HockeyGPS was first launched as a web service in September 2008. On January 2, 2009 the service became available as an app on Apple's iTunes App Store. The App Store was only launched by Apple six months earlier.
HockeyGPS was our first test in this new digital space. Since we were still building the database of arenas around North America, we made the app a free download.
Over its three-year history, HockeyGPS never posted an updated version. That alone has to be a record in app history. Other than a couple of server issues and a recent issue that caused the app to crash, it just worked. It received 556 ratings in Canada and 887 in the U.S. In January 2011, Apple reported that HockeyGPS ranked 3,447th out of 102,000 of free apps in Canada.
As a hockey company, we needed to monetize this success. We ran ads through Admob hoping that a high click- through rate would generate revenue. We like the Admob platform but minor hockey parents don't click on "find singles" ads...that often. We pursued sponsorship from large corporations but the whole app space was still young and hard to fit into their advertising budgets. In the meantime, we were using resources to manage and maintain the HockeyGPS system. The database has grown to over 6,000 locations worldwide.
As Apple released iOS updates, new functions and features in these updates had us developing HockeyGPS Pro in 2010. Moving to a paid model with subscription to the database was the only option. We hope that HockeyGPS Pro will be a success so we can develop it even further.
The adaption of apps in general, has reduced the amount of time a person spends on traditional web use. HockeyGPS was accessed on the web less than 10% of total access. With the introduction of HockeyGPS Pro, we have removed web browser access to the HockeyGPS system.
On November 23, 2011, we removed the original HockeyGPS app from the App Store. We will retire the app on January 2, 2012. Users will not be able to access the arena database but are encouraged to upgrade to HockeyGPS Pro for new features and new search functions.
Between Games is the official blog of Hockey Science & Technology. Get hockey apps and services at TheHockeySeason.com. "What are you bringing to the game?"
No comments:
Post a Comment