It is no surprise that mobile applications are the “in” thing in today’s technological world as millions of individuals are using their Smartphone devices (such as their iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7 or Blackberry) to access mobile apps from mobile application marketplaces which are constantly releasing new mobile applications everyday. One key observation which has been made by mobile application developers and mobile application “experts” is the difference between “Free mobile applications” and “paid mobile applications” and how they have an impact on the battery life of a users Smartphone.
Mobile Application Developers developing iPhone application development, android application development have recently found out that free mobile application tend to use up a lot more battery life/energy on a Smartphone device compared to mobile application which an individual pays for. The key reason for the battery/energy drainage in free mobile applications are primary linked back to the fact that these free mobile apps have a lot of in-app advertisements. In-App advertisements tend to take up a lot of unneeded battery life and energy from a Smartphone device when the advertisements have no relevance or impact on the actual mobile app itself. Mobile Application developers and Mobile Application development firms typically install in-app advertisements for free mobile applications because it is a way for the mobile app developers and mobile application firms to make money from the mobile app even though it is free for the user to download. At the same time, when an individual decides to download a free mobile application, they are also downloading the advertisements which come along with the mobile app which can sometimes have the potential to take up more battery life than the mobile app itself would take up.
An example of this can be viewed when examining the popular mobile gaming application called “Angry Birds”. After various tests and research conducted by various mobile application developers and mobile app “Experts”, the experiment revealed that when a user is playing “Angry Birds”, only 20% of the actual total energy consumption is used to actually play the game itself; of the rest, 45% of energy is being used in finding out your location with which it can better serve marketing agencies for more efficient target marking advertisements. The key reason why battery life/energy is being drained quicker with free mobile applications (with advertisements) is because the mobile apps need to connect to a server and send information on a users specific location in order to activate the pop-up advertisement which targets specifics ads based on the users location and preferences. “Angry Birds” was not the only game which yielded similar results as other free mobile app games also were found to consume more battery life/energy than needed.
On the other hand, paid mobile applications do not experience the same issue which free mobile applications do for the fact that if a user pays for a mobile application, then a majority of the time they are by-passing the advertisements or pop-ups that often occur with free mobile application. One mobile application developer recently stated: “If a user is going to pay for a mobile application, then they do not want to be bothered by pop-up advertisements which often occur on free mobile apps; that is the key advantage to purchasing a mobile app rather than downloading a free one – the possibility of avoiding advertisements”
One key element which all mobile application developers and mobile application “experts” we spoke to all agree on is the fact that the mobile application industry will continue to grow (regardless of mobile advertising) and even with the increase of advertising that continues to come up on mobile apps, people will still continue to download and use mobile applications for the simple fact that it is so useful and beneficial to users. Every industry will have some type of flaw which impacts them but it is the strong industries, such as the mobile application industry which can overcome these minor challenges and continue to grow.