App companies across the event industry are preparing for the long-awaited “Appagdeddon,” the controversial new Apple App Store guidelines starting January 1, 2018 that threaten to kill the ‘white label’ solution common for event apps. This means that events will now either need to develop an entirely custom app, which many organizations can’t afford, or use a container app solution.
Despite some pushback from developers saying Apple is being too harsh and casting too wide a net, this decision is overall a good thing for both app makers and the people that use them. This decision encourages developers to make better, more unique apps and fuels innovation in the App Store.
We Need More Innovation
The template solution in question became popular because it gave events the opportunity to have a ‘white label’ app at a low cost. The apps were often limited and lacking in advanced features that make an app interesting and useful. Plus the content within each app often didn’t update in real-time, meaning event companies needed to have all their event content on the app before it went live.
This was overall a poor solution for event companies.
Instead, a good event app should be interactive and be able to keep up with the last-minute nature of a live event. It should have integrated ticketing, games, chat features, and push notifications – features that only an app can give you. From the beginning, we made sure our solution Allcal Events had all of this advanced functionality to create a better experience for event organizers and attendees. It was always our strategy and advantage. It seemed we were one of the only app companies who realized there was a better way to build apps – then Apple gave away our secret!
Aggregated or ‘Picker’ Apps – A Better Option
Last week Apple published updated guidelines to expand on their recommendation for event apps. They flat out recommended a solution just like ours:
“Another acceptable option for template providers is to create a single binary to host all client content in an aggregated or “picker” model, for example as a restaurant finder app with separate customized entries or pages for each client restaurant, or as an event app with separate entries for each client event.”
Luckily, we have first-mover advantage since we’ve been working on our solution for more than three years.
Since 2014 Allcal has offered a social calendar solution for personal use that seamlessly syncs events in real time. We launched Allcal Events in 2016 after being approached by major conventions about custom branded solutions to their event app problem. Allcal Events is an integrated calendar, app, and event management solution for event organizers that let’s event planners create a custom experience for their attendees, while still being 100% compliant with the Apple App Store’s new rules. How? Our powerful software lets you customize everything about the in-app experience within the aggregated Allcal app.
Pete Smith, CEO & Event Director of Australian Fandom Conventions, says,
“We have used a number of event scheduling apps over the last ten years. None have been more user friendly, with more functionality allowing our ticket holders to network and connect on levels we have never encountered.”
New Age of Event Apps
Many have long dreaded this “Appageddon” but this is an exciting time in the event app industry. The new guidelines mean less redundancy and more quality. It has always been our goal to offer the best solution possible for events and that’s true now more than ever.
Learn more about Allcal Event’s features and capabilities here: events.allcal.com.
