Security News and Biggest Apps Reveal this Black Friday

The holiday season is fast approaching and that means a lot of struggle to find the best picks. While you are out there or inside your office looking at apps and figuring out the best buy, here we have compiled a list of the best tech apps this year. 2019 was a big year in terms of announcements and launches, and not to mention the software market that exploded compared to anytime in the previous years. Almost everything that is out there has an app for it. This year’s biggest apps have made it here.

What are the Developers Thinking?

When it comes to apps the forefront of the line is the money it is making. What do publishers need? What do developers need? How is politics affecting the apps and the App Stores in general? Which apps are making into people’s handsets and which despite being great are simply ignored?

When it comes to developing an app with zero background, it means to make a mark, you have to dig deep. If you already have a product for a long time, and just developing an Android or iOS app, it is not a big deal, but for others it is. Imagine the number of photography apps that were introduced in 2019. They all attempted to offer something unique and make money. But, compare that to GitHub which got a revamp since 2012 and got a new app by Microsoft, it is not going to make a difference. It does not have to start from scratch. But, even then, all apps on the market follow some standard rules. Whether it is Android or iOS, they have to follow certain standards.

 

A lot of apps had been removed regularly by both these giants due to failure to comply with their security standards while many popular apps that didn’t quite comply were still allowed simply because they were popular and made money for example, Facebook. When it was time for a report by Google, it mentioned some of its coolest findings. In terms of security and privacy, even the newest of the apps are taking it more seriously than the Facebook debacle.

An Update on Android Security in 2019 and Ahead

 

According to Google that owns the largest app market today, called the Play Store; it noted that over 80% of its Android apps came with security standards like encrypted communication of all traffic by default. A higher percentage of apps targeting Android 9 or higher have over 90% of them encrypt all traffic by default. Yes, that means, no need for a user having to manually find a setting or tweak things or anything. It comes as it should be. Default!

Also, understanding these security concerns, Google introduced encryption in its latest Android in the TLS or Transport Layer Security. This means that new app developers can easily implement this or might not even have to if they strictly follow the protocol. While in 2016, it announced in the Network Security Configuration with Android 7 which allowed developers to configure and change network security policies for their app. This new version, Android 9, takes it a step further. Apps targeting Android 9 or higher have to obey the API level 28, which means that this policy will be automatically set by default that prevents unencrypted traffic from every domain. And, that is really something! This Black Friday?we take a look at some of these achievements in 2019 and how it will impact our lives in 2020?

In addition to that, Google has also made it mandatory for all apps to target Android 9 or higher only and others to update their software to Android 9 or higher. IT means that these percentages will only improve as more apps are rolled out in 2010.

Some of the best apps this Black Friday were the mobile gaming apps. As per research by SensorTower the Black Friday mobile game revenue has been increasing steadily for the past five years with under $20Million in 2014 to over $70Million by the end of 2019. This is a 25% increase in revenue in just 5 years. To break this down, the App Store saw a rise from $14M to $42M in the gaming sector, while the Play Store saw a rise from $7M to $27. To put this in perspective, Apple users saw a three-fold increase while Android users saw an increase by four times.

Thus, Balck Friday boosted the gaming revenue to a whopping 70Million USD in 2019. And, it is a record-setting number. With some estimates that the smartphone market is declining, it would be an interesting thing to compare these numbers in 2020.

The Apps that did Their Best this Time: Best Apps of Black Friday 2019

There is a lot of data and statistics to come to a conclusion and just like SensorTower’s study, there are other companies too. As per detailed reports, 2019’s Black Friday wasn’t just good for US online shoppers who spent a record of $7.4 Billion in sales. And, of this $2.9 Billion came from purchases made over smartphones. It boosted iOS and Android mobile game revenue by many folds too.

The most revenue generated on a single-day sale for the category of gaming revenue was $69.9 Million in the US. We are not considering the world market until now, which would be huge and astounding. This was a record-setting number and the most in history. As per 2018, this was a 25% increase in just one year.

To break it down to a single record-breaking app, the Marvel Contest of Champions from Kabam led the day with approximately $2.7 million in player spending during playing games on their smartphones and making purchases and transactions through their mobile devices. Now, with those two apps from Playrix the Gardenscapes and Homescapes also won big. They both made $1 Million each in revenue on a single Friday.

