AddThis, Clearspring’s online content sharing platform, has just arrived in a format for mobile app developers to take advantage of, on both iOS and Android ( the latter in beta). “Everything is shifting to mobile very quickly,” explains AddThis CEO Hooman Radfar. “Our community of 9 million plus publishers are building more and more for the mobile Web, and they want the same functionality for mobile apps.”
With the new suite of tools including AddThis for the Mobile Web, AddThis for iOS SDK, and the forthcoming SDK for Android, that will finally be possible.
The new SDKs provide the social sharing functionality users expect with AddThis, the platform that allows for sharing out to over 300 services, from Facebook and Twitter to even more niche communities on the social Web. But it also allows app publishers to understand the impact of sharing thanks to its built-in analytics. These tools will help publishers answer questions related to content, like “what’s driving clicks?” while also providing details about their app’s users, like what device they’re using and what OS version it runs.
This platform is clearly of interest to news application publishers, like, for example, USA Today. Michelle Kessler, the paper’s social media editor, says that her company is using the real-time analytics feature to see which articles are resonating with readers so they can then follow-up with content promotion efforts or follow-up stories.
Beyond News Sharing
But news apps aren’t the only ones that can benefit. Director of Product at AddThis Greg Cypes suggests app publishers could also use the platform for social sharing of things like game scores or user reviews from local business search apps like Yelp.
The two new SDKs join AddThis’s offering for mobile website developers. There is no extra work needed for publishers using the SDKs to use AddThis on the mobile Web – the same tool works in both environments.
The iOS SDK is live now, as is AddThis for Mobile Web. The company is also accepting sign-ups for AddThis for Android, now in private beta. All three are available here.