‘Kingdom leads Mideast as top app development destination’

AMMAN — Google on Saturday expressed keenness to increase cooperation with Jordanian developers as the Kingdom was ranked the Middle East’s top app development destination.

Speaking during a session at the Jordan Gaming Summit 2015, Rachad Saddi, mobile apps consultant at Google, said there is a huge potential that needs to be tapped in the field of app development in Jordan.

“We at Google are looking forward to having increased cooperation with app developers in Jordan, which has a great potential to lead as well in the digital gaming industry,” Saddi said at the summit, which is held by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development.

The summit, which concludes Sunday, attracted more than 500 local and international experts, developers, designers, school and university students, and industry stakeholders.

Stressing the need for more localised content across the Arab world — one of the fastest-growing regions in terms of game and app usage — Saddi noted that Google is keen on working with Jordanian developers and providing them with the necessary means to address this issue as demand on apps and games is on the rise.

According to Google, mobile users spend around 36 hours per month on apps and around 80-88 per cent of the time spent on mobile devices is spent using apps.

The figures showed that some 180 billion apps were downloaded worldwide since the beginning of this year, generating some $41 billion in revenues.

Saddi also shared tips with Jordanian developers on how to create apps that can make it to several markets.

“Apps need to be user-friendly. Developers should decide who their audience is and they have to keep their games simple,” he said, adding that listening to users’ feedback is crucial for retaining them, as international studies indicate that 66 per cent of apps in app stores have never been downloaded.

Developers should also test their games repeatedly and on several devices and operating systems before the actual launch to ensure that they work perfectly, said Saddi.

"About 20 per cent of downloaded apps are only used once, while 95 per cent of downloaded apps are abandoned within one month,” he added.

The fifth edition of the Jordan Gaming Summit 2015, which is held under the theme “How to Grow”, witnessed the participation of several speakers and experts from prominent companies in the digital gaming industry, including  Sony, Dice and Stugan.