Global report finds Australian company is developing the highest quality magazine apps, on average, in the world
Announcement posted by Mogeneration 28 Nov 2012
The report, which includes more than 8000 periodical and news related app evaluations from over 70 countries, rated apps developed by Oomph - the platform created by Sydney-based tech company Mogeneration - as the best in the world based on key criteria including design, functionality and media content and advertising.
The iMonitor State of the App Report 2012, published in New York on Monday, ranks apps by developer, publisher and country. It consistently rated apps developed on the Oomph platform higher than apps developed by many of the biggest global names in the industry.
Apps developed on the Oomph app publishing platform scored the highest average ratings followed by apps created by Swedish developer Mag+ and global software company Woodwing. Apps developed by Silicon Valley giant Adobe scored the fifth highest average rating.
Mogeneration CEO Keith Ahern said he was proud that the work being done by the company he launched in Australia in 2008 is being recognised internationally.
“We set out to build a simple, smart way of creating interactive content that pushed the iPad to its limits,” Mr Ahern said.
“We wanted pages to come alive and tell stories in new and interesting ways.
“For users, we wanted them to think ‘this is how a iPad mag should be’.
“For designers and publishers, we wanted to give them a powerful yet simple tool to create great content that combines rich media with functional utilities like the iPad’s accelerometer, geo-location and seamless integration with timers, notes, maps and voice control - all without needing to know code”
Mr Ahern said while his company initially built the Oomph platform to develop high-quality content rich magazine and newspaper apps for the iPad and other tablets, it was rapidly diversifying into app development for enterprise content marketing, ecommerce and the corporate sector. Mogeneration is growing rapidly and will open in the UK early in 2013.
Since 2010, US based McPheters & Company, has been tracking tablet apps and rating them for design, functionality, media, and advertising, if applicable, via its iMonitor service. McPheters CEO Rebecca McPheters said as the number of apps rapidly increases, the bar for outstanding performance is constantly rising.
“These apps are leveraging the iPad’s capabilities to enhance the user experience and expand upon the services traditionally offered to readers by printed publications,” she said.
“Oomph is one of the true innovators in this industry. We will continue to watch with interest as the number of exceptional apps developed with Oomph climbs.”
The iMonitor service maintains an up-to-date list of apps that have been certified against its stringent evaluative criteria. In the current list there are three Oomph Apps rated in the top 2%.These include the Coles Magazine App , Gourmet Traveller by Bauer Media and Women’s Health and Fitness by Blitz Publications. The list of iMonitor Certified Apps is available on iMonitorcertified.com.
In terms of world’s best practice in design quality, innovation and functionality, only four apps were reported as having perfect scores: Martha Stewart Living, Newsweek, Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine and Reader's Digest.
Simon McDowell, Marketing Director, Coles said the company is thrilled that iMonitor have recognised the Coles Mag App as being among the world’s top apps.
“The teams behind the app, Mogeneration and Bauer Media, have worked hard to deliver a digital magazine for our customers, which is packed with delicious recipes, great images and relevant, intuitive functionality,” he said.“We love the freedom digital publishing offers us and have plans to add new layers to the Coles Magazine App in future.”
In what will be heartening news for traditional publishers of newspapers and magazines, who are suffering significant declines in readership and advertising revenues and are struggling to find successful models to monetize content on the internet, the report found that consumers are more willing to pay for content via iPad apps.
The 118-page report also found that, while advertising based models predominate in Australian and overseas, Australian app publishers were the most likely to charge for content (53% of apps evaluated charged for content compared with 46% in North America and 35% in Asia). Overall, about half of the magazine and newspaper apps evaluated in 2012 charge for content on a subscription basis, up from 39% in 2011.
With regard to stability the report found that iPad apps developed in Australia were the most reliable and least prone to malfunction with only 7% requiring bug fixes.
About Mogeneration
Mogeneration was founded in 2008 to create apps for touch devices; in 2010 the Oomph digital publishing platform was launched. The Oomph patform now powers over 220 apps for more than 100 clients including Coles, Honda and Bauer Media. Mogeneration works with clients to provide the knowledge and expertise to build award winning tablet strategies. For more information visit www.mogeneration.com and www.oomphhq.com
About iMonitor
Monitor™ is the world’s leading source of informationon media-related tablet apps, providing global tracking and detailed evaluation of an expanding base of close to 8000. iMonitor collects information on more than 100 variables and applies consistent evaluative criteria to every app in its database, assessing each in terms of app design, functionality and use of rich media enhancements.
For a list of iMonitorcertified apps visit iMonitorcertified.com
About McPheters & Company
McPheters & Company is a consulting and research company, which works with major media companies and advertising agencies in the areas of strategic planning, media research, and accountability metrics. Much of its work relates to the expansion of traditional media brands across evolving platforms.