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the life & times of Sandra Fernandez

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Meet the average user of voicebots

Meet the average user of voicebots (sandrasays.com)

If I had had to make a guess, I would have said that the average user of voice-activated smartphone apps is younger users … digital natives or millennials. And I would have been wrong. VentureBeat reports:

According to Verto’s data on the user base of AI-powered personal assistant apps on mobile devices, the personal assistant “superuser” – someone who spends more than twice the average user’s monthly time spent on personal assistant apps – is a 52-year-old woman who spends 1.5 hours per month with personal assistant apps.

If your audience or customer is an older and female, you might want to fast-track your integration of these kinds of apps.

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Manage multiple Instagram accounts from one mobile device

 

instagram-512-blackHooray! We’ve been waiting for this announcement for weeks … months … forever … Instagram now allows you to manage up to five accounts from your iOS and/or Android apps. No more logging out of one account and into another when you needed to post a new image, and then logging out again.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this is going to make my life much easier. And it’s going to make it easier to work with scheduling options in Hootsuite and SproutSocial (which still require that you be logged into the correct Instagram account on your mobile device to finish publishing).

Now if they’d just let me post from my desktop … but that’s an announcement for another day.

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Apple news app coming this fall; how to prepare

Apple news app coming this fall; how to prepare (more info at sandrasays.com)Apple recently announced the upcoming release of their new News app, an iOS app that will aggregate high-quality news, magazines and blogs into a mobile-ready format. According to recent reports, the app will be released as part of iOS 9, sometime this fall.

For content marketers and publishers this new app may provide an opportunity to place their articles in front of many more readers. But how do you get started? Apple’s “News Publishing Guide” gives us instructions — here are a few of the questions they answer:

What is News Publisher?
News Publisher is an iCloud-based website where you can sign up as a News publisher, add RSS feeds, and manage your channels, members, and publisher information.

Can I distribute content on News?
Yes. The sign-up and distribution processes are the same for everyone, whether you’re part of a company or you’re self-published.

Do I need an Apple ID? How do I create one?
Yes, you’ll need an Apple ID in order to sign up and distribute content on Apple News.

To create an Apple ID, visit News Publisher. Click the “Create one now” link below the Apple ID and password fields, then follow the on-screen instructions.

How much does it cost to sign up to distribute content on Apple News?
Distributing content on News is free. Complete terms and conditions are available during the sign‑up process.

How do I sign up to distribute content on News?
Sign in to News Publisher with your Apple ID and password.

  • Enter your publisher information.
  • Set up your channel to provide more information about your content.
  • For more details, see Becoming a News Publisher.

What do I do after I sign up?
After you sign up, you can use News Publisher to add RSS feeds to your channel, create and manage sections, and edit your publisher information. We’ll review your submission and let you know if we need more information.

If you don’t have RSS feeds and want to wait for Apple News Format, there’s nothing more you have to do — we’ll notify you as soon as Apple News Format is available.

How do I add my RSS feeds to News?
Go to News Publisher to add RSS feeds, manage your account, and edit your channel details. Be sure to review the RSS Best Practices before adding your feeds.

Can I add multiple channels to News?
We recommend creating a single channel for your content, with optional sections. If you have multiple publications or localized publications, you should create multiple channels.

What is a section?
Use sections to organize the content within your channel. For example, a single channel might include Sports, Food, and Life sections. Each section can take its content from multiple RSS feeds. Sections are optional.

Can I add multiple sections to my channel?
Yes. By default, your channel will include a single section that contains all channel content. You can create additional sections to further organize your content. You’ll need at least two sections with content if you want a section bar to appear in your channel.

Where do I get the link to my channel?
You’ll find your channel link in the email you receive when your channel is approved and available in News. To get this link later, go to News Publisher.

Can I share links to my articles?
Yes. You can send an article link to anyone by tapping the Share icon in the toolbar.

If the recipient has iOS 9, the link opens in News. On all other platforms, the link opens in a browser.

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Periscope replays are now on the Web

Periscope replays are now on the Web (more info on sandrasays.com)

Livestreaming mobile app Periscope just made a “small” tweak that improves their usability quite a bit: they have made it possible to view their replays on the web. Until now you had to be in your Periscope app (on your mobile device) to view the replays.

What this means is that I can share the link to my livestream (via social or on my web) and it will be available for the public at large (for 24 hours). For me this increases the possible uses, since it no longer limits viewers to just those who have installed the app.

Now, if they would only remove the 24-hour limit on the life of the replays …

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Related post: PERISCOPE IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR ANDROID | Sandra Says

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Periscope is now available for Android

Periscope is now available for Android (more info at www.sandrasays.com)

Twitter has launched a Periscope app for Android OS mobile devices, expanding access to the live video broadcasting app beyond iPhones. I’ve downloaded it and signed in via my Twitter username, so you can find me @SandraSays.

Periscope and Meerkat have been top topics in the social media sphere since Meerkat made a splash at SXSW a few months ago and Periscope was bought by Twitter. The apps make it possible for anyone to live stream an event, a workshop, or a behind the scenes interview with little more than a mobile phone and Internet access. I can see a lot of possibilities for its use for brands to connect with customers and audiences.

Meerkat rolled out their Android app first, but I was waiting on Periscope (because of their integration with Twitter). And it’s this relationship that implies to some that Periscope may have a stronger chance of taking the lead in this new live streaming social networks.

What I’ve learned so far is that Periscope has a few similarities with Snapchat, namely that your videos are “archived” in the network for only 24 hours and you can create a public or private broadcast (the way you can send a “Snap” to an individual or add to “My Story”). The differences are that the app will notify users that you are broadcasting (as well as letting you announce it to your Twitter followers), and the video you broadcast is live and not constrained to 10 seconds.

Do you have examples of great uses of Periscope and Meerkat? I’d love to check out what brands are doing with these apps.

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