In November of 2009, four moms (who connected over Twitter) got on the phone to talk about their apps, how they were marketing them, and how they could work together to help spread the word. They decided to form a Google Group, and invited other mom developers to join. It quickly became a discussion, brainstorming and marketing forum about family-friendly apps. How do you successfully launch an app? What should you price it? How are you making your app compatible with iPad? You get the drill.
Besides the moms, there were also dads, aunts, grandmas and reviewers who came on board. With critical mass they launched the Moms With Apps blog, which focuses on articles about kids, technology, developers, and weekly featured apps. Over the last 9 months (no pun intended) the group has attracted over 100 parent and family-friendly developers, in addition to app reviewers and industry specialists. And the press is taking notice.
July 12th, San Francisco Chronicle – iPhone Moms Turn Ideas Into Kid-Friendly Apps
July 20th, Washington Post – Building Apps for Children a Profitable Niche
July 21st, FOX News – There’s An App For Families Who Love To Read
July 28th, Huffington Post – Top iPhone Apps for Moms, by Moms
While this is happening, many of the Moms With Apps developers are independently attracting mainstream and online media attention: Today Show, USA Today, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Eyewitness News, CNET, New York Times, BBC, Business Week, WIRED (i.e., Geek Dad), and USA Today again! If that wasn’t enough, one of our husband/wife developer teams received an invitation to Capitol Hill in Washington DC to be on a panel for Apps 4 Access. The best part is that many of the new apps launched from the group are shooting straight up to New & Noteworthy on the iTunes charts. It sure does feel like a fine time to be an app developer!
Congratulations to this fabulous group of people who are committed to making interactive, useful and educational mobile technology for families. And stay tuned, because our one year anniversary is coming up, and you know how moms get about those anniversaries!
Kudos to @momswithapps ! I know how this started as a google group and it is so awesome to see how the group has grown. I really look forward to the tweets (esp on Fridays :)) and post them on my fb , twitter etc. Great win win for everyone.
Thank you all for the work 🙂