With Slide, Pakistan gets its first lockscreen app
Slide allows users to earn money simply by clicking on content they like
PHOTO: TECH IN ASIA
Lockscreen apps, which entice users to click on ads or content with the promise of free top ups are hugely successful across Asia.
The likes of Popslide and Candy boast hundreds of thousands of users and have raised millions in funding. After all, smartphones aren’t smart just by themselves. Their magic elixir is mobile internet. And free internet, somehow, just works better than the paid version.
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The first such app to hit Pakistani smartphone screens is Slide. It works differently from other popular apps in the region because users aren’t subjected to mindless advertising alone. Slide allows them to earn money simply by clicking on the content they like.
Personally, I feel that’s great for ensuring user stickiness. Bombarding someone with adverts doesn’t ensure retention and loyalty, even if it is teamed with cash rewards.
On Slide, users can sign up either by creating their own accounts, or via social logins. Once their account is verified, they proceed to identify content categories which tickle their fancy. These include current affairs, sports, technology, entertainment, movies, business, fashion, and travel.
The app is borderline intrusive and not for everyone, but hey, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. What I liked most about it was the fact that it kept pushing some great content – I read articles from Gizmodo, Business Insider, even 9GAG. And I felt there was some intuitive UI – after a few days of content consumption, the app figured out what kinds of articles I was most interested in, and pushed those regularly.
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Junaid Malik, founder of Slide, tells Tech in Asia he engineered the product to help users uncover interesting content whilst also helping them earn money in the process. As content is scattered widely across the internet, users often land on different portals to find information they seek on a daily basis. Slide helps consolidate that under one roof.
Furthermore, he didn’t want to build an app that had to compete on a phone’s homescreen – where it would probably have met with some serious competition from heavyweights such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Hence the lockscreen app.
“I felt the model could be replicated in Pakistan after the success it’s gotten in countries like Japan and South Korea […] there are about 18-20 million Android smartphone users here so I thought we could go ahead and play with that,” adds Junaid.
Be your own boss
Junaid, who comes from a digital advertising background, says he had no qualms about quitting his job to start his own venture. His core focus is on users and ensuring that they remain happy.
“I know brands have money to spend, and they do so simply by throwing ads on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Users don’t benefit much, which is why I integrated the app with a reward program. The more content you consume, the more points you’re able to accumulate. On average, users can make about 200 rupees (US$2) every month,” he explains.
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Slide launched approximately six weeks ago, and Junaid says they have more than 100,000 users to date. 88 percent of those are active daily. His target is to reach a million users within a year.
“It might not be catchy for everyone, but I strongly feel that when I was a student, and didn’t have much money, everything I could save would be cherished. The response I’m seeing from students so far is that a hundred or two hundred rupee prepaid top-up means they don’t have to pay their phone bill,” he asserts.
Slide raised seed funding from local investors, but Junaid declined to say how much. However, he claimed it was the largest seed funding round put into a Pakistan-based startup. Preliminary discussions for a series A are already underway, but the company has enough runway to comfortably last a year, Junaid added.
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Monetization is not a priority right now. Junaid says integrating advertisements and locking in brands will be the easiest bit, but he’s refraining from doing that for the moment as he wants users to stick to the app and get them to love the product. Future iterations may involve an ecommerce element, as well as things like cinema tickets, but we’ll have to wait and see for that.
“When we monetize, each ad the user sees we’ll be able to pay them extra. When the product is making money, the user will also make more money. The end goal is to maximise their happiness.”
This article originally appeared on Tech in Asia.
The likes of Popslide and Candy boast hundreds of thousands of users and have raised millions in funding. After all, smartphones aren’t smart just by themselves. Their magic elixir is mobile internet. And free internet, somehow, just works better than the paid version.
Pakistani scientist couple leads the way with underwater drones in Australia
The first such app to hit Pakistani smartphone screens is Slide. It works differently from other popular apps in the region because users aren’t subjected to mindless advertising alone. Slide allows them to earn money simply by clicking on the content they like.
Personally, I feel that’s great for ensuring user stickiness. Bombarding someone with adverts doesn’t ensure retention and loyalty, even if it is teamed with cash rewards.
On Slide, users can sign up either by creating their own accounts, or via social logins. Once their account is verified, they proceed to identify content categories which tickle their fancy. These include current affairs, sports, technology, entertainment, movies, business, fashion, and travel.
The app is borderline intrusive and not for everyone, but hey, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. What I liked most about it was the fact that it kept pushing some great content – I read articles from Gizmodo, Business Insider, even 9GAG. And I felt there was some intuitive UI – after a few days of content consumption, the app figured out what kinds of articles I was most interested in, and pushed those regularly.
Pakistan’s top start-ups for 2015 and 2016
Junaid Malik, founder of Slide, tells Tech in Asia he engineered the product to help users uncover interesting content whilst also helping them earn money in the process. As content is scattered widely across the internet, users often land on different portals to find information they seek on a daily basis. Slide helps consolidate that under one roof.
Furthermore, he didn’t want to build an app that had to compete on a phone’s homescreen – where it would probably have met with some serious competition from heavyweights such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Hence the lockscreen app.
“I felt the model could be replicated in Pakistan after the success it’s gotten in countries like Japan and South Korea […] there are about 18-20 million Android smartphone users here so I thought we could go ahead and play with that,” adds Junaid.
Be your own boss
Junaid, who comes from a digital advertising background, says he had no qualms about quitting his job to start his own venture. His core focus is on users and ensuring that they remain happy.
“I know brands have money to spend, and they do so simply by throwing ads on platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Users don’t benefit much, which is why I integrated the app with a reward program. The more content you consume, the more points you’re able to accumulate. On average, users can make about 200 rupees (US$2) every month,” he explains.
Pakistan wins three gold at regional tech awards
Slide launched approximately six weeks ago, and Junaid says they have more than 100,000 users to date. 88 percent of those are active daily. His target is to reach a million users within a year.
“It might not be catchy for everyone, but I strongly feel that when I was a student, and didn’t have much money, everything I could save would be cherished. The response I’m seeing from students so far is that a hundred or two hundred rupee prepaid top-up means they don’t have to pay their phone bill,” he asserts.
Slide raised seed funding from local investors, but Junaid declined to say how much. However, he claimed it was the largest seed funding round put into a Pakistan-based startup. Preliminary discussions for a series A are already underway, but the company has enough runway to comfortably last a year, Junaid added.
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Monetization is not a priority right now. Junaid says integrating advertisements and locking in brands will be the easiest bit, but he’s refraining from doing that for the moment as he wants users to stick to the app and get them to love the product. Future iterations may involve an ecommerce element, as well as things like cinema tickets, but we’ll have to wait and see for that.
“When we monetize, each ad the user sees we’ll be able to pay them extra. When the product is making money, the user will also make more money. The end goal is to maximise their happiness.”
This article originally appeared on Tech in Asia.