IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/igg/jmhci0/v3y2011i4p1-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Comparison of Distribution Channels for Large-Scale Deployments of iOS Applications

Author

Listed:
  • Donald McMillan

    (University of Glasgow, UK)

  • Alistair Morrison

    (University of Glasgow, UK)

  • Matthew Chalmers

    (University of Glasgow, UK)

Abstract

When conducting mass participation trials on Apple iOS devices researchers are forced to make a choice between using the Apple App Store or third party software repositories. In order to inform this choice, this paper describes a sample application that was released via both methods along with comparison of user demographics and engagement. The contents of these repositories are examined and compared, and statistics are presented highlighting the number of times the application was downloaded and the user retention experienced with each. The results are presented and the relative merits of each distribution method discussed to allow researchers to make a more informed choice. Results include that the application distributed via third party repository received ten times more downloads than the App Store application and that users recruited via the repository consistently used the application more.

Suggested Citation

  • Donald McMillan & Alistair Morrison & Matthew Chalmers, 2011. "A Comparison of Distribution Channels for Large-Scale Deployments of iOS Applications," International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction (IJMHCI), IGI Global, vol. 3(4), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:igg:jmhci0:v:3:y:2011:i:4:p:1-17
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve.aspx?doi=10.4018/jmhci.2011100101
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:igg:jmhci0:v:3:y:2011:i:4:p:1-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journal Editor (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.igi-global.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.