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Top 5: Great Mobile Apps For New Parents

Rick Martin 2013.10.01

Having entered the ranks of fatherhood just this year, I’ve found that I’ve been experimenting with a number of applications that can help with parenting in general, as well as recording the most memorable moments of my baby’s development. As someone who lives in Japan, I’ve found myself using a mix of apps from abroad as well as a few homegrown applications. I thought I’d give a quick rundown of some of the mobile apps that have served me well so far. For any new parents out there, I highly recommend them all. 1. Notabli ¶ This is perhaps by far my most enthusiastic recommendation. Notabli is a private social network for parents with kids, letting you upload photos, short videos, and even audio updates, which are visible only to the people you want to share with. For me, that means my wife, my parents, and some close friends. It also lets you mark media as a milestone (like first tooth, first steps, etc), also another indispensable feature. There are numerous applications that I considered for photo management, but the primary reason why I chose Notabli is that it allows for full-resolution storage of photos, with the option to export…

mobile-apps-for-new-parents-620x438 — Original photo via makelessnoise on Flickr

Having entered the ranks of fatherhood just this year, I’ve found that I’ve been experimenting with a number of applications that can help with parenting in general, as well as recording the most memorable moments of my baby’s development. As someone who lives in Japan, I’ve found myself using a mix of apps from abroad as well as a few homegrown applications.

I thought I’d give a quick rundown of some of the mobile apps that have served me well so far. For any new parents out there, I highly recommend them all.

1. Notabli ¶

This is perhaps by far my most enthusiastic recommendation. Notabli is a private social network for parents with kids, letting you upload photos, short videos, and even audio updates, which are visible only to the people you want to share with. For me, that means my wife, my parents, and some close friends. It also lets you mark media as a milestone (like first tooth, first steps, etc), also another indispensable feature.

There are numerous applications that I considered for photo management, but the primary reason why I chose Notabli is that it allows for full-resolution storage of photos, with the option to export them all at any time. This data-liberation feature is the most important function, letting me periodically ensure that I have local copies of moments that I really can’t afford to lose.

This is currently available for free on the App Store, although it is a service that I would happily pay for. I really can’t emphasize enough how great this app is.

2. Road Movies ¶

Videos on the afore-mentioned Notabli are restricted to 30 seconds in length, which is perhaps my only complaint about the app. But that makes Honda’s Road Movies, which I reviewed back in August, is a wondeful complementary video app.

Road Movies lets you create 24-second composite clips (the perfect length for Notabli) by combining short 1-second, 2-second, or 3-second clips that you record during your day. For me, I typically take 3 seconds of video of my baby in various situations, and then when they are assembled in Road Movies and mixed with the license-free background music, the result is amazing.

Perhaps Honda, the app’s creator, meant for it to be used in your car while on the road, but it’s great for recording moments with family too. You can pick up this made-in-Japan app over on the App Store.

3. DayOne ¶

Taking a page from Gabe Weatherhead over at MacDrifter, who says he uses this journaling app to write letters to his daughter. I’ve begun doing the same, taking pictures and adding short notes now and then whenever I think of a message that my infant kid maybe can’t yet understand.

The app lets me write in Markdown, and syncing with Dropbox and/or iCloud assures me that my data is (relatively) safe.

It’s available for both iOS and Mac, for $4.99 and $9.99 respectively – although I have only bought the former, and that works for me just beautifully.

4. BabyCenter ¶

The folks over at BabyCenter have an assortment of great mobile apps, but the one that I’ve really found the most interesting is My Baby Today. After installing, you simply input your baby’s birthdate and it will then notify you with appropriate updates about your baby’s development.

The app has a photo album function, which I haven’t used at all. But the flow of information about caring for babies is incredibly useful for first-time parents, so I encourage you to check it out. It’s available for iOS and Android. (Thanks to D. for the recommendation!)

5. Baby Soothing Sounds ¶

You’ve all probably heard about people using white noise to sooth a crying baby. Well, this made-in-Japan app is a simple solution that gives you an assortment of white noise sounds whenever you need them. You can choose from things like hair dryer, TV static, running water, and even an unusual ramen slurping sound.

