Thursday, January 12, 2017
Google is making it easier for emergency services to find you when you need them
Google is making it easier for emergency services to find you when you need them
Google is using your Android phone to make it easier for emergency services to find you when you need help. With support from mobile networks, the Emergency Location Service sends your location of your phone to emergency services when you call an emergency number.
From Google:
This feature, when supported by your network, sends location from your phone to emergency services when you dial an emergency number. This uses the same location technologies available to apps on your phone, including Wi-Fi, GPS, and cell towers, to produce a more reliable emergency location both indoors and outdoors.
Your location is only sent to emergency services, and is never seen by Google, nor sent through their servers. The Emergency Location Service will be available as a part of Google Play Services for phones running Android 2.3 Gingerbread or later, which Google says covers around 99% of Android phones.
Emergency Location Service is already live in the UK and Estonia through carriers like BT, EE, Vodafone, O2, Tele2, and Telia. Google is working with other countries and carriers in order to facilitate an faster international rollout of the feature.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Find success on Google Play What app developers can learn from games
Find success on Google Play What app developers can learn from games
Posted by Matteo Vallone, Business Development Manager at Google Play
(As a way to reach more app developers and help them grow successful businesses on Google Play, this post was first published on The Next Web Ed.)
There is much common ground between freemium apps and games businesses when it comes to achieving success. Users are, however, more used to paying for games than apps, stemming from the history of traditional gaming consoles. Moreover, mobile games are also able to easily offer virtual goods across a range of price points to suit every pocket. This means that game developers have had plenty of opportunity to learn about how to improve onboarding, conversion, and ultimately the user Lifetime Value (LTV). So what can app developers learn from game developers? Here are some best practice tips and insights from successful game developers that can be applied to many apps, today.
Drive app success the game developer way:
1. Optimize retention before investing in acquisition
Retention is king, and retention drives conversion. For games developers, retention is the key measure of game quality and whether it appeals to players.
Most game developers will soft launch to beta testing communities or test markets. During this phase, the game is tweaked to optimize retention by looking into specific areas, such as tutorial completion, level difficulty and conversion. Developers can then track retention using the Cohorts reports in Google Analytics. Once retention is satisfactory, the developer can go to full launch and start investing in user acquisition.
2. Retain users with step-by-step engagement
The first seven days after install are the most critical for retention: users install several apps to try them, and decide in the first few days which ones they want to keep using. If you can retain for that time span, your app is more likely to become part of the users daily routine.
There are some simple ways to progressively build user engagement. Its important to present a strong story that explains why that app is relevant to the user, while introducing them to key features. Then place features that offer the user value early, so they can be found without much effort.
This is a not a one-size-fit-all. To find the right solution, a developer needs to first make assumptions on what user flows can improve retention and then run A/B tests to validate or correct them. For example, a developer could think that introducing sign-in later in the user flow might improve retention. Also, the developer needs to keep in mind what the key long term engagement metrics are for the individual app (such as photos uploaded or the number of articles read) and measure the impact of the different onboarding flows on those metrics as well.
In general, these principles are good places to start optimizing your onboarding:
- Look for ways to let the users experience the app straight away, rather than taking them through a long, complex setup.
- Present activation moments such as registering an account, uploading a video, or finding friend gradually
- Start by requiring minimal investment by the user, then ask them for more details as they are needed to use the apps features.
- Treat permissions as a service for the user. For example, if you want users to register, show them in advance that, by making their experience more personal, theyll get more value from the app.

Finally, ensure the user can understand the value of your app before you start asking them to pay. Game developers are particularly good at letting their users try most or all product features for free in in a set number of days or sessions.
A great tool to help analyze how users are engaging (or not) with the app is through the Flow Report in Google Analytics. Using this report, a developer can see how users navigate through the app and where they leave to identify potential roadblocks.
3. Target the right offers at the right users
Understanding different groups of users in-app purchase behavior is the key to devising strategies to encourage them to spend.
Start by identifying groups of users by how they spend and much they are likely to spend. It may be by age group, the channel that brought the install, or in-app behaviour. Use the Segment builder in Google Analytics to identify and define these groups of users. Then, tailor in-app purchase offers to match the segments spending behavior. For example, for segments where multiple users tend to spend more in one go, but spend infrequently, offer them in-app features bundled together.
4. Offer in-app purchases when users are most likely to spend
Users are also more likely to spend, if the purchasing experience is frictionless, and even more so when they can see how the expenditure will add value. So:
- Present purchase opportunities to users when theyre most likely to need or want it and explain to the user why its relevant.
- Make purchasing accessible easily from within the app with a minimum number of taps. For example, offer an upgrade button on the footer of relevant screens.

