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I quit my high-paying job to follow my dream of launching a startup. Here it is.

theappifier.com

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Re: I quit my high-paying job to follow my dream of launching a startup. Here it is.

#21

Post by gozman »

dholowiski wrote: post #9

Cool! I will be using such a service several times this year. Honest question - what makes your service more special than the other services out there that claim to do the same thing? P.S. I do like the one time charge option... I haven't seen many that have that as an ooption.

Thanks dholowiski!

Here's a few ways that we stand out: * Our apps can be distributed on the app store like all other native iOS apps. You can even charge for these apps and we won't take a penny. * We support push notifications. You can send messages to users of an app as long as they have it installed on their phone. * All content is available offline, even when the phone is in airplane mode. * Our architechture opens up the possibility of more interesting native features (text-to-speech among other things) * You can preview your app on your phone and get a really good feel for how it will look and operate once deployed. * When your app is deployed, you can change its parameters and branding at any time. Changes are updated across your installed base instantly.

Re: I quit my high-paying job to follow my dream of launching a startup. Here it is.

#23

Post by delosfuegos »

Genius, I'd invest all my money into this idea. From a marketing perspective:

1. big market (a lot of wordpress sites run by small & medium businesses that would love an easy and cheap app) 2. practically sells itself (costs, ease of use, service) 3. if possible try to roll it out both ways (drupal and android)

Questions:

1. What about more complex and altered WP sites? 2. What will your to-market strategy be? More specifically: target customer

Again, a great idea and a very good feel for what the market needs. Congratulations!

Re: I quit my high-paying job to follow my dream of launching a startup. Here it is.

#24

Post by dangrossman »

jeffcouturier wrote: post #18

I'm not sure I see the benefit of converting a website into a pseudo-app, then charging for that app. Users would effectively be paying for the wrapper when the same content is available without charge via a browser. I realize this happens all the time and there are a plethora of site shortcuts-as-apps in the app store, but the fact that they are abundant doesn't make the practice any better. I'm honestly curious abo…

The site owner wouldn't have to charge for the app (unless I missed something). They just now have a native app for their website. Native app interaction speed and offline use are obvious advantages over using the blog in the mobile browser, so there's definitely value here. And the number of WordPress sites is so huge (over 70 million) that there's undoubtedly a market for this.

Re: I quit my high-paying job to follow my dream of launching a startup. Here it is.

#26

Post by gozman »

marknutter wrote: post #22

Kudos to you for following your dream, but I do have to say I'm fully against making it easier for people to move that which should stay on the web to native apps. We have web browsers for a reason.

hey mark!

it was strange to me too at first, but we built it in response to the fact that we kept on getting asked about getting onto the "app store" by small business owners who were going digital and building Wordpress sites. Everyone wants an app nowadays - so we're filling a niche.

In the end, browsers are great but mobile safari doesn't yet let you have access to everything you can get in Cocoa. We want to open those features up to anyone with a Wordpress site.

Mike

Re: I quit my high-paying job to follow my dream of launching a startup. Here it is.

#27

Post by paisible »

Go Montreal ! :) Slight issue though - I created an app, says everything went well, downloaded the sandbox, but nothing appears under "My projects". Does it take time to update ? Also, "Push composer" and "Analytics" in my admin panel link to "#". Are these just placeholder links to let users know that the functionality is coming ? Good job on shipping the product !

Re: I quit my high-paying job to follow my dream of launching a startup. Here it is.

#28

Post by lcusack »

dangrossman wrote: post #24
jeffcouturier wrote: post #18

I'm not sure I see the benefit of converting a website into a pseudo-app, then charging for that app. Users would effectively be paying for the wrapper when the same content is available without charge via a browser. I realize this happens all the time and there are a plethora of site shortcuts-as-apps in the app store, but the fact that they are abundant doesn't make the practice any better. I'm honestly curious abo…

The site owner wouldn't have to charge for the app (unless I missed something). They just now have a native app for their website. Native app interaction speed and offline use are obvious advantages over using the blog in the mobile browser, so there's definitely value here. And the number of WordPress sites is so huge (over 70 million) that there's undoubtedly a market for this.

Support for push notifications would be a huge plus as well.

Re: I quit my high-paying job to follow my dream of launching a startup. Here it is.

#29

Post by lachyg »

gozman wrote: post #26
marknutter wrote: post #22

Kudos to you for following your dream, but I do have to say I'm fully against making it easier for people to move that which should stay on the web to native apps. We have web browsers for a reason.

hey mark! it was strange to me too at first, but we built it in response to the fact that we kept on getting asked about getting onto the "app store" by small business owners who were going digital and building Wordpress sites. Everyone wants an app nowadays - so we're filling a niche. In the end, browsers are great but mobile safari doesn't yet let you have access to everything you can get in Cocoa. We want to open…

Mike, not the OP but which features are you opening up? This question is not attacking you, i'm just genuinely curious. I'm in the WordPress business (http://thewp.co) and would love to offer this to my clients!
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