On June 23, 2020, Apple kicked off its annual Worldwide Developer Conference. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Apple decided to host their 3 days conference online. The key focus of the conference was to unveil its new iOS 14 and its new exciting features. Certain features like App Library, App Clips, Smarter Widgets, and new Siri experience caught more eyeballs this year. 

Here we highlighted one of the most important features – App Library, what is going to change, how it will affect the discoverability of apps, and what are the strategies app owners can adopt to overcome the competition.

What is new with App Library?

Apple made their announcement on a one-stop-shop for all apps – the App Library.

App Library is a new exciting feature that displays all the apps that you have installed in your mobile in a much-organized manner, making it simple to navigate that is more similar to the apps list on the Apple Watch. 

Swipe from right to the left to move past your Home Screen pages to view the App Library, where each application you have installed is naturally sorted out into folder categories such as Productivity, Utilities, Creativity, Reference and Reading, Education, Health and Fitness, Social, Lifestyle, and Games. Users also can find a folder dedicated to Apple Arcade.

Each folder displays the three applications in the category that you utilize regularly, and any of these apps can be launched with a tap. A fourth spot in the folder is acquired up by mini-app icons and when a user clicks, it displays the entire app list in the category. 

For instance, if you have installed several games, you will find three of the most played games in the folder and all the remaining game apps will be displayed as a multi-mini-app icon. 

Suggestions and Recently Added Folders

You can find the “Suggestions” folder at the top of the App Library, where you can find four recommended apps displayed based on factors like location, time of day, and activity. It is expected to house most of Apple’s machine learning algorithms.

“Recently Added” is another folder that houses all the apps that were recently installed in your phone, you can easily find them as it features App Clips

App Library Search

You can find a search interface at the top of the App Library, which displays the alphabetical list of the entire apps that have been installed. As you scroll through, tap on a letter to directly navigate to that particular section. You can also type the app name in the search bar to start a search again. 

Hide Home Screen Pages and Apps

In the new iOS 14, the whole Home Screen can be hidden from the user’s view, so you can obtain a clean mobile interface. All the apps will be viewed through the App Library. 

To hide the whole Home Screen page, give a long press on the Home Screen which will make the icons wiggle, then give a tap on the dots which represent the various Home Screen pages that have been set up. Then uncheck the pages which you don’t prefer to see. 

In case if you want to hide separate apps, drag them from the home page to the App Library. There will be a new feature in the setting apps that will prevent any new app downloads from displaying on the Home Screen view, limiting it to the App Library. 

 How will it affect the discoverability of apps?

Henceforth, all the iOS 14 will come across a group named “Suggestions” which means the job will be getting tougher for the mobile app developers to get visibility. Already users have multiple options in the sectors like Online Shopping, Travel, Food Delivery, Mobility, and OTT media. This new “App Library” feature will place your brand next to your competitor in one folder. Hence, it is high time to revisit your app performance, user experience, and start working on enhancing more personalized user experience. 

Guidelines to increase the visibility of the apps

With the support of a mobile app, your brand can gain more visibility among your users. It is essential to build a user experience among users to see a boost in ROI and sustain the existing customer base. Make use of the available features to send SMS, push notifications, and emails to your users about new products, exciting offers, and discounts, events, etc. This will help you in keeping your users engaged with your app. 

When a user had a happy shopping experience and remembers a particular app, the business tends to make more profit through repeat purchases. Content conveyed through such app-enabled communications can be associated with respective products and pages to make a user’s browsing activity smooth and lead to higher sales.

Here are some of the guidelines to increase the performance and visibility of your app among the existing users. 

It is crucial to be remembered by the existing users anytime, as it is less expensive to retain a user than acquiring a new one.

1. Gather information about your mobile app’s performance

2. Do more analysis on the user feedback about their experiences and challenges with your app. Encourage users to share their experience and feedback through email or create a dedicated feature within your app.

3. Use the data collected for understanding your app’s purpose, performance, and expected use patterns to determine the great opportunities/ space for improvement. 

4. Try to minimize resource use, as it benefits your customers and boosts their perceptions of the app. Some of the benefits are: 

– Reducing the app launch time enhances the user experience. It also reduces the probability of the OS watchdog timer terminating your app.

– Reducing the overall memory usage minimizes the probability of iOS freeing your mobile app’s memory in the background. It also helps in improving the responsiveness when a customer switches back to the app.

5. Implement some performance improvements that address the problem specifically:

– Collect data about the challenges that your users experience.

– Determine your mobile app’s behavior to analyze the source of the problems.

Getting ready with a new look of your app before the new iOS 14 release

Start planning early: The WWDC was held on June 23rd where Apple announced their new iOS exciting features. In general, the iOS 14 release is expected before September. Hence, developers can start planning and optimizing mobile apps that are in line with new features. 

Launch on First Day: Your mobile app should be ready for approval on the App Store as soon as the release is announced, as the Apple App Store will be completely refreshed to display the mobile apps that are ready.

Update screenshots: Try to add attractive screenshots of the new app version and what has been changed. Also, if there is something new, never fail to highlight them, as it is an effective tactic to increase the number of views.

Takeaway

For decades, the iPhone home screen looked like a grid of icons, now that’s starting to change with the launch of iOS 14. To thrive in this competitive market, apps should also be evolved to match the evolution of technology.