What Developers Need to Know about the Email Privacy Act
Did you know that emails older than 180 days are available to federal officials without a search warrant? This is a surprising fact to most of us, particularly given the very public debate over mobile encryption taking place thanks to the Apple vs. FBI case. While the general public tends to view their email inboxes […]
Why STEM Education Matters for the Future of US Tech
Computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education are something we feel very strongly about at Dogtown Media. Many members of our mobile app development team are involved in tech education advocacy — our CEO Marc Fischer even teaches app development at Santa Monica college, and has spoken to student groups on the […]
3 Design Challenges Faced by UI-free Chat App Developers
For many mobile app developers, designing simple chat bots is just a step on the path to mastering your programming language of choice. Base-level “artificial intelligence” in the form of task-oriented bots has been a feature of computer science since the beginning. (Just take a look at Twitter, where over 23 million user accounts are […]
What Twitter’s #RIPTwitter Fiasco Can Teach Young Startups
If you’re a Twitter user, you’ve probably noticed the #RIPTwitter hashtag floating around your Twitter feed. (Whether that feed appears chronological or dynamic is another discussion.) For iPhone and Android app developers, watching the once-promising unicorn startup drop in value from an initial high of $45 per share to today’s low of under $20 has […]
Top 5 SXSW Events for Techies & Iphone App Developers
Some of the crew here at Dogtown Media is headed to SXSW this weekend, and heads up: we aren’t just in it for the bands. (In case you’re unfamiliar, South by Southwest is an annual festival in Austin, Texas featuring music, art, film, and tech events from around the world.) The tech lineup is incredible […]
Snagajob, the LinkedIn of Hourly Work, Secures $100 Million
While professional employment has become more streamlined every year, the situation for hourly workers in short-term jobs like restaurants has remained frustrating and obscure for years. Dishwashers and short-order cooks are left to seek out work the old-fashioned way, cold-calling bars or scouring Craigslist, while business-world workers get head-hunted on LinkedIn without raising a finger. […]
Facebook Mobile App Developers Re-Prioritize your Feed
Tired of dodging clickbait traps while you scroll through your Facebook feed on the subway? So are the app developers at Facebook, who’ve been experimenting for months with new ways to prioritize the stories you see when you open the ubiquitous Facebook mobile app. To date, it’s mostly been a process of tracking likes and […]
Encouraging Young Developers in Congressional App Challenge
One of the best opportunities for California high school students interested in mobile app development is the Congressional App Challenge — where young Los Angeles iPhone app developers from area schools stand to see their hard work displayed in the United States Capital. Dogtown Media CEO Marc Fischer was honored to speak alongside Congressman Ed […]
IPhone App Developers at Poncho Launch Mobile Weather App
Techies, NYC iPhone app developers, and animated GIF aficionados have been using email alerts from the innovative weather service Poncho for several months now. As of last week that service is expanding to a full-fledged native iPhone app including coverage for 48 states and a host of fun new features, positioning the quirky startup to […]
Ninety-Nine Problems: the Psychology of Mobile App Pricing
Scroll through the Apple App Store or Google Play and you’ll quickly notice that 99% of the top apps have something very conspicuous in common; they’re all priced in 99 cent increments. You don’t have to be a mathematician or iPhone app developer to notice that something’s afoot. While freemium pricing is undeniably on the […]