In November Google announced it could stream nine apps. AppyCity, which is owned and run by Timothy Fields and Jonathan Weiss, has been streaming all of theirs. And they have over a thousand.
Streaming apps can be used without being downloaded. If you download any one of AppyCity’s apps – for example, its Wilmington Downtown app – you can use any of the other apps without downloading them to your phone. They call it “in-app” technology.
“Everything is going mobile so it needs to be networked,” said Jonathan Weiss, CEO of the company. “Traditionally you have to download an app, and that app is standalone. And Timothy Fields [AppyCity founder and CTO] saw the need for digital connectivity of cities,” Weiss said.
The company’s network recently passed 11 million users in networks for more than 30 city markets, he said.
“We’re developing several cities, but Wilmington’s the one where it all came together,” Weiss said.
Among other apps for the city they’ve developed are for the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, New Hanover County and Wilmington governments, Wilmington Police Department, the Battleship North Carolina, N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher, museums, hotels and wedding vendors.
“The tourist that comes in from out of town to visit the aquarium – they’ve downloaded the app – they see where they want to stay, where they want to dine, where they want to go to tomorrow,” Weiss said. “Do they want to download 144 apps that we have in Wilmington now? No. It has to work more the way the Internet works.”
They’ve also made apps for 43 schools in New Hanover County and one for the school system.
“You accept push [notifications] geared toward students if you’re a student or parents or teachers or staff,” Weiss said. “And they send out a push, and it pops up on the lock screen on your phone. For example, the communications director said that they field almost 300 phone calls every time ShotSpotter [a gunshot detection network] picks up a shot, and a school goes on lockdown. Now, instantly, when that happens, the principal can send a push out and it says, ‘Everybody’s fine, here’s what happened, everyone’s accounted for.’”
They’re also working on a way to send messages in to students during emergencies.
Another feature of the schools app is live broadcasts of sporting events, which are kept online for a few days after each game so parents and grandparents can see what they missed. A recent game was watched an additional 9,900 times after it was streamed, officials said.
AppyCity’s current sports director is Keith Whitaker, a retired Pender County principal and former athletic director.
Eventually, the company plans to turn that job over to the students.
“We envision having a student broadcasting team at every school, announcing their games,” Weiss said.
All AppyCity apps are free to users, but the school apps are also funded by advertising so the school doesn’t pay for the app to be built or maintained, and they make money. Half of all proceeds from advertising goes to the school system.
