, or followed user Y.
Although I initially had mixed feelings about this feature since I didn't really solicit that info, I grew to like it as it often offered valuable insights into interesting updates and users to follow.

Appeer does just that to the process of discovering interesting apps for your (Android) smartphone.
Once installed and activated Appeer will introduce the user to a community of...yes you guessed it...peers, who each would willingly allow the community to discover when they install an App in exchange of knowing what others are installing. After all sharing is caring as they say.

Using the follow and follow back approach, along with a timeline tab and a recommendation tab, one is definitely bound to receive custom tailored recommendation based on community interaction.
The app also allows the user to export their own list of installed apps as well as bookmarking of interesting suggestions for later review.

I joined their beta community and I must admit that in spite of being still in beta and several bugs being reported, the app seemed already mature enough. Of course large scale adoption might bring to light more user requests or bugs surfacing but that's just the nature of the beast. The team behind the app seem dedicated and responsive enough to ensure smooth sailing.

Appeer is the sort of app that you probably never knew you wanted or needed but that would succeed in surprising you once you start using it. The app is due to go live for the public on March 6^th 2015

Below is the official release statement:

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Appeer Announces The Launch Of Its Recommendation Platform, Aims To Provide Users With Personally Crafted App Recommendations

- Appeer will give users an unprecedented insight into the world of apps based on their own app inventory and the personal network of people they follow.

- Using an algorithm based on app inventory and social connection to build a tailor-made list of app recommendations, Appeer improves on the current app discovery process.

-“This app bypasses so many of the issues that consumers have when trying to discover the next great app. Apps can now discover you.” — Co-Founder and CEO Jason Allen,

- According to Nielsen, users spent an average of 30 hours, 15 minutes on their apps in Q4 2013, a full half-day more than the 18 hours, 18 minutes spent in Q4 2011. However, this rise in use does not mirror the average number of apps used, which only increased from 23.2 in 2011 to 26.8 apps per month in 2013.

March __ 2015, Austin-based Appeer announces the launch of its app recommendation platform, aims to provide a personalized app discovery experience for its users.

Available March 6, 2015 for free via Google Play for Android devices, Appeer will give users an unprecedented insight into the world of apps based on their own app inventory and the personal network of people they follow.

Designed as a sleek app recommendation engine that is both user-friendly and powerful, Appeer app looks beyond paid app ads, review sites, and “popular app” sections of app stores to pair its users with the perfect app or game.

Utilizing an algorithm that automatically follows people on behalf of a user in order to build a tailor-made list of app recommendations, the Appeer improves on the current app discovery process.

“Within 30 seconds of opening the app for the first time Appeer offers dozens of personally tailored recommendations that will update regularly,” says Appeer Co-Founder and CEO Jason Allen. “This app bypasses so many of the issues that consumers have when trying to discover the next great app,” he adds.

The app’s suite of features include push notifications that allow users to install a recommended app directly from Google Play, a viewable timeline of recommendations, and the ability to export the user's app inventory to four different formats.

“Additionally, users will be able to bookmark recommended apps so they can check them out later, even if the recommendation comes to them through a push notification,” says Appeer Technical Co-Founder Komra Beth Salo. “If they really like an app, users can share the recommendation via Appeer to their contacts or friends on social networks,” she adds.

“Our competitors are being paid to recommend apps to their users. Appeer only gives organic recommendations because our focus is on providing the best recommendations for our users,” explains CEO Jason Allen.

As the adoption of smartphones continues to rise on a global scale, so does the overall time we spend using apps or playing games. According to Nielsen, users spent an average of 30 hours, 15 minutes on their apps in Q4 2013, a full half-day more than the 18 hours, 18 minutes spent in Q4 2011. However, these figures are not mirrored by the average number of apps used, which only increased from 23.2 in 2011 to 26.8 apps per month in 2013.

With thousands of new apps being developed everyday — a large number of which are available for free — it is hard to look beyond these numbers without seeing a real need for a powerful and dynamic

app discovery tool like Appeer.

Aiming to change the way we discover new apps, Appeer moves beyond the “Top App” charts highlighted by the App Store and Google Play, and places the focus back on the individual user.

About

Founded in 2014 by Jason Allen, Komra Beth Salo and Milan Cubic, Austin-based Appeer is a new Android app, which aims to change how users discover great new Apps and Games. The Appeer app creates personally tailored app and game recommendations based on a user’s profile. Recommendations can be viewed in the app or received by the user via notifications on their device.

