Hi guys! This one's for the mobile developers out there...
HOKO has taken the latest mobile deep linking standards and technologies, and make them easily accessible for all iOS and Android developers - it means that you can bring users into any location within your app and even trigger actions from outside the app (eg. add a product to your cart from a link within your newsletter).
It's pretty cool. Hopefully their founders Joaquin and Ricardo can tell you more!
@ourielohayon Hi Ouriel, Thanks for opening the discussion. On the one side, HOKO gives you all the flexibility and advanced tools offered by the big (costly) guys; but at the same time we are pulling towards a more free open source platform, where we keep up with the latest standards pushed by Google and Apple.
e.g. you have big companies that give you the flexibility to decide the experience you want for the end user, like driving an install and still bring the user to the final destination after opening the app (plus attributing the install to a particular campaign). The problem: this is not affordable for everyone, not only for the price you have to pay them every month, but also for the more complex operation they require. On the other hand you have open standards like mobiledeeplinking.org/ or Applinks which opened the world of deep linking and are available to everyone, but that don't support more advanced features, and cannot cope with the release of new standards by Apple and Google.
Why do we want something in between? - Because we are building one of the very first re-engagement platforms; in which apps can create smart journeys for the end user; boosting traffic for everyone, and creating more connected experiences. To achieve that, first we want to build a community of apps through our current platform, and then facilitate them the possibility to connect with other apps in our network. From our vision: "The future is one in which apps are no longer silos of data - but every user interaction will lead to another app in an interconnected web of apps and devices."
@joaquinfigaredo@ourielohayon Great strategy on monetize from data not users! Definitely would use a free service because it will save me days of effort reading the standard and doing trial and error on my own website. Love the UI and the analytics as well! Great job and good luck!
@coolnalu@ourielohayon Thanks for your comment Terry! I'm happy to see that our vision resonates with you. We also believe that by saving time and effort, we are empowering developers to focus on their core products, so they can keep building great things for the end user. Thanks for all the good wishes!
@joaquinfigaredo so your main difference is that you re free? (btw we participated to mobiledeeplinking.org and i agree that was not enough to push the adoption)
@ourielohayon Thanks Ouriel. Free, simple, and it just works. The three premises that we believe can push for faster adoption, which is basically the main challenge around deep linking today. You as you mentioned from your experience with mobiledeeplinking
@ompemi Thanks for your comment Omar! Both Branch and us are committed on helping apps get more traction; although they are focusing on growth; whereas we are focusing on re-engagement.
Why re-engagement?, because the total number of apps keeps growing at 40% per annum; but the average number of apps handled by a typical user has been stagnated under 27 for several years now. We think that by creating smarter connections among apps, we can help increase this number; benefiting the end user experience, but mainly benefiting the 2 million apps that are forgotten after the first use, to re-connect with their users.
@joaquinfigaredo@ompemi Would love to see how the product evolves. For now I should be honest I will stick to Branch. Although I am using pretty much the same features you have: generate links with metadata. In the future I want to use their reward system and the smart banners.
@ompemi Thanks Omar! We'll definitely keep you posted on our new features. At the end, deep linking is in it's absolute infancy, and great things will start to come once more and more apps jump into this amazing technology.
@imkevinxu Hi Kevin, thanks for your comment. Let me know if the answer I just gave to Omar works. Although our biggest difference relies in our vision and the final product we are building, there are still key differences in our current product. e.g. we support multiple standards, so with HOKO you are ready to run iOS9 and Android M in their "native" way, but still support previous versions. We are also extremely proud of the easiness to integrate and use HOKO. So proud that "other" companies have been spending "long user sessions" checking/copying our on-boarding process :-)
@joaquinfigaredo quick onboarding and simple documentation are definitely strong differentiators!
My main use case is simply sending invite deeplinks and having a custom welcome screen to welcome the new user. Does HOKO and Branch do the same thing on that front?
@imkevinxu Hey Kevin - check out our docs here on how to build custom welcomes - https://dev.branch.io/recipes/pe... and take a look at the other features like our deep linked app download banner, referral/invite deep links and others!
@kevinjonas Kevin, as promised, these are some examples on how Yood can start using HOKO. http://bit.ly/1KsEBHa I'd love to have your thoughts. Let me know if you want to coordinate a call.
@itamarw Thanks for engaging in the discussion Itamar! I wonder if AltaVista and Yahoo had a similar thought the first time they saw Google search ;-) just kidding...
@joaquinfigaredo I'm not saying first to market wins ;) I just feel like I'm seeing the same problem be solved in almost the exact same way, over and over and over. Google was solving search differently and better.
@itamarw Thanks Itamar; it's a fair point. Although we have a slightly different view of the real problem we are trying to solve. For us, the real challenge around deep linking is adoption, and not just keep pushing new features for the sake of it. At HOKO we just want to make the life of developers easier; with a product that solves their needs fast, and in a way that just works. If we can accelerate adoption, then we are bringing a huge value into the whole mobile world.
@itamarw It totally has not been solved in a cross platform way that works on install and doesn't do anything hacky like try to open a web page to set a cookie and doesn't break.
@talkaboutdesign I'm glad you like it Maksim! Let me know if you want to schedule a call to make the integration seamless. You can write me at joaquin@hokolinks.com
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