uTest unveils Applause, a ‘Klout for mobile apps’ analytics tool for businesses

The last time we caught up with uTest was when it launched Express way back in 2011, a product offering real-world mobile app testing for startups. And today, the Massachusetts-based startup has launched a new product that’s claiming to take app analytics to the next level.

Just to recap, uTest was founded initially back in 2007 by Doron Reuveni and Roy Solomon. In the simplest terms, uTest serves as a marketplace for ‘in-the-wild’ software testing services. With its latest Applause product, it analyzes more than 50 million reviews in the App Store and Google Play, constituting somewhere in the region of 1 million apps.

How it works

Applause consolidates this data into a more palatable ranking of 1-100, across ten Applause attributes.

The idea is that brands and developers can improve the quality of their apps by looking at all their ratings and reviews in a single space, and analyze this on a granular level. This includes specific feature-based feedback, as well as performance and usability.

In addition to the 1-100 Applause Score, this is further broken down across the following attributes:

• Satisfaction: How does the app satisfy users’ expectations?
• Performance: How an app performs in-use
• Usability: Navigation and ease-of-understanding
• Security: Any risks to passwords and other sensitive data?
• Stability: How often the app crashes or freezes
• Pricing: Value vs. cost
• Interoperability: Does the app integrate well with other services or hardware?
• Elegance: Attractiveness, coolness and design
• Privacy: The ins-and-outs of an app’s terms of service (ToS)
• Content: Relevance of the data and/or results displayed in the app across locations and cultures

There’s no question that apps are a massive industry, but to sift through the rubble requires data-powered platforms to make sense of it all. That’s why we’re seeing the likes of Appsfire making great inroads in the space, with products for both developers and consumers – indeed, just this week it introduced badges to help surface the top developers and bestselling apps, while also weeding out the bad ‘uns.

With Applause, however, uTest is focusing entirely on the app stakeholders – brands, businesses and developers. Indeed, while many app analytic tools focus on app recommendations, Applause is striving to take a more holistic “explicit” approach, with detailed data that could actually be used in conjunction with the likes of Appsfire and AppGratis.

In our initial tinkerings, Applause didn’t feature every single app on Google Play or the App Store. It seems it only reels in data and gives a score once it has “statistically significant information” – when an app gets enough reviews. This is why some of the smaller or newer apps don’t appear yet.

“The apps economy is growing so rapidly, spawning new upstarts and challenging incumbents — and it’s time we enter a new phase of maturity in how companies measure their mobile efforts,” explains Doron Reuveni, CEO and co-founder of uTest. “Users simply expect apps to perform flawlessly – the first time, every time. With Applause, we’re enabling companies to go well beyond simple download counts and star ratings to understand app quality in a deeper way, which is why we’ve had such tremendous feedback from early users.”

At launch, Applause is actually a product of uTest Labs, the research arm of uTest, and will eventually be spun out of uTest as an independent brand. It’s currently free to use.

➤ Applause

Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock