AllAppPress [review]
POS:
Push notifications are awesomeNEG:
Poor interfaceTonight I’m finishing up my review of a new web based platform called All App Press So what exactly is All App Press? Well its a web based platform that you can use to turn any website into a Android or iOS (Apple) app. You might be wondering why you would want to do that, […]
Tonight I’m finishing up my review of a new web based platform called All App Press
So what exactly is All App Press? Well its a web based platform that you can use to turn any website into a Android or iOS (Apple) app. You might be wondering why you would want to do that, and Ill tell you in a minute, but first I want to be totally up front and say that I don’t own a single Apple device. So in my testing I only tested the Android integration.
When using the system I felt like the members area was pretty low quality. The navigation is cluttered and filled with links from the main website. The app preview is done so poorly that I fell like they would have been better of not even having it, and the only help in the members area is a link to a PDF tutorial. Though there are help videos in the access page where you initially create your account. There are none in the system itself that I could see. Not sure how that makes sense honestly. Frankly as I said the members area is pretty low quality in its design and implementation.
Fortunately though the system is very easy to use and I didnt need any help at all. After logging into your account simply click the “Create new app” link, select if you want to create an iOS or Android app, and you will see a screen like this:
The settings are very self explanatory. You enter a link to the web site that you want to turn into an app (you dont have to own the site). Upload a 96×96 .png file for the apps icon, and a 480×800 .jpg splash / loading screen graphic, give it a name and your done. The whole thing takes about 1 minute. Click “Build / Generate App” and about 60 seconds later you have your own app.
Now I do want to give a word of caution here. There can sometimes be a bit of a downside to turning your site into an app. The thing is that AllAppPress will in essence take a snap shot of your site, everything will work correctly, but what this also means is that if you have a site that is regularly updated with new content (such as this blog) the app will not reflect the new content, since the content was added after AllAppPress took its ‘snap shot’ to create the app.
There is an easy way to get around this. Simply create a ‘splash / landing page’ to use as your URL for creating your app.
Above is a picture of the landing page I made for my app. When people click it on their phone, it will open up that page on their device. The can then click the links and it will load the freshest content from my website. I made my landing page by hand coding since I’m a developer and can do it very quickly myself. However if you can’t do this you can use any page builder and it should work fine. Also, if you don’t have a site that gets updated with new content often then you can skip this step.
Once you create your app you can provide it to people in two ways. You can have a link to it on your site, and your site visitors can click the link and install the app with their mobile device. Alternatively (and perhaps preferably) you can put your app on the Google Play Store. If you want to put it on the Play Store you will need to signup with Google as a developer first and pay the one time $25 registration fee.
Having an app like this is going to have some obvouse advantages. First it is going to make you look a lot more professional. Second it makes it more easy for people to visit your site, since they only have to click the app, making anything easy often ensures that people will be more likely to do it. But beyond that there is a much bigger reason to have your own app. A reason that I can sum up in just 2 words: Push Notifications.
With AllAppPress you can send unlimited push notifications to anyone who has your app installed, and even better those notifications can be links that take them to any URL you want. I you to think about that. People almost always have their phone with them, and you are going to be able to send linked messages, that makes their phone ring, or vibrate or whatever, any time you like. This is super powerful. Unlike email which is passive: you send the email, and hope people decide to check their email that day and see your message, this is more assertive, your actually alerting people via their device of your message with a clickable link.
In fact its such a powerful thing to be able to send push notifications that I would caution you not to abuse it. Dons spam people, or message them to often, or send them silly messages that they might not want to see. This can be a amazing marketing tool, if you use it wisely. Don’t abuse it.
So what do I think of AllAppPress over all? Well I think the site / interface is not so great. But despite that it is still very simple to use. Being able to have your own app is cool, and being able to send people unlimited , linked push notifications is just awesome.
Update: It looks like the product vendors added a new feature last minute, your apps should now auto update when you change your site.
A quick note about the reviews I do on this site. The product vendors give me access to their products for free in order for me to do my review. However I make no promises to them regarding the results of my tests or what I will write in my review. Should you click a link that takes you to a sales page for a paid product for sale this link will be an affiliate link and I will be paid a percentage of the sales price should you decide to invest in it.
About the Author
Brett – I was actually searching on Google for your review on the product when I got you email. A couple of doubts, the product is now advertised as All Apppress 2.0 and also on the sales page they claim that the app automatically stays updated with changes on the website. Is that not the case?
My understanding from when I spoke to one of the vendors is that it does not auto update with changes to the site. They might have changed this since I spoke to them however.
What’s in it for the web visitor to install the app? They simply won’t do it…it’s not a big selling-point to have an app of the site as it’s not exactly hard work to visit the site on the browser on a mobile device. I can see no way to incentivize people to install a very basic app version of a site, just can’t see it taking off.
Not sure what you mean by ‘very basic’ .. however I don’t think its fair to say ‘they simply wont do it’.. (unless you actually tried it) .. and since many top sites do in fact have apps for their sites. These bigger names aren’t making site apps because people don’t install them 🙂
Now if you want to ‘incentivize them’ further though, make a ‘special page’ that is only linked to inside of your app (think the splash pages I suggested) that gives a freebie such as training or something exclusive for people who use your app.
Also though I didnt touch on it, because its a bit technical, if you have any kind of site with any functionality, you can easily make that functionality a app. A generic example would be: Lets say your in the weight loss niche, and have a Javascript weight loss calculator or calorie tracker, you can turn that into a mobile app, very easily (and have it branded to your company / site) .. you dont just have to turn your regular site into an app.
Brett,
Great review…! I especially like that you have given us a heads up about how to build the app so it will allow us to show new postings, etc. This piece of info alone is worth the cost of the app.
I know you do not generally review any upgrades, but I would be interested to know if you have any experience, or opinions on the AdMob platform in general.
Thanks…
Im sorry I didnt even look at the OTO’s. When I first got this there where some bugs, and for the last few days I have been testing and reporting to the vendors on the issues to make sure they where all ironed out before the launch.
Does this create a set of links out to the core website or does it create a standalone app if the site?
What ever URL you use, will become the app, with the site functionality remaining intact.
Excellent, unbiased review. Easy to navigate platform, however I must say that the push notification system has been on the market for many years. Thanks for the information.
Im not sure what that means “The push notification system has been on the market for many years” .. it has, since apps have existed, but you still need an app to utilize it, which is where this comes in handy.
So basically the software is a bait to have people install your “App” and allow you to use the push notification system. Great idea, although I see people will start abusing the system and Google/Apple making changes to stop these kind of apps, so I wonder how long will this work. Sigh.
How can we start saying what Google / Apple will do? No one can, that’s not fair. Though we can guess, and if I had to guess I would say Google / Apple are not going to care, push notifications are nothing new 🙂 What is more likely to happen is if you abuse your app users they will just uninstall your app. The easy way around this is take my advise and don’t abuse this power 🙂
Hi Brett,
They stated these on the sales page
“Update your mobile responsive website and AllAppPress 2.0 automatically updates your app for you. Any changes you make on your site automatically appear inside your app too!”
“Add new pages/features to your site on a regular basis and they’ll appear in your app as if by magic. . .”
buy i learned different info from your review.
I think this was a feature that they added AFTER I did my initial testing and initial q/a session with the vendors, unlike many people I get in touch with the product vendors a week or so before launch, hit them with some questions I have, then test for several days. In my notes I have that they told be that the apps wont auto update, if they changed this though, that just makes it more appealing 🙂
Brett–
I gave to say this looks intriguing…
However when I went to go look at the licensing structure, I was taken to a quote form which as mildly annoying.
What was more annoying was the ‘404’ I got trying to submit the form.
I’m more likely to move on than to stick with trying to get this software – especially if their own website is broken and you can’t use it.
What does that say about their product.
Perhaps you can share about your experience trying to get the software etc?
There website has nothing to do with this product or its sales page etc. What your saying here is akin to saying that if I have a broken link on my blog, it must mean any software I write is bad. I think your being a bit unfair.
Hi Brett,
Thanks again for your honest review. Question: You said that it does not update your app when you make changes to your website, but the sales page claims that it does. Are they misleading when they make those claims, or am I misunderstanding what they are say?
Sorry, just read other posts regarding the same question. 🙂
I purchased version 1 last year. That was for only android and that worked well. This new version includes both android and ios. I asked the vendor for a discounted rate since I already had android and they stated I would have to buy it all over again. Hensel I will not be getting version 2 and all the upgrades and just sticking to android only.
I dont think its unfair for the vendors to expect you to pay for the second version. I mean its only $39, they are not making a fortune from it at that price.
What were your results with version 1?
I never heard of this product until this version.
I get a message on my allapppress v1 site saying link for purchasing ios apps should show soon.
I think the owner will make most of their money from people buying credits in the future, so can’t see them wanting to upset previous customers too much.
We shall see…
Hi Brett,
Thanks for the time taken to check out the product. I’m wondering if it creates an actual off-line “copy” of the website as-an-app such that the whole website is downloaded to the mobile device (ios or android) for off-line use?
Or, is it just an ‘App Wrapper’ to enable publishing an “app” BUT, when the user opens the app on their smartphone, it just goes to the website which I viewed online within their app wrapper? This second scenario, I think, is what this product does. I this case, an ecommerce web site that’s turned into an app should continue to function and enable online sales using the smartphone. Can you confirm if this scenario describes the product? Thanks.
Yes this app is basically a wrapper for your site, and yes your site will still function correctly. Sorry if I didnt make that clear. Also it looks like they now have it so that your app WILL update with your site 🙂 Nice new feature that they put in last minute 🙂
Thanks for the helpful review, Brett. One point you did’t cover is what privileges the app is installed with.
I install very few apps on my phone or tablet because the vast majority install with privileges that are not required to perform the stated function of the app (e.g., why does a flashlight app or a calculator require access to your contact data, phone, file system, etc.?). I see this as a very large security issue.
The permissions are full data access, and web access. These make sense for apps like this. As for Flashlight and other apps, the issue is that a lot of functions are often bundled into groups, so if an app needs any one permission from the group, they have to ask for them all. The good news is that people in general dont seem to mind permissions, think of how many millions of people installed the Flashlight app for example.
Thanks for taking the time to review this product…The Push Notification feature is excellent, as it can be very powerful for generating more engagement and more traffic, also builds a closer relationship with clients.
Brett. Do you think an app would have greater functionality and be easier to create with this than say using an app builder like seattleclouds?
I mean since it’s just a wrapper then it would retain all the functionality of the site with it’s different plugins and scripts, right?
Also, I’m assuming the whole site is not downloaded to the persons device when installed. So it’s a small size?
Lastly any security aspects to your site is transferred to the app as well, correct?
I never used SettleClouds sorry. No security issues that Im aware of.
Could you make an app of a shopify site?
I didnt try, but if you send me a link to a Shopify site Ill test it.
Like the Splash Page for the App Ideal….
Hi Brett thanks for the review I have version 1 when I logged on today it had been upgraded to version2 so I experimented on my own web site to be honest there is now difference between the app and the mobile version of my site also 1 important fact is if the site is not mobile friendly the product does not work so my question is why bother? Also interestingly I discovered that google maps works on my web site and on my mobile but not in the app
Not sure I understand what you mean about not being mobile friendly so why bother? Do you mean your site is not mobile friendly so why bother? Well thats a great reason to make an app I would think. As for your maps etc .. make a splash page, as I suggested in the review.
Sorry Brett What I meant was my website is mobile friendly and looks no different to the app. the other point I was making is your web site has to be a responsive web site for All App Press to work. I will try with the splash page to see if that fixes the other problem.
Well the big advantage here is the push notifications, its not really about making your site mobile friendly (though that is another advantage if your site is not)
Brett, I love your review and I am a developer too and I can see you know what your talking about.
I have 2 e-commerce web sites that use HTML5 and Bootstrap to make them mobile enabled.
If I make an App for both these sites, are all the “inner pages” also made part of the app? If I add new products pages will app automatically update with those new product pages? If the shopping cart is mobile enabled through Bootstrap also, will the shopping cart work in the App.?