There are lots of apps like this on the market, but this one is free for iOS, and works really well. Try swaddling your baby and tucking your mobile into the folds of the blanket. It works like a charm for me, but it could be because my baby is so awesome. I’m sure your baby is cool too, but your mileage may vary.

Bonus: Nohana ¶

I’m appending this app here as a bonus, since it is not available to folks who live outside Japan. But for those of you who do live in Japan, Mixi’s Nohana app is a simply awesome. We’ve written extensively about this mobile photobook printing service as it has developed, but let me sum it up briefly:

You upload photos from your smartphone, and Nohana will send you a free photobook. That’s it. Well, there’s a minor 90 yen shipping charge (about $1), but that’s a miniscule price to pay for the book they send you. Their business model appears to be based on the hopes that you will order additional books that can be shipped to grandparents (a big demographic in Japan) for the additional cost of 500 yen (about $5).

Nohana is available for free for both iOS and Android. Seriously, if you’re a parent in Japan, this is a service you should be using.

If you have any suggested additions for this list, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments!

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Top 10: Fun Facebook apps from Japan that tell you more about yourself

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.08.08

Some of our readers may remember our April Fool’s Day post on crazy apps from Japan. Since then I’ve come across another series of interesting apps which in many cases leverage Facebook and peoples’ relationships on the social network. Behind them all is a single company called Eureka. And here are the apps that they’ve come up with, in no particular order. 1. Group Date Forecast¶ In Japan people don’t often go on blind dates, but instead they opt for group dates called ‘Go-kon’. There’s a person in charge of the girls side and and one for the boys side, and they are the ones responsible for bringing the hottest friends to group date. Group Date Forecast is an app that tells you who you should bring among all your Facebook friends, creating the ultimate go-kon team. 2. Facebook Invoice Checker ¶ ‘Facebook Ryokin Checker’ can roughly translates as ‘Facebook Invoice Checker’. The app calculates how much your usage fee would amount to if Facebook were a paid service. Japanese people tend to be a little more willing to pay for web and mobile services, so this idea really makes you appreciate a free service like Facebook. My invoice was…

Some of our readers may remember our April Fool’s Day post on crazy apps from Japan. Since then I’ve come across another series of interesting apps which in many cases leverage Facebook and peoples’ relationships on the social network. Behind them all is a single company called Eureka. And here are the apps that they’ve come up with, in no particular order.

1. Group Date Forecast¶

In Japan people don’t often go on blind dates, but instead they opt for group dates called ‘Go-kon’. There’s a person in charge of the girls side and and one for the boys side, and they are the ones responsible for bringing the hottest friends to group date. Group Date Forecast is an app that tells you who you should bring among all your Facebook friends, creating the ultimate go-kon team.

2. Facebook Invoice Checker ¶

‘Facebook Ryokin Checker’ can roughly translates as ‘Facebook Invoice Checker’. The app calculates how much your usage fee would amount to if Facebook were a paid service. Japanese people tend to be a little more willing to pay for web and mobile services, so this idea really makes you appreciate a free service like Facebook. My invoice was 112,900 yen!

3. What if I was the Heroine? ¶

This app creates a correlation diagram for an imaginary TV drama that casts you as the hero or heroine. Based on your interactions with friends on Facebook, it creates this fun diagram. In the three weeks after its release, the app was liked by 140,000 users, creating attractive illustrated diagrams with funny and catchy titles to boot.

4. What is your May Blues? ¶

Titled ‘What is your May Blues?’, this app diagnoses what sickness you might have in the month of May. Why May? Well, ‘May Blues’ is a term commonly used by Japanese people, and it refers to the lack of motivation or passion that people often feel in May. April marks a new year at school or work, and after a busy first month, people sort of burn out. This app helps you deal with the affliction with a positive attitude.