Like all good game developers, they focus on building good experiences that retain and engage users through constant testing and analytics. First impressions are important, so users need to be able to quickly understand the importance of the app and easily navigate through the onboarding experience. And to start generating revenue, it is important to be thoughtful about how to make in-app purchases actionable.
Watch Matteos Playtime 2015 session The rules of games, for apps to hear more in-depth insights which app developers can learn from games with best practices and developer examples:
You can also watch the other sessions from Google Playtime 2015 to learn more about tools and best practices which can help you find success with business on Google Play.
Available link for download
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Find lost Smartphone using Google’s Android Device Manager
Find lost Smartphone using Google’s Android Device Manager

All the Android smartphones come with Google Play installed in it. When you use Google Play for the first time on your Android smartphone or even on your tablet, Google installs Android device manager in your smartphone or tablet without your knowledge.
How to Activate Android Device Manager
Follow the steps below to activate Android device manager on your smartphone or tablet.- Go to Settings
- Then move to Security
- Then move to Device Administrators
- You will see some apps there and the first one would be Android Device Manager
- Tap on it and Activate it
- Visit the Google Play home by clicking on this link
- You will see a Gear icon on the top right corner
- Click on it and you will see Android device manager
- Click on Android device manager
- Once Android device manager is opened in your web browser it will automatically contact your device. The map of your country will be displayed on your web browser.
- Once Android Device Manager has located your smartphone you will see its location on Google Maps and the distance it is away from you right now.
- Now you will have three options there.
- Ring the Device:This feature will ring your smartphone at fill volume for 5 minutes even if it is silent. Unfortunately the device wont ring if it is switched off.
- Lock the Device:This feature will lock your Android smartphone and will be provided a new password to access it. You can set your desired password on your lost smartphone.
- Erase all Data :Using this feature all the data which is present in your Android smartphone will be deleted which will include images, music or other files. However it wont delete the contents of your SD card and Android device manager wont work once you have erased all the data. It will Factory reset your smartphone.
Available link for download
Thursday, September 22, 2016
An updated app guide and new video tips to help you find success on Google Play
An updated app guide and new video tips to help you find success on Google Play
Posted by Dom Elliott, The Google Play Apps & Games team
Last year, we introduced our first playbook for developers, The Secrets to App Success on Google Play, to help you grow your app or game business, which has been downloaded more than 200,000 times.. Many new features have since been announced on the platform from Store Listing Experiments and beta testing improvements to App Invites and Smart Lock for Passwords.
Get the second edition of The Secrets to App Success on Google Play
Hot off the press, you can now download the second edition to learn about all the new tools and best practices for improving the quality of your app, growing a valuable audience, increasing engagement and retention, and earning more revenue.


Get the book on Google Play in English now or you can sign-up to be notified when the booklet is released in the following languages: Bahasa Indonesia, Deutsch, español (Latinoamérica), le français, português do Brasil, ti?ng Vi?t, ??????? ?????, ???, ???, ?? (??), ?? (??), ???. Based on your feedback, the guide was updated to work seamlessly in the Google Play Books app. If you prefer, you can also download a PDF version from the Android Developers website.
New videos with tips to find success on Google Play
To accompany the guide, watch the first two episodes in a new ten-part video series of actionable tips you can start using today to achieve your business objectives. Subscribe to the Android Developers channel on YouTube and follow +Android Developers to watch the new videos as theyre released weekly.
on the Android Developer YouTube channel.
Let us know your feedback
Once youve checked out the guide and the videos, wed again love to hear your feedback so we can continue to improve our developer support, please let us know what you think.
Available link for download