Yes should work fine. Though I will admit I didnt use this on any sites that have Bootstrap , though I used it on sites that need jQuery and it worked fine.
On a side note, have you looked at EasyVSL 2.0? They have TTS voices integrated into it but tech support has no sample voices I can listen to which is the main reason I’m interested in it. I have TTS Video Studio but several of the voices in it don’t work anymore and tech support is NON existent.
No I have not, after my first EasyVSL review the vendors ignored my request to review the version 2.0
Brett,
I’ve heard 2.0 has a lot of OTOs. Do you what they are and how much?
I dont test or review OTOs sorry. Why? Because they matter not. Either you feel this is a good value, or you dont. An OTO, or lack of an OTO is irrelevant and does not effect if the FE is a good value or if it isnt.
I’d like to buy this but I have mostly e-commerce sites. I see apps people would download would be mostly things like scheduling and food place apps where people want to order a pizza or schedule a doctor, dentist, vet visit, auto repair visit. Apps that people use services on a regular basic and need a quick way to schedule a service or buy some products they buy on a regular basis line pizza or Chinese food. Any thoughts?
I think all of those would be good uses (and eCom sites). This really has a lot of potential actually.
Hope you don’t mind my jumping in here with a potential suggestion for a e-com site. You could set up a coupon or special offer page on your site and use push notifications and/or take them to that page.
Thats a great idea! There are a lot of potential uses here. Especially when you start considering how powerful of a way to contact people those push notifications are.
The added IOS functionality in the new version has me wondering if Apple is going to approve the kind of apps most users will be building with this software. I use both Mac and PC, and remember Apple telling app developers they won’t any longer approve redundant apps, i.e. farting spps, flashlight apps, etc.
I’ve not searched the Google Play Store for the type apps the vendor seems to suggest, but searching the Apple app store I’ve not seen any. I’m not sure IOS functionality adds much value to this software after reading your review and the comments Brett. Of course, I could be wrong, and welcome other’s thoughts.
Well as I said, in the review I dont know a thing about iOS, I am anti-Apple, and don’t own or use any Apple products.
Hi
I saw from the demo video review that there needs to be a splash page image 480×800
My question is, if the software is a website wrapper then what about iPads and Tablets?
Will a tablet user see a the narrow 480×800 jpeg and white space or is there a way to upload further images into the App design for iPad and tablets?
Regards
Robert
I dont know about iPads, as I said I dont own a single Apple device. Sorry. I would expect your image would resize though on a tablet.
What about Apple approving the app – and all the hoops Apple have you connect – do these guys sort all that for you ? Android is usually straightforward – do you think you could sell content tutorials with this from website ?
Im sorry, Im a pretty anti-Apple person. I don’t own anything made by Apple and dont know anything about them.
Brett,
This is exactly what I’m looking for. I just set up a Website to help LinkedIn Pulse posters get more exposure: Views, Likes, and Comments.
The main issue is in making this habit forming. I’d like people to visit on a daily basis to see their position on the Pulse leaderboard. I think this product will buy me both icon real estate on smartphones AND a new channel for keeping in touch with members, outside of email and LinkedIn.
In any event, although there are quite a few affiliates marketing AllAppPress, I’d prefer to buy through you because of your excellent video walk through that answered most of my questions. And, of course, your approval.
(I’d still like to see your review on EasyVSL 2.0. It looks like a winner. But I’d like to hear your opinion).
Dan
I just purchased this product mainly for the push notification feature but it looks like I would be the one who had to send them. I wanted to set it up so that each person who bought the app could send them to their group. Not sure you can even setup a group “push” Anyone know if that is possible?
You cant, as I clearly show in the demo video, you send them yourself from your members area.
Did you create the splashpage on the homepage or another page? Ie. does the app require a homepage or can it be any link, for instance use a subdomain that can be set up with its own theme and content? After the app is created, can the link and the image be changed?
Well as I said in the review video “any webpage” will work. You cant change the app image after its created, that would be like trying to change the ingredients of a cake after you bake it.
My bad for not watching the vid. Thanks for the reply.
No problem 🙂 Im just trying to make sure everyone goes through the review, I want people to make an informed purchase decision, which is normally do a demo in the videos.
