Mobile Roadie, the popular do-it-yourself platform that allows bands, celebrities and regular users to create iPhone apps without knowing how to program, just announced that it has now expanded its service to Google Android. With this new service, Mobile Roadie users can now create and manage both Android and iPhone apps simultaneously. Dolly Parton, Ashton Kutcher and Madonna are among today’s launch partners. A Mobile Roadie-based Taylor Swift app is also in the works.
Mobile Roadie is mostly targeted towards musicians, athletes, politicians, celebrities, blogs, conferences and venues, though you could also use the service to create your own vanity app.
For a set-up fee of $499 and a monthly management fee that starts at $29, Mobile Roadie allows users to create apps that include integration with third-party services like YouTube, Brightcove, Flickr, Ustream, Topspin Media, RSS feeds, Twitter and Facebook. Mobile Roadie also allows bands to integrate ticket sales through Ticketmaster and LiveNation.
Mobile Roadie will give a discount to publishers who choose to use the service for both their iPhone and Android apps. Customers can also choose to use the service to only create an Android app.
Vanity Apps for Android
While there are a quite a few DIY app-creation services (including MobileAppLoader, MobBase, Sweb Apps, App Breeder, etc.) for the iPhone on the market, this business hasn’t really caught on in the Android world yet. AppLoop, one of the first app generators for Android, for example, isn’t even in business anymore. Currently, iSites and MobileAppLoader are among the few app generators that allows users to create and manage both Android and iPhone apps.
As the market for Android apps continues to grow rapidly, however, it only makes sense for companies like Mobile Roadie to offer support for both platforms.
The advantage of using services like Mobile Roadie is that users can manage assets in both apps simultaneously. If bands want to highlight new videos or songs, for example, they don’t have to make changes to two apps to send these updates to their fans.
But Really, What Does Dolly Parton Think?
Mobile Roadie’s PR release also includes a great quote from Dolly Parton, who clearly prefers Mobile Roadie over smoke signals:
“My first phone was two tin cans tied together with string, and it worked pretty good. But now you can watch TV, download music and surf the web from your phone. Sure beats smoke signals. I never thought in my lifetime, that you’d be able to watch movies, read books and listen to music from a phone, but I guess the technology of tomorrow is here today. And to think that folks will be able to watch my Video Diaries and listen to my music on the go is just fantastic.”