Contact 
Name: Eddie Arrieta


Phone: 1-646-480-0356

Email: eddie@publicize.co

Huawei Ascend P6: 10 days later

DISCLAIMER 2014-11-08: I am not affiliated in any way with Chetraco or Huawei and wrote this article as part of my amateur blogging activity when I was invited to attend the event. Since then neither Chetraco nor Huawei have contacted me for reviewing their newer models and have chosen understandably so Nancy Ajram to promote their products. I cannot help you with prices or addresses or availability if you call me although I do thank you for your trust.

As some of you might have read in a previous post I recently got my hands on a Huawei Ascend P6 (full specs here) smartphone thanks to the nice folks at Chetraco and Huawei. I've had the phone for around ten days and have been planning to write a review about it as I promised I would.
I got quite busy lately but this was actually a good thing as it allowed me more time to tinker with the phone. By tinker I mean use it heavily and not the hack/root/flash sort of tinker (sorry if you are disappointed).

As I mentioned before the demo unit on display at the launch event took me by surprise and I really wanted to see if the excitement would fade away after I had used the phone for a while.
So let me break it down without going into too much of tech speak that you can find floating all over the internet.

What Works

• This is a slim phone, and by slim we are not talking that it's slim-mer than others. Compared to a usual bic pen, the pen stands slightly higher than it. I believe that Huawei would have wanted to g slimmer if they didn't want to stick to the standard sized earphone plug.
  
• This is a slick phone. It's fast and responsive and even if other reviews online have called the Emotion UI laggy I did not experience this lag even while really going at it with a vengeance. I have other issues with the UI but lag was not up there.
  
• The build quality is robust and although you are tempted to treat it gently because it's so fine and slim it does not have that wiggly feel to it that other much better known brands often display.
  
• The UI offers a lot of intuitive tweaks such as notifications on battery-heavy apps, easy theme customization, a handy unlock screen, DNLA, Gloves Mode and useful management, backup/restore and update features.
  
• The audio quality is very good and most of the musical pieces I tried listening to rendered extremely well is calm and busy environments. On loud outdoors it was expected to struggle a bit but this makes me appreciate a lot the quick sound profile dial-switch that helps one adapt the phone to different environments
  
• The phone comes with its own earphones and a protective cover, something we don't often see.
  
• The camera worked pretty well. I like to test out the cam in a macro shot and this phone did rather well in my book.

What Itches

• The grip of the phone is a bit weird, at least compared to the Moto X I've been using for a while. I must admit I am a fan of the slightly curved-to-fit shape on some phones. The flat,square, hard edged shape tends to be slightly irritating but overall remains more comfortable than the much heavier Nexus 4 I compared it to.
  
• The keyboard is...an acquired taste. Sure, they tried to revamp things and offer a different feel and functionality but it just doesn't cut it. 10 days into it and I still have to fight the urge to install swiftkey. I might just do that after I am done writing this post.
  
• No App tray. Yes you heard me as in "no you don't have all your apps in one place and you can drag a shortcut to the desktop".  Anything you install goes onto the desktop  and the desktops get created as they fill up. This can be also quite annoying for people using widgets as it gets messy to keep things in order. Luckily folders are supported.
  
• The icons. I am not a big fan of the round icons nor of the colors being used. Compared to the vanilla, Nexus or Google Edition phones they just make the phone feel...hmm...less serious. I think they went for a more familiar feel to people who might be transiting from other OS but iAmNotSure.
  
• No release pin provided for the micro SIM and SC card in the box. At least my unit did not come with one and I know I looked well and carefully.
  

When I started using this phone I went really after the proverbial "Aha!". Being the slimmest smartphone ever created and with such a good initial impression, I felt I needed to find the chink in the armor. I was merely able to find some dents and small imperfections that any smartphone craftsman should be able to iron out.

I still wish the phone in came in vanilla Android flavor and hope that its successor would offer that option.
For those hardcore fans who cannot wait and don't want the out of the box experience, well you don't me to tell you what to do.

I might not have given up yet on my current main handset as I sat down writing this post but the P6 has definitely earned its hype and its place as the wing-man for my local and travel usage. 

In short the Ascend P6 is a keeper and definitely an indicator of many good things to come from Huawei.