New Survey Reveals Demand for Mobile Applications That Consider Context and Maintain a High Level of Privacy

Connecthings, a leader in location-based mobile application solutions, announced the launch of Herow, an augmented location platform that provides mobile application developers and marketers with the tools and user insights needed to transform the way they deliver valuable, personalized mobile user experiences.

Herow by @Connecthings provides #appdev & #marketing pros with powerful insights to fuel richer, context-relevant #mobileapp experiences. #augmentedlocation #locationintelligence #mobile

A recent Connecthings survey of more than 1,000 mobile users, “The State of Mobile Application Usage,” shows a demand for applications that engage with users based on context. Approximately 60 percent of respondents said they believe mobile experiences should be customized to their wants, needs and location, and more than 40 percent believe applications should be “smart” enough to anticipate needs and wants based on their location and behavioral patterns.

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Leveraging a decade-long understanding of the city fabric, hyper-precise location technology, and machine learning algorithms, Herow by Connecthings helps mobile application developers and marketers optimize services and deliver experiences based on the context of their users in real time. Augmented location technology provides unprecedented insights about users, including:

• Precise location – Beyond a pin drop on a map, Herow identifies if a user is at home, at work, at the gym, shopping or one of many other semantic descriptions.
• Real-time behavior – Herow senses if a user is sitting still at home, in motion shopping or commuting on a bus or subway.
• Context of user surroundings – Herow incorporates information about a user’s surroundings – such as the weather, nearby users or traffic conditions – to draw conclusions about how to augment mobile experiences.

“As mobile technology advances, users demand richer experiences. They want ‘smart’ applications that seamlessly understand their behavior, anticipate their needs, offer appropriate and useful solutions, and enhance daily life,” said Connecthings founder and CEO Laetitia Gazel Anthoine. “Herow is at the intersection of data, places and people – it’s all about the here and now. This approach has a positive impact on mobile applications. We’re seeing up to 15 percent increase in user retention, as well as three times higher engagement rates on applications with augmented location.”

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Fueling Rich User Experiences

Respondents to the recent survey reported only half of the notifications they receive are relevant to their situation (time, place and activity); more than 60 percent reported the most annoying aspects of notifications are lack of relevancy and poor timing. Herow’s augmented location technology collects and analyzes 2,000 data points per user per day. As the data gets richer, so does its analytics and developers’ ability to improve the efficacy and longevity of their applications.

Privacy is Paramount

Privacy is top-of-mind for both companies and consumers. In addition to the European General Data Protection Regulation, many US states are proposing regulations that will impact how businesses consume and store data. Survey respondents reported that although they are willing to share location data with family, friends and even their favorite brands, 72 percent believe that data should not be shared with third parties.

Herow applies a two-layer opt-in approach to location-sharing permissions. Location and behavioral data are used exclusively by applications to customize experiences. Connecthings does not save historical data or share it with any third-party services. Users can request to opt out and have information deleted by applications at any time.

“Privacy is intrinsic to Connecthings,” Anthoine said. “While many other companies are in the business of sharing and selling consumer location information, our data is used only by our customers’ applications to anticipate user needs and wants, then offer relevant, timely experiences, always with privacy in mind.”

Easy-to-Use Platform with Power-Efficient SDK

Herow features an intuitive user interface that allows customers to easily build targeted campaigns and exceptional mobile experiences without technical expertise. The power-efficient software development kit delivers precise location data without draining mobile battery life.

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