Chinese mobile internet giant Alibaba Group has announced the launch of Privacy Knight, India’s first free app-lock with Face Lock feature that protects mobile privacy from intruders. Equipped with Face Lock, the fastest and most accurate unlock solution in the world, Privacy Knight enables users to unlock their protected apps through a 1-second-selfie.
Besides Face Lock, Privacy Knight also offers users excellent protection including App Lock, Vault, Clean, Themes, Intruder Selfie, Fake Cover, Fake Icon, and more.
ž Multiple App Lock Options – Smooth switch to pattern/pincode and finger print to unlock automatically under insufficient light condition
ž All-day Protection – Intruder Selfie, Incoming Call Lock and Notification Lock, keeps you from worrying about any leakage during your absence
ž Hide and Fake Settings – Privacy Vault helps to hide private photos and videos, and Fake Cover/Fake Icons prevents any possible intrusions so no one is ever able to access your private apps without you
ž Privacy Clean –Quickly cleans your adult, social, financial and shopping browsing history without leaving any unwanted trace
ž Burden Free –No data usage and No internet needed after download, ad-free, battery-saving and memory-saving
Privacy Knight is currently on Android and is available for download on 9Apps.
According to 9Apps, low screen size and resolution along with poor network penetration threaten the rate of app adoption in India. Indian users install no more than 32 apps on average, much lower than the world average of 42, according to information based on analysis of 9Apps internal data and 9Apps Trends, a data tracking services of 9Apps.
With increased consuming power, more and more Indians are now investing in smartphones. According to 9Apps data, over 55% of UC Browser users are using a smartphone less than Rs 10,000 and over 40% of Indian users’ still access internet on screen resolutions less than 480*854.
Power drain and limited capacity on these low-end smartphones emerge as the biggest concerns, hindering increased app usage.
9Apps, a part of UCWeb, one of the most popular Android app marketplaces with more than 160 million monthly active users worldwide has announced its InDev Program (worth $ 20 million) to help Indian independent and startup developers with specially designed solutions, especially in user acquisition and monetization.
Some of the highlights of the InDev Program include zero cost promotion support for developers, 100% revenue sharing with qualified developers for a certain period of time, professional support and consultancy in testing, localization etc. InDev Program also sets up a Diamond Awards for qualified game and apps.
Announcing the program, Mr. Robert Bu, General Manager, UCWeb India said, “According to our research, there are lots of challenges faced by independent and startup developers. It is not easy for them to get as much brand exposure for their apps as the big players can. UCWeb and 9Apps are committed to building a healthy ecosystem where local users can download quality app and games they like, and developers are able to enjoy fruitful financial return for providing excellent apps and games.”
Cricket-related apps have seen a whopping 450% surge during the ongoing T-20 World Cup; the traffic peaked during the second week into the cricket season with India-Pakistan match , according to the latest data shared by 9Apps Trends, 9Apps’ app tracking service.
The following chart demonstrates the download trend of top 5 cricket-related apps. Before the WT20 started, top 5 cricket-related apps were downloaded around 3 lac times per week; the download surged 340% once the World Cup kicked off.
Three of the top 5 cricket-related apps - Hotstar, Cricket T20 2016 Live TV and Cricbuzz provide videos and even live streaming of the matches. The content consumed by cricket fans is getting diversified as users’ appetite for video is fast growing.
Cricket season is too big to ignore. Sports app developers and content providers have either updated their apps to bring world-cup-theme features, or providing new content to attract users. For instance, UC Browser, the No.1 mobile browser in India with over 59% market share, has revamped its in-app widget UC Cricket to provide a variety of cricket content. 9Apps, the No.1 third-party app market of India, has also geared up with push notification features to remind users of the upcoming matches.
9Apps has tied up with Uber in India to give free rides services within 10 cities to celebrate the occasion of Valentine's Day. 100 couples across cities of Hyderabad, Nagpur, Vadodara, Guwahati, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Pune, Surat, Vishakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar will not just get free rides but also surprise gifts and free dinner vouchers when they book an Uber on the weekend leading upto the Valentine’s Day.
The contest will go live on 12th February 2016 at 4pm and will end on 13th February 2016 at 4PM. 9Apps will push out a New User Promo Code worth 1 free ride up to Rs.150 to all its users asking them to use the code and take a ride to qualify. The company has also launched the contest on its social media channels using #9AppsSurpriseLoveWithUber.
So, what are you waiting for? Hurry up.
9Apps and 9Game, one of the world’s leading third-party app stores for Android apps and games has announced that it has crossed 140 million Monthly Active Users. The two stores altogether have also reached 8.5 million Daily Active Users (DAUs) with over 18 million daily aggregate downloads of apps and games. 9Apps and 9Game, launched in 2012 is part of UCWeb, a business within Alibaba Group’s mobile business division.
Talking on the new milestone, Simon SHI, Head of 9Apps and 9Game, said, "We have an active user community across China, India and other emerging markets which have helped us achieve this mark. 9Apps & 9Game give Android users an ideal alternative to download apps and games with no need for account registration. We have not just an abundant and varied app repository but also a huge collection of region-specific apps for each market – that’s one of the factors contributed to our uptrend. While the popularity we're enjoying also speaks to the opportunity for our app developer partners as they stand a better chance to reach out to more users."
Recently, UCWeb also announced the launch of UC Open Platform 2.0 - an ecosystem to help Indian mobile internet players to acquire users and monetize traffic through UC Browser, 9Apps, 9Game and UC Union. 9Apps marked its entry into India with an office opened in Mumbai in the year June 2014. The business has shown deep commitment to Indian market with its ‘Fundraiser Program’ launched earlier this year. 9Apps has committed Rs 10 lakh to not-for-profit organization Prayas for education of the girl child in India.
