Five Tips to Optimize Your Applications for iPhone 5 and iOS 6

Mutual Mobile Helps Brands Navigate Transition to Latest Apple Devices

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the consumerization of IT, the iPhone has become a powerful player and force for change in the enterprise for its ease of use and compelling feature set. As the iPhone 5 hits record sales numbers, businesses across diverse industries must consider how Apple's smartphone and its latest generation of mobile software will impact existing applications, as well future development efforts.

“Savvy organizations are not only addressing the transition, but also evaluating new capabilities to deliver a more rewarding experience for end-users and gain a competitive advantage.”

Today, Mutual Mobile outlined five considerations to help brands ensure a positive customer experience across new and previous generations of iPhones and iOS:

• How will extra screen space affect user experience? The taller screen of the iPhone 5 translates to a new aspect ratio with more pixels. For existing apps, this could mean “letterboxed” content that diminishes or impedes the user experience. However, new applications written to support the new screen layout may benefit from added space to display more information. Brands should work closely with mobile development teams to test and evaluate the new screen size impact and opportunities.
• Will Apple maps still get your customers there? Apple will no longer use Google Maps data for its new Maps app in iOS 6, a move that could be disruptive to consumers more familiar with Google’s functionality. Brands should be aggressive in preparing for this change, ensuring key locations such as storefronts are accurately mapped including turn-by-turn navigation, which can affect everything from consumer-facing retail to internal sales enablement.
• Can Passbook provide new revenue opportunities? Retail, e-commerce and subscription-based services should look for new ways to integrate Passbook into existing apps to drive increased loyalty and revenue. From mobile check-ins to real-time coupons and offers, Passbook could provide a significant boost to mobile point-of-sale and pave the way for widespread digital wallet adoption.
• Are you ready to engage on Facebook? With new social media integration, iOS 6 developers can build apps that post status updates and share photos directly to Facebook. For consumer-facing brands, this can provide significant marketing and sales opportunities, increasing brand visibility and engagement across more customer touch points.
• How can APIs help you create a stickier user experience? iOS 6 includes APIs for In-App Purchasing, allowing users to download apps, music, videos, books and other content without leaving the app. Forward-thinking brands can take advantage of this feature to create brand-packs for their most engaged users, encouraging them to find and download all the apps and media associated with the brand from within the app itself.

“The iPhone 5 will sell in the tens of millions very quickly, so the business case for supporting its new specifications is clear. iPhone users are notoriously passionate about their devices, but much more fickle when it comes to applications. Any negative experience with an application can significantly impact a brand’s app store ranking or cause users to uninstall an app,” said Tarun Nimmagadda, co-founder of Mutual Mobile. “Savvy organizations are not only addressing the transition, but also evaluating new capabilities to deliver a more rewarding experience for end-users and gain a competitive advantage.”

Mutual Mobile’s iOS team works closely with brands around the world to conceive, deliver, and support consumer-grade business solutions for the iPhone and iPad. For more information visit: http://www.mutualmobile.com/solutions/capabilities/engineering/#ios

About Mutual Mobile

Mutual Mobile creates rich user experiences that reinvent how businesses engage the world through mobile. Combining deep design, development, and domain expertise, Mutual Mobile’s custom software solutions allow clients to connect people, processes, and data, from the back office to the point of sale, and everywhere in between. Mutual Mobile works with the world’s leading brands – including Audi, Cisco, Google and Philips – to uncover new revenue opportunities and increase the lifetime value of mobile through continuous innovation and measurement. Named one of America’s Most Promising companies by Forbes, Mutual Mobile is based in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit: http://www.mutualmobile.com.