In App Close and Personal we get to know people somehow related to AppSpotr through an arbitrary number of reasonable and less reasonable questions. This episode we’re having a chat with Andreas Wickberg, CEO at web developing company and our partner-in-crime, Wiccon.
So, tell us a bit about yourself! Favorite color, zodiac sign … and just maybe even more importantly, your business?
Wiccon uses a yellowish/orange color combined with a 90 K grey. Uh, I like those two… Anyway, we are a development company. We do stuff related to stuff. Like, stuff. Awesome stuff. Our company is pretty straight forward, we help people with their digital presence. And with people I mean companies, and with presence I mean world domination. We build web and system solutions for start-ups and companies that want to go big. We are one of the very few companies in the world to work with outsourcing of fintech solutions, which means that start-ups and big companies put financial technology in our hands and trust us to do stuff like behind-the-scenes bank integrations. That’s a really big deal.
And then AppSpotr came into the picture. How did that happen?
In the worst of ways, you could say. Our relationship started with the abuse from a third-party company using our good names in an attempt to “sell without delivering” a few years ago. Without ever having met each other, we decided to join forces in dealing with it. We managed to sort it out, but at the cost of lots of money and even more time. But it was during this time that we found each other. AppSpotr is a bunch of really nice guys with big goals, not unlike ourselves. We met up and started a partnership in helping companies out with their already built apps. This later grew into the deeper partnership of today where we contribute to AppSpotr’s customer stock and source code.
What has the AppSpotr tool meant to your business?
In short, you know all those companies in the world that want an “easy to manage, nothing super advanced but still branded” kind of app and don’t have a 40,000 dollar budget? Well, we use AppSpotr for them. To make sure that the little guy – the small band, local coffee shop, hairdresser, restaurant and so on – can be a part of the app-world and reap the benefits that come with it.
What do you feel are the pros and cons of working with an app builder?
One of the good things is that we can give the customer super easy access to a CMS. You have probably used MailChimp for WordPress right? This is simpler and fewer things can go wrong. It pushes the updates automatically for you once you have set up your accounts correctly with Apple and Google.
On the flipside, Apple and Google are still the hurdle here. Once you get your own accounts it’s easy. The main drawback in regards to the app builder, however, is mostly limitations set by the big ones. Plus, of course it has some limitations where we can’t do all the advanced stuff. But frankly, the high-end stuff is reserved for the 400,000 budget companies I mentioned earlier anyway.
Do you have any highly requested features among your clients that you think we should add to our platform?
Yes, that is why we are building it. We work close with the end customers, so we know what they’re looking for. And as a matter of fact, one such highly requested feature is currently being integrated into the AppSpotr platform. AppSpotr uses the slogan “Game Changers”, and that fits hand-in-glove here. A game changer, straight from the customer’s wishlist.
What’s the most fun or absurd request you’ve gotten from a customer? Any Skynets, maybe?
We get a lot of absurd request, mostly in the sense that they want to build their own Facebook application with a 5-dollar budget. As for fun, one of our recent app requests involved a Christmas calendar, and we really nailed that one. We simply used the free web module in AppSpotr and made some modifications. And we’ve also taken on a few crazy huge jobs throughout the years. Like when we ran a whole Festival with 400 bands playing, including live streaming of music, venues and calendar options. Aced it big time, again! There are some limitations when connecting this craziness with the native functions of the phone through the web module. Again, a big lock down on both Apple’s and Google’s side.
Where do you think the app market will be in ten years?
Still around, that’s for sure!
What would you rather build, a tourist app for North Korea or an app helping you perfect the art of cyber bullying?
Gee, they both sound very tempting… But I’d rather build a Skynet-esque dating app that scans the entire world to tell you who you should marry. No more swiping right that ends in utter disappointment – Skynet has a 100% success rate, so you’re guaranteed to get your perfect partner-for-life.