Brett,
Quick question. I am a new amazon affiliate and have a new store selling microphones and associated equipment, if I create an app for my store, how will I market it in google play? I guess I mean why would anyone want to load my app on their phone? I know I most likely would not! I would love to have this but not sure my store would ever get loaded on anyones phone.
For a Amazon affiliate store selling Microphones, there is probably little reason, also there little reason to be sending push notifications as well. Honestly this might not be for you, the only thing I can think of is perhaps for special offers, but I dont know if Amazon really does any specials worth announcing like that.
Thanks Brett. I always trust your reviews and advice.
Hello,
Will this work for a Auction Site that is in WordPress and it sales new/used electronics.
Just curios about it.
Thanks for advice.
I have not tested it on such a site but I have no reason to think it wont work,
I bought the software the day they first launched it. Setting up the android version was very easy. The directions for doing the IOS app are basically worthless as well as their support. $39 doesn’t sound like a lot but once you combine that with the $99 per year for an apple developer license, then it sucks if you make the investment and still can’t get the app on IOS. I have NEVER experienced the piss poor support that AllAppPress has. Going on 3 weeks and still no updates to their training nor responses other than they are updating their training soon. I have even contact the people who lauched this app separately with no real assistance by them. I’d love to talk with someone who actually got their app approved on IOS.
The one thing I cant review is support. Even if I tried they would always respond to me quickly, because they know Im reviewing them. If you are unhappy you should for sure request a refund though.
Brett, My apologies in advance, but you got this one wrong, the software is a mess, Android detects this as a webpage, when you install the APK, there are a lot of problems, first there is no offline mode, if the end user attempts to use the app and they happen to be in an area where there is no internet, the app shows a dialog box, here is the code for that (really bad coding)
{
navigator.notification.alert(
‘No Internet Connection! Please Turn on Wifi or Mobile Data to use this application’, // message
null, // callback
‘No Internet Connection’, // title
‘Ok’ // buttonName
);
//alert(‘No Internet Connection! Please Turn on Wifi or Mobile Data to use this application’);
}
else
{
So, you can’t use the app unless there is either an active internet connection or wifi,
iOS?
Not a chance in HE double toothpicks, not only is it banned by apple, (the use of a wrapped website) in an Apple Binary, as soon as Apple gets around to it, all apps submitted to apple with all app press will be rejected.
Sure some may get an app in the app store, but that will change very rapidly.
Discussion is already happening on the Apple Boards, its not going to be long before they ban the Push notifications, both because of how it works and because of violations of apples push notification policy.
)____________
I attempted to communicate with support, (no understanding at all) Zero, you could send in a ticket about a javascript error, and they would say something about how the ice-cream is good today right?
I can’t say enough bad things about this company, the product is incomplete, poorly integrated, cobbled together codebase, use of improper technology to attempt to get around push notification policies.
This is hands down the worst product I have seen in a long time, (they promise they will make it better, but when?)
currently I have asked for a refund since the 16th of this month, nothing no reply on the refund, just that we are working on this,
I am so tired of junk vendors, this is one such vendor, bad coding, commented out code, its obvious that they have no idea what they are doing.
Well as I said I only tested Droid, I know nothing about Apple or iOS, I thought I was clear about that when I said “I only tested Android since I don’t own a single Apple device”, sorry if I wasn’t. As for ‘no offline mode’. I really dont care about that to much personally, 99% of devices are online almost always, and given that the point of this is to send notifications etc, people are going to have to be online anyway to get the real value that this provides.
This app is junk. I have not been able to use it the way they say you can. When I push a notification, all it does is show the name of the app and thats it. No message. The only way around this is to build a landing page, place the link to landing page in the push notification and when I push it, and click on the notification, it goes directly to the landing page. It does not show the message, only the header name of the app. Piss poor support too. Been asking for a refund and I am getting the run around. BTW…I have an android phone – Galaxy S4 and it does not work the way they claim it does. Don’t waste your money.
It worked in my testing, of course I cant know what they did to their system after I tested. Send me a email or a PM on Facebook with your receipt ID and I will reach out to the vendor for you and see why they are not giving you a timely refund.