Which apps made headlines in 2019? What does this tell about consumers? It means that consumers are looking for all kinds of deals on a typical Black Friday. If there is anything on sale, they’re hoping there is a discount on this Friday. Thus, the best apps this Black Friday were some of the gaming apps for obvious reasons. The significant factor attached to them is that they not only get revenue from ads like Instagram or Facebook but also in-app purchases specific to the games themselves. Homescapes, mentioned above, for example, is a free-to-play game from Playrix just announced in September 2017 and compared to Facebook that has existed for years, it made a whopping $1 Million in a single-day revenue. It is roughly 2 years old and is a spin-off. It has a 4.5+ rating on both the app stores. These numbers show how much people can appreciate a well-made product, even if it’s for timepass.

How did Walmart’s and Amazon’s App do?

These are the biggest with the highest daily traffic because people use them for daily shopping. In fact, just today I made a purchase on Amazon of over $200, an $150 more than the average in my country on a daily basis, and a few days back it was a mere $10. Once again, the statistics tell that Walmart was leading the way this year. It was newly downloaded more than 150,000 times than Amazon, in the US, this Black Friday weekend. Not to mention, Black Friday is observed in several areas worldwide where US chains are in demand too.

In the App Store, Walmart made it to the Top or No.1 spot in the US this weekend, and Amazon was in 2nd spot. Since, Amazon shoppers already had their apps installed, it as more of Walmart’s eCommerce growth. And, if you didn’t know already, most Android companies, mostly Chinese brands come with Amazon app preloaded. According to Apptopia, Amazon still has 162% more mobile sessions over the full weekend. Walmart saw a rise of 23% compared to last year. So, compared to Amazon boost, WalMart made a lot of new consumers due to its sales, for good reason, as most were new downloads. Taking this to a broader level, combining the top 10 shopping apps on the list, compared to the weekend in 2018, this year saw an overall 527,000 new downloads or install just to make the most of their sales.

This surge in marketing with sales is like no other. And, all this is due to an increase in mobile shopping and ease of it.

Android Aims to Completely Block Sideloading of Apps

When you end up sideloading apps to get the most of sales specific to new customers and enjoyed a lot. Well, that might be gone soon. Welcome the Android Advanced Protection Program which is targeted to avoid this. In order to promote security from all kinds of threats from unauthorized apps, Google is taking a huge step. This is made to protect journalists, business leaders, and other people. According to many, some kinds of apps allowed sideloading of apps even without the knowledge of the user, and this is a severe threat.

However, it also comes to notice that members might be able to disable this system if they wish to do so. Of course, it might not affect the majority of the users who are not aware of it in the first place or use this feature in their daily life.

The Growth in the Economy Due to Sales

It is no mystery that significant growth in the economy and the GDP comes from the ability of an average citizen to spend money on purchases. If there is nothing worth enticing and there is no disruption in the pricing and products, this is going to remain stagnant. What such deals on a Black Friday bring is a chance to get more for less. And, this is more welcoming than anything whether it is items for your home or something special that you have always wished to buy, millions of people wait for this weekend in the US. At times, even tourists make the most of it by planning their visits during this time of the year. So, is it going to make a difference? And the answer is certainly, yes. With shopping worth billions in a single day or over a weekend, a lot is achieved. It is well-known that the products often sell at very high prices with such high-profit margins. With the end of the season sales and end of the year sales, giving for less profit also means the inventory is empty for the next year and less goes to waste. This is loved by companies, manufacturers, and consumers.

But, with online sales like in-game purchases where there is no shelf-life or inventory, this exorbitant increase in sales shows that digital markets like apps also stand to make revenue without any decrease in the value of their products, unlike food, garments, fashion items, and other things.

Pros

• The Black Friday is one of the biggest sales in the US, and 2019 was the year of apps.
• The in-app purchases from the gaming apps made over $1 Million in a single day, setting a new record.
• Walmart made it big with new downloads for just its sales, beating Amazon in its game too.

Cons

However, this is not a sustainable thing because sales all the year-round is not possible.

Concluding Friday’s Thoughts

It turns out that not just brick and mortar stores but customers also use sales on mobile and online sales to boost Black Friday economy in the US, and the 2019 data even confirms that the gaming market was the major winner with its in-app purchases. This opens new doors to understanding that customers are looking for deals this weekend on all sorts of transactions, even in online subscriptions to their favorite software or magazine. It is no more limited to just garments, household items, gifts or fashion items.