Everyone is building mobile apps these days. They are the must have accessory for every company that wants to be seen to be leading edge and that includes my own company.
Apple seem to have managed to succeeded where I singularly failed a few years ago in persuading people that mobiles where it’s at. And that’s great, I really “get” mobile and applaud anyone who wants to be seen in the hands of every user. But, but, writing the app is only half the story.
Let me explain with a practical example.
On my iPad I have a great app from the BBC called Good Food Quick Recipes for iPad and I use it a lot. It has a large number of recipes but there are only a few that I would want to make again and again and that’s exactly what the Favourites function is for. Or at least it would be the answer if it worked. You set a favourite and then we you restart the app they are all cleared.
So I thought I would enquire of the BBC if there was likely to be a fix for this issue any time soon. Using the support link from iTunes I posted a question and this is the response I got:
This is not handled by ourselves therefore please contact Apple Customer Services who will be able to assist you with your query.
Except of course that’s not right and I can see me getting short shrift from Apple if I raised the issue with them. It does, however, highlight my point that there is no point building an app to promote your company if you cannot back it up with proper support. Why? Because if you don’t it will tarnish your brand when someone blogs negatively about it.
So to all those out there that want to be in one of the hottest technology spaces right now remember that publishing the app to the app store is only the first step in your relationship with your mobile advocates not the last.