5. Excuse for tardiness ¶

Excuse for tardiness is a Facebook app that gives you good excuses for being late for work or other important occasions. The app gives you three questions to answer, like ‘do you watch the late night comedy shows?’ or ‘how many alarm clocks do you have in your room?’ Upon answering these questions, it tells you which excuse you should use — but it is presented in manga form! The app was developed for a female skin care company Dr. Ci:Labo, so the excuses tend to be a little on the cute side. When I tried it, I got “Because the cat I saw on the way to work was soooo cute”.

6. Facebook Omikuji ¶

‘Omikuji’ is a paper fortune that you get at the beginning of the New Year at shrines in Japan. The app is no longer is service since it was provided only at the beginning of the year, but it’s a pretty interesting idea all the same. Although ‘Hatsumode’ (or the first shrine visit of the year) is a common ritual for many Japanese people, some might not be able to make it. For these people, the Omikuji app lets them to do so online. The app racked up over 250,000 Facebook likes within ten days after its release.

7. Choose Friends with Flawless Skin ¶

To help launch a new makeup powder from Clinique, Eureka developed an app called ‘Chose a friend with flawless skin’. The app works very simply. It asks you to choose five of your friends who you think have amazing skin. This made for great viral content because no one is unhappy to hear compliments about their complexion. The app has been since taken down from Facebook too, since it was for a time-specific campaign.

8. Honest Valentine Forecast ¶

‘Honest Valentine Forecast’ analyzes your friendships on Facebook, and creates a map of how this year’s Valentine’s Day will turn out. In Japan, typical Valentine’s gifts have always been chocolates, and in Japan, girls give it to boys instead of the other way around. Since there’s a culture of even giving Valentine’s chocolates to co-workers at the office (a gesture called ‘giri-choko’, where ‘giri’ means ‘a sense of duty’). Honest Valentine Forecast predicts who your secret crush is, and who you should give some chocolate to.

9. Todofuken Love Map¶

‘Todofuken’ means ‘prefecture’ in Japanese, and this Todofuken Love Map alllows users to ask questions about love that they would hesitate to ask openly. Questions such as ‘what is your breast size?’ or ‘do you have lucky underwear?’. Interestingly, the user generated results of the questionaire are shown on a map. This app is mobile only, and is the only one on our list not integrated with Facebook.

10. How many would confess love to you?¶

This app hypothesizes a world that consists of only 100 men, and shows how many of these men will profess their love to you (referred to as ‘‘Kokuhaku’’ in Japanese) — possibly taking inspiration from the famous book If the World were a Village.

For many of these apps, the company will require you to you like their page first before you try them out. This is not a tactic I’m particulary fond of, but the ideas are sort of fun and they’re sure to bring you and your friends some laughs.

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Hello Kitty for your Smartphone: 5 Cute Apps to Try

SCORE 3,011

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.06.24

Hello Kitty Run! Run! Run! Perhaps the most popular of Japan’s many cute characters is Hello Kitty from Sanrio. This tiny cat absolutely everywhere, even on our mobile phones. Over on App Annie, searching ‘Hello Kitty’ brings up an astonishing 328 results. Here are just five of the apps we think you should consider downloading first. 1. Hello Kitty Mail ¶ One of the reasons that so many Japanese girls hesitated to switch to smartphones from feature phones was that it would be more difficult to send texts with cute emojis. Girls all have their favorite emoticons, and switching means that they would have to abandon them. But this Hello Kitty Mail app lets users send emails with cute Hello Kitty emojis, as well as Little Twin Sisters and My Melody. Additional emoji can be purchased within the app. If you’d like to download it, you can get it over on the app store for 170 yen (about $1.99). 2. Hello Kitty World ¶ Japanese web portal company Nifty released its iOS app in cooperation with Sanrio Wave back in April of 2012. And within just a year, the app has expanded to over 52 countries, with more than one…

Hello Kitty Run! Run! Run!

Perhaps the most popular of Japan’s many cute characters is Hello Kitty from Sanrio. This tiny cat absolutely everywhere, even on our mobile phones. Over on App Annie, searching ‘Hello Kitty’ brings up an astonishing 328 results. Here are just five of the apps we think you should consider downloading first.

