Although you’re more likely to ascertain social media features inbuilt to websites and PWAs, there are variety of use cases to think about when building a mobile app.
Let’s get right right down to it: apart from Facebook login options and quick-share buttons for blogs, does social media actually need to be integrated into mobile apps?
While i think that less is more when it involves designing apps and adding features to them, there are some unique and useful ways to leverage social media lately .
Below, i would like to seem at four ways in which mobile app developers are using social media to enhance their in-app experiences and provides you some ideas for what you\’ll do to enhance your own.
1. Enable Users to Share Media with Others
I don’t realize you, but “What are you binge watching now?” may be a common conversation I even have with friends and family. But it always goes beyond having an easy conversation where we trade recommendations on TV shows or movies we loved.
Now, we\’ve the power to share content we’re watching or taking note of directly with other people’s devices and social media accounts.
Even if we’re in our own homes doing a solitary activity—like watching a movie or television program , taking note of a podcast, or working our way through a meditation session or workout—many apps enable users to instantly share media links through social media.
Users get to settle on whether or not they want to share with specific contacts or with all of their connections. They also get to settle on which of their social media accounts to share their recommendations and opinions to.
2. Save Users Time Adding Their Personal Info
One of the annoying things about signing up for any new socialization service—for dating, chatting, or making new friends—is having to input an equivalent details over and once again . It’s quite like switching doctors. you recognize they’re getting to ask you an equivalent questions on yourself (e.g. age, diet, exercise habits, legal status , smoker/non-smoker, etc.) and you’re annoyed that there isn’t a neater thanks to transfer your data over.
Obviously, users are wary about giving apps an excessive amount of access to their personal information. But, during this case, I doubt they’ll object. You’re not using the info to spam them with emails or stalk them with ads round the web. You’re using it to reinforce their experience.
One simple thanks to do that is to permit users to tug in photos from their social accounts like Facebook or Instagram, where selfies are prevalent.
3. Allow Users to Share the App Experience with Others
Similar to how someone might want to share the show they’ve been watching with someone they know, there are other ways users want to share their in-app experience with others.
Namely, they need to interact with others from within the app. And while they might certainly add the people they know with an email address, it can get tedious trying to first hunt that info then input it for each person they need to attach with.
This is differently that social media integrations serve both you and your users well. And what’s neat about this is often that it works for a good sort of apps.
4. Create a Social Network of Your Own
This last one actually doesn’t have anything to try to to with using social media APIs to reinforce your app. What this is often about is leveraging all of the great stuff that your users love about social media and recreating it within your app.
Why would you would like to try to to that?
One of the most important reasons is that it won’t be a choice between “Do I connect through Facebook?” or “Do I keep my data safe?” So, you won’t need to worry about privacy concerns depriving your users from getting the foremost of your app.
Instead, you\’ll build your own social features and grow a loyal following right from within your app. It also enables you to feature a much bigger social component to your app rather than cherry-picking which social features you would like to use and which channels to tug them from.
Wrap-Up
When writing about ethical design, I had primarily focused on the way to keep users from spending inordinate amounts of your time in your app.
But here’s the thing:
As I write this, the planet remains working its answer of a serious crisis that’s changed most people’s lives. As a result, consumers are spending far more time ahead of their devices as they hunt down a diversion from what’s happening . There’s no reason to undertake and fight this immediately . People need something to show to and it\’d also be your app.
Some of the integrations above will enable you to reinforce their experience. et al. will make your users feel more connected, albeit they’re still just watching and tapping a screen. I’d wish to think that these social media features are useful in helping to wipe out the harmful effects of rising app usage.