1. Hello Kitty Mail ¶

One of the reasons that so many Japanese girls hesitated to switch to smartphones from feature phones was that it would be more difficult to send texts with cute emojis. Girls all have their favorite emoticons, and switching means that they would have to abandon them. But this Hello Kitty Mail app lets users send emails with cute Hello Kitty emojis, as well as Little Twin Sisters and My Melody. Additional emoji can be purchased within the app. If you’d like to download it, you can get it over on the app store for 170 yen (about $1.99).

2. Hello Kitty World ¶

Japanese web portal company Nifty released its iOS app in cooperation with Sanrio Wave back in April of 2012. And within just a year, the app has expanded to over 52 countries, with more than one million total downloads as of February 2013. With this app, users can create their own playland using different Sanrio characters. The social feature allows players to compete with each other through Twitter and Facebook too. The app has an English website which you can check out here.

3. Hello Kitty Run! Run! Run! ¶

Hello Kitty Run! Run! Run! is an app developed by the giant gaming company NamcoBandai, released back in May for both iOS and Android. In the game, an 8-bit Hello Kitty goes on adventures around the world turning herself into soldiers and witches. There are over 200 costumes for Hello Kitty to gear up in and over 50 stages to beat. The game is very simple and can be controlled by two buttons on the sides of the screen, making it suitable even for kids.

Check out Hello Kitty Run! Run! Run! in action below.

4. Hello Kitty Stamp Calendar ¶

This is a simple calendar app developed by Sanrio Wave featuring original Hello Kitty stamps. The app comes with an original Hello Kitty calendar theme that changes every week. By turning on the app once a day you can see Omikuji, a sort of a fortune-telling or horoscope. The calendar is good for three months, so in order to continue using the app it will be necessary to purchase an additional three months for 115 yen.

Hello Kitty Stamp Calendar is available on iOS for 350 yen (or $3.99).

5. Hello Kitty Face ¶

This one is for true Hello Kitty fans. ‘Hello Kitty Face’ is designed to work with a special iPhone case created by Gourmandise.

The outer case works as Hello Kitty’s body and the app displays her face on your mobile sceen. The iPhone case is available on Amazon Japan for 2,990 yen (or about $31) ¹.

To see the official Hello Kitty apps by Sanrio, you can check out Sanrio’s website.

On a related note, this may be the cutest Hello Kitty iPhone case ever.↩

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Naoki Shibata on cutting-edge app SEO techniques

Rick Martin 2013.04.23

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013. On day two at B Dash Camp 2013 in Fukuoka, we had a chance to briefly hear Naoki Shibata, the co-founder of app store SEO tool SearchMan. Naoki explained that users typically don’t search for an app by looking for a particular name or a brand, but rather instead they will search for it by function. So to this end, it is very helpful if your app’s name includes a significant keyword included. But you do need to be careful not to make it too long because users will just see an excerpt sometimes. He also noted that for the App Store, you app has a limit of 100 characters, so it’s important that you maximize the space given to you. Similarly, in the app description, you need to be careful with this as well, because it shows up just underneath the app’s screenshots – so this is key real estate. In terms of App Store and Google Play ranking criteria, he noted that both stores look for relations, factoring in keywords, users reviews, the app description, as well as the app score (which includes reviews and…

This is a part of our coverage of B Dash Camp Fukuoka 2013.

On day two at B Dash Camp 2013 in Fukuoka, we had a chance to briefly hear Naoki Shibata, the co-founder of app store SEO tool SearchMan.

Naoki explained that users typically don’t search for an app by looking for a particular name or a brand, but rather instead they will search for it by function. So to this end, it is very helpful if your app’s name includes a significant keyword included. But you do need to be careful not to make it too long because users will just see an excerpt sometimes.

He also noted that for the App Store, you app has a limit of 100 characters, so it’s important that you maximize the space given to you. Similarly, in the app description, you need to be careful with this as well, because it shows up just underneath the app’s screenshots – so this is key real estate.

In terms of App Store and Google Play ranking criteria, he noted that both stores look for relations, factoring in keywords, users reviews, the app description, as well as the app score (which includes reviews and sales).

Naoki also gave a brief video demo of his SearchMan service which aspires to help customers take care of all these issues.

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